#111 Antoine Gagné: Media Buying Secrets To Achieve Hyper-Growth!
TGIT! Thank god it’s Thursday because that means it’s time for another new episode of The Ecom Show!
In this episode, Antoine Gagné, the founder and CEO of J7 Media and Pure Commerce, joins our podcast host and CEO, Daniel Budai, in an interesting conversation about media buying. J7 Media is a Facebook advertising agency that turns companies’ growth into hyper-growth.
This episode of The Ecom Show deep dives into:
✔ Antoine’s Experience With Media Buying.
✔ Is Facebook Still Relevant For Media Buying?
✔ How To Take Your E-Commerce Business International.
✔ Antoine’s Advice For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs.
Antoine’s Experience With Media Buying
Antoine started J7 Media almost ten years ago. They started as an agency that helped businesses in the hospitality industry manage their organic Facebook and Instagram marketing. The change in the Facebook algorithm in 2017 is what pushed Antoine to shift his agency’s focus on media buying.
Since then, they’ve positioned themselves to take over media buying and focused on how to scale e-commerce agencies from growth to hyper-growth. Currently, J7 Media manages over $30 million a year in Facebook advertising for e-commerce brands and are experts when it comes to creating ad funnels for direct-to-consumer companies.
J7 Media may have started from Facebook advertising, but they’ve grown immensely ever since. They expanded into Google Ads and other media buying avenues by acquiring a knowledgeable Google Ads agency.
Antoine has also acquired several e-commerce brands, which has added to his understanding of what e-commerce clients want, as he is now on both ends of the spectrum. Antoine recently launched his second agency, Pure Commerce. Pure Commerce is a specialized e-commerce marketing agency that covers all the marketing needs an e-commerce brand would have.
Is Facebook Still Relevant For Media Buying?
The world of e-commerce keeps changing, and there are a ton of different avenues that business owners can choose to spend their money on. With the ever-changing Facebook algorithm, it can get hard for e-commerce businesses to nail down a strategy that works for their brand. And with other more economical options like Tik Tok Ads, a lot of e-commerce businesses have been wondering if Facebook is still a relevant medium for running ads?
The answer is yes. Facebook is still relevant even despite hurdles like their stock going down, the iOS 14 changes, and the emergence of newer ad spaces. Because despite all these factors, Facebook is still a very powerful tool.
The key to nailing your Facebook marketing is to keep testing. Facebook keeps changing its algorithm, which is why as an e-commerce business, it’s important that you keep testing different campaigns and adjust your plan based on the results. You should also diversify your media spending. Focus on driving business through email marketing, SMS campaigns, TikTok ads, and Facebook. Don’t just rely on one medium to drive your sales! Double down on different avenues to increase your customer’s lifetime value, and use media buying to engage with your customers and build a community.
How To Take Your E-Commerce Business International
There are two key things that every business should keep in mind before taking their store international. The first is understanding trends and culture. It’s easier to expand to countries that have similar trends and cultures. For instance, it’s easy to run ad campaigns in England if you’re already selling in US markets. This is because both countries have native English speakers, and trends hit the US markets first.
The second is to align your expectations. There are several barriers to entry like language, price sensitivity, understanding of the local culture, and more that will affect the success of your campaigns in newer markets. Give your business the time to learn and adjust to newer campaigns. Also, research which markets would be easier for you to expand into. For example, it’s much easier for American brands to enter any other global market, this is because their market is way ahead of the curve. On the other hand, it’s far more difficult for international brands to enter the US market because of how crowded their existing market is.
So if you’re looking to expand your business globally, ensure that you do your research about different markets, test and adjust your ad campaigns, and align your expectations since expanding into any new space requires persistence and patience.
Antoine’s Advice For eCommerce Entrepreneurs
We asked Antoine about what his biggest challenge as an entrepreneur has been, and if he could only share one piece of advice for e-commerce business owners, what would it be? Here’s what he had to share:
What was your biggest challenge?
“My biggest challenge has been to actually learn what it means to be in business, which I think a lot of people don’t understand. A lot of people think it’s cool to be an entrepreneur. Like, it’s great to put that on your LinkedIn or tell your friends during Happy Hour that you are a business owner, but when it comes down to it, it’s 20 times harder to live the life of a business owner. Because it takes years to reach a point where you can finally start paying yourself a salary, this understanding has been my greatest learning.”
What’s your number one advice for eCommerce businesses in 2022?
“I would say double down on email acquisition! In the past, you could just run ads and generate conversions straight away. It is not as easy anymore, so double down on running media to acquire more emails. Emails are a great way to maintain a community, and my personal experience as an e-commerce business owner has made me realize how valuable email marketing can be.”
On that note, let’s conclude this episode of The Ecom Show. We release new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday, so don’t forget to tune in!
You can also check out our website if you’d like to learn more about email marketing. Our mini-course is perfect for businesses that are just getting started with email marketing.
We hope you enjoyed this episode. See you again next week!
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