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 will die on this hill 👇👇
Going on vacay next week.

Will not check slack.
Will not be online 
Will not check emails.
Will be present with my fam 
Will have more impactful ideas etc than ever 
Will come back ready to know what to work on for max impact 

Why? 

I have a team that handles everything. 
Because that is true freedom and leverage.

Just sayin Oliver 😆❤️🤷‍♂️

If you’re on TikTok Shop and you don’t use Reacher you are playing on hard mode!! 

But first a story… 

Last month I was in Vegas for business

 Bora Mutluoğlu and Jerry Qian flew out separately from SD and SF just for the night. 

Took me out for dinner. 
Hung out all night. 
Just because. 

I am so proud to have been their advisor. 

They will surpass any business success I’ve ever had very shortly. 

This is what I live for. 

So back to Reacher 

They have built every single feature I have asked for to build creator communities on TikTok Shop and beyond for brands. 

They are the obvious outreach tool for every brand (and it’s not even close) 

If I were a competitor I would just quit tbh 😆🤷‍♂️

They are on another plane. 

This isn’t sponsored - except maybe a friendship sponsor lol! 

Anyway just wanted the world of LinkedIn to know how much I appreciate these guys! 

I will bet on whatever they do in the future.

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This is wild 👇🔥🔥
We have an internal channel at Social Commerce Club when new clients partner with us…

No word of a lie - that channel has been pinging at least 3-4x per week for the last couple of months.

Needless to say… we continue to hire 😆🤷‍♂️

This is super important for every single brand wanting to launch TikTok Shop  in 2026. 👇

If an agency tells you that you’ll be profitable in the first three months… 

RUN!!! 

Your goal in the first three months is…

1. Build the muscle 
2. Build a creator community 
3. Build momentum

That’s it! 

But… once you get momentum you’ll start seeing insane traction. 

And that’s when it gets fun! 

Thats what my team at Social Commerce Club loves for!!

2025 year in review (this will be juicy 😆🙌🏻) 
Highlights first (in order of importance) 👇

1. 4th baby arrived (me pictured trying to remember how to hold a new born ❤️) 

2. Acquired TUFF Media - unreal founder in Parker Kump and incredible team! Made Parker CEO (he’s a way better day to day operator than me)

3. Worked and scaled over 100 brands at Social Commerce Club - became one of the top 5 “gold status” TikTok Shop agencies in NA. 

We Should be the only platinum in Jan.

4. Founder/CEO Advising - worked one on one with 13 founders - mostly SAAS. 5 exits, 3 got into accelerators. (I’m waitlisting founders for this year btw - DM me if interested)

5. Acquired Roasberry to become Halo - the first omni channel decision engine for DTC brands (launching soon) 

6. Socials - over 10 million impressions between LinkedIn, X, YouTube etc 

7. Health (should have put this second but I’m typing and well…) 

Continued to not drink (highest leverage move and it’s not even close) 

Installed a “daily hike” into my work day - best new habit. 

Read/listened to over 50 books.

8. YouTube/podcasts - was only on 10 external podcasts (need to change that this year) 

Published 40 YouTube videos + 52 podcasts of Secrets To Scaling Your E-commerce Brand 

9. Friends (this should have been 3rd lol) 

Moved cuties 4 hours away and intentionally have made some amazing friendships even at 39! 

We’ve hosted at our house least 20 times since we’ve moved and made a lot of ribs and brisket!! 

Lowlights

1. Said yes too much that took away from my main goals.

2. Didn’t spend enough time one on one time with my kids. 

3. Worked too much on things that didn’t matter to ME. 

4. Made some poor cultural hiring decisions that I had to walk back (read fire) 🔥 

Ok that’s it! 

What was your 2025 highlight?

I’m going to be honest 😢
In Aug… we were churning a lot of clients and not hitting expectations…

September we made some Big personnel decisions and it changed everything!! (Not like things were terrible before) 

Seeing my Social Commerce Club team working at this level makes me realize that they ARE the number one world class team for TikTok shop IMO 

Oh also… Parker Kump taking over as CEO has helped too!! 😆🤷‍♂️

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

“How should I think about sampling on TikTok Shop?” 👇 
We get this question from brands at Social Commerce Club constantly…

So... Here’s the framework we use. (probably save this one) 🔥 

Step 1: Stop treating sampling like a checklist
It’s not…

It’s an investment decision!! 👏 

Step 2: Use metrics as inputs

Not gates.

Yes, we look at…

→ Recent GMV
→ Post rate
→ Content quality
→ TikTok signals

Step 3: Zoom out and get the full context

Creator-side questions: (here's where the gold is people!!)

→ Is their content good enough to sell anything
→ Do they post like it’s a job… or like it’s a hobby
→ How long have they been on the platform
→ Do they engage in the community
→ Is there an obvious use case for the product
→ Does the page feel like someone who “gets it”

Brand-side questions

→ What’s the goal (GMV max vs brand control - this is something we contantly need to think about with the types ad size of brands we work with at Social Commerce Club)
→ What’s the sampling budget + volume we aligned on
→ Do unit economics work (COGS, shipping, margin)
→ Do we have inventory to support this
→ Does the category fit their audience
→ How aggressive does the brand want to be

Step 4: Make the bet

Every product we send is an investment!!!
We place it where it has the highest chance of creating real value…

Now (performance)
Or later (relationship)

And if you’re unsure…

That’s normal.

Pull someone in.

Pressure test it!

I hope that helps... questions?

Last month... I found an INSANE stat about TikTok Shop creators that EVERY brand needs to understand before going HARD on the platform. 👇 

1. there are OVER 3.5 million creators signed up on tiktok shop

2. Here's the part that will blow your mind... 

Of those 3.5 million creators... 

less than 50K of them produce more than 1k of GMV (sales) a month. (thanks to Bora Mutluoğlu and Reacher for the numbers btw)

First... I have been saying this for the last 2 years. 

There are so few AMAZING creators. 

Second - your job as a brand is to find these creators and keep them happy and working for your brand. 

We've known this as the case at Social Commerce Club for the past 2 years and built an INSANELY high performing network. (that we plug new brands into from day 1) 

The next thought I have is around strategy if you can't get those creators to pay attention. 

This isn't something that I talk about that often TBH. 

BUILD YOUR BRAND CONTENT on your TikTok page 

Seriously. 

Get someone fulltime to crank out at least 10 videos a day. (stay away from fully AI btw - TikTok is deprioritizing that right now) 

Look at your competitors top performing content creators on @FastMoss and use those videos as inspo for your brand. 

Am I saying don't work with affilaites?? 

No not at all! 

Affilaites are so important to your overall strategy. 

What I AM SAYING is... 

Control what you can at first. 

And you can control your own brand content and how much you put out daily. 

So do that. 

Know a brand thinking of launching on TikTok Shop in 2026? 

Send them this post - it may help them understand the platform that much better!

Off to Hawaii for the week. 
Any post you see from me this week was prescheduled. 😆🤷‍♂️🙌🏻

Will be turning off any work all week…

Why? 

Because time away breeds creativity and productivity.

I’ve said it before… if you can’t take a week away from your business… 

You don’t have a business.

You have an underpaid 24/7 job. 

Btw… my thoughts on this yesterday hit a nerve 😆🙌🏻- go back to my profile and read the comments 🤦‍♂️

THIS IS A JOB POST FOR Social Commerce Club 🔥 
The more TikTok Shop agencies appear on the scene... the more I realize that 99.9% of them just don't get it. (or the broader market)

This is a great opportunity for us at Social Commerce Club - but also really sucks for the broader DTC community trying to enter the channel! 

The ONLY THING I THINK ABOUT DAILY is on increasing capacity (because as you know... demand is not our problem! 

And to do that... we need people to join us that RAISE THE BAR (not just meet it which generally weeds out 99% of people) 

So... we are hiring for the role of "social commerce strategist" 

What is it? 

You work directly in between our brand partners and our creator community. 
You help BIG brands enter the social commerce world on Tiktok shop driving both massive AWARENESS but also massive amounts of net new customers and revenue. 

Who are you? 

your friends call you "tenancious" "can learn anything" "won't settle for good enough" "can take on any challenge" "methodical is getting results" 

What have you done in the past? 

Titles may have looked like "brand strategist" "growth strategists" "director of ecomm" etc. 

If that's you... I'm going to tag in Klaryssa Pangilinan, CPHR 

1. Connect with her. 
2. Tell her that Jordan West said you should message. 
3. Tell her why you would be a fit for Social Commerce Club
4. Let's goooooooo 

Also would love a share and tag anyone you know may be a fit (ps... the best usually already have a job)

What’s up with That smile? 
Well let me tell you… 👇

A few things 

1. Social Commerce Club is going to be the biggest TikTok Shop agency in NA this year 

2. I have an amazing leadership team and CEO at SCC 

3. I love doing what I do on a daily basis 

4. I get to work with some of the biggest brands in the world. 

5. I am launching the biggest disruptive tool for brands since iOS 14.5 

6. I love my life 

That’s why I’m smiling … but tbh I would be smiling if everything was in shambles too - it’s a skill 😆🤷‍♂️

I have a confession LinkedIn…
This time last year…

I hired…

A ghost writer! 😆😢🤞

And you know what? 

They wrote better than me. 

They got better engagement. 

They saved me time!! 

But you know what?? 

After 2 months… it felt kinda weird. 

It wasn’t me.

I missed the habit of writing every day. I felt less articulate. 

Same thing with experimenting with AI 🤖 content. 

Sure - it works ish - but it’s not me. 

And I LOVE articulating ideas. 

I had lost my voice. 

So I went back to writing daily and let me tell you… best decision ever!! 

It’s not for everyone - I get it. But it’s for me!! 

Anyone else gone through this??

TikTok shop growth is hard. I want to break down EXACTLY how to do it in 2026 for any brand.

Hot take for 2026 👇

AI is better than you at UGC 

But… I don’t think it matters. 

Why? 

It’s not real.

It may work for a short time… but in the end, humans want humans. 

We love watching each other struggle and overcome. 
 
The messiness - the pain. 

It’s built in. 

One of my biggest takes is that AI content will be completely deprioritized in 2026 - because people are spending less time online as a result. 

Thoughts?

🔥 2026 predictions (you may not want to read these if you don’t like change e-commerce brands)

1. AI UGC on social media will be almost completely deprioritized and companies that make AI UGC will struggle (plus there will be some big consumer lawsuits similar to to ADA level lawsuits IMO) 

Also as an aside AI written content here on LI will be deprioritized (we all hope lol) 😂 

2. 95% of enterprise brands (read household names… not DTC darlings though some may take it more seriously before it’s too late) will enter TikTok Shop in some form. 

This one is interesting because I obviously have a lot of insider knowledge at Social Commerce Club and it’s wild. 

3. The Ads that work on paid social will HAVE to be proven out on organic social first. Brands will return to organic first (again why I am obsessed with TTS) 

4. Organic Facebook reach is back baby!! Post at least 2 reels a day! 

5. MTA as a measurement system will die and more wholeistic measurements will take its place (read halo etc) 

6. Meta and TikTok will demand even more creative in their pursuit of personalized ads. (Hmmm where can a brand get thousands of videos to use across channels???) 

7. Agentic commerce will push 30% of referrals for big brands on DTC (get ready for the bots folks) 

8. Social Commerce Club will be the only platinum partner on TikTok Shop and triple in size this year and I AM here for it!! 

What did I miss??

BRANDS!!! DON'T GO ON TIKTOK SHOP! 
YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT! 

Until you have this in place... (yes I hate the hook I just did too lol!) 

1. Your fulfillment needs to BE dialled. If you start out and don't have this (the most overlooked part of TT shop) dialed you will get penalized and in a HUGE WAY! 

Like one of my old mentors says "it's all in the set-up" 

Having your back-of-house operations right from day one...

shipping, returns, SLAs, and stock sync—is non-negotiable. 

TT Shop doesn’t care if you’re learning. 

Miss your fulfillment window? You’re getting flagged! 

2. Your listings need to sell WITHOUT a scroll.
 
Clear titles (keyword-optimized, benefit-led).
5+ high-res images.
500+ character descriptions that SELL.

This is your storefront. Optimize it like your life depends on it.

3. You need a bulletproof creator outreach + content system.
 
One-off creator outreach is NOT a strategy.
 
You need:

A CRM to manage collabs.

My number one recommendation (and it's not even close) is Reacher 
Automated follow-ups.
spark ads collection 
etc etc 

Ps - think minimum 200 samples a month for the first 3 months. 

Remember top TikTok Shop creators are the 80/20 of the 80/20!

3 things in life and business that matter WAY MORE than money 💰👇

1. Autonomy - I would take freedom over money basically any day - your time is so much more valuable than you treat it. 

2. Friendship - there’s a crazy stat about males in their 30s and the lack of friends most people have. 

I have felt this in the past but made a concerted effort to push against it! 

3. Who you work with (and why the pic of Parker Kump) 

At Social Commerce Club I have one person that reports to me - Parker. That’s it. 

And TBH he is above my level - pushes me daily and is just a blast to work with. 

I’ve had partners in the past that aren’t at the same level and it is painful. 

If that’s you and a partner - you need to have the hard conversation NOW - it doesn’t get better. ❤️‍🩹 

I will never again work with someone I don’t enjoy and isn’t at my level or above (that included advisory clients) 

Life is too short. 

Btw… do the above and you’ll probably have more than enough money 🤷‍♂️

Ok what’s your thing that’s more valuable than money?

Brands sleeping on TikTok Shop…
Here’s what you need to understand 👇 

1. This is a legitimate channel for legitimate brands. (we should know at Social Commerce Club)

2. 2 out of the top 3 products AOV is above $200 (so you can't see it's just for cheap junk) 

3. Social commerce is the future 

Live shopping 
Creator driven commerce 
Affiliate style commissions 

If you’re on the fence… 

This is your sign

A brand we work with had over 20k affiliate  videos in November alone 👇

There are levels to this stuff on TikTok Shop guys! 

My biggest concern is the lack of amazing agencies out there to fill the massive need. 

I am still wanting to launch a way to help agencies understand how to run this service - DM me if you’re interested or want to know more (also for all of you who have dmed me do it again to get to the top of my inbox lol)

Was off my phone for a week 
No LinkedIn 🔥🔥🔥
Had 37 DMs waiting for me…

3 were from people not pitching me and that I needed to respond to 

What has happened to LinkedIn??

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

Most brands could add 10–15% revenue without a single new visitor.

Yet ecommerce teams still try to grow by pushing harder on traffic or conversion rate.

More ads. More tests. More pressure.

But one of the cleanest revenue levers is usually underused: AOV.

When AOV works, everything compounds:

- Paid media gets more efficient
- CRO wins get bigger
- Revenue grows without more traffic

The problem? Most AOV tactics are bolted on and feel salesy.

What actually works is relevance, timing, and low effort.

Here’s a practical AOV playbook we use with clients 👇

👉 Default to multi-unit packs if customers naturally buy more than one

👉 Build bundles that complete a job, not bundles you want to sell

👉 Add upgrades between PDP and cart that remove future problems

👉 Use cart upsells to nudge people over shipping or promo thresholds

👉 Keep checkout upsells simple, priority shipping, order protection, no thinking required

👉 Add post-purchase upsells, zero risk once the order is placed

👉 Follow up post-order with a plain text email offering to add relevant items to the same shipment

If an upsell makes someone stop and think, it’s already hurting conversion.

Good AOV doesn’t feel like selling more.

It feels like helping better.

We’ve got room for 2 brands to properly optimise AOV. Our average client sees a 12% lift within a couple of months.

If AOV is a concern for you, is it worth a conversation?

$50m+ Generated for DTC Brands With CRO | Host of Customers Who Click 🎙️ (500,000+ downloads)

Most comparison pages fail for one reason:

They try to do too much.

We rebuilt a comparison page for a mattress brand that was getting traffic, but generating almost zero revenue.

The page wasn’t “bad.”
It was just doing too much.

- Long
- Dense
- Pushing for a purchase too early
- Too focused on features instead of benefits

So we changed the goal.

Not more persuasion, better direction.

Here’s what we did instead:

– Stripped it back to a clean, collection-style layout
– Removed anything that didn’t help a next-step decision
– Repositioned the page as a gateway, not a checkout replacement

The result?

- The page now actively converts, and at a higher rate than any actual mattress page

- It’s the 4th highest-value page on the site by revenue per session (for pages above 1000 sessions)

- Clicks to product pages come with higher intent

Less content.
Clearer purpose.
Revenue followed.

P.S. If you’re not tracking revenue per session on comparison pages, you’re probably flying blind.

Shoutout to heatmap for helping with the analytics on this!

This funnel turned Trinny London into a $100M beauty empire…

and it’s sent my girlfriend’s skincare budget out of control.

She goes in for one product. Comes out with a cartful.

Their funnel?

A masterclass in persuasion.

It’s not just clever ads.

It’s a full system designed to make you feel like the products were made for you, and make sure you come back for more.

We broke it down into 4 core pillars:

1. Traffic & Ads
- UGC
- Static creatives
- Direct response angles

2. Conversion Flow
- Their unique quiz funnel
- Landing pages built for persuasion
- Sales copy that taps into identity & desire

3. AOV Boosters
- Smart bundles
- Urgency nudges
- Friction-free UX

4. Post-Click Tactics
- Cart psychology
- Checkout flow
- Seamless repeat purchase flow

They’re playing the long game:

→ Building trust
→ Hyper-personalisation
→ Cultivating loyalty

Nativ Yanko and I spent hours breaking down their entire funnel.

Click by click. Step by step.

Want the full teardown?

Drop FUNNEL in the comments + connect with me, and I’ll send you the full breakdown.

It’s packed with ideas you can swipe and test.

PS: If your skincare budget is safe, maybe don’t look, this funnel is dangerously persuasive. 😅

Most brands guess their free shipping threshold.

They pick £50 because…well, it sounds nice.

But that kind of guesswork usually kills your margins or tanks conversions.

Here’s a better way:

Start with your modal order value, not your average.

(Modal = the amount most customers actually spend.)

Then: Add 15–20%

That’s your free shipping threshold.

Why?

It nudges customers to spend just a bit more without feeling like a stretch.

Small increase in order size = big lift in total revenue.

But the threshold is only half the equation.

To make it work:

- Add a free shipping progress bar in the cart
- Offer upsells that are 15–20% of the product price
- Make sure those upsells are relevant to what’s already in the cart

That combo drives higher AOV, no heavy decisions, and a better customer experience.

P.S. Want me to review your cart and checkout UX?

Drop a quick comment below or DM me

Most A/B tests don’t fail in the tool.

They fail before they start.

Because the idea was weak.

Testing doesn’t create insight, it magnifies it.

If your hypothesis is vague, the test just proves that faster.

“Let’s try a bigger CTA”
“What if we move the USPs higher?”

Those aren’t hypotheses. They’re opinions.

A real hypothesis answers three things:

1. What user problem are we solving?
2. Why should this change fix it?
3. What measurable outcome would prove it worked?

Example:

"We believe users bounce because they don’t understand the value fast enough. If we replace the generic hero with a benefits-led headline, we expect ATC to increase 5%.”

Now the test teaches you something - win or lose.

Bad tests don’t just waste time, they mislead teams, kill trust, and stall growth.

So before you test anything, ask:

👉 What’s the actual problem here?

Because most tests don’t fail in the experiment.

They fail in the thinking.

- - - 

Enjoyed this post? Join 5,000+ DTC marketers who receive our weekly newsletter. Link in the comments

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Incredibly proud of the team for the amazing work they did on these new landing pages.

We’ve just wrapped a set of paid-traffic landing pages for Raw Generation.

The goal wasn’t just to “make it look better.”

It was to rebuild the page around:

- What customers actually cared about
- What they were unsure or anxious about
- What outcome they were really buying into

What changed

- Redesigned the page around top Voice-of-Customer themes
- Clarified the value proposition immediately above the fold
- Simplified the product education flow (less effort, fewer decisions)
- Directly addressed common anxieties around the products
- Anchored messaging to the results customers wanted, not features

No gimmicks.
No “conversion hacks.”

Just small structural changes, clearer messaging, and better alignment with intent.

Pretty ≠ profitable.

Clarity usually wins.

P.S. I’ll drop a few more landing page examples in the comments 👇

- - - 

Follow me Will Laurenson for daily CRO tips - or join our newsletter to receive CRO deep dives, actionable tips & test examples each week - link in the comments.

Most brands start the year by tweaking ads.

Smart brands fix their conversion rates.

Here’s why...

A 10% boost in ad performance? 
Nice, you’ll see a few more customers from that campaign.

A 10% boost in conversion rate? 
Now you’re seeing more customers from every campaign, every channel.

Layer on a 10% improvement in AOV and you’ve got scalable growth.

This is where the best brands focus in 2026.

They’re not just obsessed with acquisition.

They’re obsessed with revenue.

And that starts after the click.

More AOV. More LTV. More growth.

Let’s make it a year of smarter scaling.

Most brands don’t have a growth problem.

They have an efficiency problem.

I sat down with Pete Stirling, CEO & co-founder of Skout's Honor® , and we went way deeper than I expected into what actually drives growth when you’re building a science-backed consumer brand.

Skout's Honor operates in a heavily regulated category, but what fascinated me wasn’t just the product science, it was how obsessive Pete is about efficiency. 

Not “cut costs” efficiency. 
Decision-making efficiency. 
Focus efficiency. 
Signal-over-noise efficiency.

A few things we unpacked:

- Why most brands drown in data but still can’t tell what’s working

- How they connect Amazon, paid media, retail, and content into one mixed media view (without overcomplicating it)

-What social listening really looks like when you care about sentiment, not vanity metrics

- Why influencer size matters less than timing, relevance, and credibility

And a line I loved: "products need to ship at 100%, tools can live at 90%"

We also talked about educating customers without over-educating them, especially when you’re dealing with things like the topical microbiome. 

The takeaway? 

Outcomes beat jargon. Every time.

If you’re building a DTC or omnichannel brand, anything in a regulated or trust-sensitive category, or you’re feeling the pain of tool overload and “shiny object syndrome”

…this conversation will give you a lot to think about.

I took pages of notes from this one.

👉 Give it a listen and let me know what lands for you most - link in the comments

P.S. I’d love to hear if you’re in the “do fewer things better” camp, or still wrestling with it.

Let's be honest, January sucks - especially in the UK. 

It's dark, grey, cold and wet 99% of the time, and it's draining...

I didn't realise just how much the start of the year drains me.

Q4 is full of energy, it's exciting, everything is moving fast and we've got the holidays to finish it off with.

and then January often feels like back to BAU.

But it's the remote aspect that I think can be most difficult.

It just slowly drains the edge.

- No real-time feedback.
- No offhand comments that spark better ideas.
- No one pushing back on your thinking.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve deliberately changed that.

- A few coffees.
- A handful of proper calls.
- A couple of in-person conversations with people who excite me.

The change I've noticed is fantastic.

- More energy.
- Clearer thinking.
- Better decisions about where to focus, and crucially, what to ignore.

Not because the advice was revolutionary.

But because these conversations have given me the chance to think properly, and get another opinion on things.

So if you’re feeling flat, stuck, or oddly unmotivated, don’t default to “work harder.”

Get out there and speak to people.

Book the coffee.
Take the call.
Go to the event you’ve been putting off.

Even if you’re an introvert. (I am too.)

How are you powering through the January blues? 

and god help anyone who says move to Dubai...

Most brands think CRO is about increasing conversion rate. It’s not.

It’s about increasing revenue.

Sometimes that means improving conversion rate.

But other times, it means reducing it slightly to increase AOV or LTV.

Sure for some businesses like subscriptions there will be a strong focus on conversion, and customer acquisition.

While for one time purchase brands there'll be a stronger emphasis on AOV and maximising that first purchase revenue.

But for the majority of brands out there, finding that balance is key.

Where can you find the highest conversion rate, that also drives the highest AOV, while also acquiring you long term customers who don't return their products.

Because it's not just about the first purchase either.

If you get loads of new customers to spend loads of money but they all return their products - you're worse off.

If you get loads of new customers who buy once and never come back - you're worse off.

and that’s the shift most teams (including agencies) miss.

They chase higher % rates on individual metrics, while losing sight of what really matters.

Because the real win isn’t a prettier dashboard, it’s more profitable customers.

That’s Customer Revenue Optimisation.

The reason most testing programs don’t show ROI isn’t because testing doesn’t work.

It’s because they’re testing low-impact changes.

Tiny tweaks.
Micro-optimisations.
Insignificant differences.

and tests that just aren't based on any research.

Things like:

 – CTA copy
 – Button colours
 – Minor spacing changes

Here’s the problem:

Small changes require more data and deliver less learning.

They’re narrow in scope, they answer small questions, and even when they “win”, the impact is forgettable.

High-impact testing looks different.

It asks bigger questions of users:

– What happens if we add or remove this step?
– What if we change the structure of the page?
– What if we redesign the flow entirely?
– What if we remove friction instead of polishing it?

That’s where insight comes from, and that’s where your ROI comes from.

If your tests are asking:

“How do users react if we change this text…”

Don’t be surprised when the result doesn’t move the business.

Big changes create learning.

Learning creates leverage.

P.S. If your testing roadmap feels “safe”, it’s probably underpowered.

Site search users convert up to 8x higher than non-search users.

Which means if your site search is bad, you’re not “missing opportunities”, you’re actively losing money.

Search users aren’t just browsing, they’re telling you exactly what they want.

And most brands still treat search as a checkbox item during site build.

That’s a mistake.

Here’s a simple checklist to turn site search into a revenue driver:

1️⃣ Make search impossible to miss

– Prominent in the header (centre or right)
– Magnifying glass icon
– Example queries inside the field (not empty placeholders)

If users can’t find search instantly, they won’t use it.

2️⃣ Reduce effort before they finish typing

– Auto-suggest + auto-complete
– Suggestions include categories AND products
– Clicking the search box shows:
   – Recent searches
   – Common searches

Don’t make users think. Show them paths.

3️⃣ Handle real human behaviour

– Supports typos and synonyms
– Search box wide enough for real queries
– Hitting “enter” always returns results

People don’t search like marketers. Your search engine should know that.

4️⃣ Make the results page do actual work

– Clearly shows what was searched
– Easy to edit and re-submit the query
– Results are clear, useful, and ranked by relevance
– Common searches return curated results
– No-results pages guide users forward (categories, bestsellers, help)

A dead-end results page kills high intent.

5️⃣ Treat search like a product, not a feature

– Optimise it
– Curate it
– Review search terms regularly

Search is one of the highest-intent moments on your site.

Ignoring it is choosing to leak revenue.

P.S. If you want help auditing or upgrading your site search, DM me “SEARCH” and I’ll tell you exactly where the money’s being left on the table.

- - - 

If you enjoyed this post follow me Will Laurenson for more CRO tips or grab our CRO checklist in the comments

Amazing opportunity with a really awesome UK brand here!

Ads get clicks.

Websites get judged.

Revenue happens after the click, but most people still treat CRO like:

button tests
random experiments
a “nice to have” once ads are scaled

That’s the old CRO.

It’s outdated.

CRO 2.0 is Customer Revenue Optimisation.

Not “how do we increase conversion %?”

But: “How do we increase the value of every visitor to the site?”

Look at the maths

If you’re spending $100k/month and converting at 2%, that might feel fine, but that $100k gets you less and less every month.

At 3%, you just unlocked 50% more customers without spending a single $ more on ads.

Same traffic.
Same ads.
Different outcome.

That doesn't even account for what we can do with AOV.

Few brands have a problem with traffic.

It's the post-click where performance is letting the team down.

High-performing sites don’t just convert.

They re-hook.

Re-hook attention - Message match. Immediate clarity. No guessing why you’re here.

Re-hook interest - Clear outcomes, real proof, objections handled before they form.

Re-hook action - Remove friction. Reduce effort. Make the decision easy.

That’s CRO 2.0.

Ads buy attention.

Your website decides what that attention is worth.

If you’re scaling paid and growth feels harder than it should, that’s where to look.

P.S. If your website had double the traffic tomorrow, would revenue scale cleanly with it?

Be honest.

PSA – if an app promises a huge uplift and claims you won't need to do anything except plug and play...

Run away.

Here’s why that’s a red flag:

1. Nothing is truly plug and play.

Every app needs time, setup, and a strategy. If you don’t invest that, it won’t deliver anything meaningful.

2. You’ll burn hours on tools that don’t move the needle.

Endless demos. Unused trials. Back-and-forth emails. All for features that never get implemented, or used at 10% of their potential.

We audit multiple brands a week and there’s always an app graveyard:

- Tools installed but never trialled.
- Tools trialled but ditched.
- Tools kept but barely used.

It adds bloat to your site. Slows your team down. And delivers zero value.

Here’s what we ask clients to do before installing anything:

- What problem are you solving?
- What’s your hypothesis for this tool?
- How will you measure success?
- Will it impact revenue in 30 days?

Take 5 minutes to think.

Instead of wasting 5 hours.

One 10-person dinner taught them more than months of research.

That’s one of the moments that really stuck with me from this week’s podcast conversation with Thea Mathias.

Thea leads international growth at Our Place, and what I loved about this chat is how grounded it was in real experiences, not dashboards, not frameworks, not “best practice”.

We talked about:

- Why cooking is inherently cultural. and why you can’t just copy-paste a launch playbook from one country to another

- How a single dinner with customers revealed insights no survey ever could

- How to talk about non-toxic cookware without leaning into fear-based marketing

- And the unglamorous work of building trust, market by market

There’s also a great section on partnerships and credibility, including why working with people like Kenji Lopez-Alt sends a much stronger signal than chasing mega influencers.

If you’re building a brand, scaling internationally, or trying to stay human as you grow, this episode is full of practical, thoughtful insight.

🎧 Give it a listen here: https://lnkd.in/eh-m4d4f

Not my first choice questions for post purchase 🤔

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