👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

The headlines after Black Friday Cyber Monday were mixed.

Spending was up. Costs were up too. Once you factor in inflation, a big portion of that growth disappears.

In this episode, I share the actual Black Friday Cyber Monday numbers from our clients and break down what really worked in 2025, and what needs to change heading into 2026.

Across our client base, revenue was up 28 percent year over year. Most had a strong Q4. But at the same time, ad spend increased and new customer acquisition became more expensive.

The brands that performed well did not rely on finding new channels or waiting for costs to come down. They focused on returning-customer revenue, LTV, and building a business that does not depend entirely on acquiring strangers.

If you are planning for 2026 and want a clearer strategy for navigating rising costs, this episode breaks it down.

Key Takeaways:

1. 00:00 Intro
2. 00:30 Industry Analysis & Client Results
3. 01:24 The Numbers Breakdown
4. 03:13 The Key Insight
5. 09:19 2026 Quarterly Playbook
6. 09:49 Q1 (Audit Phase)
7. 11:30 Q2 (Fix Foundation)
8. 13:59 Q3 (Activate & Test)
9. 16:23 October (Final Prep)
10. 17:55 Closing Thoughts

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

Most brands are optimizing for LTV the wrong way.

Tracking shallow metrics, trusting false profitability, and scaling acquisition without understanding how or if the revenue will come back…

Here's the brutal truth... If you don’t understand the real levers behind LTV, you’ll keep chasing tactics that barely move the needle.

That's why today, I’m breaking down why you need to measure with cohorts, how long-tail retention impacts your true profitability, why product type —not marketing—drives repeat behavior, and which tactics actually work when it comes to scaling your specific business.

The worst outcome is spending years optimizing tactics that just barely move the needle, so don't miss out.

Tune in and discover the real reason your business is stalling.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:13 You need to measure with cohorts
• 05:07 The truth about customer value
• 07:38 Retention is genetic
• 12:20 Tactics that actually move the needle
• 16:33 Be honest about your business model viability
• 18:35 What you need to remember
• 19:40 Outro

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

Every purchase decision your customers make is driven by one simple psychological principle…

Master this principle, and you’ll scale your marketing in ways most businesses can’t even imagine.

Today, I’m breaking down why some ads convert 3x higher than others, why most businesses miss the mark on messaging, how to effectively segment your audience, craft messaging that resonates, and leverage creative diversity to skyrocket your conversion rates.

Ready to 3X your conversions the easy way?

Tune in now.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:17 The psychology of purchasing decisions
• 07:48 Objective vs. subjective benefits
• 09:55 How to find your marketing angles
• 12:17 How to create specific messaging for each audience
• 16:14 Outro

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

Most brands are missing out on sales during BFCM without even realizing it…

They fall victim to the lie that their campaigns won’t pick up, make edits at 6 AM just to feel like they’re doing something, and end up resetting optimization at the worst possible time.

In this episode, we’re breaking down why cost controls are your secret weapon during BFCM, how to structure your campaigns for peak performance, and the post-sale move that will save you thousands in wasted spend.

You’ll learn why evergreen campaigns often outperform flashy promo ads, how to avoid the dreaded post-BFCM crash, and why you should always trust the machine.

Want to scale your sales this BFCM?

Tune in now.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:21 BFCM and the beauty of cost controls
• 01:35 Challenges of BFCM advertising
• 04:06 Optimizing for one-day vs. seven-day clicks
• 06:27 Post-promotion crash and cost control adjustments
• 07:50 The power of patience
• 09:55 Budget adjustments during and after promotions
• 12:50 Separating evergreen and promotional campaigns
• 16:36 Outro

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

If you’ve been focusing all your energy on creative testing but are still struggling to convert, it’s time to test your offers.

Many entrepreneurs get so caught up in analyzing and tweaking the creative parts of their ads that they overlook the importance of testing their offers.

In this episode, Taylor and I break down the importance of offer testing and why it’s the missing piece in most brand strategies.

We dive deep into what an “offer” truly is (hint: it’s not just a 10% discount), how brands can strategically structure their offers based on core business metrics, and why smaller brands should stop viewing offers as something that could dilute their brand.

Taylor also shares actionable insights from real case studies of both high- and low-LTV brands, giving practical tips on how to test and optimize offers effectively.

Want to dominate Q4 with winning offers? Hit play now to learn how to master offer testing.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:53 Why most brands overlook offer testing
• 03:52 Test offers like you test creative
• 06:11 Offer ≠ brand dilution for emerging brands
• 07:29 Factors to consider when building offers
• 11:34 High LTV case study: subscription + free gift
• 18:56 Low LTV case study: threshold spend offers
• 23:38 Testing and optimizing offers: a Southern Scholar case study
• 28:35 Takeaways
• 30:29 Outro

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

👉 Grow your bottom line: https://www.kynship.co/

Too many brands expect an agency to come in and 10x their business without fixing anything internally.

In this episode, I get brutally honest about something I don’t think enough people in our world talk about: agency incentives, pricing structures, and who’s actually responsible for growth. (Hint: it’s not your agency.)

I walk through why most agency pricing models are broken and how we’ve structured ours at Kynship to align incentives the right way. I also get into the real reason your business might be stuck, because growth takes way more than good ads or flashy creative. If your margins suck, if retention’s declining, if your ops are a mess... No agency can fix that for you.

Growth is a team sport, and it's time we started treating it that way.

Let's jump right in!

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:46 Agency incentives and pricing structures
• 01:50 Value over price
• 02:58 How we structure things at Kynship
• 04:56 What most people get wrong when hiring an agency
• 07:54 The reality of in-house talent
• 09:19 Exceptional growth talent is expensive
• 10:05 Growing your business is not our job
• 15:23 Agency vs. in-house talent
• 19:29 What I want you to take away from this episode
• 21:27 Outro

Additional Resources:

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they dive into the challenges and strategies for growing ecommerce brands to 8-9 figures. They share insights on overcoming ad creative challenges, managing cost caps, scaling Meta ads, unit economics and forecasting, and expanding influencer marketing programs.

Their expertise in performance marketing is not just theoretical; with a track record of launching successful campaigns for major brands (M&Ms, Purdy & Figg, Supergut, & AnimalHouse Fitness, to name a few) and generating over $350M in revenue, they offer practical, actionable advice.

So, if you're looking to improve your marketing strategies, boost profitability, or scale your ecommerce brand, this podcast draws on experience from industry leaders and founders just like you.

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

Most founders spend their first dollars on ads.

Luke Hartelust did the opposite—and it worked.

Before he even launched MNLY, a men’s precision health brand, he secured a six-figure partnership with HYROX. No ads, no gimmicks—just a bold marketing play that gave him instant credibility, an audience of thousands, and a 2.2x ROI.

In this week’s episode, Luke shares his capital-efficient marketing playbook:

✅ How to use partnerships to buy trust and attention

✅ Why community is the most underrated growth channel

✅ How equity-based influencer deals can outscale ad budgets

This is how Luke turned MNLY into a fast-rising DTC brand without a single paid ad campaign.

👉 Listen now to learn how to build a brand that scales with community.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:20 Introducing Luke Hartelust & MNLY
• 01:11 How personal health became a brand opportunity
• 05:50 Why MNLY ditched telehealth for AI positioning
• 09:42 Betting six figures on a HYROX partnership pre-launch
• 12:25 Raising money in a VC downturn with a marketing-first strategy
• 16:47 Why relationships > transactions in partnerships
• 21:50 Turning HYROX into a marketing machine with activations
• 26:05 Building community as a zero-CAC growth engine
• 29:03 Ambassadors as compounding word-of-mouth
• 30:45 Influencers as equity partners, not paid posters

Additional Resources:

👉 Grow Your Bottom Line: https://www.kynship.co/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=71

Unlock Our FREE $10M Masterclass: https://www.kynship.co/free?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=71

👉 Claim Your FREE Business Audit Today: https://www.kynship.co/contact-us?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=71

👉 Book Your FREE Growth Call Now: https://www.kynship.co/contact-us?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=71

---

Learn more about Luke

👉 Luke Hartelust Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luke_hartelust

👉 MNLY | Precision Men’s Health: https://www.getmnly.com/

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they explore the challenges of scaling brands, uncover actionable tactics, and share real-world insights to help you grow your ecommerce business to 8 figures and beyond!

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533

Getting your ROAS target wrong doesn’t just throw off your ad performance… It can tank your entire business.

In this episode, I break down why your ROAS is not just a metric—it’s a reflection of your financial model, your LTV assumptions, and how honest you’re being with yourself about your goals. I go deep into first-order profitability vs. LTV-based targeting, show you how to model your numbers step-by-step, and explain why your business model should dictate your strategy, not someone else’s success story.

This episode is for anyone who's tired of guessing, tired of copying strategies that don’t fit, and ready to actually scale profitably, with confidence.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:06 Determining ROAS targets for e-commerce businesses
• 03:19 First-order profitability method
• 05:22 LTV based targeting
• 10:16 Aligning ROAS targets with business goals
• 13:08 How to implement this winning strategy
• 15:58 Conclusion and outro

Additional Resources:

👉 Grow Your Bottom Line: https://www.kynship.co/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=70

Unlock Our FREE $10M Masterclass: https://www.kynship.co/free?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=70

👉 Claim Your FREE Business Audit Today: https://www.kynship.co/contact-us?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=70

👉 Book Your FREE Growth Call Now: https://www.kynship.co/contact-us?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=70

Follow us on X:

👉 Cody: https://x.com/Cody_Wittick

👉 Taylor: https://x.com/TaylorLagace

The Bottom Line is your go-to podcast for honest ecommerce conversations on profitable growth strategies. Join Cody Wittick and Taylor Lagace, Co-Founders of Kynship, as they explore the challenges of scaling brands, uncover actionable tactics, and share real-world insights to help you grow your ecommerce business to 8 figures and beyond!

🎧 Follow the podcast on your favorite app, so you never miss an episode: https://pod.link/1631630533