Rob Palumbo

Here’s the thing. Place is one of the 7 Ps of marketing, but very rarely does the conversation go very deep on the working mechanics of what that actually means. Product marketers and brand marketers at the enterprise level have never really had to get in the weeds of looking at granular channel data like performance marketers have with regards to tracking and measuring campaign success. That’s what the analysts are for, right? Wrong. Even analysts I’ve met and worked with have never built a website and digital UX/CX from scratch to truly understand all the working parts of what makes consumers convert. Outside of pulling tagged audience segments from a CRM like Salesforce they don’t have the technical backend aptitude for getting the platforms to talk to each other or the number of steps it takes to set up a paid social campaign. This is often left to specialists. It’s really hard to lead strategy if you never been on the frontlines working with the IT team to I could list all the channels and tactics, but I’d run out of characters for the post. My point is T-Shaped marketers will and need to be the future CMO. This doesn’t mean the CMO has to do all the work, but they have to have had hands on keyboard learning by doing practice executing in ALL these areas to make better judgement calls and defend their position vs delivering spin/hype. They need to be able to speak multiple languages within the marketing org. Not just a few. The buck has to stop at the CMO level where they can no longer blame their direct reports. You can’t be reactive and yell at your team for not giving proper guidance and then pretend everything is ok in the Monday morning standup, ELT, or board meetings. That is a recipe for disaster in a kitchen where the house is built in sand.

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🎉 $168,000 Revenue Generated with Just $15,217 in Ad Spend! A local artisan market in Toronto partnered with us to help fill 210 vendor spots for their upcoming event. The challenge? Maximizing results while staying within budget. How did we do it? 🎥 Platform Selection: Leveraged video ads on Meta and Instagram to reach potential vendors. 📍 Targeting: Employed location targeting and lookalike audiences to attract suitable vendors. 📋 Lead Capture Optimization: Transitioned from Facebook’s built-in lead forms to a dedicated landing page integrated with the market’s application form to enhance lead quality. 🎨 Creative Testing: Allocated 25% of the budget to test fresh creatives, ensuring continuous engagement. 📊 Results: ✅ 1,122 Leads Generated ✅ $15,217.62 Ad Spend ✅ $168,000 Revenue Paid advertising isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Success comes from having a clear strategy and the flexibility to adjust when things don’t go as planned. Need help? Send me a DM 🚀

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Digital marketing is moving fast — AI-driven strategies, micro-influencers, and hyper-personalization are just the beginning. This article breaks down the trends shaping 2025. A good this-time-of-the-year read! 🤖🚀 https://lnkd.in/gdEB8rg7

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Some good points are made by PubMatic’s Andrew Baron in AdExchanger’s latest Data-Driven Thinking column. Ironically, cookies were never that big of a problem in the first place—your humble, anonymous cookie is far less personal than a hashed email (which, as the FTC recently reminded us, is in fact still PII). But to the writer’s point, years of worrying about their impending deprecation have led to some very positive changes. First- and carefully curated and enhanced second- and third-party data will always yield better results, assuming you can protect the privacy of the consumers who produced it. And yes, whatever more personally identifiable data you’re working with—whether it’s sell-side targeting, modeled audiences, or contextual signals—alternative IDs have shown great promise in creating a layer of privacy protection. However, the real challenge arises when these identifiers traverse the bidstream and are shared with third parties. No matter how secure your encryption, once data leaves your control, it’s vulnerable to exploitation or reverse engineering. Anything can happen. The signals aren’t the problem—it’s the way we’re sharing them. We built Symitri to solve these inherent privacy challenges in adtech infrastructure. By ensuring that personally identifiable data never leaves the control of its owner, Symitri offers truly deterministic targeting without sacrificing privacy. With Symitri, you can achieve precision, performance, and privacy—no compromises necessary. #Symitri #Privacy #DataProtection #Trust #TRUSTX https://lnkd.in/eS9Aem8B

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Frustrated with ad spend that doesn’t drive clear results? Many DTC brands hit familiar roadblocks on their way to scaling up. This is the Vulcan way to help Shopify stores grow with intention: Clarity on What’s Working: A lot of brands simply don’t know how ad spend impacts the bottom line. With in-depth dashboards and reports that go beyond the usual metrics, we help you see exactly what’s driving revenue—from product page views to conversion rates. Scaling with Strategy: Growth shouldn’t be a guessing game. We take brands from that $50-100k mark and help them reach new heights with data-backed strategies. Through full-scale ad management across Google, Meta, and more, we ensure your growth is stable, sustainable, and scalable. Creative that Speaks to Your Audience: No more wasted spend on ads that have lost their impact. We’re constantly testing and iterating, keeping your ads fresh and relevant so you’re always connecting with the right audience in the right way. One Team, One Goal: When everything’s managed under one roof, it’s easier to keep your brand voice consistent and performance-driven. With Vulcan, you get a partner who understands the ins and outs of your ad spend and is committed to pushing your growth forward. If your brand is ready to get real about scaling up, let’s talk!

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Secrets I learned from working with payment processors... Turns out we’ve been lied to. #1 Most people think they’re getting paid fairly, but it turns out most merchants have hidden fees, tiered fees, OR none-transparent structures Secret insight: request a breakdown of every fee and compare it to their contract #2 Most sales teams are incentivized to upsell not SERVE the customer… GOOD modern-day sales people find solutions to real problems. Secret insight: If you’re getting pitched RUN, make sure they’re understanding your business #3 Automation isn’t enough Without human oversight, there will be fraud, errors in invoices, and payments. Secret insight: Make sure automation is combined with a customer-first mindset This is a universal business lesson.. Make sure to dig deeper, hold your partners accountable, and ask better questions If you’d like recommendations on trusted processors shoot me a DM!

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For the upcoming Black Friday / Cyber Monday, the team consolidated over 50 industry resources into a single, comprehensive playbook — so you don’t have to! If you’re participating in this #BFCM or the holiday season, you need the DataSauce Peak Season Playbook. It covers everything you need before, during, and after this crucial period. What’s inside? 1) Mega Sale Prep Framework & Timeline 2) Key Consumer Behaviour Trends 3) Ad Ideas & Inspiration 4) Tips, Insights & Strategies (across all channels) With exclusive checklists and must-have action items, these 110 slides contain insights from the most reputable sources. If you want to get your hands on the Playbook send me a DM or head over to the DataSauce website to download your copy.

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Remember when #DTC brands were the darlings of the business world? Just pump money into ads and boom: You got hockey stick growth, riding the wave to success. 🌊 Well, 2024 had other plans. The DTC landscape is shifting beneath our feet. Brands that were once the poster children for explosive growth are now facing a harsh reality check. And it's not just about rising ad costs (though that's certainly part of it). But what's really going on here? And what can brands do about it? Let's break it down: 📈 The Free Money Party is Over: With interest rates up, the era of easy venture capital is behind us. Profitability isn't just nice to have – it's essential. 💰 Ad Costs Are Squeezing Margins: As platforms mature, the cost of acquiring customers is skyrocketing. That old CAC to LTV ratio? It needs a serious rethink. 🫶 Customer Loyalty is the New Growth Engine: Acquiring new customers at any cost doesn't cut it anymore. Retention and repeat purchases are the name of the game. 🚛 Supply Chain Realities: The "sell first, figure out logistics later" approach is dead. Brands need robust, resilient supply chains to thrive. 🔐 Data Privacy Changes the Game: With tracking restrictions tightening, the spray-and-pray ad approach is losing its effectiveness. Brands need to get smarter about their targeting and messaging. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: sustainable growth isn't about how much you can spend. It's about how efficiently you can operate, how well you understand your customers, and how much value you can provide. The DTC brands that will thrive in this new landscape are the ones willing to challenge their assumptions, diversify their strategies, and focus on building real, lasting relationships with their customers. What's your take? Are you seeing this shift in your industry? How are you adapting your growth strategy for this new reality? #DTCStrategy #SustainableGrowth #Ecommerce

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Still one of my favorite resources for seasoned Google Ads pros... This Advanced Google Ads Strategies training is a must-watch if you’re running Google Ads campaigns and want to squeeze out better ROI. It’s packed with proven techniques I still rely on to drive results. Here’s what’s covered: ✅ How to reach the 97% of potential customers not ready to buy yet. ✅ Setting advanced conversion goals that matter. ✅ Smarter reporting to show what’s really working. ✅ AI-assisted ad copywriting to save time and boost performance. ✅ Automating with Google Ads scripts to work smarter, not harder. ✅ Building landing pages that actually convert. 👉 Check it out here: Advanced Google Ads Strategies: https://lnkd.in/gPe3rZjg Let me know if you try any of these strategies—I’d love to hear what’s working for you! 🚀

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FERMÀT has done it again — Aaron Orendorff and the marketing team just launched another incredible, multi-part, free resource. If you’re stuck on how to drive better marketing outcomes (aka, your CAC is too high), this 3-part guide is for you.  What’s inside? 1) Ecommerce Funnels Guide, by Aaron Orendorff & the FERMÀT team - 124 pages of in-depth funnel analysis, featuring ecomm’s top brands - Hundreds of examples - Top-to-bottom templates 2) LTV Playbook: by Jess Chan & Longplay - 91 slides of step-by-step strategies for maximizing customer value - Segmentation strategy breakdowns - 7 email + SMS flows - 9 customer lifecycles 3) Purchase Flows Notion Database: by Andrew Durot & Ecom Experts - Purchase flow examples from 45+ leading brands - Analysis from ~$5K in purchases - 497 screenshots There’s so much value here, it’s actually difficult to describe. Proud of our team and thankful for our partners who helped make this project happen. Get it here: https://lnkd.in/gaUMt6Xu

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We’ve seen a lot of value in leveraging Shopify for CPG brands, even when they're not ready to sell online yet. One reason we’ve turned to Shopify is its ability to manage and showcase products seamlessly. Even if a brand isn’t selling online, the platform makes it easy to organize product data, highlight content, and provide relevant product information. We’ve also tapped into Shopify’s rich ecosystem to create deeper customer engagement. For example, features like: ➫ Smart product discovery (Rebuy Engine) ➫ Integrated loyalty programs and customer reviews (Okendo) ➫ Customer service (Gorgias) ➫ Interactive user-generated content (Tolstoy) These platforms are simple to implement and provide functionality that would be much harder to manage outside of Shopify. These tools help strengthen the brand-customer relationship and deliver value beyond just a digital presence. Many brands we’ve worked with have plans to go direct-to-consumer at some point. Shopify makes that transition smooth, allowing brands to turn on e-commerce features without needing a major redesign. It’s a great way to future-proof the site, offering flexibility as strategies evolve. Even for brands not focused on e-commerce, we’ve found that integrations like Amazon Buy with Prime, Destini (a subsidiary of SPINS) store locator, and Brij can help facilitate sales through other channels. The website becomes the core hub for product discovery and education, making it easier for customers to find where to buy the product in-store or through third-party platforms. Competitively, even when a brand doesn’t sell online, their competitors may. In 2024, it’s critical to create a site that feels like a DTC experience to stay on par, and Shopify makes that easier to execute. We’ve also helped brands experiment with DTC with strategic offerings—things like gift sets or exclusive products. It’s a great way to get started, create a reason for customers to shop DTC, and shape a strategy for the future. + Video showcases some #CPG brands we've worked with at Barrel and built on Shopify—some DTC, some not!

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Exciting New AI-Powered Updates from Google Ads 🚀 We’re thrilled to announce new features in the G-Ads platform to supercharge results... 🌟 Asset-Level Conversion Reporting for Performance Max + Gain transparency with conversion metrics. + Optimize your creative with detailed insights. + Ensure brand suitability on YouTube and Display. 🎨 Expanded Generative AI Image Editing + Add, remove, or replace objects. + Expand backgrounds and crop to different ratios. 📱 Asset Generation for App and Display Campaigns + Accelerate creative asset building with improved AI tools. + Access new image generation models for better performance. 🤝 New Creative Partnership with Typeface + Seamlessly integrate assets from Typeface into Google Ads. + Follow best practices with provided templates for Performance Max. + Stay ahead of the curve and elevate your ad game with these powerful tools! https://lnkd.in/g8T5MzXi #GoogleAds #DigitalMarketing #AI #CreativeTools #PerformanceMax #Innovation

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🚀 Brilliant Basics Day 60: Strategic Expansions, Partnership Developments, and Content Success 🚀 Day 60 at Disrupter School brought significant developments in our e-commerce strategy, refined income sources, and exciting content updates. 🛒 Launching Diverse Product Categories in Shopify Store 1: Successful State of the Union on Shopify Initiatives: Today’s meeting brought great news about the Shopify store. We’re excited to announce that the store will feature four categories of products, covering SOPs and courses across various price ranges—from low to high ticket items. This structured approach ensures we cater to a wide range of needs and preferences, reinforcing our commitment to providing valuable educational resources at every level. 💼 Enhancing Revenue Streams and Partnerships 2: Expanding Income Sources and Strengthening Partnerships: Our productive state of the union meeting highlighted our initial goal of cultivating three sources of income, each generating $30,000. Building on this foundation, we’re thrilled to be integrating two new partners into our ecosystem—a lead generation specialist and a YouTube strategist. Additionally, we’re empowering our sales team with their own funnels and extending their responsibilities to include setting and closing for these new customer sources, significantly enhancing our capacity for growth. 📹 Triumph in YouTube Content Production 3: YouTube Content Ready to Captivate Audiences: In the realm of content, today was exceptionally rewarding. Our latest video, geared towards insightful digital marketing strategies, has been uploaded and is set to premiere next week. Furthermore, two new episodes of the #AskCharleyTShow have been finalized and are ready for release. This consistent output of high-quality content is proving to be a cornerstone of our strategy to engage and educate our audience effectively. 🌟 Day 60 Reflections: Product Diversification, Strategic Alliances, and Content Mastery Day 60 was a testament to our strategic planning and execution across various facets of the business. By diversifying our product offerings in the Shopify store, enhancing our revenue streams through dynamic partnerships, and consistently producing engaging YouTube content, we are setting new benchmarks for success and innovation in digital marketing education. As we look forward to the launch of new products in our Shopify store and the debut of exciting YouTube content, we invite our community to join us in this journey of continuous growth and learning. Join us at Disrupter School, where every day we strive to exceed expectations and redefine the standards of educational excellence in the digital marketing space. #DisrupterSchool #ShopifyStore #RevenueGrowth #YouTubeSuccess #DigitalMarketingInnovation

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AdAttributionKit: Unpacking Apple’s new ad attribution framework AAK unifies Apple’s various advertising attribution frameworks under a single umbrella product name and extends SKAdNetwork in meaningful ways, including with support for re-engagement and alternative app marketplaces. These are substantive improvements. But impediments to adoption remain: IP-based attribution is still widely viewed as a suitable alternative to Apple’s native iOS attribution framework, meaning that platform tools like Conversion APIs will take adoption priority.

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The One Metric Most Shopify Brands Are Ignoring (And It’s Costing You Big) Here’s the truth: Most Shopify founders I talk to don’t actually know how much they can afford to pay to acquire a new customer. They’ve scaled their ad spend, hired agencies, and pushed for growth… but when I ask them to break down their Acquisition Marketing Efficiency Ratio (AMER) or their New Customer ROAS (NCROAS)? 👉 Crickets. Why does this matter? Because without these numbers, scaling isn’t strategic—it’s guesswork. Here’s how we’re fixing this for eCommerce brands looking to scale profitably: 1️⃣ Switching from MER to AMER: MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) looks at your total revenue divided by total ad spend. That’s great, but it includes all revenue—retention, upsells, repeat customers—which doesn’t tell you how efficiently your paid ads are driving new customer revenue. AMER, on the other hand, is laser-focused. It isolates new customer revenue divided by total ad spend, giving you the real picture of how effectively your ads are growing your customer base. 2️⃣ Uncovering Your Break-Even Point: Your AMER helps determine your break-even CAC (Cost to Acquire a Customer). Once we know this number, we can work backward to align ad spend, creative testing, and campaign strategy to hit your profitability goals. 3️⃣ Building Campaigns That Scale Smarter: We pair financial clarity with creative strategy. This means isolating angles, targeting specific personas, and focusing on profit-first scaling—not just vanity metrics like ROAS. 🚨 Here’s the hard truth: If you don’t know your AMER or your CAC threshold, you’re blindly throwing ad dollars at the wall. But if you do know these numbers? Scaling becomes systematic, predictable, and—most importantly—profitable. Curious to see how this could work for your brand? Let me know, and I’ll share more insights about the exact process we’re using to scale Shopify brands to 8-figures and beyond.

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Why your primary metric matters in a/b testing: It’s not always about transaction rate; the metric should be closely tied to the specific change you're testing. For example, if you're tweaking a product detail page (PDP), "adds to cart" would be a more relevant primary metric than transactions. At surefoot, we determine our primary metric based on the change we're implementing. This focus ensures that our tests are targeted and the results are actionable. By aligning our primary metrics with business goals, we make informed decisions that drive growth. How do you choose your primary metrics for A/B tests?

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Beware! Hackers Exploit AI Tools Like ChatGPT Ameen Sait chimed in with his expertise on today's call. Fractionals, message me to find out how The Fractinal Referral Network can elevate your business.

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The plural of anecdote isn’t data… I heard Matthew d’Ancona say this on the Two Matts podcast, I thought it was smart. We come across a lot of supposed data, which is often just sentiment generated from social media, it often seems to be little more than the aggregation of the views of a few people. Noisy opinion seems, quickly, to become fact. It might be old fashioned, but I think ‘slow’ data may have greater depth and purpose than instant sentiment and social data sources that can often lead the witness. We recently looked at Shoreditch for a project, the sentiment data reflected a stereotypical view of younger people working in digital industries, however the ‘slow’ 2021 Census data shows 58% of residents were born outside of the UK. I think this is far more valuable as a key to unlocking the real makeup of the area, which is a varied mosaic, for example, the Boundary Estate, one of the earliest social housing schemes juxtaposed with start-up culture. We need to understand the difference between fast and obvious data to slow and complex insight that take time to produce. I saw on LinkedIn that Elon Musk said “If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic - being able to talk to people over long distances, to transmit images, flying, accessing vast amounts of data like an oracle. These are all things that would have been considered magic a few hundred years ago.” I think this might be rubbish. The difference he is alluding to is merely temporal, we have always been able to do most of these things, they just took a lot longer (apart from flying!) People have always travelled and communicated over vast distances, but it took years rather than seconds, but they probably ensured what they said was meaningful rather than just sharing a recipe on TikTok. We also had people with real wisdom, scholars who spent a lifetime studying one specialist subject.  The access to more data hasn’t made us wiser, it’s possibly made us more confused and obdurate. Apparently 90% of the world’s data was generated in the last two years, I’d suggest almost zero per cent of the world’s wisdom was generated in that period. I don’t think it’s an accident we’ve had no great philosophers since the birth of the internet; data doesn’t equate to wisdom. #Data #Insights #Wisdom #Census

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