Podcast
Master Modern Marketing
Hosted by Farmers Marketing · EN
The host, Lionel Johnston from Farmers Marketing, and many other digital marketing experts reveal their tips, tricks and insights, to help you master the modern marketing world.
The podcast helps bridge the gap between small and medium-sized business owners, and experts in digital marketing.
The core function of the podcast is to have frank discussions with business owners/leaders about the digital landscape of their businesses, through conducting a marketing audit and live coaching call, right on the podcast.
Discussion topics include:
- What is great already about their business?
- What isn't great?
- What are their greatest struggles with marketing?
- What is the first thing they should focus on after the show?
Since most of the audience is small and medium-sized business owners and leaders, we also feature many digital marketing professionals. We dive deep into their expertise but also ask them to reveal ways for the business owner or leader to be a better client, or to work more effectively with contractors, and even ways to cut costs and improve business results.
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Live Coaching Call with Steve Setka
Dec 29, 201900:52:28Tap to summarizeIn today's episode of the Master Modern Marketing podcast, we sit down with Steve Setka, from InXpress, a third-party logistics franchise, for a live coaching call about modern marketing. Part 1 Topics: Marketing Audit: We reviewed their website and social media channels and discussed some of their strengths and opportunities for improvement. In short, their website is modern and easy to navigate. They have the ball rolling in social media and are trying some creative ways to build their brand and engage with prospects online. They need to clean up their Google My Business page as there are actually two listings and they should only have one. Then they also need to beef up the content on the remaining GMB page. This is simple to do but it has a big impact on their business. We also discussed how driving more Google and Facebook reviews immediately would give them a boost. Part 2 Will be published shortly. Contact Steve and InXpress: Website: InXpress LinkedIn: Steve's Profile Related Content: Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Examining Becker Logistics' explosive growth through marketing Master Modern Marketing: How to get more online reviews for your business with Chekkit If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at FarmersMarketing.ca, or Facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: The Ins and Outs of Personal Branding
Dec 14, 201900:42:11Tap to summarizeIn today's episode of the Master Modern Marketing podcast, we sit down with Lachlan Kirkwood and discuss the ins and outs of personal branding. Todays Topics: 1. Bonus Content about Tik Tok. 2. Why is personal branding important? 3. What are some real-world examples of personal branding? 4. Where should someone get started to build their personal brand? Connect with Lachlan: - Lachlankirkwood.com - On LinkedIn - On Twitter - On Instagram If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at FarmersMarketing.ca, or Facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Increasing revenue & new business through modern SEO
Aug 16, 201900:48:45Tap to summarizeIn today's episode of the Master Modern Marketing podcast, we sit down Nate Dame from Propecta to discuss increasing revenue and new business through modern SEO. Nate Dame, as well as another past guest, Randy Milanovich, were both named as Top 100 Influencers by BuzzSumo! Today's Topics: A high-level overview of modern SEO In simple terms how does modern SEO work? Why should a company care? How has SEO changed over that past few years? What is the biggest issue in your opinion relating to SEO? What are the SEO myths today? Can companies actually achieve scalable SEO growth today? Where should a company start? How to determine fit and timing How to know if your company is ready for SEO? How do you drive the most success out of SEO in general? What timelines, investment, and results should you expect? When is it best to insource or outsource? Search Engine Optimization, is an incredibly interesting topic. It has changed radically over the years, and there are often heated debates about white hat and black hat SEO practices. SEO is one of those topics that are easy to understand - at least a high-level, but very hard to become a master of. In our industry, we often hear business leaders say they want to rank #1 on Google, and there are also companies that promote they will get you there. Yes, there are tactics and strategies to get you higher in search results, but your success at doing so is quite technical and takes a commitment of time and money over a very long period of time. Looking back at my discussion with Nate, I was impressed with and really respect the fact that he was very clear on what it took to be successful with SEO. He even goes so far to discourage companies at certain stages in their growth to NOT invest in SEO. Nate and his team, are clearly interested in the best interests of their clients, rather than just selling something that people will buy. We need a lot more companies like that in marketing and business in general for that matter. Nate also offers a free download of the CMO's Guide To Modern SEO, so be sure to listen for that and to see the link in the show notes. Whether you are a large company with a big marketing team or you are just getting ready to hire your first marketing person or contractor, I'm confident that you will learn a lot during this episode, and I hope that it gets you one step closer to being able to Master Modern Marketing. RELATED TOPIC: Examing Becker Logistics Explosive Growth Through Marketing. RESOURCES: Learn SEO & Turn SEO into your company's most cost-effective marketing channel About Nate Dame: Nate is the founder and CEO of Propecta, a results-oriented SEO consultancy trusted by forward-thinking companies, including a few of the world's largest B2B and technology brands. Propecta builds holistic SEO strategies, supports internal teams, and offers full-service execution to create an organic search presence that generates significant revenue. Nate Dame is fascinated by the complex, constantly changing, layered world of SEO—where creativity rules, nothing ever stays the same, and sustainable, steady growth is the only true sign you're doing it right. Nate began his digital marketing career more than 10 years ago in the nonprofit world. One of his first side projects was SEO for Skechers, which ultimately led him to found Propecta (previously known as SEOperks). He has led SEO, content marketing, and influencer marketing projects for leading companies including Marketo, Musician's Friend, and Grasshopper, in addition to a wide variety of small- and mid-sized businesses. Now a regular speaker and columnist, Nate oversees client strategy and thought leadership for Propecta when he's not busy in his favorite role as husband and dad to his family in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Connect with Nate & Propecta: Nate on LinkedIn | Propecta If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at FarmersMarketing.ca, or Facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast - The art & science of storytelling through video
Jul 19, 201900:55:49Tap to summarizeIn today's episode of the Master Modern Marketing podcast, we sit down with Doug Darling, CEO of Tripwire Media, and discuss the art and science of storytelling through video. Doug and his team have been growing a very successful video production company for over 10 years. And if you check out their portfolio, you will definitely recognize many of the brands on there. Doug is clearly an expert on video production, as you'll hear, but we actually focus specifically in this episode on storytelling. I was listening to the Perpetual Traffic Podcast recently and the guest, Alex Cattoni commented that many people say our attention spans are super short. Have you ever heard that our attention span is actually shorter than that of a goldfish? Wait a minute, What am I talking about again? All kidding aside, Alex disagreed. She states that we have a short attention span, but that attention span is only for terrible content. If you made it through Game of Thrones, you know people clearly can pay attention for long periods of time. You know, here a few quick and amazing stats: 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week, One-third of online activity is spent watching videos, Over 500 million people, now folks, that's a half a billion people that watch videos every single day on Facebook. That really is amazing. One of the major things that impact how engaging content is is actually the creator's storytelling abilities. There's actually an art and a science to good storytelling. And, that's exactly what Doug and I speak about in today's episode. We really hope that you gained some valuable insights and storytelling and those insights can help you get one step closer to being able to Master Modern Marketing. Today's Topics: A high-level overview of modern video marketing What the most common current challenges for businesses relating to video The Muse Storytelling philosophy Case Study: The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba How can SMBs apply these concepts to their businesses? About Doug: Doug Darling is all about the impact of stories, and how they can help connect people and move them to action. As the President and CEO of Tripwire Media, a video production company based in Winnipeg, Canada, Doug's main focus is working with organizations, in all types of industries, to create communication pieces that help break through the clutter of an overly noisy and saturated market. Doug is also a Muse Certified Storyteller, with the Emmy Award-Winning Muse Storytelling, in Portland OR. He has worked with Muse for the last 2 years, on various projects, including being a Coach for their Muse Film School, and Producer and Executive Producer for two films in their 'Remarkable Ones' Series. Doug has adopted Muse's storytelling process into Tripwire's offerings, which helps evoke more impactful and engaging work for their clients. Connect with Doug and Tripwire Media: LinkedIn | Facebook If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at FarmersMarketing.ca, or Facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast - Examining Becker Logistics' explosive growth through marketing
Jun 29, 201900:59:10Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, we speak with Jim Becker, CEO & Founder of Becker Logistics. How would you like these results? In 2018 we were doing around 4,000 shipments per month, and now we are doing around 6,000 per month. And all of that, I want to say, is due to all of the marketing that I, and my team, have done over the last two quarters. This podcast dives deep into how Becker Logistics drove their business to such incredible heights, and how those lessons can applied to your business. If you are in the transportation industry, there is a great chance that you know who Jim Becker is. If you aren't in that industry, its fine as the insights and learnings that Jim shares, relate to any business and industry. Becker Logistics has been around for over 22 years and has about 170 employees, however, they have hired over 70 just this year and are experiencing hockey stick like growth. You will also hear straight from Jim about how much of their success he attributes to modern marketing. In today's episode Jim talks about their overall marketing strategy, and gives specifics on their '31 and 1' campaign, where they released a video a day in May on LinkedIn that generated over 150k views … so far! Here is a quick example of one of Becker Logistics' '31 in 1' videos: What do we like about these videos? 1. They were consistent. 2. They were NOT salesy or self-promotional. 3. They were unique and spoke to the Becker brand essence. 4. They were real and unscripted. Obviously, Jim had a plan but there was no telepromter in sight, and he said they did 15 of the videos in one take, which is pretty impressive. 5. They were focused on education and providing value above all else. SPECIAL NOTE: If you are a leader or business owner that thinks: 'Who cares about social media? Who cares if we got 1,000 more followers on LinkedIn? Or, we have been successful for many years without a marketing team and strategy, so why now? ... then Jim, has some thoughts specifically for you! While many companies ignore the modern world, don't respond to online reviews, and play no role in how their brand is talked about online, Jim and Becker Logistics are lighting the modern marketing world on fire and reaping the rewards for doing so! RELATED TOPIC: How to Get More Online Reviews with Chekkit RELATED TOPIC: Track ALL Leads With WhatConverts Connect with: Jim Becker on LinkedIn Becker Logistics @ www.beckerlogistics.com or 1-800-Go-Becker Want to join their team? Go to: www.wearelogistics.com If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at FarmersMarketing.ca, or Facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Real Talk about truck driver recruitment marketing
Jun 5, 201901:00:03Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, we speak with Amrit Dhanraaj, CEO of GetTruckDrivers.com. We dive deep in the truck driver shortage, which in many people's opinions is plaguing the trucking industry. Amrit and Lionel speak specifically about modern marketing strategies and how if you know how to market in the modern world, you can find the drivers you need. There is a shortage of drivers, a shortage of money, and even and shortage of love, if you don't know how to look for it. About Amrit: Amrit Dhanraaj is an entrepreneur from Winnipeg, Canada who has worked in various stages of the trucking industry. Starting as a Truck and Transport Mechanic for top suppliers, dealerships, and fleets. He then proceeded to work in Trucking Logistics throughout Western Canada. With the extensive knowledge Amrit gained, he now works as a Trucking Consultant who helps Trucking companies grow massively by helping them create an authority figure for their driver market. He excels in personally managing large digital campaigns on the behalf of clients, carefully tailoring them to their specific needs. He provides a comprehensive one-on-one service that consistently yields an outstanding return on Investment making the trucking companies dominate their target space to attract drivers and clients. Segment 1: Let's talk about the driver shortage? What are the underlying issues? First of all, the demographics are changing rapidly. The average age of truck drivers is much older than other industries and new drivers are not entering the industry as fast as older drivers are leaving. Secondly, the industry is having trouble attracting youth and women drivers, although that is improving. There are many more issues, but one last one of note here is there are still misconceptions of what the driving career is like. The reality is that it is a very highly-skilled, highly-paid profession, with a lot of opportunities. Many people think drivers are gone for weeks and months at a time, which is actually very rare in the modern trucking world. Segment 2: What is the real issue in your opinion relating to the driver shortage? "Yes, there is a shortage but the bigger issue is many trucking companies don't know where to get started to hire drivers and they don't use modern marketing strategies. If they are actually on social media, they just have a bunch of 'Now Hiring' posts." RELATED TOPIC: Map Your Marketing Funnels Easily with Funnelytics Segment 3: What are 3-5 tips that a trucking company could implement today to get experienced truck drivers? Think like a modern marketer. Transportation companies excel and setting up processes, finding efficiencies, and maximizing the flow of goods through their system. Use the same strategies to build a recruitment marketing machine. Get testimonials from your current drivers and put them everywhere. They don't need to be professionally designed but they need to be real. Get your online presence in order. Have a robust Facebook page, set up your Google My Business Page, and capture a lot of positive online reviews. Think at a higher level. Don't just focus on filling the job of the day, create systems to fill all the jobs over all of the days. RELATED TOPIC: How to Get More Online Reviews with Chekkit Segment 4: If you had a $100 to spend where would it be? "I would get a video driver testimonial and run it as an ad on Facebook for $5/day for $20 days. I should mention that all of the magic happens with ads BEFORE they are on the platform. What I mean is that its the effort you put into the story-telling, the design, the imagery, etc., that makes a great ad." RELATED TOPIC: How to Develop Your Inbound Video Marketing Playbook Segment 5: Case Study Art Pape Transfer dba Tucker Freight Lines doubled their fleet in just 10 weeks after having 4 trucks parked in the yard. Contact Amrit: Amrit Dhanjaaj on LinkedIn GetTruckDrivers.com If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at www.FarmersMarketing.ca, or www.facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Track ALL leads with WhatConverts
May 24, 201900:44:53Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, we speak with Michael Cooney, Co-founder of WhatCoverts. In this detailed interview, we discuss the current status of lead generation and tracking. We start off with one of the most common questions from business owners - "Where are my leads coming from?", and move into the features of WhatCoverts and describe how it can improve insights into your business and create confidence in your marketing efforts. SPECIAL OFFER: Go to www.WhatConverts.com/try30 Segment 1: Let's discuss what must be the most common question in marketing...Where are our leads coming from?! Why is that question is so hard to answer? Google Analytics shows conversions which is helpful, but we can't see the individual leads so it is very difficult to tie sales results to specific leads. Results from phone calls are completed invisible to business owners as well. Segment 2: How do we answer this question with confidence? Michael commented that he hates saying "I don't know", and that drove him to say this: "I really need this tool that can capture all leads, tie it back to the marketing, keep a record of all those leads, and then give me reporting of the results of all the marketing. What I need is a system that I can capture the information from any website and any form in under 1 minute." Segment 3: How does WhatConverts deal with these issues? WhatCoverts swaps the phone number on the site dynamically. When a call is made we capture the call recording, we capture the caller record from the phone company, we capture all the marketing data, and we store all of this for that lead. Call Tracking: 30% to 75% of website visitors use the phone to make contact. Tracking phone calls and the marketing responsible is really easy with WhatConverts. Here is a list of some of the key features of WhatCoverts: Dynamic phone numbers - Automatically track marketing to a phone call with Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI). DNI may be a new concept if you are new to website call tracking. Some think it's magic because it works so well; we also think it is magical. When you buy a tracking phone number in WhatConverts, we ask what number you want us to swap out on your website. Our script then finds all versions of the swap numbers and, when triggered, our software swaps the number on your website with a tracking number that allows us to track your marketing data including the caller's source, medium, campaign, keyword, lead page and landing page. Offline: Offline call tracking allows you to track the success of your offline marketing materials. Having offline tracking numbers takes the guesswork out of determining the ROI on printed materials, television and radio advertising and more. Marketing Source Tracking with Dynamic Number Insertion. Using Dynamic Number Insertion for All Traffic gives you the insight to track how your leads arrive and find your site (such as Google Organic, Facebook Referral, Bing CPC and more). This information allows you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing plan. Keyword Level Tracking with Dynamic Number Insertion. Using Dynamic Number Insertion along with your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns gives you the opportunity to track what bidded keyword was used to trigger your ad and resulted in a phone call. Call Tracking - There are three main options when implementing your call tracking. Each option works in a slightly different way. Call Flows - Streamline the call process but more importantly help apply tags to leads such as "new patient", "existing patient", etc. Call recording - WhatConverts gives you the ability to control, download and monitor your incoming calls at no additional cost with Call Recording. Being able to listen to your calls lets you review the incoming calls, determine if a lead is qualified, monitor your sales team and more.WhatConverts' Call Recording feature allows you to choose which of your phone numbers record calls and lets you listen to them all from your main dashboard. Segment 4: Lead follow-through "So much good marketing is killed by bad sales" Have you ever heard from Sales that the leads are junk? Link Segment 5: Michael's Pro Tips Call Tracking: 30% to 75% of website visitors use the phone to make contact. Tracking phone calls and the marketing responsible is really easy with WhatConverts. Understand the value you are providing as a marketer, business owner, or agency partner. Look at the lifetime value of your customer. Customer lifetime value is the metric that indicates the total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account. It considers a customer's revenue value and compares that number to the company's predicted customer lifespan. Businesses use this metric to identify significant customer segments that are the most valuable to the company. HubSpot Ensure that marketing reports are accurate and easy to read. Don't focus on 'vanity metrics' such as clicks, impressions, etc.. Those metrics are important but don't mean much to a business owner. So be leads focused instead. Test campaigns with WhatCoverts reporting. Michael tells a very compelling and insightful story about an industrial company that invested $18,000 to advertise in an industry directory. 75% of the leads were salespeople pitching them, not customers! If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at www.FarmersMarketing.ca, or www.facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing: Farmers Marketing talks small business marketing on CJOB Radio
May 10, 201900:19:21Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, Lionel Johnston, and CJOB radio host Kevin Burgin discuss small business marketing. I represented Farmers Marketing on CJOB with guest host Kevin Burgin on April 24, 2017, and we spent most of our time talking about small business marketing. I was asked several questions, but with being on-air and having limited time, my answers were very short. Check out our interview below. However, in an effort to share full information, I have provided the complete answers below the audio link. 1. Does every business need a website? Yes! I said this succinct answer jokingly, but seriously, this question should never be asked ever again. The internet is over 20 years old and while it is still in its infancy it is not a fad. If your business doesn't exist online, you simply don't exist. If you aren't able to get a website set up quickly, at a minimum create a detailed Facebook business page. 2. What common mistakes do many small businesses make on their website? Too much info: Many treat their website like a digital Encylopedia, instead of treating is like their #1 sales rep. Inconsistent design, content and function: as a business grows it is common for more people to ask to add things to your website. Over time, your site becomes fat and loses its purpose. Technical issues: High blood pressure is nicknamed the silent killer. Technical issues are similar for your website as you often don't see the issues that are hurting your traffic and conversion rates. For example, there are still many sites that are not responsive, meaning they work well whether you are on a desktop, a tablet, or a smartphone. Google implemented a new algorithm called 'Mobilegeddon' in 2015. In short, this algorithm change rewards mobile-friendly websites … which also is the same as penalizing websites that are not mobile-friendly. If you can only fix one thing on your website this year, making your website responsive would be the #1 thing to fix! 3. How to use small business marketing to build an online presence? Slowly. It is easy to get caught in the trap where you try a Facebook post or ad and you don't get waves of customers crashing through your front door. Some things hit big right away but most growth will grow over time. The most important objective, in my opinion, is to think about your customers or audience first. Who are they? What do they care about? What are their needs and how can you help them? Find a way to add value to them and as you gain trust and a reputation, you will also build an audience. 4. What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. To keep it simple, basically, SEO helps Google understand what content you have which helps match the content online to the search query a user had. Think of it this way. If you upload an image, Google can't see what the image is, but if you add alt tags to the photos such as "Red Mustang convertible beach palm trees summer". SEO stands for "search engine optimization." It is the process of getting traffic from the "free," "organic," "editorial" or "natural" search results on search engines. – Search Engine Land 5. Why Blog? Because Google says so :). Google rewards businesses that produce unique and consistent content that people engage with. Working to do what Google wants is generally a good business practice in today's digital world. Blogging is a great forum for you to share your expertise, insight and philosophies. Having a robust blog covering relevant information is a great resource for you when dealing with your customers. When they have questions you can direct them to a thorough and well-produced blog post. BONUS TIP: Not sure what to blog about? Create a list of your top 10 most asked questions. Then write a detailed post answering each question. See more blogs from Farmers Marketing on the Farmers Report: a blog for lovers of marketing and growing small businesses. 6. What to look for in a digital marketing contractor? We didn't' have time for this question on air, but it is a very important topic. Marketing has changed forever. Assuming you have watched Mad Men, there are still many marketing agencies that want to run 100% of a company's marketing functions. For some very large brands, that practice still exists today but it is becoming less common. One major reason for this shift is digital marketing activities seem like one discipline, but it is actually is a collection of many specialized disciplines. For example, you have SEO, graphic design, website design, content creation, video production, email marketing, blogging, pay per click advertising, UX, and so on. In each one of these specialties, you could spend your career honing your skills. If a contractor tells you they can do EVERYTHING for your business they are simply wrong. 7. What should a business owner do first? Go to Google and learn the importance of digital marketing. I suggest this because many agencies and experts like to throw around ten-dollar words to confuse you and show your importance. At a high-level, digital marketing is simple to understand: Digital marketing (also known as data-driven marketing) is an umbrella term for the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. – Wikipedia As a business, it is critically important to get a basic understanding of digital marketing. You want to be prepared for when a contractor tells you they can "make a new website for you, but it won't be responsive.", you need to know enough to politely stand-up and leave the meeting. Google has upwards of 500 updates per year which is a pretty good reason to have an expert in your corner. If it helps you feel better, even website experts are challenged to keep up with all the changes. Yes, there is a lot to know, but it is simple at the same time. So, don't get overwhelmed or intimidated. You can do this. Let me leave you with this: Over 50% of people pick up their smartphone immediately when they wake up. The digital world is here to stay and your customers, are like you – they live online. So make the commitment today to get started with digital marketing. You can't do everything but you can do something. If you enjoyed the Master Modern Marketing podcast, please subscribe, rate and review the show. You can also keep in contact with the show sponsor, Farmers Marketing, at www.FarmersMarketing.ca, or www.facebook.com/farmersmktng.
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Local Lead Generation with MoreHotLeads.com
Apr 19, 201900:54:05Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, we speak with Daniel Moscovitch, from MoreHotLeads.com about local lead generation. While many local businesses are starting to embrace modern marketing, there is still a long way to go. In this detailed interview, we discuss the current status of local lead generation, how it works, and where a small or medium-sized business can get started. Daniel also shares some case studies from their clients to demonstrate just how powerful local lead generation can be. Today's Topics: Tell us about 'Local Lead Generation'? What is it and what should a small to medium-sized business know about it? How seriously should a local small and medium-sized business take digital marketing? Where should small and medium-sized businesses get started? Can you share some real examples of how local lead generation impacted one of your clients? Do you have a Pro Tip, something interesting, shocking, surprising, insightful, to leave our audience with? Here are some excerpts from our discussion with Daniel: Tell us about 'Local Lead Generation'? What is it and what should a small to medium-sized business know about it? Well, the scope of generating leads has completely shifted in the last 10-15 years with the advent of the internet, specifically, Google and Facebook. Being able to take advantage of the traffic that is available for businesses on these platforms, is huge. Businesses have to rely a lot more now on making sure that they can get in front of the people who are showing interest in them. Long gone are the days where people are relying solely on word of mouth to promote businesses, especially in certain areas like bigger cities. So, the status of Local Lead Generation right now would be, it's really important to be where your customers are. And when it comes to other paid advertising platforms, that means making sure that your products or services or your messages are getting in front of your audience where they're hanging out. And as long as your website is set up properly to convert that traffic into leads, then that is how you're going to really expand and build a consistent and steady flow of leads. That goes for a local business, like a mom and pop shop, and it goes for international businesses as well. The concepts are very similar across the board. It's just the way that it's the scale of the campaigns that that are different. In terms of local businesses, I still consider this time to be the wild west, or like the Gold Rush, in terms of not every business has gone online yet. I think five to 10 years ago, that was really where it was, businesses were not advertising online, but businesses now are starting to realize that their leads, their prospects, their ideal clients, are searching for them online, and they need to be there. So, businesses are starting to get used to the need for investing in this technology. And yes, because more businesses are doing it, it is more competitive, but that's why it's important to just do it right. Word of mouth is still very important. Because word of mouth is all just about reputation. So then, when you're competing against other companies you should make sure that that your company has the best reviews, you're attracting the most reviews and all that kind of stuff, there are other ways to leverage that word of mouth, into the online world. I saw a statistic recently that said something like 88% of consumers will read multiple reviews before making a decision, it really depends again, on the industry, on the service being provided on the product being sold. When people need something now like emergency plumbing, or, repairing a garage or an appliance when it's broken. A lot of the time, those consumers won't spend as much time worrying about reviews, and they'll spend more time just calling the first company that pops up if I'm doing a Google search. That's what we've noticed, as well on Google and with SEO, is that as long as a result provides the information that the searcher is looking for, the business will benefit. So, if there's a searcher that has intent, as long as the result has the information that the searcher wanted, then chances are they're going to stay on that search result. How seriously should a local small and medium-sized business take digital marketing? Typically, one of the biggest things that I come across when I talk to prospects and talk to businesses that we work with, is they just don't really a understand the type of investment that it takes to actually get the results. And what will provide them value and they don't truly understand the value of it. So, there are a lot of business owners that look at marketing just as a cost but don't see it as an investment. Yet, it's an investment in their business meaning for every thousand dollars that I spend, I'm hoping to make $5,000 back? If it's phrased properly, like "You pay me $1, and I'll give you five", most business owners would jump through hoops to get to that. But a lot of people don't really quite understand it, they just see, oh, it's an expense and they are not sure what they are getting. That's up to me, and up to two marketers like us, for us to educate our customers, our clients, or prospects, on how things work, how to calculate the return, how to how to project results, really show the perceived value there, that this stuff brings, because this stuff does work. If it didn't work, people wouldn't be investing money in it, and they wouldn't be paying companies like you or myself that, you know, money to do campaigns on a monthly basis. Where should small and medium-sized businesses get started? At the end of the day, I truly believe that really all that matters are the number of leads that are coming in, because you can have a poorly run business and not the best communication with the client, but as long as they're getting a lot more business out of what their investment is that at the end of the day, it's just a smart business decision to keep it going. But the proper onboarding of a client setting those expectations of what to expect and when to expect things, how much to expect, how to check this report how to understand this, that builds a lot more trust and will be a lot more beneficial in the long run. In terms of setting up a predictable marketing system for local businesses, it really just depends again, on what services they need, what would help them achieve their goals. So, say "I want to have the 10 new leads next month". If that's the case, then obviously SEO wouldn't be the best solution for them. Because SEO takes a lot longer. If they say, "I want to have 10 leads next month, and I know that my target audience is active on Facebook", then we would look into running some Facebook ads. But at the end of the day, we're not just running the ads; we're running the ads, we're testing the ads, and then we're setting up conversion tracking. So, we know exactly what campaigns are working, they know exactly how many leads are coming in from where. And it's really important to show that level of transparency. I know there's a lot of SEO companies out there who basically just send a report saying "Hey, here's an invoice. This is what we did last month. Here are some rankings". But it doesn't really explain what it led to. So, we're big into explaining that. "This is the work that we've done. These are your rankings now. But it's, it's led to an increase in the 15% leads from organic Google search. So, you've got another 15 phone calls this past month just because of this work". And that's really what the bottom line is and what the business owner cares about. Definition: Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the metric that indicates the total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account. It considers a customer's revenue value and compares that number to the company's predicted customer lifespan. Businesses use this metric to identify significant customer segments that are the most valuable to the company. HubSpot They have to ask themselves, "What's more important to me?" A business that has been around for 10 or 15 years, who are established who isn't going to go out of business, they don't have to turn off the lights because they don't get those 10 leads next month. Those are the type of businesses who are going to be more serious about marketing and taking their business to the next level in the long term. Those types of business might think about an SEO strategy. The reason that SEO is so powerful is that do those organic results, whether it be in maps, or you know, at the top of Google, our trusted a lot higher than the paid ads results. So, you're going to get more traffic, you're going to get more results, you're going to get more customers more leads and all that stuff than organic, it takes longer to get there. And it's not guaranteed, right? A lot of business owners are really scared of the long game. And they said, "Oh, I'd rather just pay Google to show up. I know that if I set up a campaign, and every time someone clicks on my ad, I'm paying for it, it's fine. I'm getting, you know, traffic to my site". The problem is that not everyone trusts online ads. I mean, they're highly effective, but they...
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Master Modern Marketing Podcast: Lessons learned from Wistia's One, Ten, One Hundred Video docuseries project
Apr 5, 201900:42:17Tap to summarizeIn today's episode, we speak with Barb Gagne, Director of Demand Generation at Wistia. We discuss an incredibly interesting project called 'One, Ten, One Hundred'. Here is a short project overview to get you started: 'One, Ten, One Hundred', is the title of with Wistia's first ever video docuseries. Wistia partnered with a video production agency called Sandwich, to come up with a creative concept and produce three video ads to promote Soapbox, with a production budget of $1,000, $10,000 and $100,000. (Learn more on Wistia's site) Wistia has a video team and they shot behind the scenes coverage of that production and made it into a four-part video docuseries. And the goal of the project was to explore the relationship between creativity and money. And does money actually impact creativity? So, ultimately, the goal was to test which video would produce the most app downloads of Soapbox. What is Soapbox you ask? Soapbox is a Chrome extension that enables anyone to record, edit, share, and measure presentation videos. Today's Topics: What is the current state of video and what are some growing trends? Deep dive into the 'One, Ten, One Hundred' video docuseries project What areas of video production and distribution are often misunderstood or under-appreciated? What should a SMB consider as the main goal of videos they produce? Pro Tips Here are some highlights from our interview with Barb: What is the current state of video and what are some growing trends? One of the trends I'm most excited about is when brands create long-form episodic video content. And, this is where brands and creators dive deep into a particular topic. And, they tell a story through a series of long form videos, which also aligns with our business strategy. And I like this, because long-form video allows brands to dive deeper, and have people engage more with their content. So, it's a way to provide educational and entertainment value beyond the products and services that your brand offers. And it helps you build your brand in a really meaningful way. "We think that longer form, episodic video content is one of the most exciting and creative mediums to pop up in recent years, and we're excited to get in on the action." RELATED: Master Modern Marketing: How to develop your inbound video marketing playbook So, one of the common questions that I get from marketers at small and medium businesses is "How can I do video marketing with a limited budget? I think there's a misconception that you need a big budget to include video in your marketing and communication strategy. But in fact, you can do a lot with a very limited budget. For example, if you have one produced video, there's lots of ways you can repurpose it; you can shorten it to share on Twitter or LinkedIn, you can make it into a vertical version to share an Instagram. Or you can even make it into a video thumbnail to use in your email. Or if you don't even have one piece of produce video to repurpose, that's okay, you can just create a video using your iPhone or with Soapbox, which is a Chrome extension from Wisteria that allows you to record your screen and webcam at the same time.' Well, I think it's a long-form episodic content is something that I think a lot, not a lot of businesses are considered right now. Because they always think the thing that they have to do is the shorts, you know, product overview, or maybe a video ad to generate, you know, conversions from for their product, and those are absolutely things that you should be doing. I would encourage other businesses to consider producing longer form or maybe episodic content, to build more of a story about your brand, and provide the educational and entertainment value to keep users on your site. Because once they're on your site, and they're spending more time with your brand, they then will see the value in your brand. And then they will start to explore the products and services. So, it can be used as the gateway to be able to get them in get to know them within your brand. RELATED: Wistia's Blog - 4 Companies Producing Episodic Video Content, Big and Small A Deep Dive into 'One, Ten, One Hundred' Project Project Overview: So 'One, Ten, One Hundred', is the title of with Wistia's first ever video docuseries. And this is where it was to work with a video production agency called sandwich video, to come up with a creative concept and produce three video ads to promote soap box with a production budget of $1,000, $10,000 and $100,000. Wistia has a video team and they shot behind the scenes coverage of that production and made it into a four-part video docuseries. And the goal of the project was to explore the relationship between creativity and money. And does money actually impact creativity? Results: For the Soapbox video ads, we had three videos, with three very different production budgets, and I wanted to find out what video will be the most effective and efficient at driving product installs, would it be the video that was shot with a production budget of $1,000, 10,000, and $100,000. or $100,000. So, to test this out, I used Facebook and YouTube to test at scale, which provided us with the flexibility to move the budgets around based on performance and optimize in real time. And what we learned was that across the board, the video that we created with $10,000 production budget performed the best based on our goals. It had the lowest cost per install across both Facebook and YouTube. And, I think it has to do with that $10,000 video ad deliver the strongest story about what soapbox is and how it can be used. It all came down to the storytelling, the $1,000, one to have enough of the story to showcase the product. And the $100,000 version was just over the top with this production, so the $10,000 was like the perfect blend of both. Additionally, our goal for that was to achieve the lowest cost per install. And it was consistent across all media partners, you know, that the $10,000 ad was the winner at achieving our goals. So, to promote the docuseries, we had a two-minute trailer to promote it. And again, we turned to Facebook and YouTube as our primary paid partners. But we also tested the video ads and Reddit and text ads and core as well. And we promoted the series use the trailers three weeks prior to the series being released online. And during this stage, we captured email addresses of those who wants to know when the content was released. And, we came away with a lot of great learnings not only from that phase, but we had another phase that included promoting the series once it was released to the public. And we're still gathering learnings now to this day, because we're still promoting it. So, what we learned was that people really appreciate in crave this kind of long form episodic content. In addition to tracking sessions, so landing page with the videos and video views, we also have tracked engage video views, which was we defined as being having to watch 25% of the video. And, in the first two months of the content being released, we were able to generate 484,000 engage video views. And, we also learned that early promo phase, where we had the trailer promoting the series before it was released, the project then far exceeded our expectations. The trailer promo was great a capturing and creating interest in the series. And it was really helpful in building buzz around the project and generate interest in the series. And during this short three-week promotional period, we generated nearly 7000 leads the cost per lead of less than $5. And we also learned that we can use One, Ten, One Hundred project, or other video docuseries to build an audience pool for marketing of future video series. And each time that we do this it is going to be easier and easier to build that reoccurring audience base. What areas of video production and distribution are often misunderstood or underappreciated? I think one would be script writing, which I think can seem really intimidating. But I found that having a process and framework and place, is crucial to writing a good script. You could start with a simple brief and include, what you want your audience to be, that consumes the content, what the key takeaway should be, and how the video be used, whether it be on your site, or through other additional promotion, for example, on social, and that really helps with the writing process. And, I would say like, when you're writing your script, keep it conversational. Read it out loud a couple times, and just keep practicing getting really good at it. What should a small to medium-sized business consider as the main goal of videos they produce? I would think about using video to drive more engagement with your audience. I know, we've been talking a lot about that with the long-form episodic content. But I really believe that you know, if you provide a lot of value in your videos, whether it be educational, or, entertainment value, it's a...
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