Marketing Operators

What does a content flywheel look like when it’s firing on all cylinders? 
Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) break down how their teams structure content creation end-to-end: from micro-creators and TikTok Shop affiliates to high-production studio shoots and ambassador programs. Both hosts bring their own playbooks to the table to compare notes in real time. 
They cover the three core buckets of a paid ad account, why scripted UGC is losing ground to raw “yapper content, how to negotiate more deliverables without doubling creator rates, the TikTok Shop affiliate flywheel, and why building an in-house production playbook is one of the highest-leverage investments a brand can make. 
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Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 
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Aftersell
https://9ops.co/4i3bb5
Haus
https://www.haus.io/operators
Richpanel
https://9ops.co/richpanel
Operators Newsletter
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Are you measuring new reach on Meta the right way or just guessing? 
Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad) dig into the tactics + measurement frameworks driving their paid media strategies right now. 
The conversation spans Meta’s incremental attribution rollout and what the data shows. They cover signal engineering with conditional pixels, the case for non-purchase optimized campaigns on YouTube, and why building a deliberate testing roadmap matters more than chasing every new ad tech feature. Plus, behind the scenes on Jones Road’s biggest creator partnership came together. 
Powered By 
Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 
https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast
Richpanel
https://9ops.co/richpanel
Aftersell
https://9ops.co/4i3bb5
Haus
https://www.haus.io/operators
Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/

Drawing on over a decade of experience on the brand, HoldCo, and agency sides of DTC, Andrew Faris (Founder, AJF Growth) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to discuss what it takes to build and scale an ecommerce brand across every stage of growth. 
The conversation covers what advice from larger operators can get wrong for smaller brands and why AOV may be the most underrated metric in subscription businesses. They explore how to think about the atomic units of an offer, the real trade-offs between in-house and agency media buying, and why the message is the most underrated growth tactic in ecommerce today. 
This episode is brought to you by AppLovin. Get access to the Operators channel expansion playbook, online masterclass, and up to $5k in ad credits here: https://www.9operators.com/paid-growth 
Or, skip the waitlist and launch your Axon by AppLovin ads today with our Operators-exclusive link: https://axon.ai/en/9operators

Can you build a sports brand by saying no to most customers?  
Matty Martin (Head of Marketing, Cadence) joins Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), and Connor Rolain (Head of Growth, HexClad), to break down what it takes to scale one of the fastest-growing sports hydration brands from scratch. Matty shares how he went from setting up the Shopify site himself to leading a full marketing team; all while sending every single email the company puts out.  
They dig into why Cadence stays focused on the athlete and resists chasing the hangover angle, how three redesigns in one year tripled sales at GNC, and the free-gift mechanic that pushed their subscription rate from 30% to 75%. Matty also walks through the brand’s expansion into Target and Walmart, its approach to omnichannel measurement, and why Candence’s athlete partnerships drive retail credibility as much as awareness.  
Powered By 
Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026 
https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast
Richpanel
https://9ops.co/richpanel
Aftersell
https://9ops.co/4i3bb5
Rivo
https://www.rivo.io/operators
Prescient AI 
https://www.prescientai.com/operators
Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/

What if the most powerful customer insight tool in ecommerce is hiding inside your SMS program?
Mike Manheimer (Chief Customer Officer, Postscript) joins hosts Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge) and Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty) to dig into how brands are getting more out of their SMS programs. They cover what most brands are doing wrong about messaging frequency, how conversational commerce is reshaping the acquisition funnel, and why the data from texts may be the most valuable, untapped signal in right now.  
The conversation moves from holdout testing and subscriber LTV benchmarks to Postscript’s AI product, Shopper, and the surprisingly specific objections that are quietly blocking purchases. It also covers what RCS means for the future of mobile messaging, why org structure shapes SMS performance more than most brands realize, and the single thing a five-to-ten-million-dollar brand should do first to unlock more from the channel.  
Powered By 
Motion Creative Benchmarks Report 2026
https://motionapp.com/thumbstop-pulse/creative-benchmarks-2026?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-benchmarks-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast
Rivo
https://www.rivo.io/operators
Prescient AI 
https://www.prescientai.com/operators
Richpanel
https://9ops.co/richpanel
Aftersell
https://9ops.co/4i3bb5
Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/