The JetRails Podcast

According to Cloudflare, Tiktok became The #1 most visited domain in 2021, surpassing even Google.com. Are you advertising to consumers through Tiktok yet? Have you been comparing it to other platforms, like Snapchat, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, and Reddit? Are you still primarily focused on Google Ads or Facebook/Instagram Ads? Are you relying on influencers or affiliates to help fuel your growth?

In this episode, we get an insider look at which platforms and strategies are driving eCommerce advertising success, and why.

Guests:

- Ned Gallop, LevitateFoundry.com

- Miles Bodie, LevitateFoundry.com

Host:

- Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Most eCommerce merchants start off advertising through platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads, but those are pretty saturated networks. In this episode, we talk about opportunities to make direct media buys with audio and video streaming services, podcasts, and other highly-targeted platforms.

If you've wondered where else you could or should be advertising your online store, this episode will help you understand how you can pay less to market to your audience while catching the right consumers at the right time and place.

Guest: Adam Casole-Buchanan, BriefBid.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Companies Adam mentioned in this episode include:

- Cluep

- Vengo

- iHeart Radio

- Spotify

- Brave

- OceanHero

As the holiday shopping season continues, hopefully, you're enjoying a nice code freeze along with some great weather. What better time to cozy up with a mug of hot cocoa and a podcast episode all about the next frontier of site speed optimization!

Caching static site elements with a CDN is already commonplace - it's crucial to your site's overall performance. However, you can now take edge caching a step further. Instead of calling "home" to your main hosting servers for dynamic content like product/sale prices, or even personalized content experiences, you can cache dynamic site elements at the edge.

We dive into this, and more, in this episode about next-gen Edge technology that can improve your bottom line.

Guest: Subbu Varadarajan, Zycada.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Special Note:

Zycada is currently offering an extended free trial for active JetRails users. Contact your dedicated account manager at JetRails for more info.

On just about every episode of our podcast, our guests describe different ways for merchants to improve an eCommerce store's bottom line. Few tell us that they can come anywhere close to generating a 5x increase in eCommerce sales, which makes this episode especially intriguing.

While we may be biased about businesses that have "Jet" in their name, we still asked this guest tough questions about live chat. This episode delves into best practices for staffing, dealing with upset shoppers, avoiding chat-operator burnout, and more!

Guest: Mike Christie, JetSpring.com

Host: Robert Rand JetRails.com

eCommerce stores are in the data business. Data helps with everything from forecasting sales and stocking products, to understanding profit margins on items and optimizing the online shopping experience.

In this episode, Nick shares his wisdom from his years at Etsy and Jet, and from his role as CEO of DAS42. Learn about common data analysis challenges that your business should watch out for and best practices that you should be benefiting from.

Guest: Nick Amabile, DAS42.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Marketing to eCommerce shoppers is similar to attracting consumers to brick and mortar stores, but it's not the same thing.

When someone visits a physical store, they're exhibiting a stronger intent to make a purchase. Online shoppers are often earlier in the researching process.

That means that treating every ad click like it's going to convert into a sale can be a costly mistake. In this episode, Robert and Brendan discuss how to properly balance your marketing to (1) attract new shoppers, (2) educate them, and (3) ultimately help them decide to make a purchase.

They go farther by sharing insights on balancing campaigns across different advertising platforms, like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube... and dealing with the challenge of optimizing marketing spends based on which platforms and campaigns are actually delivering the best results - including return on ad spend (ROAS).

Guest: Brendan Hughes, Optily.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Additional Resources:

Get a free copy of Brendan's book "Accelerate eCommerce Growth, A Proven Framework to Scaling Your eCommerce Business with Digital Advertising": https://www.optily.com/accelerate-ecommerce-growth-with-digital-advertising/

For a limited time, take advantage of a free consultation from Optily, and a special discount offer for fans of The JetRails Podcast: https://www.optily.com/your-expert-companion-in-digital-ads-jr/

Looking for a quicker read on eCommerce funnels? Check out https://jetrails.com/blog/ecommerce-funnels/

Some businesses have complex order fulfillment systems. Others rely on succinct solutions to problems like splitting orders.

Why split orders? Maybe you'll be fulfilling an order from multiple stores or warehouses. Maybe you want to split an order between in-stock items, and back-ordered items. Perhaps items need to be shipped separately or uniquely, such as oversized items.

This may all sound obvious, but just because it's logical, doesn't make it simple. Not all eCommerce businesses have the same needs or requirements.

This is a great example of how Magento Extensions can greatly improve business efficiencies and customer satisfaction, without dependencies on 3rd party SaaS solutions.

Guest: Rajneesh Vyas, SunArcTechnologies.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Resources mentioned in this episode: https://marketplace.magento.com/partner/sunarctech

Every year, more eCommerce businesses are bought and sold. At the same time, many owners find themselves unable to find the right buyer in order to achieve their goals.

In this episode, we discussed what you can do in order to set your eCommerce business up for an eventual successful acquisition. We also discussed common mistakes, pitfalls, and oversights that even seasoned entrepreneurs can miss fall prey to.

Guest: Joe Valley, Quiet Light Brokerage

Author of The Exitpreneur's Playbook: How to sell your online business for top dollar by reverse engineering your pathway to success.

https://exitpreneur.io/playbook/

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails

Apple's iOS15 is going to severely limit the amount of data marketers receive regarding if emails are opened by their recipients. Digital marketers need to be prepared for this shift in data availability. More importantly, they'll need to consider which metrics to look at in order to best optimize campaigns, including campaigns for eCommerce merchants that rely on e-mail to keep shoppers engaged with their brands.

Guest: Jon Pruitt, Omnisend.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://opensaredead.com/

https://lp.wizarddigital.com/corewebvitalsebook

Consumers open their text messages. Their e-mails... maybe... maybe not.

This leads eCommerce merchants toward a crossroads. Treat SMS like the 3rd rail, or embrace it while making sure to treat this communication channel with the respect that shoppers demand.

Most of us get text messages or push notifications from major brands regarding our order/delivery status, along with other valuable info.

What if you added dimensionality to SMS, allowing shoppers to respond to your texts and get answers, delivering conversational commerce experiences?

Catch the episode to learn what the future of eCommerce communications looks like.

Guest: Rev Reddy, VoyageSMS.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com