Mia Gokce Tombul

Meta Advertisers: If your conversion tracking & ad structure are wrecked, creative can’t save you.   Just talked to a $25M brand running a strong creative motion.   But it looked like a 5th grader set up conversion tracking and ad accounts.   They’re putting out great statics & videos every week.   Starting with great creative frameworks & high-converting ad templates.   Even running a proper whitelisting play.   But it wasn’t enough to scale ads aggressively. B/c they had:   😡 Limited server-side tracking   😡 Only CAPI v. better options - Blotout, Elevar   😡 No micro-conversions - only orders   😡 Broken attribution - inaccurate GA4, no Northbeam   😡 Too many campaigns - crushing Meta’s ML’s potential   😡 Bad budget allocation - to Tests vs. Winners   😡 Too much ABO, too little CBO   😡 Too much retargeting - faking growth w/o incremental profit   --   Bums me out when good brands get in their own way (often bc of bad agencies). Yes, creative is a massive lever. But you’ll never be A+ if sleeping on the above.

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If 100% of your tests succeed, you’re not truly testing. This is probably my No. 1 takeaway from scaling two very different businesses. Here’s why: A good portion of your tests failing is the sign of a healthy experimentation process. Whether it's your marketing strategy or a product feature, if every test is succeeding, you're likely focusing on the wrong metrics or not aiming high enough in your experiments.

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new episode alert: Magnite $MGNI CEO Michael Barrett breaks down the future of independent ad tech. we talk competing with Google, why The Trade Desk won, and what actually works in M&A. Plus some great insights on leading turnarounds: https://lnkd.in/eAKc84Qi

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📢 Exciting #job alert 📢 Who is the best #product leader you know? (please tag them if they'd be interested) At Savvy Learning we are looking to add the next critical piece of our leadership team. A Head of Product. Psst... scroll to the bottom of this post for a few thoughts on why Savvy Learning's core problem is a BIG ONE. Here are some specifics about this amazing job opportunity: - Head of Product - Own product & #UX - WFH - Competitive salary + equity - 5+ years of experience required - Experience in B2C is preferred - Individual contributor on day one (we're a very early stage startup) but over time you get to grow & manage the UX, product, AND software engineering teams. About our core problem: The stakes in #education could not be higher when it comes to helping children catch up on reading and math. Did you know that children who are not reading proficiently by 3rd grade are 4x more likely to become high school dropouts? Why? Because 3rd grade marks the transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn". Therefore, reading proficiency spills over into almost every aspect of our lives: cognitive, behavioral, motivational, etc. Savvy Learning exists to help children turn learning into their favorite superpower. We accomplish that through effective one-on-one and group tutoring (100% online) in reading and math, powered by custom/research-based curriculum and a delightful tech platform. We have hundreds of coaches, all with real classroom experience. And they are teaching thousands of students across dozens of countries (mostly US). Our learning outcomes for these students are amazing. So if you're a qualified product person or #PM and you've read this far on my post, it's probably a sign that you should send me a DM so I can tell you more about how great of an opportunity this is ;) We can't wait for that perfect-fit person to come and lead us.

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There's a new growth strategy on the block. And I'm dubbing it "The U-Haul Playbook." It's when a founder moves to where their target market lives. Not everyone can do this. Few should. But the real takeaway is in understanding why this matters. Customer discovery is the most important activity for a startup founder who is in pre-market phase, MVP phase, or seed stage. Spoiler alert: the importance never ends, but the tactics can change as you grow. I wrote a bit about this trend and how to think about customer discovery in my latest beehiiv for Five Four!

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$1,000 says your Meta agency is NOT doing this. And you can’t make good decisions w/o it.   If your in-platform reporting isn’t breaking out reports these two ways, it’s useless. 1. By funnel 2. By audience type   Without, it’s not targeted enough to inform. You won’t know where to focus.   Funnel ➡️ ✅ Views ✅ Adds to carts ✅ Starts checkout ✅ Purchases *You could add other events, too *These can be adapted for non-ecom, too   Audience Type ➡️ ✅ New: cold traffic ✅ Engaged: warm traffic ✅ Existing: current customers   A blended ROAS of 4.3 is misleading…here’s what’s really happening: - New: 2.4 ROAS - Engaged: 6.2 ROAS - Existing: current customers 12.1 ROAS   A blended CAC of 80 is misleading…here’s what’s really happening: - New: $140 CAC - Engaged: $56 CAC - Existing: $28 CAC   Want to improve ROAS, CAC, etc.? - Review the funnel - Compare to benchmarks - Find the most broken steps   TLDR: ❌ Meta’s standard reporting is a joke ❌ It’s only good for clouding judgement ✅ Better reporting = better decisions 👊

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In 7 days, I’ll start charging $495 for this CRO resource. Until then, you can steal it from me—for FREE. Over the past 4 years, we’ve done CRO for Europe’s top 1% D2C brands, including HelloFresh, SNOCKS, KoRo, Purelei and 150+ others. We’ve generated $250M in e-commerce revenue and know exactly what drives conversions for the fastest-growing brands. This year, I set out to create more CRO content than anyone else—and I did: - 600+ posts on Conversion Rate Optimization - 75 in-depth guides Next year, they’ll be the foundation of our paid ads strategy, so we’ll have to charge for them. But right now, I want to thank everyone who supported me in 2024. So for the next 7 days, you get FREE access! After that it will be $495... If you want it (before it's behind a paywall): 1. Like this post 2. Comment “Happy New Year” 3. Repost for priority access (optional) - P.S. These Files are ALL included: CRO Frameworks and Guides (10 Files) - How I Use Google Analytics to Find Revenue Leaks Within 2 Hours - Brakes & Gas: Motivation & Friction of Purchasing - How to Check and Fix Site Speed - Airtable Experimentation Base - A/B-Testing Profit Calculator - Funnel Breakdown Framework - Big 5 Psychology Framework - Primal Copywriting Guide - 64 Survey Questions - CRO GPT Prompts A/B Tests (11 Files): - 20 A/B Tests That Are Easy to Implement but High Impact - 5 Category Page Optimizations that generated €2.0M - 75 of Our Best A/B Test Concepts in 2023/2024 - 52 Tests I designed for 6 Leading D2C Brands - 5 Homepage Tests that generated €1.6M - 18 A/B Tests that generated €4.7M - 9 Cart Tests that generated €4.3M - 45 A/B Tests that generated €7.2M - 31 Best Tests of the Year 2024 - 36 Fashion A/B-Tests - 30 More A/B-Tests Checklists and Swipe Files (18 Files) - 150+ CRO Tactics from the Top 1% of Brands in the US & UK - 446-Point CRO Checklist to Increase Conversions - Jewellery Niche E-Commerce CRO Checklist - Top 10 Fashion Homepages Breakdown - Christmas E-Commerce CRO Checklist - 567 Original Ideas for Your Onlineshop - Supplements Homepages Breakdown - 14 Breakdowns of 9-Figure Brands - Ultimate Black Friday Cheat Sheet - Jewellery Homepages Breakdown - 26 Fastest Growing Online Shops - Product Copy Ecom Swipe File - Food & Drink CRO Checklist - Clothing CRO Checklist - Product Page Checklist - Supplement Checklist - Watch CRO Checklist - PLP Swipe File Landing Pages (7 Files) - 25 Landing Pages from the Top 1% of Supplement Brands - 10 Landing Page Breakdowns from 9-Figure Brands - 25 Landing Pages from the Top 1% of Pet Brands - Top 25 eCom Subscription Landing Pages - 12 Editable 9-Figure Landing Pages - 100+ Landing Page Inspiration - 12 Celebrity Landing Pages Brand Breakdowns (20 Files) - Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Funnel - Tesla vs Audi Online-Shop - Joe Rogan Brands - Lululemon Funnel - Lacoste Funnel - Nude Project - Dr Squatch - FC Bayern - TwoJeys - Ryanair - Macy's - Trump - Harris - SKIMS - Tesla - LEGO - ZARA - PSG - IKEA - Huel

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I distilled 𝟭𝟯+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 of my go-to-market experience as a CMO/VP/Head of Product into this 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲👇 So, if you need help building a go-to-market plan, this resource is for you. I originally built this for myself for my consultation work. → I wanted a template that covered all of the key considerations in an effective and efficient go-to-market engine. → While also still being lightweight enough to be completed quickly (and no more than ~2 pages if printed out). Here's a summary of what the template covers: 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 • 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼 - what you stand for, the change you're championing, why you should be trusted • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 - the urgent & important problem you're solving and how you're solving it better than alternatives • 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 - segments, ICP and buying committee 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 - 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - jobs to be done, buying triggers • 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘆 - objections, fears, alternatives • 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘀 they trust - where they learn and make decisions 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 - 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 • 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 and 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 - per customer segment • 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 strategy - how you price vs the market 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟰 - 𝗚𝗼-𝗧𝗼-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 • GTM 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - sales-led, PLG, etc. • 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝗻 - one sentence statement uniting GTM teams • 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 Gen - how you'll generate demand • 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗻 - how you'll collect demand • 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 - how you'll prospect, nurture and close • 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 - how you'll grow revenue 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟱 - 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 • 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀, 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 and 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 - for Product, Marketing, Sales and CS As I said, it is comprehensive. But as you can see below, it's all done in a lean package. ___ Want the FREE template? 👉 The 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 using a fictional company to help guide you through it. 1. CONNECT with me    ❗don't miss this step, I can't send you the post without :) ❗ 2. LIKE this post 3. COMMENT "GTM" And I'll share it straight with you :) Plus all my future training videos on it. ___ So why am I doing this? → Help better define what a GTM strategy consists of → Help others get a head start building theirs → Get your feedback to make the template better :) So what are you waiting for? ___ ✍️ Connect with me, like the post and comment "GTM" to get the template. ♻️ Reshare if you found valuable. #B2B #B2BMarketing #B2BMarketingStrategy #GoToMarket #Marketing #SaaS #Enterprise #BrandAwareness #DemandGen #LeadGen  #Sales #Data #ROI

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If you have an agency running ads for you, beware of "growth cowboys."   I've worked with dozens of agencies, and I've talked with hundreds.   Shocks me, but there's still plenty running the broken, "growth cowboy" playbook:   - They come in over-confident.   - They don’t listen to the brand.   - They run their playbook perfectly out-of-the-box.   - They migrate ads too quickly.   - They throw the algorithms into disarray.   - They end up getting fired b/c they made things worse.     The best ad partners—the ones who grow customers & profits—do this instead:   - They come in confident but ask questions.   - They listen first b/c you know your customers & products better than they do.   - They bake this info into the heart of their setup.   - They migrate ads as quick as they can w/o compromising baseline performance, but no faster.   - Post setup & migration, they balance knowing when to optimize & when to get out of the way.     Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised. Beware of growth cowboys.

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When I took this CMO job at Consumer Reports (CR), a number of people reacted with surprise that I wasn’t going to another tech company after six years at Stack Overflow. The reality is every company is a tech company (or at least aspires to be), and the evolving tech at CR is one of the things that compelled me to join. As valuations surge the more a company mentions gen AI, more and more companies are creating products that will never achieve market fit — products that aren’t solving real problems. I’m bullish on the current startup ecosystem but for every diamond there are 20 duds. CR is not only working to inform people of what this frenetic moment in tech means for them (a surge in scams, increasing data breaches, etc.), we’re also harnessing gen AI to solve real problems for real people. What’s more annoying than the analysis paralysis that comes with a major (or minor) purchase decision? Enter AskCR - a new benefit we’re rolling out to members that relies on our decades of testing and 10,000+ ratings and reviews to expertly answer everything from “what’s the best air purifier for a 1300 square foot apartment?” to highlighting the best cars for short people (really!). I’m excited to highlight more and more of these benefits over time and to keep showcasing how innovative this 88 year old organization is today! https://lnkd.in/eYA-s2wZ

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Building a 0-1 product is hard enough. Getting it to $20M ARR is even harder. Sunsetting it despite this success, is the hardest. In this episode, Stacey Feero (Director of Product @AgencyAnalytics) shares how she built, iterated on and ultimately sunset a product that many would consider a success. She gives practical advice throughout this journey, especially on how to match user mental models with the product you’re building. Give it a listen now: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/emBVE2hp Youtube: https://lnkd.in/eHf_KcUa Apple: https://lnkd.in/ek9GhriY

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Some of the best threads in the Healthy Competition community... aren't even about competitive intel or product marketing. They're usually found in the "careers" channel. Some of the most recent topics have been around: - how to navigate layoffs - creating "win docs" to use when asking for raises - fractional work - job interview tips - growing beyond director-level titles - what to do when you're juggling too many requests I don't think this element in a community is talked about enough. Usually, they're marketed as a place to get the TACTICS, TEMPLATES, FRAMEWORKS, etc. for a certain role. And yeah, we certainly share those things in the Healthy Competition community for competitive intel and product marketing. But what's equally as important, IMO, is just seeing how other folks in your role are navigating their work life. There are some nuances with the CI and PMM roles that make it more relatable and resonant when you hear it from people in those roles vs. general marketers, sellers, product managers, etc. That's where I see the majority of people connecting with one another and experiencing the real value of community.

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Launching ShowStop 🚀 Over the past six months, we've conducted hundreds of interviews and pilot tests with DTC brands, marketers, and SMB agencies. We've discovered that there's a super strong demand for managing and repurposing existing creative assets, like revisiting old footage (images or videos) to keep things fresh and trendy, rather than relying solely on net new AI video. In response, we're excited to introduce ShowStop—a dedicated MarTech SaaS designed to repurpose your best media into new, conversion-focused video ads automatically using AI. ShowStop generates multiple variations instantly, testing every element from the hook to the CTA, and puts creative control back in the hands of paid marketers. CreateIn will remain a separate innovation tool for AI video storytelling. We are soft launching ShowStop on Product Hunt today! Check it out at Product Hunt (https://lnkd.in/gSTkK-FX) and feel free to sign up for our waitlist at showstop.ai!

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Beware❗ — do NOT make this all too common goal-setting mistake... Brand founders of scaling DTC brands often feel tempted to pivot their goals when they don't seem to be working out. But here's the kicker: they're going about it all wrong. Let me clarify: well-crafted, clearly defined goals are sacred and should not be changed frequently. But do you know what SHOULD be changed frequently? The strategies you implement to achieve those goals! If you find yourself struggling to gain traction on some of your growing brand's goals, don't make any changes to them right away... Instead, get your team together for a brainstorming session on new and creative strategies you can implement to move your goals closer to the finish line. -- Did you find this post helpful? If so, consider resharing it and giving me Jon Blair a follow. #dtcbrands #scaleyourbusiness #founders

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A marketing measurement perspective that I don't see represented often is that, for a substantial proportion of advertisers, last-click really is optimal. If a fairly new mobile app with low TAM penetration scales exclusively on Facebook, how much actionable insight is gained by introducing complex measurement machinery? While I'm certainly guilty of advocating it, the viewpoint that more sophisticated measurement infrastructure is always better strikes me as overly generalized. In certain contexts, orchestrating experiments or building, tuning, and deploying probabilistic models probably won't meaningfully impact advertising efficiency. And in those specific (again: not all!) contexts, with limited data and a homogenous (possibly, single-channel) channel mix, reducing interpretability and overhead might do more harm than good. Creating complexity where last-click may perform just as well as an ensemble of methodologies doesn't actually optimize the bias/variance tradeoff -- it may not reduce bias sufficiently to compensate for a large increase in variance.

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One strategy consistently wins: Product bundles on PDPs. Here's why: 1. Bundle Pricing Psychology • Users perceive higher value • More likely to buy multiple items 2. Decision Making • Reduces choice paralysis • Pre-selected combinations simplify purchase 3. Revenue Impact • Higher AOV • Increased items per cart • Better conversion rates Our latest test: 7% lift in conversions $750K additional revenue Want more data-backed CRO insights? Follow me for weekly test results.

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Getting paid growth right can be tough, but there's one person who knows how to do it. Meet Timothy Davis. He's the go-to expert on performance marketing. He led Shopify's performance marketing for the past 2.5 years and has helped companies like Pinterest, Redfin, and Eventbrite scale their paid media efforts. In Lenny's latest podcast, Timothy shares practical tips and strategies to approach paid growth effectively, even if you're just starting out. Here are 5 key takeaways: 1️⃣ How to get started ➜ Begin with Google Search ads (user-driven and have high intent) ➜ Expand to Facebook/Instagram + YouTube if you can create video assets ➜ Use LinkedIn for highly targeted B2B campaigns (they're expensive) 2️⃣ How to test new platforms ➜ Start with 1% look-alike audiences ➜ Begin with small budgets to observe engagement metrics (CTR and impressions) ➜ If you see positive engagement, gradually scale up your campaign  ➜ Refine your creative, messaging, + targeting based on customer feedback 3️⃣ You win or you learn with each campaign ➜ The most common mistake? Relying on a single campaign or platform for success ➜ Tactics can yield varied results across different platforms ➜ Underperformance will help you iterate faster / make data-driven decisions 4️⃣ How to build your performance marketing team ➜ Hire a data-driven, scrappy generalist first to launch early campaigns ➜ Hire a creative expert next (graphics, writing, branding) ➜ Hire a specialist data scientist for advanced strategies last 5️⃣ Don't forget to learn from your account reps ➜ Give your account reps or partners from Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn a list of your top competitors ➜ They can give you benchmarks on metrics like CPC, click-through rate, and conversion rate ➜ This helps you understand where you stand relative to your competitors. Excellent guide! ---- ♻ Share if you found this helpful! Check out the full episode: https://lnkd.in/gsimSyDy #performancemarketing #paidads #paidgrowth

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How We Built a 7-Figure Agency with Zero Experience Quick story: 5 years ago, we were posting cringe button color tests on LinkedIn and getting roasted by every CRO expert out there. Today, we optimize billion-dollar e-commerce stores. I just recorded my first Less Ego More Data podcast in 2 years with the best co-founder I could imagine Fabian Gmeindl 🎙️ Here's what we covered in this raw conversation: 1. How we went from dropshipping jeans to running automated CRO programs 2. Why getting roasted on LinkedIn actually made us better optimizers 3. The exact process we used to learn proper A/B testing 4. How obsessing over statistics almost killed our ability to innovate 5. Breaking down how Tesla and LEGO think about conversion 6. Why I got banned from WeWork (and spent too much on LEGO) Want to hear how two clueless 19-year-olds built one of Europe's leading CRO agencies? Link in comments 👇

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Diversify your portfolio of demand gen tactics 📚 Effective demand generation isn’t about using one method alone to create interest in your product/services. You need to implement multiple tactics that work together in tandem. Take social media, for example - You might be seeing great results from Facebook, but then a few months later, the algorithm changes, what previously worked stops working altogether, and suddenly, your inbound inquiries and sales pipeline start to dry up. So, if LinkedIn is your primary channel, expand it by getting employees involved in content creation and distribution or consider adding influencers into the mix. It humbles me to be able to write alongside such talented peopel for Forbes Communications Council. 15 of whom contributed to this piece and offered their insights on their most successful demand gen initiatives. A few of my favourites include: 1️⃣ Create free online challenges. This will tap into your audience's competitive spirit while upping demand for your product or service. - Melissa Kandel 2️⃣ An allbound strategy. Outbound is not dead. An allbound strategy is a mix of inbound and outbound. Encouraging sales and marketing to align on target accounts. - Jayashree Rajan 3️⃣ Interactive quizzes. Present a series of questions that address known pain points, and provide them with their solution based on their answers. The customer gains value, while providing you with insights into their environment for sales to leverage in follow-ups. - Doug Vinson Check out the other 11 tactics in the article: https://lnkd.in/ejzG2rX7 #DemandGeneration #DemnadGen #EmployeeAdvocacy

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