The Most Powerful Marketing Activity, Episode 285

Ever wish you could just pick one thing and do it really well?

Post on Instagram. Run an ad. Grow your email list. Send your emails. Learn SEO. The list of marketing tactics is endless—and exhausting.

So when someone in our Inner Circle asked, “Which marketing activity contributes most to your business growth?”—it struck a nerve.

What if the honest answer is… all of them?

In this episode of the podcast, Inner Circle coach Melissa Davies of Bike Pretty joins me to unpack what your Shopify data is actually telling you—and why most sales don’t come from just one channel. They come from a sequence of small moments: a scroll, a click, a Google search, a follow, a forgotten cart, an email.

 

The Reality of Buying Behavior

We all do it. You see a dress in a Facebook ad, do a Google Lens search for similar styles, maybe add it to your cart, follow the brand on Instagram, sign up for an email—all before actually buying the dress.

That’s normal. That’s how people shop.

So if you (as a store owner) stop showing up—whether it’s through email, organic posts, or ads—you’re giving up the chance to stay top-of-mind when your customer is finally ready.

 

Sales Are a Journey, Not a Click

Melissa shared real data from her store’s Shopify conversions:

• One customer clicked a Facebook ad, Googled the brand later, and then converted from an email
  
• Another visited her site 11 times over 21 days before they bought
  
• One went direct, clicked around five more times, and then finally purchased through email
  

 

“If you only focused on email marketing, you’d miss that customer entirely. They found you because of Google. Or Instagram. Or a Facebook ad. You need multiple touchpoints to actually convert someone.”

 

So if you’re looking at your marketing and thinking, “This isn’t working,”—the real issue might be that you’re only measuring the last click and missing the journey that came before it.

 

It’s Not a Tactic Problem. It’s a Consistency Problem.

We all want one strategy to fix everything. But here’s the truth: most of us aren’t consistent enough on any platform to let it work.

Melissa teaches the 30 Day Audience Builder inside the Inner Circle. She shows ecommerce store owners how to stop guessing and just repeat what’s working.

You don’t need clever content. You need clarity, consistency, and repetition.

• Post your best-performing organic content again.
  
• Watch which posts bring new people into your list.
  
• Don’t assume email’s broken—check if traffic dropped first.

What To Do When It Feels Like Nothing’s Working

At one point, Melissa noticed her automated email flow wasn’t producing as many sales. But instead of scrapping it, she checked her Facebook reach.

Turns out she hadn’t reposted two high-performing organic posts that normally brought in warm leads. 

 

“Most of us…would’ve said ‘my email stopped working' and moved on to something totally new, like TikTok or Pinterest ads. But that’s not the answer.”

 

Instead, Melissa just doubled down on what worked. The moment she reshared those two posts? Email sales bounced back.

 

Keep Showing Up (Even When It’s Quiet)

Every piece of content you create might not go viral—but that doesn’t mean it’s not working.

Even one Facebook post, when tracked through your Shopify data, might influence six different purchases across multiple sessions.

 

“Don’t assume something isn’t working just because it’s not flashy. Keep going. Look at your numbers. And remember—you’re not a content creator. You’re a business owner who’s showing up consistently to grow sales.”

 

So no, you can’t pick just one marketing channel. But the good news?

You don’t have to do everything, all the time, everywhere.
You just have to show up often enough for people to remember you when they’re ready to buy.

 

RELATED LINKS:

Get your Shopify Analytics Lesson

https://learn.thesocialsalesgirls.com/shopify-analytics-lesson/

Should You Hire Someone to Make Your Reels?

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/should-you-hire-someone-to-make-your-reels-episode-277/

The ‘Marketing First’ Strategy That Grew This Business to 4.6M Views

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-marketing-first-strategy-that-grew-this-business-to-4-6m-views-episode-257/

What happens when you put Marketing First

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/what-happens-when-you-put-marketing-first-episode-198/

The Stress Free Content Plan That Built A Huge Audience:

https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-stress-free-content-plan-that-built-a-huge-audience-episode-190/