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In this milestone 100th episode, Ryan Martin sits down with eCommerce strategist and fractional CMO Mark Baartse to dismantle the myths around ROAS, attribution, and performance marketing.

This is not another fluffy chat about branding, it’s a hard hitting, brutally honest look at what’s really working in Australian eCommerce.

From why relying on Meta and Google is short-sighted to how brand-building pays off in revenue (not just theory), Mark shares the insights that have helped scale brands doing $200M+.

You’ll also learn how most businesses are measuring the wrong data, the dangerous streetlight effect holding you back, and what the top performers in 2025 will be doing differently.

Key Takeaways

• Why ROAS is a seductive but misleading metric
• How to know when to pull back on paid ads and invest in brand
• What the streetlight effect is and how it’s quietly killing your growth
• The real role of attribution and why it’s often marketing’s worst enemy
• How to structure your first 3 to 5 years as an eCommerce brand
• What smart Aussie brands are doing to stand out in a sea of sameness

If you’re serious about scaling sustainably, this is the episode you can’t afford to miss.

Connect with Mark

The Long And Short Of It PDF.

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Ryan Martin welcomes back Prav De Silva, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at The Thoughtful Agency, to unpack what it really takes for swimwear, resort wear and fashion brands to stay profitable and stand out in a fiercely competitive 2025.

Prav reveals why core collections are your brand’s profit engine, how scenario planning helped clients navigate tariff chaos, and why too much paid traffic could quietly sink your margins.

We dive deep into:

✅ What percentage of paid vs organic traffic keeps brands healthy

✅ The underrated power of founder-led storytelling and authentic content

✅ How affiliate marketing and smart publisher partnerships slash acquisition costs

✅ The game changing insights from Thoughtful’s proprietary data warehouse & benchmarking tool

✅ How leading Aussie brands leverage real time market data to pivot fast

If you want practical, immediately usable strategies to protect your profits, build resilient communities, and expand globally without wasting ad dollars, this episode is for you.

👉 PS: If you’re serious about profit-first growth, don’t miss Prav’s actionable takeaways on blending product innovation, performance marketing, and brand community, and how Thoughtful’s team can help you do it.

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CX Index here

In this episode of Ecommerce Australia, host Ryan Martin sits down with Mareile Osthus, ex-CCO of The Iconic and now co-founder & CEO of Humii, Australia’s leading online mystery shopping powerhouse.

Mareile reveals how traditional metrics like Net Promoter Scores fail modern e-commerce brands and how Hume’s real-time, unbiased mystery shopping data is exposing hidden friction points that cost retailers millions in lost revenue and repeat customers.

Tune in to discover:
✅ Why your NPS is lying to you, and what to track instead
✅ How to spy on your competitors’ real CX without integrations
✅ The shocking average refund times hurting Aussie retailers
✅ Common blind spots killing conversion & repeat purchase rates
✅ How small to medium brands can harness enterprise-grade insights on a startup budget

If you think your customer journey is ‘good enough’, think again.

This episode will challenge you to benchmark, fix blind spots fast, and turn your CX into an unbeatable growth engine.