Co-Founder & M.D @ Louder.Online

As a businessman,  entrepreneur, and author, I've spent 16 years reshaping the landscape of our industry. 

Co-founding Louder.Online 16 years ago was the beginning of a journey that has led to global recognition, transformative partnerships, and multiple successful ventures.

Some of my journey's highlights include:

→ Co-authored the book "Faster, Smarter, Louder"
→ Consulted for Fortune 100 clients including Salesforce, Intel, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Target
→ Authored over 1,000 articles for major publications like Forbes, HubSpot, and Entrepreneur
→ Recognized as a thought leader by Content Marketing Institute and Search Engine Journal
→ Delivered speeches across the US, UK, Asia, and Australia

As a serial entrepreneur, I've:

→ Co-founded Louder.Online, recognized among the top 25 Martech Companies in Asia-Pacific
→ Started multiple businesses across various industries
→ Launched an M&A education business focused on small business acquisitions
→ Developed expertise in multi-channel marketing, SEO, PPC, CRO, and content marketing

My work has garnered attention from prestigious media outlets:

→ Featured in The Huffington Post, Forbes, and the Sydney Morning Herald
→ Regular contributor to HubSpot, Entrepreneur, and Fortune
→ Guest on popular podcasts like Mixergy and Entrepreneur on Fire

My approach goes beyond traditional marketing. I create actionable, thoughtful strategies that not only deliver new customers but build lasting brand relationships. 

If you're looking to revolutionize your digital presence, explore business acquisition opportunities, or drive your brand into the future, let's connect.

Aaron Agius

Ever notice how the louder a content team shouts about “strategy,” the faster they burn through budget and stall results?

If you think your content operation is bulletproof, you are probably wrong.

And that blind spot destroys ROI.

How most teams think they win:
➡️ Chase volume: Produce endlessly and hope engagement appears.
➡️ Add layers of approvals and meetings until creativity suffocates.
➡️ Recycle outdated playbooks and pretend their situation is different.

How I actually win with content:

➡️ Solve real, urgent pain points with precision.
If you are not addressing tangible problems, you are adding to the noise.

➡️ Publish genuinely useful resources, not empty thought leadership.
Practical insights that make the audience sharper every time they engage.

➡️ Track substance and proof relentlessly.
That’s customer journeys, conversions, revenue impact; not vanity metrics like reach alone.

Strong CTAs are not the answer.

The strongest brands do not force action.

They make action the logical next step.

Content failure is rarely accidental.

It comes from unclear objectives, weak measurement, and operational excuses.

Nearly half of marketers admit they do not set clear goals.

Most cannot track ROI.

Many lack scalable workflows.

These are not minor gaps.

They are structural flaws.

The companies that win take a different route.

They create fewer, sharper, high-value assets.

They automate where possible.

They measure everything.

They tie every initiative to outcomes, not abstract awareness.

You can waste another year defending empty metrics.

Or you can accept responsibility for every underperforming dollar.

The tools exist.

The data is accessible.

Execution is the difference.

Inaction is still a decision.

You are either building measurable value, or you’re wasting time.

There is no middle ground.

The Mistake 93% of Enterprise Content Teams Made Last Year

Every marketing “expert” clings to the same tired excuses: budget, competition, limited resources.

Meanwhile, their traffic goes nowhere.

If your content strategy is still human-driven guesswork and generic SEO blasts, you’re not innovative.

You’re irrelevant.

Transforming Stagnation into Domination

Challenge: Content and SEO produced nothing but substandard work.

Traffic stalled at 12,000 soulless visitors a month.

Engagement was weak.

Revenue barely moved.

Action: We gutted outdated tactics and killed content for content’s sake.

We embedded AI into every core strategic decision.

AI exposed blind spots, mapped real audience intent, personalized aggressively, and predicted demand before prospects articulated it.

Result: Monthly visitors surged past 137,000.

Attributed pipeline revenue crossed $1.2 million.

Competitors faded while my site became a primary revenue engine.

Insight? Manual, intuition-driven marketing is dead.

AI is not just an advantage.

It delivers precise targeting, efficiency, and scalable growth.

Rely on gut instinct alone and survival becomes uncertain.

Don’t kid yourself.

AI does not “help a little.”

It replaces outdated playbooks entirely.

If your traffic is stagnant, leads are weak, and your site feels like a digital graveyard, the choice is simple: evolve with AI or disappear.

You can cling to tactics that stopped working years ago and blame the market.

Or accept reality and execute an AI-powered overhaul.

That is not opinion. That is data.

Ever faced a similar situation?

Did you rip the band-aid off or let the wound fester?

How AI Content Strategies Affect Growth

The difference between surviving Google’s updates and dominating them is night and day.

Most marketers still treat every algorithm update like a disaster, scrambling and hoping they survive.

That fear is the real liability, because Google’s updates are not random.

Every update over the past two years reveals a clear blueprint for stronger enterprise SEO results, if you pay attention to the pattern.

If your rankings dropped after a Core Update, it is rarely because Google suddenly changed the rules.

Google is cleaning house.

Strategies built on link spam, AI-generated filler, and irrelevant keywords are being pushed out of relevance.

My enterprise SEO strategy:
➔ Human-first, expert-driven content
➔ Ruthless elimination of low-value assets
➔ Core Web Vitals and UX as non-negotiable priorities

Too complicated? Here is what that looks like in practice.

Weekly we identify and remove thin pages that add no value.

We produce comprehensive, educational content backed by real expertise.

We track user behavior signals like session duration and bounce rate closely because Google does the same.

In addition:
➔ Every page must offer something original: a unique insight, real answers, or resources competitors lack
➔ Backlink profiles are aggressively audited and anything resembling spam is removed
➔ We rely on tools like SEMRush, Clearscope, and Ahrefs to eliminate guesswork

What worked? Relentless focus on real human value and content pruning.

What did not work? Chasing update “hacks” or relying on keyword stuffing and shortcuts.

Google is systematically removing mediocrity.

I stopped reacting to updates and started aligning with Google’s long-term direction: genuine expertise and real user value.

The era of gaming the algorithm is over.

Adapt or disappear.

How Google's Algorithm Updates Affects SEO

The fastest way to slow down growth is to hire your way into complexity.

Join the top 1 percent of marketing leaders by doing this:

Stop obsessing over the “perfectly sized” marketing team.

It is one of the most expensive delusions in this industry.

I have seen leaders waste months debating headcount, building bloated teams based on outdated dogma that size equals strength.

It does not.

By the time inefficiency shows up in performance, it is already too late.

I have watched compact teams of five outperform departments of twenty.

Small, cohesive teams win because they are forced to execute, not posture.

If you are:
➡️ Constantly onboarding another specialist
➡️ Sitting in meetings that produce no action
➡️ Hiding behind collective decisions

Then you have a speed problem, not a staffing problem.

Iteration beats headcount. Every time.

Lean teams move faster, adapt quicker, and optimize in real time.

Large teams talk about agility.

Small teams operate with it.

Most marketing organizations stagnate because they cannot move.

The highest-performing growth companies iterate relentlessly, often with only a handful of decision-makers driving execution.

Inside oversized departments, a small core usually does the real work anyway.

Authority is diluted.

Accountability disappears.

Momentum dies.

While others chase the mythical “right size,” disciplined teams refine what works and double down each quarter.

They prioritize precision over scale.

We do not invest in headcount for optics.

We invest in cohesion, urgency, and iteration.

That is how we stay competitive.

I watched another “SEO specialist” interview fall apart over one tired question:
“How many years of SEO experience do you have?”

That question belongs in a different era.

The future of digital marketing will bury anyone clinging to tenure as a proxy for skill.

Years do not equal impact.

Time spent does not equal value created.

Too many interviews still default to experience.

The market now rewards disruptive thinking, adaptability, and proof of execution.

Asking for “years of SEO” is often a signal you are hiring for comfort, not capability.

Today’s environment does not reward safe bets.

It rewards calculated risk-takers.

Better questions look like this:
➡️ How did you turn a disruptive trend into measurable growth?
➡️ Where did you reduce acquisition costs through data leverage?
➡️ How did you integrate AI without sacrificing organic performance?
➡️ How did you recover and outperform after a failed campaign?

The best marketers I hire do not hide behind tenure.

They demonstrate adaptable, relentless problem-solving.

They do not just understand SEO.

They deploy it alongside AI, social, video, email, and analytics to drive outcomes.

The data reflects the disconnect.

67 percent of digital leaders rank innovation as a top hiring priority, yet 81 percent admit their interviews still center on experience.

It is no surprise that many brands are stagnating.

Experience alone is not a strategy.

Innovation is the advantage.

The market will not wait.

The leaders who prioritize adaptability and measurable impact will stay ahead.

The rest will struggle to remain relevant.

Stop Asking About SEO Experience: What to Ask Instead

Most enterprise content strategies fail before they even launch.

What looks like a plan is often a time bomb of vanity metrics, spreadsheet theater, and absent leadership.

This is the current reality.

Disconnected ideas labeled as “strategy.”

High-volume production with no commercial purpose.

Teams trapped in approvals and endless meetings.

That is not a system.

It is chaos with branding.

The alternative is disciplined execution.

Ruthless clarity.

Real accountability.

Leadership that actually leads.

Each week I focus on:
➡️ Aligning content directly with business objectives
➡️ Eliminating low-impact content before it goes live
➡️ Holding leadership accountable for measurable outcomes

In addition:
➡️ When priorities shift, we pivot immediately without bureaucracy
➡️ Scalability is engineered from day one
➡️ Metrics are tied to conversions, revenue, and market position, not surface engagement

What works is simple.

Treat content strategy as core infrastructure, not a side project.

What fails is equally predictable.

Volume for reporting optics.

Delegating strategy downward and hoping for alignment.

Without candor, accountability, and agility, enterprise content collapses under its own weight.

Strategy is not a creative exercise.

It is operational survival.

I refuse to tolerate mediocrity.

We build systems that reward ownership, speed, and adaptability.

The difference between relevance and decline is what leadership is willing to confront and correct.

If alignment and accountability are missing, failure is not surprising.

It is inevitable.

Why Most Enterprise Content Strategies Fail

One year ago, I stopped groveling for high-value clients just because the zeros looked pretty.

The myth that more money always equals more success is the fantasy that quietly pushes businesses into chaos.

Behind every oversized check is a cost nobody talks about.

And no:
➔ I didn’t walk away because I feared growth or pressure
➔ I wasn’t overwhelmed by scope
➔ I didn’t need mindset exercises to cope with a “missed opportunity”

The truth is simple.

Accepting a $500,000 client who reeked of entitlement, chaos, and misaligned values would have detonated everything I built.

My team saw it.

Since I stopped pandering to anyone flashing a big wallet:
➔ Headaches and team churn dropped to near zero
➔ Revenue climbed 33 percent with aligned clients
➔ Our reputation strengthened, driving consistent referrals from businesses that respect boundaries

Stop gasping every time a big number lands in your inbox.

Half a million means nothing if you compromise your standards.

The ones chasing every dollar become trapped by toxic clients, burned-out teams, and unstable revenue.

I would rather walk away from $500,000 than damage my brand, morale, and sanity.

A year later, the lesson is clear.

Choose alignment over ego, long-term stability over flashy wins, and ownership over regret.

Why Rejecting Some Clients is a Power Move

Make no mistake: Every time you say “yes” to an energy-draining, brand-destroying client, you’re saying “no” to the right ones. The ones who respect you, who pay what you’re worth, who become partners for the long haul. You can’t build an empire working for clients who make you hate your business.

Let’s rip the bandage off: I turned down half a million dollars. You read that right. A client walked in, contracts ready, eager to dump a fat $500,00

Open article: Why I Rejected $500,000: The Raw Truth Business “Leaders” Refuse To Admit by Aaron Agius • 7 min read

Why I Rejected $500,000: The Raw Truth Business “Leaders” Refuse To Admit

Your content team’s fate isn’t dictated by budget, competition, or industry quirks. It’s dictated by your willingness—or cowardice—to demand better. Every tool, system, and piece of data you need is already here. Most of you still won’t use them.

Let me save you from the polite, watered-down nonsense filling your feed. I’m here to tear through the delusions and expose why 93% of enterprise cont

Open article: What’s Destroying 93% of Enterprise Content Teams? The Million-Dollar Errors You’re Still Making by Aaron Agius • 7 min read

What’s Destroying 93% of Enterprise Content Teams? The Million-Dollar Errors You’re Still Making

If all you want are box-tickers awash in the past, keep asking those canned questions. If you want to dominate, start judging marketers the way true innovators are made: by pushing them to the edge, then seeing if their ideas can fly or if they crash and burn. Because in a market that tears up the rulebook every quarter, only those who thrive on reinvention dare to lead.

If you're still asking, “How many years have you been doing SEO?” during interviews, you're publicly announcing that your business is stuck in the dig

Open article: Stop Asking About SEO Experience: The Only Interview Question That Matters in Marketing by Aaron Agius • 11 min read

Stop Asking About SEO Experience: The Only Interview Question That Matters in Marketing

Old methods are a death sentence. The leap from 12,000 to 137,000 monthly visitors is not a fairy tale. It’s what happens when you weaponize AI against mediocrity. When revenue explodes, when your brand becomes the gravitational force in your market, you stop debating and start leading.

You want the truth about AI-driven content strategy? Here it is, raw and unfiltered. Welcome to the future—where mediocrity is dead, excuses have no p

Open article: AI-Driven Content Strategy: The End of Guesswork and the Start of Predictable Revenue by Aaron Agius • 10 min read

AI-Driven Content Strategy: The End of Guesswork and the Start of Predictable Revenue

Is your organization still flinching with every core update? Or have you finally realized that Google’s public roadmap is your playbook—and your execution, not your excuses, is what keeps you on top?

The pattern behind Google’s updates isn’t random; it’s a calculated demolition of mediocrity. If you’re clinging to tired SEO tricks, you’re already d

Open article: The Brutal Pattern Behind Google Updates: Why Enterprise SEO Winners Think Differently by Aaron Agius • 7 min read

The Brutal Pattern Behind Google Updates: Why Enterprise SEO Winners Think Differently

Compact, cohesive digital marketing teams will outpace their competition in every meaningful category—speed, creativity, ROI, and long-term brand growth. Not because they’re lucky or scrappy, but because their constraints force them to be smarter, leaner, and infinitely more accountable.

Here’s a truth that will annihilate your precious assumptions: headcount means nothing. Effectiveness isn’t some pointless numbers game. Efficiency, f

Open article: Why Small, Cohesive Marketing Teams Obliterate the Myth of “Bigger is Better” by Aaron Agius • 8 min read

Why Small, Cohesive Marketing Teams Obliterate the Myth of “Bigger is Better”

Most enterprise content strategies implode not because of market volatility, lack of resources, or demonic algorithms, but because they are fundamentally broken at conception. Misconceptions, denial, and institutionalized mediocrity are their bedrock. The evidence is everywhere, yet most so-called “leaders” are too spineless or too arrogant to confront it.

I’m here to incinerate illusions. Call this an exposé, call it an assault—regardless, you’ll walk away bruised if you have a shred of honesty left in 

Open article: Why Most Enterprise Content Strategies Fail: The Inconvenient Truths No “Expert” Will Admit by Aaron Agius • 8 min read

Why Most Enterprise Content Strategies Fail: The Inconvenient Truths No “Expert” Will Admit

Jordan West

E-Com Investor & Podcast Host | Multiple Exits| Avid Golfer, Biker + Hiker | Dad Of 3 | CEO + CMO | Mastermind Host

My Journey 
When I was 23 I decided to buy a Taco Del Mar restaurant... I knew I had made a huge mistake at 2pm the first day when only 3 customers had walked in... (and two of them were my parents haha) 
For 5 years I worked hard to grow sales every way I could think of and in the end, tripled our revenue which still didn't seem to matter on the profit side. (I lost a lot of money 💰)

The one thing that I seemed to be the best at in the restaurant endeavor was marketing and getting people in the door. 

Fast forward to 2014 when my wonderful wife Carmen (definitely my better half) started a modest baby clothing line and was selling at craft markets. 

I asked if I could test running a few ads on Facebook... and the rest is history. I learned every up-and-coming strategy and tactic and helped grow the small start-up to a multi-million dollar company and still growing!

Since then we have acquired multiple DTC brands and have built an agency (upGrowth Commerce) to service our brands as well as others who are in a similar situation to us!

In 2019 we started the podcast "secrets to scaling your e-commerce brand" which is now in the top 50 business/marketing podcasts in multiple countries including Canada and the United States.

I love connecting with people, so please connect. (I do have a no a**holes policy though, so don't connect if that's you.) 

I talk all about scaling businesses using paid ads on “Secrets To Scaling Your E-Commerce Brand”.

Chief Executive Officer

I made this post a few months ago... and this HAS CHANGED MY LIFE. 
I have an airport hack for ALL OF YOU! (that may just change your life) 

Lately... at the airport I've been doing something kind of weird. 

You probably wouldn't peg me for this kind of person but here it is. 

I've been...

1. Putting my phone in my pocket 
2. Not having airpods in. 
3. Talking to whoever is around me that looks interesting and doesn't have their head buried in their phone. 

And HERE'S the WILD THING! 

Today alone I made 2 insane connections... 

the first was a nice couple that was sitting beside me in the emergency exit row. 

They turned out to own (with another group) a bunch of motel properties that I had been eyeing for a MASSIVE RESORT that i think could be an insanely huge attraction for the city I live in. I had been thinking about it for a while and it's crazy that they just happened to be beside me on a random flight. Many more other connections too... but I digress. 

The second was a random guy who runs point for one of the largest inference chip companies in the world helping put in data centres... 

Well I just happen to have a local data centre deal that I've been dreaming up for my town. 

The first convo actualy helped steer me in a totally different LIFE direction than I was thinking about for the next 5-10 years TBH (not exaggerating) 

So... the lesson. 

Get off your effing phone 
Talk to people. 
The universe/god/life wants to give you good things... but you won't get them staring at your phone or sitting in your office. 

they are out there! 
Anyone else ever have moments like these?

I AM HIRING NA-BASED SOCIAL COMMERCE STRATEGISTS AT Social Commerce Club! 
We are opening two pods a month right now and not slowing down any time soon. 

If you have TikTok shop experience and/or can learn fast and consider yourself a fast learner and have DTC experience, PLEASE DM ME! 

Our core values 

Low ego learners 
High agency executers
Move with competitive speed 

If this sounds like you... 
DM ME 
We're on a rocketship.

Our culture is amazing. 
Our people are amazing. 
Come join us! (or if you know anyone let me know!)

Most brands still think TikTok Shop and Amazon are competing channels...

They're not.

Heres what we're seeing at SCC 👇

TikTok content goes viral → product gets discovered by Hundreds of THOUSANDS of new buyers

Those buyers go to Amazon to "check reviews" before they buy then some buy on amazon.

Amazon ranking jumps because of the search volume spike and search, find, buy. (the holy grail of Amazon rankings)

Higher Amazon ranking = more organic Amazon sales

More Amazon sales = more budget to put back into TikTok creators

Round and round it goes...

The brands that figured this out are printing. 

The ones treating each channel separately are leaving MASSIVE money on the table 💰

HIRING AT Social Commerce Club (sales people!) 
WE ARE HIRING NA Based sales people who can be up and running within 2 weeks! (yes FAST!)

If you have TikTok shop experience and/or can learn fast and consider yourself a fast learner and have DTC experience, PLEASE DM ME! 

Our core values 

Low ego learners 
High agency executers
Move with competitive speed 

If this sounds like you... 
DM ME 
We're on a rocketship.

Our culture is amazing. 
Our people are amazing. 
Come join us! (or if you know anyone let me know!)

I had our TikTok Shop OS mastermind call yesterday and I'm genuinely blown away. 👇 

The people in this group are operating at a level I don't see anywhere else. 🤩 

Yesterday someone broke down their entire process for going viral every single day on TikTok - the research, the system, the execution. 

It was one of the best breakdowns I've ever heard. The kind of stuff you don't find in a course.

I will legit amke an SOP just from hearing what she had to say.

That's what this group is. Real operators sharing what's actually working right now.

If you're serious about scaling on TikTok Shop in 2026, applications are open.

here's the link to apply (serious operators only) 

https://lnkd.in/gmBiHerZ

🔥 close to 100M of revenue driven on TikTok Shop and we’ve noticed one correlation that is staggering 

At scale 
32 views = $1 of on platform sales 
Plus halo 

Our mission is to drive 1b of social commerce revenue for brands in 2026
That’s a LOT of video views! 💰💰🙌🏻

Anyone else seeing a similar correlation?

Another day... another screenshot win for the team at SCC (this is why we're platinum at TT)

TikTok Shop
Still the most underrated  TOFchannel opportunity for brands in 2026 

Lower CAC on all other channels
Massive HALO 
WINNING

AMA

Every other TTS agency we talk in 2026 to is set up like this… 

1 strategist 
1 VA 
6-8 clients 
Job? 
Don’t get fired 
Results 💸
Cost 💰

Social Commerce Club 👇 

1 senior strategist 
1 associate TTS strategist (level of everyone else’s senior strat) 
1 full time sampler + creator recruiter 
1 community manager 
1 ops/compliance specialist 
1 media buyer 
1 designer 
Job? 
Scale massive accounts as a Tiktok shop platinum partner 🔥

Results? 
Huge scale for our brands 💰💰💰💰
Cost 💰💰💰

Just sayin…

Something interesting that we are starting to see on TikTok shop... It's something that you would only see or notice if you've been in the e-commerce space long enough! 👇👇

Here’s what I’m seeing!! 

At the beginning of scaling on TikTok shop, it seemed as though there was some sort of upper limit that you would hit where you couldn't scale beyond that. You could have super high return on ad spend, but essentially you wouldn't be able to scale beyond a certain point and start to get some of those really big economies of scale that you can see on Meta 

What I’m seeing now is the maturity of the channel and how fast this maturity is coming about! 

Way faster than meta. 

But... this all comes with one big thing that happens on every amazing platform, and that is competition! We have seen what that looks like!

The amount of enterprise brands that are coming to us at Social Commerce Club is staggering! 

Why? 

Because we have to be one of the only platinum partners in North America!

Big brands are flocking over because when you can spend $30,000 to $50,000 a day profitably with a massive halo on two other channels and top of all things get really, really interesting!

I'm very interested to see what the next year is going to look like in the space. 

Everything is changing so fast. What do you think?

Every person that has any sense of the brand and ecommerce market knows this one thing... 

TikTok shop and social commerce is the next HUGE TOF growth lever. 

It's the awareness machine. 
The content machine 
The revenue machine 
The R & D machine 
The customer feedback machine. 

EVERYTHING 

This is why brands need to look at it compeltely differently. 
It will take a paradigm shift from the classic "meta ads" world you've been used to. 

Questions?

Biggest mistake brands are making in 2026 on TikTok Shop

Tiktok Shop being in your marketplace division. 

Why? 
Marketplaces are inherintly demand capture 

TikTok Shop is demand gen. 
Treat it close to DTC + performance, not PPC 

The brands that get this perform WAYYYY better. 

It matters how you look at the channel. 

Paradigms matter.

How TikTok Shop feeds your other sales channels in 2026. 👇 (it's not what you think)
It's super obvious to me that TikTok Shop is going to be the absolute breakout channel of 2026 for a lot of brands! but...

At the end of the day, the brands that we work with care about one thing and one thing only: profitability on all channels combined and how they all work together.

I'm constantly surprised at the amount of new agencies that have popped up who don't realize the hundreds of millions of dollars that most brands are doing on other channels already, and that TikTok Shop is the ultimate top-of-funnel awareness channel that yes, can make money, but also drives to these other channels. 

I've talked constantly over the last couple of years about the halo effect that we see from TikTok shop over to Amazon. 

But let me tell you a little bit more. 

For us, it's not just the actual sales halo that we are seeing. 

What is even more interesting is the massive amount of content Halo that we are seeing. The biggest issue that we saw early on was that we needed to capture all of that content and be able to deploy it easily over on Meta. That's where our friends at Refunnel came in. T

hey were able to help us do that across the agency at scale, and it has definitely been a game changer. If you are not capturing that content and repurposing it over on Meta at scale, you are playing on hard mode this year! 

This is why I'm obsessed with the idea of unified commerce at Social Commerce Club, even when people have said, "Don't you guys just do TikTok shop...?" 

No! We came from the DTC world. I

t's what we know, and we believe that it all works incredibly well together. And then we also love to use Amazon as the final product capture in the whole omni-channel strategy! 

If you have no idea how all of this works together or how to launch, and your brand does over $10M a year on other channels, send me a DM or get ahold of my team at Social Commerce Club! 

This is what we think about every day.

We spend multiple 7 figures on GMV max every month!
Here's the GMV Max playbook as of today on TikTok Shop...

FIRST!!! Most brands are still overcomplicating it.

The ones winning usually do a few simple things really well

1. Keep the campaign structure simple

-Run one consolidated GMV Max campaign
-Don’t split budget across a bunch of “smart” campaigns
-TikTok rewards signal density... not account complexity

2. Narrow the product focus

-Give the campaign a clean lane
-Don’t dump in a random mix of SKUs
-A focused set like new arrivals gives the algorithm better inputs

3. Stop treating this like a media buying problem

-GMV Max is heavily influenced by content volume
-The more relevant creator content a product has, the easier it is for TikTok to scale it
-Better content inputs usually matter more than fancy account structure

4. Use target ROI as your main lever

-If performance is beating target, raise the ROI goal
-Force more efficiency before just spending harder
-This is one of the few real optimization levers that actually matters

5. Use the grace period strategically

-Don’t rush to force all the spend in the main campaign window
-If you can hit targets efficiently early, you create flexibility later
-The extra runway can help you scale cleaner

6. Build around content momentum

-TikTok will naturally push the products with the strongest content ecosystem
-More creators, more relevant videos, more proof
-That’s what gives the machine something to optimize against

That’s really the playbook right now!!!!

Less segmentation
Less manual control
Less account hacking

More focused inputs
More creator content
More trust in the algorithm

GMV Max is rewarding brands that simplify the structure... (and us at Social Commerce Club lol)

ABOVE ALL... stregthen your content engine - let the robot do the rest!

Most enterprise brands think TikTok Shop is a demand capture channel.
They're wrong!! (let me tell you the stats why)

After 2+ years all-in on TikTok Shop for enterprise brands, we've seen the opposite at Social Commerce Club

TikTok Shop is the ultimate demand gen engine!!

creating halo effects that boost sales everywhere else.

Key stats brands miss across our data sets

Viral campaigns drive 33%+ uplift in Amazon sales from halo alone (branded search spikes, traffic explodes, velocity up: no links needed). 

A TikTok Shop sale is worth 3x a DTC sale in ecosystem impact. 

62% of TikTok's incremental impact occurs on Amazon. 

According to a recent forbes study... coordinating with Amazon drives 40% YoY new customer growth (we have seen this at SCC)

What we've seen... 

TikTok Shop creates net-new demand via discovery, creators, virality: halo spills to Amazon, DTC, retail.

Don't treat it like an Amazon clone or any marketplace - it's much closer to DTC

“Our customers aren’t on TikTok.”
What they mean… 👇 

“I personally haven’t seen them there… so the app must be for kids.”

Reality?

You’re confusing your For You Page with reality.

TikTok isn’t “just kids.”

It’s literally an algorithm.

And the fastest-growing segments are adult buyers…

Here’s the data that makes the objection fall apart:
About 1 in 3 U.S. adults use TikTok.

Even more important…
40% of ages 30–49 are on it.
26% of ages 50–64 are on it.

Also…

The adult base grew FAST.

Now the part most founders miss:

You don’t “see” buyers on TikTok because buyers + adults are quiet.

About half of U.S. adult TikTok users have never posted a video…

They’re consumers, not creators.

They scroll.
And discovery > intent…

People buy what they didn’t wake up planning to buy.

Globally (TikTok ad planning data, Jan 2026), the ad audience breakdown looks like:

25–34: 35.3%
35–44: 16.4%
45–54: 9.2%
55+: 8.4%
25–44 is literally the “action” age band.

Even better…
An Edison Research survey (Oct 2025) found TikTok users 25–44 lead all age groups in taking action after ads:

54% seek more info
47% make purchases

And if you still think it’s “teen money”…

TikTok Shop did $15.82B in U.S. sales in 2025 (EMARKETER).

Your customers are on TikTok.
You just don’t see them yet.

Want our SCC systems but don't want to commit to a retainer? 

Ok... here you go! 
The TikTok Shop OS 
in 30 days we install our systems for scale. 
And you grow. (with or without us) 

Apply here  

https://lnkd.in/gp3Trhxv

When I owned my brands... I despised influencer marketing!! Why?? 
Because it always felt like gambling! (don't worry i found a fix) 👇 

One big creator deal. $10k. Hope it converts.

It doesn't. 10K wasted. 

I figured something out though... 

Here's the model that actually prints 💰

Product seeding → affiliate conversion → retainer investment

Here's how it works 👇

Seed 50-100 micro creators with your product
No upfront fees. Just product cost.

Track who actually converts!

You can do this all with an army of spreadsheets... 

or you can use SARAL - The Influencer OS's performance dashboard that shows you exactly who's driving sales, not just views 

Double down on the ones that work

Affiliate → retainer. Now you're paying ONLY for proven performance

Repeat. Scale. Compound.
Your best creators become long-term brand partners

This is exactly what I preach with TikTok Shop! 

Most brands skip steps 1 and 2.
They go straight to expensive retainers with unproven creators.

SARAL - The Influencer OS is the operational engine behind this whole system.

Inbox keeps your creator outreach organized
Performance dashboard shows you who's actually selling
SIA (their AI) manages relationships so nothing falls through the cracks

I've been advising the SARAL team and helping them build this for brands over the last year.

The brands printing with influencers right now(off TikTok Shop)?  They're running this playbook.

Go check them out at 

https://lnkd.in/gYXKru7y

#saralpartner

Hottest 2026 take in e-commerce (brand world) 👇👇


In the next five years we will be talking about social commerce, including Tiktok shop, but not limited to Tiktok shop, as the central driving factor for the top of funnel of almost every brand on the planet! 

I saw this coming two years ago, which is why I went all in. 

We are still so incredibly early.

Brands have no idea. 

The big enterprise brands that are coming to us still don't understand what it is doing in the funnel, the insane amount of halo that it is creating on every single other channel. 

The thing is... every other channel will start to understand how they can build it out for themselves.

You think that Meta is done testing this? Absolutely not! 

They are going to be losing a tonne of market share until they figure this out. 

You think Amazon won't figure something out? 

You think there won't be a new competitor in the space?

The problem is, you need to build the muscles now in your organisation. 

You need to not waste time working with agencies who don't get it. 

You cannot hand this off to your Meta agency; they just don't understand! 

This might be the most pivotal and important time for brands of the next five to ten years. 

Agree? Disagree?

Booked shoptalk 🙌🏻
But… 

Decided not get tix this year. 
All I want is to talk to interesting people this year (maybe a SAAS partner or two, maybe a cool brand or two) 

Who’s going and wants to hang with Parker Kump and I? 

Dm me 🙌🏻

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K all (brand owners) - I have an ask... (and a give) THIS IS CRAZY POST BE WARNED lol
When I was a multi-brand owner, I would get invited to talk at events and podcasts etc ALL THE TIME. 

I would argue as a large agency owner I HAVE WAYYYYYY more to talk about now and a way bigger view on commerce in general... (we are aiming to drive 1 billion in social commerce revenue this year after all) 

but... most events make agency owners pay BIG MONEY to keynote (also WTF??) 

So here's my thought... 

I am a REALLY good advisor 
had 5 of my advisory clients exit last year
every consumer brand I worked with grew at least 2X profitably. 

So... here's my thought
LET ME GET BACK IN THE BRAND GAME HAHAH 

I will advise your brand
Take a small amount of equity only if we grow 
Will be public facing and one of the faces of the brand online 

Here's what the brand needs to have 

1. Minimum 5 Mill sales (be at PMF) 
2. Wants to grow huge 
3. has appetite for Tiktok shop 
4. Wants someone to be the face 
5. No supplements sorry 

If that's you... DM me and we can chat

What do I get out of it? 

1. I get to speak at more events as a brand owner. 
2. I get to see growth of a brand again as an owner. 

I know... crazy idea right? 
But I know there is someone out there right now looking for help JUST LIKE THIS and we could create a win-win! 

DMs open!

taplio

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Aaron Agius

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The Battle

Aaron Agius

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Aaron Agius's LinkedIn Performance

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