Copywriting is one of the core skills associated with marketing, so naturally, we had to invite one of the best copywriters we know to The Ecom Show!

Both our host (and Budai Media’s CEO) Daniel, and this episode’s guest, Dennis Demori, got their start in copywriting before evolving their skills and adapting to the changing landscape of marketing.

In addition to being a fantastic copywriter, Dennis has mastered the art of promotion, engaging his subscribers, selling courses, building strategies for his clients, and picking up new skills every day!

Skip the episode if you don’t want to hear from two direct response marketing experts as they discuss:

✔️ The key ingredients to becoming a great copywriter
✔️ How ecommerce brands can build more tempting offers
✔️ The magic of preselling
✔️ Thinking like a consultant and picking up skills
✔️ Being patient and thinking strategically

Do You Have What it Takes?

It’s a recurring theme on our podcast, but just about every copywriter never imagined becoming a copywriter until they sort of “fall into it,” as Dennis puts it. Dennis started several years ago in content writing before shifting his focus to the email marketing realm. He never shied away from asking questions, seeking out mentors, or joining Facebook groups to learn from others.

He suggests reading marketing books before you ever think about copywriting. Having that background is so important in the long run. No B.S. Marketing by Dan Kennedy and The 1-Page Marketing Plan by Allan Dib are some of his favorite books to recommend to beginners.

How Ecommerce Brands Can Improve

Ecommerce brands have a lot to learn about marketing, especially from other industries like SAAS, info products, and coaches. When you have a product like sunglasses, you know what you will get when you order a pair, and you are aware of the competition.

If you stop relying only on discounts that destroy your margins and instead become more creative with how you present, bundle, and package your product, you can better stand out from the crowd. Software and ebooks are more abstract, so you have to market them as such and do a good job representing the value it can bring to people that buy them!

Preselling 101

Preselling is “just another word for marketing.” Far too often, ecommerce brands drop a promotion the day before or the day of a product release, when it’s too late to do anything. You should think more strategically, at least 30 days ahead, to deliberately promote a product and start selling it before it’s even finished!

Authors and Hollywood directors have no problem promoting a book or movie years before it ever releases, so why not do the same for new products in your pipeline?

Don’t Limit Yourself

If you want to succeed in the long haul as a marketer or even a copywriter, you need to adjust your mindset. Many people can write basic copy, and AI is already starting to get the hang of subject lines for emails. If you can position yourself as a consultant and handle more than the writing of an email, you will become priceless to a company. Learn to make a strategy, don’t be afraid to ask tough questions, and collaborate with clients instead of just working for them.

Dennis recommends studying for at least 30 minutes a day and get used to picking up skills to bring added value to both you and your customers all the time!

Patience is a Virtue

One big mistake most brands make is rushing a sale. The experience from beginning to the end of a sales funnel is delicate, and sometimes people need time to do their own research, figure out they have a problem, and actively search for a solution. Copywriters who can figure out what stage of the sales process their audience is in will be best at what they do!

For those interested in learning from, speaking to, or working with Dennis Demori, you can Google him and find him on most social media channels or his website. Be sure to subscribe to his email list, an invaluable source of knowledge for everybody!

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TikTok and Pinterest Marketing: Why You Should Care More About These Channels in 2021

Everyone’s heard of Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram, but are there other lucrative channels your ecommerce business is forgetting?

In this exciting episode of The Ecom Show, our friendly host and Budai Media founder Daniel meets with Joanna Szewczyk, a brilliant marketing guru from Poland!

Before leaving her job working in IT at a big bank in New York City, Joanna had plenty of free time in her office and not enough work. She searched for side projects and business ideas before realizing just how promising the Pinterest platform could be in the right hands, and she never looked back.

If you’ve ever wondered about alternative ways to promote your brand and drive huge web traffic, you’ll enjoy hearing Daniel and the CEO & Founder of PinMeApp discuss:

✔️ The difference between social media and search engines
✔️ Who should use Pinterest, and how it can drive web traffic
✔️ Going viral on Tik Tok and why it’s different than the rest
✔️ The right and wrong time to worry about conversion rates
✔️ Staying ahead of the curve and adapting

Know the Difference

To understand how Pinterest works, Joanna says it’s critical to change your understanding of the platform. Pinterest works more like a search engine in the vein of Google or Youtube, with incredible search mechanisms and recommendations. Facebook and Instagram are for people to consume media and promote themselves, while Google only shows you what you search for.

Pinterest combines the best of both social media and search engines, giving you a feed for those you follow, ads, and recommendations for trending media.

Is it for You?

Most people don’t even consider Pinterest when building their brand, but they might not realize how much potential money and exposure they are missing. Joanna was first inspired to work with Pinterest when she saw a travel blogger earning over 100k a month with affiliate marketing and advertisements thanks to a robust influx of traffic from Pinterest.

If you put in the work and post to the right public boards, you can build a following on Pinterest and leverage it to whatever service, coaching, or product you provide. Joanna also mentions that any business can benefit from Pinterest and Tik Tok accounts to build trust and exposure.

It’s Easier than Ever

Building a following on Instagram or Facebook can be frustrating, even with top-notch content and some algorithm luck. To even see your content on Instagram, you have to have a certain amount of followers already.

Tik Tok has revolutionized the game according to Joanna, who had a simple video of her apartment go viral despite only having a few hundred followers. Tik Tok is more democratic and allows most people to follow trends and make their mark no matter their audience, which is great for new brands.

Forget What You Know About KPIs

Online marketers are obsessed with their metrics like conversion rates and impressions, but Joanna says you have to ditch this way of thinking on Pinterest or Tik Tok.

You don’t “walk through a city looking at billboards and go right to the store once you see something you like”. The same might ring true for Pinterest, which is meant to introduce you to products and build exposure. Ultimately the conversion rate cannot be truly counted on, so Pinterest and Tik Tok work best to gain exposure and build an audience.

Ready to Adapt

Marketers also know that you need to be quick on your feet. You can have Facebook Ads, or Instagram algorithms figured out, and you’re on top of the world, and the next day it all comes crashing down when they tweak some metrics or codes.

Joanna created her own app, PinMeApp, to help people automatically build a massive presence on Pinterest, and for a few years, it worked well. Now Pinterest has excluded third-party apps like hers, so she has morphed her business into a Pinterest Management firm that offers courses for those wanting to learn her secrets of the trade.

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How to Build an Elite Team of 50+ Ecommerce Marketers

In this episode of The Ecom Show, Daniel reconnects with Bostjan Belingar, a fellow agency owner and master of email marketing!

Not only is Bostjan a great mind to pick when it comes to retention marketing and growing a successful agency…

Daniel and Bostjan are good friends and former flatmates at the Hustle House since meeting at a Klaviyo Conference in Boston a few years back, and now they are “friendly competitors.”

If you’d like to learn from the respective founders of Budai Media and Hustler Marketing about how to grow a successful marketing agency of your own, listen in and hear these successful business minds speak about:

✔️ Knowing when to build a team
✔️ Where to find the right people
✔️ Creating an efficient hiring system
✔️ Building a healthy work culture and limiting employee turnover
✔️ Questions to ask yourself when you own your own company

Is it for You?

Both Bostjan and Daniel hardly expected to start their own agencies back when they both got their start as copywriters. They wrote and learned from mentors before feeling the need to take on additional team members to lighten the workload. Before Bostjan knew it, he had 10-15 people working for him and over 60 people currently employed at Hustler Marketing.

At a certain point, you have to choose between scaling up and building a company or charging more money and becoming a highly paid specialist that works alone. Creating an agency is a lot of work, but it pays off in the long run if you are patient enough to wait.

In Search of Talent

After initially recruiting his first hires through Facebook and Instagram, Bostjan moved on to Upwork, where he found limited success. The quality of people on there was all over the place. Linkedin Hiring became his new best friend, and now his appointed “Head of Culture” uses it for every hire they make.

Linkedin Hiring is relatively cheap, and it lets you filter by country, experience, and more when looking for the perfect candidate. It doesn’t hurt to have a handy hiring/HR consultant to help guide you through interviews and the hiring process!

What’s Your Hiring Process?

Bostjan wisely says that “the quality of your work and employees is directly proportional to the quality of your hiring process.” You should leave emotion out of it, and don’t show up to an interview without any questions for your potential hire thought out already.

You should implement a funnel system and enter candidates into an excel spreadsheet. Ask them questions before you ever speak to them, make them take a competency test, and meet with the 5-10 best candidates that make it that far.

Keep Your Team Happy

It isn’t enough to hire the right people… You want to keep the right people working with you too! Talk to your employees, give them great feedback, see what your team thinks of each other with 360 feedback sessions, and develop a way to keep track of team morale and satisfaction if you can.

You should also find a way to track data like hires, resignations, employee turnover, and any other stat you can think of to make your company more efficient. Bostjan even employs a therapist to run workshops and help his team cope better during the week, which is quite revolutionary in this day and age.

What is Important to You?

The most important thing you can do as a business owner is to keep your goals and your dreams in sight at all times. Would you rather make a modest sum of money each month while working 25 hours a week, or make much more but have no free time and no weekends off?

Bostjan is happy to offer equity to his employees as long as he stays the majority owner. He prioritizes growth over money in his pockets because he is playing the long game. It isn’t all about revenue after all! It’s also essential to keep that winning mindset to stay motivated long-term with your business!

Most businesses fail, so take pride in what you are doing, work with the right people, and enjoy what you do. If you can’t enjoy what you do, find something you like to do better!

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Everything You Need To Know About Video In Ecommerce

We’ve touched on it before in a previous episode, but video creation for ecommerce is just too important to ignore!

In this episode of The Ecom Show, we’re honored to welcome Allan Glanfield from Canada, an accomplished video marketing strategist at Bellwether X.

If you take a look at their website, you’ll see impressive visuals, engaging content, and top-notch music to go with it as it becomes increasingly more apparent that these guys are damn good at what they do!

Sit in as Daniel and Allan discuss what it takes to craft a story and everything you need to know about video in ecommerce in addition to:

✔️ The importance of storytelling

✔️ Evolution of video advertising

✔️ The right time to start thinking about videos for your business

✔️ How to get started in the video marketing world

✔️ Subtle differences and helpful hacks for creatives in Q4

It’s All About the Story

We heard it from our good friend Ian Garlic a few weeks back, and Allan drives the point home this time. You can have the best equipment and actors, but if your product and your story aren’t good you won’t succeed even with the best in the business. It can even be frustrating when a simple concept out-performs a “million-dollar idea,” but that's the nature of the trade!

Don’t get caught up in the best technology. Just learn lightning basics, help people learn about the product so they can make an informed decision, and above all else, tell a compelling story!

The Times are Changing

Back in the day, a room full of writers would painstakingly develop a winning idea for a television commercial, with one shot to make it work. These days, it makes more sense to create lots of videos and test them to see what performs best.

You could even argue that the conventional advertisement has been completely replaced by “viral videos,” unboxing videos, customer video testimonials, and simple videos. People also think these videos are only suitable for social media, but you can find them on landing pages, product pages, and even email flows post-purchase!

Are You Ready?

People often wonder when they should start thinking about creating engaging video content or hiring someone to do it for them. Allans says that you should worry about that right out of the gates! It’s never too early to start thinking about content, and without beautiful images, captivating videos, and other content, your website will be just an unremarkable framework!

You actually save yourself a headache in the long run if you map out your creatives early on, even if you have a tight budget to start.

Breaking Into the Industry

Video marketing gurus come from all different backgrounds, so there’s no wrong way to get going if you think it might be your calling! Allan mentioned that comedians make for great writers, and having a sense of humor is a must if you want to create compelling advertisements that move people to action!

You can also start as a videographer or photographer like Allan and build up years of experience learning strategy, marketing, data analytics, and the other essential aspects of media buying, but it takes time.

Q4 vs. Rest of Year

Surprisingly, the story takes a back seat this time of year to more concise, simple product-focused videos. It’s buying and gifting season, so people are more worried about seeing a product and learning about it and less about the brand it comes from.

It’s also important to capture attention in the first few seconds of a video because there is lots of competition during November and December. Use nifty camera angles, engage the audience directly with gestures, and make sure you get some eyes on that video you’ve worked so hard to create!

Follow Daniel Budai:

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How to Retain the Customers you Acquired in 2020

In this episode, Budai Media’s founder Daniel hosts a round table discussion for Budai Media’s 30th Episode of The Ecom Show, featuring some of the titans of marketing, including one of our own account managers and some former podcast guests too! Take a listen and hear from some of the best minds in the industry like:

• Ben Erdelyi, Senior Account Manager at Budai Media
• Charlie Lawrance, Founder & CEO of Gecko Squared
• Fiona Stevens, Head Of Marketing at LoyaltyLion
• Martina Cronin, Agency Partnerships Manager at Octane AI
• Mihail Stoychev, Founder & CEO at SMSBump

Join up and take part in a Retention Marketing Panel and learn about:

✔️ How this year’s Q4 was different from any other year

✔️ Most and least successful ecommerce niches of 2020

✔️ What ecommerce trends to expect in 2021

✔️ Tips for retaining customers next year

✔️ What’s next for these incredible companies?

One of a Kind Year

Everyone can agree that this year’s Q4 was the strangest in recent memory, with a pandemic affecting the ecommerce landscape. Black Friday and holiday sales started much earlier, and brick-and-mortar businesses focused on building an online presence.

Facebook Ads became much more competitive, and people mainly opted to stick with companies they were familiar with rather than jump at the best discounts.

Thrivers and Survivors

Due to the year’s volatility, companies have had to adapt or risk falling by the wayside. The niches that performed the best this year were childcare products, household items, health and wellness gear, art/hobby supplies, and home appliances.

Food, consumables, and skincare products also did quite well this year, but one noteworthy casualty of COVID was the outdoor gear/survivalist industry, which has fallen on hard times. Major companies also took some time to worry less about sales and more about their community building and audience engagement!

What’s Happening Next Year?

Aside from obvious developments in 2021, like the subscription model’s continued growth and success, there are some other trends you can bank on. Fiona and Martina both agree that the focus on the customer journey will increase, with personalized messages and heavy segmentation to engage the right people.

Charlie mentioned that Facebook ads would become a lot less expensive next year due to becoming a lot more difficult to use! The way Facebook Pixel captures data will shift drastically, so ad agencies are scrambling to get their back-end analytics figured out to brace for the coming changes.

Answering the Biggest Question...

The reason we rounded up this group of experts was to figure out and share the best ways to keep our hard-earned customers in 2021, and the answers did not disappoint! Ben mentioned that delivering on expectations and promises like shipping times and refund policies was critical if you want to keep your customers long-term.

Engaging with customers and asking them what they are looking for or sending them useful content was another helpful tip shared by Mihail. Charlie mentioned cross-selling, upselling, and syncing ads with email campaigns to build brand unity, while Martina kept stressing the importance of personalization. Fiona brought up an interesting point that being authentic practicing what you preach will attract people who believe in the same causes.

Cutting Edge Ideas From Our Partners

Each of the five companies involved has big things in store for their customers in 2021, like Budai Media’s new CRO service, for instance. SMSBump and Octane AI will work on their products and improve their integration with other apps. At the same time, Loyalty Lion has an eye on building a more comprehensive data analytics system to further help their clients. Charlie and Gecko Squared are hard at work focusing on in-house creative production and DIY training programs for brands seeking to run their own Facebook ads.

We’re leaving the gift of wisdom and experience under your tree this Christmas, so don’t forget to unwrap it!

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How Succesful Dropshipping Companies Grow in the Long Term

Anyone can start a dropshipping store online, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in a highly-saturated industry these days…

Which is where our next guest on The Ecom Show, Joseph Ianni, comes in!

Joseph is a podcaster extraordinaire from Canada, and a brand ambassador for one of Budai Media’s partners, Debutify. Debutify touts itself as the world’s best free Shopify theme, but it’s so much more than that!

Joseph and The Ecom Show’s host Daniel sit down and discuss what it takes to succeed in ecommerce these days along with:

✔️ The perks of using Debutify

✔️ How important it is to build a community in any niche/business

✔️ The ever-changing world of Podcasting

✔️ Is Dropshipping dead?

✔️ Long-term goals for dropshippers

Debutify = Game Changer

Debutify is much more than a template, essentially allowing busy ecommerce store owners to focus their attention on marketing while they handle the conversion rates. With 28 add-ons and counting, it’s constantly adding more helpful tools to convert better and make more money.

Joseph mentioned that aside from the friendly free trial that you can test right now, there are multiple plans, with the most basic costing $19 a month. The highest tier plan gives subscribers access to product research for winning items, a community to bounce ideas off, and a mentor to help you evolve!

Community Building 101

Whether you are crafting customized email campaigns or launching your podcast, Joseph says you need to cultivate your community. The best podcasts and brands have in-jokes, community discourse, and audience engagement to let people know they are part of the process.

Aside from that, people in ecommerce and dropshipping come from all different backgrounds with even more personal interests, so it’s up to us to figure out our specific audiences and learn how to talk to them.

How Podcasting has Changed

Joseph always enjoyed video game podcasts, but he never imagined that his love of video games would catapult him towards his true passion: hosting his own podcasts!

Since he first got started several years ago, the landscape in podcasting has changed dramatically. It was once seen as an extension of radio and only audio-centric, but now there are podcast videos, and it has become more mainstream in general. His own podcast for Debutify, Ecomonics is a fantastic resource for aspiring ecommerce business owners, with knowledgeable guests (like our very own founder Daniel) covering various topics!

Dropshipping is Alive and Well

“Is dropshipping still alive?” The answer is an emphatic YES. According to Joseph, the only thing that has changed is that dropshipping is more saturated with a lot more competition now, which is why it pays to have services like Debutify on your side.

You can still compete these days, but you need to evolve with the industry and do a better job than your competitors. He says that nothing really dies. Radio never died despite what others believe, it just adapted and evolved, and that is precisely what we are seeing from dropshipping now.

Life After Dropshipping

From everyone Joseph and Daniel have spoken to, it seems that no one ever wants to stay a dropshipper for the rest of their life. Some get burnt-out, some go on to open marketing agencies to capitalize on their self-taught skills, and some opt to start ecommerce brands with their own products.

Most people just dropship to raise some capital for future endeavors, while others like to kick back, automate, and travel the world while the money comes in each month! The point is that you can learn lots from dropshipping and ecommerce, even if becoming a merchant isn’t your endgame!

Follow Daniel Budai:

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How to Create High-Converting Ecommerce Videos For Different Channels

There are many ways to engage your audience and build enthusiasm for your brand, but nothing comes close to videos!

It doesn’t matter the audience, channel, or product, our next guest on The Ecom Show, Ian Garlic, can figure out a way to make a high-converting marketing video for anything!

This video guru from Florida has launched several websites (like AuthenticWEB.media and Storycrews.com), and worked with some of the biggest names in marketing, with no sign of slowing down!

Take a seat and listen in with Budai Media founder, Daniel, and master “storyteller” Ian to learn about:

✔️ Why videos are the most engaging form of marketing

✔️ Hiring and working with video creators.

✔️ The formula for great video ads

✔️ Knowing the different video ad channels

✔️ Q4 advice, tips for beginners, and inspiration

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words…

Even a short video contains hundreds of captured images, and some even say that one minute of video is as good as well over a million words. While great copywriting or audio can do the trick, video is still the king (until we have 3D hologram marketing, that is!).

According to Ian, color, sounds, movement, and voices all trigger a different part of our brains, and that’s why video remains the most efficient way to tell a story.

Video Creators vs. Videographers

Ian is quick to distinguish between the two terms, noting that videographers can only do their job if they are handed a script, storyboard, and a whole bunch of information. If you are looking to take your agency to the next level, you need a videographer with a marketing background.

Ian has seen some of the most captivating and visually pleasing videos from others, but if it doesn’t call you to do something or buy something, it isn’t doing its job! The world’s best novelist might struggle to write excellent sales copy for the same reason, so no matter who you hire or work with, it’s crucial to get someone with a knack for marketing.

Creating the Perfect Video Ad

Despite what we’ve heard, the script is not the most essential part of a video. Ian claims plenty of effective ads don’t have a script, like “man on the street” interview videos or Apple’s famous iPod and iPhone commercials that have no dialogue in them at all.

Instead, the format and the storyboard are critical elements of a great ad. Still, the ability to tell a story is the single most crucial part of making a high-converting video. They are the most engaging way to work the algorithms on Facebook or Instagram, and they are much better at keeping attention than any other form of advertising!

Intention vs. Attention

Not all video channels are the same, according to Ian. For instance, Facebook and Instagram are attention-based, designed to capture your attention while doing other things, and reel you in to begin your customer journey. Linkedin or Youtube is more intention-based for people aware of their problem and actively searching for a way to remedy their situation.

Knowing who you are talking to and making videos for them will help you choose the right video length, marketing channel, and format for maxim success!

Tricks of the Trade and More

Ian wants to remind people interested in learning the trade not to stress buying the best camera on the market. Learn proper lighting, sound, and basics before you get that new camera.

It also pays to study marketing, read books, and think like a marketer. For example, in this Q4, people feel isolated more than ever, and he recommends creating hyper-personalized videos for certain buyers or customers to help them feel connected. It will cheer people up and increase conversions!

Follow Daniel Budai:
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Follow Ian:
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Ian's LinkedIn
Authenticweb.marketing
Storycrews.com 

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Perfect Copywriting Formulas for Your Email Marketing

For this episode of our podcast, The Ecom Show, we’re focusing on one of the essential cornerstones of great marketing... copywriting!

This week we’ve got the privilege of speaking with one of our own all-star copywriters at Budai Media, Nick Marshall from Bournemouth, England!

From teacher to content writer, and then journalist to copywriter, Nick has plenty to share with aspiring writers. And ecommerce business owners alike. He likes to focus more on marketing psychology and how people behave in groups to get great results and perfect his craft.

Have a listen as Budai Media’s founder, Daniel, and self-proclaimed “behavior economist” Nick discuss:

✔️ How to get started as a copywriter

✔️ AI and copywriting automation

✔️ Tried and true templates vs. experimentation and creativity

✔️ Who should hire a copywriter?

✔️ Great resources for understanding how to write compelling copy

Where to Begin

Ten years ago, Nick had no idea what copywriting even truly was. He didn’t know any of the overused abbreviations like CTA or what a sales funnel was!

People often misunderstand what it means to be a copywriter, and there is no correct way to set yourself up to become one. Nick spent most of his professional career as a journalist and a content creator, which he says often involves presenting information “as clearly as possible.” As a copywriter, he’s learned to shift his focus to evoking an action or response, whether it be a sale or a page visit.

Humans vs. Machines

There’s plenty of careers being automated in this day and age, but Nick says that “creativity is the last great advantage we have.” For example, automated software algorithms programmed to scan and replicate content can sometimes strike gold, especially with things like email subject lines. But they will never understand the deeper context, according to Daniel, or create something unique and original.

In a career where you’re supposed to connect on a human level with your audience, it feels like copywriter’s jobs are safe for now!

Learn the Rules to Break the Rules

Nick has read plenty of books, taken courses, listened to lectures, but he thinks this will only take you so far. To be a true copywriter, you need to venture off on your own and experiment. If you do what is statistically proven to work every time, you might lose your audience’s attention!

It pays to break the rules once and a while. So long as you stick to the brand’s character and voice, there is truly no limit to what you can do as a copywriter or advertiser.

Get Yourself a Copywriter If...

People often think they can write websites or email copy themselves and are surprised when their conversion rates are awful. It can be hard to relinquish your brand and enlist others to help serve as the “custodian of the brand,” as Nick puts it, but if you have a 5-star restaurant and your menu is riddled with spelling mistakes, will anyone actually take you seriously?

If you manage to have the budget for a copywriter, the product pages and basic email flows are a top priority! Leave it to a professional, and don’t assume copywriting is easy, just like you wouldn’t assume graphic design or coding is easy.

Top Resources for Copywriters

Nick thinks it’s best to have 2-3 resources you check every day, and even if you learn something, you always have to go back and rehash it every so often. He recommends sites like:

• Copy Hackers 
• Very Good Copy 
• Marketing Examples 
• Have a Word 
• Game of Conversions 
• DaveTrott
  

The best thing Nick recommends is simply to become more aware of the copy all around you. You’re bombarded by advertisements each and every day, and Nick believes you can even learn something by sifting through your spam inbox and picking apart the worst emails you can find!

We try to focus on a different aspect of ecommerce and advertising each week, and there is no denying how valuable copywriters like Nick are in this industry!

Follow Daniel Budai:

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Nick's email
 

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How has Facebook Advertising Changed During COVID and Further Through Q4

At The Budai Media, we specialize in retention marketing, but on this episode of The Ecom Show, we get a chance to sit down with an expert in customer acquisition!

Just in time for Black Friday, we’ve got the scoop from Arthur Freydin, the CEO and Owner of BASIC Creative. This impressive Facebook & Instagram Ad agency offers ROI Driven Social Media Advertising for ecommerce brands, with in-house creatives for their clients and comprehensive ad strategies to scale them up.

Take a seat and have a listen while The Budai Media founder Daniel and this week’s podcast guest Arthur take on lots of topics and answer your questions about:

✔️ How to cope with Facebook Ad shutdowns and account bans

✔️ Latest trends for Creatives

✔️ What niches are perfect for Facebook and Instagrams Ads and which ones aren’t

✔️ Tools, apps, and automation for ad creation

✔️ Social media advertisements in Q4

Know the Difference

Don’t fret if you’ve ever had your Facebook Ads account shutdown. “It’s practically a right of passage” for ad agencies, according to Arthur! It’s essential to understand the distinction between having your account shut down vs. banned, with the latter of the two far more severe (and harder to come back from).

Regardless of what happens, it’s normally Facebook’s mistake 9/10 times, and there is a way to reinstate your account in most instances. Facebook’s customer service is not very helpful or responsive, but there are ways around even an account ban (if Facebook doesn’t like your company, business model, or product).

Creating the Perfect Creative

It’s part of Arthur and his company’s job to stay ahead of the latest trends in creatives, and he notes that in 2020 video ads have taken a back seat to static images and GIFs. He mentions that 2020 has been a very dynamic year, with new trends surfacing each month. Between the elections in the US and the COVID-19 pandemic, different brands have thrived and suffered at different times of the year depending on lockdowns, shutdowns, and other current events.

The key takeaway is that every brand has different things that work for them, so it’s important to test everything!

Is Social Media Advertising Right for You?

It’s really not for everyone, and Arthur will be the first to tell you that certain stuff simply won’t work on Facebook, like CBD oil or firearms. Even if your product doesn’t violate Facebook’s terms, you will find that heavily commoditized items won’t ever perform well on Facebook because these sorts of ads work differently than Google Ads.

On Instagram or Facebook, you disrupt the scrolling experience, so you have to keep it visually appealing and relative. Food, supplements, subscription boxes, and fashion; all of these things do quite well!

The best tools for ad creation

On the ad-running side, Arthur prefers to keep it simple. You can’t truly automate ads because the ever-changing Facebook algorithm is unforgiving. There are a few tools you can use, but Facebook normally buys them out and adds them to their backend anyway.

On the creative side, BASIC Creative uses tools like Canva, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, and VideoLeap. He even lets us in on the secret that all you need is a dependable phone and great lighting to get high-quality photos and videos for your creatives!

Crushing in in Q4: Advice from the Experts

Arthur isn’t shy about giving his advice for Q4; it’s the most crucial time of the year for him and his team too!

The most important principle he preaches is: Stay Agile. Things are constantly changing throughout the year, and even more so during Q4, so you have to be alert and ready to switch it up at a moment’s notice. Pre-approve your ads ahead of time, don’t ever increase or decrease spending by more than 30% in one day, spend according to your previous day’s revenue, and stay flexible with

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Why Website Conversion Optimization Is The Hidden Gem Of Ecommerce

For this week’s podcast episode, we’re joined by Conversion Rate Optimization expert Justin Christianson from Texas, who’s been in the digital marketing realm for over 20 years!

Now he’s a bestselling author and co-founder of his own agency, Conversion Fanatics. Despite only offering CRO as a service for the last seven years, he’s truly seen everything there is to see with regards to ecommerce.

Sit down and listen in to learn about the biggest mistakes business owners make with their websites, so you can skip the suffering and find your own success much quicker and much easier!

You can gain insight into:

✔️ The best tools and apps for CRO

✔️ Qualitative vs. Quantitative approach to Conversion Rate Optimization

✔️ Last-minute CRO tips for a successful Q4

✔️ The best ways to set up your Shopify store

✔️ Avoiding gimmicks, listening to the customers, and thinking long term

Tools of the Trade

Everyone has their preferences, but Justin has been in the game a lot longer than most. Over the years, he’s preferred to use Convert.com as his primary diagnostic tool. Google Optimize doesn’t play so nicely with Shopify, so he appreciates Convert.com’s data and its arsenal of tools.

As far as apps go, Justin thinks simplicity is critical. If he had the time, he would custom code his own programs to avoid the pitfalls of popular apps that overcomplicate things. Too many apps can crash a site or do more damage than good, but he does mention that Justuno and Klaivyo are two notable exceptions everyone should use.

One Size Does Not Fit All

If you own a brand making six-figures annually, you shouldn’t be deep-diving into the data just yet; there simply isn’t enough to study early on! Justin recommends taking a qualitative approach early on instead, focusing more on the customer experience. Listening to your customers can be the most valuable thing you ever do. Exit polls, surveys, and heat maps are your best friends!

If you are making seven or eight figures per year, you can start thinking about optimizing your website to bring up conversion rates and increase your Average Order Value. CRO is only effective for brands with lots of traffic and over 300 orders per month, the bare minimum to start taking a quantitative approach.

CRO Tips for Q4

Simply put, CRO is not like any other form of marketing. Buyer behavior and buyer experiences change drastically in Q4, so Justin says you can throw everything you know out of the window. Your best bet is to make sure your site is ready to take on heavy traffic, help it run smoothly, and trust in the process.

Justin also notes that if you want to build trust, don’t try to make a quick buck with gimmicks or “grey hat” tricks. Customers will be scared off by fake countdown timers and lies about product scarcity.

Simplicity is Better

Justin stresses the importance of simplicity, opting to use powerful imagery rather than wordy texts. When people ask him what the best Shopify theme is, he says the free one you get right out of the box, of course!

Daniel and Justin also mention that the product page is the most important part of your store, and it’s where brand owners tend to lose most of their traffic. Since most ecommerce shoppers are browsing on mobile, you really only have six inches of screen to impress them, so don’t waste space with credit card logos, security icons, or other unhelpful items.

Think Long Term

Conversion Fanatics won’t even work with shortsighted ecommerce owners hellbent on making a quick buck. He rolls his eyes when he sees countdown timers or overused discounts being offered. It’s not easy to see the big picture, but your business will benefit from it if you can think long-term. Be patient, trust your product, and above all else, listen to your customers!

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