The Optimizely Podcast

If you have just 9 months to reach your target buyer, how do you not only do it quickly, but also thoughtfully?

This is the exact challenge Ryan Beren faces every day. As the Senior Ecommerce Manager for the maternity brand Ingrid and Isabel, he’s working within an incredibly specific customer lifecycle. He explained that a limited timeline has forced him to become more creative and pay careful attention to the signals customers share.

Recently, thousands of retailers converged on Boston for Etail East 2018 to network and learn about everything on the cutting edge of ecommerce. Of course, The Empowered Marketer had to be there. We went to tons of sessions, took even more notes, and talked with some really interesting marketers from innovative brands, including Framebridge, ASICS, and Reebok. Whether you couldn’t attend the conference yourself, or you couldn’t get to every session you wanted to while you were there, we’ve got you cov

What’s coming next in ecommerce? Aaron Orendorff is uniquely positioned to say. As the Editor in Chief for Shopify Plus, Aaron has deep insights into the rapidly changing world of ecommerce -- especially how new brands are building audiences of loyal and engaged customers. He’s keeping an eye on everything from augmented reality to China’s mobile-first ecomm infrastructure to the top brands killing it today -- and has an opinion on it all.

Growing your customer base takes far more than an effective A/B test. You have to create a growth strategy that is sustainable and repeatable, connecting with buyers on an emotional level -- not just getting a click. In ecommerce, that’s the real difference between spammy “growth hackers” and true growth marketers. Jon Corwin is the real deal. As the Director of Growth Marketing for One Click, the team grows three separate eyewear brands: Readers.com, Sunglass Warehouse, and felix + iris.

Writing is a key and powerful part of marketing, no matter what product you’re selling -- something that Kaleigh Moore knows well. She is the co-founder of Lumen Ventures, a marketing agency that offers crafted content and copywriting to B2B ecommerce brands like BigCommerce, Get Feedback, SnapApp, and more. But wait, B2B? How does that help you as a B2C marketer? At the end of the day, all good marketing matters, and Kaleigh shares how you can appeal to any buyer with creative and interesting content.

If you’re exhausted after years of constant trend stories about Millennials, you’re not alone. Millennials are Killing Diamonds! Millennials are Killing Cars! And now that Gen Z is almost of age, get ready for more trend stories. It may be tiring, but for B2C brands that sell to that exact demographic, it’s vital to understand younger buyers. No one knows that better than MaryLeigh Bliss, the Chief Content Officer of Ypulse, a youth market research company that helps brands understand Gen Y and Gen Z.

Content is one of the most underutilized marketing tactics in B2C and ecommerce today -- but that’s changing quickly. More marketers are creating content to rank on Google and attract a stream of qualified traffic to their ecommerce site. However, content marketing takes a lot of patience, according to Nat Eliason, the Founder of Growth Machine, a content and SEO agency that works with ecommerce sites to surpass 100,000 visitors a month. The problem is unreasonable expectations about content marketing.

Do one thing, and do it well. This advice is a little clichéd, but like most clichés, it has some truth to it -- especially in business. Andie Swim has taken that maxim to heart and is keeping things super simple by selling one fantastic product. The brand offers classic, luxury one-piece bathing suits for women, in just 3 simple styles. And that’s it! You might imagine selling one type of product is limiting, but it’s actually the opposite, according to Melanie Travis, the CEO and Founder of Andie Sw

Do one thing, and do it well. This advice is a little clichéd, but like most clichés, it has some truth to it -- especially in business. Andie Swim has taken that maxim to heart and is keeping things super simple by selling one fantastic product. The brand offers classic, luxury one-piece bathing suits for women, in just 3 simple styles. And that’s it! You might imagine selling one type of product is limiting, but it’s actually the opposite, according to Melanie Travis, the CEO and Founder of Andie Sw

B2C marketing can be almost anything -- an Instagram story, an in-depth interview, or a short film -- but it can’t be boring. Unfortunately, many brands spend too much time talking about product specifications, and not enough time creating compelling content people truly want to engage with. Output is different. The company creates software and gear for musicians and producers, and their marketing is anything but boring. The brand has a serious cool factor driven by Joey Ng, the VP of Marketing at Outpu