MarTech360 Interview with Jonathan Snow, Co-Founder & CIO at Avenue Z

Make sure you have access to deep, flexible data. If it takes you hours to find answers to simple questions, you won’t be able to raise money, pivot quickly when there’s an issue, or be able to continue on a trajectory of growth for very long.

 

As a previous multi-brand founder with ground-level experience, and now co-founder and CIO at Avenue Z, how do you approach omnichannel growth for B2C / DTC brands?

Data and tech-driven growth is the only way. Avenue Z employs a top down approach—not bottoms up. We identify a business’s goals, devise a plan how to achieve them strategically, and attack the plan granularly. It’s crucial for companies to have robust data infrastructure with comprehensive naming conventions in order to be able to slice and dice data to derive insights, and understand the data benchmarks they need to hit at every level of the funnel in order to achieve the goals they’ve set.

Jonathan, as a veteran, a DTC brand founder and marketing professional, tell us about your background and your current role at Avenue Z. Also tell us how Avenue Z differentiates itself from other companies in the same space?

My roles as a dentist and active duty serviceman formed me as a professional. Hard work, excellence, discipline, and extreme attention to detail are pillars of my mentality and approach to work. My full story can be read here.

Avenue Z’s team is what sets us apart, particularly in the e-commerce vertical.  The core team spent years on the brand side prior to transitioning to the agency side—my team helped me launch, scale, and sell a few bootstrapped e-commerce brands. We understand the inner workings of e-commerce, how to solve nearly any brand pain point, and know how to connect the dots across ad platforms, the Shopify tech stack, and the analytics infrastructure to drive results.

How is Avenue Z pioneering social commerce?

Avenue Z is at the forefront of cutting-edge strategies and technology. Over the years, we’ve mastered paid media, influencer and affiliate marketing, and organic content in silos. The process of integrating those verticals within social commerce has been seamless. Our social commerce team meets weekly to identify what’s working, what’s not working, and how we should pivot based on what we’re seeing in the industry. Social commerce is so novel that strategy and platform algorithms can change on a weekly basis. We have our pulse on everything, move with urgency, and course correct when necessary.

Also Read: MarTech360 Interview with Johnny Hughes, Co-Founder & CMO at Avenue Z

What is social commerce, and what benefit does it provide to B2C / CPG / DTC brands?

Social commerce is simply defined by a commerce transaction being executed on a social media platform. Examples include TikTok Shop, Instagram Shop, Facebook Shop, and YouTube Shopping. Social media posts have become shoppable — consumers can click the link of the product that’s tagged in the video and check out in the app without having to leave the social media app to shop on the brand’s website.

With holiday retail season coming up, how do social media marketing trends impact Avenue Z’s client solutions and services, and what methods or technology does Avenue Z use to stay attuned to evolving customer needs?

Everything revolves around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Companies must convert non-customers into customers, and existing customers into returning customers. It is the marketer’s sole job to invert the funnel during the last week of November, and make the “purchase” cohort as large as possible.

While deal-shopping, consumers do not need to be convinced as much to buy something—the focus for creative needs to be on the offer. Historically, our best Black Friday and Cyber Monday templates have been discount code banners, limited time banners, sale grids, sale showcase GIFs, scrapbook image flyers, and lifestyle image flyers. These templates need to adhere to the half second rule: if creative and ad copy do not reveal the offer in 0.5 seconds, it is not communicating effectively.

Could you explain how Avenue Z is integrating influencer and affiliate marketing into its social commerce solutions and services?

Affiliate and influencer marketing is the core of social commerce. Affiliate content is driving ~75% of total GMV on TikTok Shop. It’s a volume game. Here are five tactics we use to scale affiliate/influencer on social commerce:

• Focus on volume: partner with as many affiliates as possible. The cost of an affiliate post is the cost of your product, with endless upside.
• Offer high affiliate commissions: higher commissions motivate affiliates to post more about your brand.
• Don’t rule out small accounts: social commerce enables any size account to generate significant revenue. Follower count does not limit organic reach.
• Create content briefs: providing talking points or scripts ensures content aligns with your brand. Affiliates don’t have to follow the brief, but normally half do. This way you get content that aligns with the key UVPs you want portrayed for your brand.
• Request usage rights: request usage rights and spark codes to extract more value.

What advice do you have for other leaders who are looking to drive growth for their brand?

Make sure you have access to deep, flexible data. If it takes you hours to find answers to simple questions, you won’t be able to raise money, pivot quickly when there’s an issue, or be able to continue on a trajectory of growth for very long.

What is the biggest problem you or your team is solving this year?

Democratizing robust, flexible data for e-commerce brands that isn’t cost prohibitive and doesn’t require full time data science teams in-house to maintain.

Is there anything that you’re currently reading, or any favorite books, that you would recommend?

Great CEOs Are Lazy. Any leader should read this and apply the lessons reviewed in this book. As a leader, this book takes you through the different hats you’re expected to wear—Learner, Architect, Coach, Engineer, Player—and how and when to put on which hat.

 

Thanks Jonathan!