SUMMARY

Spencer Pawliw presents a comprehensive CRO training for eCommerce, emphasizing ad-focused strategies to optimize customer journeys, boost ad scaling, and drive revenue growth for brands at any scale.

STATEMENTS

• CRO is not about increasing Shopify conversion rates but improving the customer journey to enable greater ad spend and scaling.
• Many split test screenshots on Twitter boast projected profits that lack statistical significance, leading to unreliable results.
• Statistical significance in testing requires thousands of data points, like flipping a coin 3,000 times for accurate 50/50 odds, not just three heads in a row.
• The "SendIt" strategy involves executing changes without testing, suitable for beginners or rebrands but risky at scale over $100k monthly.
• The scientific method for CRO demands 500-1,000 orders per variant for confidence, takes at least two weeks, and requires careful QA to avoid store disruptions.
• Overlapping tests across pages can skew data, making the scientific method time-consuming and error-prone for live stores.
• Ad-focused CRO tests pages and offers tailored to specific ads, allowing immediate scaling based on ROAS without waiting for significance.
• Optimizing pages around ads completes the customer journey, making performance obvious through direct ad spend increases.
• Ad-focused CRO is fast, efficient, and works from zero sales to $6-10 million monthly, far better than traditional strategies for scaling.
• Building landing pages requires applying customer research from ads, understanding the control variant, and knowing performing ad angles.
• Use fast page builders like PageDeck to minimize opportunity cost, avoiding long build times that hinder testing speed.
• Landing pages must match the ad's angle, avatar, and awareness level—e.g., unaware ads need advertorials, not direct response pages.
• Congruent messaging from ad to page is crucial; even ugly pages outperform mismatched ones by deeply understanding customer pain points.
• Test landing pages by duplicating ads, using 7-day click attribution, and tracking custom metrics like AOV and CVR against controls.
• Scale winning pages in 2-3 days if ROAS improves, then drip into main campaigns; analyze failures like underperforming ads.
• Growth loops in CRO involve continuous strategizing, executing, testing, analyzing, and iterating, preventing one-off failures.
• Test landing pages like ads: customize for your brand, not copied templates, to unlock massive scaling potential.
• CRO metrics like conversion rate depend on AOV; multiply them (0-100 poor, 100-250 optimize, 250-400 scale, 400+ refine ads).
• Elite stores have 2:1 add-to-cart to conversion ratios; 4:1 or higher signals issues needing more landing page work.

IDEAS

• Split test profits often mislead because small samples ignore statistical variance, like betting on three coin flips.
• Shopify conversion rates fluctuate unpredictably as a "black box," irrelevant to true scaling potential.
• High ROAS mirrors high conversion rates—both signal scalability, shifting focus from store tweaks to journey optimization.
• Design matters less than offer, messaging, and content tailored to customer needs for real brand growth.
• "SendIt" crashes can devastate scaled stores, proving blind execution dangerous beyond beginner stages.
• Scientific testing's long timelines and overlap risks waste opportunities in fast-paced ad environments.
• Ad-focused CRO turns landing pages into "money printers" by directly boosting ad performance metrics.
• Congruence between ad hooks and page content can 10x ad spend, even on visually unappealing designs.
• Building pages without tied ads wastes effort; agencies ignoring this deserve refunds.
• Awareness levels dictate page types—problem-aware traffic thrives on story-driven formats over sales pitches.
• Custom metrics like AOV and CVR reveal page impact faster than waiting for broad significance.
• Growth loops treat pages as iterative ads, turning flops into scaling machines through relentless refinement.

INSIGHTS

• True CRO transcends metrics like Shopify rates, centering on holistic journey enhancements that unlock ad budgets and sustainable scaling.
• Statistical rigor in testing exposes the illusion of quick wins, demanding volume for decisions that align with real-world outcomes.
• Ad-centric optimization bridges creative intent with purchase paths, amplifying ROAS by completing what ads start.
• Customer empathy via targeted messaging outperforms aesthetics, proving psychological alignment drives conversions over visual polish.
• Rapid iteration in page testing mirrors ad agility, compressing months of traditional CRO into days of actionable growth.
• Benchmarks like AOV-multiplied CVR contextualize performance, guiding from value communication to traffic mastery.
• Continuous loops in optimization foster resilience, transforming isolated failures into compounding advantages for eCommerce dominance.
• Tailored pages exploit ad angles, revealing how specificity in avatars and awareness elevates generic funnels to elite performers.

QUOTES

• "CRO is about improving the customer journey to increase how much you can actually scale."
• "A lot of those projected profits that we thought we were going to make for our clients um will not actually show on their stores which makes a lot of people sad."
• "If you flip a coin 3,000 times it's going to get a lot closer to the 50/50 which is the reality."
• "Ad-focused CRO... is the money printer this is what Nick I think is interested in."
• "Messaging is so important same thing with content I'll show you guys an example of this as well your videos your images all need to be focused for that Avatar."
• "Test landing pages like you test ads if you guys can do that that you're going to be so far ahead of everybody else."
• "Conversion rate and aov are half of the row as equation."

HABITS

• Conduct thorough customer research before building any page, applying insights from ads to ensure relevance.
• Use fast page builders to create landing pages in hours, not weeks, minimizing opportunity costs in testing.
• Duplicate working ads to test new pages, tracking with 7-day click attribution for accurate performance.
• Analyze failures immediately after tests, iterating on angles, avatars, or messaging for the next build.
• Maintain rigorous QA on live stores during scientific testing to prevent costly disruptions on high-volume days.
• Calculate custom metrics like AOV and CVR routinely to benchmark page impact against controls.

FACTS

• Trove and Lifin are $100 million eCommerce companies where split tests generated recurring profits from $7,000 to $178,000.
• A client scaled ad spend from $300 to $2,000 daily solely by implementing a congruent gut health landing page.
• Another brand increased monthly spend from $37,000 to $90,000 in one month through LP testing campaigns.
• A high-AOV client achieved 5% conversion rate, enabling aggressive scaling with landing page optimizations.
• One LP testing campaign generated $377,000 revenue from $195,000 spend in 30 days using identical ads.
• Pre-FCM scaling reached $56,000 daily ad spend across campaigns directing all traffic to landing pages.

REFERENCES

• Nick Theo: Friend and eCommerce expert who hosted the presentation.
• Trove: $100 million eCommerce brand with built pages and split tests.
• Lifin: $100 million company involved in CRO work.
• Audit: Twitter company recommended for rebranding via SendIt strategy.
• Bill NY: Shoutout for scientific method in split testing.
• PageDeck: Fast page builder tool with 15% off via EASYA15 code.
• TripleWhale: Analytics tool with 15% off via EASYA15 code.
• Evolve: Skool community for learning CRO and scaling brands.
• Easy A Media: Agency for done-for-you CRO services (minimum $100k/month).
• Founders letter example: Used in gut health page for storytelling.

HOW TO APPLY

• Apply all customer research from ads—needs, pain points, and angles—directly to landing page content and structure.
• Identify your control variant by analyzing current product or homepage performance to ensure meaningful tests.
• Select top-performing ads and duplicate them, replacing URLs with new landing page links in a dedicated testing campaign.
• Build pages quickly using a fast tool, focusing on congruence with ad's angle, avatar, and awareness level.
• Test for 2-3 days using custom AOV and CVR metrics; scale winners by increasing budgets and dripping into main campaigns.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Ad-focused CRO optimizes landing pages to scale eCommerce ads faster by enhancing customer journeys and ROAS directly.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Shift from store-wide tweaks to ad-specific landing pages for immediate, measurable scaling without statistical waits.
• Prioritize messaging congruence over design aesthetics to boost conversions through deep customer understanding.
• Adopt growth loops by iterating pages like ads, analyzing flops to refine future builds relentlessly.
• Benchmark performance with CVR x AOV metric to diagnose issues from value gaps to traffic quality.
• Use 7-day click attribution in testing to isolate true page impact, avoiding view-through biases.
• Target 2:1 add-to-cart to conversion ratios as an elite goal, building pages to reduce abandonment.
• Calculate ROAS components holistically, attacking CVR and AOV via pages to explode overall returns.
• Test at small scales first, duplicating ads to validate pages before high-stakes integration.

MEMO

In the high-stakes world of eCommerce, where ad dollars can make or break a brand, Spencer Pawliw demystifies Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) as a tool not for vanity metrics but for unlocking scalable growth. Drawing from years of agency experience at Easy A Media, Pawliw—whose team has powered $100 million juggernauts like Trove and Lifin—argues that traditional CRO pitfalls, such as chasing elusive Shopify conversion rates or premature split tests, distract from the real prize: spending more on Facebook ads. "CRO is about improving the customer journey to increase how much you can actually scale," he asserts, flipping the script on what many see as pixel-perfect store tweaks. Instead, it's about empathy-driven design that aligns ads with seamless purchase paths, turning interested clicks into committed buys.

Pawliw outlines three CRO strategies, each suited to different scales but culminating in what he dubs "ad-focused CRO"—a "money printer" for rapid iteration. Beginners might "SendIt" with untested changes, risking crashes at higher volumes, while scientific methods demand grueling weeks of data collection for statistical significance, often overlapping and error-prone on live sites. But ad-focused CRO shines by tailoring landing pages to specific ads, bypassing long waits. By duplicating winning creatives and routing traffic to custom pages built in hours via tools like PageDeck, brands can track custom metrics—average order value (AOV) and conversion rate (CVR)—and scale in days if ROAS climbs. Pawliw shares a stark example: a gut health brand's ad promising relief for stomach woes flopped on generic product pages but exploded from $300 to $2,000 daily spend on a congruent, story-laden landing page, complete with founder testimonials and worry-free ingredients.

This approach thrives on congruence, where ad hooks flow uninterrupted into page narratives. Pawliw recounts a mismatched campaign—dudes eyeing furry jewels landing on arm-shaving imagery—that hemorrhaged potential, versus a "hideous" yet dialed-in page that 10x'ed performance through targeted pain-point messaging. "Messaging is so important," he emphasizes, urging builders to match ad angles, customer avatars, and awareness levels: unaware prospects need advertorials, not hard sells. Growth loops seal the deal, treating pages like ads—strategize, execute, test, analyze, repeat—avoiding the trap of one-off flops dismissed as "landing pages don't work." For a client, this yielded $377,000 from $195,000 in LP testing alone, proving the method's punch across scales.

Benchmarks ground the strategy: Multiply CVR by AOV for a health check—below 100 signals value gaps; 250-400 greenlights traffic scaling; elite 2:1 add-to-cart ratios flag optimization wins. Pawliw warns against overhyping isolated metrics, like 5-6% rates without high AOV context, and stresses ROAS's full equation: CVR and AOV amplify what ads start via CTR. As eCommerce evolves into 2025, his mantra rings clear: "Test landing pages like you test ads." This isn't just technical—it's a mindset shift toward relentless, data-informed empathy that propels brands from stagnation to seven-figure surges.

Ultimately, Pawliw's training empowers solo operators and agencies alike through accessible frameworks in his Evolve community or done-for-you services. By ditching black-box obsessions for journey mastery, eCommerce leaders can print money not in projections, but in tangible revenue arcs, scaling ads with confidence amid algorithm flux and market noise.