CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

Content marketing is a highly competitive space. Every single day, nearly 60 million blog posts are published and five billion YouTube videos are watched. Are you always trying to edge out search results to be on top? Discover how to reframe your mindset when it comes to content marketing.

Today, we’re talking to Garrett Moon, CoSchedule CEO, about how to handle such competition when it comes to content marketing and his new book, 10X Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating Competition-Free Content That Stands Out and Gets Results.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Marketers are responsible for bringing in leads, sales, people - big tasks - to support core business metrics. Garrett’s book describes taking the formula, process, tips and tricks, and things that work and don’t for CoSchedule and making them available to anybody to use and implement in their business and marketing process.
• Gartner’s Hype Cycle: How new technology is adopted. When content marketing took shape a few years back, all of a sudden, everyone was adopting it and reworking their marketing teams, creating content, doing blogging, building email lists, and other tasks. Content marketing made a lot of promises to us.
• Now, Garrett believes we are entering the trough of disillusionment. We adopted content marketing, but what about those big promises that were made? What about the results? Why are you not getting the results you were promised?
• How do marketing teams provide business value? Content marketing needs to be reinvented.
• Garrett describes the "copy cat" epidemic in marketing. There is so much free content online where pieces of strategies, tactics, and other items are copied and pasted. However, it does not create an entire picture or blueprint.
• The goal is to create a framework from start to finish to find something unique to your business that only you can do and be successful with. Something that stands out and gets results.
• Creating Competition-Free Content: Not only is your business and products in competition, but your marketing is in competition with other marketing. Find a way to break past that barrier created by competitors.
• The book, Blue Ocean Strategy, refers to the Bloody Red Ocean, which is full of competition and where businesses are fighting each other to stand out - they’re at war with each other. However, the Blue Ocean is wide-open and uncontested. You're free to swim around and move about because you have successfully been able to differentiate yourself from the competition.
• To differentiate your content marketing, focus on your topics, how you create content, and how to connect that content and share it with your customers.
• 10X reference: look at what you are doing and ask if what you are doing will help your team multiply results, including increasing sales leads and the number of visitors to your Website.
• Marketing teams need to focus on 10x growth rather than increments of 10 percent improvements. Marketing teams are designed to produce results, not worry about risks.
• Agile Manifesto: focuses on how software development could be better. A powerful way to cause engineers to rethink and reframe what they’re doing.
• 10X Manifesto: focuses on how so much of marketing is about mindset when it comes to how we do and approach things.
• Results or Die: 10X marketers work in a results or die oriented business, not 10 percenters allowed. Many think of marketing as a process for things they do - marketing is the blog, social media channels, conference booth, etc. There’s all these deliverables that a marketing team creates and hands off to others, such as the sales and support teams. Marketers are not here to produce Web ads or build a Website. They’re here to help produce business results and help grow companies.
• 10X marketers understand that growth requires failure, strength is in progress, not perfection. Teams that embrace failure (fail fast) understand that it is not about failure but acknowledging imperfection.
• Marketing comes with assumptions: assume methods used to get the message out will work; assume there’s the right mix of email ads; assume messages are right; assume the timeline is correct. Ever realize how much you are guessing?
• The problem is in the marketing plan. It becomes a risk-removal tool that leads to pointing fingers and placing blame on others. Instead of a plan, start with a goal.
• To start down the 10X marketing path, list what work you did this week. Are these 10X or 10 percent activities? Do any of these activities have the ability or potential, in a short period of time, to multiply results by 10X?

 

Links:

• Garrett Moon
• 10X Marketing Formula
• Gartner Hype Cycle
• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Agile Manifesto
• SpaceX
• Elon Musk
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by Garrett Moon:

• “Everyone was really excited about it (content marketing). There was a lot of energy. A lot of hype behind it, and a lot of big promises that content marketing made to all of us.”
• “If we’re going to really double down. If we’re really going to continue doing this, how do we really make it sing? How do we really make it pay for itself and become a true part of our results?”
• “For us (CoSchedule as a start-up), it was results or die.”
• “Once teams start looking at what they’re doing, how their processes are built, one thing they tend to find is that much of what they’re doing is based on mitigating risk vs. generating results.”

CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

The success of your company depends on the marketing you do, how you choose to present the benefits of a product or service, and which audience to target. How you position a product or service can make or break your company. Stop right there. Forget everything you thought you knew about product positioning. Connecting your product or service with buyers is not a matter of following trends, selling harder, or trying to attract the widest customer base.

Today, my guest is April Dunford, who has launched more than a dozen products and shares some of the biggest mistakes that startups, marketers, and entrepreneurs make with product positioning. Also, she’s the author of Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It. April’s book describes her point of view on positioning and offers a step-by-step process to perfectly position your product or service.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Career Change: Fake it til you figure it out. How hard can it be?
• Do it right, and the company grows quickly, gets acquired; you get bored and do another startup
• Definition of Positioning: How to win at doing something that a well-defined market cares about
• Perfect marketing execution won’t save you from weak positioning; marketing execution and results are only as good as positioning that feeds into them
• Who should decide the positioning for your product? Everybody
• Siebel Story: Too small to buy out beyond a billion dollars
• Positioning Pitfalls: People don’t do positioning deliberately; and when they try to fix it, they don’t follow a process but wing it or write a “Positioning Statement”
• Positioning Statement Components:
  • Who’s your competitive alternatives?
  • What are the unique capabilities or features that your product has?
  • What’s the value that those features can enable for customers?
  • Who’s my target customer?
  • Is this a market that I’m going to win?
• Signs of weak positioning include:
  • How a customer reacts to your product/service
  • They compare you to a non-competitor; not in the right market
  • Customer knows what you do, but not the value or why they should care

 

Links:

• April Dunford
• Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning So Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by April Dunford:

• “Not only is positioning a thing I should figure out, it's potentially a super powerful thing.”
• “Two years after graduating from engineering, I'm running this great big marketing team. It's global. I’ve got this giant budget...even though I was completely unqualified for it.”
• “I focus on positioning, mainly because I think people do a really terrible job at positioning. There's not many people that know how to do it right.”
• “A shift in positioning can totally result in a shift in the product roadmap, a shift in your pricing, a shift in a way you sell, a shift in your channels.”
• "You see signs of weak positioning across your entire sales marketing funnel, but often the place where it’s most obvious is looking at how a customer reacts when they first encounter your product or your offering."

Content distribution is important, but most marketers struggle to understand how to distribute content effectively and efficiently. They create, publish, and push content out only to move onto the next piece before promoting and distributing the last one.  

Today’s guest is Sarah Colley, a content marketer. She shares how to get started with distributing content or improve your current content distribution practice. It's time to start making distribution a real part of content strategy from the beginning.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• What is content distribution and what works with content distribution right now?
• Repurposing: Seems to be everybody's standard definition of content distribution
• Sarah’s Definition: Creating the right content and giving it to the right people
• Content Distribution: If you don't have distribution, you don't get your content out
• Underinvestment: Creating tons of content, but not taking time to distribute it
• Follow Formula: Put article in a core distribution channel and places that share it
• Build Better Relationships: Get to know new people who can spread your content

 

Links:

• Sarah Colley on LinkedIn
• Write Destination Agency
• Help A Reporter (HARO)
• Fiverr
• HubSpot
• Google Analytics
• Bitly
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Sarah Colley:

“It's about building conversations around content. It looks a lot different. It's harder to implement, but when you do it right, it really works.”

“A lot of people focus on distribution in terms of traffic and getting seen by as many people as possible. I totally disagree.”

“You can do a lot of distribution for free, completely free, but it just comes down to time.”

“My best strategy is just developing relationships with people that have audiences and people that don't, people that may eventually have an audience.”

The landscape for search engine optimization (SEO) changes constantly, so staying on top of trends is extremely important but not always easy for sustained success.

Today’s guest is Georgios Chasiotis, Managing Director of MINUTTIA, about what to focus on with SEO in 2022. He shares insight into what SEO tactics should be used or are overused, especially when it comes to software as a service (SaaS).

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Past, Present, and Future: SEO and SaaS marketing trends and tactics
• Where are things at right now? Not multi-dimensional or complex
• Alternative/Comparison Pages: Not aligned with website identity, but abused
• Organic Search: Find more ways to be creative and bold about things
• 2021: What separated top SEO performers from struggling SaaS companies?
• More/Better Experience: Google rewards websites that are trustworthy
• Vanity Metrics: Not only way to measure success based on user experience
• COVID Impact: Were there any behavior changes? Higher expectations
• Future SEO Tactics: Which will become less important or effective in 2022?
• Guest Blogging: Is it effective for reciprocal linking? Georgios advises against it
• Content and Links: What most brands and websites compete against

 

Links:

• Georgios Chasiotis on LinkedIn
• MINUTTIA
• CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Georgios Chasiotis:

“Unfortunately, what I see is pretty much all websites are doing what every other website is doing.”

“Try new things, experiment, and fail a lot of times in the process of discovering new ways of generating interest and demand for our websites.”

“SaaS companies have struggled when it comes to organic search.”

“Everyone can play the content and backlinks game. Not everyone can build a brand and not everyone can create a wow moment for their website visitors.”

When was the last time you saw an awesome online or social video ad? Did it impress you so much that you thought about buying the product or recommend it to someone? These days, a list of truly memorable video ads are few and far between.

Today’s guest is Matt Johnston with Guide Social, an agency that creates ads for all kinds of brands and products. Using and understanding the HERO System makes for memorable video ads that resonate.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Common Causes: Why most video ads fall flat or underperform
• HERO System: Content checklist for social video ads to gain traction
  • Hook
  • Empathy
  • Response
  • Over-deliver
• 4 Rs Process: Helps people work through video script to mirror customer journey
  • Relate
  • Rile
  • Reveal
  • Release
• Offer Opportunities: All businesses exist to solve problems
• Results: Warm leads and increased conversion rates create affinity/PR affect
• Social Video Ads: Brands that nailed it include Harmon Brothers, William Painter

 

Links:

• Guide Social
• Producing Empathy by Matt Johnston
• HERO System by Matt Johnston
• Matt Johnston on LinkedIn
• Hydroviv
• Shark Tank
• Harmon Brothers
• William Painter
• ClickFunnels by Russell Brunson
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Matt Johnston:

“The biggest mistake that people make is that they focus way too much on features and their product and things like that rather than focusing on the avatar and empathy and trying to connect with that person and tying it back to their pain.”

“The reason that someone will buy something from you or sign up to be a lead in your company is - it has everything to do with their own selfish needs and desires.”

“If you want to move them to act, you need to emotionally resonate with them.”

“Nobody cares about what you sell. They care about opportunities that are available to them to solve their problems.”

Who do you believe more? A marketer, your best friend, or complete stranger who bought your product or service and offers an honest opinion? Good or bad—what customers say matters.

Today’s guest is Denise Blasevick from The S3 Agency. Denise explains how to generate more positive reviews and how to handle negative reviews (or if you should deal with them at all).

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• 4- vs. 5-Star Reviews: Set expectations to humanize real customers’ opinions
• Consumer Behavior Impact: More and more people read and trust reviews
• No Comparison: Brand sites with positive reviews get others to buy from you
• Negative Reviews: Unrealistic for companies to get none; acceptable for some
• 1-Star Reviews: Determine whether it’s worth trying to mollify bad review
• Legitimate Review: Try to do something about your product/service if you can
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Contact biggest fans to review and recommend
• Don’t Nag or Beg: Mistakes made when marketers try to get more reviews
• Review Acquisition: Find natural points, cultivate journey, and reward randomly
• Authentic Incentives: Give people guidelines to personalize focus of reviews
• Metrics: Quantify and measure growth of impact with reviews of actual sales

 

Links:

• Denise Blasevick on LinkedIn
• Denise Blasevick on Twitter
• The S3 Agency
• Mike Michalowicz
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Denise Blasevick:

“Some people aren’t worth mollifying.”

“If they have a legitimate point, try to do something about it in terms of the way you deliver your product or service, if you can.”

“The volume has to be right. The kinds of reviews have to be right, and the stars have to be right.”

“Your sixth sense online is reviews.”

Market consultants sometimes struggle to consistently meet expectations. Maybe it’s because they offer too many services in too many areas of expertise. The lack of focus leads to less differentiation in the crowded market and inability to set premium prices.

Today’s guest is Max Traylor, author of the Agency Survival Guide. Max talks about how consultants and agencies can avoid pitfalls by productizing their services. Get paid on perceived value.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Productized Consulting Services: Powerful way to package and sell services
• Productization: Means doing things in steps for marketing and sales consulting
• Consultants and Agencies: Consistency is not their middle name
• Results: Quality of work, mental health, business impact, price premiums suffer
• Strategy Over Implementation Services: Charge whatever, as much as you want
• Sans Management: Make more money with less effort via strategic focus
• Why productized approach? People experience two different sides of a business
• Limiting Belief: Doing of things out of fear and hunger gets marketers paid
• Imposter Syndrome: Are you good enough to sell your knowledge and process?
• Get Started: Charge for proposals to accelerate experience charging for strategy
• Advice: You can sell everything to anyone if you try 5 times; no need to be good
• Ideal Client: Who are you talking to and will pay most for what you’re good at
• Fulfillment: Limit sacrifices, simplify business by selling less, contributing more

 

Links:

• Max Traylor - Productized Consulting Services
• Max Traylor’s Agency Survival Guide
• BEERS with Max Podcast and Blog
• HubSpot
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Max Traylor:

“You use the same things and you go through the same steps so that you can set and meet expectations every time.”

“If there’s no consistency in what you do, you don’t experience price premiums. You’re never known for that one thing.”

“We spend a lot of time developing self-worth and an attachment to the thing that we’re doing.”

“Fill your calendar with conversations with people that will pay you the most for the thing that you are uniquely good at.”

Freelance writers know that getting paid can be difficult, and managers of freelance writers know why processing those payments is difficult to get paid on time or at all. Some companies don’t have simple invoicing systems or solutions for fixing what’s wrong with their invoicing processes.

Today’s guest is Matt Saincome, Co-Founder and CEO of OutVoice and The Hard Times. OutVoice is a freelancer/writer invoicing platform that pays them with one click. Matt explains how to fix invoicing issues and get freelance writers paid on time.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Payment Problem: There has got to be a better way, and now there is one
• Publisher Problems: Tough business to make money, ad landscape has changed
• Revenue-based Solutions: People don’t update/upgrade their tools elsewhere
• Results: Businesses with inefficient tools, resources become rusted in place
• Clicks and Revenue: Relies on effectively paying and retaining freelance writers
• Mission: Waiting for check to pay rent? OutVoice positively impacts people’s lives
• Paid or not on purpose? Reason is ancient, not automated/tiered invoice systems

 

Links:

• OutVoice
• The Hard Times
• Matt Saincome’s Email
• Matt Saincome on Twitter
• Matt Saincome on LinkedIn
• Mailchimp
• Bill.com
• DoNotPay
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Matt Saincome:

“The problem is very clear. It’s the way that content creators are paid for freelance work is stone-age-level bullshit. It’s nonsense. It shouldn’t be done this way.”

“People don’t get around to upgrading their tools elsewhere, and there’s these really intense inefficiencies that fester in their businesses.”

“OutVoice uses automation, CMS integration, and a more purpose-built invoicing solution.”

“If you have better tools, you’re going to like your co-workers a little bit more. You’re going to like your job a little bit more.”

Does your business have a presence on YouTube? Maybe it does not show much value or potential for it. YouTube may not be the best fit for the products and services that your business sells. How can you create content on YouTube to not miss opportunities to reach potential customers? 

Today’s guest is Adrian Lurie from Dragonfruit Media, a video marketing agency that specializes in working with businesses and creators specifically on YouTube. He explains why your business should be on YouTube and how to drive measurable business growth from it. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• YouTube Marketing: How to drive real, meaningful business growth
• Still skeptical? Video content marketing proof:
  • 50% of Internet users look for videos on product/service before visiting store
  • Video is 50 times more likely to get organic page ranks than plain text
  • Landing pages with embedded videos have 20-30% higher conversion rates
• YouTube Statistics:
  • Second most visited web site (#1 is Google)
  • Third most visited search engine
  • Second largest social media site (#1 is Facebook)
• Roadblocks: Slow down, establish trust to drive measurable growth, make impact
• 3 Content Categories: Discoverable, community focused, conversion focused
• Engagement/Impression Metrics: Profitable action on YouTube to make purchase
• Why be on YouTube? To align video content with business goals from the start
• 4-step audience-focused content process:
  • Take persona view
  • Develop value proposition
  • Create content categories
  • Come up with video concept

 

Links:

• Dragonfruit Media
• Dragonfruit Media Email
• TubeBuddy
• BidIQ
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Adrian Lurie:

“Video is clearly a centerpiece of all online content and is becoming only more and more of such.”

“The nature of video is highly emotional and it engages more sensory perception than any other media.”

“Search your competitors on YouTube. At least one of them probably has a successful YouTube channel. They’re doing it and you’re not. They’re beating you.”

“Anyone can grow on YouTube. You have a million content marketers or SEO experts who all have hundreds of thousands of subscribers and they are all saying the same exact thing.”

Marketers are creative people that tend to have a lot of ideas. So why is coming up with ideas when content creators, marketers, and problem solvers need them most is so difficult? There are a lot of reasons, but also a lot of simple solutions. 

Today’s guest is Melanie Deziel, Director of Content at Foundation Inc. and author of The Content Fuel Framework. Melanie breaks down flawed assumptions about creativity in content and marketing and shares practical tips and processes to replace those assumptions to think more creatively and create better content.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Content Fuel Framework: System helps come up with creative content ideas
• Ideation: Why is it difficult for marketers to resolve problems, lack processes
• Creativity Constraints: Systems, guardrails, processes enable genius moments
• Step 1: Stop thinking of content idea as single thing that is completely undefined
• Step 2: Bring focus and format (i.e., article, video) to life and more organized
• Outcomes: Content ideas become renewable resource, not limited supply

 

Links:

• Melanie Deziel on Twitter
• Melanie Deziel on LinkedIn
• Storyfuel
• Foundation Inc.
• The Content Fuel Framework
• The Organized Mind
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Melanie Deziel:

“The Content Fuel Framework is essentially a system that you can use to tap into your creativity when you need to come up with content ideas.”

“We are much more creative, much more productive, and much more efficient when we have some level of organization around the way we approach coming up with content ideas.”

“Stop thinking of content idea as a single thing that is completely undefined. It has parameters.”

“Creativity just seems so inherently unstructured that it’s like sacrilege to suggest that we put some limitations on it to help us get there.”

In 2011, Google introduced the term, Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), also known as the moment that a consumer decides to research a product or service online before they enter a store or contact a business. A lot has changed since Google conducted that research and published the ZMOT ebook. Now, it’s normal behavior and what consumers do online before deciding to make a purchase. 

Today’s guest is Paul Mackiewicz, CEO and Founder of #Smart Marketing. He talks about how to hack consumer behavior using ZMOT. Businesses and marketers often overlook small details in their overall online presence that add up to a big difference between who wins or loses. Stay on the winning side by understanding when and where ZMOT happens for your customers. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Ebook: Explains how increased access to information impacts buying decisions
• 3-Step Marketing Process: Awareness, experience, and compare product/service
• Business Directory/Review Management Systems: Convert eyeballs to invoices
• Control Messaging/Ratings: First impressions are everything in most industries
• ZMOT Concept: Who you choose based off your emotional reaction to info online
• Build Business Persona: If you could be any celebrity online, who would you be?
• Big Business Benefits: Foot traffic is less and people like to look and buy online
• Getting Started: Claim Google, Yelp business listings, and get pro pics and tools
• Future of Marketing: Know, like, and trust small businesses to do your marketing

 

Links:

• ZMOT Expert
• #Smart Marketing
• Paul Mackiewicz on LinkedIn
• Google - Winning the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)
• Google Business Listing
• Yelp Business Listing
• Canva
• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• Paul Rudd
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Paul Mackiewicz:

“The best way really to conceptualize what ZMOT is, is just how our access to information through increased technology has changed how we get to that final decision-making process.”

“It’s very difficult to get eyeballs on your business, and what these directories and these review sites and social media allow you to do is quickly convert eyeballs to invoices.”

“Synergy - it’s a big thing with digital marketing, but I think a lot of marketing companies don’t talk about it enough and I think a lot of businesses don’t consider it enough.”

“It’s only going to become more and more important as foot traffic becomes less of a determiner - determination factor - for buying decisions.”

What is and constitutes interactive content that resonates? Is interactive content part of your business strategy? It’s not something that every brand does, but it represents a way that content and sales enablement has been done in the past to create experiences that better serve potential customers than static content.

Today’s guest is Isabelle Papoulias, CMO/Vice President of Marketing at Mediafly, where she oversees all of Mediafly's marketing efforts and works with its sales and business development teams to ensure continuous growth. She shares insights on how to break the sales and marketing mold using interactive content.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Animated vs. Interactive: Mediafly makes clear distinction between two types
• Interactive Content: Navigation helps create constant customer experience
• Correct Content Usage: Helps marketers/sellers understand buyer behavior
• Common Content Types: Case studies, product demos, and success stories
• Site Analytics: Be better prepared for next interaction and serve relevant content
• Getting Started: Pick one content asset of huge strategic importance to company
• CLOSE Method: Challenge, Loss, Opportunity, Solution, Evidence for storytelling
• Scale Up: Improve, apply interactive content to other pieces, platforms, people
• Interactive Content Creation Tools: Mediafly, Reprise, and content agencies

 

Links:

• Isabelle Papoulias on LinkedIn
• Mediafly
• Presentify
• Mediafly’s Customers
• Reprise
• Netflix
• Forbes Expert Contribution: 10 Steps To Ensure Your Pitch Stands Out To Large Clients
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Isabelle Papoulias:

“Interactive content is content that allows for navigation that helps create a very constant experience for the buyer, ultimately.”

“It’s interactivity of the service of creating a highly engaging and custom consumption experience that really meets the needs of the buyer.”

“Not only does it make for a more enjoyable experience, but I think in a remote world especially, there is an aspect of edutainment.”

“So much of the buyer journey now is digital without a live person, without a rep that I know I’m definitely feeling the pressure of content needing to, call it, sell harder on its own.”

CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

Planning and creating content that ranks well on the search engines can be difficult. It comes down to keyword selection and use, but that’s not all. You’ve heard the expression, “content is king,” and that’s still true. Your success has everything to do with the value and uniqueness that your content has to offer the people who will be seeing it!

Today, we’re talking to Tim Soulo, the head of marketing and product strategy at Ahrefs. Tim knows how to create valuable content, and he shares his best tips on finding keywords, promoting your content, and standing out from your competition.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Information about Ahrefs and what Tim does there.
• The most successful content produced by Ahrefs: the types of articles and pieces, as well as how they promote and analyze them.
• Tips on ranking for not only your core keyword, but also relevant keywords.
• The process Tim uses for coming up with content ideas.
• What it takes to outperform your competition.
• Why it’s important for an SEO marketer to do research that no other blog has written about or compiled.
• Tim’s thoughts on length and why it might not be important in the way that you are thinking. Tim also talks about long “ultimate guides” and gives his advice on making them more user-friendly.
• How to use backlinks to promote a piece to help it rank.

 

Links:

• Tim Soulo
• Ahrefs
• How to Do Keyword Research for SEO
• How to Submit Your Website to Search Engines
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by Tim Soulo:

• “The only way to outdo, to outperform the competition is to offer something unique and something better than they have.”
• “You have to have something to offer which wasn’t published, which wasn’t said before you. You usually need to be at the forefront of your industry, you need to be a so-called thought leader.”
• “It’s not about trying to crank everything you can into the article, it's about delivering value and persuading people that you can solve their problem in as [few] words as possible.”

When customers leave negative reviews or complain about a brand or business on the internet, they just want to be heard, express their frustration, and want some sort of resolution. Businesses that take the time to reach out to unsatisfied customers can make things right. But how can they do that consistently and at scale? 

Today’s guest is Dave Lehman, President and COO at Birdeye, a platform that allows local businesses to collect reviews, run surveys, and get referrals to better engage with customers. Dave talks about how businesses should make online reputation management a top priority and do it the right way.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Birdeye Survey Guide - 2021 State of Experience Marketing:
  • 57% view reputation management as more important than advertisements
  • 88% believe there’s a direct connection between reputation and revenue
• Birdeye: Helps businesses grow, attract, and convert new/existing customers
• Buyer Behavior: Shift from content to trusting shared customer experiences
• Reputation Management: Ignoring it is missing out on customer opportunities
• What are you looking/searching for? Relevancy, distance, and prominence
• Automation and Democratization: Make it easy for everybody to leave a review
• Digital Connection: Engage, respond, and listen to people on preferred platforms
• Indicators: Set goals, select metrics, and measure progress to drive improvement
• Mistakes: Marketers avoid responding to reviews and don’t ask all for reviews

 

Links:

• Dave Lehman on LinkedIn
• Dave Lehman’s Email
• Birdeye
• Survey Finds 57% of Marketers Now Emphasize Online Reputation Management Over Advertising
• HubSpot
• Blaze Pizza
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Dave Lehman:

“Most people will skip the first three ads or whatever. It’s almost become default behavior.”

“When somebody lands on your site, again, what are the conversion rates like? Are they getting that first taste of a real good experience themself when they start engaging your brand?”

“If you’re looking for that prominence as a business, it’s all about two things - review count and review score.”

“It’s got to be super easy to engage with you as a business.”

What do people say and think about your brand online? It carries much more weight with potential customers than your own marketing messaging. Always responding to negative comments and reviews are opportunities for service-based marketers to turn haters and detractors back into customers and brand loyalists.

Today’s guest is Michael Buzinski from Buzzworthy Integrated Marketing. He talks about why reputation management matters and how to make it right. The shortcut to good reputation management is awesome customer service. Under promise. Over deliver.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Reputation Management: Opinion of the general public about you/your company
• Reviews/Recommendations: Who do you trust - family members or strangers?
• Service-based Businesses: Getting new clients to know, like, trust is challenging
• Negative Comments/Complaints: Don’t take them personally, but seriously
• Same Situation, Different Opinion: Customer isn’t always right - understand why
• Positive Reviews: Systemize, automate, or incentivize reputation management
• Customer Scores: Do satisfaction, service, retention scores make an impact?
• Common Mistakes: Don’t be too zealous or pushy, or you lose loyalty, advocacy

 

Links:

• Michael Buzinski on LinkedIn
• Buzzworthy Integrated Marketing
• Buzzrep
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Michael Buzinski:

“What strangers have to say about you and your company literally has more weight than what your mom says about you.”

“People hire people. They don’t hire features. They don’t hire benefits. They hire the person to deliver those features and benefits.”

“Seven out of 10 people will complain before they praise.”

“The new way, one of the best ways to utilize reputation management is getting video testimonials on your website.”

Setting aggressive marketing growth goals can be intimidating. Some marketers set the bar too low and try to achieve goals that seem impressive but decline year after year. Marketers want to help their organizations succeed but also set accurate expectations for stakeholders.

Today’s guest is Darrell Amy, author of Revenue Growth Engine. He talks about how marketers can easily set, accelerate, and achieve ambitious and aggressive marketing growth goals to succeed.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Darrell’s Elevator Pitch: Hit growth goals by aligning sales and marketing
• Revenue Growth: Make sure engine is firing on all cylinders to reach goals
• What drives revenue growth? Net new customers, revenue per customer
• Realistic Revenue Growth: Cross sell to reach aggressive 100% sold goal
• Business to Business (B2B): Know ideal client to know ideal prospects
• Outbound Marketing Mindset: What to do to get on radar, engage ideal prospects
• Aggressive Metric: Aim for 100% coverage for net new, cross sell engagement
• Marketing Automation System: How many, when, where did prospects engage?
• Ambitious vs. Achievable: Gauge overpromising, under delivering, playing it safe
• Onboarding Process: First 100 days sets relationship status within community
• Fail Forward: Explain what/why it happened and factors involved to fix outcomes
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): How are they connected to revenue?

 

Links:

• Darrell Amy on LinkedIn
• Revenue Growth Engine
• HubSpot
• Mark Hunter
• Seth Godin’s Blog - Permission Marketing
• Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman
• Pablo Giacopelli on Facebook
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Darrell Amy:

“I am passionate about helping companies hit their growth goals, specifically by aligning sales and marketing to achieve those goals.”

“When sales and marketing are not aligned, it really slows everything down.”

“You can drive a lot of revenue with an audience where you already have permission to communicate with them.”

“One of the most important cylinders in your revenue growth engine is really considering the onboarding process.”

How can content marketing and product marketing teams have different goals and responsibilities, but still work together to achieve incredible results and help their companies grow?

Today’s guest is Yaag Ganesh from Avoma, a leading management, collaboration, and AI assistant platform. Yaag talks about how content and product marketing teams can best collaborate and work together toward shared objectives to drive top performance.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Roles and Responsibilities: Depends on size of organization
• Product Features: Ensure customer awareness and adoption
• Content Friction: Are you writing for the customer, prospect, or bot?
• Consequences: Content experience brings people closer or further from brand
• Brand Impact: What and whose problem are you solving? Seek and gain clarity
• Common Goals: Consider entire journey to fill in gaps, achieve cohesive results
• Team Sport: Speak same language to understand and align culture, purpose

 

Links:

• Yaag Ganesh on LinkedIn
• Yaag Ganesh’s Email
• Avoma
• The Juice
• HubSpot
• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Salesforce
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Yaag Ganesh:

“As the companies grow bigger and you start scaling each of those functions, I think product marketing tends to take ownership of how you execute the positioning side of things.”

“It is still collective responsibility of both these teams to ensure that the communication -  anything that goes on the website - is aligned to what the company stands for.”

“With every of these touchpoints, people are either coming towards your brand or they’re getting deflected away.”

“Your products can change. The problems that you’re solving can change, but the fundamental belief system needs to be aligned.”

Great content marketing can come from great storytelling. Who better to tell great stories than journalists? Marketers can learn from journalists how to create content that resonates with people through the power of storytelling. 

Today’s guest is Ben Worthen, CEO of Message Lab, which combines journalism, data, and design to help organizations create content that resonates with real people. Ben discusses valuable insights for anyone interested in creating content that matters by combining journalistic storytelling techniques with data and design.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Marketers: Be skilled storytellers to reach out to people about what matters most
• Modern Marketing: Takes advantage of times when people don't want to buy
• Storytelling Problems: Why content marketers miss the mark with storytelling
• People’s Patience: Half of them leave content piece before the 15-second mark
• Journalists vs. Marketers: You don't have to be a journalist to tell a great story
• Empathy, Sympathy, and Authenticity: What readers need from marketers
• What’s the problem? People care about the experience, not a company’s product
• Listen and Learn: Take time to talk about ideas with others to get their opinions
• Storytelling Skills: Uplevel by knowing data, information to make better decisions

 

Links:

• Ben Worthen on LinkedIn
• Message Lab
• The Wall Street Journal
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Ben Worthen:

“As there's so much choice about what you choose to pay attention to, what you don't want to pay attention to, when you want to pay attention to one thing, and when you get to pay attention to another, it's more important to be able to reach people with things that they care about.”

“People are biologically programmed to want to pay attention to a good story. It's something that goes back to when we all lived in caves and sat around the fire.”

“If you want to broaden your reach, if you want to have more influence, if you want to break out of a sales-only moment in time where you can have a meaningful interaction with someone, stories are the way to do it.”

“When we think about the coolest experiences that we've had, they tend to be experiences that someone has created for us. Those are things that we tend to share with people.”

Great work starts with great workflows. How do the best product marketing teams structure their workflows? 

Today’s guest is Sergey Sundukovskiy, Co-Founder, CTO, and Chief Product Officer (CPO) at Salesmsg. Sergey talks about how to develop successful product marketing workflows and processes.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why product marketers should document, structure defined workflows/processes
• SalesMsg: How company views product marketing and management all together
• Product Management Stages: Ideation, collaboration, construction, and transition
• Repeatability: Work is always the same; improves orchestration between parties
• Product Marketing Debt: Things are just simply going to eventually slow down
• Too many tools? Use depends on purpose and internal/external communication
• Accountability: CPO is responsible for templates documenting workflow/process
• Outcome/Result: Software adopted by existing customers should be measured

 

Links:

• Sergey Sundukovskiy on LinkedIn
• Sergey Sundukovskiy’s Email
• SalesMsg
• AMP 245: Developing Editorial Workflows and Content Creation Processes That Make Awesome Content Possible With Justin Zimmerman From Salesmsg
• InVision
• TryMyUI
• HubSpot
• Intercom
• Jira
• Asana
• ClickUp
• Confluence
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Sergey Sundukovskiy:

“We look at product management in four stages. It’s the ideation, collaboration, construction, and transition.”

“The improvement in repeatability as well as the work orchestration between multiple parties is always the same.”

“At SalesMsg, product marketing is focused on existing customers, and marketing all together is focused on prospects and leads.”

“Execution on the product marketing side becomes a competitive advantage.”

For SaaS companies, onboarding emails help establish long-term relationships with customers to understand and effectively use software tools. Yet, onboarding processes and email copy are often overlooked. The best way to learn what customers need is to talk to them. 

Today’s guest is Samar Owais, SaaS and eCommerce email expert. She talks about everything you need to know to make onboarding emails an effective part of your customer acquisition and retention strategy. Samar’s advice on how to talk to customers and identify their pain points can apply to any marketer.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why are onboarding emails important? Shows how to use tool to solve problem
• Onboarding Emails: Take pressure off customer support and set expectations
• Biggest Mistakes: Don’t hide branding, create copy that starts conversations
• Map Email Journey: What is the purpose of an onboarding email sequence?

 

Links:

• Samar Owais
• Canva
• Linktree
• ActiveCampaign
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Samar Owais:

“Until and unless your users are not using your app, it doesn't matter whether they're paying for it or not. You are failing at the one thing that you were set out to do, which is solve the problem.”

“We need to onboard with retention in mind.”

“Email is often used as a marketing tool, but it is a communication tool.”

“Email journey is an entire ecosystem. For SaaS companies, you need to map out every customer touch point and then just focus on them.”

Marketers struggle with the fear of focusing on the right things and doing things the wrong way. However, there are ways to use, gather, and apply data to get on the right path to generate a return. 

Today’s guest is Carolyn Lowe, Founder and CEO at ROI Swift and author of Business Growth Do’s and Absolute Don’ts. Carolyn talks about how to use the right data to make the right decisions.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Paid Platforms: Amazon, Facebook make a profit and ad dollars go up in flames
• Margins for Error: Marketers have more leeway at big businesses hiring experts
• Isolation vs. Network: Compare performance to know if you’re missing something
• Self-Doubt: Lack of confidence can corrode team’s ability to be successful
• eCommerce/Marketing Strategy: Test, iterate, tweak to measure and manage
• Business Growth Book: Get basics right and scale core values for positive path
• Brands: How are you different? Break through noise to sell a story, sell a product
• Quantitative/Qualitative Research: Get to know your customer base via surveys
• Best Metrics: Prove what marketers are doing is working or not to be profitable

 

Links:

• Carolyn Lowe on LinkedIn
• ROI Swift
• Business Growth Do’s and Absolute Don’ts
• Dell
• Chewy
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Carolyn Lowe:

“I like the idea of outsourcing the expertise when you’re small because you can’t know everything.”

“When you’re always self-doubting, it’s really hard to move forward. We used to always say, ‘If you can measure it, you can manage it.’”

“I’m all about test, iterate, and tweak.”

“It starts and ends with the customer.”

What do marketing leaders and teams need to know about gender equity in the workplace? Make it a priority to be a great communicator, highly effective, and flexible to drive change.

Today’s guest is Ashley McManus, Senior Director of Global Marketing at Smart Eye. She is a tech startup marketing leader with extensive expertise in inbound marketing. Her thoughtful branding and organized approach to execution resulted in acquiring the tech startup, Affectiva.

Ashley is able to break down challenges, come up with creative solutions, and drive results quickly within budget. She combines strategic thinking with tactical execution, analyzing problems, and identifying steps to results by being adaptive and resourceful.

Also, Ashley designs strategies for tech companies to position them as industry thought leaders. She does this by deliberately creating high-quality content that resonates with their target audience and is in line with their vision.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Equity vs. Equality: What’s the difference and distinction between genders?
• Imbalances: Promote gender equality by empowering women to be equal
• COVID Impact: Why gender equity in the workplace is a concern for everyone
• Diversity of Views: Output isn’t as helpful when everyone looks/thinks same way
• Marketing Role: Customer targeting and company representation, reputation
• Positive Benefits and Negative Effects: People talk, culture misfits, and churn
• What can women do to get unstuck? Who do they talk to be hired and promoted?
• Gender equity from the ground up:
  • Create inclusive hiring practices
  • Simplify job requirements
  • Don’t ask for salary history
  • Candidates should meet diverse interview panel
  • Build enabling human resources department
  • Allow autonomy to be accountable (flexible hours, remote work, etc.)
  • Give recognition, encourage visibility, and advocate for yourself

 

Links:

• Ashley McManus on LinkedIn
• Smart Eye
• Affectiva
• Glassdoor
• Slack
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Ashley McManus:

“Equality between men and women, it doesn’t mean that men and women have to become the same. But it’s just that their rights, responsibilities, opportunities, they don’t depend on whether they are born male or female.”

“Gender equity - that means fairness. Fairness of treatment for men and women according to their respective needs.”

“Equity really leads to equality.”

“Women are responsible for, I think, 70 to 80 percent of customer purchasing.”

It’s smart to organize content when you have a core piece of pillar content linked to several smaller pieces covering sub-topics around your main topic. Also, it’s about knowing what to include in a topic cluster and how to organize information within a hub-and-spoke content model.

Today’s guest is Skyler Reeves from Ardent Growth, a content intelligence consultancy. Building out topic clusters can be expensive, especially when mistakes are made. How much time and resources does it take to produce multiple pieces to make something like the hub-and-spoke model work the first time around?

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• How to use content intelligence to create better topic clusters
• Content Intelligence: Intersection between content strategy, business intelligence
• Marketers should care about topic modeling when building topic clusters
• Tedious Topic Process: Takes time if marketers don’t start with parent keywords
• Content Value: Where should marketers prioritize things to get the most value?
• Budget: Two ways to do things—do them right or do them again
• Data and Decisions: Go with gut feeling and/or accurate data to make decisions
• Current Constraints: Does business need more awareness? Sales material?
• Tools: There’s things they can't do that you want them to do, so create your own
• Conversion Data: Where it is going to take a minimal amount of effort to get ROI
• Problems: Avoid wasting time, energy, and budget by creating a bunch of content

 

Links:

• Skyler Reeves on LinkedIn
• Skyler Reeves on Twitter
• Ardent Growth
• Traffic Think Tank - Slack Community
• Superpath by Jimmy Daly from Animalz
• HubSpot
• Ahrefs
• ActiveCampaign
• QuickBooks
• Xero
• Keyword Insights
• SE Ranking
• Semrush
• Moz
• Keyword Cupid
• Mailchimp
• Constant Contact
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Skyler Reeves:

“Something we're constantly trying to do is figure out ways to simplify things for everyone with the way they do their work, so they can get it done faster and more accurately.”

“We want to know about the content before we actually go to make those decisions. You can think of it as a precursor or an overarching theme to content strategy and content marketing.”

“How do you know what the perfect hub is? How do you know when something needs to be part of hub A or part of hub B, especially when you're trying to rank these things on search engines?”

“One of the easiest, quick ways to solve cannibalization without having to rely on your gut - just go look at what Google's telling you.”

CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

Has your smartphone ever beeped or vibrated to let you know that something, some piece of information or message, is waiting, just for you? Without even thinking, you read, listen to, or watch, and become completely absorbed in it. How have these pieces gained so much power over our behavior and attention? How do software companies hook us, and what can marketers learn from this phenomenon?

Today’s guest is Nir Eyal, who says today’s smartest companies have melded psychology, business, and technology into habit-forming products. Nir is the best-selling author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. He’s an angel investor and expert in behavioral design. He unveils some psychological principles behind some of today’s biggest and most valuable companies.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Skill of the century is the ability to cultivate focus
• Behavioral Design: Engaging, habit forming products built with consumer psychology in mind
• People use the Hooked model to engage with a product or service
• Step 1: Internal trigger (reason why you use a product - to modulate your mood, to feel something different; products and services cater to emotional discomfort)
• What’s the user’s itch? What’s their pain point that occurs frequently enough to build a habit around?
• Step 2: Action (the simplest behavior done in anticipation of a reward and relief from discomfort; technology shortens the distance between the need and reward)
• Lewin’s Equation: “People act in accordance to their personality and their environment” - the easier something is, the more likely people are to do it
• Step 3: Reward Phase (the itch gets scratched, the customer’s need is satiated, and their problems are solved)
• Element of Variability: Something of mystery, something of uncertainty
• 3 Variable Reward Types: Rewards of the tribe, the hunt, and of the self
• If you can form a habit, you can engage people with your brand through a community/content habit, and monetization is the result of engagement
• Step 4: Investment Phase (increases likelihood of the next pass through the hook by loading the next trigger and storing value)
• Content, data, followers, and reputation get users to invest in your product
• Companies should make a deliberate effort to understand consumers better; what makes people click and tick, so you can build services that they want

 

Links:

• NirandFar.com
• Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
• Habit Summit
• Stack Overflow
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by Nir Eyal:

• “Where we always start is what’s the user’s itch? What’s their pain point that occurs frequently enough to build a habit around?”
• “The easier something is, the more likely people are to do it.”
• “Monetization is a result of engagement.”

Chief marketing officers (CMOs) typically only stay with a company for only 24-25 months. That type of turnover at the top level of marketing departments is not good for marketers in leadership roles or with leadership aspirations.  

Today’s guest is Mark Donnigan, a marketing consultant. He talks about why CMOs need to think more like business strategists to better connect where marketing fits into the big picture within your organization rather than thinking about marketing as a set of tactics that are separate from what the rest of the business is doing.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why marketing leaders need to understand the business objectives
• Gartner: Average buyer over 50% through buying journey before making contact
• MBA Playbook: Where CMOs go wrong by following a concrete buying cycle
• Solution: Spend time with CEO to connect with company’s strategy and revenue
• Attribution: Avoid ROI issues by shifting from cost center to revenue perspective
• Pitfalls: When marketing leaders focus more on building, not understanding skills
• No Excuses: Marketing leaders need to be business-aware, business-oriented

 

Links:

• Mark Donnigan - Growth Stage Marketing
• Mark Donnigan on LinkedIn
• Category Design Presentation
• Founders Marketing Playbook Presentation
• Gartner Global Research and Advisory Company
• Play Bigger by Christopher Lochhead
• The Qualified Sales Leader by John McMahon
• HubSpot
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Mark Donnigan:

“No longer is it sufficient in today’s fragmented buyer journey to just basically build your whole program around a nice funnel.”

“The average B2B buyer was...over 50% of the way through their buying journey before they even contacted the first vendor.”

“You have the marketing tools to execute. There’s no need to go to another marketing seminar, another martech seminar. Instead, spend time with the CEO.”

“To be able to contribute in a sales meeting, you better know about the business.”

How well do most CMOs know their CIO or IT director? Not as well as they should. It’s important for marketers to build strong relationships with their technical teams to achieve marketing success.

Today’s guest is Theresa O’Neil, CMO of Zylo, a SaaS management platform. She talks about what and why CMOs and marketing leaders need to navigate side by side with IT to get the most from their technology, to make sure they're not bleeding their martech stack budget, and to ensure that they're collectively driving the most ROI possible.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Marketers: Use the right tools to get the right jobs done for the right people
• How many SaaS applications does the average company purchase? A lot
• How many of those SaaS applications are not actually being used? A lot
• Marketing creates pipelines so sales can close deals and generate revenue
• Win-Win: Marketing and IT team up to make people happy, effective, productive
• Shadow IT: Marketing and IT collaborate and crowdsource selected software
• Goals and Objectives: How to build a bridge between marketing and IT
• Technology is great when it works, but who fixes the problem when it doesn’t? IT
• Maintain and grow lifecycle mentality by putting technology, processes in place

 

Links:

• Theresa O’Neil on LinkedIn
• Zylo
• Coupa
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Theresa O’Neil:

“In marketing, to do a great job, you need the right tools, and it's never been more important than it is now.”

“The average company has over 600 SaaS applications. Most of them, IT doesn't know about.”

“38% of licenses go unused every month. Just think about it. If you could reclaim 38% of your tech budget, for a marketer, that could absolutely be found money that you could use for a new initiative, or program, or something else that can really help you meet your goals.”

“By partnering together and making those employees happy and productive, you're also making sure you're not wasting budget.”

What does email automation look like, how does it work, and what are its benefits? Discover how to grow, scale, and mature by owning and not making the same mistakes.

Today’s guest is Jeremiah Utecht, Lead on Marketing Automation and Business Intelligence at CoSchedule. He takes the mystery out of marketing automation and makes it work.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Jeremiah’s Role: Build, maintain, and refine CoSchedule’s email marketing
• CoSchedule’s Mission: Send the right email to the right person at the right time
• Happy Anniversary! Marketing automation message triggered by attribute/context
• Marketing Automation Internally: Means most relevant content at relevant time
• Successful Multi-Channels: Website customization and email for CoSchedule
• Clever or sophisticated? Trial-and-error process for practices/platforms that work
• Automation Attributes: Anything is possible with simple and flexible forms
• Oops! Emails: Marketing automation at scale is an incredibly unforgiving practice
• Communication and Confidence: Freeze, validate, test, isolate, fix error, move on
• Data Manipulation: Start small, create email list, and capitalize on investment
• Benefits: Marketing automation is data driven, use tools to try and test emails

 

Links:

• Jeremiah Utecht on LinkedIn
• MailChimp
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Jeremiah Utecht:

“Marketing automation at CoSchedule seeks to always send the right email to the right person at the right time.”

“The irony of my job is that it’s more about not sending certain emails and saying, ‘No,’ a lot than it is actually blasting things out.”

“Marketing automation is triggering marketing content messaging based on an attribute, a context.”

“As a rule, being super clever almost always blows up in your face.”

Do you create great content for an awesome business but still find it challenging to be found on the internet? Building relationships with the right partners can build your audience by getting in front of the audiences of others.

Today’s guest is Brett McGrath, Vice President of Marketing at The Juice, a content distribution platform for B2B content. It’s like Spotify, but for business content. Brett shares how to develop content partnerships to launch ambitious new companies.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Content Collaboration: Takes time and effort to work the correct way
• Priority #1: Meet people and have conversations with them
• Learn Two Things: If marketing messages resonate, what’s on marketers’ minds
• Podcast: Having a show helps build partnerships and talk about passion projects
• Mutual Benefits: Build relationships to create, present, share, and add value
• Mindset and Philosophy: Launch product and company with people
• Biggest Win: Streamlining content process to create content with social proof
• Where to Meet/What to Say: Be comfortable and confident in social communities
• Podcast Practice: Ask questions, facilitate feedback, and promote people/brands

 

Links:

• Brett McGrath on Twitter
• Brett McGrath on LinkedIn
• The Juice
• The 3C Podcast: Curating Content Creators
• Leah Friedman from Guru
• Jimmy Daly from Superpath
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Brett McGrath:

“When I joined The Juice, priority #1 was meet people and just have conversations.”

“Reach out to people and do it in a way that is authentic and natural in building partnerships.”

“We, as B2B marketers, need to move away from me-centered marketing or marketing for our own KPIs and our metrics or what our bosses want.”

“Find the places where people want to go and learn and are like-minded and find ways to engage.”

Marketers understand the value of search engine optimization (SEO), but they need to clearly communicate why it matters to get buy-in from executives, stakeholders, and clients.

Today’s guest is Eli Schwartz, a consultant and growth advisor. Also, he is the author of Product-Led SEO, a new book that describes how to communicate the value of SEO and think strategically and philosophically about SEO to be successful.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• What motivated Eli to write the book? Explain to leaders how to do SEO sensibly
• Sweet Spot: Start SEO when spending at least $1-2 million on paid marketing
• Disparity: How much is your company spending on paid marketing versus SEO?
• Big Problem: SEO blackboxes things and mystifies it intentionally with metrics
• Metrics vs. Outcomes: SEO is about speaking the same language, not keywords
• Big Budget: Put money in to produce content, create product, and make a profit
• Big Consequence: Prioritize SEO or continue to fall behind business competitors
• SEO Do’s and Don’ts: Focus on content but not allocate enough resources
• Monetary Value: Clearly communicate what you need and why to impact ROI
• SEO Standpoint: Create content from a product perspective for user engagement
• Priorities: Base SEO on users, not search volume/traffic, to get biggest benefits
• Leaders don't need to understand SEO, but they need to know the outcomes
• Recipe for Success/Failure: Create product, product flops, and ideas don’t work

 

Links:

• Eli Schwartz on LinkedIn
• Eli Schwartz’s Website
• Eli Schwartz on Twitter
• Product-Led SEO
• SurveyMonkey
• Ahrefs
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Eli Schwartz:

“I am a huge fan of not creating any sort of content unless you know that there are users that will consume it, it makes sense for users, and it will end up converting.”

“If you don't do SEO, then your competitors move ahead of you. If you don't do the right SEO, you just lose your entire investment. But that's not the way most people think of it.”

“Social media is a little bit lower in the funnel. I think paid marketing is at the bottom of the funnel. Brand marketing is potentially higher in the funnel than SEO. Make them all work together and that's where SEO will be the most profitable.”

“They don't need to understand how SEO works. What they do need to understand are the outcomes, and the work that's going to be done, and of course, the investment that's going to be made.”

Too much marketing is based on guesses not backed by data. Paid tactics, like pay-per-click (PPC) and social media advertising, can burn through your budget when guesses are wrong. How can you use data to make marketing more predictable to forecast performance and adjust to shifts in trends to increase your ROI?

Today’s guest is John Readman from BOSCO, a digital analytics and predictive modeling platform for retailers and eCommerce companies. He discusses what it takes for predictable marketing to be successful. It involves understanding historical data, performance, and trends across a client's channels.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• What is predictable marketing? Getting all data in one place on an ongoing basis
• Why should marketers make decisions driven by data, not gut instinct/intuition?
• Data and Decisions: Depend on volume, understanding data to base decisions
• Challenges: Digital marketing data is used to scale ROI in one particular channel
• COVID Comparisons: Causal effect of supply and demand during the pandemic
• BOSCO: Helps marketers predict future w/ machine learning, Bayesian statistics
• Out-of-Date Numbers: Forecasting runs scenarios, planning, and model analysis
• Different Data Sources: Connect platforms to quickly predict what could be done
• Wasted Budget? Run and identify data models that are hugely, scarily accurate
• Two Key Metrics: Cost per acquisition and understanding that by channel
• Clients/Conversations: People make decisions emotionally, justify them with data
• Control: People get nervous about not doing things the traditional way
• Predictive Analytics Platform/Practice: Get buy-in by leading conversation with potential results, starting small, and using data to quantify progress and success

 

Links:

• John Readman on LinkedIn
• BOSCO
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from John Readman:

“If we've got the right data in the right format, and we understand what is going on around certain targets, what makes it predictable is understanding the metrics and the outputs we are trying to achieve.”

“Fundamentally, why do people need to make data-driven decisions to really explain where they're spending their money, where are they getting their ROI, and then how can they scale it?”

“It all starts with getting all your data organized in one place, then looking at what I am willing to pay to acquire a customer, and then maybe looking at customer lifetime value.”

“The thing to stand out will be a better proposition, a better product, and a better promotion, which is sort of the traditional marketing going around in a full circle.”

Great content doesn't happen by accident. It's usually a byproduct of refined processes that help teams work together efficiently and effectively. However, planning editorial workflows and implementing content creation processes can be challenging.

Today’s guest is Justin Zimmerman from Salesmsg. Justin talks about how marketing teams can develop and implement editorial workflows and content creation processes to create better content.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Creative Control: Why marketers should create editorial workflows for content
• Four Cs: Collaboration, connection, creative control, and compensation
• Flow State: Focus on the process and the results will show up
• Neurological Map: Goal in world of workflow is to align teams for higher purpose
• State of Enjoyment: You have 3 places you live—work, home, and inside yourself
• Start Right: Avoid potential pitfalls, pain by having workflow process for outcomes
• Lessons Learned: Listen and do something to not repeat the same mistakes
• Continually Improve: You can't have a sense of progress without a process
• Content Team Roles: At minimum—a writer, designer, and project manager
• CoSchedule: Tool that separates chaos from clarity
• Person at the Helm: Make sure work gets done, but it doesn’t mean you do it
• Four Ps: Purpose, people, process, and product
• Context Switch: Too many tools, channels, and notifications lead to distraction
• Complicated vs. Simple: Basic elements of workflow/work management process
• Mistakes Made: Start small, take it slow; workflows are change and require change management

 

Links:

• Justin Zimmerman on LinkedIn
• Salesmsg
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Scrum
• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
• Jira
• Slack
• The Big Lebowski
• E. Deming
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Justin Zimmerman:

“Self-reflection and experience really allow me to look at the word process not as a dirty word, but as a way to align teams.”

“Flow state is, I think, the ultimate outcome of teams working together towards a common goal and feeling that sense of higher purpose.”

“I think words matter because they give an indication of the actions that follow them.”

“Workflow is the way that connects where we are today with the progress and results that we want.”

Do you believe in the power of personal video in video outreach or do you remain skeptical? If a pitch for something isn’t interesting on its own, how will a video that takes longer to watch than reading a simple email grab your attention and sway your opinion?

Today’s guest is David Jay, founder of Warm Welcome, a personal video platform. Discover the value of video, how video can be used, and its full potential by making business communication that scales and creates personal conversations and human connections.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Use Cases: Supercharge outreach, make website welcoming, improve onboarding flows, lead generation, and sales
• Videos: Personalized versus personal - David describes the differences
• Do’s/Don’ts: How to make a video worth watching to solve someone’s problem
• Mindset: Business is built on trust, and trust is built through relationships
• Instant Video Connection: Talk to humans - nobody wants to talk to chatbots
• Emotion or Information? People buy and sell things online to other people
• Improve ROI: Measure and track customers’ loyalty, evangelism, engagement

 

Links:

• Warm Welcome
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from David Jay:

“Video can be personalized or it can just be personal. There’s kind of different directions you can go with it.”

“There's a lot of ways to use video in our business.”

“The first thing not to do is don’t think of it selfishly. Don’t think of it as a way to get what you want. Every sales and marketer, we’re guilty of this.”

“I think business is built on trust, and trust is built through relationships.”

Audience growth - whether in the context of social media followers, email list, podcast listeners, or YouTube subscribers - whatever the case may be, it's easy to believe that more is always better.

Today’s guest is Matt Johnson, author of MicroFamous: Become Famously Influential to the Right People. Also, Matt is the founder of a podcast PR agency, Pursuing Results, and host of the MicroFamous podcast. He talks about how to be micro-famous with the right people and learn to grow as an influencer within a given niche.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• MicroFamous: Be famously influential, but not to everyone, just the right people
• Focused Approach: Reorient strategy to grow smaller but better following
• Benefits: Expect to drive better results by attracting just the right people
• What People Want: To working with the #1 name that solve their problems
• Who’s the right person? Until you know, you don't know what content to create
• Audiences want clarity and focus; put content into the world without shouting
• Wave of the Future: Know who to talk to, identify correct niche to focus on
• Who are the right people? The most valuable, open-minded, and influential
• First or Only: Uncover clear, compelling idea that appeals to a given audience
• Three Stages of Influence: Get seen, get noticed, and get known
• Practice What You Preach: Share what you do, be featured, build name for self

 

Links:

• MicroFamous
• Pursuing Results
• MicroFamous Podcast
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Ryan Deiss at Traffic & Conversion
• Tim Ferriss
• Marc Benioff of Salesforce
• Tony Robbins
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Matt Johnson:

“When I go to an industry conference, it's full of my ideal people. I absolutely want everybody there to know who I am. That's really what it means to be MicroFamous.”

“If you're not number one, you're facing an uphill battle.”

“You want to be famously influential, but not to everyone, just to the exact right people.”

“The thing that generated sales was delivering the exact right content that the right people cared deeply about and it resonated with them.”

If you have a podcast, are you repurposing your content assets across other channels and formats? If not, then you are missing out on opportunities to reach potential listeners and customers. 

Today’s guest is Holly Pels, Vice President of Marketing at Casted – a podcast platform for B2B marketers. Holly talks about how and why marketers should turn their podcast into a content creation engine to drive return on investment (ROI).

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• How and why marketers shouldn’t struggle to make the most of their assets
• How to turn things around to better distribute podcast content
• Benefits of sharing and repurposing podcast assets across platforms/channels
• Why marketers should pay attention to podcasting as a channel to use right now
• Experts at everything? Marketers are expert storytellers, not always SMEs
• Marketers fail to maximize assets by creating silos, producing one-off episodes
• Missed Opportunity: Plan to repurpose richer, better, and engaging content
• Repurpose/Repromote: Makes things easier, engaging, saves time, offers insight
• Getting Started:
  • Embed player on blog and website
  • Create certain amount of evergreen social assets
  • Schedule blog posts to highlight podcast content
  • Pull key information rather than listening to full episode

 

Links:

• Holly Pels on LinkedIn
• Casted
• OpenView
• Lumavate
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Holly Pels:

“Podcasting is a channel that is very authentic. It’s two people having a conversation versus what a brand necessarily wants you to hear.”

“Content planning is really important when it comes to podcasting, but this is much richer, better, engaging content than anything.”

“Traffic is great but conversion is better.”

“If it seems to be resonating with our audience, we want to make sure that we’re giving them more.”

CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

These days, you need to create both a great Website and great content to rank on Google.

Today, we’re talking to Brian Dean, an SEO expert and founder of Backlinko, about how to fuel your 10x content using his research method called the Skyscraper Technique.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Black Hat SEO: Stuffing keywords and creating fake signals to rank in Google
• Google penalized sites using Black Hat SEO strategy
• White Hat SEO: Show Google everything you did to optimize your site
• Backlinko teaches people White Hat SEO strategies
• SEO Elements: Keyword and topic research; create content around them
• Two types of keywords: Information and commercial
• Create and optimize content that gets the most searches around keywords/topics
• Differences between well-researched and not researched content and topics
• Provide one-stop shopping for all the information customers need
• Skyscraper Technique: Research to figure out what content will perform well
• Ways to improve content - go bigger and better, curate, storytelling, and more
• Focus on quality over quantity; create less content, make it more valuable
• Common missteps when implementing “less is more” strategy and ranking

 

Links:

• 10X Marketing Formula by Garrett Moon
• Backlinko
• Backlinko on YouTube
• Jon Cooper
• Tim Ferriss and the 4-Hour Work Week
• Google Keyword Planner
• Reddit
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by Brian Dean:

“You really have to create legitimately great content and a legitimately great Website to rank in Google.”

“Everything starts with a keyword with SEO.”

“They just regurgitate what’s already out there and that’s not the type of content that’s going to rank as well on Google.”

“There’s tons of ways to make your content more valuable than the competition.”

Old school press releases never get much hype. Usually, they are not interesting to write or read. Smart marketers and PR professionals know that well-written press releases are crucial to land press coverage and influencer relationships that build brand awareness and establish companies as the authority in their niche.

Today’s guest is Mickie Kennedy from eReleases, a press release distribution company. Mickie discusses how to get press releases right to get coverage from even the biggest media outlets.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why have press releases as part of a successful marketing strategy? Leverage
• Strategic/Smart: Craft your news/announcements to do well with press releases
• Same Message: Safe press releases or contrarian quotes are reasons for failure
• Justify Expense: Press releases take time and money to reach their full potential
• People respond to surveys/polls; include odd questions to be picked up by press
• Newsworthy Criteria: When’s the right time to write and send a press release?
• Industry Coverage: Local media is most accessible and easiest media to get
• Improve Odds: Share press release with many people for implied endorsements
• Positive impact? Press releases are worst marketing tool to measure ROI metrics

 

Links:

• Mickie Kennedy on LinkedIn
• eReleases
• Free Master Class: How to Build a PR Campaign Designed to Get Massive Media Coverage
• Shark Tank Show
• SurveyMonkey
• Google Forms
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Mickie Kennedy:

“That leverage, you just can’t capture elsewhere in marketing. That’s the fun thing that you sit back and watch. When it works, it works well.”

“If you can be strategic with what you’re announcing and sort of craft your own news, you can really get out there and do really well with press releases.”

“I love working with startups. About a third of the people that go on Shark Tank use eReleases to announce their segment coming up when it airs.”

“Press releases are the worst marketing tool because it’s hard as heck to measure the ROI.”

Brands are churning out more content now than ever before. Even though companies are paying more money to create more content to compete in a more crowded space, sometimes content falls flat and does not perform. The content doesn’t build business or drive results, rankings, or traffic. Is it time to prioritize quality over quantity?

Today’s guest is Gaetano DiNardi from Nextiva, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software company. Gaetano talks about what can go wrong from publishing too much content without a strategy. He discusses how to balance content quality with content quantity based on personal and professional experience.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Marketing Mistakes: Brands can’t buy ads to become a famous brand
• Common Content Problems:
  • Companies don’t think about distribution
  • Lacks subject matter expertise and authoritativeness
• Compounding Effects: Time, money, and effort spent on quantity over quality
• Content Cleanup: Audit current content to create new optimized, quality content
• Content Considerations:
  • Is the content good or not?
  • Does the content produce leads and signups?
  • Does the content educate and inform audiences?
  • Is content measured to evaluate effectiveness and engagement?
• Content Creation Process and Less is More Strategy:
  • Search Google for every topic before producing content
  • Compare rankings to create better quality, higher relevance, more value
  • Develop cornerstone pillars of content and associated pages to get results

 

Links:

• Gaetano DiNardi on LinkedIn
• Nextiva
• Monday.com
• Backlinko
• Rand Fishkin
• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Ahrefs
• Gong
• NerdWallet
• Single Grain
• Leveling Up by Eric Siu
• Marketing Examples
• Saltbae
• Dave Ramsey
• John Barrows
• Peter Schiff
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Gaetano DiNardi:

“Companies don’t think about distribution. They just produce.”

“Most content actually lacks expertise, authoritativeness, and it doesn’t always seem like it’s coming from a subject matter expert because oftentimes, it’s not.”

“All this quantity, you have to keep maintaining it, and you have to keep it up to date.”

“These are assets that never die. They live forever if they are good quality.”

The marketing industry is full of talented people who come from all kinds of educational and professional backgrounds. If you want to get into the industry, but you don’t have a directly relevant college degree or previous work experience, how do you break into marketing to succeed?

Today’s guest is Melissa Berrios from Melissa Berrios Consulting and Virtualmente Libre, where she helps consult six- and seven-figure entrepreneurs on how to grow their brands and audiences. Before being a marketing consultant, Melissa spent 13 years as a project engineer.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Unplanned Accident: How Melissa pivoted from engineering to marketing
• Corporate Roles: Engineers who climb the corporate ladder lose creativity
• Creative Outlets: Melissa got bit by the online world bug and started blogging
• Content Creation: How to run, manage, market, and promote blogs
• Decision Time: Severe depression forced Melissa to take time off and not return
• What can I do? Continue to blog and help clients grow blogs, brands, businesses
• Education: Melissa taught and coached herself marketing to coach clients
• Mindset and Skillset: Engineers are problem-solvers and figure things out
• Customer Service Skills: Marketers need to understand people, as well
• Feel like an imposter? If you are passionate about something, start to pivot

 

Links:

• Melissa Berrios Consulting
• Melissa Berrios on LinkedIn
• Unstoppable by Kelly Roach
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Melissa Berrios:

“I’ve always been a very creative person growing up and even when I was in engineering school, I was involved in a lot of the arts.”

“Working in engineering is something, it could be really a creative job, which it’s fine. But as you climb the corporate ladder and you climb into more of a management role, more of a corporate role, you lose that creativity aspect of engineering.”

“I was creating a lot of content, so content creation was very strong. I became very strong at it just because blogging required me to edit video, create graphics, and do all that stuff. I became really passionate about it.”

“If you really want to pivot and do something that you are really passionate about, you need to start.”

Traditional public relations (PR) is still one of the most powerful and cost-effective tactics that brands use to get attention and build a business. It may not be the latest and greatest shiny object to chase after, but it is a proven and time-tested option.

Today’s guest is Megan Bennett, CEO of Light Years Ahead. She focuses on managing clients and exceeding their expectations. Megan has helped all kinds of clients get press coverage and measure effectiveness connected to sales and revenue.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why do PR and media relations still matter? Best bang for marketing buck
• Why should you invest in such tactics? Puts product, brand, message into media
• Challenges: Self-promoting companies and cutting through competition clutter
• Affiliate Program: Incentivize the media to cover your brand, make a commission
• How do you find writers/editors who care? Stay in touch and stay current
• PR Promise: Megan can't guarantee ROI, but can guarantee brand awareness
• Case Study: How KC Cattle Company’s Wigya hot dog broke the Internet
• Don't have money to hire PR agency? Know your audience, subscribe to service
• Next Thing To Do: Write a really good email pitch with compelling subject line
• Maturing Media Relations: Reach Out and don’t take ‘no’ for an answer
• Scrubbing Lists: Target right reporters/editors by beat, geography - Google them
• Be persistent, not annoying or repeatedly pester people who aren’t a good target
• Keep pushing and sending pitches for more coverage from relevant targets
• How to write a pitch: Identify story and angle, then tailor it to your media contact
• PR Pressure: If hiring an agency, consider chemistry and feeling comfortable

 

Links:

• Megan Bennett on LinkedIn
• Light Years Ahead
• KC Cattle Company
• Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Bratwursts Have Arrived, and They're a Revelation
• Muck Rack
• Meltwater
• Cision
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Megan Bennett:

“Once you get one good media hit, it helps to build brand awareness, so that consumers know about you.”

“You have to find a way to make your brand stand out from the rest when you're telling a story to the media.”

“Keep shopping around until you find people that you feel are really going to be passionate about your brand and want to help grow with you, not just take your money.”

“Find ways to spread the word because that’s what’s going to give your brand the credibility to move forward is the public relations and the media reviews.”

How can marketers leverage social media to influence search engine optimization (SEO) and boost their content? Social media does and does not influence organic search performance for content.

Today’s guest is Dmitry Dragilev is a public relations (PR) and SEO expert from Criminally Prolific. Dmitry talks about what he knows based on what Google does, what works in the industry, and what works for himself and his clients. He describes how to leverage social media to drive short- and long-term SEO gains and amplify your content through channels. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Remember: Social signals are not used by Google for ranking purposes
• Why? Too much volume/information to go through; Google can’t index everything
• What ranks? Getting your brand reputation and recognition on social media
• Google indexes social media content when assets are used to share information
• Simple Idea: Get people to share content w/ other people to find and link to it
• No Shortcuts: Google always keeps quality content at the top of search results
• Relationship Building: Help people bring value to people, then they will help you
• Two Things: To rank on Google, your need epic content with links and traffic

 

Links:

• Dmitry Dragilev on LinkedIn
• Dmitry Dragilev on Twitter
• Criminally Prolific
• PR That Converts Course
• StoreYa
• Best Alternative to WordStream
• Nextiva - Most Reliable VoIP Provider?
• Matt Cutts
• Matthew Woodward - Unhealthiest Foods
• Inspiyr
• How Many Users Does Clubhouse Have? 40+ Clubhouse Stats
• HubSpot
• Andrew Warner
• Nigel Stevens
• Google Page Insights
• Ahrefs
• How To Drive 10x More Traffic With This SEO Technique From Brian Dean Of Backlinko [AMP082]
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Dmitry Dragilev:

“Social signals are not used by Google for ranking purposes. I think that's really important to remember. If you are trying to think about that or trying to rank that Google will not use those social signals to rank you.”

“Your brand reputation, your brand recognition, and getting that out there via social media do indirectly impact your rankings.”

“Those assets, which are going to be linked to from many different pages, many different sites, and used in all these different posts, that's where I think the gold mine really lies with sharing information on social that people can use in all sorts of different avenues.”

“The name of the game should be spending time and money to create quality, engaging content. I think that is worth every penny. Whether it works well on social media or organically, it should probably be both.”

Are you frustrated being on an in-house marketing team working with external agencies? And vice versa? Client and agency relationships can turn sour for several different reasons, such as unreasonable expectations, misaligned objectives, overselling capabilities, or poor communication of needs.

Today’s guest is Tyler Elliston, founder of Right Side Up. Tyler talks about how his company is structured to set up client relationships for mutual success using basic philosophical and strategic approaches. Actual measures and practical guidance can prevent and avoid problems from starting in the first place. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Right Side Up: What goes wrong and what should be done
• Both Sides: Tyler was a marketer and one of those difficult clients to work with
• Differentiators: Pricing, in-house staffing support, and indexing individual talent
• Wrong Workarounds: Use agencies as transactional vendors, hire/fire managers
• Control and Commitment: Lack of ownership mentality and product/market fit
• Radical Transparency: Figuring out frustration and honest about what’s needed
• Challenges: Starting business and building systems without sacrificing quality
• Solution: Hire great people to help solve problems and scale business
• Structure: If not aligned with client’s desires/interests, it’s not the individual’s fault
• Customer Satisfaction: Apply client mindset and treat business as if it’s your own
• Difficult to deal with?
  • Apply high standards
  • Set clear expectations
  • Deliver on and strive to exceed them
  • Treat people like people

 

Links:

• Tyler Elliston on LinkedIn
• Right Side Up
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Tyler Elliston:

“Ultimately, our goal is to help them build a best-in-class organization that consists of full-time people, agencies (not us - Right Side Up), whatever sort of makes sense for their business. So, we try to take a more kind of holistic approach to their success.”

“We really index on individual talent. We really believe that great marketing comes from great marketers.”

“I felt like I had relatively little control over the talent I was working with.”

“In a lot of cases, the problem is not the person. A lot of times, the problem is the structure that the person is in.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, or the ‘DEI’ initiatives, have received increased attention for a wide variety of reasons. How and why should marketing leaders and teams implement effective DEI programs and strategies? The consequences for not understanding what DEI means does matter.

Today’s guest is Jimi Vaughn, a DEI consultant and expert. He talks about making a case for DEI by aiming for both the head and the heart of organizations’ decision makers and internal stakeholders.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• DEI: Diversity is state of things; Equity is fair treatment; Inclusion is belonging
• DEI Strategy: Communication and connecting with audience about business
• Bottom Line: Understand the $3.9-trillion buying power of minority groups
• Dismissing DEI: Incorrect belief of discrimination, exclusion is hatred, intention
• Default Assumption: Everyone’s norm is the same or close enough to yours
• Reality: We’re more alike than different, but we still have significant differences
• Decisions: Embrace, celebrate, recognize, understand, and realize impact
• Cultural Values: Who and how we value different people in different stages of life
• Resistant to change? Start the conversation to build a fact-based case
• Starting Steps for DEI Strategy:
  • Look internally at team to determine if and why perspectives are missing
  • Listen and engage by cultivating collaborative environment to contribute
  • Tie actions back to purpose and know the why to make better choices
  • Establish key performance indicators, benchmarks to measure success
• Cancel Culture:
  • Hold people accountable
  • Audience demands better
  • Recognize buying power
  • Key analytics tell a story
  • Utilize feedback and evidence

 

Links:

• Jimi Vaughn on Instagram
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Jimi Vaughn:

“When I talk about diversity, I’m really referencing the traits and characteristics that makes us all unique.”

“Equity is really about fair treatment, where equality is about the same treatment. Sometimes, equality isn’t necessarily fair.”

“I do believe that there’s an ethical responsibility for organizations and marketers and basically any business to be thinking about these types of things.”

“It would be foolish to not understand the buying power of minority groups.”

How can smaller companies compete against bigger businesses? Agile marketing is a methodology that helps companies work more efficiently and effectively to produce better outcomes.

Today’s guest is Andrea Fryrear from AgileSherpas, an agile marketing consultancy. Andrea talks about how companies can leverage limited resources the right way by having a plan and path to follow and drive outsized outcomes.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• What is agile marketing? Focus on ideal customers to get value to them faster
• Key Benefits: Customer centricity and niche down for market share
• Starting Point: Get back to basics to identify and prioritize high-value work
• Dynamic Visibility: Take time to figure out and manage what’s important or not
• Disciplined Process: Set work-in-progress limits to avoid shiny object syndrome
• Generate Results: Get more done by doing less to accomplish goals
• Baseline: Implement agile to measure process improvements, marketing metrics
• Potential Problems: Lack of understanding, misconceptions of agility + marketing

 

Links:

• Andrea Fryrear on LinkedIn
• AgileSherpas
• 4th Annual State of Agile Marketing Report
• Spotify
• American Psychological Association
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Andrea Fryrear:

“If it’s not getting you anywhere, then that speed is just waste. It’s wasted energy.”

“Agile does all of its optimization and its speed and its waste reduction to deliver value to a customer faster.”

“What do we need in order to effectively identify the high-value work and prioritize the high-value work? We need to know everything that’s out there. Everything we are doing compared with everything we could be doing.”

“Agile is meant to apply holistically across all the work that a team does.”

Are you a hiring manager responsible for building a marketing team? An internship program should not be an afterthought. Take the time to select candidates and support interns effectively to be productive team members and get a good start on their career.

Today’s guest is Owen Piehl, CoSchedule intern, who shares insights about how to get an internship for a specific role with limited experience. Owen talks about what college students and hiring managers need to know to make marketing internships successful.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Why CoSchedule? Company’s marketing mission, culture, values, and content
• Company Research: Is it what you want to do? Submit application, interview prep
• Skills: Highlight strengths, not weaknesses to workaround lack of experience
• Other Opportunities: Networking led to Congress and newspaper connections
• High Standards: Learn to accept edits and feedback; don’t take it personally
• Fear of Failure: Believe in abilities/skills and go for things to make them happen
• Right Decision: Do what’s right, build trust, allow room to make mistakes, grow
• Onboarding: Broad overview to gain understanding of role and responsibilities

 

Links:

• Owen Piehl on LinkedIn
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes:

“I started out as the social media intern. That’s what I got hired on as with little social media experience, I might add, and then now I’ve made the transfer over to the content editor intern.” Owen Piehl

“I was looking for something where I could get into marketing a little bit, learn a little more about just how marketing teams work. As I was researching, I saw a few openings for CoSchedule, and I did some research on the company.” Owen Piehl

“(Owen) You chose to focus on how your skills fit the role, rather than how your experience fit the description.” Ben Sailer

“Ask yourself what skills you have right now that might transfer. Combine that with a dedication to never stop learning, and you just might surprise yourself with what you can achieve.” Ben Sailer

“One thing I really appreciate about CoSchedule is it’s very results oriented.” Owen Piehl

Data and thought leadership are two things that work better together, especially in public relations and content marketing.

Today’s guest is Amy Littleton, Executive Vice President of Public Relations and Content at KemperLesnik. Amy talks about how to make thought leadership more accurate and authoritative to land massive PR wins. She knows what it takes to use data-backed insights to tell stories that earn media attention.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Thought Leadership: Common reasons it fails and doesn’t produce results
• Good and Bad News: Search for and find information that is right, not wrong
• Authenticity and Credibility: Marketing agenda vs. thoughtful data-driven advisory
• Proof Points: Always better to have examples and information you need to know
• Research Resources: Surveys are simple to complex and everything in between
• Content Length: Consumed on multiple channels, equipment, and platforms
• Curiosity: Gives info to get customers to care, explore new things, drive results
• Inputs In/Out: Fill your brain to produce better ideas and make better decisions

 

Links:

• Amy Littleton on LinkedIn
• KemperLesnik
• LinkedIn Polls
• SurveyMonkey
• Omnibus Survey
• The Harris Poll
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Amy Littleton:

“Even the way that we search for news and information in our personal lives, in business, you’re looking for news and information, and you can get that from multiple sources.”

“The first thing you would do is lose trust with your audience if you put out crappy content. You’re not going to get people to want to come back to you for information if the information you put out is really a marketing piece disguised as thought leadership.”

“Data can come from anywhere. I think your own curated data, third-party data, information that you’ve found that is already publicly available, and any combination of that, can help you to inform a thought leadership piece.”

“It’s about credibility. You want your piece to have credibility.”

CoSchedule started the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) in 2015 and has recorded and published more than 300 episodes. CoSchedule has worked with some of the smartest minds out there that share their stories with you through this podcast. This season, CoSchedule brings back some of the best of the best evergreen content. 

How much attention do you pay to keywords in your content?

For too many people, the answer is “none” or “nearly none.” While having engaging content that attracts human readers is vital, ignoring keywords is going to make it difficult for those human readers to find your content in the first place.

This bad advice to ignore keywords has made it so some marketers really don’t know how to use keywords effectively at all.

Today, we’re talking to Julia McCoy, the CEO of Express Writers. She’s not only an amazing writer but also considered a thought leader in her industry. She talks to us about using keywords well when creating content.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• How Julia got into freelance writing, what made her start Express Writers, and what she does there.
• An overview of the content strategy at Express Writers.
• How Julia helps older content maintain a high ranking in the search engines.
• Why targeting low-competition keywords works.
• How Julia finds the keywords and what tools she uses.
• How Julia defines good content for Express Writers.
• Tips on weaving keywords into great content.
• Why long-form content is important when it comes to ranking.
• Where to focus first if you’re a content marketer getting started with keywords.

 

Links:

• Express Writers
• Julia McCoy
• Rand Fishkin: How to Create 10x Content
• SEMRush
• Mangools
• Julia’s Content Strategy Course
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes by Julia McCoy:

“Just having engaging writing is number one.  You have to write to be read. Number two, you have to be super thorough on the topic.”

 

“Once we have that keyword, it’s not just about the keyword, it’s about creating content where that keyword is the topic."

“Consistency is key. Whenever you start, give your audience something to look forward to.”

How ethical is your marketing practice? Imagine describing your job to your best non-marketing friend. What’s your response if they think your work is ethically gray or morally suspect?

Today’s guest is Robin Cangie from The Empowered Freelancer. Robin talks about how to do work that’s radically effective and ethical, where marketers avoid ethical shortcuts by focusing on work that is genuinely helpful for leads, prospects, and customers. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• The Empowered Freelancer: Real, raw talk about being self-employed
• Radically Ethical Marketing: Honesty, transparency, and genuine helpfulness
• What isn’t radically ethical?
  • Retargeting ads without permission from customers
  • Copy designed to deceive rather than inform
  • Goal is to get users to convert rather than help them see product value
• Why should marketers choose tactics or structure strategy? Right thing to do
• Quit or speak up? Figure out your threshold, values, and what you can do
• What is a smart way to do good and better without the approach backfiring?
• Marketers/Leaders: Think about how negative perceptions harm the business
• Valid but Risky: Raising ethical concerns takes a tremendous amount of courage
• Beloved Brands: Wonderful products/services and messaging tone aligns values

 

Links:

• Robin Cangie on LinkedIn
• The Empowered Freelancer
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Robin Cangie:

“Radically Ethical Marketing is simply marketing that puts honesty, transparency, and genuine helpfulness at its center.”

“People are becoming more wise to ways that marketers try to manipulate their perceptions, use their data to get them to buy as much stuff as possible.”

“Being radically ethical is a more sustainable long-term choice.”

“Truth be told, it was a matter of needing to look in the mirror every morning and feel good about the work that I was doing. That is something that’s very important to me.”

“You may have more power than you realize to effect change.”

As a marketer, do you need to create content that applies insights derived from data and research? If so, pay attention to the right data and apply it the right way to produce the most effective work possible.

Today’s guest is Anastasia Leng from CreativeX. She talks about where marketers get misled with data and how to merge data and creativity to create content that connects with customers. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Data-backed Content: Objective way to understand what’s in each content piece
• Performance: After putting piece of content out, what has happened as a result?
• Views/Variables: Marketers should move away from biases and assumptions
• Trust gut or data? Marketers want to be right; get comfortable with being wrong
• CreativeX’s Mission: Enhance and elevate creativity expression through data
• Consistent Content: Number of clicks vs. what reflects brand and audience
• Best Practices: Creative quality and distinctive brand assets to increase sales
• Cheat Sheet for Content:
  • What should your definition of creative quality incorporate?
  • Brand right away; marketers have 2-3 seconds to make impression
  • Don’t waste money by running same piece of content across channels
  • Get around brevities

 

Links:

• Anastasia Leng on LinkedIn
• CreativeX
• Think with Google
• Distinctive Brand Assets by Jenni Romaniuk
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Anastasia Leng:

“It’s really about having a common language for evaluating every piece of content that we create.”

“Understand what is the long-term metric that really matters, and how can you start to get creative and whatever that KPI is closer together so you can understand the relationship and the journey these two things take together.”

“Analyze content more objectively so that we’re not letting our own biases drive our understanding of what is working and what is not working in our content strategy.”

“If you’re not even aware of these things, how can you truly be a good marketer? How can you truly put out great content if you’re not actually able to really look deeply within it?”

Too often, content marketing strategies follow one of two paths: Keyword driven or driven based on what the writer thinks makes an interesting topic. The path to success is somewhere in between those two strategies.

Today’s guest is Brad Smith from Wordable, Codeless, and uSERP. He talks about how to create data-backed and ROI-driven content strategies that blend both approaches for maximum results. 

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Problems: Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are incredibly competitive
• Affiliate Space: 70% of revenue comes from two or three keywords
• Temporary Approach: Create great content to find an audience
• Referral Traffic: Completely relying on what other people find interesting
• Ads: Companies turn to other channels that are less profitable, more competitive
• Game Plan: What components/expectations will move content and keywords?
• Marketers don’t need more or better ideas—but test and execute them better
• Decision-Making Process: Do it or be grounded in reality to produce best results
• Wordable: Format, optimize, upload, and publish content in minutes for clients

 

Links:

• Brad Smith on LinkedIn
• Wordable
• Codeless
• uSERP
• Seth Godin
• HubSpot
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Brad Smith:

“If you’re relatively small, relatively new, not well-funded, don’t have a name for yourself or brand yet, that kind of excludes like 70 percent of the good stuff from a keyword perspective that you’d want to write for, ultimately, that’s going to bring in ROI.”

“When you’re following this method of let’s just create ‘good’ content, you’re completely 100 percent relying on what other people find interesting.”

“Social things are going to be a lot more beneficial shorter term. Over the long term, it’s just about scale.”

“The whole ranking thing is like the chicken and the egg. I can’t rank for big keywords until I’m big, but I’m not going to be big until I rank for some keywords.”

“Marketers don’t need more ideas. They don’t need better ideas. They just need to execute better, and executing better comes from processes and boring systems and operations.”

CoSchedule started as an editorial calendar WordPress plugin created by an agency that co-founders, Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh, ran called Todaymade. Since then, CoSchedule has grown. Not only has the core content calendar gone through a lot of changes, but so has the company.

Today’s guest is Nathan Ellering, Head of Marketing at CoSchedule, which now offers multiple different product lines under one brand name. Nathan explains how CoSchedule made pivots and tackled some risks and challenges. His advice will help you navigate from being one company that makes one product and expand to one company that makes four products.

 

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Product Positioning: How to funnel people in and say the right things
• Marketing Automation: Where to build out those funnels and nurture people
• Marketing Design: Make sure everything published is visually built and modern
• Customer Service: Incorporate customer service much more with marketing
• History of CoSchedule: How core marketing calendar software evolved
• Company Philosophy: Start where you're at with a smaller test product
• Marketing Work Management Software: Organize everything in one place
• Content Calendars: Meet deadlines and manage work effectively, efficiently
• Agile Marketing Tools: Hire product to finish work, deliver projects, prove value
• Current Products: Marketing Calendar/Suite, Headline Analyzer, Headline Studio
• Academy: Marketing education platform for marketers to understand, build skills
• Mission Statement: CoSchedule wants to help every marketer do amazing work
• CoSchedule Experience: Get the right messaging to get them into a product
• True Tenants of Agile: Where to ship, measure, learn, iterate, and begin
• Testing Culture: Launch something new with other people’s market research

 

Links:

• Headline Analyzer
• Headline Studio
• Marketing Calendar
• Marketing Suite
• CoSchedule Academy
• Marketing Strategy Guide
• Nathan Ellering on LinkedIn
• Ben Sailer on LinkedIn
• CoSchedule

 

Quotes from Nathan Ellering:

“We're aiming to create experiences that help out people who really are being marketed to...from a customer service perspective. That's been really fun so far.”

”We were working a lot with bloggers and we discovered many years ago that marketers are starting to turn to blogging as a great way to do content marketing.”

“We identified the need that they had to just organize everything in one place. We say those words all the time. They really resonate with people.”

“We want every experience at CoSchedule to be a positive one and one that lasts a lifetime of you being a marketer.”