Performance Delivered

Eric Bandholz, founder and creative director of Beardbrand, doesn’t just sell men’s grooming products. He gives his customers confidence, a feeling of well-being, and a sense of community. That’s what every brand should do. Unfortunately too many are just customers and transactions. We talk about how Eric and his partners have built an engaged community of followers using social media and other channels.

Brad Moss, CEO of Product Labs, and I continue our conversation about Amazon advertising. If you haven’t checked out our previous podcast on the topic, check out Part 1 here. This time we talk about how companies can start selling on Amazon – and what contemporary methods they need to utilize to be successful. One of the first things is to set up an effective keyword strategy... and even consider some paid ads.

Amazon is a crowded place. As a veteran of Amazon, having managed the third-party seller platform, Brad Moss should know. It’s used in 10 countries, by over 2 million merchants, with more than 200 million customers and over 60 billion products. This episode is all about the Amazon advertising strategies Brad recommends to his clients as CEO of consulting firm Product Labs.

Si Quan Ong, of SEO firm Ahrefs is back. During our first conversation, we discussed how to come up with evergreen topics for SEO-friendly content for your website. This time around, we’re talking about how to actually create that evergreen content. The main issue, says SQ, is that many businesses go about content marketing all wrong. They do what everybody else is doing… don’t see great results… and so they give up, thinking content marketing doesn’t work.

When Google tweaks their algorithm, many website owners scramble to figure out new tricks to stay on top of the search results. But not Si Quan Ong and his colleagues at SEO firm Ahrefs. They know whatever Google does, quality content will always be a key part of an effective SEO strategy. However, they don’t focus on posting every day or publishing timely content. Instead, they post blogs and articles that will always be relevant.

Machine learning and A.I. is already in the world of media and online communication all around us. But it’s broken into marketing and advertising too, even if you don’t realize it. Will A.I. ever replace a human’s expertise when buying ads? Bant Breen, founder of innovative reputation management firm Qnary, discusses this question. And it’s not cut-and-dry. One thing’s for sure. Just because it’s a shiny new object doesn’t mean you should be using it in your marketing efforts.

Can artificial intelligence be creative… be original? Could AI come up with effective marketing? Those are the big questions that Bant Breen, founder of reputation management firm Qnary, studies. He says too many people in business – and marketing in particular – lack a true understanding of what AI is… and what it’s capable of.

Ray Carbonell and the team at Qnary have helped radically change the way we think of thought leadership and reputation management. Ray says thought leadership isn’t about a TED Talk that goes viral… and if you only worry about reputation management when something goes wrong – then you’ve missed a big opportunity. They show companies in a wide variety of industries how they can use thought leadership to boost engagement with their audience, land new business, and boost recruitment of top-notch new employees.

Marketing automation is the only way to accelerate the growth of your business and get it to the next level, says Robin Alex, president of agency Innovate Fast. But simply installing automation software and systems to drive new leads isn’t enough, says Robin, and won’t have any impact unless you take an extra step. We talk about how to effectively integrate marketing automation into a business, how to use it to close more sales, the top platforms available today (especially for small businesses), and more.

Tech startup Phononic has semiconductor products that could well revolutionize the refrigeration and cooling industries. As Director of Integrated Marketing for the company, it’s Daniel Englebretson’s job to make sure the world takes notice. He’s found the best way to target ideal prospects – the right companies and the right decision-makers at those companies – is with an account-based marketing approach.

One of Heather Molina’s bosses early in her career had a big influence on how she leads her team today as VP of cross channel marketing at Red Door Interactive. No, it wasn’t a valued mentor (although plenty of those too) but rather a bad manager. She says she thinks about how he handled situations… and does the opposite.

Ben Shapiro is building a mini podcast empire, with the popular show, Martech, leading the way. The podcast is all about how industry leaders use marketing and technology to drive business growth. Not surprisingly, Ben has used some of those same techniques to garner 30,000 downloads each month.

With all the tools and software available, marketers have more data than ever about their prospects and customers. They’re drowning in it. The trick is, says John Durham of Catalyst, is wading into that data, finding out what works, and turning it into action that gets real results.

Gerard Doyle, of Fractal, loves working with startups as he can influence the positioning of a client’s product or service… even the design. He also says the most effective way to get the best clients is to go after a limited number of them. He explains how this strategy actually starts making clients come to you. It’s quite counterintuitive.

With AI, machine learning, and big data, companies have more information than ever on their customers.But, says Jason Harper, too many companies collect data for the sake of collecting data. They’re not analyzing it effectively, which means they can’t use it to guide business decisions.

Akvile DeFazio took the leap from employee to self-employed with her digital marketing agency, Akvertise. The transition wasn’t always easy… but she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything because of what she learned about business, marketing, and herself. We talk about the strategies Akvile used to build her agency from the ground up… and continues to use for business development and client retention.

Facebook ads are cheap. You can segment your audience to the nth degree. But all that doesn't matter if you don’t take one more step, says Bud Torcom, CEO and co-founder of digital marketing agency Mazama Media. Bud sees a lot of companies going about their social media marketing all wrong. The solution: a blend of tried-and-true marketing principles and taking advantage of the innovation available on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

For most businesses, a main goal is turning website visitors into leads. Jay Rice, founder and CEO of Thinking Chat, says that’s a good starting point… but he’s refined that process using some very unique technology in order to engage visitors and increase conversions – while also screening out leads that aren’t a fit. Thinking Chat provides its clients with a “chatbot” – but unlike any you’ve seen before.

Jake Baadsgaard, founder of Disruptive Advertising, is very selective about who he works with. In fact, after they go through his vetting process, only about 20% of potential clients make the cut. He breaks down what makes a client a good fit and how he and his team figure it out. It’s a key part of a well-oiled business development machine they’ve put into place.

How does a small digital marketing agency compete for top employees against big firms in such a competitive environment like the Bay Area? For Richard Bumgarner and Lyn Rundell, founders of Hero Marketing, the secret has been providing a great place to work, simply put. And that doesn’t mean a foosball table in the break room.