Most e-commerce brands don’t get the marketing results they want, despite doing all the right things.

They spend their time chasing after the next sale, and struggle to sustain customer loyalty.

They depend on paid ads just to stay relevant, and find it increasingly challenging to be profitable. 

Their teams are frazzled, uncoordinated, and disengaged.

Most marketing experts would tell them to do more of the same.

More paid acquisition, more email, more SMS, more loyalty rewards, more referral programs, more widgets, more strategies, more tactics..

And “more” they do.

They get so confused about what to do next, so they try everything,  just to be sure they covered all their bases. 

Their marketing operations turn into a giant tangled knot of organized chaos, and they get so bogged down, they can rarely plan beyond next month.

The issue with the conventional narrative is that tools and channels don't create or sustain loyalty. They can only add fuel to the fire, but they can't create one. You need to first ignite it.

We marketers and e-commerce entrepreneurs have been clicking away behind our screens for so long, we lost the art of selling to a human customer.

Extrinsic rewards—such as sales and promotions, loyalty and referral rewards, and other "tangible" incentives, can produce powerful short-term results. But it's the intrinsic motivators that build and sustain long-term retention, loyalty, and engagement. 

Let me be clear: I am not saying that extrinsic rewards don't work.

I am not saying to stop using your email, sms, loyalty and other widgets. I am an expert on these tools, and I use and recommend them all the time.

What I am saying, is that without this core differentiator of Emotional Capital, you won't get to see their full force and benefit from your efforts.

The most sustainable way of creating such Emotional Capital, is by building a values-driven business based on a clear purpose— one that goes beyond just making you more money (but ends up making you more tons of it as a byproduct).

And the only way to build that sort of business, is by aligning a passionate, highly engaged team, that is clear on your north star, and rowing in the same direction. I know you're strong and capable, but you cannot do it alone.

When you have a passionate team culture that shares the same ideals as your customers, and when you both see a chance to make the world (and people's lives) a little better, your brand becomes irreplaceable to them.

What people want is to believe in something bigger than themselves.

Both customers and employees want to align with brands that believe in what they believe in, and stand for what they stand for.

The most influential brands in the world are built on purpose. Their purpose is not an afterthought; their entire brand is built on a purpose story, and their culture embodies it every day. Their purpose is what attracts the best customers and team members in the first place.

Stop working so damn hard for mediocre marketing.