Ecommerce is evolving at speed, but I’m seeing a clear pattern among the brands that are growing profitably. They’re moving fast on creative, putting first-party data to work, tailoring messages to real customer segments, and leaning into automation to scale what’s working.
Here’s how we’re applying that framework for Shopify and BigCommerce merchants.
The Channel Mix That’s Delivering
Google is still the top driver of purchase-intent traffic and revenue across our accounts. Meta? Still strong on ROAS for direct purchases, especially as we optimize with Advantage+ and Faraday audience segments.
For B2B brands and niche verticals like manufacturing, LinkedIn continues to be a quiet powerhouse for lead gen. Microsoft Ads are holding their own, with efficient CPCs in select ecommerce campaigns.
Programmatic as a whole has been highly effective for reach, particularly through Native and Video asset types. This is especially valuable for lifestyle and restricted verticals.
Growth Levers I’m Focusing on for the Next 90 Days
- Beat Creative Fatigue on Meta: Most accounts start showing signs of fatigue around the 3–4 week mark. Once frequency climbs above ~3.5, performance dips. Watch those numbers and refresh creative often to protect ROAS.
- Activate First-Party Data: With third-party cookies on their way out, your email, loyalty, and CRM data are now your most valuable assets. Google reports that using first-party data across key functions can lead to a 2.9× revenue uplift. That’s not a small gain. It’s a strategy shift.
- Pair Creative With Data: We’re designing ads for specific RFM segments. A “loyal repeat buyer” and an “at-risk first-timer” need totally different messaging. Same platform, different playbook.
Operational Upgrade: Monthly Creative + Paid Sync
We’ve built a tighter sync between our creative and paid teams, and we’re leveraging it to:
- Better align direction with real-time performance
- Tighten our creative refresh cycles
- Co-create seasonal and persona-specific concepts
Our agenda is simple: what’s converting, what’s not, and what’s worth testing next.
Personas That Pay: Activating RFM with Faraday
We’re running Google Ads tests right now using Faraday persona audiences, and the early results show an optimistic upward trend.
Faraday segments are delivering an average order value of $257 vs. $220 for broader audiences. That’s a 16.8% lift. As we expand this sample size, we’ll share more details on the results. If you don’t want to miss this, be sure to subscribe to this blog at the top or bottom of this page to be notified when we share updates.
Platform Shifts I’m Watching
- TikTok: Leaning into international ad growth
- Meta: Rolling out ads in the WhatsApp Updates tab
- LinkedIn: Expanding video ads with BrandLink and seeing big jumps in views, uploads, and ad revenue
These shifts will impact where and how we engage next.
Smarter Workflows with Automation
Bidding & Budgets: Performance Max (PMax) is taking on auction-time bids and dynamically shifting spend across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discovery based on what’s converting. It even adjusts for seasonality and likelihood to convert.
Audiences: Automated audience expansion helps enrich your signals, especially remarketing and custom intent lists, so you’ll discover new, high-intent shoppers across Google surfaces.
What’s Next
Here’s what I’m focused on for Q4:
- Double down on first-party data—email, loyalty, and CRM are growth engines.
- Institutionalize monthly creative + paid syncs to keep things fresh and aligned.
- Scale Faraday segments for persona-level personalization and smarter win-backs.
Need help building your Q4 growth plan leveraging paid media?
Let’s Talk. We’ll map out where you’re at, what’s working, and how to scale from here.
