Ecom with Jon

I write stuff here: www.jonivanco.com/newsletter

I talk about ecommerce, call out the bullshit, and use data to back up my opinions.

Founder

Formtoro

We're building out a new category of signups that allow for live data collection that are aligned with the modern customer journey. We're huge fans of building experiences that benefit both the customer and the company to reduce guessing.

More at formtoro.com

Co-Founder

Boon Road

boon
/bo͞on/ (noun)
1. a thing that is helpful or beneficial
road
/rōd/ (noun)
 1. a wide way leading from one place to another
 2. a series of events or a course of action that will lead to a particular outcome

Parent Company to Formtoro.

LatticeWork

Direct support to the CMO and CEO. Tasked with working internally with various teams to streamline communication, product road map, and go to market strategy.

Latticework is envisioning the future of data privacy.

CX Advisor

Cryptopal

Advertising is changing, blockchain is taking over and adblockers now rule the internet.

It's time to make the experience a bit more personal without sacrificing consumer privacy.

Strategic Advisor

LIFX

Redefined efficiency across our support team.

Developed end-to-end self help flows that resulted in greater than 70% reduction in tickets.

Aggregated data from all tickets to understand trends and provide feedback to design and engineering team to integrate into the product and apps.

Introduced non-standard KPIs to track progress across the Support Team, Engineering Team, Sales, and other teams correlating Support with value add.

Consistently use best in practice information delivery to create customer experiences that get results and better help internal teams to process the information as it comes in and react and inform customers in a more timely manner.

Achieved a 0 new ticket balance at a rate of 100% outside of holiday periods and greater than 92% overall including holiday periods.

Director of Customer Experience

Successfully launched 10+ products over 2.5 years across 80 countries.

Partnerships with Apple, Google, and Amazon through co-marketing efforts and branded integrations lead to continued growth into new regions and across the whole of the Smart Home Market.

Experience working with strategy, roll-out, and other positioning to fuel continued growth in an increasingly competitive industry.

Played a key role in increasing revenue by double digit multipliers, consistently.

Director of Product Marketing, Partnerships, and PR

AffinityLive

- Second sales hire at emerging startup in workplace automation space
- Demoed and engaged with customers of all sizes sub 5 to more than 2000 employees
- Cross functional role, account executive, solutions consultant, and sales engineer from trial request to close with some implementation throughout
- Proficient and expert level in our complex and expansive platform encompassing four areas: Sales, Project Management, Service Desk, and Retainers
- Operationally, worked to refine sales process, build tools, and video library to connect with customers at all hours including implementing extensive automation via triggers
- Closed in excess of 20 account multiple months with average sales cycle of 45 days
- Received more than 6000 page views on video library where I recorded more than 140 videos
- Consistently went above and beyond for clients on six continents and multiple time zones
- Worked with marketing on content development and outreach
- Assisted customer service with escalated calls

Solutions Consultant/Account Executive

RGI Consultants

•	Small business consultant to numerous startup and technology companies as well as non-profits
•	Integrated within organizations to learn product, company culture, and goals
•	Prioritized goal structure and built out roadmaps for accomplishment
•	Evaluated the strengths of team members, worked with management to better delegate and direct their workflow to promote improved organization through lean process methodology
•	Introduced collaboration tools to improve communication between employees
•	Created surveys and outreach to understand customer and client needs
•	Designed sales plans and evaluated effectiveness of current materials
•	A/B testing of sales and marketing materials to increase effectiveness
•	Advised on the implementation of new technologies to improve efficiency
•	Trained, supervised, and taught new staff through presentations and on the job learning
•	Analyzed market trends and created a plans recommending adjustment
•	Tracked financial modeling to ensure that targets were met and productivity was improving
•	Created and facilitated proposed expansion into new markets through presentations and lectures to business owners on behalf of clients
•	Advised on social media creation and content to assist clients in gaining web presence and connecting with their customers
•	Evaluated existing procedure and wrote protocol for better information management
•	Familiar with process, activities and tools (DMAIC) utilized in lean process efforts

Small Business Consultant

UCSF Medical Center

•	Experience in high volume, fast paced, team oriented healthcare environment with staff that exceeded twenty people in one unit.
•	Handled in excess of two hundred and fifty phone calls daily while multitasking in other departmental duties including assisting Neurologists and Neurosurgeons with transcription of medical orders and prescribed therapy.
•	Proficient in medical terminology and medical procedure terminology with knowledge in scheduling hospital procedures and tests.
•	Experience working with automated purchasing and materials management system and other computer based programs and office hardware.

Hospital Unit Service Coordinator III

Formtoro.com - Zero Party Data Ecommerce Strategy

Helping ecommerce companies understand the difference between a Customer Journey and Company Journey.

We're changing the future of eCommerce one company at a time through quantitative and qualitative data.

Always up for a chat about the industry: calendly.com/jonivanco

You should sign up for my newsletter at www.jonivanco.com/newsletter that's where I drop all my hot takes.

I love zero party data and data analytics and a good debate around them.

🏌🏼‍♂️Jon Ivanco

Customers Who Click

Generating brands £30m+ in incremental revenue through CRO & post-click optimisation.

Our data & customer research-driven CRO has helped dozens of 7, 8 and 9-figure DTC brands improve their conversion rates, lift their AOV, and help them scale their paid media profitably.

Brands we've worked with include:

- Ozarke
- Else Nutrition
- neat.
- Chillblast
- Cole & Mason
- D. Louise
- Groove Pillows
- HomeCooks
- House of Worktops
- Kloris
- MOD Lighting
- Onling
- OTO CBD
- Pearson Cycles
- Tower London

Hosting the Customers Who Click Podcast 🎙

- 350,000+ Downloads
- 200+ Episodes

Guests include:
- Pizza Hut
- Fiverr
- Cotopaxi
- Rodial Group
- Liquid Death
- Space Goods
- Nomad the Label
- Stratia Skincare

Podcast Host

Gamesys

• Recruited and managed team of 3 to implement automated and ad-hoc campaigns to convert registered members into players.
• Increased conversion rate of database by 281% from March 2018 to February 2019
• Implemented cleanse of UK CRM database reducing bounce rate from 10-15% to ~1%
• Developed & optimised customer lifecycle strategy specific to each region (UK, Spain, US)
• Marketing owner of project to re-develop welcome offer choice & deposit pages increasing immediate first-time users by 25%.
• Managing stakeholder relationships including Acquisition, CRM, Data, Technical and Product teams

Head of Conversions Team

Ubeeqo

• Managed 7-digit UK marketing budget and P&L, targeting location specific growth.
• Developed and optimized subscription options resulting in improved retention rates and higher lifetime values.
• Managed all acquisition activities for UK market including PPC, Facebook advertising, leafleting campaigns, street marketing, and PR.
• Implemented and managed CRM strategy to drive first time users and repeat bookings using email, SMS, calls, and direct mail.
• Increased First Time Users from 2.5% of signups in January 2017 to 13.5% in June
• Increased Average Booking Value by 105%
• Achieved 20% WoW growth in booking revenue over 6 month period.
• Hired and managed team of 4
• Worked with product team to improve user onboarding within app, taking into account region specific requirements (such as DVLA code in UK.)

Head Of Marketing - UK

Sport Draftr

• Launched a Daily Fantasy Sports business with a co-founder in August 2015 after being granted gambling licenses.
• Employed various marketing channels including social media (paid & organic), influencer marketing, leafleting and community outreach to grow the business to just under 1000 users with very little spend, achieving CPA of <£10.
• Achieved 250% increase in average monthly spend through tournament payout optimisation, and the launch of private leagues & referrals

Readly

• Joined as one of the first marketers in the UK, tasked with growing the subscriber base utilising a 7-digit budget & delivering against set targets.
• Achieved 90% YOY growth in paid subscribers with minimal spend between May 2015 and when I left in April 2016.
• Responsible for managing external agency across SEM and Paid Social, keeping them accountable and ensuring efficient spend.
• Owned global CRM strategy, and implementation in UK, including onboarding of new users, regular engagement of paid users, and conversion of expired trial users.
• Increased customer lifetime value by 38% with personalised CRM strategy across Email, Push, and Direct Mail.
• Worked closely with Swedish product team to improve in-app user experience, and boost conversion rates on both website and app.

UK Marketing Manager & Global CRM Manager

Storemates

• Oversaw complete redesign and redevelopment of website using external agency including monetisation model resulting in 10x increase in LTV.
• Developed new marketing strategy focusing on use of PPC, SEO, social and email marketing for user acquisition and retention achieving 50% increase in users in 5 months.
• Prepared forecasts on growth to help company seek further investment.
• Other responsibilities included hiring staff, managing all budgets, and approving suppliers.

Head of Product and Marketing

Markco Media

Responsible for marketing the MyVoucherCodes mobile application through various channels including social, email and mobile ads.

In addition, I worked on a new mobile application project, helping to develop the idea, and work with designers and developers to produce the final product.

Mobile Marketing Manager

I'm responsible for the marketing communications strategy for MyVoucherCodes at Markco Media, working closely with the partnerships team to ensure that all offers are communicated properly across the business, and out to our user base.  I also create various new marketing campaigns, providing the necessary information for the partnerships teams to sell these campaigns, and for the various marketing teams to properly communicate these to our users.

In addition, I'm responsible for marketing our mobile application, maintaining engagement and growing our userbase.

Other responsibilities include:
- Branding
- Sales Marketing
- Social Media
- CRM
- Mobile
- SEO

Online & Mobile Marketing Executive

VouChaCha

VouChaCha operate mobile applications which provide vouchers and discounts through affiliate marketing, the main partner is MyVoucherCodes.co.uk.

My main duties involved winning and maintaining relationships with national retailers such as The Body Shop, Carphone Warehouse and GAME.

I had to introduce the mobile concept to potential clients who either had no e-commerce (restaurants), or had no affiliate program.

In order to plan and execute these campaigns I had to communicate directly with merchants, agencies and the affiliate networks.

I have gained a huge knowledge of affiliate marketing from a publisher point of view including the various commission structures of CPM, CPC and CPA.

I have strong presentation skills as I regularly pitched to new clients, as well as presenting campaign reviews.

In addition to my role as an account manager, I was responsible for the mobile newsletter.

I was also responsible for marketing the mobile app and generating user downloads.

Senior Mobile Account Manager

My main duties involved dealing with incoming leads, as well as telesales bringing on small merchants; either shops or restaurants generally with up to about 5 locations.

I provided support to the senior account managers by producing campaign reviews for campaigns.

I also maintained the MyVoucherCodes mobile Facebook page.

Account Manager

Founder - Customers Who Click | CRO for eCom brands - turning traffic into customers using "The U.A.M Method"

Most DTC brands want to scale their paid media. But few focus enough on converting that traffic.  

Customer acquisition costs are rising, and while brands invest heavily in driving traffic, too many are wasting thousands of dollars sending traffic to friction-heavy, confusing websites with poor user experiences.  

The brands that win are not just the ones with the best ads. 

They are the ones that ensure every click leads to a seamless, high-converting customer journey from the first visit through to repeat purchases.  

Yet, many brands still rely on best practices, gut instinct, or copying competitors instead of using real customer insights to optimise their websites and landing pages.  

This is where CRO comes in.  

Through data-driven research, behavioural psychology, and rigorous testing, we help brands remove friction, increase conversion rates, and maximise revenue from their paid traffic.  

Giving them room to scale comfortably, and profitably.

At Customers Who Click, we specialise in turning more visitors into buyers, helping ambitious e-commerce brands scale profitably and sustainably.  

We’ve helped businesses see real improvements, like:

🚀 MOD Lighting added $3,300,000 in additional annual revenue.
🚀 Ozarke saw an increase in Revenue Per User of 37.8%.
🚀 Groove increased conversion by 53% and AOV by 23% in 6 months.
🚀 D.Louise added $372,000 in revenue from their existing traffic.
🚀 neat. Doubled AOV and increased revenue by 102.3% with bespoke landing pages.

If you want to get the most from your paid media and scale efficiently, let’s talk.  

👉 Book a free conversion discovery session at www.customerswhoclick.com/apply

Or, if you’re not quite ready, follow along as I share practical tips and insights on optimising your website’s performance.

Will Laurenson

I didn’t expect to be posting about a toothbrush on LinkedIn.

But here we are.

I picked up a SURI brush recently and honestly, it’s one of the best product experiences I’ve had in a long time.

The box feels premium.
The unboxing is clean and intuitive.
The emails are thoughtful and well-paced.
The product itself? Genuinely beautiful.

Most oral care brands stick to the clinical, sterile category norms.

SURI went the other way.

They’ve clearly thought through every touchpoint. not just how it looks, but how it feels.

And that’s what stood out most.

This isn’t about branding for the sake of it. It’s about consistency.

Every interaction from first click to first brush reinforces the same message:

“This is a better experience.”

Founders and marketers: it’s a great reminder that brand isn’t just what you say.

It’s how everything feels.

Please please please stop with the deliberately manipulative marketing.

You're harming your brand for a few discounted sales and making the industry look bad.

Fake apology emails suck

and I've even had a brand send whats supposed to be an internal discount to thank staff.

Even if it's legit, thanking your staff for their hard work with a discount on your own store just sucks.

Do better.

Scaling DTC Brands With CRO 2.0 - Revenue, not just Conversions | Host of Customers Who Click 🎙️ (500,000+ downloads)

Everyone's gearing up for Black Friday.

Except half the brands I've spoken to recently.

They're sitting it out. On purpose.

Not because they can't compete on price. Not because they don't have the inventory.

But because they've done the math on what discounting actually costs them.

One founder told me: "We spent three years building a premium brand. Why would I train customers to wait for 40% off?"

Another said their November sales are far more profitable without Black Friday. No discount hunters. Just customers who value what they make.

And honestly? It makes sense.

When you compete on price, you're playing someone else's game. 

But when you compete on brand value, on the feeling, the story, the experience - you're playing your own game.

The brands opting out aren't missing out. They're doubling down on what actually matters to their customers.

Quality over quantity.
Experience over discount.
Brand value over race to the bottom.

Black Friday isn't wrong. But it's not mandatory either.

Sometimes the best strategy is knowing which games not to play.

Notifications | LinkedIn

li_at

JSESSIONID

Do yourself a favour this Black Friday - double, triple check your discounts setup.  

This is one of the most critical times of year for e-commerce brands. Missing a detail could cost you thousands.  

Ask yourself:  

- Will your discounts combine with sale pricing?  
- Do you have free gift logic that might overwrite existing offers?  
- Is your welcome offer valid alongside Black Friday deals?  

Small issues like an auto-applying free gift stopping customers from benefiting from Black Friday discounts can ruin sales.  

Take the time now to review your setup, don’t let technical glitches mess up your biggest selling period.  

A little prep goes a long way to maximise revenue and deliver a smooth customer experience.  

Remember, the devil's in the details. 

Better safe than sorry.

This is your last chance to grab the DTC Subscription Playbook.

Most brands think the job ends at the sign-up.

But the best subscription businesses know the real work starts after that.

From acquisition → onboarding → retention, every stage should be engineered to deliver ongoing value.

That’s why I partnered with Loop Subscriptions, Tobi Chapman, and Nativ Yanko to build this:

30+ pages of frameworks, strategies, and examples from teams doing it right.

You’ll learn how to:

👉 Attract better-fit customers with smarter offers
👉 Convert more browsers into subs through testing
👉 Use Loop’s “Two-Way Retention System” to reduce churn
👉 Build a loyalty flywheel that compounds revenue

If you run a DTC brand or work with subscription clients, this will sharpen your strategy fast.

👇 Grab a copy here: https://lnkd.in/eDPXyhFg

(P.S. Make sure we're connected so I can DM you.)

Loop Subscriptions

Founder @ Everboost | Scaling DTC Brands Profitably with Retention Marketing

Innovative AI-informed Ad Creative For 8-Figure DTC Brands | Founder of NSY

Ever tried selling natto kinase to a US consumer?

It’s not easy, but Christiana Valenzuela is doing it with style and strategy.

She’s the Marketing Director at Crane Wellness, a Japanese supplement brand that’s grown from a Wix site with a couple orders a month…to becoming one of the fastest-growing brands in their space.

I had her on the pod to unpack:

→ How she rebuilt the entire brand for a Western DTC audience

→ Why 60% of last year’s revenue hit in just one week

→ And how they’re using AI tools + relentless testing to scale with a team of just five

Christiana also breaks down:

- Why educational emails are crushing promos
- How she’s turning obscure ingredients into SEO gold
- And why they’re front-loading ad spend before Black Friday…and retargeting hard in January

It’s one of the most tactical brand-builder convos I’ve had recently, especially if you’re trying to do more with less, launch in a new market, or ditch the discount-first mindset.

🎧 Full episode: https://lnkd.in/eYNr-j92

P.S. Christiana still takes phone orders from customers who don’t want to buy online. Wellness ecom isn't your typical funnel…

We just found 127 conversion killers on a $8M brand's site.

Using the same checklist we've refined across 100+ DTC audits.

It's 300+ checkpoint deep. Covers every page from homepage to confirmation. Tests for conversion, AOV, and margin protection.

Most brands think they need 5-10 fixes.

Every single audit we run finds 80+ opportunities minimum.

Here's what it covers:

𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 (22 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀)
→ Above-fold clarity
→ Trust signals placement
→ Navigation friction points

𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 (36 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀)
→ Filter functionality
→ Product card optimization
→ Load speed killers

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 (79 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀)
→ Add-to-cart visibility
→ Social proof placement
→ Upsell opportunities

𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁 & 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁 (74 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀)
→ Abandonment triggers
→ Trust erosion points
→ Hidden margin leaks

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 (18 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀)
→ Confirmation clarity
→ Account creation friction
→ Retention setup

Plus dozens more across search, navigation, and more.

This isn't some generic template.

It's the tried & tested framework we use for every paying client.

The same one that's uncovered:

- 7-click checkouts
- Broken mobile menus hiding bestsellers
- Shipping thresholds killing AOV
- Trust badges actually reducing conversion

We're making it public until December 31st.

After that, it's $99.

Because honestly, we probably shouldn't be giving away our entire audit process for free.

But if you grab it now, you'll have it forever.

Drop "AUDIT" below and I'll DM you the link.

Make sure to:

1. Connect with me so I can send it through
2. Like this post so I get notified

Quick win idea in the run up to Black Friday:

If someone returns to your website and has something in their cart...

Open that cart immediately to show them.

So many people forget they've already put a cart together, or forget what they were looking at before.

If you've got your carts set to retain the contents indefinitely then you might even find people coming back after months and they'll get a reminder of why they were there last time.

This is especially powerful now in the run up to Black Friday.

If you are going to be running a deal in the coming weeks, get this in place, and then email your list to let them know about it, and to prepare their carts in advance.

This will work really well for anything that is actually limited or exclusive

Everyone likes to do a bit of window shopping

So encourage them to do it now while they aren't overwhelmed

Tell them to build the cart of their dreams.

When you drop the Black Friday sale they'll all come back to the website to see their existing cart

and its just the 1 click to get to checkout.

Smooth, seamless, and a great way to build up attention ahead of Black Friday.

(p.s. you might need to alter your abandoned cart settings though)

We've got space to set this up for 5 brands before Black Friday - want to be 1 of them? DM me now.

This will be going out in our newsletter later today and I fully expect all 5 spaces to go, so don't miss out - DM me now.

A $9M lighting brand came to us convinced they needed a sales team for B2B orders.

They were ready to hire 3 people, build a CRM, create sales decks - the whole expensive circus.

Here's what we did instead:

Added one form to their site: "Buying for a Business?"

That's it.

The form collected:
- Company details
- Order requirements  
- Preferred contact method

Then routed everything to their existing customer service team.

No new hires.
No complex B2B portal.
No 6-month implementation.

First month results:
→ 47 B2B inquiries
→ $73k in bulk orders
→ Zero additional headcount

But here's what really surprised them:

Most business buyers never even used the form.

They just bought directly through the site like regular customers. They didn't want special treatment or negotiated pricing.

They wanted simplicity.

The form just gave them confidence that B2B was welcome.

Sometimes the solution isn't adding complexity.

It's removing the friction you didn't know existed.

That lighting brand saved $180k/year in salaries they didn't need.

And captured $800k in B2B revenue they were already losing.

All from one form and a mindset shift.

Stop solving problems with headcount.

Start solving them with clarity.

“10% of Bunches’ orders still come in over the phone.”

 In 2025. For an ecommerce brand. Let that sink in.

Had a fantastic chat with Dan Sinnott, Head of Marketing at Bunches, and I can't wait to share this.

If you're in ecommerce, retention, or just love seeing how legacy brands stay relevant, you'll find plenty of gold here.

Bunches is a 36-year-old flower gifting brand with a deep emotional connection to its customers. 

What struck me most? Dan’s take on gifting - "Flowers are for nothing."

Not for birthdays or big events, but for those “thinking of you today” moments.

That’s shaped everything they do, from an afternoon tea hamper that's become a surprise summer hit.

We covered some gold:

- Why younger customers are unsure what to buy in flowers

- How Bunches shifted from performance marketing to a four-funnel, brand-led approach

- The Mother’s Day campaign that didn’t feature a single product but still drove big revenue

- Why they slowed growth post-COVID to understand their customers better

- And my favourite…10% of orders still come in by phone, with handwritten Christmas cards for their most loyal customers

What I loved most? How Dan consistently brings it back to emotion, relevance, and meaning.

It’s not about hacks, it's about building a brand people genuinely feel connected to.

In an age of tight budgets and harder acquisition, that’s a powerful reminder.

If you're thinking about retention, personalisation, or making your marketing more human - this episode is a must listen.

🎧 Catch the full conversation in the comments, on Spotify, or itunes 

Would love to hear your thoughts, do you agree that the best gifts are the unexpected ones?

Your legal team will hate me for this...

But your lawyer's job is to stop you getting sued.

Not to get you sales.

They'll always err on the side of caution. Always ask you to throw up walls. Create extra friction.

Because every day you don't get sued, they're justifying their jobs.

Here's what this overprotection actually costs you:

Your cookie popups? Overengineered and damaging conversions.

T&Cs opt-in required to purchase? Overcomplicated and damaging conversions.

Marketing opt-in for abandoned cart? Overkill and damaging conversions.

Just to be clear: I'm absolutely on the side of obeying the law.

But you should be doing the minimum required to stay compliant while protecting your business.

There's a difference between being reckless and being strategic.

Smart businesses know where that line is.

The brands winning right now? They're not the ones with the most cautious legal team.

They're the ones who understand actual risk vs perceived risk.

Your lawyer keeps their job.
You lose the sale.

Guess who wins?

I didn’t think anyone wanted to hear from a “CRO guy.”

But here’s what happened when I started showing up consistently:

- Grew to 15,000 followers
- Hit 500,000+ podcast downloads across 275 episodes
- Built an email list of 7,500+ from CRO content
- Invited to speak at industry events, webinars, and panels
- Guests now ask to come on the podcast
- Worked with 100+ brands across DTC
- Built a steady inbound pipeline, no more chasing leads
- Met sharp people I now learn from weekly

And most of that came from simply sharing what I was doing, testing, and learning.

To think…I almost didn’t bother posting at all.

If you’ve been lurking or second-guessing whether your insights matter, they probably do.

Just gotta hit publish and see what happens.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who's supported me along the way, you know who you are 😘

The overlooked channel that’s quietly delivering 4–6x ROAS...

Just gone live: a new episode of the Customers Who Click podcast with Neal Goyal, SVP at PostPilot.

Neal's one of the loveliest guys in ecom, full of great energy, and it was a pleasure to chat with him.

We explored how direct mail is changing in today’s ecommerce landscape.

With rising customer acquisition costs and ROAS on digital ads top of mind right now, brands are realising that long-term profitability depends on relationships, not just quick wins.

From retargeting anonymous visitors to de-anonymising web traffic with first-party data, brands are finding new ways to make physical mail a powerful growth channel - beyond just retention.

Some key insights from the episode:

- Generic blast campaigns no longer work. Personalisation and emotional impact drive better responses.

- Sending personalised, relevant messages can deliver 4–6x ROAS on lapsed customers.

- Physical mail is no longer just for retention, it’s a scalable acquisition channel.

- AI and data are enabling direct mail to be targeted, measurable, and more effective than ever.

- In an AI-first world, tangible, physical touchpoints offer irreplaceable advantages.

- Despite challenges like margin pressure and rising ad costs, customer experience and retention are critical to long-term success.

I really enjoyed this chat, and I think you’ll love it too.

If you're curious about how direct mail might change your approach, give it a listen - https://lnkd.in/dkyXXhhE

SVP at PostPilot 🔥 DTC & Ecom Whiz

PostPilot

‘Hey Will we run AI powered cold outreach…’

Proceeds to add nothing remotely attention catching.

No thanks.

We’re nearing the end of the year. Things are calming down, and we’ve moved past the chaos of Black Friday.

But here's the thing, don't coast for the rest of the year.

It's tempting to start winding down but there’s still plenty of opportunity to make a difference.  

You don’t need to launch new channels or overhaul your Shopify store.

If there’s one thing you focus on before the year ends, make it this:

Improve the customer experience.

Think about the unboxing experience, post-purchase emails, making support easier to reach or streamlining the returns flow.

Ask yourself: "What can we do to make our customers’ lives better?"

That’s the kind of simple, impactful change that pays off long-term.

Don’t let the year close without taking that time.

Your customers will thank you, and so will your revenue.

Keep pushing, even when things slow down.

7-8 figure brands are burning 40% of their ad spend on a broken funnel.

And they don't even know it.

I ran the numbers for a brand last week. They were spending $100k/month on ads with a 2.2% conversion rate.

Solid traffic. Great creative. Decent CTR.

But their funnel? A leaky bucket hemorrhaging potential customers.

Here's what the math revealed:

If they improved conversion from 2.2% to just 3.2%, they'd add $4.3 million in annual revenue.

Same traffic.
Same ad spend.
Same product.

That's not a tweak. That's a whole new growth trajectory.

Most people think CRO is about button colors and headline tests.

The reality is that a proper CRO programme uncovers what actually makes people buy

and then systematically optimises every part of the funnel around those behaviours.

Not guesses
Not "best practises"
Not surface-level tweaks

Real customer insight that compounds across the entire buying journey.

Meanwhile, people are chasing:

- New ad platforms (6 months to profitability)
- $100k redesigns that don’t fix the fundamentals
- Gimmicky apps that promise conversion lifts but only eat margin

When the answer is sitting right there in their existing traffic.

The worst part?

They think their 2.2% is "industry standard."

But I've seen the same products, same price points, same audiences converting at 4-5% with proper CRO.

That's the difference between scaling profitably and burning cash.

Stop thinking of CRO as just conversion optimisation.

Start thinking of it as Customer Revenue Optimisation - the foundation that makes everything else work.

Because without it, you're just paying Facebook to send visitors to a leaky bucket.

If you want to grow your DTC brand in 2026, forget chasing the latest tactics.

Focus on the fundamentals that actually move the needle.  

I just released a new episode of the Customers Who Click podcast with Sanjay Jenkins, Head of Growth at Replo. 

Sanjay built a nine-figure soap company in 14 months by controlling every part of the operation during COVID. Now, he’s helping brands optimise their websites and maximise conversions without needing to be a developer.  

Here’s what he shares:  

- Building a nine-figure brand is about timing, speed, and control.

- Controlling your supply chain and margins beats fancy ads every time.

- AI and automation are helpful, but they won’t replace excellence in execution.

- Many brands waste money on traffic and overlook the backend: supplier deals, pricing, operational costs. Small wins here add up.

- Organic video content and authentic storytelling are now some of the strongest growth drivers. You don’t need big budgets, just passion and consistency.

- Growth isn’t about chasing new channels; it’s about improving what you already do well. Landing pages, pricing tests, and operations all matter.  

If you’re serious about sustainable growth that lasts, this episode is packed with actionable insights.  

Listen here:  https://lnkd.in/esD59tmx

Would love to know your take.

I help you sell more stuff on the internet.

Replo

Over the last 12 or so months I've been running a bit of an experiment in my personal life.

It involves having shared custardy of the family dog. 

He stays with us for anything from a few days over a weekend, to 5 weeks while my parents are off enjoying a trip to Japan & Korea.

I think I'm now able to state with absolute scientific certainty that everyone should get a dog.

It is 100% the best thing you can do for your mental health, especially if you work from home a lot.

Their very presence brings joy and Charlie loves nothing more than to receive a bit of fuss from random strangers in the pub.

Remember, a dogs not just for Christmas, but it absolutely will be the best gift you ever get

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I've been experimenting with my supplement stack lately.

Currently taking:

- methylphenidate
- Space Goods rainbow dust
- An L-theanine tablet (this really helps!)

It got me thinking - what else is everything using to help with focus and productivity?

Anything you’ve found that really makes a difference or that you’re curious to try?

This post did pretty well, maybe I should just do honest unboxings 😂

Any volunteers to send me some goodies?

taplio

The Battle

🏌🏼‍♂️Jon Ivanco

Will Laurenson

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taplio

The Battle

🏌🏼‍♂️Jon Ivanco

Will Laurenson

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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);}Will Laurenson's LinkedIn Performance

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