Most Marketing KPIs Don’t Matter: CAC, LTV & Unit Economics
Most marketers spend far too much time obsessing over CTR, CPC, CPM and other platform-level metrics. But if you want to understand whether your marketing is actually driving profitable growth, the numbers that really matter sit deeper in the business: customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (LTV), payback period, profit margins and your overall unit economics. In this episode, Tom and Jane break down the marketing KPIs founders and marketing teams should actually pay attention to, why seemingly “good” advertising metrics can be misleading, and how to connect your marketing performance back to the economics of the business. We cover: • Why CAC and LTV matter more than most marketing KPIs • What unit economics actually means in practical terms • Why a lower CPC or CPM isn't necessarily a good thing • How CAC can become your North Star metric • How to think about LTV windows and CAC payback periods • Why acquisition costs naturally rise as you scale • How seasonality can create surprisingly cheap opportunities to acquire customers • Using offers, retention and customer experience to increase LTV • Why website changes and ad platform performance are interconnected • Testing, attribution and the growing importance of incrementality in Meta Ads • The potential trade-off when feeding advertising platforms more customer and value data
24 Aug 2026
Why Your Website Isn’t Converting: The CRO Mistakes Most Businesses Miss
Getting more traffic isn’t much use if your website isn’t turning that attention into customers.
In this episode, we dig into some of the most common conversion rate optimisation mistakes businesses make, from changing the wrong things to relying on generic CRO best practices without properly understanding why customers aren’t converting in the first place.
We discuss how to diagnose where conversion is actually breaking down, what businesses should look at before jumping into a redesign, and why seemingly small issues across messaging, offers, customer journeys and user experience can have a significant commercial impact.
We also explore the role of customer research, how to prioritise CRO opportunities, and why conversion shouldn’t be treated as an isolated website problem. Paid media, creative, messaging, analytics and the wider customer journey all influence whether somebody ultimately buys.
If you’re responsible for growth, marketing, ecommerce or website performance, this episode will help you think more clearly about what’s stopping customers from converting, and what you should fix first.
In this episode:
The CRO mistakes businesses repeatedly make
Why a low conversion rate isn’t necessarily a design problem
What to investigate before changing your website
Why blindly following CRO best practices can backfire
How customer research improves conversion decisions
How to prioritise tests and opportunities
Why CRO needs to connect with the rest of your marketing funnel
17 Aug 2026
Call the Damn Customer: The Underrated Growth Hack in an AI World
In this episode, the hosts argue that while AI and automation dominate marketing conversations, the real competitive edge comes from genuine human interaction. They discuss strategies like calling customers, hosting live events and webinars, using targeted live chats and surveys, and creating memorable physical experiences to boost retention, lifetime value and word-of-mouth.
The episode also covers budgeting for experimentation (an "R&D" or "fuck around" budget), the risks of letting AI interpret raw data without context, and practical examples of how small, personal touches can deliver outsized returns.
10 Aug 2026
Should You Think Twice Before Implementing AI & Agentic Workflows?
AI agents and automated workflows are being pitched as the obvious next step for almost every business.
But should they be?
In this episode, we look at the other side of the AI automation conversation: where agentic workflows can create genuine leverage, where they can introduce unnecessary complexity, and why automating a bad process rarely makes it a better one.
We explore the questions businesses should be asking before introducing AI into their operations, from whether a workflow actually needs automating to where human judgement, context and accountability still matter.
The goal isn’t to argue against AI. It’s to use it more intelligently.
Because the best use of AI isn’t necessarily replacing as much human work as possible. It’s identifying where machines can do the repetitive digging while people stay responsible for the thinking, decisions and relationships.
If you’re considering AI agents, workflow automation or a wider AI transformation inside your business, this episode should give you a useful framework for deciding what to automate, what not to automate, and what to fix first.
31 Jul 2025
Ex-Video Game Marketer Reveals Top Strategies For Indies & SMB's
Video games are one of the fastest growing entertainment mediums on the planet...and there is a LOT that marketers of businesses in almost any industry can learn from them. The major publishers and even some savvy indie studios are masters are hijacking attention, building anticipation and creating demand. The truth is, most of the fastest growing, and most disruptive companies out there know that true breakthrough growth doesn't come from copying others in your industry or sector, it comes from looking for outside inspiration (even in the least expected places...) That's why in this video I sat down with an ex-marketer from two of the biggest video game publishers in the world, EA Games & WB Games, who is now runs Skill Tree Marketing to help independent developers cut through the noise even with smaller budgets. Regardless of whether you're a marketer at a small-medium size business or start-up, or even if you're an small development studio looking to release a new game, you'll find a tonne of value from this video. You can connect with Jon & Skill Tree Marketing at: https://skilltree-marketing.com/
14 Jun 2025
How To Build A Competitive Moat Around Your Business (Become AI Proof)
This episode explores how businesses can establish a competitive advantage by focusing on brand positioning and customer experience to stay relevant as technology and AI advance.
4 Jun 2025
How To Use Podcasting As A Marketing Strategy W/ Spike O'Connel
Spike O'Connell, founder of Podshop, discusses how businesses can leverage podcasting as a marketing strategy to reach their target audience in this interview episode.
9 May 2025
B2B Marketing Strategies That ACTUALLY Work In 2025 (W/ Kelly Peters @ Tomorrow.io)
B2B marketing is incredibly saturated right now — and most teams are just throwing budget at the wall and hoping for the best. But what if you could punch way above your weight without a massive team or the traditional 'MQL' playbook? In this interview, I sit down with Kelly Peters, VP of Marketing at Tomorrow.io, who reveals how their 4-person B2B marketing team constantly punch above their weight with their marketing initiatives. Go check out Tomorrow.io at: https://www.tomorrow.io/
25 Oct 2024
PROFITABILITY Masterclass: Top Ecommerce Marketing Strategies Revealed
In this 50 minute masterclass, I sit down with our Co-Founder Jane (ex-accountant turned marketer) on how to get control and clarity over your numbers, and boost your marketing profits from both the front end (conversion rate and average order value) to the backend (your lifetime customer values)
20 Jun 2024
Video Content Marketing Masterclass With Jack Gaisford
If you're doing any kind of video marketing, or even if you're thinking about, you'll want to listen to this episode!
Check out Odyssey Agency here: https://theodysseyagency.co.uk/ (https://theodysseyagency.co.uk/)
8 May 2024
How To Build A High Performing Team
In this episode of the podcast, I sat down with Tom Hallett & Alex Dinnadge from Excel Communications (https://excel-communications.com/) to do discuss high-performing teams
7 Apr 2024
How To Grow Company/Business Page On Social Media
In this episode, I had a chat with Shannen Pollard, the Social Media Lead at Flexa Careers who helped take the company from 0 to over 100,000 combined followers across their social platforms.
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