Marketing Operators

This week, the team breaks down how they’re testing creative and scaling systems. Volume still matters, but only when it’s paired with clearer concepts, stronger hypotheses, and better signal quality. 

Connor MacDonald (CMO, Ridge), Cody Plofker (CEO, Jones Road Beauty), and Connor Rolain (Global Head of Growth, HexClad) revisit the playbooks they built over the years and walk through what’s working right now.

The conversation gets tactical fast. They dig into what actually defines a concept (message × format), how they’re structuring Meta campaigns to balance throughput and learning, and why hybrid CBO setups that blur the line between testing and spending are becoming the new standard. From ABO vs. CBO tradeoffs to pixel consolidation and signal engineering, they unpack how promising ideas get enough budget to generate real data.  

Then the focus shifts to creator pipelines, coaching feedback loops, and organic-to-paid workflows — including why Jones Road is building a creator-in-residence program to ship content daily, why HexClad is hiring a dedicated freelancer to source assets faster, and why Ridge treats its network of briefed creators as an internal function. 

A clear theme runs through it all … performance shouldn’t pit quality against quantity. It should focus on infrastructure to produce high output while learning faster and growing with intention.

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Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp
https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast

Prescient AI
https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel
https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Aftersell
https://www.aftersell.com/operators

Haus
https://www.haus.io/operators

Get the 9 Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/

Is your brand still creating content for a social media era that no longer exists?

Hosts Connor Rolain (HexClad), Cody Plofker (Jones Road Beauty), and Connor MacDonald (Ridge) dig into how they’re rethinking organic and paid social content strategy for 2026 — and why the old influencer playbook is officially broken.

Cody reveals the million-dollar organic social investment he pitched to his board and the creator-in-residence model he’s building from scratch. Connor MacDonald explains why Ridge is going all-in on high-volume, product-oriented creator content over signature-series brand plays. And Connor Rolain shares how HexClad is bridging its organic social team with paid media creative strategy through a simple Slack channel workflow.
The conversation covers TikTok Shop affiliate flywheels, the death of follower-based reach, running creator-hiring competitions, and when it actually makes sense to invest in episodic brand content.

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Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamphttps://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast

Aftersell
https://www.aftersell.com/operatorsRivohttps://www.rivo.io/operators

Prescient AI
https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel
https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Get the 9 Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/

Performance creative consultant Dara Denney joins the show to break down how modern brands are approaching creative strategy in 2026. The conversation opens with the shifting role of content creators versus strategists, and why creative velocity, operations, and in-house production are increasingly shaping how brands scale.
From there, they dig into how AI is actually being used inside creative workflows - where it speeds up research and briefing, and where human judgment still matters, especially around roadmapping and idea selection. The group also explores the growing convergence of organic and paid, including how organic performance signals influence paid creative, why upper-funnel content belongs in performance accounts, and when “organic-first” ideas can still drive results.
The episode wraps with a candid discussion on performance measurement beyond short-term ROAS, touching on creative diversity, upper-funnel impact, and how operators think about long-term growth when building scalable content systems.
If you have a question for the MOperators Hotline, click the link to be in with a chance of it being discussed on the show: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6
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Motion.
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Motion Creative Strategy Bootcamp.
https://motionapp.com/2026-creative-strategy-bootcamp-paid?utm_campaign=marketing-operators&utm_medium=sponsor&utm_content=creative-strategy-bootcamp-2026&utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast
Prescient AI.
https://www.prescientai.com/operators
Richpanel.
https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc
Aftersell
https://www.aftersell.com/operators
Haus
https://haus.io/operators
Get the 9 Operators Newsletter
https://9operators.com/

This episode breaks down a key 2026 initiative: when and how to diversify your media mix, grounded in real operator decision-making rather than theory. The conversation uses HexClad’s approach as a case study, exploring the data signals that indicate it’s time to expand channels, how teams test incrementality, and how operators manage rising measurement complexity - especially when scaling internationally.
Along the way, the team explains how the “Rocks” system supports this kind of decision-making, from setting clear priorities and aligning teams to establishing cadence and ownership. They also unpack how KPIs are chosen at different stages, how retention-focused Rocks anchor growth efforts, and how insights from Japanese market data inform smarter media mix expansion.
If you have a question for the MOperators Hotline, click the link to be in with a chance of it being discussed on the show: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:03:27 - Hexclad's 2026 Rocks
00:23:08 - Signals for Channel Expansion
00:32:23 - Expansion Playbook & Strategy
00:43:17 - New US Channels
00:55:59 - Sequencing & Complexity

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Motion.
⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/creative-trends

Rivo.
https://www.rivo.io/operators

Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠
https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠
https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Aftersell.
https://www.aftersell.com/operators

Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here:
https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9

Subscribe to the Finance Operators Podcast here:
https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPS

Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here:
https://9operators.com/

This week, the team sits down with Dylan Ander, founder of Heatmap and author of Billion Dollar Websites, to break down how modern ecommerce funnels are evolving and why many legacy playbooks are starting to crack. The conversation opens with Dylan’s perspective on AI, trust, and synthetic content, and why brands may be heading back toward more human-led, harder-to-fake creative as AI becomes table stakes.
From there, they unpack why traditional DR funnels are losing effectiveness, how homepage-style and “Trojan horse” landing pages are reshaping conversion behavior, and what operators need to rethink about how users actually move through sites today. Dylan shares lessons from Billion Dollar Websites, including how ecommerce brands can borrow from info funnels to monetize beyond products and increase LTV.
The episode closes with a practical look at research and CRO systems - how to structure insights, prioritize tests, and turn qualitative signals into a clear experimentation roadmap - grounding the conversation in how operators can build strategies that reflect real buyer behavior as the landscape continues to shift.

Check out the previous episode with Dylan: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3iwer8FNwuwzDDnAV5X7JV?si=3NJKr9aMQLun1qWQvegSYw

Find more about Dylan: https://dylanander.com/
Dylan’s newsletter: https://dylanander.com/newsletter

If you have a question for the MOperators Hotline, click the link to be in with a chance of it being discussed on the show: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6

Chapters:
00:03:47 - AI Hot Takes
00:24:49 - Info Funnels & Monetizing the Customer Journey
00:39:13 - Research & The Billion Dollar Data Funnel
00:55:35 - Deepening Customer Feedback Analysis
01:10:40 - Testing Strategy & Evolutionary Redesign

Powered by:
Motion.
⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/creative-trends

Prescient AI.⁠⁠⁠
https://www.prescientai.com/operators

Richpanel.⁠⁠⁠
https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdesc

Aftersell.
https://www.aftersell.com/operators

Haus.
http://Haus.io/operators

Subscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CMxGOODTOB4zRbq5oHAVm?si=b295b9c03e9a407c
Subscribe to the Finance Operators Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cqVNmmrYxgb5ohBhw8uvy?si=424001675b3b48fa
Sign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: ⁠https://9operators.com/⁠