The Needle Movement Podcast: Recent Episodes
Stephen Carl
Unfiltered commentary on eCommerce, digital marketing and emerging trends like conversational marketing and sustainability. Stephen Carl and his guests dive into growth strategies, best practices and tools that move the needle. Enjoyed by retail brand owners, go-getters with Shopify stores and other entrepreneurs.
Get ready for an immersive podcast episode that's all about cracking the code of email marketing. Our special guest, Jeff Luscynski from Convert Factor - an email marketing agency – is here to join us.
In this episode, Jeff will take us on a step-by-step journey through an ideal welcome series sequence. He'll break down each email, revealing the themes behind them, the psychological tactics in copywriting, and what essential elements to include in every message.
Whether you're a newbie in email marketing or a seasoned pro, don't miss out on this episode that's packed with actionable tips and tricks on how to further master email marketing.
Highlights:
(06:15) email campaigns vs. automation: explaining the differences
(08:51) Jeff goes thru a few optimization tricks during an email audit.
(11:15) why the welcome sequence is low-hanging fruit for brands
(14:o2) the cardinal sins of email: what brands do wrong and how to avoid those.
(18:08) where copywriting fits into the email and how to stand out
(21:01) how to add persuasion and humor into email creatives.
(24:06) the elements of a killer welcome email sequence
(25:10) email #1: letter from the founder. Telling the origin story and the product’s unique value.
(29:44) email #2: the full sales argument - what your product solves.
(32:27) email #3: features & benefits
(33:15) email #4: frequently-asked questions
(34:35) email #5: showcase customer reviews
(35:44) email #6: the urgency email and using FOMO
(36:48) Using static codes vs. dynamic codes in email marketing
(37:50) Jeff tells us his favorite song
Connect with Jeff Lussynski:
Convert Factor
Welcome Series Walkthrough Article
Jeff’s eCommerce Brand
Chase Clymer is the Co-founder of Electric Eye, an agency that increases sales for eCommerce brands. Chase is also the host of Honest Ecommerce, a weekly podcast providing Shopify store owners with honest, actionable advice to increase their sales and grow their businesses.
Listen in as he discusses strategies for eCommerce growth and how to scale Shopify brands.
The ebook was created with the intention of helping Shopify brands simplify growth by focusing on three key performance indicators: conversion rate, average order value, and sessions.
We’ll also tackle other topics towards the end, including the Grammys and Chase’s favorite songs.
Highlights:
(01:04) Download Chase’s free eBook about eCommerce Growth: Double Your Sales eBook
(03: 59) Distilling Ecommerce Growth Strategy and Filtering the Noise
(06:42) “eCommerce is Math”: The Simple Formula for store success.
(09:25) Tips for Tracking Website Statistics & Improving Conversion Rates
(13:33) How to Improve Website Performance: Landing Pages, Customer Journey, and Website Speed
(18:52) Optimizing Your eCommerce Website for Higher Conversion Rates and Average Order Value
(23:58) On-site Product Bundling and Upselling - Chase walks thru the entire cart experience and a great app that he recommends for stores.
(27:50) The 3-Step Funnel of Online Business: Top, Middle and Bottom.
(32:52) Mistakes Brands Make while Scaling Their Business: Don’t do this!
(36:14) Importance of Adaptability in Brand Marketing
(41:07) The Grammys and three song picks that Chase swears by.
Connect with Chase Clymer:
Website: https://brandscalingframework.com/ (download eBook here)
Podcast: https://honestecommerce.co/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaseclymer/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HonestEcommerce
Other Links:
Triple Whale: https://www.triplewhale.com
SEO expert Noah Learner joins us for a lively discussion on how SEO can work for anyone while introducing a powerful new tool, Branch Explorer.
Noah is the VP of Product at Two Octobers and has recently spoken at large marketing conferences including MozCon and SearchLove
Listen in while he walks thru his SEO checklist and how he was able to triple his income in the past few years. Noah has some great career advice to share.
We’ll also discuss other fun topics: the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry, Noah’s favorite song and how to master public speaking.
Highlights:
(00:04)Introducing Noah Learner
(03:14) Noah’s take on TikTok. Is it a serious threat to SEO?
(08:08)How do Shopify stores start with SEO? Noah provides 3 specific recommendations.
(12:45)The Return on Investment for SEO and how brands can find obvious revenue there.
(18:41) A powerful tool to use: Explorer for Search - it collects millions of rows of data from Google previous unseen to uncover insights.
(23:09) How to Onboard the Explorer tool via a consultation.
(25:38) How Noah built his personal network over many years which later led to higher income down the line.
(31:51)Noah discusses his speaking experiences at large conferences and how to master public speaking.
(35:02) Noah’s pre-game routine and what he does before a public presentation.
(38:25) Noah’s favorite song in the universe.
(40:33) Noah’s a Red Sox fan. Stephen’s a Yankees fan. Can they still be friends?
Connect with Noah Learner:
Website: Noah Learner - Two Octobers
Twitter:Noah Learner (@noahlearner)
LinkedIn:Noah Learner - Co-Founder / VP of Product - Branch Tools
Links Mentioned:
Branch.tools - Noah’s powerful new SEO tool
Jepto.com -Unify your marketing data and management
Ella and Louis on Spotify
It’s our first episode of the new year. Our #1 goal for 2023 is to make growth stress-free. No more late night freak-outs or tense meetings about hitting revenue numbers.
We’ll review four initiatives that set you up for success: Education, Copywriting, Email Marketing and Customer Acquisition. They all work together to give savvy brands an enormous edge. We’ll cover how education sets you up for elite performance, why copywriting is the secret sauce to better results and how to balance getting new audiences in with keeping your current customers on cloud nine. Also included, is a 3-step email marketing action plan on what to prioritize – Hint: it’s the items that we’ve seen from our clients drive revenue the most.
Image credit: Photo by Hadija Saidi on Unsplash
Highlights:
(02:40) Education in Digital Marketing and Ecommerce
(04:19) Why marketers need to be open to education
(07:36) How to get better at email marketing
(10:22) Demystifying copywriting and why it’s the secret sauce to improve performance.
(15:53) ChatGPT and AI-writing assistants
(17:17) The Power of Email Marketing
(18:43) 3 initiatives that will move the needle on email marketing. Which ones to prioritize?
(24:27) What’s the right amount of customer acquisition?
Links mentioned + guest website, and social accounts links and handle:
Klaviyo Academy
Dan Nelken Creative
Postscript
Ben Settle
ChatGPT: Optimizing Language Models for Dialogue
Needle Movement Episode 27: Dan Demsky
Needle Movement Episode 54: Chase Clymer
Ask Stephen a question about this episode:
Stephen@needlemovement.com
Klaviyo, the most popular eCommerce email platform for Shopify stores, recently made a slew of product upgrades and a lot in eCommerce marketers are wondering – ‘What the heck am I going to do with all these new features?”
Be sure not to miss this episode as Stephen walks through each new Klaviyo feature along with real-life examples from Needle Movement clients on eCommerce email campaigns and lifecycle automations.
Can't wait to discuss the new Klaviyo feature that brands used to pay six-figures a year to have in their marketing toolbox and how it can save email and SMS marketers time building.
Highlights:
(00:55 )Klayvio’s Announcement of New Products
(07:24)Email Marketing Guide: 10 Steps to Build Out Emails
(13:05The New Updated Email Template Editor
(14:40)The Integration of Google Ads
(15:31 )New Feature: Product Recommendations
(18:33)The Advanced Segmentation Reference (Audience Breakdown)
(22:13)New Product Features: Text with Virtual Contact Cards
Links mentioned:
New Email Editor: Create Engaging Emails, Faster | Klaviyo Product Features
Klaviyo Product Recommendations: Make Your Product Recommendations More Personal | Klaviyo Product Features
Google Ads: Google Ads Integration | Klaviyo Product Updates
REST APIs: Klaviyo Rest APIs - Always New | Klaviyo Product Features
An in-depth show covering the less-discussed aspects of Black Friday / Cyber Monday email and sms strategy for eCommerce brands. Stephen will discuss the two things to do before the prime holiday season hits and walk through the entire holiday calendar through early 2023. The episode covers lessons learned from Needle Movement managing BFCM campaigns for many years and what digital marketers can expect for the most important sales season of the year.
Make sure to stay tuned and don’t miss out on this episode!
Highlights:
(02:30) BFCM and the Holiday Season
(03:54) The Idea of Learning, Unlearning and Re-learning
(08:21) The Reason for SMS
(10:50) Gorgias Chat: What’s in it?
(14:20) What are the skills necessary for an email marketing team?
(18:06) Why you need to prepare for email automation for the holiday season
(21:52) The Holiday Calendar: What you need to know and things you should do
(35:12) Few different flavors of messages that work with buyers and subscribers
Links:
LinkedIn: Stephen Carl - Founder - Needle Movement | LinkedIn
Website: About Needle Movement
Mentioned:
https://www.gorgias.com/
Gorgias Playbook
The CX-Driven Growth Playbook
Attentive Black Friday
Black Friday Cyber Monday | Attentive | Attentive
Shopify Black Friday
Black Friday Ecommerce: 18 Idea, Tips, and Strategies for 2022
Klaviyo Black Friday
Black Friday Cyber Monday email campaign examples [2022] | Klaviyo Blog
It's the second appearance of Mike Rosen on the Needle Movement podcast. He's become our resident mental health expert (not officially, but sorta true).
Mike and Stephen have an in-depth conversation about success and how to stay sane throughout your career, full of applicable tips listeners can use.
Plus, he's also got an amazing relationship gem to share - it's that good.
Mike's last appearance was episode 10 which was good enough that Stephen's family demanded his return (his mother requested it). So, we made it happen.
What are you waiting for? Tune in and remember: Your mental health matters too! You deserve every opportunity for happiness and success in life!
Highlights:
(01:29) Getting to Know Mark Rosen
(05:00) How has the pandemic impacted mental health for professionals and those in the business world?
(10:43) How has mental health been impacted from the recent turn of events?
(12:48) Remote Work vs American Working Culture
(16:55) Myers Briggs Personality Profiles: Defining a Better Work Situation For You
(19:24) What’s a healthier way of coming up with our own success metrics?
(22:08) The LA Philosophy
(24:20) Mark’s advice for a healthy marriage
(29:24) Mark’s best piece of advice for you
(31:29) Healing activities that you can do for your mental health
Links:
Instagram: Mike Rosen, MS. Ed. (@heymikerosen) • Instagram photos and videos
Website: Mike Rosen
Books mentioned:
Dorie Clark’s Books
Books - Dorie Clark
In any business, good PR is always an edge. How can you establish high media exposure for your company?
In today’s episode of the Needle Movement Podcast, we are joined by Stephen Karaolis, Founder and CEO of Pear the Agency– a PR agency focused on working with fast-growth companies and startups. Stephen and his team have landed clients in top-tier publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Glamour Inc, and more.
Stephen will give us some tips on how companies should handle PR and how to use social media for additional exposure, and even how to build relationships with reporters that can help you with your press release or pitch.
Highlights:
(01:43) How didPear the Agency start and what does it do for the clients?
(08:27) How can you get that hook that's going to attract that attention that you want for your business?
(:36) Twitter: A Great Place for PR and More Opportunities
(14:09) Pear the Agency: How has it been growing throughout the years?
(17:27) Online tools to help you measure PR
(20:26) What is the process of validation in companies?
(26:04) Stephen’s tips and point of view on doing PR
(30:15) What is the best piece of advice that Stephen would share with a digital marketer?
(36:06) Stephen’s one song that you should listen to at least once
Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephenKaraolis?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Instagram: Stephen Karaolis (@stephenkaraolis) • Instagram photos and videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenkaraolis/overlay/contact-info/
Website: Pear the Agency
Email: stephen@pairtheagency.com
“I'm not in this for the money, I'm in this for building community for having fun and being able to tell stories. ” -Jesse Williams
In today’s episode of The Needle Movement Podcast, we are joined by Jesse Williams. He is the artist and founder of multiple NFT projects including Bushido Apes and Bushido Royale (launching in early July 2022).
Jesse will share about his journey from full-time chef to full-time artist, why he’s obsessed with samurai and his future vision of NFTs converging with tabletop gaming.
Highlights:
(02:15) Jesse’s journey in becoming an NFT Artist
(04:38)NFTs from an Artist’s Point of View
(06:10)What makes Bushido Apes and Bushido Royale special?
(12:36)The Limitless Opportunities in NFTs
(13:51)What platforms are used in Bushido Apes and Bushido Royale?
(21:49)Jesse’s studio plans and his day-to-day as an artist
Links:
Website:Bushido Apes
Bushido Royale
LinkedIn:Jesse Williams
Email: Jessewilliams.art@gmail.com
Mentioned:
Akira Kurosawa
Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) · Sturgill Simpson
Research can makes so much difference in our outcomes. Today, we walk through how to build a research framework. Due diligence is an undervalued art and a science. Done well, it’s simpler to select ideal partners and avoid bad ones.
Tune in to this episode and we’ll share secrets on how to do research the right way, our test case is evaluating NFT projects with a couple examples including NBA Top Shot.
What are you waiting for? Press that play button now!
Cover image by Alessandro Bianchi on Unsplash
Highlights:
[3:35] Why we need research?
[6:35] The Importance of Having a Research Framework
[8:02] The components: Team, Artwork, Utility, Media, Business Community, Bias
[8:40] The Team: Investing in great builders.
[10:15] Artwork: You have to visually enjoy what you buy.
[10:51] Artwork brings people in and Utility keeps them from selling.
[13:05] Doing detective work and look at website, twitter and discord properties to find the dirt.
[15:15] Business Capital: The power of VCs and celebrity and what to watch out for.
[17:04] Research yourself and your own bias.
[19:50] NBA Top Shot: Our evaluation using the Research Framework
[23:37] Parallel NFT: Our Evaluation using the Research Framework
Links:
Parallel NFT: https://parallel.life/
NBA Top Shot: https://nbatopshot.com/
Meltem Demirors: https://www.meltemdemirors.com/
Paradigm’s $500 million investment into Parallel NFT https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/21/nft-sci-fi-card-game-parallel-raises-at-500m-valuation-from-paradigm/
eCommerce expert Chase Clymer shares his playbook: The Brand Scaling Framework which has helped his agency's brands grow from $1 million to $10 million in revenue. If you haven't seen Chase before on his podcast Honest eCommerce or as a speaker on a Shopify Town Hall, he's a gigabrain that's definitely worth a follow.
Stephen and Chase walk through a bunch of real-life scenarios to illustrate new tactics and the shortlist of items of what brands must hyper-focus on. A can't miss episode that you'll definitely walk away from with new knowledge.
What are you waiting for? Tune in now!
Highlights:
[06:09]How to Determine Product-Market Fit in Your Industry
[09:21]The 3 KPIs a Business Should Worry About
[11:20]Conversion Rate: What It Means for Your Business
[17:07]Ideal Customers versus Mass Market
[18:37]How to handle business navigation
[20:12]How to get higher average order
[24:33]Ways to increase your website traffic
[29:48]How to stay on track with the framework?
Links:
Website:Honest Ecommerce
Electric Eye
LinkedIn:Chase Clymer
Twitter:Chase Clymer
Youtube:Honest Ecommerce
Others:
The Black Keys (Band)
Do you wanna taste it by Wig Wam (Song)
James Gunn
The Punk Rock MBA
Our 2022 annual trends and predictions show is here! For the new year, we'll discuss on the state of eCommerce, financial markets and three new trends that are emerging: the importance of owned media, eCommerce gamification and how individuals and businesses can navigate the Metaverse.
Tune in to this episode and learn the new trends of the year.
Highlights:
[02:16]Trend# 1: Marketing is a Flywheel not a Funnel
[05:59]The Difference Between Owned Media and Paid Media
[07:20]How brands can optimize email marketing
[12:15]Trend# 2: Make Shopping Fun
[14:26]How do product quizzes work?
[16:21]Trend# 3: Metaverse
[17:38]What the Internet tells us about where the Metaverse is headed
[21:03]The State of Financial and Crypto Markets for the year 2022
[24:01]How does a brand benefit from the Metaverse trend?
[26:50]Accepting crypto at eCommerce store checkout.
[30:58]What brands can do with NFTs in 2022
Image Credit: Photo by Willem Chan on Unsplash
Links:
Examples of eCommerce Shopping Quiz Examples
The Marketing Funnel vs the Marketing Flywheel
Accepting Digital Currencies on an eCommerce website
People Mentioned:
Ted Koppel
Damien Hirst
Shepard Fairey
In this episode, we focus on one of modern marketing’s most hidden tactics: FOMO (The Fear of Missing Out). FOMO appears everywhere: in shopping, NFTs, investing, choosing which TV show to know, you name it. It crosses through everything we talk about: digital marketing, the metaverse, NFTs and eCommerce.
We’ll walk through examples from both sides: the marketer and the consumer. How marketers use FOMO to persuade shoppers to act quickly and how consumers can access their internal FOMO in order to make smarter buying decisions.
Highlights:
[01:26] Taking a Different Approach to New Year's Resolutions
[03:43]The recent news about NFTs: Nike’s acquisition of RTFKT, Adidas collab with the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Facebook’s rebrand to Meta.
[05:35]What is the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)?
[09:07]One of our favorite marketing books: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini.
[09:45]The scarcity principle and social proof.
[11:15]The FOMO playbook for digital marketers: here’s a few tips.
[12:40]The importance of testimonials and how to acquire more for your business.
[16:08]FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) for Consumers: How to be a smarter shopper.
[17:30]Two FOMO experiences: Why Stephen hasn’t watched the show Breaking Bad and will probably never own a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT.
[21:05]Building your own FOMO-meter. The three questions to ask to ward off the fear of missing out.
Links:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Book)King Richard (Film)Breaking Bad (Drama Series)
Bored Ape Yacht Club (NFT)
Headspace (Meditation App)
Insight Timer (Meditation App)
NFT is in a good spot right now because it's a ten-billion-dollar market that began from nothing earlier this year. It's enormous enough that we know it's here to stay, but it's also small enough that those who learn about it first have a strategic edge over those who don't.
Stephen Carl begins a new series of NFT trading. He'll talk about what he learned this year and what he wishes someone had told him before. Btw, the image in the episode cover is from Parallel Alpha, an NFT project that just received a $50 million investment.
Now that the secret is finally out, learn more about it by listening to this episode!
Highlights:
[04:46] Introducing our new series on NFT trading
[05:01] What web3 and the metaverse are all about?
[09:00] The importance of doing extensive research and building a thesis
[10:20] The origins of the product drop.
[11:52] How to time the market: NFT drops vs the secondary market (Opensea)
[12:04] How community and participation fit into NFTs and what eCommerce brands can learn.
[13:30] How the Bored Ape Yacht Club crossed paths with The Strokes.
[15:20] Tip #1: The NFT is growing: A closer look at the numbers.
[18:22] Tip #2: Buy what you like and have high conviction.
[19:40] Stephen’s high conviction NFT: Parallel Alpha
[21:50] Tip #3: Being aware of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out
[23:15] Tip #4: The best things happen when the market is quiet. And vice versa.
Link:
Parallel.life
Boredapeyachtclub.com
Opensea.io
Taiki Maeda - YouTube
People mentioned:
Mark Zuckerberg
Jeff Bezo
Gary Vernaychuk
Grimes
Elon Musk
With our 50th episode celebration, the topic is only fitting: gratitude. How being thankful is great for business and other parts of your life too. During this episode, Stephen walks through four tips to walk away with that allow people to play offense with managing their mental health. The origins and process of the Needle Movement podcast will be discussed, along with a little reminiscing about the challenges of recording the first few Needle Movement shows.
Highlights:
[01:05]Celebrating the milestone and all the podcast contributors.
[03:10]What we’ve learned after 50 episodes.
[05:30]The importance of early adoption
[07:20]How Gratitude can be helpful towards better mental health
[10:05]Gratitude Tip #1: Celebrate the Moment
[12:36]Gratitude Tip #2: Make Gratitude a Daily Ritual
[15:43]Gratitude Tip #3: Be Grateful at Work
[19:40]Gratitude #4: Lose Your Grudges
Links:
Website:needlemovement.com
LinkedIn:Stephen Carl
Instagram:needlemovement
Books:
Atomic Habits
APP Mentioned:
Insight Timer
People Mentioned:
Sarah Jane Ponce Asok
Chase Clymer
Dylan Kelley
Dan Harris
The term "metaverse" is becoming practically unavoidable, especially among those who are into pop culture, technology, shopping and gaming. Find out more about metaverse and why it has become popular and what are the reasons behind its rise.
In this solo episode of the Needle Movement Podcast, Stephen will give an insider’s view about Metaverse based on six months of NFT collection and research and walk through the difference between physical and virtual goods using popular examples including iPhones and Shopify.
Listen to this podcast now as we dive deep into the the Value Proposition in Metaverse.
Highlights:
[03:48] Stephen’s origins in the early Internet years and how the Metaverse compares to that transformational tech shift.
[5:15]It’s not just one thing: learning the different parts of the Metaverse ecosystem.
[07:47] When will this Metaverse stuff actually happen?? This year or in 10 years?
[10:20]The Ethos of the Metaverse - where early adopters benefit from getting to the party early and the “digital country club” aspect where owners become an incentivized community.
[11:35] What if Shopify was a metaverse protocol? Walking through Shopify’s growth and the differences between what happens at a normal company and a metaverse project.
[13:33] Explaining Web 3.0 and how participants resemble shareholders in some aspects.
[14:30]What eCommerce companies can learn from Metaverse projects: community and organic engagement
[16:45]The key benefit for early adopters and why they purchase virtual goods like NFTs.
=======================================================
Links:
Website:https://www.needlemovement.com
LinkedIn:Stephen Carl
People Mentioned:
Timothy Berners-Lee
To succeed in this commercial environment full of prospective competitors, you must stand out with your own plan and abilities that involve knowing your customer’s ultimate need.
In this episode, Jeremy Parker, CEO, and Co-Founder of Swag.com, an online marketplace that offers a broad variety of customized branded products, discuss how you can utilize your customers' interactions as a component in expanding your business by understanding their needs and demands.
Links:
Website: https://swag.com/
Email: jeremy@swag.com
Metaverse is a massive transformative trend that corresponds to the breath of massive internet adaptation in the late 1990s decade, and some of the components of the metaverse are web3.0, selling digital goods in the same way that physical goods can be sold and have value, gaming and virtual worlds NFT and cryptocurrency.
In this episode, we are joined by Cathy Hackl, a globally recognized tech futurist. She’s a business executive, keynote speaker & strategist with deep expertise in AR, VR, spatial computing, virtual goods, virtual worlds & the Metaverse. One of the most influential women in tech, Hackl is considered a leading management thinker by Thinkers50 & a top technology voice on LinkedIn. She founded the Futures Intelligence Group & has worked for some of the biggest names in tech including Amazon Web Services, Magic Leap & HTC VIVE.
Many have heard the term "Metaverse" but are uncertain where to begin. Passing fad or lasting trend, what's it going to be? During this solo episode, Stephen will walk through popular use cases of the Metaverse – ranging from NFTs to Web 3.0 to decentralized finance – and in the end, provide an action plan to help listeners prepare for this paradigm shift. This intro is intentionally placed before our next episode with Cathy Hackl, Forbes writer and renowned futuris where we'll talk further on Metaverse concepts.
Did you know Spring is Shopify season? It's when CEO Tobi Lutke & company typically announce a stream of new features in sync with its annual conference, Shopify Unite in May. Special guest Rick Watson will guide us through a discussion on key Shopify executive departures and the latest alpha on where the platform is headed in the next 12 months.
Sometimes, experts get granular when they discuss Shopify how-tos and digital marketing hacks. We'll do the exact opposite and walk through their big-picture roadmap: Marketplaces, wholesale, international, Shopify Pay, Shopify Fulfillment Network, CFO-as-a-service (Shopify Balance) and even their stock price on this episode.
Creating social media content can be a huge time-suck and often, takes up the valuable bandwidth of marketing teams. Join us with special guest Kate Bradley Chernis for an innovative fix. She is the CEO and co-founder of Lately AI, a social media automation platform which helps brands turns videos and website content into rapid-fire social media posts. We'll walk through Kate's journey from Sirius XM Radio DJ to emerging tech entrepreneur, the current state of content automation, and the exciting new tools available for emerging brands to do social media marketing at scale. Lately AI counts companies as diverse as SAP, Gary Vaynerchuk (and Needle Movement) as their current clients.
2021 is barely three months old and there's already a huge winner in eCommerce: the NBA. In October, they launched NBA Top Shot, a digital sports memorabilia platform that is already on pace to make over $1 billion this year – all done with little to no advertising. How did they do it? During this solo episode, Stephen will go under the hood and walk through how the NBA innovated common eCommerce concepts such as owned media, product drops, customer service, lotteries and secondary markets to create a highly-engaged community experience that over 500,000 people regularly use. And how online businesses can make these concepts their own and what in the near future to look out in the exciting world of virtual eCommerce and NFTs.
A funny thing happened in between the taping of this episode a few weeks ago and its release: the company started trending on Google! Special guest PJ Taei of UScreen joins us to talk shop about video monetization and how brands can market their expertise by creating their own Netflix. The creator economy is changing video and brands can learn a thing or two from what influencers are doing to make the most out of their video library.
Community and partnerships are more critical than ever these days – but often, these terms become buzzwords without a manual. See how they're done from two experts - Chioma and Uchenna Ngwudo, the founders of Cee Cee's Closet NYC, who've developed partnerships with huge media brands like HBO and boost an active social media community of 180,000 people Cee Cee's Closet is an accessories and apparel project designed to celebrate and advertise the beauty and culture of West African print.
It's time for a b!tch session! These days, most of us work with consultants or agencies to achieve our goals. we're either on the client side or the agency side. We can have all the tools but it's the team that handles the execution. And often, that's not just in-house people. With the gig economy too, the agency/client relationship has evolved. Staffing is so much different these days. Special guests Wendy Hu of Visual Conductor and Jason Zotara of Ten26 Media, both agency owners, join our panel and we'll have some fun with this episode, talking about why agencies suck. why clients suck. But ultimately, it's about how you can get more out of these collaborations.
An exciting update: there's a new season of Needle Movement podcast episodes coming soon and today, we'll share the deets including some programming updates. This time of year, many of us are setting ambitious business and personal goals for the upcoming twelve months. Today, we'll share a couple of proven tactics to help you hit your marks: the multi-year journey and the 12-week year approaches. In the final segment, you'll get a sneak peek of two upcoming episodes along with a short discussion of the benefits of intentionally slowing down projects in order to reach a happier overall state.
On this solo episode, we discuss the five 2021 digital trends to prepare for – the new business models of selling online outside of direct eCommerce, how businesses are using fun and games to attract new audiences, the building momentum of conversation commerce, and what to do with the Facebook-Apple turf war on paid media. And Stephen debates the business adaptability of the Bee Gees vs Dr. Dre and why Lego Batman is the best-caped crusader film of all-time.
In this episode, we will be joined by two judges, one is Christina Hagopian, President, and Creative Director of Hagopian ink that has clients from fashion, global beverages, cosmetic companies, and other industry-leading event businesses including Mercedes-Benz, Burberry London, Pepsi Co, and many more.
This episode will also be graced by another judge, Corinne Watson, a researcher and writer for SMS provider postscript as they both pick their best brands for Holiday Season 2020 that includes those who have the best offers and profits during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Writing for eCommerce platforms is one of the key elements in selling. It has to be strategic enough to convert leads and revenues.
**In this episode, our special guest Kaleigh Moore will share her formula on how to become a stronger copywriter over time.
Kaleigh has created 75+ #1 Google search ranking articles for client-designated keyword phrases and has written eCommerce pieces for Forbes, Shopify, Vogue Business and Adweek,**
Kaleigh will also discuss the things that could help you become a better and fluent writer, the importance of focus groups and research, and some tricks to persuading your customer base.
On this solo episode is Part Two of holiday marketing and Black Friday Cyber Monday Strategy. Definitely check out the companion episode, Part I, Episode 28, which was taped back in August. Everyone's crystal ball is a bit wonky - COVID has changed the landscape and this will be a unique BFCM with different dynamics. Especially with the shipping carriers.
Holidays are all about sales, right? So, we took a deep dive into the anatomy of a Good Sale from website execution to email to some cool extras that communicate urgency like countdown timers. And then, we'll circle some dates on the holiday calendar that you should pay close attention to since they tend to be high volume sales days.
Today’s guest is Colin McIntosh, from the DTC bedding company, Sheets and Giggles. Listen in because Colin has some great tips for marketing teams and business owners on how to make your brand stand out. Often, marketing can get overly technical especially with things like CRO, conversion rate optimization or marketing performance. But there's a simple route. A great way to improve your conversion rate is to create a cool brand. Some people call that likeability. that people enjoy, like or can laugh with. Think about it: there have to be a dozen companies selling beds and bedding: Casper, Brooklinen, Sleep Number, Boll and Branch, Purple, Tuft and Needle. And they all mix in together.
But that name, Sheets and Giggles. You can't forget that name.
And their humorous take on bedding. Plus how they plant a tree for every sale and their COVID- donations. On their website, they also won me over with a cute Dog mention - it's like they know that I'm a dog owner and they know my dog, Nico, my border collie.
All these things create a moat for a business. Everyone's concern is copycats and how do you protect yourself. Do things that another company can't replicate. Sheets and Giggles makes their product out of eucalyptus trees. That's more unique but even if a competitor went there, they still have enough to stand out. I also love their take on sustainability. You can be irreverant and also be committed to social causes.
In running a successful business, one thing you should be considering is your customer support. As the heart and soul of your business, they should be of the utmost importance.
We are joined by Nicole Baqai, Gorgias Strategic Partnerships Manager. In this episode with her, we will discuss entirely the benefits and privileges of having a multi-channel helpdesk integrated with e-commerce merchants' back-office. Gorgias also allows merchants to manage all their support from one place and connects all business apps and all communication channels to provide support agents a unified view of their customers.
With Gorgias’ effectiveness, merchants could easily leverage support as a way to increase sales.
Today, we’ll talk about an appealing provider within the conscious consumer space, DailyKarma. How giving back within an eCommerce store is worlds easier than it used to be and how certain stores are boosting their conversion rates and acquiring new customers through give-back charity campaigns.
Our guest today, Mel Lubey is the Chief Impact Officer at DailyKarma where she spends her days helping brand partners integrate giving back seamlessly into their e-commerce experiences through their app, Shop for Good. She has a passion for advocacy that extends into everything she does from her work at DailyKarma to her passion work in maternal health advocacy. She has a strong penchant for curse words & vintage clothing.
Alicia Thomas, the community director at Postscript, joins us in this fresh new episode about SMS marketing for Shopify stores. And she’s the perfect person to speak with about conversation marketing since she was an early member of Klaviyo AND now, Postscript.
On a mission to teach the world how to use SMS marketing the right way, Alicia dives deep into the world of SMS marketing best practices and shares successful tactics learned from the results of working with hundreds of Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants.
People nowadays spend a lot of time shopping on their mobile apps rather than going to a physical store for convenience. Due to these upgrades in our modern technology, conversational marketing is another effective yet unminded way of speeding up sales in a business.
In this solo episode, I will breakdown the things that make conversational marketing an effective way of boosting your sales while increasing customer engagement by helping you understand this method. There are also key points on why companies fail in these methods you can take note of so you can maneuver your gameplay and successfully do it.
You can start practicing this method with this list of platforms you can explore later on. I will also share with you the importance of managing and setting up your team to successfully work this out.
When you’re bogged out with so much work to do and only have a limited amount of time to accomplish things, you either burn down or slow down your business growth and productivity. That’s when outsourcing comes in handy.
Nathan Hirsch, the co-founder of Outsource School, joins us in this episode and walks us through his entrepreneurial journey helping businesses with their low-value tasks and helping freelancers across the globe land on jobs.
Nathan discusses the advantages of having a Virtual Assistant, how it can help you leverage your time and speed up your business growth and sales, and where you can find them. We also got a quick glimpse of what Outsource School is all about and how this platform eases jobs that are beneficial on our ends.
During this solo episode, we’re prepping early for the most important holiday season ever. BFCM isn’t a mystery anymore. Savvy brands have figured out how to maximize revenue while avoiding all the pitfalls of high ad costs, competition, and attention.
Here, I’ll share all our marketing secrets learned from Black Friday past and present a template of what to do in digital marketing, particularly email. You'll also learn about two huge early shopping holidays that many stores forget about, a template for your holiday email promotions, and how merchants can hack the BFCM calendar to get the most attention in what’s a very crowded promotion season. Stay tuned for our Part 2 episode – this holiday season is so important that one show just wouldn’t do it justice.
Want to see if your brand is ready for Black Friday? Take our eCommerce holiday marketing quiz on NeedleMovement.com.
Special guest Dan Demsky, the co-founder of Unbound Merino, joins us for a quick trip down memory lane as he plays back the past four years: the apparel brand’s crowdfunding origin to its rapid rise to five-million-dollar in annual eCommerce sales.
Our conversation isn’t exactly what you’d expect. We talk through digital marketing and Shopify et al. But Dan’s really all about the product. It all goes back to what his customers are looking for and how Unbound Merino delivers a 360 retail experience.
That borderline obsessive approach is what helped what was originally a travel-centric apparel brand that beat the pandemic and growth even faster than before.
Along the way, Dan shows us how to hack a crowdfund, an amazing video trick that catapulted his campaign and Unbound Merino’s overall digital marketing philosophy.
This episode is especially geared towards emerging Shopify brands who are looking for more than marketing tips and want to understand how a nimble young brand makes business decisions through each ladder step of their growth.
Following up on Episode 23’s ReUnite recap, we’ll talk to marketplace strategy guru Rick Watson and continue our conversation about Shopify. Rick's the closest person I know to being a bonafide eCommerce futurist so he’s the perfect person to query on Shopify.
Sometimes, we get into the weeds on tactics that boost performance. Though it’s our mastery of eCommerce trends that keep our eye on the prize. This episode is a refreshing step back to the big picture, a 40,000-foot view of Shopify and where it’s headed, particularly in non-DTC areas such as marketplaces. And we should get cozy with marketplaces since they represent a majority of total eCommerce sales.
These days, nobody wants to be sold to and shoppers suffer from ad fatigue. That’s one reason influencer marketing, customer referral programs, and affiliate programs are catching on as people value authentic recommendations from real people over corporate marketing-speak and ads.
Most brands have heard of affiliate marketing but they just don’t know where to start. During this episode, we’ll dive in with Affiliate guru Arlen Robinson – the co-founder of Omnistar Affiliate – who will share his secrets to affiliate program success based on his work with hundreds of Shopify stores.
We'll cover common affiliate marketing FAQs:
The key pillars of an affiliate marketing program Who are your best affiliates?
Turning your best customers into influencers 95/5 rule of affiliate marketing
* How to reach out to influencers at scale.
Learn the popup playbook and advanced strategies from our special guest Rob Hammett from JustUno, a software provider that thousands of Shopify stores use. Many online sites only convert 2% of traffic and have modest-sized email lists. What’s missing? Brands need middle-of-funnel initiatives such as list growth and conversion rate optimization.
This episode serves as a mini-Bootcamp where we discuss with Rob over a dozen different popup scenarios and glean from his feedback what has worked with other JustUno clients in regards to messaging, what type offers, how to set up a cross-sell strategy and balancing list growth needs for email and SMS.
During this solo episode, we recap the torrent of recent announcements from Shopify ReUnite, its annual conference and guide brands on the new Shopify features to look out for in the next 6-12 months – Which ones made us jump and others which made us want to wait and see? On the digital marketing side, Shopify's new Shop App is reviewed and the Facebook Shops partnership is discussed in detail in order to understand potential long-term changes in Facebook properties (Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp) and its advertising ecosystem.
Did you know that YouTube is the 2nd most visited website in the US and boasts 2 billion monthly visitors? Special guest Brett Curry gives us the blueprint for video ads and how brands can set up YouTube like a pro. We’ll discuss Youtube ads for newbies looking to dip their toes in, share specific YouTube video templates that convert for eCommerce merchants and dive into more advanced tactics.
Special guest Chase Clymer, host of the Honest eCommerce podcast and Shopify agency owner, shows us how to create ridiculously effective eCommerce funnels. He walks through each phase of the customer journey with concrete examples and distills the requirements of each funnel step into a repeatable sales formula.
Stephen talks with special guest, Terrence Kelleman, whose brand Dynomighty Design grew to become one of Inc Magazine’s fastest growing companies for 3 years and is the inventor of the Mighty Wallet.
Terrence shares his entrepreneurial secrets including: how he got several million views on YouTube, his unconventional marketing rules and how he made a successful business pivot.
Our special guest Jason Zotara, the founder of Ten26 Media was recently dubbed “the king of ads” by industry insiders. His agency has managed hundreds of clients through different ad platforms (Google, Instagram, Pinterest, etc) in a variety of verticals including eCommerce, health and fitness.
During this episode of the podcast, we have a detailed discussion about paid digital marketing where Jason shares insights to help brands right now.
He’ll talk through his 3 key principles to mastering paid media, how to develop detailed customer personas and offer examples for the most effective digital marketing projects to focus on while we're in a reset mode.
Our first show since it all changed. Our special guest is Jessica Kelly, founder of Thr3efold, which runs a manufacturing platform to find ethical factories and helps emerging brands master digital marketing. During our conversation, we cover how the playing field has changed and what digital strategies fashion brands can deploy in the realm of PR, tone and messaging. This episode was recorded on March 23, 2020.
Our special guest is Isadora Alvarez, founder of Backbeat Co. an ethical California lifestyle brand. Back Beat's easy-living basics have a cult following and have been spotted on everyone from Cara Delevingne, Amber Heard and the Man Repeller Team.
During our conversation, Isadora tells us how she built Back Beat Co. from the ground up with a strong commitment to sustainability and how she tells her brand story to the customer base, online and offline through popup events and email marketing. (“I call the people that buy from us our stakeholders because, without them, our company wouldn't be able to run.”)
Our special guest, Jon MacDonald, founder of The Good, a conversion rate optimization firm that has worked with brands including Nike and Adobe tackle two timely topics in business and eCommerce - conversion rate optimization and how his company became a Certified B-Corp, a Triple P company that balances people, planet and profits.
Jon will walk through his application process towards being a B Corporation and then, we’ll switch gears to discuss CRO and he’ll tell us the three things that every eCommerce should do in order to get immediate results.
Welcome to our first show of #MissionToMarch where we showcase conscious eCommerce brands and elements of mission-driven marketing. In this episode, our special guest and apparel manufacturing expert Roberto Crivello discusses why he hates the term “sustainability”, walks through his sustainable decision-making matrix with Fortune 500 brands on clothing production and how he found biodynamic cotton, the most ethical cotton on the planet.
These days, everyone's building lists. Heck, even pop star Lizzo's in on the action(we'll discuss her latest move later on).
The final show in our four-part series on email marketing covers list growth fundamentals – how to master pop-ups, the best spots to place signup boxes, tools to use and some new list acquisition strategies that are emerging.
Stephen discusses email list building and how it ties into the greater marketing strategy of conversation commerce.
During this episode, our guest Christina Hagopian, the president, and creative director of Hagopian Ink, an email designs studio that has worked with big brands such as Pepsi and Lancome geeks out with us on her favorite tactics for email automation, how subscription eCommerce has evolved and how marketers can break through the noise of a crowded email inbox.
Would you notice if your eCommerce store wasn't sending data to your email marketing system or if part of your subscriber list was missing? And how would you find out if your welcome email series sucked hard? Unlock the power of knowledge with the key to email optimization: an email audit for growth.
We'll discuss how to make sure your email is optimized and how to test individual campaigns to go from suck to success.
This episode launches an entire month focused on email marketing-related topics. Why talk about email so much? because it really works.
After 2019 year-end review of marketing trends, email shined through and while most brands dabble in email marketing, there are many lost opportunities.
Today, we talk with special guest, Dylan Kelley, the owner of Wavebreak, an email marketing agency that helps Shopify entrepreneurs scale to 8-figures and beyond to discuss what brands should do moving forward and his unique insights from running email accounts for multimillion-dollar brands.
During this entertaining episode, our guest Mike Rosen talks us thru mental health on the business side – his tips on how to reduce social media addiction, how to establish company wellness and what hockey great Wayne Gretzky can teach us about mental illness. Mike and Stephen walk through how to develop sustainable life tools that will identify issues sooner and which lead to a happier workplace.
Our guest Adam Lean, the founder of The CFO Project, is on a mission to make finance fun. During this episode, he shares insider tips on how businesses can stay ahead of their books and ensure that all that hard-earned revenue translates to actual profits. Adam shares a detailed action plan and directs us on the right numbers to analyze, the red flags to hone in on and a scoring system that ensures that everything’s moving in the right direction.
In this episode, we focus on the medium that everyone's raving about though many brands are not sure how to capitalize on yet. Our guest Jessica Rhodes, the creator of the first podcast booking agency, Interview Connections, walks through how thought leaders and retail brands can leverage guest appearances on podcasts in order to acquire new business. She's a unique authority since she's booked over 3,800 shows and been doing this since 2013.
Enjoy our first show of the year where we discuss the new digital marketing trends to follow, offer hot takes on current digital channels (is email dead? are websites still as relevant?) and a marketing blueprint for your 2020 media strategy. Stephen shares three key takeaways to start the year: How “newness” is the new template for brands, why businesses have to think like TV networks and a how-to on where to broadcast content throughout your owned properties and spheres of influence.
Ever curious on how to locate a long-lost relative or delve further into your family history? Thaylin Burns will tell us his story of how he was able to reunite with his biological father and meet five new siblings for the first time.
On the show, we walk through five tactics that people can use with tools such as 23andMe to find additional members of your family and the pitfalls and tricks to reaching out to distant relatives in hopes of filling out your family tree. As marketers, we tackle family reunification with the same zeal as customer acquisition and conversion optimization during this special episode.
Rae Nicoletti is the founder of Hozen, a sustainable accessories company that makes eco-friendly vegan leather walks us thru how she makes her company sustainable from ethical factories, product materials to carbon offsets, her wholesale marketing strategy and why she’s so excited about the next generation of bio-materials available to fashion brands.
Digital strategy is a term that’s thrown around a lot, but it’s often misunderstood. In this episode, we dive deep into what digital strategy actually is and walk thru each component and how it impacts performance. Our conversation includes a discussion on: “the wizard of oz effect” on website conversions, how brands stay ahead of the curve and why everyone in digital business needs a good BS detector.
In this episode, we spend time on each of the items below and offer tips on how to apply the concept to business and examples of companies that are doing it well.
The 11 Areas of Digital Strategy: a walkthrough to help brands visualizing all the elements.
- Education
Because digital is changing so fast, companies are now proactively learning to better adapt to change. Cover the creative ways to hear things first and how that can optimize your business.
- Niche
Identifying your niche and targeting your avatar to increase organic engagements and traction. An example of different food niches.
- Branding + Content
The elevator pitch and establishing five brand differentiators that will separate one brand from the many other companies that offer similar products.
Why brands that have a mission are better positioned for the current market.
- Website (Shopify)
It’s not just about looks. The importance of persuasion on websites. How to move past customer’s internal objections to buying. A use case that Shopify eCommerce brands have that involves AfterPay.com
- Organic Marketing Channels
Defined as marketing that’s not pay-per-click. Email, Social Media, PR and search engine optimization.
- Paid Channels
Defined as Google Adwords, paid social media ads, direct mail or TW. When to turn on paid marketing and which metrics are important to watch closely.
- Operations
Staying on top of shipping, fulfillment and customer service. How doing test orders and mystery shopping can help your strategy overall.
- Staffing
The plight of the solopreneur. And how he/she can clone themselves and where to outsource in order to better scale the business from six-figures to seven-figures.
- Financials and Analytics
Looking at numbers creates checks and balances and helps companies adapt faster. How do you protect your company from bad ideas? FIguring out which KPIs (key performance indicators) to look at and how to use “soft” analytics such as customer feedback to figure out issues quicker.
- Places to Sell Your Product
What does DTC mean? Why brands are looking outside of just selling products through a website. Where are they expanding to?
- Building Community
A great example of how eCommerce is much different than 10 years. How companies are focusing much more now on fostering community versus only selling the product. The different places where this is being done are social media, branding, ambassadors and real-life events.
How do companies tackle strategy especially if they don’t have time to learn the newest tactics and stay ahead of change in the industry.
In conclusion, a discussion of the most common mistakes that brands make with their strategy based on Stephen’s experience with clients at Needle Movement.
Links Mentioned
OutdoorVoices.com
JennaKutcher.com
Shopify Paid Themes (templa
Sustainability is all the rage these days, and this isn’t just a passing trend. We’ll tackle the topic of climate change head-on, how it impacts business and purchasing decisions. A growing segment wants to buy from businesses that give a hoot and have a bigger mission.
Consumers care about where their products come from, their environmental sustainability and where their dollars are going to help causes they care about.
Listen to hear the five top tips for appealing to this modern consumer.
- Branding
Many large brands are beginning to embrace more mission-driven initiatives. It’s a way to stand out in a crowded field.
For marketing, content about a brand’s impact can persuade better than the standard “Buy Now/Hurry Up” calls to action.
- Why Trust Seals are important
Conscious consumers are wary of greenwashing. They want verification of the claims companies to make about how sustainable their products are
- Some Big No-Nos with Packaging
Too much packaging can turn off this segment of consumers. There’s a growing industry for recyclable packaging and fulfilment options.
- Community
There are already passionate zero waste and environmental sustainability communities to tap into online.
- Product’s Second Life
Consumers want a circular economy where items can be purchased and re-used. Not just new products. Companies are also offering repair and send-back programs to inspire re-use.
Links Mentioned
Etsy Carbon Neutral Initiative
Nike Kaepernick Campaign
Eileen Fisher Re-Use
Reformation Partnership with Thred Up
Dicks’s Sporting Goods Segment on CBS Sunday Morning
Coastal Risk Screening Tool - Land Projected to be Below Sea Level by 2050
Textile Waste Infographic
How to Recycle Old Clothing
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During our inaugural show, host Stephen Carl covers who the podcast is for, why he became a vegetarian and what the term “moving the needle” means. A quick intro to our favorite topics within digital marketing and conscious eCommerce.
This show strives to be an independent voice within digital to highlight how brands can learn digital strategy with agility in a competitive environment. Learn how noteworthy brands and entrepreneurs are trending toward mission-driven and environmentally sustainable initiatives and why it’s impacting their performance.
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Our podcast is just beginning. Your reviews would help us spread the word and reach a larger audience.
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