The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®

Episode #747: Building a Strong Content Strategy by Listening to Customers with Chip Lewis, Shutterfly

Date: October 8, 2025
Guest: Chip Lewis, Director of Web Analytics, Shutterfly
Host: Greg Kihlström

Episode Overview

In this episode, Greg Kihlström discusses how brands can build a robust and customer-centric content strategy by truly listening to and analyzing customer behaviors and needs. Joined by Chip Lewis of Shutterfly, the conversation centers on the power of data—especially first-party data—in shaping customer experience (CX) and content strategy, the challenges of cross-device customer journeys, and the growing impact of AI and analytics in building seamless, valuable brand experiences.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Chip’s Background and Role at Shutterfly

Timestamp: 01:45–02:24

• Chip shares his journey from Snapfish to Shutterfly, emphasizing over 15 years of analytics experience, including deep familiarity with Adobe Analytics (formerly Omniture).
• Quote:
  “I’ve actually used Adobe analytics since before it was Adobe. So back in the amateur days. I ran the Internet for Hollywood Video years ago on the Omniture platform. So I have a lot of experience in that and analytics and I’ve leveraged that at Snapfish and now at Shutterfly.” – Chip Lewis, 01:45

2. Challenges and Lessons from Cross-Device Customer Journeys

Timestamp: 02:26–04:01

• The rise of mobile photography means Shutterfly’s mobile app is often the starting point for projects.
• Customers frequently transition between devices, often beginning on mobile to select/upload photos, then switching to desktop for more complex editing.
• A seamless cross-device experience is critical; misalignment between app and site confused users in the past, motivating a push for harmony based on analytics.
• Quote:
  “There’s a lot, especially if you’re building one of our complex products like a book or a calendar... you’re hopping back and forth a lot. And I think we've spent a lot of effort examining that and trying to align the mobile app experience with the site experience more so that as users move back and forth, they’re not confused.” – Chip Lewis, 02:57

3. Moving from Data to Actionable Insights

Timestamp: 04:01–05:37

• Shutterfly generates vast amounts of data; critical to identify meaningful touchpoints, such as the all-important “project start” metric.
• Time investment in projects (e.g., spending upwards of 30 hours on a photo book) illustrates why understanding customer journeys and pain points is essential.
• “Project start” is a key KPI—getting users to begin is pivotal for downstream success.
• Quote:
  “Project Start is probably our most critical metric that we watch to watch users start building products. ... getting someone to start a project is really key for us.” – Chip Lewis, 04:21

4. Understanding and Removing Customer Blockers

Timestamp: 06:12–06:54

• Shutterfly's data model is user-based (rather than strictly event-based), enabling better tracking across devices and sessions.
• Adoption of tools like Heap allowed more nuanced analysis of user journeys, especially needed for multi-session, multi-device projects.

5. Differences in Customer Engagement: Mobile App vs. Website

Timestamp: 07:46–09:04

• Mobile app usage skews toward quick tasks (e.g., ordering prints, uploading/choosing photos), while desktop is used for complex editing and larger projects.
• Younger users are more likely to undertake complex builds on mobile, but generally, the complexity dictates a switch to desktop.

6. Ensuring Data and AI Serve the End Customer Experience

Timestamp: 09:04–11:24

• The volume of data necessitates continuous investment in data science and analysis for meaningful, actionable insights.
• AI continues to gain importance in managing and interpreting massive datasets—innovation around AI tools is advancing rapidly but should stay focused on practical CX gains.
• Quote:
  “All of the data that we generate has to be used usefully. And I see a ton of potential for AI helping us do that... AI is moving so fast, you almost feel like you have to just skip the crawl phase and start walking and maybe running to keep up.” – Chip Lewis, 10:06

7. Future of AI in Creating Personalized Experiences

Timestamp: 11:24–12:48

• Chip is particularly excited about AI’s future in simplifying time-consuming processes, like photo book creation.
• AI could dramatically reduce the time and manual effort required, making the process smarter—e.g., auto-grouping related photos, smarter sequencing.
• Quote:
  “I would love to have an AI help me build a photo book... AI just has a huge potential to make the experience much easier. And instead of spending 20, 30 hours on my photo book, I can do it in five or six and still have a product that’s just as good.” – Chip Lewis, 11:36

8. Staying Agile as a Leader in Martech & Analytics

Timestamp: 13:00–13:51

• Chip describes the evolution from slow, “waterfall” tech deployments (floppy disks/CD-ROMs) to today's rapid, agile web environment.
• Emphasizes agility as experimentation (“try it, fail fast, iterate”)—a mindset essential for today’s pace and complexity in Martech and CX.
• Quote:
  “The Internet just by its very nature allows you to be much faster and much more agile... try things, you may test stuff, some ideas are bad so try it. Fail fast, iterate.” – Chip Lewis, 13:00

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On aligning mobile and web experiences:
  “We found people getting stuck where the experience was different. So I think we’ve really done a good job of aligning those experiences better. And we’ve done that based on analytics data.” – Chip Lewis, 02:57

• On the real purpose of data and AI:
  “If it doesn’t create a great customer experience at the end, you’re really just… storing a bunch of stuff in a bunch of places.” – Greg Kihlström, 09:04

• On the velocity of marketing technology change:
  “AI is moving so fast, you almost feel like you have to just skip the crawl phase and start walking and maybe running to keep up.” – Chip Lewis, 10:06

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:45] – Chip’s background and analytics history
• [02:26] – Challenges of cross-device journeys
• [04:01] – Key metrics: from data to action
• [06:12] – How Shutterfly removes user hurdles
• [07:46] – Mobile app vs. desktop customer behavior
• [09:04] – Data and AI centered on CX
• [11:24] – The future of AI in personalized products
• [13:00] – Staying agile in martech and analytics

Episode Takeaways

• Customer-centric content strategies should be grounded in real behavioral data, not hunches.
• Seamless cross-device experiences are now table stakes; brands must invest in aligning digital touchpoints based on analytics.
• Data (and increasingly, AI) must always be in service of improving the customer journey—otherwise, it’s just “storing a bunch of stuff.”
• Marketing and CX leaders need to adopt an agile, test-and-learn mindset as the pace of technological change accelerates.
• AI has immense potential to make personalized digital products easier and more fun to create for customers—delivering value while saving time.

For further information:

• Learn more about Chip Lewis, Shutterfly, and Content Square via the show notes.
• To access additional episodes and resources, visit theagilebrand.com or gregkihlstrom.com