Digital marketing specialist · Christchurch, NZ

Find the leak.
Fix the funnel.

I run SEO, paid search, email and CRO for ecommerce stores, and I treat them as one plan. You deal with me the whole way. Nobody junior touches your account.

3 yrs
across paid & organic
Weekly
writing on search
Full funnel
not just one channel
Store audit · conversion funnel Sample
Sessions
100%
Product view
58%
Add to cart
11%
Checkout ⚠
4.2%
Purchase
2.1%
Freight shown late No winback flow GA4 + GTM clean
KLAVIYO FLOWS
  • Welcome Live
  • Abandon cart Live
  • Browse Missing
  • Winback Missing
LATEST WRITING
SEM · 15 Oct 2026

Google Ads Is Pulling Promotions From Your Website: Check Them Before Black Friday

Since 12 October, Google Ads can turn the deals on your site into ad promotions. How to see what it added, and why I'd switch it off before BFCM.

Paid Media · 15 Oct · SEM · E-commerce Read →
Taking on 2 new clients this quarter
The stack

Hands-on in the platforms that move the money

I'm logged into these every week. Most of the problems I fix sit in the gap between two of them.

Google AdsSearch · Shopping
Performance MaxAsset groups · feeds
YouTubeVideo reach & remarketing
DV360 & CM360Programmatic display
Meta AdsAdvantage+ · creative tests
GA4Events · key events · funnels
Tag ManagerClean tracking & attribution
KlaviyoFlows · campaigns · segments
ShopifyPDP & checkout CRO
Search ConsoleTechnical & content SEO
Services

Where's your store leaking?

Pick the one that sounds like your store. You'll see what I'd check in week one and what you'd have at the end of it.

Audit preview · Acquisition Week one

What I check first when traffic isn't paying back

  • Search terms you're paying for that never convert
  • Performance Max: asset groups, feed titles and whether it's eating your brand searches
  • Conversion tracking. Is Google optimising toward the right action?
  • SEO pages ranking 5–15 that one fix pushes onto page one
Usually it'sTracking that counts the wrong thing, so Google happily optimises toward it.
You walk away withA ranked fix list and a 30-day plan across Google Ads, Meta and SEO.
Google AdsPMaxMetaSEO
Get this audit free →

Where the visitors you already paid for fall out

  • GA4 funnel: where they drop out. Product page, cart or checkout?
  • Freight and GST shown late. It kills more NZ and AU checkouts than anything else I see
  • Mobile product pages: speed, and what shows before anyone scrolls
  • Session recordings on your top three landing pages
Usually it'sShipping cost revealed at checkout instead of on the product page.
You walk away withThree prioritised A/B tests, each with a hypothesis and expected impact.
ShopifyGA4CROA/B tests
Get this audit free →

Why first-time buyers never come back

  • Klaviyo flows: which are live, which are missing and which are quietly broken
  • Post-purchase. Does anyone actually ask for the second order?
  • Segments: VIPs and lapsing customers shouldn't get the same email
  • Email capture. How much of the traffic you paid for leaves without giving you an email?
Usually it'sNo post-purchase or winback flow at all. Just campaigns.
You walk away withA flow map plus copy for the three flows worth the most to you.
KlaviyoFlowsSegmentsLTV
Get this audit free →
The approach

Your first 90 days

No vague "strategy phase". Here's what happens and when, and what lands in your inbox at each step.

What you'll never get
  • Lock-in contracts. It's three months, then month-to-month.
  • Hand-offs to a junior after the sales call
  • Reports padded with vanity metrics when you wanted to know about revenue
  • Accounts held hostage. You own every account and all the data.
1
Week 1

Audit

I get access, check tracking end to end, and go through your ad accounts, funnel and email flows to find every leak.

2
Week 2

Roadmap

Fixes ranked by likely impact against effort, so we start with whatever's worth the most.

3
Weeks 3–6

First fixes live

Quick wins shipped, tracking cleaned up, and the first A/B test running on your store.

4
Every month

Report & next tests

One page on what moved, what didn't and what's next. Plus a five-minute video walking you through it.

Writing

I write about what's actually changing in search

You'll learn more about how I work from these than from a wall of client logos. Most weeks I pick one change in search, paid or email and explain what NZ and AU stores should do about it.

The Signal · weekly newsletter

One change a week, and what to do about it.

Every Monday I send that week's post as a 4-minute email. Each one ends with the exact setting, flow or test I'd change, so you can get to it before your competitors do.

  • Google Ads and Performance Max changes in plain English
  • Meta, Klaviyo and CRO, written for NZ and AU stores rather than US ones

You're in. The first issue lands on Monday.

Free, and one click to unsubscribe.

Pricing

Specialist work, without agency overheads

Senior, hands-on work for less than an agency charges for the same channels. And you deal with me the whole way.

Audit
NZ$1,950
one-off + GST

A proper look at one area of your store, with a ranked list of what to fix first.

  • Full audit: tracking, funnel and one channel in depth
  • Ranked fix list with expected impact
  • 60-minute walkthrough call (recorded)
  • Two weeks of email support while you implement
Book an audit
MOST POPULAR
Growth
NZ$2,450
per month + GST

Two channels run properly, plus a conversion test shipped every month.

  • Two channels managed (e.g. Google Ads + Klaviyo flows)
  • One CRO / A/B test shipped every month
  • Monthly one-page report + video walkthrough
  • Fortnightly check-in call
Enquire
Scale
NZ$3,950
per month + GST

I act as your growth lead across every channel. I write the plan and I do the work.

  • Everything in Growth, across all channels
  • Search, Meta, SEO, email and CRO in one roadmap
  • Customer journey mapping
  • Weekly strategy call + priority support
Enquire
Ad spend paid directly to Google & Meta 3-month minimum, then month-to-month You own every account and all data

Not sure yet? Start with the free store audit. You get three quick fixes and no sales pitch.

MS
Michael Sowden
Digital marketing specialist
Christchurch, NZ
3
Years exp.
Full
funnel
Google AdsSEOMeta AdsKlaviyoCROShopify
Currently with KZN Digital · prev. Bargain Chemist
About

One specialist, the whole funnel

I'm a digital marketing specialist in Christchurch. I work across paid search, SEO, email and CRO, and I treat them as one system because that's how your customers move through them.

Most ecommerce brands are strong in one channel and leaky everywhere else. I find where the money's slipping out and fix that first.

When you hire me, you get me. Nobody senior pitches you and then hands the work to a junior.

Specialist · KZN Digital Current

I run multi-channel campaigns for agency clients: setup, targeting, budget pacing, A/B tests and audience work. I also build the GTM tracking that the reporting relies on.

Digital Marketing Executive · Bargain Chemist Prior

Ran ecommerce marketing for a Shopify retailer. That covered CRO and UX, product pages, email with A/B testing, and SEO and paid search alongside outside partners.

Work with me →
Free store audit

Send me the store.
I'll find the leak.

I’ll reply within one business day with the three things I’d check first. If it looks like a fit, we book a 25-minute call.

No spam, no junior. I read these myself.

Got it. I’m looking at the store.

I’ll reply within one business day (Christchurch time) with the three things I’d check first:

  1. Where your paid and organic traffic lands, and whether those pages can convert.
  2. Checkout and product-page friction a customer would swear at.
  3. Whether email is doing any work after the first order.

If a retainer makes sense I’ll say which box. If it doesn’t, I’ll say that too.

Taking on 2 new clients this quarter