Podcast Summary: Social Media Marketing Podcast – "How We're Pivoting Our Marketing: Behind the Scenes"

Release Date: February 1, 2025

Hosts:

• Michael Stelzner – Founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner
• Dan Sanchez – Senior AI Marketing Strategist at Social Media Examiner

Introduction and Overview

In this special behind-the-scenes episode of the Social Media Marketing Podcast, host Michael Stelzner teams up with Dan Sanchez to delve into the evolving landscape of digital marketing in 2025. They discuss the significant shifts affecting marketers today, share the challenges faced by Social Media Examiner, and reveal the strategic pivots the company is undertaking to stay ahead in the competitive marketing arena.

Challenges in Marketing in 2025

1. Shift to Interest-Based Graph

[02:22] Dan Sanchez:
"Feeds are dominated by interest-based content, or the interest graph they call it, versus the social graph is what a lot of these social feeds used to be based on."

Dan highlights the transition from the traditional social graph—where content was primarily shown to followers and friends—to an interest-based graph. This shift means content is now served to a broader audience based on their interests, making it harder for marketers to reach their existing followers effectively.

2. Prevalence of Short-Form Videos

[02:22] Dan Sanchez:
"Short form videos become so prevalent and it's not like videos new and short form because of TikTok's influence."

The surge in short-form video content, popularized by platforms like TikTok, has intensified competition. Creating engaging 60-second reels or TikToks requires substantial time and creativity, making it challenging for marketers to consistently produce high-quality content that stands out.

3. Algorithm Penalizing Promotional Content

[02:22] Dan Sanchez:
"The algorithms are penalizing anything that's promotional. So, you do your top-of-the-funnel work, and then your promotional posts get buried."

Algorithms now favor non-promotional content, making it difficult for marketers to execute effective promotional strategies. Even well-crafted promotional posts struggle to gain visibility, undermining the efforts put into broader content marketing initiatives.

4. Changes in SEO Due to AI

[02:22] Dan Sanchez:
"SEO has been shifting a lot this year, with AI eating away at the traditional SEO practices."

Artificial Intelligence is transforming SEO, rendering many traditional practices less effective. Marketers relying heavily on blog posts to rank are questioning the sustainability of this channel, leading to uncertainty about future SEO strategies.

Email Deliverability Issues

[06:51] Michael Stelzner:
"We discovered to our great shock and surprise that we had a perfect sender score with Google and with Microsoft like forever. And then literally overnight it went to the worst possible score."

Social Media Examiner faced severe email deliverability problems, including being blacklisted by Microsoft and relegated to Google’s promotional tabs. This unexpected downturn drastically reduced the visibility of their emails, affecting everything from promotional content to transactional communications.

Strategies Social Media Examiner is Implementing

To combat these challenges, Social Media Examiner has undertaken several strategic initiatives:

1. Hiring an Internal Content Marketer

[08:00] Michael Stelzner:
"We needed to hire someone in-house to do what we are weak at. We hired Dan Sanchez."

Bringing Dan Sanchez on board as a Senior AI Marketing Strategist allowed Social Media Examiner to enhance their content creation and leverage AI to streamline marketing efforts.

2. Investing in Paid Media

[15:20] Dan Sanchez:
"I'm a huge fan of paid media. It's fast, flexible, and essential for getting in front of the audience."

Recognizing the limitations of organic reach, the team allocated a $10,000 monthly budget for paid ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They enlisted Emily Hirsch, an expert in paid acquisition, to optimize these campaigns and reach their target audience effectively.

3. Creation of Series-Based Content

3.1. Premise-Based Content [16:56] Dan Sanchez:
"Premise-based content allows us to create themed series without reinventing the wheel each time."

Dan introduced the concept of premise-based content, which involves creating recurring series with a unique twist. Examples include:

• $1 Marketer Series: Challenges to create viral social media posts on a minimal budget.
• Meming Full Marketing: Original meme series combined with insightful marketing questions.

3.2. Speaker Clip Series [26:36] Dan Sanchez:
"We're conducting 30-minute interviews with our conference speakers, extracting multiple clips for content."

Leveraging relationships with industry experts, Social Media Examiner produces short, informative clips from interviews with conference speakers. These clips serve as engaging content pieces that also promote the Social Media Marketing World conference.

4. Leveraging Speaker Relationships

By transforming interviews with high-profile speakers into consumable clips, the podcast enhances its content library while simultaneously marketing the conference. This strategy not only provides valuable insights to listeners but also showcases the expertise of their speakers.

5. Repurposing Podcast Content

[32:24] Michael Stelzner:
"We republished a viral interview across all our channels, resulting in increased engagement and ticket sales."

Social Media Examiner strategically repurposes popular podcast episodes across multiple platforms. For instance, republishing a viral interview from Sean Cannell’s podcast across their own channels led to a significant uptick in engagement and conference registrations.

6. Implementing an AI Sales and Support Bot

[43:59] Michael Stelzner:
"We trained an AI bot named Scout to handle sales and support queries, improving customer interaction and reducing support tickets."

The introduction of Scout, an AI-driven chatbot, has enhanced customer support by providing instant responses to common queries in multiple languages. This implementation has not only increased sales but also alleviated the burden on human support teams.

7. Outbound Sales Initiatives

[44:30] Michael Stelzner:
"We're conducting outbound sales to customers who attended in previous years but haven't purchased yet."

To reconnect with past attendees who may not have received recent communications, Social Media Examiner initiated outbound sales campaigns. This approach targets medium to large businesses, aiming to drive conference registrations despite current email deliverability issues.

8. Experimenting with Long-Form Text Posts

[46:29] Dan Sanchez:
"Long-form text posts remain effective on platforms like LinkedIn, providing valuable insights that resonate with professional audiences."

Michael and Dan are exploring the use of long-form text posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). By crafting engaging stories and insightful narratives, they aim to maintain audience interest and drive engagement through more substantial content.

Importance of Storytelling and Transparency

[39:29] Dan Sanchez:
"Stories are the shortcut to the value proposition because people can't always articulate the value proposition, but they can remember the story."

Both hosts emphasize the critical role of storytelling in marketing. By sharing authentic struggles and behind-the-scenes narratives, Social Media Examiner fosters deeper emotional connections with their audience. This transparency not only humanizes the brand but also builds trust and loyalty among listeners and followers.

[47:54] Michael Stelzner:
"We talk about the struggles and the things that keep us up at night. People love that because they don't often hear about the challenges."

Michael notes that openly discussing challenges and setbacks resonates with the audience, differentiating Social Media Examiner from others who primarily share success stories. This approach encourages community support and collaborative problem-solving.

Conclusion and Invitation to Social Media Marketing World

In closing, Michael reiterates the multitude of strategies Social Media Examiner is employing to navigate the current marketing landscape. He underscores the importance of staying connected, learning from industry leaders, and adapting to new challenges.

[47:54] Michael Stelzner:
"If you're struggling, you're not alone. Join us at Social Media Marketing World to discover new strategies and connect with others facing the same challenges."

He invites listeners to attend the upcoming Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego from March 30 to April 1, offering both in-person and virtual ticket options. The event promises a wealth of knowledge, networking opportunities, and actionable insights to help marketers thrive in an ever-changing environment.

For more details and to secure tickets, visit socialmediamarketingworld.info.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Stelzner [00:00]:
  "The algorithms have turned against us, our emails are getting buried in spam folders, and all sorts of other challenges."

• Dan Sanchez [02:22]:
  "Feeds are dominated by interest-based content, or the interest graph they call it, versus the social graph is what a lot of these social feeds used to be based on."

• Michael Stelzner [06:51]:
  "Our biggest base, all these social audiences that we've been developing relationships with for years... they're simply not seeing what we're sending them anymore."

• Dan Sanchez [15:20]:
  "Paid media will never go away. It'll always be one of the three big avenues that we have as marketers."

• Michael Stelzner [16:56]:
  "Premise-based content allows us to create themed series without reinventing the wheel each time."

• Dan Sanchez [39:29]:
  "Stories are the shortcut to the value proposition because people can't always articulate the value proposition, but they can remember the story."

This episode offers a comprehensive look into how Social Media Examiner is adapting to the dynamic marketing landscape of 2025. By sharing their struggles, strategic pivots, and innovative solutions, Michael and Dan provide valuable insights for marketers aiming to navigate similar challenges.