The Q4 Growth Playbook: Diversifying Beyond Meta | Growth Sessions ft. Liam Dinneen (Vulcan Digital)

Meta CPMs are up 13% year over year, and Q4 auctions are only getting more expensive. In this episode of Growth Sessions, Drew Hart (Head of Agency Partnerships, PostPilot) sits down with Liam Dinneen (Founder & Head of Growth, Vulcan Digital) to break down how DTC brands can diversify beyond Meta before BFCM. They cover Google Shopping fundamentals, why your product feed is your ad creative, how AI search is changing Shopping, and where direct mail fits as an auction-free acquisition and retention channel. Plus: holdout testing, the Amazon halo effect, why acquisition MER beats blended MER, and how to get started on YouTube with Shorts. Chapters 0:00 Intro: Drew Hart (PostPilot) x Liam Dinneen (Vulcan Digital) 2:30 The Meta dependency: rising CPMs and creative fatigue 4:23 Why brands are diversifying channels this Q4 5:51 Google Shopping fundamentals for BFCM 8:46 Your product feed is your ad creative 10:00 How AI search is changing Shopping 11:20 How AcquisitionAI finds net-new buyers 15:11 Retargeting the 97% who don't buy 17:32 Alternative channels when auctions get expensive 18:35 No auction system for the post 19:58 Attribution, incrementality and holdout testing 22:20 Measuring the Amazon halo effect 23:13 YouTube attribution and business health 24:30 Why acquisition MER beats blended MER 26:29 LTV, subscriptions and profit-later models 27:31 Direct mail as a brand builder (the Vuori catalog) 30:28 Acquisition and retention working together 32:53 Creative testing in direct mail 33:58 Start YouTube with Shorts 36:54 Getting started fast before Q4 38:13 Where to find Liam About the guests Drew Hart – Head of Agency Partnerships, PostPilot LinkedIn:   / drew-hart-20267373   PostPilot: https://www.postpilot.com Liam Dinneen – Founder & Head of Growth, Vulcan Digital LinkedIn:   / dr-liam-dinneen-882006257   Vulcan Digital: https://www.vulcan-digital.com/ Growth Sessions by PostPilot: conversations with the operators and agencies behind fast-growing DTC brands. #DTC #Ecommerce #BFCM #MetaAds #GoogleShopping #DirectMail #PerformanceMarketing