Explore every episode of the podcast The World's Best Email and Retention Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 111: This Is Only Going to Get Worse... | 03 Nov 2026 | 00:23:18 | |
Can sending more emails reduce your email marketing revenue? Pilothouse’s Jordan Gordon shares a client case study where cutting email volume by roughly 75–80% accompanied stronger clicks, higher reported revenue, and improved inbox placement. Jordan walks through campaign dashboards and GlockApps seed tests, showing what happened during an email rewarm and after sending volume increased again. He also examines Gmail’s “most relevant” sorting in the Promotions tab and explains why engagement, segmentation, and send frequency deserve closer attention. In this episode:
The case study reflects one brand’s results. Jordan discusses changes to promotional strategy, seasonal effects, and incomplete October reporting that affect the comparisons. GlockApps results describe placement across its seed addresses. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Why inbox changes matter for email revenue 01:52 Gmail’s “most relevant” Promotions sorting 03:48 Examples from Jordan’s Gmail inbox 06:41 Gentle Monster’s sending frequency 08:37 Client case study: rewarming an email program 09:35 Click-through rates before and after the rewarm 10:35 Comparing email volume, real clicks, and revenue 13:55 Revenue results and promotional changes 15:54 GlockApps inbox placement results 16:25 Building an email program subscribers engage with 17:20 What happened as sending volume increased again 19:40 Tightening segmentation before Black Friday 20:39 Seasonal effects and reporting caveats 21:08 What this means for your email strategy The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast is part of the DTC Podcast Network and features insights from the Pilothouse email and customer retention team. Learn more about Pilothouse: Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 110: Black Friday Email Marketing: Your Pre-Send Checklist | 27 Oct 2026 | 00:35:15 | |
Plan your Black Friday email marketing with a checklist covering automated flows, discount codes, segmentation, and send frequency. Pilothouse’s Jordan Gordon explains how to prepare your BFCM campaigns, expand your sending audience, and keep your main offer visible throughout the sale. Jordan also shares his analysis of Black Friday buyer behavior. The most common purchase path he found involved opening one email before ordering. He explains how that finding shapes email design, offer repetition, and the timing of your sale. Topics covered: Updating welcome emails, abandoned cart flows, pop-ups, and sale banners Testing discount codes before campaigns go live Planning subject line tests Expanding segments using purchase history, clicks, and site visits Choosing how many emails to send on Black Friday Narrowing your audience across multiple daily sends Estimating revenue using revenue per email sent Comparing SMS costs with paid retargeting Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:23 Three priorities for Black Friday email preparation 02:50 Update automated flows and welcome offers 03:47 Countdown timers and sale pages 05:16 Test discount codes and adjust abandonment emails 06:40 Update pop-ups and review list suppressions 11:02 Build your subject line testing plan 13:55 Plan your Black Friday sending volume 15:52 Separate buyers and prospects 17:21 Expand segments using purchases, clicks, and visits 20:12 How many emails to send on Black Friday 21:40 Narrow your audience across multiple sends 25:05 Estimate Black Friday email revenue 26:01 Plan SMS segments and compare costs 26:54 Research: when to start your Black Friday sale 29:44 Research: how many emails buyers open 33:08 Build each email around your core offer The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast is part of the DTC Podcast Network and features insights from the Pilothouse email and customer retention team. Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 109: More Segmentation Research from Pilothouse's Email & Retention Lead | 20 Oct 2026 | 00:27:38 | |
Which email segmentation signals bring in more revenue? Jordan Gordon shares Pilothouse’s latest research on purchase history, Apple Privacy Opens, true opens, clicks, and bot activity. Expanding the buyer window produced the strongest revenue gain with a small engagement hit. Extending the true-open window added almost no revenue and dragged down engagement. Inside this episode of the World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast:
In the analysis Jordan shares, 75% of campaign revenue came from subscribers who had visited the site within 90 days. He explains what that means for your flows and segmentation windows. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction and episode preview 01:22 More segmentation research 01:52 AI segmentation tools and campaign coverage 05:38 Deliverability on large, established lists 09:01 The engagement signals tested 10:01 Testing changes against your mailable list 11:28 Purchase history: more revenue, small engagement hit 12:24 Apple Privacy Opens: revenue and engagement tradeoffs 16:15 Expanding your buyer window 17:11 Separating buyers and prospects 17:41 True opens: almost no added revenue 20:03 What happens when you expand the click window 21:04 Bot clicks and campaign performance 22:09 Recent site visitors drove 75% of campaign revenue 22:31 Moving more campaign content into flows 23:27 Including visitors who haven’t clicked an email 24:42 Keeping site-activity windows tight 25:12 Non-clicking visitors drove roughly 20% of campaign revenue 26:09 Closing thoughts Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 108: I Got Marketed To | 13 Oct 2026 | 00:22:06 | |
A conversation about his son’s Hot Wheels sent Jordan down a Formula 1 rabbit hole. A Walmart purchase, Red Bull videos, and a Google search eventually led him to create an F1 account and download the app. In this episode of the World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan traces the touchpoints that pulled him in and the opportunities to turn that interest into paid streaming. He covers word of mouth that your attribution tools miss, content that builds interest across channels, and a voting experience that captures email addresses without a discount. Plus, a look at F1’s app onboarding: push notification permissions, tracking consent, and clear controls that let users change their preferences. TIMESTAMPS
Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 107: 4 Digital Asset Reframes | 06 Oct 2026 | 00:18:16 | |
How much campaign content are you rebuilding every week? And how many steps do shoppers take before they can buy? Jordan Gordon walks through four digital asset reframes that change how your emails and site pages work together: • Email campaigns as homepages, with a fresh feature up top and reusable sections below • Homepages that combine discovery, product details, and purchasing • Collection pages with useful blog and video content beneath the products • PDPs that introduce your brand to shoppers landing there for the first time Using examples from Anthropologie and Grüns, Jordan explains how these changes can reduce campaign production work and shorten the path to checkout. For help with email, retention, and CRO, visit https://www.pilothouse.co and ask to speak with Jordan. 00:00 Driving revenue through email and CRO 00:29 Episode preview 01:23 Four digital assets to rethink 02:20 The problems with campaigns, homepages, collections, and PDPs 04:43 Reframe 1: Treat email campaigns like homepages 08:06 Anthropologie’s reusable email sections 09:05 Reframe 2: Combine homepage, collection, and PDP 09:35 Grüns’ homepage breakdown 11:03 Reframe 3: Treat collection pages like content pages 13:00 Reframe 4: Treat PDPs like homepages 13:56 How the reframes change your customer journey 17:17 Closing thoughts Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 106: Retargeting Done Right: Boost Revenue with Post-Purchase (Replay) | 29 Sep 2026 | 00:28:34 | |
From the archive: Jordan Gordon breaks down how to use the first purchase to encourage a second one. He walks through a post-purchase flow that starts with a relevant cross-sell, then introduces a broader offer that can also appear in paid ads and package inserts. The examples cover how to choose a product to feature, set an order minimum, and coordinate the offer across channels. The episode was recorded earlier in the show’s run. Some platform setup details have changed since then, so check your current tracking and audience setup before applying the tactics. In this episode: • Specific cross-sell offers and broader order-value offers • Why Jordan recommends introducing a different product category • How email, paid ads, and package inserts can support the same offer • What to consider when using a shared coupon code across channels 00:00 Why the second purchase matters 02:24 Where email revenue comes from 07:09 Four ways to grow email revenue 11:31 Building a post-purchase flow 12:57 Specific vs. broad offers 16:27 Cross-selling into another product category 18:26 Adding an accessories offer 19:25 Setting a minimum-spend offer 21:51 Coupon codes across channels 22:20 Bringing paid ads into the campaign 24:19 Adding an offer to the package 26:18 Recap Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 105: How Four Brands Solve Problems With Their Emails and Websites | 22 Sep 2026 | 00:32:40 | |
Four brands. Four different ecommerce problems. Four ways email and website design can help solve them. In this visual episode, Jordan breaks down how Lack of Color, Devon + Lang, DÔEN, and Netrition shape their emails, product pages, and category pages around the way customers actually shop. You’ll see how:
Jordan also covers mobile email layouts, dark mode issues, PDP fold-one essentials, click-flow testing, product galleries, size guides, and dynamic email sections. This is a visual episode, so open the video for the full email and website walkthrough. Want help generating more revenue from your existing traffic and customer base? Visit Pilothouse and ask to speak with the Email and Retention team. Key Timestamps 00:00 How email and CRO unlock revenue from existing traffic 01:23 Four brands and four ecommerce challenges 02:50 Lack of Color’s product-heavy email strategy 07:09 What its product page leaves unclear 08:36 Devon + Lang’s shoppable-homepage PDP 12:31 Bundles, size guides, video, and product comparisons 15:00 How DÔEN sells high-priced apparel online 16:28 Why its email sends shoppers to a category page 18:53 Building an editorial category-page experience 22:39 Why DÔEN keeps sold-out products visible 24:36 How Netrition organizes a massive food catalog 28:30 Using discovery content, recommendations, and education 30:26 Shopping by category and dietary goal 31:52 Final takeaways Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 104: The 12-Point Klaviyo Inspection | 15 Sep 2026 | 00:25:12 | |
How healthy is your Klaviyo account? Jordan Gordon walks through the 12-point inspection he uses to assess Klaviyo accounts in 10 to 15 minutes. The inspection covers revenue, clicks, audience growth, campaign frequency, send volume, and flows, with a second check for every metric that can be distorted by attribution settings, privacy opens, or bot clicks. You’ll learn how to: • Compare Shopify revenue growth with Klaviyo revenue growth • Check whether Klaviyo’s attributed revenue is trustworthy • Compare Shopify sessions with unique email and SMS clicks • use Gmail performance to spot reporting or inboxing problems • Measure list growth without Apple Privacy Opens inflating the audience • Audit campaign frequency, headlines, and design quality • Evaluate your campaign-to-flow revenue split • Use your first welcome email as an account-wide health check Need help generating more revenue from your existing traffic and customers? Visit CHAPTERS: 00:00 Why email and CRO are the fastest revenue opportunities 00:29 The 12-point Klaviyo inspection 01:24 Introduction 02:23 How the inspection works 02:52 Revenue growth and attribution settings 05:49 Unique clicks and Shopify sessions 07:45 Checking Gmail performance 11:11 Measuring list and audience health 14:05 Forms, subscribers, and unsubscribes 16:02 Campaign frequency and creative quality 18:01 Send volume and campaign open rates 20:24 Flow revenue and welcome email health 21:54 The complete 12-point recap Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 103: Should DTC Brands Wait Until $10M to Run Paid Ads? | From the Trenches: Real Problems, Real Solutions | 08 Sep 2026 | 00:43:05 | |
Should DTC brands really avoid paid ads until they hit $5M to $10M in revenue? A viral Cody Sanchez take sparked that debate, so Eric Dyck sits down with Pilothouse’s Jordan and Raf for the first edition of The DTC Rundown: a rapid-fire breakdown of the arguments, strategies, and problems DTC operators are talking about right now. They dig into when paid acquisition actually makes sense, why brands can end up spending money advertising to customers who were already going to buy, and why healthier growth can sometimes make your marketing metrics look worse. They also break down what changes as brands move past the early growth stage, including the shift from capturing existing demand to creating new demand, balancing evergreen marketing with bigger campaign moments, and keeping Meta and Klaviyo audience signals clean enough to know whether you’re actually acquiring new customers. Plus, two real examples from the trenches show what happens when a website is designed around existing customers, an acquisition funnel creates too much friction, and a brand keeps using the same playbook long after the market around it has changed. Key timestamps: 00:00 Why email and CRO can unlock revenue without more ad spend 02:21 Should brands really avoid paid ads until $5M–$10M? 10:09 The hidden ad spend wasted on existing customers 12:02 Evergreen vs. campaigns as brands scale 20:06 Why clean audience definitions matter on Meta 23:23 What slowing growth actually looks like inside the numbers 31:04 When your website is built for existing customers 38:41 The conversion funnel mistake costing one brand sales Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 102: 0.25% CTR and Not in Spam: What Do You Fix Next? | 01 Sep 2026 | 00:31:27 | |
What do you fix when your email program has a 0.25% click-through rate and deliverability isn’t the problem? This week, Jordan breaks down a pattern he sees across larger DTC brands: daily campaigns, oversized automated flow systems, low engagement, and plenty of attributed revenue that makes the program look healthier than it really is. He walks through how to find your real click-through rate, strip out bot activity, identify which flow messages are actually generating revenue, and figure out where relevance can still create meaningful lift. Jordan also explains why attributed revenue rewards brands for sending more email, even when those sends may have little incremental impact. Then he gets into the fix: build a true control group, simplify bloated flow systems, concentrate automated messaging around high-intent windows, reduce broad campaign frequency, and measure whether email is actually increasing customer spend across channels. Key Timestamps: 01:23 The 0.25% CTR problem 03:20 How to find your real click-through rate 05:13 The 80/20 test for bloated flow systems 07:09 How to rule out deliverability as the problem 09:33 Finding the audience where relevance matters most 13:24 Why attributed revenue rewards sending more email 15:51 Building a control group to measure incremental lift 20:10 How to simplify flows and reduce campaign volume Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 101: How to Know When You’re Marketing to the Wrong Customers | 25 Aug 2026 | 00:27:13 | |
The customers that got your brand to its current size may not be the customers who take it to the next stage of growth. This week, Jordan is joined by Pilothouse’s Rafael Gi to break down a pattern they’re seeing across brands at very different stages: the customer base, acquisition strategy, and messaging that once worked can eventually become a ceiling. They walk through three real brand scenarios, including a skincare company where 80% of free-sample buyers never purchased again, a sports brand that had outgrown its parent-focused positioning, and a sunglasses brand seeing its higher-AOV customer segment grow while its traditional core market declined. Jordan and Raf discuss how to spot these shifts early, what your new-to-repeat customer mix can tell you, why revenue per email sent matters, how acquisition platforms get trained on the customers you attract, and how to realign your ads, website, and retention strategy around the customers with the most future value. In this episode:
01:22 Why your current customers may be holding back your next stage of growth 03:39 Three brands facing the same customer-segment problem 08:00 How to tell when you’re marketing to the wrong people 09:29 Using Shopify cohorts to diagnose customer quality 10:27 Revenue per email sent as an early warning signal 11:52 When your PDP is speaking to the wrong customer 16:39 How discount acquisition can train Meta and Google on the wrong buyers 20:57 When a higher-value customer segment starts replacing your core market Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 100: 100% in Gmail Spam: How We’re Rewarming This Email Account | 18 Aug 2026 | 00:28:50 | |
Jordan is in the middle of rewarming an email account that Gmail was sending straight to spam, so this week he’s taking you inside the process. He breaks down what damaged the account’s sending reputation, the engagement segments he’s using to rebuild it, why static send size matters during a rewarm, and how he’s using Gmail-specific data, GlockApps, and Postmaster Tools to tell when it’s safe to scale back up. Jordan also explains why your reported email revenue may be inflated by Apple Privacy Opens, why list size is one of the most misleading metrics in email, and what brands should watch before a struggling program gets this far. In this episode:
If your email performance looks healthy on paper while clicks and inbox placement tell a different story, this episode shows you where to look. 01:24 Why this email account needs a rewarm 02:22 The email trilemma: traffic, inboxing, and list growth 05:13 Inside an account hitting 100% Gmail spam 08:08 How Apple Privacy Opens can inflate email revenue 11:05 The exact segments Jordan uses to rewarm an account 14:02 Why static send size matters during a rewarm 20:54 GlockApps, Gmail segments, and Google Postmaster Tools 24:12 Using high-engagement promos to rebuild sending reputation Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 99: Jordan's new favourite email program PLUS a mistake you can avoid | 11 Aug 2026 | 00:19:32 | |
Jordan has a new favourite email program, and it breaks a lot of the rules marketers usually follow. In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan breaks down Dôen’s email program, from its layered photo grids and behind-the-scenes creative to tiny copy, cursive fonts, and understated CTAs. The program assumes its audience actually wants to spend time with the brand. That matters when your emails are competing inside a promotions tab packed with dozens of other brands. Jordan also catches one mistake in Dôen’s otherwise excellent program: two different abandonment emails landing within four minutes of each other. He explains why overlapping cart, checkout, site abandonment, and third-party identification flows can cause this, plus the waterfall exclusions he uses to prevent it. What you’ll learn:
00:00 – Why email + CRO are the fastest path to more ecommerce revenue 01:25 – Jordan’s new favourite email program: Dôen 04:15 – Why Dôen designs for an intentional reader 08:01 – The behind-the-scenes email that immediately got Jordan to open 09:00 – How to stand out in a completely stuffed Promotions tab 12:52 – Jordan finds a mistake 15:49 – The abandonment flow waterfall that prevents duplicate emails 17:17 – Why a “winning” CRO test can slowly degrade your brand Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 98: 11 Email Marketing Mistakes Brands Keep Making | 04 Aug 2026 | 00:25:45 | |
After auditing hundreds of email programs, Jordan Gordon has seen the same mistakes show up again and again. In this episode of The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast, Jordan runs through 11 common problems that make retention programs harder to manage and less effective, from creating endless Klaviyo segments and bloated flows to mixing too many goals into one post-purchase journey. He also gets into why non-opener resends can hurt your sending reputation, where your best offer should appear in an email, what brands miss when testing dark mode, and why producing more campaigns can leave you with thinner creative. Then he moves beyond the inbox with two CRO mistakes he sees constantly: underdeveloped top product pages and homepages that have accumulated too many competing ideas. What you’ll learn:
00:00 – How Email + CRO Drive More Revenue 01:22 – The Email Mistakes Jordan Sees Every Day 03:19 – Why Too Many Flows Become Dead Weight 06:16 – UGC, Reviews & Post-Purchase Mistakes 10:07 – Give Every Automation One Clear Goal 13:29 – Offers, Non-Opener Resends & Dark Mode 16:22 – When Too Much Email Content Hurts Performance 22:13 – PDP & Homepage CRO Mistakes Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 97: The Perfect Pop-Up: Timing, Targeting, and the Right Offer | 28 Jul 2026 | 00:21:50 | |
In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan Gordon sits down with Alia founder Shaan Arora to break down what makes a high-converting pop-up work. Shaan shares how Alia grew from a college project to $8 million in revenue before being acquired by Dotdigital for $60 million. He also explains how the company uses behavioral data to personalize pop-ups based on the shopper, timing, creative, and offer. They get into the role of data as a competitive advantage, how AI is changing software development, and why strong e-commerce brands continue testing even after they find a winning variation. What you’ll learn:
00:41 What makes a “perfect pop-up” 01:48 Alia’s $60 million acquisition 03:13 From college project to $8 million in revenue 08:54 AI, software development, and defensible SaaS moats 12:38 Personalizing the customer, timing, creative, and offer 18:48 Why strong brands never stop testing Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 96: The Future of Ecommerce Websites: AI Storefronts Built for Every Ad | 21 Jul 2026 | 00:37:13 | |
In this episode of The World’s Best Email and Retention Podcast, Jordan Gordon sits down with Black Crow co-founder Shazad Khan to explore how AI could reshape the ecommerce website. As ad creative, search queries, and retention messages become more personalized, most shoppers still land on the same static product or collection page. Black Crow Storefronts is built to carry the context of each ad through the full post-click experience, creating tailored landing pages, product flows, carts, and upsells for each audience and campaign. Jordan and Shazad break down how AI storefronts work, where they fit into a brand’s marketing stack, and how creative teams, media buyers, and agencies may use them to improve conversion after the click. What you’ll learn:
00:00 How to drive more revenue without increasing ad spend 02:50 What will an ecommerce website look like in 10 years? 04:47 The personalization gap after someone clicks an ad 10:06 Inside Black Crow Storefronts 12:30 How AI builds a unique storefront for every ad 17:48 Controlling which products and audiences AI prioritizes 23:08 How AI changes creative and media buying roles 30:24 Black Crow’s AI tools for email and retention Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 95: Creating Desire Through Design: Filson’s Approach to Email Aesthetics (Replay) | 14 Jul 2026 | 00:30:35 | |
This week, we're revisiting a listener favourite from early in the TWBERP catalog. If you haven't been around since the beginning, we can assure you this is a good one. On with the show! In this episode, we dive into the art of creating email experiences that both sell and inspire. Join host Jordan Gordon as he explores how heritage brand Filson turns each email into a visual journey, using lifestyle photography, strategic design, and storytelling to craft an aspirational experience for their subscribers. We cover how Filson strikes the perfect balance between content-driven and conversion-focused emails, how they maximize engagement through VIP sign-ups and theme features, and why their approach to seasonal drops keeps customers coming back. Whether you’re an email marketer, brand owner, or design enthusiast, discover actionable tips to elevate your email strategy and create a more loyal audience. 00:00 — Intro 01:00 — The Role of Non-Conversion Emails 02:30 — Filson as a Case Study: Building a Visual Experience 05:00 — Making the Most of Your Best Shots 08:00 — Crafting Seasonal Drops 10:30 — Lifestyle vs. Product Focus: Striking a Balance 13:00 — VIP Sign-Ups: Building Long-Term Engagement 15:30 — Design Choices That Work Across Devices 18:00 — The Power of Theme Features 21:00 — Filson’s Take on Journal-Style Emails 24:00 — Closing Thoughts Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 94: The First 30 Days That Determine Customer Lifetime Value | Thomas Lalas | 07 Jul 2026 | 00:52:59 | |
Before anyone talks about LTV, retention curves, or lifecycle marketing, there's one window that matters most: the first 30 days. Thomas Lalas, founder of Art of Ecomm and author of Retention Economics, joins Jordan Gordon to break down why the first month after a customer's purchase has an outsized impact on lifetime value, profitability, and long-term growth. They cover why retention is much bigger than email, how top subscription brands reduce early churn, and the systems they use to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers. In this episode: 00:00 Why email and CRO are the fastest path to profitable growth 01:21 Meet Thomas Lalas and the idea behind Retention Economics 04:40 Why retention is bigger than email marketing 07:00 The first 30 days that determine customer lifetime value 11:44 The three stages of a high-performing retention system 12:14 Pre-delivery: reducing anxiety and increasing perceived value 28:32 Post-delivery: building habits and educating customers 44:13 Rebilling: reducing churn before the next charge 49:27 Why engagement compounds over time 50:26 Agency vs. consultancy: two approaches to retention 51:24 Where to find Thomas and his book Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 93: Shopify: 2 Minutes, 2 Pages, 2 Folds | 30 Jun 2026 | 00:34:56 | |
All the conversion action on your Shopify store happens in a narrow window. Jordan builds out the diagnostic framework to find it, measure it, and fix it. What's covered:
Referenced episodes: 69, 70, 73 (retention and email metrics), low-60s series (120-second session framework), recent recommendations flow and essentials flow episodes. Timestamps 00:00 – Why all the action is in the first 2 minutes, 2 folds, 2 pages 03:17 – How to diagnose a Shopify revenue problem 07:37 – The four metrics that matter: sessions, add to cart, conversion rate, conversions 08:34 – Entry vs. internal referrer explained 10:02 – Channel segmentation: paid, organic, Klaviyo, direct 12:28 – The 10 power pages framework 17:22 – What it means when homepage outperforms your top PDP 21:53 – Post-click activities to deploy against site gaps 26:16 – Klaviyo entry benchmarks and what to expect 31:06 – How to link your CRO ideas to needle-moving pages Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 92: 2026 Segmentation Research: What We Changed and Why | 23 Jun 2026 | 00:22:09 | |
Email segmentation is getting tighter. Here's what our 2025 research found and what we changed going into H2 2026. We cover implied consent windows, why we pulled back from 150-day open segments to 120, the real revenue math on long buyer lookbacks, and how to structure a mailable segment that sits inside every other segment you send to. Key topics:
0:00 - What's required to inbox 2:51 - 2025 segmentation research overview 3:50 - Implied consent windows explained 5:16 - Open window: why we stayed at 120 days 7:15 - Where 85% of campaign revenue comes from 9:15 - Long buyer lookbacks: what the data showed 13:49 - How to establish mailability as your foundation 16:45 - First-time vs repeat buyer segmentation 20:27 - Using segmentation to learn about your business Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 91: The Self-Healing Email Flow That Replaces 18 Campaigns a Month | 16 Jun 2026 | 00:27:02 | |
Your recommendations flow does more than fill inbox space. It introduces your audience to parts of your catalog they haven't seen, replaces a chunk of your campaign volume, and works on autopilot as your catalog changes. This episode breaks down how recommendations and essentials flows work together, why Klaviyo's default 10-recommendation set limits you to three usable emails, and how to split recommendations into specific categories (best sellers, new arrivals, trending, recommended for you) to force more variety and unlock 6-12 emails for the flow. You'll learn why hero shots underperform in these emails, how to structure a two-section layout (shopability plus special interest content), how to schedule sends based on declining intent after a site visit, and how this system frees your campaigns to focus on drops, discounts, and content people actually want. Topics covered:
00:00 - Introduction 03:50 - Core support vs essentials vs recommendations overview 06:46 - What is the recommendations email 09:08 - Klaviyo's 10-recommendation default and email limits 10:36 - Building category-specific recommendation emails 13:58 - Why hero shots underperform 15:52 - Two-section email structure 20:16 - Scheduling based on declining intent Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 90: The $54K Password | 09 Jun 2026 | 00:30:33 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. A men's jewelry brand doing $3K/day sent one email with a password-protected sale page and did $54K in a single day. Henry Banfield, ecom strategist at Pilothouse, breaks down exactly how it worked: the month-long header build-up, the "VIP Access" password psychology, the segmentation behind the send, and why blocking the conversion drove it. Plus a second lesson on what actually retains your core customer base long-term. 00:00 - Intro 07:27 - The password-protected sale campaign 11:12 - $3K/day to $54K from one email 12:09 - Why blocking the conversion worked 14:06 - Consideration phase psychology 17:26 - List size and segmentation breakdown 21:16 - The $1 free sample that reactivated buyers 25:35 - High-interest content and engineering a payoff 29:20 - Stop optimizing for platform revenue Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 89: The essential flow everyone is missing, + Aritzia inbox feature. Don't miss this money maker! | 02 Jun 2026 | 00:31:15 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. Most brands send a welcome email and immediately dump subscribers into their campaign program. This episode breaks down the automated flow that fixes that gap: the essentials flow. Jordan walks through why campaign revenue is concentrated among people who have visited the site recently, how to run the segment research yourself to confirm it, and why sending more campaigns is the wrong lever to pull. The essentials flow targets active-on-site visitors with deep, conversion-focused emails about your core products — the ones that actually drive purchases but never get the focused sell they deserve. Also covered: how the essentials flow sits above the recommendations flow in the conversion funnel support framework, how to Tetris both flows together without overlap, suppression rules, frequency windows, and how a 40-message lifecycle system replicates six to eight campaigns worth of monthly revenue without inflating send volume. The Aritzia inbox walkthrough shows exactly where the opportunity lives, even for a brand with a strong campaign program. Topics covered:
00:00 – Intro 02:54 – Where the essentials flow fits in the funnel 03:24 – How to run the segment revenue research 07:22 – Two types of people on your list 09:48 – Campaigns generate intent, automations convert on intent 13:08 – Aritzia inbox walkthrough 18:41 – How to structure the essentials flow 21:07 – Essentials flow and recommendations flow together 27:47 – The 40-message lifecycle framework Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 88: The Psychology Behind the Buy: Skims and Percival and What Your Email Program Should Learn | 26 May 2026 | 00:25:11 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. Consumer psychology is not a channel-specific tactic. It runs underneath your email program, your site, your advertising, and your pricing. In this episode, Jordan Gordon breaks down the psychological mechanics at work across two brands operating from opposite ends of the gender and aesthetic spectrum: Skims and Percival. Topics covered include relative price anchoring, deliberate purchase behavior, self-concept theory, reactance theory, social proof with and without celebrity, the psychological redefinition of comfort, cultural currency, the mere-exposure effect, the Diderot effect, cognitive legitimacy, and reciprocity as a retention tool. The core argument: if your email program is only pushing margin-driven sends, you are burning the relationship. Brands that give real value on a consistent schedule train subscribers to stay engaged and buy repeatedly. Skims and Percival are used as case studies throughout, with direct application points for email content, welcome flows, post-purchase sequences, and long-term retention strategy. Timestamps 00:00 Intro 03:00 Why consumer psychology applies across all channels 04:00 Price is psychological: the $50 tap water case study 06:45 Deliberate purchase behavior and identity-driven buying 08:45 Social proof: Skims vs. Percival and two opposing strategies 11:00 Comfort is psychological: post-pandemic emotional marketing 13:45 Self-concept theory, tribal emblems, and reactance theory 19:30 Mere-exposure effect, the Diderot effect, and cognitive legitimacy Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 87: Top 10 Fixes for a Pooched Email Account | 19 May 2026 | 00:28:20 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. If your open rates have collapsed, your list is shrinking, or you're buried in the spam folder, this episode walks through exactly what to do. Jordan covers the 10 most important moves for recovering a damaged email account, from setting realistic expectations and rewarming your list to running email-only promotions and tracking the metrics that actually tell you if the program is healing. Topics covered:
00:00 Intro 02:25 What a pooched email account looks like 04:24 Fix 1: Set realistic expectations 05:49 Fix 2: Optimize your pop-up and list growth trend 08:16 Fix 3: Decide whether to rewarm 10:08 Fix 4: Establish your safe send size 13:19 Fix 5: Two campaigns per week 16:13 Fix 6: Subject lines over design 18:35 Fix 7: Clean up content and URLs 19:34 Fix 8: Run email-only promotions 21:26 Fix 9: Lean into SMS 23:14 Fix 10: Get your metrics in order 25:39 The stale repeat buyer metric Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 86: 9 Flows, 20+ Emails: Building Your Conversion Funnel Support Ecosystem | 12 May 2026 | 00:41:54 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. When in doubt, zoom out. Most brands have a browse abandon and a checkout abandon — and call it done. In this episode, Jordan breaks down the entire conversion funnel support ecosystem: all 9 flows, how they connect, and how many emails each one actually needs. What's covered:
Plus: a live breakdown of browse abandon emails from Thrifty's and Toms — what works, what doesn't, and why hiding your product behind a hero shot is costing you conversions. Referenced episodes: The Only Site Abandon Flow You'll Ever Need The Only Browse Abandon Flow You'll Ever Need Site Funnels Episode 1 & 2 Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro & what is conversion funnel support? 03:15 – The 4 core abandonment flows: site, category, browse, cart & checkout 08:30 – How to set up flow rules (people move down, never up) 13:19 – Beyond abandonment: back in stock, price drop & recommendations 19:11 – The recommendations flow: Amazon-inspired product discovery 22:00 – The funnel flusher: when and how to use it 24:25 – How many emails does each flow need? 26:24 – Live email breakdowns: Thrifty's & Toms 34:11 – Why discounts don't belong in funnel support 37:37 – Lifecycle discounting: the clean way to structure offers Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 85: Touch Points Have Throughput (And You're Probably Ignoring It) | 05 May 2026 | 00:38:06 | |
This episode is sponsored by Klaviyo. Most ecommerce brands obsess over rates — pop-up submit rate, click-through rate, conversion rate. But rate without throughput is meaningless. In this episode, Jordan breaks down the 15 core touch points every ecommerce brand should be mapping, monitoring, and iterating on — and introduces the framework for how to actually think about them. You'll learn the difference between assets and touch points (and why it matters more now than ever), how to build your minimum viable touch point map, and what views to run through each touch point so you're never flying blind. In this episode:
Referenced episodes: 4, 37, 46, 66, 67, 84 Episode Timestamps: 00:00 – Why throughput beats rate every time 05:18 – The 15 touch point map explained 08:13 – Touch points 1-3: Unaware, aware, and retargeting destinations 10:40 – Home fold 1 & 2: Are you sending people the right place? 14:08 – PDP: The highest value real estate on your site 19:53 – The pop-up math that tells you if yours is actually working 24:13 – Welcome, browse abandon, and the pre-cart email framework 30:25 – Campaign header/footer: The highest throughput touch point you're ignoring Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 84: From Lost Visitor to Loyal Buyer: How Smart Personalization Fixes the Discovery Gap (with Julia Whatley from Rebuy) | 28 Apr 2026 | 00:38:16 | |
If your store has hundreds — or thousands — of SKUs, your biggest problem isn't your product. It's discovery. Jordan sits down with Julia Whatley, Senior Partner Manager at Rebuy, to break down how smart personalization turns an overwhelming catalog into a guided buying experience. From search-driven add-to-carts to post-purchase subscription upgrades, Julia walks through the full on-site journey and how brands are using Rebuy to lift AOV, drive repeat purchases, and build more intelligent relationships with their customers. In this episode:
00:00 – Intro & meet Julia Whatley, Senior Partner Manager at Rebuy 03:30 – The mega-SKU problem: why large catalogs create analysis paralysis 04:49 – KM Tools case study: 32% AOV boost & 20% bottom-line revenue increase 06:17 – Walking the full on-site journey: search, bundles, smart cart & more 12:49 – Bundle Builder: how 30% of Rebuy revenue flows through this one feature 25:47 – Secret weapons: Smart Links, geo-targeting & the Rebuy rules engine 30:55 – Klaviyo + Rebuy: why the integration is a need-to-have, not a nice-to-have 34:04 – The brands that will win in the next 3 years Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 83: 7 Fixes to Your Bottom Funnel – More Revenue from the Same Traffic | 21 Apr 2026 | 00:21:06 | |
In this episode, Jordan breaks down 7 fixes you can implement today to improve your bottom of funnel and turn existing traffic into more conversions. The throughline: you don’t need more traffic—you need to capture more of the traffic you already have. What you’ll learn:
00:00 Why BOFU is more traffic 00:41 The fastest way to drive revenue today (email + CRO) 01:50 PDP fixes: keep attention above the fold & drive scroll 04:42 Homepage tweaks that actually move revenue 07:06 Pop-ups done right (timing, double + triple pop) 11:25 Abandonment flows: what most brands are missing 12:54 Reactivation: why 12 months matters 13:54 The full funnel stack (home → PDP → flows) 14:25 The big mistake: trust vs desire (and how to fix it) Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 82: Email & SMS Drove 3.3x Higher Growth (Jordan's Analysis) | 14 Apr 2026 | 00:14:13 | |
In this episode, Jordan dove into the data of 20 ecommerce brands to see what actually happens when you add email and SMS into the mix. The result: → 3.3x higher median growth → More revenue from repeat customers → Stronger overall efficiency (MER, ROAS, P&L) Email and SMS don’t just drive extra revenue. They make your entire acquisition system work better. In this episode:
00:00 Why Email & SMS Drive Growth 02:48 The 5 Metrics That Matter 04:42 3.3x Higher Growth Explained 10:01 What This Means for Your Business Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 81: Turn Content Into Authority (Then Into Revenue) | 07 Apr 2026 | 00:25:47 | |
Most brands are producing content. Very few are turning it into authority. In this episode, Jordan and Chris Panteli from Linkifi break down how content actually drives growth beyond your own channels—and why backlinks, brand mentions, and external coverage are becoming critical in both Google and AI-driven search. If you’re only thinking about email, ads, and your website, you’re missing a major layer of the ecosystem. We cover:
00:00 The cheapest revenue channel you’re underusing 00:41 The simple SEO formula: content + links 02:19 Meet Chris Panteli (Linkifi) 05:09 How backlinks actually drive traffic 08:26 How AI decides which brands to recommend 11:18 How to get featured (even for free) 15:26 Good vs bad backlinks (what to avoid) 21:16 Building authority across the internet Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 80: Stop Targeting Everyone (Do This Instead) | 31 Mar 2026 | 00:29:13 | |
Most brands don’t have a testing problem. They have a targeting problem. In this episode, Jordan is joined by Pilothouse strategist Chris Richards to break down why “marketing to everyone” is quietly killing performance — and what to do instead. The reality: growth doesn’t come from more creative, more tests, or more spend. It comes from choosing the right customer and building your entire system around them. We get into how to actually define personas, why most brands get stuck in “tactical spinning,” and how the wrong customer at the top of funnel can break everything downstream — from ads to landing pages to email. If your performance feels inconsistent, this is likely where things are going wrong. In this episode, you’ll learn:
00:00 Why most brands struggle to grow 00:41 Why specificity beats broad targeting 01:53 What persona strategy actually looks like 03:14 Building personas from segments + behavior 04:34 Why you shouldn’t target everyone at once 05:33 Real example: choosing the right customer 07:52 The problem with “tactical spinning” 10:12 How the wrong customer breaks retention 13:04 How to measure if you’re targeting right 16:21 Aligning ads, landing pages, and email Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 79: Inside Deliverability: An Email Guy’s Email Guy (Pierre Pignault, MailSoar) | 24 Mar 2026 | 00:45:06 | |
Email deliverability isn’t a single metric. There’s no dashboard that tells you exactly why you’re going to spam. In this episode of The World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast, Jordan sits down with Pierre Pignault, founder of MailSoar and an “email guy’s email guy,” to break down how deliverability actually works in 2026. From misleading open rates to spam filter behavior, this is a deep dive into how top operators diagnose and fix inbox placement issues. We get into:
00:00 Fastest way to drive revenue (email + CRO) 02:20 Why deliverability is impossible to measure directly 08:25 The 3 signals that determine inbox vs spam 17:35 Why high open rates can be fake 23:44 The #1 mistake killing deliverability (segmentation) 29:59 How to fix deliverability in 30 days 33:24 What happens when you send too many emails Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 78: The Gator vs Judge: The Psychology of Ecommerce Conversion (with Dylan Ander) | 17 Mar 2026 | 00:33:34 | |
Most ecommerce brands obsess over conversion rate. But according to Dylan Ander, that’s the wrong metric to optimize. In this episode of the World's Best Email & Retention Podcast, Jordan sits down with Dylan Ander — founder of Heatmap.com and author of Billion Dollar Websites — to break down the psychology behind how people actually buy online. Dylan introduces his “Gator vs Judge” framework, a simple way to understand the two forces behind every purchase decision. The “Gator” is the fast, instinctive brain that wants to buy, while the “Judge” is the skeptical brain that introduces doubt, friction, and hesitation. If your website triggers the Judge too early, you lose the sale. If you design a Gator-friendly experience, customers move naturally toward purchase. We also dive into why some of the most common CRO advice may be outdated, including the belief that fewer clicks always lead to more conversions. In this episode, we cover: • The Gator vs Judge framework for ecommerce conversion • Why conversion rate can be a vanity metric • Why more pages visited can actually increase revenue • How to use heatmaps tied directly to revenue • Why your homepage might be your most important landing page • The difference between demographics and psychographics in ecommerce marketing • Why asking customers what they want is the fastest way to improve your site 00:00 Why Email + CRO Drive the Fastest Ecommerce Revenue 01:21 Meet Dylan Ander (Heatmap.com & Billion Dollar Websites) 04:38 The “Choke Point” Framework for Website Conversion 07:04 Why More Pages Visited Can Increase Revenue 11:17 Using Revenue-Based Heatmaps to Improve CRO 17:51 The Psychology of Headlines, Subject Lines, and Conversion 22:26 The Gator vs Judge Framework for Ecommerce 28:26 Why Your Homepage Might Be Your Best Landing Page Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 77: Running Email at Scale: Newsletter vs Ecommerce | 10 Mar 2026 | 00:36:35 | |
What changes when you run email every single day? In this episode of the World’s Best Email & Retention Podcast, Jordan Gordon sits down with Rebecca Knight from DTC Newsletter to break down the differences between running email for an ecommerce brand and operating a large daily newsletter. While ecommerce email programs rely on segmentation, automation flows, and purchase signals, newsletters operate under very different constraints. Rebecca explains how daily senders approach deliverability, testing, list hygiene, and engagement when opens and clicks are the primary signals available. They also discuss the systems behind running email at scale, including why every send is tested before going out, how a single bad link can hurt deliverability, and the process used to isolate issues when inbox placement drops. Topics covered include: • The biggest differences between ecommerce email and newsletters • Why daily newsletters require stricter deliverability discipline • How one bad link can tank an entire email send • The testing workflow behind high-frequency email programs • When to suppress or remove inactive subscribers • Why consistency builds reader habits and long-term engagement 00:00 Introduction 03:15 How the email landscape has changed in the past 5 years 05:35 Ecommerce email vs newsletter email: completely different playbooks 07:20 Why one bad link can tank your entire email send 16:05 When to suppress or remove inactive subscribers 24:05 Why consistency and habit matter for newsletter growth Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 76: Segmentation Super Episode | 03 Mar 2026 | 00:40:36 | |
In this Segmentation Super Episode, Jordan Gordon breaks down the exact segmentation frameworks the Pilothouse retention team uses to drive more revenue from the customers you already have. If your Klaviyo account feels messy, underperforming, or overly broad, this is your reset. You’ll learn why bad segmentation quietly kills inbox placement, how to structure high-signal engagement windows, and the practical segment models you can build today to improve campaign performance. From lifecycle and recency to whales, cohorts, and discount behavior, this episode is packed with actionable systems you can implement immediately. Whether you're new to segmentation or looking to level up an already sophisticated program, this walkthrough gives you the playbook to send smarter and earn more from email and SMS. 00:00 Introduction 00:29 The #1 Klaviyo killer: bad segmentation 03:18 Inboxing, engagement, and list hygiene fundamentals 09:08 Core segmentation factors (recency, lifecycle, engagement, product, whales) 24:12 Simple segmentation models you can build today 38:17 SMS segmentation math and optimization Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 75: Building an Audience in 2026 | 24 Feb 2026 | 00:23:20 | |
How do you actually build an email audience in 2026 without burning your list or wrecking deliverability? In this episode, Jordan Gordon breaks down the math and mechanics behind sustainable audience growth. From unsubscribe modeling to engagement windows, this is a tactical walkthrough of how smart operators forecast list health and protect future revenue. If your list growth feels unpredictable (or worse, quietly shrinking), this episode shows you exactly what to measure and how to model what happens next. Inside the episode: • Why disengaged subscribers quietly kill future revenue • The simple formula that predicts email revenue with surprising accuracy • How unsubscribe rate compounds faster than most teams expect • Why campaigns alone won’t reactivate cold subscribers • The spreadsheet model that forecasts your list through Q4 2026 • How send frequency impacts both revenue per send and list health Email remains one of the most controllable growth channels in ecommerce — but only if you understand the mechanics behind it. 00:00 Introduction 00:40 The core truth about repeat buyers and email reach 01:51 What still matters from the 2025 audience playbook 05:39 Why reactivation requires evergreen engagement content 09:01 The spreadsheet model to forecast your list growth 13:26 The unsubscribe math most brands underestimate Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 74: How to Attribute Your Post-Click Ecosystem (Part 2) | 21 Feb 2026 | 00:36:29 | |
In Part 2 of this deep dive, Jordan breaks down how to attribute your post-click ecosystem without relying solely on platform reporting. From estimating CRO uplift to sizing Rebuy’s true contribution and pressure-testing retention performance, this episode walks through the math and the mindset operators need to understand where low-cost revenue is really coming from. In this episode:
00:00 — Why Post-Click Revenue Matters 00:29 — Measuring Rebuy’s True Impact 06:42 — How to Calculate CRO Revenue Uplift 13:25 — Comparing Channel Revenue Rates 14:49 — The Retention Metrics That Actually Matter 30:22 — Final Framework and Key Takeaways Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 73: 5 Retention Metrics I Track (And 1 I Ignore) | 17 Feb 2026 | 00:22:21 | |
Most brands track repeat rate. I don’t. In this episode, Jordan breaks down the five customer retention metrics he actually uses to judge whether an email and SMS program is driving real business results — and the one popular metric he ignores entirely. Because the truth is: strong retention programs don’t always make your email metrics look better. In fact, sometimes open rates and click rates go down while revenue goes up. This episode covers how to measure what actually matters, including:
00:00 — Introduction 03:25 — The metric I don’t track: repeat rate (and why) 04:54 — Metric #1: Repeat buyers year over year 06:20 — Metric #2: Same-quarter repeat (a leading indicator) 09:13 — Metric #3: Stale repeat buyers (95+ day gap) 12:35 — Metric #4: Active repeat buyers as a share of your base 15:31 — Metric #5: Repeat buyers as a share of incremental growth 19:26 — What happens when retention starts driving the business 21:19 — Final thoughts on measuring real retention impact Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 72: How to Attribute Your Post-Click Ecosystem (Part 1) | 10 Feb 2026 | 00:37:37 | |
Attribution doesn’t stop at ads. In this episode, we walk through how to measure the full post-click ecosystem (from email and SMS to CRO and retention) and how these channels work together to drive low-cost revenue. Jordan shares a practical model for evaluating channel impact beyond standard multi-touch attribution, why some of your most important revenue drivers get under-credited, and how to identify opportunities to improve marketing efficiency without spending more. If you’re trying to understand where your real growth is coming from, this is a foundational episode. #ecommerce #emailmarketing #retentionmarketing #attribution #digitalmarketing #dtc #pilothouse #cro #smsmarketing #shopifymarketing 00:00 — Introduction 00:50 — Defining the post-click ecosystem and how to think about it 02:03 — What rising ad costs can reveal about your retention strategy 08:22 — How multi-touch attribution fits into the bigger measurement picture 19:03 — The 14-metric framework for evaluating your full ecosystem Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 71: Predict Your 2026 Email Revenue | 03 Feb 2026 | 00:34:57 | |
Email is still the most predictable revenue channel in ecommerce—but most brands don’t forecast it correctly. In this episode, Jordan Gordon breaks down a simple, highly accurate system for predicting your 2026 email revenue before the year even starts. You’ll learn how to model email revenue using six core components of a healthy email program, including campaigns, welcome flows, post-purchase, reactivation, and abandonment—without relying on gut instinct or vague growth assumptions. Jordan walks through the exact metrics to pull from Klaviyo and Shopify, how to apply top-of-funnel vs list-growth factors correctly, and why email revenue is far more controllable than paid media. #emailmarketing #emailrevenue #retentionmarketing #ecommercegrowth #klaviyo #customerretention #lifecyclemarketing #dtc 00:00 Introduction 00:59 How to predict your 2026 email revenue 05:03 The two growth factors that drive email revenue 09:19 The six core components of an email program 12:43 Forecasting campaign revenue using revenue per email 18:05 Predicting welcome flow revenue 27:41 Modeling abandonment revenue from site sessions 31:36 Applying list growth vs top-of-funnel growth correctly Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 70: Diagnosing a Drop in Email Revenue | 27 Jan 2026 | 00:32:20 | |
When email revenue drops, most teams guess. This episode shows how to diagnose it systematically. Jordan breaks down the two real drivers of email revenue decline: fewer emails sent and lower revenue per email sent — and walks through the exact hierarchy of metrics that explain what’s actually happening inside Klaviyo. You’ll learn how to:
#EmailMarketing #Pilothouse #CustomerRetention #LifecycleMarketing #EmailAnalytics #Segmentation #MarketingAttribution #InboxDeliverability #EcommerceMarketing #DTC 00:00 — Introduction 01:00 — The only framework you need: emails sent vs revenue per email sent 03:12 — The real reasons email volume declines 05:33 — Segment mix: the silent lever behind performance 10:48 — Tune-out vs opt-out: what’s actually shrinking your list 15:40 — Why relevance and inboxing determine revenue per email 26:34 — Attribution reality: when revenue falls but growth improves Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 69: Email Metrics and Reporting That Matter | 20 Jan 2026 | 00:35:30 | |
Most brands look at the wrong email metrics. In this episode, Jordan explains how to build a real retention engine in 2026 by focusing on the numbers that actually drive growth: clicks, inbox health, segment performance, and list quality. You’ll get a simple dashboard framework you can set up in minutes to see exactly what’s happening inside your email program — and stop getting fooled by misleading attribution. If email is a big part of your revenue (or should be), this is a must-listen. #EmailMarketing #RetentionMarketing #EcommerceGrowth #MarketingMetrics #CustomerRetention #EmailAnalytics #DTC #EmailDeliverability #DataDrivenMarketing #MarketingPodcast 00:00 – Introduction: Why Retention Beats Acquisition 03:04 – The First Metric to Check 06:52 – Start With Clicks, Not Revenue 10:16 – When Lower Metrics Are a Good Sign 14:08 – Tracking True List Growth 23:19 – Inbox Health by Domain 32:55 – Cleaning Up Underperforming Automations Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 68: Inside DEWALT’s Post-Click Ecosystem | 13 Jan 2026 | 00:48:57 | |
Advertising gets people to your site... But your site is what actually makes you money. In this episode, Jordan breaks down DEWALT’s ecommerce ecosystem to show what really happens after someone clicks an ad, an email, or a retargeting link. He walks through how DEWALT structures its homepage, category pages, PDPs, email program, and product discovery to turn awareness into revenue, not just traffic. You’ll see how DEWALT balances brand and performance, how their Site Funnels actually work in practice, and where email, CRO, and on-site merchandising fit into a modern post-click revenue engine. #EmailMarketing #RetentionMarketing #Ecommerce #DTC #CRO #ConversionRateOptimization #PostClickMarketing #CustomerRetention #Klaviyo #ProductDiscovery #EmailStrategy #LifecycleMarketing #Shopify #EcommerceGrowth #MarketingPodcast #PerformanceMarketing #DigitalMarketing #BrandMarketing #EcommerceStrategy #CustomerExperience 00:00 – Introduction 01:00 – Why DEWALT’s ecosystem works 04:33 – The “car vs gas” model for ecommerce 09:23 – How DEWALT structures its homepage 12:16 – How DEWALT uses email for product discovery 18:00 – Why homepage order controls conversion 28:14 – Category pages that actually sell 33:02 – How PDPs should handle upsells and bundles 40:16 – Where DEWALT leaves money on the table 43:42 – DEWALT vs Makita: brand site vs ecommerce site 47:02 – What to steal for your own site Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 67: Site Funnels 2.0: The Product Discovery Revenue System | 06 Jan 2026 | 00:44:29 | |
In Site Funnels 2.0, Jordan breaks down how product discovery actually works when you have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of SKUs. This episode is the follow-up to Site Funnels 1.0, shifting from hero-product funnels to the long-tail reality of mega-catalog brands. You’ll learn how to use email, dynamic merchandising, and just 12 digital assets to turn browsing into buying at scale, without spending more on ads. Jordan walks through two discovery funnels, how to use email as a shoppable landing page, and why most brands are massively underusing their biggest revenue engine: their existing traffic and subscribers. #EmailMarketing #EcommerceMarketing #RetentionMarketing #ProductDiscovery #PostClickOptimization #CustomerJourney #LifecycleMarketing #Klaviyo #Shopify #DTC #DirectToConsumer #DigitalMerchandising #ConversionRateOptimization #CRO #GrowthMarketing #RevenueGrowth #MarketingStrategy #CustomerRetention #LongTailEconomy #MarketingPodcast 00:00 — Introduction 01:00 — “Double your revenue with no ad cost” and the 12-asset funnel idea 03:10 — The difference between manageable-SKU brands and mega-SKU brands 05:31 — Low-intent vs high-intent traffic and how funnels are split 10:23 — How email triples your product discovery at-bats (with real brand data) 15:17 — Funnel 1: using five recommendation emails to power discovery 23:17 — Funnel 2: turning category browsing into high-intent revenue 41:39 — Why doubling conversion rate beats buying more traffic Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 66: Site Funnels 1.0: The Post-Click Revenue System | 30 Dec 2025 | 00:49:35 | |
In this episode, Jordan breaks down Site Funnels 1.0, a post-click revenue system designed to turn traffic, email, and organic visitors into low-cost, compounding revenue. You’ll learn how the world’s best ecommerce teams think about funnels, choke points, and psychological progression across the site and why improving conversion rate is often the fastest way to grow without increasing ad spend. Jordan walks through how visitors move from homepage to category pages to product pages to checkout, how to identify the moments that control revenue, and how to design funnels for both qualified and unqualified traffic. Hashtags: #ecommerce #cro #conversionrateoptimization #dtc #shopify #emailmarketing #retentionmarketing #growthmarketing #onlinestore #digitalmarketing #funnelmarketing #performancecommerce #customerjourney #postclick #ecommercestrategy Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction: Why a 0.5% conversion rate destroys revenue 02:29 – Ads create awareness, websites create revenue 11:27 – The four stages every site must solve 20:15 – The two-minute rule for conversions 32:28 – The five site funnels that drive ecommerce revenue 49:41 – Why PDPs are the real revenue engine Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 65: Where Email Revenue Actually Comes From | 23 Dec 2025 | 00:34:06 | |
In this episode of the World’s Best Email Retention Podcast, Jordan breaks down real buyer data to show which customers truly drive email and retention revenue, and which ones don’t. Using a simple but powerful buyer-group framework (recent vs. stale, first-time vs. repeat), Jordan unpacks why email doesn’t chase the same dollar as ads, why most campaign revenue comes from buyers ads no longer influence, and why optimizing email metrics alone can lead brands to miss their most additive revenue. #EmailRetention #CustomerLifecycle #EcommerceOperators #DTCBrands #RetentionStrategy #EmailROI #ShopifyBrands #MarketingAnalytics #GrowthMarketing 00:00 – Why retention, not acquisition, defines efficient growth 01:29 – Email metrics vs. the real retention source of truth 02:10 – The two models every operator needs to understand retention 06:31 – The buyer framework that explains where email revenue comes from 19:08 – Why email monetizes customers ads no longer reach 24:26 – The revenue impact of stale repeat buyers Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 64: The Financial Case for CRO | 16 Dec 2025 | 00:24:22 | |
Conversion rate optimization is not a “nice to have.” It is the most reliable way to increase profit without increasing spend. In this episode, Jordan breaks down the financial case for CRO using a simple, realistic model that compares three paths: holding steady, scaling ad spend, and improving site conversion. The results are clear. Spending more on ads can reduce margin, while improving conversion rate increases revenue, efficiency, and profit at the same time. You’ll learn why brands should maximize low-cost, owned revenue first, how CRO impacts MER, ROI, and margin, and why advertising should support owned traffic growth, not replace it. Jordan also walks through where CRO fits in the broader ecommerce stack, from site fundamentals and email to paid media and awareness channels. #ecommerce #conversionrateoptimization #cro #emailmarketing #retentionmarketing #ownedmedia #dtc #digitalmarketing #pilothouse #dtcnewsletter #dtcpodcast 00:00 Introduction 00:59 The financial case for CRO explained 03:38 Ads vs CRO: the spreadsheet comparison 08:31 How scaling ad spend can reduce margin 10:28 Why CRO dramatically improves ROI and efficiency 15:45 The real purpose of advertising Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 63: Black Friday: What Worked | 09 Dec 2025 | 00:25:08 | |
Black Friday is the biggest stress test of your email system, and this year delivered some clear winners. In this episode, Jordan breaks down the real tactics that moved revenue: odd-hour sends, plain-text power plays, mystery-angle subject lines, triple taps (and when a pentatap might make sense), plus where revenue actually came from across engaged, unengaged, prospects, and buyers. #emailmarketing #ecommerce #dtc #retentionmarketing #pilothouse #blackfriday #marketingstrategy #q4 00:00 — Introduction 00:28 — Inboxing Is Getting Harder 01:00 — Subject Line Mystery vs Clarity 02:40 — Odd-Hour Sending Wins 03:10 — Why Plain Text Performs 06:05 — Triple Taps: What We Saw 10:58 — Penta Taps: Use With Caution 14:03 — Where Black Friday Revenue Actually Came From Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||
| Ep 62: Where Should That Click Go? Landing Pages, Homepages, and PDPs | 02 Dec 2025 | 00:37:41 | |
Most brands obsess over ads and ignore the moment that matters most: where the click lands. In this episode, Jordan Gordon and Pilothouse strategist Taylor Cain break down how to decide whether traffic should go to your homepage, a PDP, a collection, or a dedicated landing page—plus how to diagnose when conversion rate issues aren’t about your ad at all. You’ll learn:
#EmailMarketing #RetentionMarketing #CRO #LandingPages #EcommerceStrategy #DTCMarketing #ShopifyBrands 00:00 — Introduction 01:00 — When a Landing Page Beats Your Homepage 03:00 — How Disrupted Traffic Changes Your Funnel 06:00 — Rising Prices, Rising Consideration 10:00 — PDP vs Landing Page: Which One Converts Better? 14:00 — Why Testing Beats Theory Every Time 20:00 — The Underrated Power of Email Capture on Landers 29:00 — Inside a High-Performing Landing Page Build Work with Pilothouse: https://www.pilothouse.co/get-in-touch?utm_source=dtc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=e&rPodcast Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DTCPodcast Subscribe to DTC: https://www.directtoconsumer.co/ Listen to DTC Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dtcpodcast | |||