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In this episode, Pilothouse's Taylor Cain and Aves break down how to merge creative strategy with merchandising to win Q1. This is the planning season where smart brands lock in the building blocks for scalable growth—and avoid wasting paid budget.

For DTC marketers planning evergreen creative and site strategy in Q1...

• Why Q1 is the time to de-risk creative investments
• How to connect merch and creative across the entire funnel
• What emotional truths are, and why they drive action
• How to create merchandising that aligns with user intent (without sounding like a pitch deck)
• The subtle difference between price-based and identity-based offers

Who this is for: Media buyers, growth leads, and brand-side marketers aiming to improve conversion and site experience

What to steal:

• The linear structure Taylor uses to build conversion flows
• Aves' 3-step audit for understanding persona behavior online
• Why great PDPs start with emotion, not features

Timestamps:

00:00 Merchandising in ecommerce and cognitive competition

02:45 Why shoppers visit multiple brands before buying

05:10 Bringing the in-store experience into digital creative

07:20 Funnel congruency and full-funnel merchandising

09:40 Merchandising on social feeds beyond direct competitors

12:10 Information architecture and emotional storytelling on PDPs

14:05 Selling identity and ritual instead of product features

18:30 How Meta optimization and Andromeda affect merchandising

20:40 Practical merchandising spot checks for brands

Hashtags:

#ecommercemarketing #digitalmerchandising #dtcbrands #paidmedia #creativestrategy #conversionoptimization #brandstrategy #marketingfunnels #metamarketing #shopifybrands #performancecreative

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