Caitlin Choate is the Global Head of Marketing at Boatsetter, a peer-to-peer boat rental platform. With nearly 15 years of experience building disruptive brands, she has led marketing efforts at companies like TOMS, Google’s Nest, Airbnb, and Yumi. Caitlin’s work has been recognized by Cannes Lions and the Webby Awards for innovation and storytelling.

Marketing isn’t just transactional; it requires building emotional resonance with customers through memorable experiences with a brand. It’s easy to sell a product, but how do you sell a lifestyle, a sense of identity, or even a community? How can companies balance bold creativity with performance and data-driven ROI?

Brand builder and creative marketer Caitlin Choate believes that connecting with customers emotionally begins by designing marketing that mirrors real-life human experiences. She recommends leveraging user-generated visuals, generating stories that emphasize emotional connection over product specs, and integrating creative, data, and performance teams. Caitlin also highlights the value of running measurable, high-reward experiments to foster brand growth and category domination.

In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris converses with Caitlin Choate, Global Head of Marketing at Boatsetter, about turning product transactions into lifestyle-driven brand movements. Caitlin discusses brand versus performance alignment, using PR and influencers as a storytelling medium, and why cultivating serendipity can catalyze unexpected career opportunities.

Jesse Allouf is the Chief Marketing Officer at Tire Agent, an online tire and wheel retailer. He previously served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing, leading the brand through a growth curve by focusing on first-click signals and fintech data. With over 15 years of experience in marketing and e-commerce, Jesse has held leadership roles at companies like Knot Standard, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, and Alpargatas S.A.

Which customer signals drive growth? Many e-commerce companies focus on lagging growth indicators, like conversions or revenue, when they should optimize for intentions rather than outcomes. How can businesses shift their focus to leading indicators that reveal customer intent and drive sustainable growth?

Data-driven growth expert Jesse Allouf encourages brands to shift their focus to first-click signals and on-site behaviors to unlock results. He recommends building a solid data foundation, identifying less obvious behavioral patterns — like wishlist activity or account creation — and working cross-functionally with data science and development teams. By gradually testing changes and aligning leadership around data-backed insights, e-commerce companies can optimize marketing spend and increase customer lifetime value.

Join William Harris in this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast as he welcomes Jesse Allouf, Chief Marketing Officer at Tire Agent, to discuss optimizing e-commerce growth through data insights. Jesse explains the importance of consistent messaging, how to align marketing efforts with finance and leadership, and the fundamentals of e-commerce growth.

Jeff Oxford is the Founder and SEO Director of 180 Marketing, an e-commerce SEO provider. With over seven years of experience in e-commerce SEO, he has led over 200 SEO campaigns for brands like MasterCard and Belkin. Jeff frequently speaks at industry conferences and created LinkHunter, a tool designed to streamline link outreach efforts.

As SEO becomes more complex, competitive, and intertwined with AI-driven search, e-commerce brands struggle to adapt. With constant algorithm updates, disappearing clicks, and the rise of AI search integrations, how can brands break through the noise and rank effectively without wasting time or falling behind?

According to SEO strategist Jeff Oxford, ranking for SEO in an AI-driven landscape requires more than surface-level adjustments. Instead, Jeff recommends leveraging AI tools to improve rankings by providing them with detailed brand and audience information, focusing on topical authority by answering all relevant customer questions, and prioritizing backlinks and brand mentions to increase domain authority. Additionally, brands should be selective in their efforts by targeting specific funnel stages, optimizing category pages over blog posts for conversion, and aligning pricing with rankings.

In the latest episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris chats with Jeff Oxford, Founder and SEO Director of 180 Marketing, about optimizing for SEO in a zero-click, AI-driven landscape. Jeff talks about ranking first for competitive keywords, his two-part framework for building topical authority, and how to improve AI search and visibility.