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As a marketer, do you need to create content that applies insights derived from data and research? If so, pay attention to the right data and apply it the right way to produce the most effective work possible. Today’s guest is Anastasia Leng from CreativeX. She talks about where marketers get misled with data and how to merge data and creativity to create content that connects with customers.    Some of the highlights of the show include: Data-backed Content: Objective way to understand what’s in each content piece Performance: After putting piece of content out, what has happened as a result? Views/Variables: Marketers should move away from biases and assumptions Trust gut or data? Marketers want to be right; get comfortable with being wrong CreativeX’s Mission: Enhance and elevate creativity expression through data Consistent Content: Number of clicks vs. what reflects brand and audience Best Practices: Creative quality and distinctive brand assets to increase sales Cheat Sheet for Content: What should your definition of creative quality incorporate? Brand right away; marketers have 2-3 seconds to make impression Don’t waste money by running same piece of content across channels Get around brevities   Links: Anastasia Leng on LinkedIn CreativeX Think with Google Distinctive Brand Assets by Jenni Romaniuk Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Anastasia Leng: “It’s really about having a common language for evaluating every piece of content that we create.” “Understand what is the long-term metric that really matters, and how can you start to get creative and whatever that KPI is closer together so you can understand the relationship and the journey these two things take together.” “Analyze content more objectively so that we’re not letting our own biases drive our understanding of what is working and what is not working in our content strategy.” “If you’re not even aware of these things, how can you truly be a good marketer? How can you truly put out great content if you’re not actually able to really look deeply within it?”

Too often, content marketing strategies follow one of two paths: Keyword driven or driven based on what the writer thinks makes an interesting topic. The path to success is somewhere in between those two strategies. Today’s guest is Brad Smith from Wordable, Codeless, and uSERP. He talks about how to create data-backed and ROI-driven content strategies that blend both approaches for maximum results.    Some of the highlights of the show include: Problems: Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are incredibly competitive Affiliate Space: 70% of revenue comes from two or three keywords Temporary Approach: Create great content to find an audience Referral Traffic: Completely relying on what other people find interesting Ads: Companies turn to other channels that are less profitable, more competitive Game Plan: What components/expectations will move content and keywords? Marketers don’t need more or better ideas—but test and execute them better Decision-Making Process: Do it or be grounded in reality to produce best results Wordable: Format, optimize, upload, and publish content in minutes for clients   Links: Brad Smith on LinkedIn Wordable Codeless uSERP Seth Godin HubSpot Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Brad Smith: “If you’re relatively small, relatively new, not well-funded, don’t have a name for yourself or brand yet, that kind of excludes like 70 percent of the good stuff from a keyword perspective that you’d want to write for, ultimately, that’s going to bring in ROI.” “When you’re following this method of let’s just create ‘good’ content, you’re completely 100 percent relying on what other people find interesting.” “Social things are going to be a lot more beneficial shorter term. Over the long term, it’s just about scale.” “The whole ranking thing is like the chicken and the egg. I can’t rank for big keywords until I’m big, but I’m not going to be big until I rank for some keywords.” “Marketers don’t need more ideas. They don’t need better ideas. They just need to execute better, and executing better comes from processes and boring systems and operations.”

CoSchedule started as an editorial calendar WordPress plugin created by an agency that co-founders, Garrett Moon and Justin Walsh, ran called Todaymade. Since then, CoSchedule has grown. Not only has the core content calendar gone through a lot of changes, but so has the company. Today’s guest is Nathan Ellering, Head of Marketing at CoSchedule, which now offers multiple different product lines under one brand name. Nathan explains how CoSchedule made pivots and tackled some risks and challenges. His advice will help you navigate from being one company that makes one product and expand to one company that makes four products.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Product Positioning: How to funnel people in and say the right things Marketing Automation: Where to build out those funnels and nurture people Marketing Design: Make sure everything published is visually built and modern Customer Service: Incorporate customer service much more with marketing History of CoSchedule: How core marketing calendar software evolved Company Philosophy: Start where you're at with a smaller test product Marketing Work Management Software: Organize everything in one place Content Calendars: Meet deadlines and manage work effectively, efficiently Agile Marketing Tools: Hire product to finish work, deliver projects, prove value Current Products: Marketing Calendar/Suite, Headline Analyzer, Headline Studio Academy: Marketing education platform for marketers to understand, build skills Mission Statement: CoSchedule wants to help every marketer do amazing work CoSchedule Experience: Get the right messaging to get them into a product True Tenants of Agile: Where to ship, measure, learn, iterate, and begin Testing Culture: Launch something new with other people’s market research   Links: Headline Analyzer Headline Studio Marketing Calendar Marketing Suite CoSchedule Academy Marketing Strategy Guide Nathan Ellering on LinkedIn Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Nathan Ellering: “We're aiming to create experiences that help out people who really are being marketed to...from a customer service perspective. That's been really fun so far.” ”We were working a lot with bloggers and we discovered many years ago that marketers are starting to turn to blogging as a great way to do content marketing.” “We identified the need that they had to just organize everything in one place. We say those words all the time. They really resonate with people.” “We want every experience at CoSchedule to be a positive one and one that lasts a lifetime of you being a marketer.”

Why are marketers good at content production, but not so great at content distribution? They are judged based on how much work they get done, rather than the actual results that they produce. Also, content promotion with traditional channels is harder to do. Today’s guest is Jonathan Gandolf from The Juice. He talks about a better way for content marketers to produce and distribute value. Curation is actually more powerful than creation.   Some of the highlights of the show include: The Juice: A startup that aspires to be the Spotify of B2B content Beta Program: Marketers distribute curated content and consumers discover it Content Distribution: Same channels, same audience equals diminishing returns Keyword Salad: Who are we creating content for? Algorithms or humans? Talk to Consumers: Understand why quality content is not producing returns The Right Content: Prospects want solutions to problems, not more content B2B Buyer’s Journey: Map out funnel and map content to it Down the Drain: 59% content isn’t read, 23% budget applied to content creation Forms: Don’t expect good things from content consumers with such deliverables Safe Space: Create platform to be anonymous, no contact, or generate leads Marketers: Slow down and curate content for consumers at right time and place   Links: The Juice Jonathan Gandolf on LinkedIn Jonathan Gandolf on Twitter Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Jonathan Gandolf: ”What ends up happening is we create really compelling content, but then we end up going to the same channels and the same audience over and over and over again.” “You hit this law of diminishing returns. You’re getting less returns out of that same audience. The only way to get more returns is to create more content. You end up on this hamster wheel of content creation.” “Nobody, right now, is looking for more content. They’re just looking for the right content.” “Curation is actually more powerful than creation.”

Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT-3) and artificial intelligence (AI) first made their way into the marketing industry last year. There's been a lot of talk about whether or not robots will take over content marketers’ jobs. Probably not, as long as they’re doing quality work. Machines like a degree of certainty. Today’s guest is Jeff Coyle, co-founder and chief strategy officer at MarketMuse, an AI-driven content planning and strategy platform. He knows how AI is and will affect content marketing by making our jobs easier and our work better. What do content marketers need to know to prepare for the inevitable future?   Some of the highlights of the show include: Horizon Scanning: What are we going to be doing a year from now? MarketMuse: Sets the standards for content quality by investing in clients Hype Cycle: AI’s influence on writers’ jobs isn’t going away, but ramping up MarketMuse’s Mission: Improve content quality on the Internet Content: AI is making writers more efficient and giving more time to be creative Cost of Content: Two-order disconnect to value and revenue AI: Takes guesswork out of things that drive anxiety, figures out quick wins Stage One: Experts have blind spots and forget stuff Stage Two: Create content briefs Stage Three: Insight is personalized prioritization of content AI Branches: Natural language processing provides insights and editing lens Competitive Analysis: Publish page on concept, don’t copy or make good enough What comprehensiveness means? Creating dice-roll content by copying others Wisdom: Knowing what was regurgitated, commonly used, and SME aspects Correlation Hangover: Susceptible to competitive risk Content Efficiency: Do you know it? Document processes, post-publish tuning   Links: Jeff Coyle on LinkedIn Jeff Coyle on Twitter Jeff Coyle’s Email MarketMuse Grammarly Hemingway Amazon Echo Copyscape Garrett Moon on LinkedIn Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Jeff Coyle: ”Focus on the client and focus on our audience, even if they're not clients. How can they ensure that they're getting the most out of their investments in content?” “The various aspects of artificial intelligence that influence writers’ jobs isn’t going away. It's only going to ramp up. But is it coming for their jobs? Not really.” “Content already in many businesses has a two-order disconnect to value and revenue. Some people don't have the real value of content. They don't understand the true cost of content. They don't understand how it connects directly to revenue.” “That's what AI can do. It can figure out those quick wins versus those infrastructure pieces, versus those risk avoidance pieces. It can actually help to define why you're writing.” “if you go copy those people, you're sorely mistaken. That is one of the biggest pitfalls, and one of the biggest misconceptions of search engine optimization.”

Some marketers have side hustles to learn new skills, explore their passion projects, and make a little extra cash. Are you a marketer struggling to overcome challenges to be successful outside of your day job? Today’s guest is John Bonini of Databox, a business analytics platform, and his side hustle, Some Good Content, a subscription-based marketing education product. John offers advice on how to find balance and avoid burnout with content marketing.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Why start a side hustle? Two reasons: Passionate about a specific subject and can’t not talk about it Accelerates learning by creating content and building a community Why you shouldn’t start a side hustle: Motivated to get rich quick, make money Some Good Content: Advice, education, training should be helpful, not general Content Marketers: Expectations over their heads to drive traffic, generate leads Launch to Learn: Do something to get started, solicit feedback, feel productive Emotional Experience: Short-term setbacks and long-term mindset for side jobs Busy Work: Start quickly and don’t doubt yourself or get lost in the details Side Hustle Scope: Growth goals vs. supplemental time and money boundaries   Links: John Bonini on LinkedIn Databox Some Good Content The 7 Day Startup: You Don't Learn Until You Launch by Dan Norris HubSpot Drip G2 Help Scout Animalz Gong Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from John Bonini: “You really enjoy and/or are passionate about a specific subject and you can’t not talk about it.” “You get to play founder with none of the risk.” “Most content advice, most content education, most content training is often too general to be helpful.” “I just saw this gap between people wanting to get better at content and the content out there not really existing to help them do that.” “When you start to get lost in those thoughts of, ‘I don’t know if this is viable,’ what you end up doing is, you start defaulting to busy work.”

When you’re in a leadership position, sometimes it’s hard to know who to ask or where to look when you need answers to questions and solutions to problems—especially because others expect you to have all the answers and solutions. Today’s guest is Simon Berg, CEO at Ceros, an experiential content creation platform that empowers marketers and designers to create engaging, interactive, and immersive content experiences. Simon talks about what to do when forced to use your own critical-thinking and problem-solving skills instead of a paint-by-numbers playbook. Creativity matters!   Some of the highlights of the show include: COVID vs. Conventional Wisdom: Layoff people during global catastrophe? 2020: Incredibly difficult year of suffering, fear, desperation, anxiety, uncertainty Real Life: Other feelings of presence, pause, introspection, reflection, unity Adversity and Constraint: Ceros chooses opportunity for growth and creativity Big Deal: Happy Birthday, Mr. Berg; time to get drunk because the deal is dead Creativity in Captivity: Takes transparency, compassion, doubt, experiences Survive and Thrive: Commit to not touch salaries/jobs, if you support each other Best Year Ever: Build confidence and grow by believing in yourself and others Advice to Leaders: Stop looking in the book, instead look up and in front of you I can’t…What can you do? Only thing that you can truly control is yourself Reminder: Opportunities and problems are never easy, but hard to do Leadership Playbook Police: Break free from constraints by reframing goals   Links: Simon Berg on LinkedIn Ceros Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Simon Berg: “There’s a lot of feelings involved. Feelings of the people that you lead, and feelings as the leader.” “I attempted to lead through, predominantly authenticity, being authentically myself, and then also, trying very hard to make sure that I was at the right time in the right ways leading through vulnerability.” “Every single person in a position of leadership, or otherwise, is a human being, and human beings are fundamentally flawed.” “Step forward and fight for what I believe made sense and have the courage to do the difficult thing.” “You won’t find a chapter that says, ‘how to run a company in a global pandemic with civil unrest, economic crisis, and an insane president. It’s not in the book.”

Data problems are probably lurking somewhere inside of your marketing stack. Don’t freak out, just yet. Most analytics packages and marketing software services that deal with data have some gaps or inaccuracies. Today’s guest is Dan McGaw, CEO and founder of McGaw.io, a marketing technology and marketing analytics consulting company. Dan talks about how to make better marketing decisions—identify and fix deeper issues to avoid data disasters. He explains everything you need to know to keep your data clean and metrics moving.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Why is data cleanliness important? Analytics + Bad Data = Bad Decisions Directional: Data is not meant to be perfect, the goal is to grow and take action Data Spectrums: Everybody has unreliable data—how bad is it? Marketing Stacks: Different problems stem from data issues Taxonomy: Common problem is not having consistent or connecting names Be Intentional: Set up and configure marketing tech, or set yourself up for failure Audit: You know there’s a problem, but you don’t know what it is, where to begin Solution: Plan and be more proactive by understanding how data flows in Best Practices: Urchin tracking parameters (UTM) are culprits of bad data How to Build Cool Sh*t: Take it slow, take your time, don’t try to rush projects   Links: Dan McGaw on LinkedIn Mcgaw.io McGaw.io Downloads and Resources How to Build Cool Sh*t by Dan McGaw UTM.io KissMetrics Pluralsight - Code School BrowserStack Segment Tag Inspector Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Dan McGaw: “If you have analytics and your analytics have bad data that means your analytics are wrong, which means that you’re naturally going to be making bad decisions.” “Companies that are typically growing the fastest, are the ones who are less focused on definitive and more focused on how do we get directional data that’s going to tell us which way is growth and let’s start moving and let’s make action.” “If you take the quality time to do taxonomy right, you see really, really good outcomes. Trying to make sure that taxonomy works across the stack I think is where you get the best outcomes, as well.” “The best way to audit is really to build good rigor around your analytics, understand how that data flows in, and use the auditing tools to be able to do that.”

How does design happen, and how do designers and marketers collaborate? As a common courtesy, provide details to get more work done better and faster. CoSchedule is consistently committed to quality design and creative output. Today’s guest is Tim Walker, visual designer at CoSchedule. Tim talks about how he infuses brand with individual style that is distinctly CoSchedule. Discover how to replicate CoSchedule’s processes and philosophies.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Onboarding: Intimidating, exciting, and challenging to integrate individual style Standards and Guidelines: Set and define them to have fun within them Design Playground: Time and place to test new ideas, styles, and color palettes Collaboration Challenge: Communicate clearly about team/department needs What Works, What Doesn’t: Specificity, purpose vs. vagueness, no direction Intent: Good design doesn’t happen by accident, it takes thoughtful planning Investment: Don’t cut corners—good aesthetics authenticate your brand Inspiration: Collect designs from Pinterest, Dribble, Ehance, and Instagram   Links: Tim Walker on LinkedIn Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Tim Walker: “Every designer has their own style. A lot of designers can do a lot of things, but I think each designer kind of has their own unique kind of signature. Integrating that into the brand, that’s always a fun little challenge.” “It’s really important to kind of have those standards set in place and well-defined, and then you can kind of have some fun within those. It was enjoyable to try to meld my own style with the existing guidelines.” “Everyone’s really great at communicating exactly what they need from design and the purpose of the design, too, and what we’re trying to achieve with it.” “If you have valuable content to share, why not give it some great clothes to wear?” “Humans are visual creatures. When we see images, our brains store the details verbally and visually. If you want people to pay attention to your content, and recognize your brand, or buy your product, share your posts, you need to have strong design or you’ll be forgotten and ignored.”

In a single sentence, describe your ideal customer. Where do they hang out online? What are their biggest problems? How often do you talk to them? Don’t rely on assumptions. Consciously focus on your customers by creating content that serves their needs and beats the competition. Today’s guest is Shondell Varcianna from Varci Media, a content writing company for financial institutions, about how to get to know your audience. She shares effective and easy-to-follow advice to improve audience research without extra time and resources.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Reach Real Customers: You can’t offer something to someone you don’t know Real Problems: Sell your product or service as a solution for your customers Relationships: Are you the right person to serve your audience at highest level? Recommendations: Know who to target, where they are, and what they want Website Content: Match with searched keywords and make it resonate Communities: Wherever your target audience is, is where you want to be Ask Audience for Answers: What do you do for fun? Where do you hang out? Social Media Connections: Meet strangers and don’t take ‘no’ personally Know, Like, and Trust: Offer consistent content that informs, educates, inspires Content Strategy: Videos, podcasts, posts—get creative when creating content Authenticity: Where it all begins to get your audience what they (and you) want   Links: Shondell Varcianna on LinkedIn Varci Media Facebook Groups LinkedIn Sales Navigator Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Shondell Varcianna: “If I know of you, but I don’t know you, how can I offer you anything because I don’t really know what you want.” “Wherever your target audience is, is where you want to be. You’ll have to find out where they are, and then you just need to show up where they are, consistently.” “Everyone is accessible on social media. Everybody. I connect with strangers every single day on social media.” “Content that speaks to everyone is content that speaks to no one.”

High-profile data breaches at big-name companies have become an all-too-common pitfall that creates negative press. Marketers need to protect their company and customers by knowing how to prevent a cybersecurity attack or security lapse. Today’s guest is Gary S. Chan from Alfizo Security Solutions. Gary is a cybersecurity expert and helps organizations make sure software and systems are safe and secure. Avoid being the next victim and consider the cost of inaction.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Why should marketers care about cybersecurity? To stay safe and do a better job Best Practices: Proper messaging, deliverability, and documentation gets clients Settings: Configure SPF and other security options for recipients to receive email Security Defense: Stop bad things from happening to you and your customers Remote Security: Technical services and tools to prevent serious problems Privacy Policies: Read terms and conditions to understand intended use of data Repeatable Software: Always use what others use, not something unfamiliar Security Certifications: ISO/IEC 27001 and Soc 2; clarify certifications Free Software: Money is being made somehow, so make sure it’s secure Collaborative Communication: Increase understanding and measure success Risks and Consequences: Takes only one event to close business, cause chaos Security Benefits: Leverage good security hygiene for peace of mind Google not only ranks content, but offers higher rating for better Website security Advice for Marketers: Follow guidance, use strong passwords, report suspicious activity, and attend security training   Links: Gary S. Chan on LinkedIn Alfizo Security Solutions Security Awareness Training ISO/IEC 27001 Certification Soc 2 Certification CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Gary S. Chan: “I help businesses improve their sales, meet compliance, and stay safe.” “Larger clients tend to care about buying from companies with good security.” “If you don’t configure things properly, a lot of your emails will go to Spam boxes, which means that your recipients don’t read them.” “You’re going to lose customer data, you’re going to lose intellectual property, you’re going to lose time, you’re going to lose money, and you’re going to lose some of your reputation.”

Are you familiar with the dark mode? About 92% of those with smartphones use dark mode on at least one app. The increased use of dark mode with various email services and clients present challenges. How do email marketers make sure that emails are easy to read in dark mode? Today’s guest is Melissa Sargeant, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Litmus, a well-known email marketing software company. She explains exactly why dark mode matters for marketers, and what they can do to make sure their emails look their best. Melissa provides insights into why this is important for marketers to understand, test, and optimize.   Some of the highlights of the show include: App Developers: Dark mode makes type and visuals lighter on dark backgrounds Functional Trend: People use dark mode to read content; easier on their eyes Benefits: Reduce screen brightness to preserve battery; accessibility preference Email Clients: Apple, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo offer dark mode Problems: Prioritize dark mode for subscriber preference, different email clients Cost: Sending email versus potential cost of not optimizing email to be visible Tips and Tricks: Settings, assets, code, examples, and guide to dark mode Do More with Less: Build, test, and analyze emails, then send them for review Email Analytics/Insights: It doesn't end with send; use data to make better email Test every email, every time to deliver an experience that exceeds expectations   Links: Melissa Sargeant on LinkedIn Litmus Litmus Blog The Ultimate Guide to Dark Mode for Email Marketers Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Melissa Sargeant: “The reason why a lot of people are viewing things in dark mode—we talk a lot in email marketing about accessibility to your emails—for some folks, it's just easier on their eyes. It’s an easier way for them to read content.” “We think about email as a channel. It’s truly this one-to-one connection that you have with your subscribers. If they are showing a preference for how they want to view their content, it's a good idea to honor that and respect that and do the best you can to deliver them their content the way they want to read it.” “If you are using an email optimization platform, you can do all this building and testing across all these devices and ensure end clients that when that email goes out the door, you'll know with certainty that people who are viewing in dark mode are able to view it in dark mode.” “Efficiency and the email workflow process is super important.”

What does it take to write a great headline? A simple, yet effective tool that makes marketers more confident when writing headlines. Take the guesswork out of improving headlines.  Today’s guest is LaRissa Hendricks from CoSchedule’s product marketing team. She introduces Headline Studio, CoSchedule’s new premium headline testing platform that takes your headline writing to the next level.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Differences between CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer and Headline Studio Headline Data: Leads to more engagement, traffic, clicks, higher rankings Challenge: Know what to write to get people’s attention, click to read content? Familiar and New Features/Functions: Word/character count Headline feedback and suggestions History of past headlines Headline and SEO scores Word banks (power, emotional, common, and uncommon) Full thesaurus Free browser extension Search competition   Links: CoSchedule’s Headline Studio CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer LaRissa Hendricks on LinkedIn Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from LaRissa Hendricks: “Writing headlines can feel very vague.” “How are you even supposed to know what to write for your headline? How are you supposed to know what’s actually going to catch people’s attention? What’s actually going to make them click and read your content? That’s a huge challenge.” “With over four million headlines, we have a very good idea of what works and what doesn’t.” “Headline Studio is like a super fun playground for your headlines.”

What's the problem with doing what everybody else is doing? Marketers are expected to come up with something wildly innovative or creative. Dare to be different and get unstuck by presenting interesting or authentic ideas in a meaningful way. Today’s guest is Mike Poznansky, founder and managing partner at Neato—a full-service marketing agency that helps brands connect with young audiences, including college students and Gen Z. Mike explains how to break out of a rut and do work that reflects you and your brand. What makes you uniquely valuable, instead of someone simply following the leader of the pack?   Some of the highlights of the show include: Neato: Uncovers insights, develops strategies, and creates marketing programs Turnkey Tactics: Marketers observe how successful brands market themselves Thoughtful: Put time, energy, and effort into effectively identifying ‘why’ or ‘how’ Copy-and-Paste Marketing: Don’t expect the same results by mimicking tactics College Culture: People's needs, pain points, aspirations are always changing Human-Centered Approach: Understand brand, organization, accomplishments Iterative Process: People on the ground and prototypes represent audiences Authenticity: Be yourself, know who you are, what resources/assets are available Failures: Try to do something for the sake of evolving and learning   Links: Mike Poznansky on LinkedIn Neato Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes from Mike Poznansky: “Prototype it, and then get out there and try stuff, and show up. Be a part of that experience or that event, and see how people respond, and talk to people afterwards. Then, refine it. It's an iterative process.” “Everyone acknowledges in some capacity, the need to build a genuine and meaningful relationship with the segment in order to get them to care about your brand. It's critical for brands to show up in an authentic way.” “Stay invested, stay involved, continue to refine that approach, continue to learn, continue to listen to your segment, assess the results, and figure out how you can improve and make it better.” “Fear of failure or fear of sounding stupid or uninformed, those are real creativity killers in businesses and in the agency-client dynamics.”

How do marketers bring customers back to maximize revenue? Loyalty programs build customer devotion and retention by incentivizing repeat business. Buying becomes a habit. Today’s guest is Matt Baglia, co-founder and CEO of SlickText, an SMS marketing platform. If a loyalty program makes sense for your business, Matt talks about what it takes to make a loyalty program work as a growth lever.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Why loyalty programs matter? 20% of company’s customers make 80% revenue Brand Champions: Pay attention to their interests, what they’re buying or not What is a loyalty program? Distinct difference w/two purposes—register, rewards Customer Behavior: Value-add messages give customers a reason to return Getting Started with a Loyalty Program: Step 1: Understand clientele Step 2: Incentivize customers Step 3: Talk and listen to customers Step 4: Select a loyalty service Growing a Loyalty Program: Interaction: Ask, are you a member of our loyalty program yet? Incentivize: Join loyalty program by providing value Integration: Plugin pop-ups and other online opportunities for information Marketing Metrics: Subscription velocity, click-thru links, opt-out rates, check-ins Do’s/Don’ts: Get permission to send messages, or face legal ramifications   Links: Matt Baglia on LinkedIn SlickText Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes: “Research shows that 20 percent of a company’s customers will typically make up about 80 percent of their revenue.” Ben Sailer “You have a small cohort of your best customers, and it’s really important that we’re paying attention to what they’re doing, what their interests are, what they’re buying, what they’re not buying, how they’re buying, and make sure that we communicate and market to them appropriately.” Matt Baglia “When we think, loyalty program, we actually think, ‘Register for our loyalty program and earn points towards rewards’.” Matt Baglia “The value is very, very simple. For us, it serves two purposes. One, we need to get people to come back, and in order to do that, we need to give them a reason to come back.” Matt Baglia

How can marketers retain an engaged audience? Treat content like a carousel by getting people to come back for unique value from you and your brand. Today’s guest is Lindsay Tjepkema, CEO and co-founder of Casted—the first and only B2B marketing platform for brand podcasts. Lindsay knows what it takes to build, grow, and retain an audience.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Podcast: Opportunity to connect with audience and sales by providing content Marketing Channels: Leverage content for podcast business to amplify voices Content Challenges: Underwhelming access to software and experts Actionable Advice: Be the change you wish to see, and practice what you preach Casted: Create, publish, syndicate, and leverage show content across channels Content Carousel: What is it, who’s it for, how will you continue to serve them? Good or bad thing? Customers stop coming once they get what they came for Audit Audience Trends: Downloads, listens, and other signs people stay or leave CRM Capabilities: Engagement and retention rates—who listens and when? Advocate for Seasons: Make and compare changes, but don’t change audience Repurpose content and re-order ingredients to re-engage audience   Links: Lindsay Tjepkema on LinkedIn Casted Creating a Content Carousel for Your Podcast with OpenView's Meg Johnson HubSpot Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes by Lindsay Tjepkema: “Is it a bad thing if people aren’t listening or consuming that content anymore? Are they advancing onto the next step? Then, it’s not a bad thing, as long as you keep filling that funnel.” “If it is a bad thing, and you’re losing people for the wrong reasons, how can you just go back to the basics? How can you better understand your audience and give them more of what they are looking for?” “Repurpose your content. You put a lot of effort into it. If it’s good, it’s good, especially if it’s evergreen.” “An expert is someone who knows a lot about the subject matter that your audience cares about.”

What strategies can marketers learn from nonprofits about building brand advocacy? Successful nonprofits know what it takes to get people to rally behind a belief or cause. Brands that turn their best customers into advocates build brand loyalty and drive sales. Today’s guest is Spencer Brooks from Brooks Digital, an agency that helps health-focused nonprofits grow a digital presence and turn patients into advocates.   Some of the highlights of the show include: What is an advocate? Highly engaged customer doing work on brand’s behalf Passive to Active Promoters: How to turn customers into brand advocates Why do brands need advocates? Free marketing saves time and money How? Gift products and provide positive referrals, reviews, recommendations What makes nonprofits effective? Fewer resources rely on constituents Meaningful Why: Nonprofits use emotional storytelling to create advocates Company values solve some philosophical problems when things are done right Foundational Concept: Brand advocacy resonates product/service with identity   Links: Spencer Brooks on LinkedIn Brooks Digital Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller Traction by Gino Wickman Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy by Cindy Alvarez Why Digital Marketing Tactics Are a Waste of Time for Nonprofits Actionable Marketing Podcast: Free Resources From Ben & Spencer’s Interview Squatch Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes by Spencer Brooks: “It’s this push from passive to active that I think really represents turning a customer into an advocate.” “Advocates are important because they provide a leverage point. They are doing, a lot of times, free marketing for you.” “Creating advocates is work, and you have to recognize when that is an appropriate strategy to be using.” “Nonprofits are really good about using emotional storytelling to turn people into advocates.”

What are the best ways for brands to make a difference during times of crisis? Connect customers with solutions to their problems.   Today’s guest is Richard Lau, founder of Logo and executive director at Water School. Richard discusses how to build a business and brand. Find the right balance between being genuinely helpful and useful while driving sales and revenue.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Donations: Time, money, and network covers clean water project costs NamesCon: Purpose of conference and partnerships to raise awareness Sun, not Son: Women and girls are burdened with getting clean water Colon Cancer Crisis: How it changed Richard’s perspective on life and business Doctor’s Orders: Required workaholic to rollback on number of hours worked Life Goals and Lifestyle: Borrowed or gifted time where life is about relationships Compliment: Create a culture where everyone feels like more than a paycheck COVID: Companies can better serve customers, employees, and communities How to help other people? Prayer and passion; publicity is not the goal Change Management: Invite and support others to do something—small or big Pay It Forward: How are you, each and every day, a hero in your own life?   Links: Richard Lau on LinkedIn Logo Water School NamesCon Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes by Richard Lau: “We use the sun as the main focus. The sun is what disinfects the water, rather than using chlorine or wood.” “Life is about relationships. It’s not about money.” “Life is too short to work for a bad boss.” “There’s no better remedy for self-motivation than for helping someone in need.”

The belief that being empathetic means being emotional is not actually very empathetic. Marketers often misunderstand customers when crafting messaging and marketing content. How can marketers be genuinely empathetic?   Today’s guest is Megan Thudium from MTC - The Content Agency. Megan discusses how to adjust, adapt, and authentically understand the needs of customers from different cultures and countries.   Some of the highlights of the show include: MTC: Berlin-based B2B organic content marketing agency w/empathetic mindset COVID and Cultural Barriers: Stay connected and relevant during tough times Empathy Marketing: Long-term gain emphasized now when emotions are high Empathy: Them to you, not you to them process for messaging and marketing Worst-case Scenario: Miss the marketing message? Lose customers Bottom Line for Business: Make messaging more empathetic for direct impact Marketing Evolution: People want authentic, engaging, empathetic conversations Consequences: Failing to do right messaging or following cookie-cutter structure Practical Takeaways: Connect with and talk to customers/teams to get feedback Back to Basics: Marketing should be empathetic; put buyer personas into action   Links: Megan Thudium on LinkedIn MTC - The Content Agency Patagonia Slack Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes by Megan Thudium: “Empathy marketing is a long-term gain.” “Empathy is understanding your audience at a level that has a deeper understanding of what they need.” “You’re going to isolate your audience. They’re going to step away from you. They’re going to disconnect, which is the worst thing that we want in marketing because then we lose customers.” “Depending on your specific audience, there might be specific needs.”

Consumer behavior is always changing. Even with COVID-19 affecting people’s lives and how businesses operate, it will never be the same. How can businesses better serve customers by staying ahead of changes and trends? Data.  Today’s guest is Jonathan Silver from Affinity Solutions, a data intelligence platform with access to consumer data. Jonathan talks about how businesses need to collect data, know how to interpret that data, and turn it into action to succeed.   Some of the highlights of the show include: Affinity Solutions: Access to unique data around people’s purchasing habits Permission and Participation: Banks provide businesses with consumer data Business Benefits: Use data to build relationships and grow, retain market share Consumer Benefits: Use data to improve people’s lives to get what they want Shifts: COVID changes behavior with price sensitivity, personalized experiences Trends: Parallel reality where physical environments change with technologies Predictions: Colder weather will spike COVID cases, continue habit to buy online Data Types: Understand and adapt to consumer behavior with purchasing info Regulatory and Privacy Trends: Personal data cloud and operating system Survive and Thrive: Expand to include external data to redefine competition Insight into Action: Distinguishes successful businesses and drives returns Data Platform: Artificial intelligence/machine learning make directed decisions Downward to Upward: Use data-driven tools, dashboards during difficult times   Links: Jonathan Silver on LinkedIn Affinity Solutions Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Ben Sailer on LinkedIn CoSchedule   Quotes by Jonathan Silver: “We have a ton of unique data around people’s purchasing habits.” “Businesses build deeper relationships with consumers, with their customers and  prospects, so that they can grow and retain their market share.” “(Parallel reality and personalized experiences) where physical environments are changing with these different technologies is going to become a norm.” “The best predictor of future purchase behavior is what you’ve done in the past.”