Our Recap of GROW LA Fall 2024: Unlocking Growth with Next-Gen A/B Testing and Personalization

Attending GROW LA as a Director of Growth, I had high expectations, and while most conferences tend to over-promise and under-deliver, this one was a refreshing exception. From the moment I stepped in, the energy was palpable, with a stellar lineup of some of the best direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands in the business. The talks weren’t just informative; they offered real, actionable strategies I could bring back to my team and apply immediately. Set in the beautiful Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, this October’s iteration of Grow LA was a resounding success. 

One of the standout sessions, Unlocking Growth with Next-Gen A/B Testing & Personalization presented by Nargiza Dakmak (Director of Ecommerce at Bonafide Health) and Anya Geimanson (CEO of Visually.io), was really strong. Bonafide Health—a 9-figure supplement brand—has seen a whopping 30% revenue increase through advanced A/B testing and personalization strategies, a remarkable feat in today’s fast-evolving ecommerce landscape. The big takeaway here? AI-powered tools have drastically changed the game. What used to be resource-intensive, costly, and time-consuming is now something that can be executed in minutes with no coding required. It’s a far cry from the painstaking manual testing of the past.

The spotlight on Visually was not just theoretical but walked through a step-by-step framework of specific testing ideas that could be immediately applied. One standout example was Bonafide Health’s mobile homepage optimization: adding quick links to the header boosted conversion rates (CVR) by 8%. Other winning strategies included displaying the return policy directly in the cart (+11% CVR), adding a “cart abandonment” section to the homepage (+7.3% CVR), and showcasing inspirational product recommendations on product pages, which led to an impressive 24% CVR boost. But the most game-changing tactic? Optimizing the language on Call-to-Action buttons—swapping “Add to Cart” for “Get 20% Off” resulted in a staggering 27% conversion lift. These incremental changes added up to significant revenue growth for Bonafide Health and could easily be replicated by brands of all sizes – we’re planning on bringing these learnings to our brand roster at Quality Media. 

In another equally compelling session, Crushing Q4: Winning TV Ad Strategies from MANSCAPED and Saatva, I gained insights into how these brands are using television advertising to drive customer acquisition ahead of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. Casey Jones, Sr. Paid Media Manager at Saatva, explained how the brand found immense success by utilizing Tatari, a TV advertising platform that provides a closed-loop system for attribution at scale. One fascinating insight was Saatva’s decision to allocate 77% of its ad budget to linear TV, capitalizing on lower CPMs (cost-per-thousand impressions) on Tatari, while dedicating the remaining 23% to streaming.

Both Saatva and MANSCAPED shared similar approaches in using Tatari for real-time data and scaling, with their spend strategy contributing to increased market share and search visibility. The creative strategies for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) were another highlight—Saatva saw better performance from their evergreen ads, even during BFCM, thanks to their already-optimized website. It was a great reminder of the power of strong foundational marketing, especially when consumers are primed to convert.

Next, I dove into the world of influencer marketing in the session Winning BFCM with Solawave & She’s Birdie: DTC Influencer & Affiliate Marketing at Scale. Both brands, represented by Richard Mashiko (She’s Birdie) and Jean Dees (Solawave), have embraced influencer seeding and nurturing, focusing on long-term relationships rather than one-off posts. What resonated most was the shift in how influencers now treat their platforms like equity, recognizing their own value. For brands, this means higher commissions and more thoughtful partnerships. Social Snowball, a tool mentioned in the talk, has streamlined influencer sourcing, retention, and scaling, making it easier for DTC brands to nurture content creators, drive storytelling, and incrementally scale revenue—especially through TikTok Shop, which generated over $10 million in 2024 for both brands.

The final session I attended, How Windsor & Newton Baby Approach Ad Spend Diversification, provided a broader look at digital ad spend, particularly in light of rising platform costs. Catherine Hoffman Seaton (Windsor) and Aaron Zagha (Newton Baby) broke down their successes in ad diversification, with a major focus on TikTok Shop — highlighted as the biggest growth opportunity. Newton Baby shared insights on finding lower CPMs during election season on Meta, as most brands shift budgets to TV and TikTok. It was a brilliant reminder to stay agile and capitalize on opportunities outside traditional channels.

Overall, GROW LA wasn’t your typical humdrum conference — it was a goldmine of insights, connections, and tangible takeaways alongside great IRL networking with brand and tool leaders across the landscape. From groundbreaking A/B testing frameworks to innovative ad strategies, I walked away not only feeling inspired but also armed with actionable tactics I’m eager to bring back to my team. I can’t wait for the next GROW conference to dive even deeper into the world of DTC growth!