In a recent episode of The MarTech Matrix podcast, we had the pleasure of hearing from Aaron Zagha, CMO at Newton Baby, as he discussed the interplay between marketing and eCommerce, the challenges of influencer marketing, and the role AI is playing in shaping their strategies.
Here are some key insights from the discussion that marketing and eCommerce leaders should take to heart:
1. Marketing and eCommerce Are One and the Same
Aaron’s core philosophy is simple yet powerful: there’s no eCommerce without marketing. At Newton Baby, the two functions are intertwined, and they don’t treat them as separate silos. This integration ensures consistency across the customer journey, from the moment a prospective customer discovers the brand to when they make a purchase.
For leaders managing eCommerce teams, it’s essential to break down the walls between these departments. Align your marketing and eCommerce strategies so that every touchpoint contributes to a cohesive experience.
Takeaway: The synergy between marketing and eCommerce is essential to deliver a seamless customer journey.
2. Streamline Your Tech Stack
Like many of us, Aaron manages a complex tech stack, particularly using Shopify Plus as the foundation for Newton Baby’s eCommerce platform. With countless plugins to extend functionality—from reviews to SMS and email marketing—the challenge becomes preventing tech bloat. To avoid this, Aaron’s team conducts annual “cleanups,” removing old or redundant tools that might slow down the site.
This is a reminder for all of us managing growing tech ecosystems—sometimes less is more. Make regular audits a part of your operational routine to keep your stack lean and high-performing.
Pro Tip: Conduct annual audits to ensure your tech stack is streamlined, efficient, and doesn’t impact site performance.
3. Influencer Marketing: An Art, Not a Science
Influencer marketing is one of Newton Baby’s biggest investments, but it also comes with challenges. According to Aaron, measuring influencer impact is more art than science. Even after tracking hundreds of influencers each month, their performance can be unpredictable. What works for one campaign might not work for another, so Aaron advises a diversified portfolio approach.
For leaders considering or currently using influencer marketing, diversification is critical. Since influencer performance is hard to predict, having multiple influencer collaborations helps spread risk and ensures consistent impact.
Key Insight: Influencer marketing can be a great investment, but the unpredictable nature of performance means diversifying your portfolio is crucial.
4. Navigating the Cookie Apocalypse
Aaron also shared his approach to handling the ever-changing privacy landscape. With cookies disappearing and evolving privacy regulations, Newton Baby has invested in server-side tracking and adopted Facebook’s latest copy technology. But despite these shifts, Aaron’s core advice remains: know what works and focus on it.
Rather than getting bogged down by what’s not trackable, zero in on what’s working for your business. Invest in first-party data and look at holistic marketing efficiency rather than obsessing over specific channel metrics.
Takeaway: Focus on what’s working for your business, and invest in privacy-compliant tracking solutions like server-side tools to future-proof your marketing.
5. AI in Marketing: Where It Works and Where It Doesn’t (Yet)
Artificial intelligence is reshaping marketing and eCommerce, but there are nuances to its success. Aaron noted that Newton Baby has seen impressive results with Google PMAX and Facebook’s ASC, yet scaling AI-driven creative is still challenging. While AI has been beneficial in streamlining testing processes (A/B/C/D testing), it’s not quite ready to replace human creativity—especially when it comes to nuanced, emotion-driven product imagery like a mother and baby.
For leaders excited about AI, the lesson here is to implement AI in areas where it already excels—such as ad optimization and customer service chatbots—while keeping human creativity at the forefront for brand-centric content.
Pro Tip: Leverage AI for optimization and testing, but don’t rely on it to replace human creativity just yet.
6. The Importance of Network-Driven Decisions
Aaron emphasized the value of leveraging networks to make informed decisions when evaluating new tools and solutions. Whether it’s through Slack groups, conferences, or peer discussions, tapping into the collective knowledge of your network ensures you make smarter decisions when choosing vendors and tools.
As leaders, we can’t be everywhere, so building a strong peer network helps fill in knowledge gaps and ensures we’re always on the cutting edge of tech and best practices.
Key Insight: Tap into your network to vet new tools and technologies—your peers can often provide valuable insights and prevent missteps.
7. How to Stay Ahead of Rising CPMs
As the year progresses and events like elections cause CPMs to spike, Aaron’s strategy at Newton Baby is to step aside when necessary. Given that their products aren’t holiday-focused or tied to big gifting events, they reduce spend during times of high competition (like December) and reinvest later when CPMs stabilize. For other brands, this approach of knowing when to pause and when to scale could be vital to maintaining profitability.
Takeaway: Don’t feel the pressure to overspend when CPMs spike if it doesn’t align with your business needs—step back, adjust, and reinvest when the time is right.
Final Thoughts
Aaron Zagha’s conversation is a masterclass in balancing data, technology, and creativity while staying agile in the fast-evolving eCommerce landscape. His holistic approach to marketing and eCommerce integration, combined with a willingness to experiment and iterate, offers a blueprint for success that many of us can learn from.
At The Cogent Collective, we’re committed to bringing you these kinds of insights to help you grow and lead in your respective roles. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out The MarTech Matrix for more conversations like this with top industry leaders.
What insights will you take back to your team?
