Turning First Time eCommerce Customers into Customers for Life

Aaron Orendorff is an eCommerce content legend, previous Editor in Chief of Shopify Plus, VP of Marketing at Common Thread Collective, and current Head of Marketing at the Shopify SMS Platform, Recart. 

In this episode, we discuss the intersection of content and commerce, the 3 phase approach to building an organic content flywheel for any DTC brand to build, how to think about SMS marketing in 2023, why transparent SMS pricing is key, the 5 things that make Recart so special for Shopify brands, and Blake’s favorite SMS strategy for driving tons of traffic, Transactional SMS!

Aaron also stresses why consistency in marketing matters, bringing together organic brand building and performance paid advertising, and finding one's native content language. 

If you are curious about what “great” looks like in SMS marketing in 2023 this one is for you. 

👉 The TYCA Podcast is brought to the DTC community cost-free. If you’d like to support the show, please consider leaving us a review and subscribing to the show! 🙏

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Check out Recart SMS at www.recart.com 

Timestamps

(0:00) Blake's High-Level Intro

(2:05) - Who is Aaron Orendorff & Recart?

(6:23) The worst piece of DTC advice Aaron has heard

(7:51) Where does Aaron derive his inspiration?

(10:38) Aaron’s #1 message to the eCommerce community if he could put it on a billboard

(11:45) The Aaron Orendorff view on the intersection of content and commerce

(13:54) The 3 principles of great content creation in any owned channel (SMS, email, social, etc…) 

(24:00) 5 Ways Recart is thinking differently about SMS in 2023 plus good questions to ask your current vendor

(29:00) Reviewing campaign costs and why it can wreck your return on spend

(31:00) Why transparency in SMS pricing is key

(38:00) The power of restore links for conversions 

(43:00)Transactional SMS and why it’s the #1 best-kept secret in SMS marketing

(50:00) Closing thoughts 

Jake Karls is the co-founder of Mid-Day Squares, a functional and better-for-you chocolate snacks CPG company. 

As you’ll learn, this “Resident Rainmaker” is full of inspiring energy and wisdom for anyone in the CPG or eCommerce industry.

Blake and Jake discuss customer retention strategies, the importance of authenticity, and the challenges of shipping perishable goods. 

Jake emphasizes the importance of storytelling and building emotional connections with customers to drive organic growth and word-of-mouth marketing. 

He also shares his motto of "get comfortable being uncomfortable" and advises current and aspiring CPG and DTC founders to invest in innovation and be true to themselves. 

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment — the #1 platform loved by eCommerce support, operations, and marketing teams alike to deliver the most holistic post-purchase experience imaginable. 

Wonderment is the retention iOS used by over 1000 customer-first shopify brands like Jones Road Beauty, Igloo, The Ridge, Simplehuman, and more. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

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Watch the video format of today's episode here. 

Timestamps and Summary

(0:00) - Intro

(1:20) Who is Mid-Day Squares & Jake Karls

(2:39) Blake tries Mid-Day Squares Live 

(4:24) Jake's best purchase under $100, his favorite hype song, and more

(5:31) Jake’s #1 message he wants to share with the world

(7:31) Building a Personal Brand and Community - How Mid-Day Squares Approaches It

(9:49) Mid-Day Squares approach to Creating a Reality Show on Entrepreneurship

(12:06) Wonderment, the #1 CX platform for Shopify

(13:58) The Growth Impact of Building a Personal Brand and Community on a CPG or eCommerce Brand

(14:44) How Jake Has Raised Money, Gotten Media Coverage, Attracted Retailers and More Through Building a Brand Story 

(16:24) Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable And Why It’s Good For You

(19:38) Growing customer retention at Mid-Day Squares

(22:05) How Authenticity and Boldness Trump Anything Else 

(24:58) How Mid-Day Squares Overcomes Shipping Challenges and Transparency with Perishable Goods 

(28:11) Advice on Supply Chain and Retail… How to build relationships and save

(28:42) The Evolution of Customer Retention at Mid-Day Squares

(30:22) How to Talk to Customers to Make Business Decisions 

(32:13) Jake’s Very Expensive Failures And What He Learned 

(36:09) The Most Common Bad Advice Given in the CPG Space 

(36:53) How Mid-Day Squares is Investing in Innovation [00:36:53]**

(38:47) Advice for Struggling Entrepreneurs - Being true to yourself 

(41:12) Ending

Other TYCA Episodes You Might Like

Cracking CPG Retention — Will Nitze, Founder/CEO (IQBAR)

Shopify SMS Retention Playbook: Keeping Customers Coming Back with Postscript CEO Adam Turner

Immediately Improve Your Retention Marketing & CX / How Jones Road Beauty Creates Loyal Customers /  Eli Weiss & Joanne Coffey

Will Nitze is the Founder/CEO of the CPG brand IQBAR.

Catch a deep dive into the secrets of customer retention in the CPG category. Will shares his insights on how to overcome the unique challenges and seize the opportunities of each channel (Shopify, brick & mortar, wholesale, etc...) to drive growth and loyalty for your brand.

Discover his innovative approach to customer retention, which involves post-purchase surveys and creating multiple touchpoints to build a loyal customer base.

And that's not all - the conversation also covers fundraising, investments, and the power of the “founder-led” brand. Get ready to be inspired and take your CPG brand to the next level!

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment — the #1 platform loved by eCommerce support, operations, and marketing teams alike to deliver the most holistic post-purchase experience imaginable.

Wonderment is the retention iOS used by over 1000 customer-first shopify brands like Jones Road Beauty, Igloo, The Ridge, Simplehuman, and more. Check out www.wonderment.com today.

Follow Blake

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Get in touch with Will
LinkedIn
Try IQBAR

Timestamps

(0:00) Intro

(0:32) Will's journey and IQ Bar story — how he became interested in brain food, leading to the creation of IQ Bar.

(3:24) Rapid fire questions - Get to know Will better, including his favorite CPG brand and best recent purchase under $100.

(9:05) - How Will thinks about the intersection between brick and mortar retail and DTC in CPG.

(13:00) Wonderment — the CX platform that powers Shopify’s best CPG brands.

(15:00) Why DTC and brick and mortar are vastly different — and why brick & mortar is more profitable.

(16:30) Optimizing for Revenue vs. Gross Margin

The importance of optimizing for revenue in the early days of D2C and how it has shifted to optimizing for gross and net margin. The importance of considering the era and what you are optimizing for when deciding on a channel strategy.

(18:20) Customer Retention Strategies for CPG

Steps taken to grow customer retention at IQ Bar, including post-purchase surveys and focusing on creating a loyal customer base.

(24:15) Subscription offers, limited-time offers (LTOs), etc… and how that helps the DTC channel. 

(26:00) Why Will is bullish on distributing to offices & other unconventional wholesale distribution outlets

(29:00) Education and Mass Marketability discussion

(32:15) Approach to DTC Retention

Importance of reducing CAC, increasing AOV, and increasing LTV, and how IQ Bar has leaned into the basics and been more scientific over time.

(35:30) What bad recommendations get made often in CPG/DTC

(37:45) Fundraising and Bootstrapping

Advice on fundraising and bootstrapping in the CPG industry, including the importance of raising money, being capital efficient, and valuing time.

(42:00) Investing in Internal Skills 

The importance of investing in internal skill development and building redundancies in the team, rather than outsourcing everything too early.

(46:00)Founder-Led Brand

The impact of sharing your story and being on social media channels like LinkedIn on building a founder-led brand and creating an emotional attachment with the audience over time.

(47:00) Building Relationships and Networking

(48:00) The Ongoing Experiment of Sharing Your Story

(48:59)Where to Find IQ Bar

What’s the right way to think about customer retention on SMS? Adam Turner, CEO of the leading Shopify SMS platform, Postscript, shares the playbook that 1000s of Shopify merchants are using to keep their customers coming back to buy again and again. 

SMS is a heck of a lot more than a one and done sales channel and in this episode Adam offers a tactical approach to keeping customers engaged for the long haul with real examples. We also discuss other topics like why Transactional SMS with Wonderment is a must-have, the role of conversational SMS, how to prepare for the upcoming iOS inbox changes, and much more. If you are doing any sort of SMS marketing, you NEED to listen to this conversation with Adam.

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment — the #1 platform loved by eCommerce support, operations, and marketing teams alike to deliver the most holistic post-purchase experience imaginable. 

Wonderment is the retention iOS used by over 1000 customer-first shopify brands like Jones Road Beauty, Igloo, The Ridge, Simplehuman, and more. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Watch the video format of today's episode here. 

Follow Blake

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Get in touch with Adam and Postscript

Postscript

LinkedIn

Timestamps ⏰

(0:00) - intro

(2:00) - Who is Adam Turner and Postscript?

(5:40) - What’s the Postscript way of SMS what is Subscriber Lifetime Value (SLTV)?

(10:18) - What was the evolution of implementing subscriber LTV and ARMR metrics to measure SMS program health?

(12:45) Wonderment + Postscript is a winning combination for your SMS program

(14:50) What are the common retention mistakes brands make with SMS?
(20:00) What are some of Adam’s favorite SMS examples right now? Gunner Kennels, Mr. Beast's Feastables, & more

(24:23) - Is SMS more than a revenue channel? What does it mean to do great CX over SMS?

(27:57) - What is the true value of transactional SMS given that it’s one of the most engaged texts a brand will ever send?

(31:47) - What are the lowest-hanging fruits to improve customer retention and experience on SMS?

(33:10) - Impending iOS SMS inbox changes… should we be worried and what can we do now?

(36:55) - where is the future of SMS headed?

Rapid fire round get to know Adam better!

(40:18) - what’s the best text that Adam has received from a brand?

(41:27) - Adam’s top 3 albums of all time

(42:00) - If Adam could get a message out to everyone about SMS, what would it be?

(43:00) - What’s the best purchase Adam has made of something under $100?

(43:55) - What is the #1 thing Adam is most proud of during his time at Postscript?

Episode 17 - Blake Imperl @blakeimperl recaps his final 7 takeaways from season 1 on how leading Shopify merchants are getting their customers to come back and buy again. 

If you haven't yet, please leave the podcast a review on Spotify and YouTube and share it with your friends. The TYCA pod is brought to you at zero cost and this is the best way to help grow its reach to more folks in the DTC space! 

The TYCA podcast is your go-to destination for Ecommerce entrepreneurs seeking actionable insights on customer experience, retention, and marketing strategies. In season 1, we covered a wide range of topics to help Shopify merchants grow their businesses and maximize customer lifetime value.

In part 2 of this season 1 recap, we dive deep into the final top 7 takeaways on CX and retention marketing insights from our podcast guests. From building personalized customer experiences to leveraging data-driven decision-making, we reveal the key strategies that top Ecommerce entrepreneurs are using to drive sales and improve customer retention. Whether you're a seasoned Ecommerce veteran or just getting started with your Shopify store, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone looking to take their Ecommerce business to the next level. Tune in now to discover the secrets of Ecommerce success!

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment - the retention Swiss army knife used by hundreds of leading Shopify merchants including The Ridge, Bokksu, Chomps, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to proactively set expectations on shipping timeframes, automatically update customers with delays, and measure shipping expectation vs reality across the business. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Follow Blake

LinkedIn

Twitter

Timestamps
(0:00) - intro
(0:51) - Season 1 recap 
(4:00) - Eric Bandholz: The Journey of Building Beardbrand into a Multi-Million Dollar E-Commerce Business with YouTube & Community - A Visionary Beardpreneur Tale 
(8:32) - Dan Brady - How Pura Vida Built & Maintains a High Performing CX Team | DTC eCommerce CX Best Practices 
(12:25) - Zoe Kahn of Chomps on Turning eCommerce Returns into Returning Customers
(15:48) - Jonathan Snow of The Snow Agency on How to Unleash Your Ecommerce Sales with the Power of Performance PR: The Ultimate Solution to iOS 14 Ad Decline
(20:37) - Alex McEachern of Repeat on How to Increase Repeat Purchase Frequency in DTC eCommerce
(23:45) - Tyler "Sully" Sullivan - A lesson in driving repeat purchases with higher ticket items & getting a DTC brand acquired 
(26:55) - Will Laurensen - The “Big 3” Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Framework for DTC eCommerce and Customer Retention
(32:01) - Season 2 sneak preview! 

Episode 16 - Blake Imperl @blakeimperl recaps his top 8 takeaways from season 1 on how leading Shopify merchants are getting their customers to come back and buy again. 

If you haven't yet, please leave the podcast a review on Spotify and YouTube and share it with your friends. The TYCA pod is brought to you at zero cost and this is the best way to help grow its reach to more folks in the DTC space! 

The TYCA podcast is your go-to destination for Ecommerce entrepreneurs seeking actionable insights on customer experience, retention, and marketing strategies. In season 1, we covered a wide range of topics to help Shopify merchants grow their businesses and maximize customer lifetime value.

In this season 1 recap, we dive deep into the top 8 takeaways on CX and retention marketing insights from our podcast guests. From building personalized customer experiences to leveraging data-driven decision-making, we reveal the key strategies that top Ecommerce entrepreneurs are using to drive sales and improve customer retention. Whether you're a seasoned Ecommerce veteran or just getting started with your Shopify store, this podcast is a must-listen for anyone looking to take their Ecommerce business to the next level. Tune in now to discover the secrets of Ecommerce success!

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment - the retention Swiss army knife used by hundreds of leading Shopify merchants including The Ridge, Bokksu, Chomps, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to proactively set expectations on shipping timeframes, automatically update customers with delays, and measure shipping expectation vs reality across the business. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Follow Blake

LinkedIn

Twitter

Timestamps
(0:00) - intro
(0:51) - Season 1 recap 
(3:57) - Jess Cervellon, Head of CX at Feastables on Transactional SMS as a customer relationship tool
(8:27) - Eli Weiss and Joanne Coffey (Jones Road Beauty) on how to create an amazing CX and Retention program for your Shopify store
(15:43) - Ash Melwani, CMO at Obvi, on how Obvi creates life-long customers
(20:38) - Cameron Faist, Director of Ecommerce at Aura Bora, on why the transactional channel is a game changer for customer retention
(23:47) - Ari Murray, VP of Growth at Sharma Brands, on how to create a seasonal product drop for your Shopify store that will sell out and keep customers coming back again and again
(27:51) - Stuart Arsenault, CEO at Junip, on how to capture better customer reviews and UGC from your customers
(32:57) - Ben Zettler, Founder of Ben Zettler Digital, on how to creative email/SMS content that will absolutely captivate your audience
(37:49) - Stephanie Griffith, on how to properly use Conversational SMS to build relationships with customers
(42:49) - Season 2 sneak preview! 

Eric Bandholz is the founder of Beardbrand, a bootstrapped men's grooming company that has leveraged YouTube and community to grow into a thriving business. 

In this episode, Eric shares his inspiring journey from corporate America to entrepreneurship, why the core values drive everything they do, how Beardbrand creates loyal beardsmen, what it’s taken to create a loyal YouTube following, advice for creating authentic content, a 2022 recap and 2023 outlook, why he’s investing back in Amazon,  and of course a ton of advice to any current or aspiring DTC founders.

Eric is a masterful storyteller and educator and I guarantee you will walk away with at least a few nuggets of wisdom.

The TYCA Podcast is made possible by Wonderment, the retention Swiss army knife trusted by over 1,000 leading Shopify merchants, including The Ridge, Bokksu, Igloo, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to de-stress your support team, delight your customers, and drive more revenue. Don't miss this opportunity to see why outstanding Shopify brands are using Wonderment to maximize their earnings from existing customers. Head over to www.wonderment.com now to learn more.

Watch the video format of today's episode here. 

Follow Blake

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Get in touch with Eric

Beardbrand

Twitter

Listen to Eric’s Podcast eCommerce Conversations

Grab Eric’s Foundr Masterclass on Content Marketing

Timestamps 

(0:52) - intro 

(1:52) - Who is Eric Bandholz? What is Beardbrand?

(3:30) - Eric’s journey from the corporate world to becoming an entrepreneur 

(6:55) - What parts of the eCommerce business does Eric enjoy the most?

(7:55) - What parts of the eCommerce business does Eric not enjoy?

(8:45) - The power of setting core values when building a business

(13:58) - How does Beardbrand keep customers coming back to buy again and again?

(17:48) - The origins of building the Beardbrand community and content strategy

(19:30) - What’s the process like for creating Beardbrand YouTube content?

(23:20) - Do you need to go all-in on YouTube content to be successful?

(28:25) - Why chasing YouTube views is a vanity metric in eCommerce + lessons from Mr. Beast

(31:00) - What touch points go into turning a 1-time Beardbrand customer into a loyal customer?

(35:50) - Is the customer always right? Advice on getting feedback and taking action

(42:00) - What was 2022 like for Beardbrand? What’s coming in 2023?

(45:00) - Eric’s Amazon Strategy in 2023

(47:00) - Fear of Amazon cannibalizing the DTC channel?

(52:10) - What’s the thing that Eric is most proud of over the last 10 years of Beardbrand?

(55:30) - Where to buy Beardbrand products and get in touch with Eric

Struggling to improve your paid acquisition performance? Then you NEED to listen to this. Jonathan Snow, COO at the Snow Agency, gives a masterclass on performance PR funnels and why they’re the secret to unlocking stronger ad performance. We cover how to set up the funnels, 8 different angles you can take, how to lower CPMs and increase CTRs across your ads, the impact these funnels have on customer acquisition and so much more. 

I can’t believe Jon gave away these insights for free! If you are seeking a new way to think about customer acquisition and retention, this episode is for you! 

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment - the retention Swiss army knife used by hundreds of leading Shopify merchants including The Ridge, Bokksu, Chomps, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to proactively set expectations on shipping timeframes, automatically update customers with delays, and measure shipping expectation vs reality across the business. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Watch the video format of today's episode here 

Follow Blake

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Want to get in touch with Jon and the Snow Agency? Click here

Connect with Jon on social

LinkedIn

Twitter

Reach out directly: jon@thesnowagency.com 

Timestamps ⏰

(0:00) - intro

(0:58) - The Start of the conversation

(1:32) - Who is Jonathan Snow and The Snow Agency?

(3:32) - Why is ad performance declining?

(7:40) - What is performance PR? Unpack it

(11:15) - Wonderment the #1 customer experience and retention app for leading Shopify brands

(12:44) - Live demo/walkthrough of a performance PR funnel (the video is available on YouTube :)

(16:06) - What other ad angles work well with performance PR?

(17:55) - How do you determine the best angle for your brand?

(19:45) - Is creative or copy more important in Performance PR?

(21:22) - The Influencer angle deep dive

(23:30) - Retargeting strategies for Performance PR funnels

(25:28) - If performance PR works so well… why isn’t everyone doing this yet?

(26:25) - Why should you work with the Snow Agency for performance PR instead of doing this yourself?

(28:20) - What other benefits does performance PR offer?

(30:30) - Can performance PR work for every vertical in DTC?

(31:00) - The correlation between Performance PR and Retention

(32:52) - Does paid media’s job stop after you acquire the customer?

(35:40) - Jon’s bold predictions for 2023

(40:15) - Get in touch with Jon and The Snow Agency

I can’t believe Dan gave these CX insights for free! Learn how Dan Brady a CX Leader at Pura Vida has created and maintained an exceptionally motivated/ high-performing CX team. 

His approach: focus on the employee experience! If you want to improve your CX team's performance, boost morale, reduce turnover, AND make happier customers… this episode is for you. After hearing Dan’s approach to CX it’ll be no surprise why this leading Shopify brand has absolutely crushed the customer experience!

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment - the retention Swiss army knife used by hundreds of leading Shopify merchants including The Ridge, Bokksu, Chomps, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to proactively set expectations on shipping timeframes, automatically update customers with delays, and measure shipping expectation vs reality across the business. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Watch the video format of today's episode here. 

Follow Blake

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Connect with Dan

Timestamps ⏰
(0:00) - intro

(1:50) - Who is Dan Brady and Pura Vida?

(4:23) - How did you get into CX as a profession?

(7:50) - The “5 Pillars” of a Great CX Leader

(10:15) - Wonderment - the #1 CX Swiss Army Knife for Leading Shopify Brands

(11:28) - How do you structure and build a high-performing CX team

(15:28) - Is it taboo to outsource a CX team? Why has Pura Vida chosen to outsource?

(19:00) - Keeping the average time to first response as low as possible

(20:48) - Advice for hiring great CX team members (Advocate)

(23:45) - The core tenants to fostering a high-performing CX environment 

(28:54) - what tools are necessary to enable a CX team to be high-performing?

(33:20) - Advice for merchants who may not have a highly motivated CX team or need to change the course

(37:50) - Pulling it together… What is Pura Vida’s overall approach then to CX?

(41:50) - Dan’s #1 takeaway for a CX leader listening who wants to improve their team performance

(43:30) - What was the state of the CX team at Pura Vida like when Dan started 2 years ago and how did he approach keeping team morale high while transitioning from the previous leader

(47:40) - How Pura Vida is Collecting feedback from customers and then taking action on it

(53:00) - What has been the biggest lesson learned in serving the CX team at Pura Vida?

(55:45) - What is Dan most excited about in 2023 for Pura Vida?

(57:00) - Coming soon: Pura Vida’s SMS Support Channel 

(59:00) - Closing thoughts

Customer returns CAN turn into returning customers. If you want to minimize the impact returns have on your Shopify store, this one is for you. Zoe Kahn, Sr. Associate of Customer Experience over at Chomps lays her comprehensive framework for doing just this.

We discuss what steps your CX team should take, how to collect/take action on returns feedback, why returns software solutions aren’t always necessary (hot take!), how to measure LTV of customers who return, what the future of returns looks like, and plenty of CX best practices along the way. 

The TYCA Podcast is brought to you by Wonderment - the retention Swiss army knife used by hundreds of leading Shopify merchants including The Ridge, Bokksu, Chomps, and Jones Road Beauty. 

Wonderment is the easiest way to proactively set expectations on shipping timeframes, automatically update customers with delays, and measure shipping expectation vs reality across the business. Check out www.wonderment.com today. 

Watch the video format of today's episode here.

Follow Blake

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Follow Zoe on Twitter
Check out Chomps
Get more info on the Oopsie Podcast by Zoe & Jess Cervellon (Feastables)

Timestamps
0:00 - intro

2:10 - Who is Zoe Kahn & Chomps?

5:00 - What is the return policy like at Chomps?

6:10 - Why did Chomps switch from 30 to 45 days with their returns policy?

7:50 - How does Chomps turn customer returns into returning customers?

9:40 - Wonderment - the retention swiss army knife you NEED in your eComm tech stack

10:40 - The returns decision tree - how to get a favorable outcome for both the brand and customer

12:40 - A customer gives negative feedback…. Now what? How do you actually do something about it? 

17:00- Keeping feedback loops between CX and product/leadership consistent over time

19:40 - Why should brands even offer a generous return policy - especially with consumables where the product is useless after opening?

22:05 - The paradigm shift of seeing returned items as “samples” to retain customers

23:30- Why Chomps hasn’t chosen to use a returns solution… and your brand might also not need one.

29:00 - The KPIs for CX are broken… why lowering resolutions times is the wrong approach

32:00 - Why chomps doesn’t try to deflect tickets and conversations at all cost

34:00 - What other steps can we take to minimize customer returns?

36:45 - Should you bend returns policies for customers? - Eli Weiss question.

40:45 - What's one bold prediction for CX in 2023?

43:45 How Chomps is measuring the LTV of customers who return

45:30 - The Oopsie Podcast preview & final thoughts