Explore every episode of the podcast Power Marketing with Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee interviews David Alexander, Chief Marketing Officer at Everbridge, a company whose suite of products empowers enterprises and government organizations to anticipate, mitigate, respond to, and recover stronger from critical events. He’s also an Executive Professor at Texas A&M University, where he brings his extensive marketing experience to bear for the benefit of undergraduate marketing students. Kevin and David discuss Critical Event Management and contemporary marketing issues, including marketing austerity, the need for measuring and optimizing marketing performance, understanding the customer journey, and future-proofing strategies against emerging technologies. Their conversation highlights the importance of data visibility, automation, and customer experience in terms of driving business growth, along with the evolution of marketing's role in the customer journey, particularly in the post-COVID era. Additional topics covered in their talk include: - The definition of “Critical Events,” which may include weather events, political events, and other events challenging the readiness and resilience of corporate entities. - The importance of data visibility, automation, and effective communication for building relationships with CFOs, CROs, and CEOs. - How Using data and AI can be used to make informed marketing decisions. - AI's impact on marketing, including automation, creativity enhancement, and decision-making. - How AI represents an opportunity for students to learn new skills and stay competitive in the job market. - In a marketing context, the importance of the importance of focusing on existing demand and harvesting it before creating new demand. - The importance of a “single source of truth” for KPIs in B2B marketing. - Why marketers need to learn to “speak the language” of other organizational departments in order to have their communications understood. - The importance of identifying and building relationships with key decision-makers in the organization, and how Everbridge uses a multi-threaded approach to reach these individuals. - The key role of thought leadership in building relationships and driving engagement. - How people at different levels of the organization can be used to provide thought leadership, not just the CEO or chief security officer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Alexis Zinberg, the Founder of Treow Solution, a New York-based firm that provides strategic marketing consulting services for clients across various verticals, including media, health, retail, and technology. As her LinkedIn profile explains, Alexis has “a deep expertise in designing and executing experiential and educational events, ranging from 10 person salon dinners to 50 person summits to 1500 person theater experiences and Trade Show presence.” Kevin and Alexis discuss event marketing best practices for 2024, with Alexis providing some great insights for event organizers, prospective exhibitors, and event attendees. They cover a lot of topics in our talk, including: - The importance of targeting the right audience at trade shows, rather than just showing up. - The importance of aligning events with business goals for maximum ROI. - Booth activation strategies for trade shows and in-person events. - How marketers can determine the best mix of salespeople and people in other roles to handle meetings and provide information to prospects. - The importance of preparation before attending events, including informing CRM, pre-promoting the show, and setting appointments with VIP-level people. - Why marketers shouldn’t overlook the opportunity to create content at events, including selfie content, testimonials, and on-site podcasts, which can be repurposed for months to come. - How event organizers are stressing “zero waste” and sustainability. - The importance of aligning trade show “swag” with business goals and objectives, and ensuring it has purpose and meaning. - The value of creating exclusive content for attendees at conferences, such as reports or panels to position clients as thought leaders. - The resurgence of QR codes at trade shows, allowing attendees to easily access digital content without needing to use printed collateral. - The role of virtual events in activating and engaging with audiences who cannot attend in person. - How smart marketers are making presentations “snackable” and adaptable for repurposing, with a focus on engaging the audience and creating a connection point. - The challenges of selecting the right person to be on stage at events. - Why trade show exhibitors need to have a laser focus on getting details right so that target audiences aren’t disappointed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Peter Erickson, founder of Modev (conferences and special events for developers), founder of ExoLeaders.com (for executives), and founder of VOICE & AI -- an organization whose conferences and events bring together developers, buyers, sellers, and manufacturers seeking to gain entry into this fast-moving segment of the AI market. (VOICE & AI’s next event will be on October 28-30, 2024 in Arlington). Voice search is a hot field pegged to constitute a $98 billion sector by 2028. Peter and Kevin cover a lot of ground in their chat; topics include: - The degree to which innovation in LLM-driven Voice Search will progress ahead of text-based search, given there is less risk for its monetization model. - How LLM-powered search engines and voice search applications create a "winner take all" scenario for marketers (and what marketers can do about this). - Why Perplexity is in a good position to innovate in Voice Search, as they have reimagined search and presented it in an organized and addictive way for users. - The degree to which open source and proprietary technologies will coexist in the industry. - The high costs of AI-powered voice search and the degree to which costs may moderate in the near future. (example of a network of gaming computers to perform inference tasks at pennies on the dollar compared to traditional models). - Speculation as to whether Perplexity will be acquired this year (and by whom). - The costs and benefits of AI systems in education, given that they may "dumb down" languages and dialects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Daniel Meyer, VP & Corporate Controller at Access Intelligence, a Hauppauge, NY-based information and marketing company that provides business intelligence and integrated marketing solutions. Kevin and Daniel discuss how the event industry is evolving in the post-pandemic era and talk about best practices for event planners for 2024 and beyond. Discussed topics include: - How brands are adapting adapted to the "new normal" of events in the post-pandemic era. - The pandemic's impact on event planning, specifically the fact that lead times for commitments have decreased significantly (from 30-45 days to less than a month) - The importance of having backup plans and flexibility in event programming. - Challenges faced by event programmers with respect to selecting venues and accurately forecasting attendee numbers and event requirements. - The importance of event programmers understanding the “fine print” of event cancellation insurance policies. - Why anchors and sponsors are crucial for event success, given that they provide name recognition and help control the narrative. - How the value proposition of events depends on the audience's goals, which may include learning, networking, or transacting business. - The benefit of independent events (vs. events organized by a single vendor), where attendees can see “the whole story” and hold industry leaders accountable. - Why the structure and format of a given event should be tailored to the specific industry and the type of attendee, with a focus on experiential aspects and networking opportunities. - The differences between an exhibit hall with elaborate booths and a more informal exchange area, and the importance of managing traffic and building an agenda that allows attendees to get a variety of information. - The importance of understanding the venue's footprint and how it impacts the event's agenda and sponsor/exhibitor setup. - The challenge of managing the flow of traffic and ensuring that all parts of the event work in concert with one another, while also maximizing the value of attendees' time spent on site. - The challenges of choosing a venue for events, particularly in cities like New York where there are limited options and high demand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Richard Henne, Co-Founder of Ivory Ella, successful elephant-themed lifestyle apparel brand that’s raised over $2 million for charity. 50 percent of Ivory Ella’s profits are donated to Save The Elephants and other charitable causes. Richard is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor, with a wealth of experience in brand building and marketing. Beyond his involvement with Ivory Ella, Richard serves as Marketing Lead at game developer RoboSquad, whose game, RoboSquad Revolution, is a “hyper-active third-person shooter set in the year 2044” available for download at the RoboSquad website and through the Steam and Epic Games distribution networks. Kevin and Richard talk about what led Richard to launch his brand, how it’s doing now, and what he plans for it next. They also chat about topics related to startups, brand-building, running an authentic non-profit organization, and the dynamics of the computer game industry. They cover many topics in our talk, including: - Ivory Ella’s origin story, including an account of how it arrived at its partnership with Save The Elephants. - The importance of having local “boots on the ground” in causes related to animal protection, understanding the local context, and supporting community-led initiatives to achieve meaningful impact, rather than solely focusing on direct conservation efforts. - How the decision to make funds that were raised unrestricted was helpful in Ivory Ella’s efforts. - The importance of understanding marketing fundamentals. - For startups, the importance of building a strong team and having a good reputation in the industry. - For game developers, the pros and cons of available game distribution platforms. - The various monetization methods available in gaming, including virtual goods, advertising, sponsorships, and subscription models, and how making decisions about choosing which method to use can be weighty for the product team. - The importance of building a game that is enjoyable and rewarding for players, rather than focusing solely on monetization practices. - Why game designers need to balance rewarding participation with incentivizing desired behavior to create a sustainable, enjoyable experience. - The importance of making social impact native to a brand, rather than just attempting to add it on later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Ron Gutman, CEO at Wurl, a Palo Alto-based company whose data-driven technologies help publishers and streamers maximize revenues, grow CTV viewership, and strengthen brand value. This month, Wurl launched a new product, BrandDiscovery, which it describes as a ”GenAI-powered contextual targeting solution for CTV that helps marketers reap the rewards of finding the right programming for their ads.” Campaigns targeted with BrandDiscovery let advertisers present ads within the programming that contextually aligns with their creatives based on emotions, genres, and brand safety. Kevin and Ron discuss how AI is used in BrandDiscovery, the powerful role that emotion, and emotional context, plays in effective advertising, and about the evolution of CTV, including its potential to function as a fully-addressable medium permitting unparalleled levels of ad targeting. We cover numerous topics along the way, including: - The inefficiency of traditional TV advertising, with attention spans decreasing and ad skipping becoming more common. - How the shift to CTV provides an opportunity for more storytelling-style video ads, as viewers have more time to engage with content. - Why advertisements tailored to a viewer's emotional state show much better results. - How AI can measure emotional dissonance in CTV ads and avoid negative associations for brands. - How creating ad variants for different emotions can unlock unsold inventory and lower CPMs. - The importance of understanding the customer journey and tailoring marketing strategies accordingly. - The value of brand recognition and long-term emotional resonance in building a successful brand. - The evolution of CTV, with a focus on discoverability and educating viewers about the content available to them. - How, in the next 5 years, CTV will complete its transition to a more seamless and personalized viewing experience, with AI playing a key role in content discovery and recommendation. - How AI will produce significant improvements in content production efficiency, making it easier and less expensive to create high-quality content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Alex Collmer, Founder and CEO at VidMob, a New York-based company providing end-to-end technology solutions for a brand’s creative needs. In addition to leading VidMob, Alex has a keen interest in charitable activities, and in 2017 formed VidMob Gives. Kevin and Alex discuss what's new on the creative optimization front as well as in the larger digital marketing ecosystem, which is currently going through a transformation due to the emergence of useful AI tools. They cover many topics in their talk; including: - Alex’s recent trip to Rwanda to help build homes for homeless women and support girls' education through the VidMob Gifts Foundation. - How VidMob uses AI to programmatically understand creative decisions and compare them to behavior data, providing insights to marketers on why certain ads work or don't work for specific audiences. - The potential of AI in marketing, especially with respect to its ability to analyze customer data and provide valuable insights for competitive advantage. - The potential benefits of using existing customers as influencers, given their inherent authenticity and existing brand affinity. - The mix of upper and lower funnel KPIs used by VidMob customers. - The potential for AI to improve the creative supply chain by providing valuable insights and eliminating creative waste. - How the platform's scoring system can help identify creative messages that don't work in a particular platform and inform changes in positioning and pricing. - Why audience expectations and preferences play a significant role in determining which types of creative content perform well on different platforms. - The importance of creative agility in marketing, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and mid-market marketers. - The challenge of balancing creative agility with control and visibility for larger marketers, who may be hesitant to give up control of their brand and learnings from their marketing efforts. - How VidMob is building its own LLM to make insights more accessible and is partnering in the measurement world to provide better visibility into the impact of creative decisioning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Joe Kowalsky, Show Director at CloserStill Media, a London-based company that produces industry-specific events with a focus on the Business Technologies, Healthcare, Transportation, and Infrastructure sectors. As Joe’s LinkedIn profile explains, he has subject matter expertise in “large-scale event management, sponsorship, sales management, integrated marketing, cold-calling, project management, business development, contract negotiations, and client relationship management (CRM).” Kevin and Joe discuss numerous topics related to events and event planning, including: - The dynamics of event funding, including sponsorship and exhibitor revenue, and the optimal balance between these models versus conference revenue streams. - The importance of knowing the target demographic and creating an event that caters to their needs, rather than just focusing on revenue generation. - The challenges of maintaining strong relationships with content partners, particularly when they lack subject matter experts on their team. - Why it’s important to be a supportive and consultative event producer, checking in with speakers beforehand to offer stage tips and provide a guide. - The shift among event organizers towards making event content available post-event, benefiting both speakers and attendees. - Why event organizers must balance providing intimate, highly-qualified content with large-scale entertainment and networking opportunities to keep attendees engaged and satisfied. - Common event fails, such as poorly designed badges and registration snafus, that can be easily fixed with simple solutions. - The potential of QR codes as a green alternative to printed materials in the events industry. - Why hybrid events, which often promise an equivalent user experience for both in-person and online attendees, have not yet been successfully implemented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer at Impact.com, a global partnership management platform. She leads and supervises Impact.com’s marketing, events, public relations and communications, demand generation, branding, website, design and social media. Kevin and Cristy discuss issues related to influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, and Impact.com's new influencer campaign management product. Discussed topics include: - Why today’s influencers are working in a way very similar to the way that publishers work, creating content that educates and promotes products, often using affiliate links for monetization. - Why education is often needed to inform brands about the nuances of affiliate marketing and hybrid payment models. - Why brands should trust their influencer partners' instincts on audience and content, balancing brand priorities with creative control. - How influencers are recognizing the need to diversify their platforms to avoid relying on a single channel for growth. - How micro and nano influencers are often seen by consumers as more trustworthy than macro influencers. - How brands – which want authentic ambassadors and influencers that match their brand -- may struggle with compliance issues when giving too much creative latitude to mid-tier and nano influencers. - How technology can help automate messaging and discovery of creators, making it easier for brands to manage their influencer marketing campaigns. - The resurgence of long form video content, with storytelling methodology and VSLs (Video Sales Letters) being the driver. - Why brands must constantly test new channels, given that what works now may not work in the future. - Why B2B marketers should target multiple contacts within an account, rather than just the mythical decision maker, to increase the chances of a sale. - How AI will impact influencer and affiliate marketing and shape its future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Adam Kleinberg, CEO and Co-Founder at Traction, a San Francisco-based consultancy describing itself as “a new breed of brand experience consultancy designed to help in-house teams create the amazing experiences they need to connect with their customers at the speed—and with the talent—their business demands.” He’s been named one of the Top 25 Most Innovative Marketers in Digital by iMedia Connection, his consultancy has won many awards from Ad Age, iMedia, BtoBMagazine, TheNextWeb, and others, and his client base includes Apple, Adobe, LinkedIn, Walmart, and dozens of other top-tier brands. Kevin and Adam discuss the present and future evolution of creativity, marketing, and advertising, with a focus on the role that Generative AI and LLMs will play in this evolution. Along the way they discuss topics including: - How Traction started as a freelance cooperative in a spare bedroom, later growing into a marketing accelerator with a “liquid” workforce. - How Traction adapted to changes in the market by pivoting to a remote workforce model in 2019. - The future of marketing agencies, which must work to adapt to changing client needs and provide value beyond just media buying. - How Traction helps brands leverage emerging tech through community, events, and workshops, driving enterprise adoption and problem-solving. - The potential of AI tools in the creative process, especially with respect to their ability to speed up the insights generation process and provide valuable inspiration. - How AI tools such as Gemini, ChatGTP, and others help to organize thoughts and create a consistent voice. - The efficiency gains of using AI tools for image selection and manipulation, for example, Canva's ability to suggest alternative backgrounds without manual effort. - The potential impact of AR/VR on brands and potential role in creating more immersive apps and games. - How Lowe's and other brands are creating immersive retail experiences with AR technology, potentially revolutionizing the industry. - The importance of creative excellence in a rapidly changing media landscape, where mistakes can be costly and competitors are always one step ahead. - The evolution of targeting in advertising, from the "big idea" of the past to personalized messaging and AI-driven optimization. - The challenges of over-segmentation and the importance of data quality in optimizing ad performance, even with AI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Dixon Jones, CEO of Inlinks, a company that has developed the first entity-based Semantic SEO tool. Kevin and Dixon trade notes on current developments in SEO with a focus on the significant impact that AI is already having in the space. They cover many topics in our talk, including: - The degree to which traditional SEO link building strategies will remain viable. - How Dixon’s current project, Inlinks -- an SEO technology that focuses on entities instead of words –provides value. - How LLMs are voraciously ingesting content across the public web, including YouTube transcripts, and their continuing hunger for additional human-generated content. - How forward-looking SEOs have moved from a keyword-centric mentality to a topic-centric focus. - The wisdom of making one’s brand closely aligned with the exact same things that one’s customers are interested in. - How Google Suggest can be used to generate new content ideas by analyzing related search terms and their semantic context. - The importance of identifying the relationship between the person talking and their area of expertise in order to estimate this individual’s authority and credibility. - The efficacy of applying a “Barnacle SEO” strategy in today’s search environment, where LLMs and single-result search engines such as Perplexity are growing more important. - The potential for LLMs to successfully disambiguate certain terms (such as “Mustang,” which may indicate a vehicle, a fighter aircraft, or a type of horse). - The fact that today’s current generation of AI-generated content checkers often fail to perform correctly. - The degree to which blockchain technology may have a role in authenticating content in the future. - How companies such as Adobe may be in a better position to survive potential copyright infringement lawsuits related to AI, given that the images used to train its LLM have all been licensed. - The dubious wisdom of attempting to quarantine one’s content against LLM ingestion. - How a new generation of JavaScript-based SEO tools may be able to implement needed site changes rather than merely point them out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Magda is an experienced marketing consultant who’s a keen observer of best practices, both in the C-Suite and across the organization. She’s worked in a consultative capacity with many small, mid-sized, and large companies seeking to improve their efficiencies and expand their opportunities. Christine’s expertise extends to go-to-market strategies, brand messaging, lead gen, acquisition, client retention, competitive analysis, customer insights and market trends. Kevin and Christine discuss issues relating to making better use of marketing teams within organizations. They touch on the challenges faced by organizations, teams, and individuals, when corporate re-orgs or turnarounds become necessary, and delve into the question of whether the generally short tenures of CMOs are due to failure or to success. Discussion topics include: - The mistakes that marketing teams often make by prioritizing new leads over nurturing existing customers. - How companies, even otherwise sophisticated ones, often lack the backend business intelligence necessary to understand who their best customers are. - Why smaller companies often seem to have a clearer view of their competition and create more content to drive demand, while mid-sized companies struggle with this. - The challenges associated with fixing a broken organizational structure without buy-in from senior management, given that employees may resist change and feel uncomfortable with the potential consequences. - Why marketing teams are often relegated to a secondary or assistant role within the organization, instead of serving as critical hubs and/or filters for the entire business. - How PE firms and activist investors often catalyze change in organizations by providing a fresh perspective and new ownership structure. - The need for a punch list or prioritization list to help senior teams make informed decisions about where to invest their time and resources, with a focus on quick wins and long-term strategies. - The importance of understanding the value of existing content and repurposing it to improve SEO and marketing efforts. - Why marketing teams must continually adapt to various stakeholders' needs, including product and engineering teams, client services, buying committees, data science teams, and CMO/VPs of marketing. - Why high-level executives, such as CMOs, may experience high turnover rates due to their inability to take credit or blame for outcomes outside of their control. - Why candidates for CMO positions need to ask crucial questions during the hiring process to avoid surprises and ensure a smooth transition. - Why startups blessed with heavy funding during the pandemic may face opportunity cost and wasted budget due to hiring sprees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Licciardi interviews Kacy Cole, Chief Marketing Officer at Holland America Line, a venerable brand that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023. Greg and Kacy discuss issues related to marketing innovations for high-value cruise line guests. As Kacy notes, research plays a huge role in the process of rolling out new products and partnerships to cater to Holland America’s high-value customers. And here, generative AI is already playing a part in identifying new media targeting opportunities, as well as introducing efficiencies in the way that Holland America guides customers through the booking and digital checkout process. Greg and Kacy cover other topics, including: - The importance of reaching the right person with the right message at the right time and the right environment to deliver the right outcome. - How, after analyzing the behavior of high-value, high-affinity guests, Holland America's food and beverage team reprogrammed the supply chain to bring in more fresh fish. - How marketing at Holland America is very much a “team sport” where collaboration is key to innovation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Vladimer Botsvadze, a noted speaker, business coach, and thought leader with a lot to say about digital marketing, social media, and the power of personal branding. As his LinkedIn profile notes, Vladimir "has more than 15 years of international experience in marketing and innovation with a proven track record of guiding executives and top brands worldwide to initiate change, drive growth, and position brands as market leaders in their industries," and he's been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Irish Tech News, and other media outlets. Kevin and Vladimer discuss personal branding, AI, community-building, and the future of marketing and advertising. Other topics discussed include: - The importance of personal branding in today's marketing landscape. - How personal branding is the key to sustainable competitive advantage in the age of AI. - Examples of individuals who have been exceptionally successful using social media for personal branding. - Why individuals and brands should prioritize content co-creation and partnerships with other creators, rather than solely focusing on content creation and editorial calendaring. - How audience and community need to be distinguished from each other. - The importance of trust, personal branding, and networking in digital marketing. - Why consumers' trust in advertising is diminishing. - How many large brands fail to build authentic connections on social media, instead preferring to "broadcast" to online communities. - Why curiosity and agility are key to growth in today's fast-paced digital landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Kate Edwards, who wears entrepreneurial hats in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds. She’s also a Microsoft alumnus, an activist, and an organizer with deep roots in the computer game industry who speaks frequently at industry events. Kevin and Kate discuss game development, the gaming industry, working conditions within this industry, and concern over how AI is likely to impact things now and in the future. They cover much ground in our talk; topics include: - Kate’s experiences working in the gaming industry, which included work on popular games such as Halo, Fable, Age of Empires, Dragon Age, Modern Warfare, Mass Effect and others. - Why the topic of AI in the creative arts, including games, is a hot topic among game industry employees today. - How the SetJetters app helps fans find filming locations of their favorite TV shows and movies by providing a map and synchronizing scenes from the film with what the location looks like today. - Why fans attracted to filming locations while production is ongoing may either be embraced or encounter hostility form the film crew. - How Kate created a team at Microsoft to help the company navigate political and cultural risks, and later left to focus solely on video game development and consulting. - Kate’s experiences advocating for greater workplace diversity within the gaming industry and her role in the infamous “Gamergate” episode of 2014. - Why mental health issues are endemic in the game industry but are seldom mentioned or addressed. - How the game industry is characterized by a lack of empathy and understanding among gaming industry managers, which can lead to poor decision-making and unrealistic schedules. - Why recent layoffs and RIFs (Reductions in Force) in the gaming industry are largely the fault of management, which scaled hiring too quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Duane "DJ" Sprague and Scott Brandley, who run Shopper Approved, a Utah-based firm providing tools that help merchants increase trust, traffic, and conversions through the management of user reviews. Some of the topics covered in this interview include: - The different flavors of UGC (User-Generated Content), including BGC (Brand-Generated Content), and EGC (Expert-Generated Content) - The importance of verified reviews for businesses and in terms of not running afoul of regulations from the Federal Trade Commission. - The process by which reviews are syndicated across multiple websites. - The fact that today’s generation of young people “live by video” and are quite comfortable creating – and consuming – video reviews. - The SEO value of strategic Q&A-style content. - Industry sectors where reviews are particularly more powerful, such as retailers with house brands or manufactured brands from different manufacturers. - Why consumers in certain health-related sectors may resist leaving authentic reviews due to privacy concerns. - The fact that having some negative reviews can actually improve one’s trust level among consumers. - The importance of brands responding reviews in order to show they care about customer feedback and are adept at solving consumer issues. - Why executives – not just line staff – need to pay attention to consumer reviews, which cumulatively serve as an index to a brand’s overall reputation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Will Christensen, a Go To Market specialist who's the head of marketing at Seller Labs, a Georgia-based software tool provider for e-commerce merchants. Will is also the co-founder and CEO of DataAutomation.com, a company that customizes automation and integration processes for e-commerce sellers. Will provided a lot of great info -- including some unbeatable tactical tips -- about selling on Amazon that should be of great interest to anyone selling products on this important commerce platform. We cover a lot of ground in our interview, including: - The importance of the law of reciprocity in sales, where small gestures of goodwill can lead to increased likelihood of purchase. - How Amazon sellers should go about selecting 3rd party software to improve their selling results. - SEO strategies for Amazon sellers and the key role played by user-generated content in terms of improving one's chance of ranking outside of Amazon. - "Grey hat" SEO tactics that e-commerce merchants can use to improve their chances of ranking. - Apps that Will finds indispensable, including clipboard managers and password managers. - The challenges of managing a large number of SKUs on Amazon, including the potential for penalties and the importance of authentic reviews. - The utility (and danger) of using review syndicates (often referred to as "review mafias") on Amazon, give that they can lead to account flagging and extra scrutiny on future reviews. - The role that AI will likely play in ferreting out inauthentic Amazon reviews. - Amazon marketplace trends, which recently have included large moves by brand aggregators. - How sellers should regard and quantify the interaction of paid and organic strategies on Amazon. - The fact that Amazon's real-time reporting data may not always be reliable and that sellers need to wait a minimum of 14 days before acting based on this reporting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Lauren Petrullo, who runs Mongoose Media, an Orlando, Florida-based, digital-first marketing agency. Lauren has been featured in Yahoo!, Thrive Global, Refinery29, Shopify, Advertising Week, ComputerWorld and TickerNews, and is a subject matter expert in Meta advertising, omni-channel marketing, e-commerce SEO, social commerce, and AR/VR for business. Topics discussed in this interview include: - The common mistake made by business of targeting average customers, instead of their best ones. - The challenge small businesses face in competing with larger brands in advertising, particularly in acquiring high-quality customer data. - How small businesses can profitably use Facebook "instant lead" forms, which can capture leads without requiring prospects them to leave the website. - The importance of proactive measures in digital marketing, such as conducting audits, to identify potential problems early on. - The importance of marketing on YouTube and leveraging its community aspects, especially when trying to reach younger audiences. - Mistakes made by hospitality and e-commerce brands, such as running outdated software and poorly managing marketing emails. - How marketers can create compelling content, even for "boring" industries. - The importance of aligning marketing and sales efforts to deliver on brand promises. - The fact that email is hardly "dead" and can prove a valuable marketing channel if used correctly. - The continued effectiveness of push marketing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Lesley Hensell, of Riverbend Consulting. Lesley's company helps 3rd party sellers restore their accounts after a suspension, deactivation, or block. Lesley and Kevin cover a lot of ground in this interview that should be of great interest to anyone with a storefront on Amazon, including: - The many the challenges of working with Amazon, including unreasonable testing requests that make no sense. -The importance of diversification for businesses on Amazon (i.e. maintaining presences on their own sites or via Shopify). -"Brand gating" and how to avoid it. - Do's and Don'ts when using AI to create Amazon product descriptions and imagery - The importance of keeping accurate invoices and testing documents, given that Amazon may request them in the event of a suspension or issue. - The key forensic role that Returns Reports play in helping sellers identify and address issues with their products, reducing risk and improving customer satisfaction. - The importance of optimizing Amazon product listings for SEO, as they can rank higher in Google and Bing than a seller's own website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Gregory Elfrink, of Empire Flippers, a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. Such businesses include ecommerce, SaaS, content sites, FBA, and more. Gregory has a wealth of knowledge about what makes these online businesses tick, what makes them succeed, and causes them to fail. Kevin and Gregory cover a lot of topics in this conversation that should be of value to anyone involved in online business today, including: - The degree to which SEO can cause an online business to succeed or fail. - The negative impact of Google’s recent “Helpful Content” update on many content-focused online businesses. - The rise of “zero-click” searches. - The resurgence of direct mail as a marketing channel. - The importance of diversifying revenue streams in business, particularly for content affiliate sites, to reduce concentration risk and increase valuation. - The pros and cons of in-house marketing teams versus agencies. - How proprietors of online businesses should prepare their properties for sale. - M&A marketing trends. - The importance of content creation in terms of building trust and engagement with potential customers. - Best practices for ideating content, including looking for inspiration from other people and feeding curiosity through great content. - The importance of understanding the emotional needs of customers when selling products. - The importance of transparency and honesty in marketing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews James Hipkin, who runs Inn8ly (pronounced "Innately,") a Nevada City, California-based digital agency whose stated mission is to "help business owners take advantage of a modern website without being bogged down with the complexities of a modern website." As James notes, the most common website issue he sees when doing site audits is a lack of strategy, not deficiencies related to design or copy. His preferred strategy is known as the "hub and spoke" model -- a proven method of organizing one's online assets for maximum effectiveness. "If you think about your website as the hub, and you think about all these different channels you use to talk to consumers as spokes, email marketing is a spoke, LinkedIn is a spoke social media is a spoke, advertising is a spoke, PR is a spoke, these are all ways to get your message out to people and for people to come back into the hub, which is your website." James highlights the importance of creating valuable content and building a permission relationship with customers -- the latter being something that many platform-dependent influencers may be ignoring at their own peril. He emphasizes the importance of having a strong "rim" (content and messaging strategy) in a hub and spoke model, as it ties in with the audience's journey and provides clarity and focus on messaging. The conversation shifts to a discussion of consumer loyalty, with James observing that that 90% of loyalty problems can be traced back to a flawed sales process, whereas a 1-2% increase in loyalty can lead to a 60-80% increase in net present value. He emphasizes the need for marketers to prioritize user experience and conversion rate optimization across the entire funnel. The talk wraps with a chat about website optimization and user engagement, with James highlighting the role that technical site performance -- particularly page load speed -- plays in creating an important first level of trust with prospects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Samir Patel, VP/CMO at GrowthMachines, a Berkeley, California-based consultancy powering growth marketing campaigns. They cover lots of topics in our interview, including the frustration that many marketers are feeling right now with the forced "upgrade" to GA4. As Samir notes, while the move to GA4 might have great payoffs in the long term, in the short term it's a "hot mess" that is imposing major costs on marketers. Samir and Kevin trade notes on the potential impact of LLMs on SEO, how they are useful from a content creation perspective, the likelihood that they will be abused by spammers seeking to flood the web with robotic, low-authority content, and the countermeasures that Google might employ to downrank AI-generated spam. Samir notes that many SEO practitioners he works with don't seem to be making any real effort to get up to speed with LLMs, despite the fact that AI-enabled search is likely to have a profound impact on SEO tactics and strategies that have remained relatively stable over the past decade. Samir and Kevin agree that voice search might be the first area where AI will make a major impact, given that those making voice queries are accustomed to single, (hopefully) authoritative results. The conversation then progresses to a discussion of how LLMs might improve their utility should they be given access to more personal, historical data relating to the user and chat about the trade-offs between user privacy and user convenience that might be necessary for LLMs to further enhance the online user experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Ashley West, a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader who formed her consultancy, Franklyn West, because she felt limited by traditional consulting firms' ability to provide actionable solutions with speed and accountability. Prior to forming Franklyn West, Ashley served as the Global Chief Business Officer at Thrive Global, reporting directly to Founder/CEO Arianna Huffington. Before that, she built and scaled Refinery29, the leading digital media and entertainment company for women. Kevin and Ashley discuss how inertia is a common challenge for large companies, while small brands are often nimbler in adapting to change. Ashley is a strong exponent of promoting agility in marketing plans, with a focus on disrupting oneself and one's company to build a sustainable future workforce and media plan. She also emphasizes the importance of bringing fresh perspectives and high-value ideas to the table, rather than simply disrupting existing processes. Another challenge lies in the fact that brands must create media plans that are more complex -- and subject to iterative modification -- than in prior years. They discuss the importance of understanding the core consumer and their aspirations in order to create personalized marketing strategies that resonate. The discussion then pivots to consider the potential for fractionalizing talent to help organizations achieve their marketing goals while reducing costs. Ashley is clearly optimistic about what 2024 will bring and believes her consultancy will add a lot of value to forward-looking companies in the years ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Mike Gunderson, Founder and CEO at Gunderson Direct, a Hayward, California-based agency specializing in direct mail. They discuss direct mail's strengths, how it's evolving -- including the degree to which it's incorporating new digital technologies -- and discuss some strategies and best practices that marketers can use to obtain the best results from the direct mail channel. As Mike explains, the costs for delivering hyper-personalized, relevant direct mail pieces have dropped while the capabilities have grown: "I can do full, variable digital color printing at scale -- 100,000, 500,000, a million pieces of mail, whether it's a post card, whether it's a letter, whether it's inline or not -- and I can develop it all without using plates." Kevin and Mike trade notes on the history of QR codes and their resurgence in the pandemic and post-pandemic era. As Mike notes, QR codes are powerful tools for direct mail marketers, allowing them to pre-fill landing pages or CRMs with customer information, and track back-end database records for retargeting ads or sales calls. Additionally, consumers are much more familiar with using them than they were pre-COVID. At the same time, he notes that it's important that marketers not make any technical mistakes when incorporating QR codes into marketing materials and campaigns. Mike speaks about a technology his company has built called Post Reminder, which uses QR codes to send reminders to customers about upcoming sales or events. Then Kevin and Mike chat about how the USPS is offering new products, including one called Informed Delivery, that are gaining traction today. As Mike notes, "they took technology that they're using anyway to track to track letters and said, 'hey, how can we turn this into a benefit for the consumer?' And I think they did a really good job with implementing that and making it more useful for both the consumer and marketers alike." Direct mail is a powerful channel that's often underutilized by marketers who should know better. Given its potential for delivering and tracking hyper-personalized messages that can cut through the clutter, Mike and I agree that it's a channel with a strong future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Scott Simonelli, Founder and CEO at Veritonic, a company that uses multivariate testing and statistical rigor to optimize audio for marketing campaigns. Interestingly, before founding Veritonic, Scott composed music for TV ads. As he explains, "the genesis for Veritonic is: can we quantify human response to sound? Can we help marketers and advertisers understand how audio is impacting everything that they do?" They discuss the power of audio in terms of influencing visceral responses and long-term memory, and how its impact on listeners can be discovered through the application of scalable testing methods. We touch on how different physical environments (e.g., car, gym, work) can elicit different reactions to audio ads, making it challenging to generalize results, and how consumer responses to audio will be different if audio formats are skippable or non-skippable. Scott notes that while digital audio advertising is still in its early stages, there is a growing expectation that data-driven optimization and attribution modeling will be applied to the audio channel in the same way they've been applied to non-audio advertising channels. He notes that "as a medium audio has got a lot of advantages. And I think we'll continue to learn the right way to do it. But I think one thing we're really fighting for, is to compare audio to other things that you do from a media standpoint and dollar for dollar." The discussion turns to the growth of podcast advertising, along with the importance of sonic branding in advertising generally, particularly for brands with large audiences. Finally, they turn our attention to the power of audio advertising during the holiday and political seasons. Scott is clearly bullish about the future of digital audio advertising and is eager to have his company be part of the solution in terms of providing research and reliable attribution modeling to encourage future growth of the audio channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Andrew Young, an entrepreneur whose successful tech-centric networking events have led Business Insider to dub him "The Gatsby of Silicon Alley." Kevin and Andrew discuss the origin story behind Andrew's project, why IRL events are hot right now, and delve into Andrews' motivations for running events. What’s intriguing and a bit unusual about what Andrew is doing is that a lot of his motivation is powered by a desire to do good, not just to get ahead. As he explains, “I approached it from the perspective from a very human angle, you know, there's nothing in it for me, other than just wanting to make friends and give back to the community.” Andrew and Kevin agree that there’s a tremendous pent-up demand for real-world networking events, and that many younger technology industry people feel awkward when it comes to networking. As he notes, “we've seen so many reports on the impact of loneliness and people just wanting to find their communities, especially in the Gen Z millennial age range, where people just graduated college at a time where it was unacceptable to leave the apartment. So people are attending for social reasons, business reasons and just craving that community aspect, which is why in New York alone, you’re seeing 10 new social clubs pop up every month.” Beyond hosting events, Andrew is an angel investor, and they spend a bit of time chatting about his philosophy towards investments. As Andrew explains, he looks for companies with a large growth potential, a brilliant founder, and a problem that could be addressed with a venture-scale product. Later, they debate the best approach to product development in an agile environment, with Andrew advocating for prioritizing customer feedback along with a more flexible approach to product road mapping, touch upon the impact of AI to speed up product development, and discuss Andrew’s approach to management, which focuses on empowering team members to make decisions and work on tasks they're passionate about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Tim Jensen, who works on the paid media team at the M&T bank. Tim recently presented at the Brighton SEO Conference in San Diego on the topic of PPC reporting and dealing with the major data changes that have been coming down the pike this year. It’s a hot topic because the level of granularity and transparency in data is evolving towards more opacity, rather than more transparency, in the post-cookie era. Given this evolutionary trend, Tim suggests using multiple sources of data to compare and find the "single source of truth" for campaign performance, while focusing on trends rather than exact matches between disparate reporting systems. Tim and Kevin agree that the imminent abolition of 3rd party tracking cookies is elevating the role that first-party data will play in effective marketing campaigns, which runs the risk of creating two classes of marketers: “data haves” and “data have nots.” They also agree that savvy marketers – especially those working in a B2B context -- shouldn’t ignore Microsoft’s paid ad offerings, which in some important applications offer more control over campaigns than Google’s. They trade notes on lead scoring best practices and move on to the topic of the GA4 migration, an event that’s caused a certain amount of frustration for marketers who grew accustomed to Universal Analytics’ rich functionality and ease of use. As Tim notes, “GA4 is intimidating, especially for a small business owner, it’s not going to be easy to set up. I do think it’s valuable to maybe take some time to learn to set it up – to at least get some basic events and conversions firing.” While Tim acknowledges that mastering GA4 can be frustrating, making the effort is worthwhile, given that GA4 provides sophisticated custom reporting capabilities that have never existed before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Nate Burke, Founder and CEO at Diginius, a SaaS technology company specializing in digital marketing and e-commerce solutions, about how his company is using Microsoft Advertising Network for the benefit of clients. They discuss the potential for Microsoft to gain market share in search advertising with the help of AI and proprietary technology. We agree that Microsoft has an opportunity to increase coverage in the mid-market and lower segments, and that the current antitrust suit could impact the search landscape. Nate observes that that while mobile users are a smaller percentage on Microsoft, the platform can still convert well for certain industries, and shifting desktop traffic budget to Microsoft can lead to improved performance. The discussion turns to the topic of B2B marketing, whose long sales cycles require nuanced KPIs and the use of signals that can serve as proxies for engagement and interest. They then talk about the increasing adoption of AI in various industries, including marketing, where AI tools are being used to automate tasks such as product listing creation and bidding algorithms, with Nate noting that while AI can save time and improve efficiency, it's important to develop critical thinking skills and expertise to use it correctly. Nate is excited about potential changes in the search industry which may happen in 2024, including the prospect of increased competition and the possibility that some large tech companies may be broken up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Lauren DeLisa Coleman, a media and entertainment expert who helps clients navigate the intersection of technology and culture. She runs several agencies and a non-profit called Game Change, which supports women of color in leadership positions in emerging tech and media. She writes for a number of publications, including Forbes, has spoken at conferences across the world, and has written several e-books, the most recent being "America's Most Wanted: The Millennial." Kevin and Lauren discuss how creators in the music space are now acting more like broadcasters or publishers, while others remain tied to their favorite platforms. Lauren notes that some creators are entrepreneurial-minded and actively pursue direct relationships with their fans, while others rely on their teams and existing opportunities. She emphasizes the importance of direct relationships between artists and fans, citing Master P and 50 Cent as examples of successful entrepreneurs who have built their careers through hard work and direct communication. Lauren emphasizes authenticity in brand relationships, urging marketers and creators to understand the needs and perspectives of their target audiences. A particularly important skill is to understand cultural narratives and values in order to create authentic campaigns or events. She advises against relying solely on data or focus groups to inform decisions, instead advocating for a deep absorption into the subject matter. Kevin and Lauren agree that it's a mistake to regard any demographic or cultural group as monolithic. Brand managers must avoid oversimplifying diverse groups, as even within a single subculture, there may be subgroups with distinct needs and preferences. The conversation closes with a discussion with what’s ahead in the media world in 2024, which, as we all know, will be a presidential election year. Lauren shares insights on how to better leverage music for political campaigns, while avoiding potential legal issues. She suggests partnering with a consultant to help manage collaborations between artists and politicians, citing the potential for authenticity and quality content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin lee interviews Julie Roehm, who has served in high-level marketing posts at some of the most recognized brands on the planet, including DaimlerChrysler. Today, she consults on a contract basis for Gorilla Commerce, an e-commerce product development platform dedicated to launching and growing powerful brands. She's also on the advisory boards of several large organizations, including T-Mobile and the National Kidney Foundation. Julie is a big advocate of putting customer experience at the center of every marketing decision made by a brand. She maintains that marketing efforts should always be aligned with company KPIs, such as conversion and margin, in order to demonstrate value and credibility. By focusing on these KPIs, marketers can change the way they are perceived by operations and finance teams, leading to more productive collaboration and innovation. Julie and Kevin agree that marketers should identify low-hanging fruit in any transformation or change initiative, even if it's not part of one's direct responsibility. She highlights the value of pressure testing and journey mapping to identify areas for improvement, a process involving members from various departments for a comprehensive understanding of the customer experience. They trade notes on the new crop of tools for content creation, including AI-generated animation software capable of creating high-quality moving images. Julie agrees that these tools are game-changers, but warns that because they make content creation so easy, thus allowing an almost infinite set of variations to be produced for every creative concept, there's a risk that marketers will be overwhelmed and lose focus. Finally, they chat about the growing role of influencers in marketing and how their status might evolve in an era quite likely to see more regulation by governmental entities such as the FTC. Julie is excited about the coming year and sees AI as a major continuing driver of transformative change within marketing and in society at large. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Jeffery Mayer, Head of Product and Managing Director at DanAds, a company providing a self-serve advertising platform providing direct access to publishers' inventory. DanAds lowers the barriers to entry for small businesses while increasing operational efficiencies and sales opportunities for publishers. As Jeffrey explains, "what this platform really does is democratize the ability for any advertiser -- big or small -- to book their media campaigns, set their targeting and audiences they want to reach, to add their creative, and create a campaign. So we're kind of opening the door for anyone to buy media without the exorbitant costs they would typically get." Jeffrey explains how DanAds' AI-enabled tools, such as video and audio builders, reduce production costs for small advertisers by creating clean and professional ads at a fraction of the cost of traditional production methods. He talks about how it's possible for advertisers to connect their third-party ad tags directly to the DanAds platform for easier ad serving. Kevin and Jeffrey trade notes on the continuing importance of automation in media transactions, with Jeffrey citing examples of successful campaigns run through DanAds. The conversation then pivots to the subject of AI in media, with Jeffrey noting that he's excited about its potential while recognizing that it may not live up to the hype. Finally, they chat about how platforms such as DanAds may acquire new relevance this year as the political advertising season heats up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Amanda Jordan, SEO Strategy Director at RicketyRoo, who shares her unique journey into the SEO industry, from initially wanting to be an engineer to discovering her passion for search marketing through a friend's suggestion. Amanda is an expert at local SEO and shares the most common challenges faced by businesses struggling to compete with larger competitors due to content quality and topical authority. She notes that one common mistake made is to focus too exclusively on the lower funnel. Other common mistakes include having too much "thin content" on their sites and failing to optimize their Google My Business profiles. Additional issues typically include duplicate content, internal linking issues, poor navigation, and indexability issues. As she notes, issues such as these are often hard issues to overcome, given that most small businesses do not have the resources required to produce content whose quality is high enough to be ranked well by search engines. Kevin and Amanda discuss the importance of businesses having a presence on secondary sites like directories and review platforms to improve local SEO, with Amanda opining that it's sometimes worth it to paying for listings on some platforms to increase visibility. The discussion pivots to video, and how employees can be effective content creators, especially in healthcare and related industries, as they may have more personal experience and knowledge to share than people at higher levels of the organization. Amanda acknowledges that there may be a learning curve for employees to become comfortable with creating content, but it can be a valuable way to personalize the brand and engage with customers. Amanda shares her take on the GA4 migration, which has caused a good deal of frustration among marketers accustomed to the rich functionality of GA4's predecessor, Universal Analytics. Amanda sees big changes ahead in 2024 for SEO and believes that the best way to prepare for them is to put oneself in the shoes of searchers. "Don't worry about Google. Do the right things for your customers, and you'll likely be in the right side of whatever update comes." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Michael Lyden, Vice President of Threat Intelligence at the Trust Accountability Group (TAG), in a discussion about the current state of malvertising and what the ad industry is doing to fight it. As TAG notes on its website, “Malvertising is now a problem at scale. Recent research suggests that despite improvements in the digital ad landscape, nearly 1 in every 100 ad impressions were still impacted by a malicious or disruptive ad, suggesting that more than 20% of user sessions may be impacted by malvertising. The financial impact of malvertising has grown apace as well. In 2018, it was estimated that the industry lost $210 million annually to auto-redirects, and another $920 million from the ads auto-redirects facilitated with click fraud.” Kevin and Michael discuss the current threat environment and talk about what TAG is doing to make things better. As Michael notes, social engineering is rising as a malvertising modality. “Because modern browsers have gotten so secure, it's harder than ever to download malware from an ad. It really requires you as the internet user to do something: to click through a series of prompts and install the malware or install some other kinds of software at the behest of a criminal group. So social engineering really becomes the key method for criminal groups to get you to do something.” Michael and Kevin discuss the potential risks of generative AI in digital advertising, including its abuse by criminals to create convincing content and bypass traditional countermeasures. Michael notes that criminals are opportunistic and will exploit weaknesses in the industry, making it essential for digital advertising to stay vigilant and adapt to new threats. He emphasizes the importance of staying nimble, advancing cooperation within the industry, and liaising with law enforcement entities to keep malvertising at bay. The discussion then turns to the topic of potential vulnerabilities within the affiliate marketing industry to nefarious actors, given its complex ecosystem and lack of information sharing among a large group of independent companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding at Wix. Mordy had some interesting conversations with fellow SEO professionals at the Brighton SEO Conference earlier this month concerning the continued viability of today’s generation of popular SEO tools. Are they ready to take on the optimization challenges posed by generative AI, semantic search, and hyper-personalized results? As Mordy notes, “the general sense I got, talking both on stage but also talking to average SEOs, is that they’re not. The SEO tools were built, I’d say, 15 years ago. At this point, not much has changed about them. Yes, they've added all sorts of bells and whistles and reports and graphs and this and that. But they're fundamentally built on a link building model, which is clearly not where SEO is anymore.” Mordy does acknowledge that today’s SEO tools do provide value in terms of their auditing capabilities but are far less useful when it comes to assessing issues relating to content gaps and content quality generally. The discussion shifts to the topic of negative SEO and the potential for Google to accurately determine which links are toxic and require disavowing, with Mordy expressing skepticism about the need for the Disavow tool itself while noting that Bing’s Disavow tool has already disappeared. Mordy and Kevin then get into the issue of spam and low-quality sites which continue to pollute the web, despite the best efforts of search engines to ferret them out, and speculate as to whether AI will make an already dire situation measurably worse. They trade notes on the issue of future-proofing SEO through content syndication and content co-creation and move on to a discussion about the importance of authenticity in influencer marketing. Then they tackle the issue of video SEO and the degree to which it is ignored by marketers. Mordy and Kevin agree that SEO – which has historically been a moving, evolving target – may be about to undergo more radical changes in the next few years than it has in the past two decades. As he notes, “something is changing under the surface of everything. Something very fundamental is changing. And I think it's the combination of AI, obviously, but also user content consumption trends, which are changing very rapidly, and they're very powerful.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Damian Pelliccione, CEO and Co-Founder of Revry, an enterprise describing itself as "the LGBTQ-first streaming network with the latest in queer movies, series and music, available anytime and anywhere." Damian recounts Revry's origin story and notes that the network has grown to 5 million monthly active viewers in over 140 countries, with viewers mainly consuming content on connected television platforms. He credits this growth to forging partnerships with TV manufacturers and conducting direct sales to big brands for scalable growth in LGBTQ content distribution. Damian and Kevin discuss the role of branded content and sponsorships in Revry's current programming, which relies on non-scripted content, such as reality TV shows and sports programs, where brands can easily integrate themselves into the content at different levels. Damian recounts the network's experience working with Nike and Lexus on an awards show, highlighting the success of the event and the engagement of the audience. Kevin and Damian chat about the particular strengths of free ad-supported streaming TV, which does not allow viewers to skip advertisements, and the purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community, which has a disposable income of $1.7 trillion in the U.S. Then they tackle the issue of brand safety, which rose to the forefront in 2023 due to the Bud Lite controversy, and dive into how Revry is handling these concerns on its network. They touch upon Revry's marketing strategy, which involves a mix of leveraging relationships with editorial teams in CTV environments such as Samsung and Vizio while incorporating a paid component. Damian has high hopes for the network, which has doubled its revenue for four consecutive years, and plans are in the works for a major announcement concerning Revry at the CES show which will happen early next year in Las Vegas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Ezra Doty, CEO of Quorum, a New York-based company whose products allow advertisers to target shoppers based on their real-world shopping behavior. Ezra discusses his background, and then a discussion begins concerning how mobile device data collection enables a kind of targeted advertising that's proven to be extremely effective in practice. Ezra explains that the data collected from mobile devices is limited to latitude, longitude, GPS coordinates, timestamp, and anonymous ID, regardless of whether the device is iOS or Android. He emphasizes that the company does not collect any personally identifiable information and maintains a strict separation between anonymous mobile data and personally identifiable information. Kevin and Ezra discuss how the ad calls from browser-based devices are very different from SDK-delivered ad calls, with Ezra noting that "the difference really, with SDK based (ad calls) is that it is only as accurate as the blue dot on your phone... it's not perfect. Sometimes you're on the other side of the building, or whatever, but it's pretty close. And that's the degree of accuracy we have with SDK based (ad calls). " One thing that's fascinating about gathering and analyzing location data is that it provides the marketer with opportunities to discover unexpected insights, for example, the likelihood that individuals making multiple visits to a store such as Home Depot within a certain time range may also be in-market for other goods and services of interest to homeowners. Ezra and Kevin discuss the power of such correlations and other insights derived from studying cross-shopping behavior. Ezra is a strong exponent of retargeting customers who have visited a brand's physical stores, as they are more likely to convert than website visitors, and they trade notes on this, as well as how competitive conquesting, where a brand targets customers of competitors, can be achieved using location-based data. As Ezra notes, "conquesting is obviously big... lifestyle targeting, you know: I want to target somebody who was at a ski resort or a golf course or amusement park -- you can think about a lot of use cases around that." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Ravi Mittal, Founder and CEO of Quizzly.ai, whose company allows publishers to deploy contextually relevant online quizzes that can be woven into a publisher’s content streams. Ravi and Kevin explore Quizzly.ai's origin story and he then explains how the company's AI engine creates quizzes on demand by analyzing content and identifying relevant questions and answers. As he notes, the data shows that users love quizzes, which boast high completion and engagement rates. Publishers love them too, given that quizzes can be used to gather user data for targeted content creation and market research. Additionally, advertisers can use quizzes to educate users about a product's features while gleaning valuable insights from prospects and consumers that can flow back into market research and product development. Ravi has high hopes for the future of his company in 2024 and beyond, especially with respect to market research, a lucrative business that appears to be ripe for disruption. "We are very much focused on getting Brand Lift studies within the quiz widget. As you know, it's an $80 billion industry -- the market research industry -- and most of the budgets are going into these surveys. But nobody knows who does these surveys -- there are panels sitting somewhere in the cloud, probably. We want to bring those budgets those budgets to publishers. We want these surveys to become more quick and meaningful. So I feel that in the next three to six months, you'll see some more disruption in the market research space as people discover our tool." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Atiba de Souza, an organic video marketing expert who's the CEO and Founder of Client Attraction Pros, a video marketing agency based in Rockville, Maryland. As Atiba's website explains, his company “specializes in helping busy expert entrepreneurs get more of the right kind of videos out in the world so they can book more speaking engagements, become a recognized authority, and spend less time chasing clients.” Kevin and Atiba share a lengthy background in SEO and Atiba's success in getting favorable organic rankings for clients deeply informs his video marketing strategy today. Key to this approach is creating video content that precisely answers questions posed by the audience that one’s marketing efforts are targeting. As Atiba notes, "it's not about what you think is cool and what you want to say. It's about what the audience is asking." In other words, one needs to align one's content -- whether it's short form or long form -- with Google's core purpose to favorably rank the best, most consumer-centric content in order to provide the best user experience. Atiba and Kevin discuss the virtues of creating short-form "snackable" content, which today dominates video-centric platforms such as TikTok and has an increasingly influential presence on YouTube. We address the key role of "the hook" (that all-important introductory segment of any video which sets forth its theme and, therefore, user expectations as to what's ahead) and explore the potential for customer testimonials and partner-created content. Creating compelling video content for "boring" industries is a constant challenge for B2B marketers, and Atiba provides some great insights and excellent examples as to how this can be achieved. They discuss the importance of focusing video marketing efforts on building relationships with customers rather than just pursuing it from a brand perspective, chat about best practices for repurposing, or "splintering" long-form content, and brainstorm ideas for future-proofing video marketing strategies against AI (which may profoundly change the way that search results are presented), including the use of digital PR and syndicated content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Mike Hauptman, CEO and Founder at Adlib, a company whose programmatic DSP (Demand-Side Platform), dubbed "The Adlib Meta DSP," makes it easier for marketers to access premium audiences and publishers at scale while eliminating waste. Mike and Kevin discuss the company's origin story, the market needs met by its software, and the challenges of prioritizing features in product development, with Mike emphasizing the importance of listening to clients when contemplating the addition of new features and capabilities. Kevin queries Mike about specific client requests for integrations, and Mike mentions YouTube as an example of an integration that was added based on client demand. Adlib differentiates itself from other self-serve DSPs by not maintaining its own supply connections and data marketplaces, instead using best-in-class connections through larger DSPs. This allows for head-to-head competition between DSPs to determine the best performer for a campaign. It’s also earned high marks for being easy to use and fast to set up. Mike highlights the benefits of partnering with vendors for dynamic creative optimization and provides an anecdote about using Magic Ads, an Adlib product, to help a beauty brand create banners in just a few hours and achieve a 3-1 return on ad spend within 2-3 weeks. Mike has high hopes for Adlib in 2024 and beyond, believing its capabilities and contract-free engagement model qualify it as a credible candidate to serve as the media buying system of record for agencies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Ameet Khabra, founder of Hop Skip Media, a PPC agency based in Surrey, British Columbia where she oversees account strategy and execution for clients across various industry categories, including leisure, food delivery, automotive, and heavy equipment. She recently presented at the Brighton SEO Conference in San Diego, an event which I also attended. Kevin chats with Ameet about her career journey and they trade notes on a number of issues germane to contemporary PPC advertising, including best practices for using Google’s Performance Max (the topic of Ameet's talk at Brighton), a system which uses machine learning models to optimize bids and placements to drive conversions. Kevin and Ameet agree that marketers should never regard automated systems such as Performance Max as autonomous “magic boxes.” As Ameet notes, “nothing in digital marketing should ever be “set and forget.” Furthermore, while Performance Max is “smart” in terms of being powered by AI, it must be “spoon fed” the correct kind of data for it to function effectively. Furthermore, as she observes, getting acceptable results from systems such as Performance Max fully depends on supplying them with adequate information to optimize ad campaigns effectively, including audience signals, customer lists, and data feeds. Ameet highlights the common mistakes she’s observed when conducting PPC account audits, including inadequate conversion tracking and overreliance on auto recommendations. Kevin and Ameet then discuss the importance of connecting backend CRM data to Google Ads to enable accurate bidding decisions. Ameet reports on her experience with the GA4 migration from Universal Analytics that happened this year and how she’s handling GA4’s reduced functionality along with its navigational issues. The conversation then turns to AI’s role in digital marketing, including its current prowess in terms of being able to generate content whose quality exceeds – or is at least on par with – that generated by human beings. Ameet notes that in all the tests she’s run, human-generated content has won every time, but this favorable result is no cause for complacency given the breakneck pace of development in the generative AI space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Bryan Barletta, who created and runs Sounds Profitable, a company dedicated to the proposition that podcasting can be profitable. The company’s mission statement is “to educate and empower the podcasting industry at all levels” by providing insightful content, events, research, and advisory services. Kevin quizzes Bryan about Sounds Profitable’s origin story and then the conversations plunges into specific issues germane to podcasting planning and production. They discuss best practices with regard to podcast frequency and ad delivery, along with the importance of treating podcasting like a business, investing in it, and building quality content to stand out in the crowded podcast ecosystem. Bryan highlights the need for podcasters and marketers to define success beyond mere download numbers, and to focus on building relationships and creating value through their podcasts. They delve into the issue of attribution, which can be challenging due to a lack of platform-level data sharing but can be addressed via various available solutions. They discuss the potential for niche podcasts in both B2B and B2C contexts, with examples such as sports podcasts in the offseason and election-related podcasts during election years, and address the issue of budgeting, with Bryan providing examples of different types of podcast production budgets. They chat about the growing trend of podcasters recording with video, which allows for more visual cues and the ability to create graphical assets for branding and social media deployment. Finally, they trade notes on the importance of having the right equipment in place to properly execute professional podcasts, and the importance of consulting with a professional to produce a polished podcast. If you’re a podcaster, or are thinking of becoming one, I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of this interview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Will Critchlow, CEO at SearchPilot, a UK-based company that helps proprietors of very large websites prove the value of their SEO efforts through SEO A/B testing. Will recently presented at the Brighton SEO Conference in San Diego, an event that Kevin also attended. Will and Kevin discuss the origin story and current elevator pitch for SearchPilot, how the software works, and the value it provides in terms of being able to accurately quantify the ROI of SEO efforts generally. They touch on the role that site traffic volume plays in terms of being a prerequisite for obtaining statistically valid results that can be relied upon for SEO optimization efforts, and chat about how Google has become more real-time in terms of its indexing and ranking, allowing for changes in search results to be noticed more quickly. Kevin gets Will’s take on the most common SEO issues found on legacy sites, for example, poorly managed 404 errors, multiple 301 redirects, broken structured data, and other issues, and ask him about how his team works collaboratively with internal organizational stakeholders, for example, IT departments, which may formally or informally exert control over the site. As Will notes, “IT folks are often skeptical, so we need to bring them along in conversation and show how our product can help with their technical concerns." The discussion shifts to the issue of AI’s current and future influence on SEO, the degree to which bad actors will use AI to overwhelm search engines with artificially generated spam, and the likelihood that search engines will ever abandon their traditional, multiple-choice SERPs with a single, AI-generated, hyper-personalized answer (Will is skeptical that this will happen anytime soon given the self-interest of search engines in monetizing as many outbound clicks as possible). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Charlene Li, author, keynote speaker, advisor, and coach, to chat about her new book, The Disruption Mindset: Why Some Organizations Transform While Others Fail, and discuss some of the biggest issues facing the technology industry -- and the world -- today. As Charlene writes, "disruptive transformation is so difficult because it upsets the status quo and shifts power relationships. It requires not settling the table that has been set for us and instead committing to run toward a future that is radically different from -- and better than -- we are today." Kevin and Charlene converse about AI's positive impacts, as well as some of its potential threats, including deep fakes and phishing campaigns, along with the need for organizations to have guidelines in place to stay safe and focus on innovation. They discuss AI's impact on startups and how AI "co-pilots" have measurably improved productivity among coders. Charlene notes that the startup environment is vibrant and well-funded right now but also risky, given the likelihood that large companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook will eventually disrupt and/or co-opt AI startups' business models. The conversation shifts towards the transformative potential of AI in marketing, with Charlene emphasizing the power of generative AI to generate content efficiently. She expresses a mix of optimism and skepticism about the impact of LLMs on the research industry, acknowledging both their potential benefits and the potential for laziness in relying on AI for answers, as well as the potential for generative AI systems to "hallucinate" false and potentially dangerously misleading results. They then chat about AI's role in generating targeted, personalized advertising and in marketing and branding generally. As Charlene notes, the AI ecosystem is thriving "because we can see how generative AI can be used in almost all aspects, and start transforming the way we do work; the way we live, the way we play. And so marketers, I think... if you're not using it every day, you'd better start using it as much as you can to explore how can we really transform the way we work. And don't use it like a glorified search engine. Really think about the work that would completely change the way you're doing things today if you have this incredible tool at your disposal." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Stephen F. Johnston, Jr., CTO of Pubwise, a company that helps publishers increase revenue through programmatic advertising by offering header bidding as a service. As its web site describes, Pubwise came about "after a long, frustrating road of expensive consultants delivering empty promises, combined with the arrival of Header Bidding to the adtech scene." After "getting wise to the murky, sometimes dishonest and inefficient programmatic advertising world; we decided to create the technology ourselves – to see the data inside the black box." Kevin and Stephen do a deep dive into Pubwise's Prebid technology, which optimizes ad auctions for better win rates and revenue for both buyers and sellers and then broaden the conversation's scope to discuss the evolution of the ad tech industry, which is currently undergoing a phase that blurs the lines that once separated SSPs, DSPs, and exchanges. They tackle issues pertaining to ad auctions, latency, and monetization, with Stephen noting that today's environment requires publishers to constantly monitor and remeasure auction metrics to avoid long-term performance issues. Additionally, both publishers and sellers must surface the right data to connect audiences with interest, or risk a period of low fidelity and decreased campaign scale. As Stephen notes, observability is key to optimizing ad performance, as it provides contextual data for both publishers and advertisers to improve their systems. They chat about the issue of environmental sustainability and how it intersects with the traditional need for programmatic ads to execute multiple, energy-consuming server calls. Stephen expresses optimism about industry progress but raises concerns about efficiency and carbon footprint due to browser changes such as those entailed in Google's post-cookie proposal. He also notes that while there is a lot of focus on reducing requests and carbon impact, the solution is still fragmented, with many companies vying to be the solutions provider. As Stephen notes, uncertainty in the digital advertising industry will likely prevail for the foreseeable future, providing an opportunity for companies such as his own to show their value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

emphasizes the importance of understanding your business, ideal customers, and creating a content strategy to drive business outcomes while providing value to the audience. They discuss the role of executives and salespeople in thought leadership, suggesting that it's not limited to the C-suite and can include sales representatives. Purna breaks down content marketing strategy into its three core areas: understanding the business, ideal customers, and building a strategy that balances key messages and distribution channels. She also has some great advice for brands whose content marketing efforts may be restrained by the need to metaphorically "herd cats" within the organization. Purna suggests focusing on different stages of audience awareness rather than traditional funnel stages and adapting content accordingly. She recommends repurposing content to reach different audience segments. Kevin and Purna discuss the role of executives and salespeople in the effort to build organizational thought leadership, suggesting that it's not limited to the C-suite and can include sales representatives. She advises that one best builds thought leadership by starting with a limited number of active and passionate employees and working out from there. She has some excellent advice for anyone seeking to create audience-resonant content from trade shows or other events. She, like myself, agrees that repurposing content for different channels and contexts is a useful tactic that can maximum content impact. Purna has been following the AI revolution from a content marketing perspective for some time, and she's clearly optimistic about lies ahead, but believes that one should not become overly enamored by the technology itself. She notes that "We've seen the power of what AI can do to empower the human, which is really the key." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

evin Lee interviews Michelle Covey, Vice President of Innovation at GS1 US, a global non-profit organization whose mission is to help businesses solve problems through standardized processes, such as identifying products and tracking them through the supply chain. Doing so is especially important today, in an era when corporate sustainability goals typically include waste reduction and product recalls are, if not exactly commonplace, not terribly unusual. Kevin and Michelle discuss the fact that direct-to-consumer sales of products by influencers, celebrities, and other individuals with their own custom formulas have increased in recent years, creating new opportunities for supply chain optimization and product traceability. As Michelle notes, being able to correctly identify products throughout the supply chain is critical, even if these products don't seem destined for large retail chains. Michelle outlines the evolution of barcodes, highlighting their potential to carry more information and be scanned by phones, expanding their use beyond checkout lines, and explains the importance of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) in tracking inventory and preventing counterfeiting. She also notes that RFID -- whose first real use case was in the apparel industry, is expanding into other sectors, notably the food service and health care industries. They address the fact that retail systems will need to be ready to scan 2D barcodes by 2027 by investing in new scanning technology to accommodate 2D barcodes. Here, GS1 US will be of assistance in terms of providing resources for companies to learn about and implement the new standards; resources will include a website, YouTube channel, and a data hub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews SEO expert Shawn Huber. Topics discussed in this free-ranging conversation include Shawn's talk at the Brighton SEO Conference in San Diego, which will focus on encouraging Google's crawler, SEO strategies for small business, the wisdom of pruning content that has outlived its usefulness, digital PR and syndication strategies that can "future-proof" current SEO efforts, the role of AI in optimization, and possible revelations that may emerge from the various lawsuits pending against Google and their potential impact on the SEO profession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee interviews Lee-Sean Huang, Senior Director of Learning & Programs at AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts). The conversation covers how the design profession is evolving, how creative briefs are changing, and how the design community is adapting to new technologies, including AI, which are already having a significant impact on how designers work. Big shifts have already happened in design – driven by the pandemic's transformation of the workplace and the arrival of a new generation of design and collaboration tools -- and these shifts are accelerating. As Lee-Sean notes, clients "are being more collaborative with their creative teams, whether it's with agencies or in-house." He also sees increased investment in in-house creative and design teams. Lee-Sean acknowledges that while in-person dynamics can be beneficial for certain creative and strategic projects, there are trade-offs; including the need to manually memorialize in-person "analog" interactions via notebook or other analog devices and then transmute this material to the digital realm. Regarding AI-enabled design tools, Lee-Sean mentions that designers, especially content-focused professionals like illustrators and photographers, are surfacing real concerns about AI tools replacing them. Lee-Sean clearly recognizes that AI tools can be beneficial in terms of the ideation and concept development phases of any project, saving time and providing more opportunity to focus on higher-level creative processes. Kevin and Lee-Sean discuss best practices for creative briefs. As he notes, a brief that is too narrow may limit creativity and innovation, while an excessively open-ended brief may lead to "wheel spinning" and a lack of direction. Finding the right balance between open and closed briefs is essential. Lee-Sean reflects on some common themes discussed at recent AIGA conferences, including the imperative that designers expand their scope of knowledge beyond traditional parameters of design to include fluency with AI tools, become more business-savvy, and become expert at aligning creative work with strategic business goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Lee talks with Ola King, who will be speaking at the Brighton SEO Conference in San Diego this week. His topic at the conference is "Why SEO is a UX Discipline." Kevin and Ola discuss the challenges of future-proofing SEO, especially in the context of AI-generated responses replacing traditional search engine results. Ola suggests that even though search engines may be moving to "SERP-less" results, they will likely continue to prioritize delivering accurate, fast, and comprehensive information allowing for some measure of user choice. He notes that, at least right now, AI-generated responses provide surface-level information, acting as "knowledgeable friends"" who can direct users to more detailed, more authoritative content residing on websites. The conversation touches on the importance of user experience (UX) on websites, emphasizing that websites need to deliver on the promises made in search results to provide a positive user experience. Kevin and Ola highlight the significance of branding and how content should align with a brand's promise, ensuring users know what to expect when they encounter a brand's content. They discuss the challenges of incorporating storytelling into content marketing, particularly for businesses in less exciting industries. Kevin points out the difference between traditional journalistic writing and storytelling, where storytelling tends to have a more flexible narrative structure. Ola suggests that it's essential to redefine what a story is and focus on the narrative aspect. He advises businesses to understand their audience's needs and frame their content as a solution to those needs, noting that every business can find a compelling story within its operations or by addressing the concerns of its target audience. Ola emphasizes that everything can be turned into an interesting story. Even in less exciting industries, businesses should consider what keeps their customers up at night and use that as the basis for creating engaging content. He suggests that businesses should think about the hero's journey within their industry or customer experiences to make their content more relatable and engaging, and advises marketers to start with the end goal of pleasing their audience and optimizing for the right channels, rather than focusing solely on search engines like Google or social media platforms such as TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices