Actionable Marketing Podcast

Content marketing is an essential to today’s start-up business. It is how you and your company find your voice in a sea of similar and perhaps larger companies. But, what do you do when your online content isn’t getting the attention you need? How do you create the content that is going to get your business results? How can you make content marketing work for you and your business?

Len Markidan, the guy in charge of Groove HQ’s marketing department has some basic tips to improve your content. Groove HQ got its start six years ago, but the path to success was rocky.  Len and his team tried numerous types and styles of content for their blog, but nothing was working. So the team did their homework, they looked at companies like Kissmetrics and Unbounce, then they reached out to the companies. Their outreach was a big help. What they learned from the process became invaluable.

Groove HQ found an audience with their blog A Startup’s Journey to $100,000 in Monthly Revenue. If you are having trouble with your content marketing, then Len can help you get a better perspective on the situation.

Highlights from this episode include:

• Groove HQ’s rough start and how Len and his team found the problems.
• Why the best story to tell, is your story.
• The winning framework Len uses to create Groove HQ’s content.
• How your audience can help you find the right content.
• The best method to create content with a team.

Links

CoSchedule

Groove HQ

A Startup’s Journey to $100,000 in Monthly Revenue Blog

Everyone wants more traffic, particularly organic traffic. The way to get that is to boost your SEO strategy to rank better and to drive more people to your website. But what is this SEO game all about? How does Google decide who it loves and who it doesn’t? Is having industry influencers sending their own audience members to your site just a pipe dream?

Today we’re talking to Joshua Hardwick, the founder of the SEO Project and a writer at Ahrefs. He’s going to talk to us about outreach-based SEO. If you’ve been wanting to get your site at the top of the Google results page (and who hasn’t?), you won’t want to miss today’s show.

Some of the highlights include:

• A bit of information about The Seo Project and what is on the blog.
• What outreach-based link-building is and why it’s important to someone’s SEO strategy.
• Why the quality and usefulness of your content is still king, no matter what your SEO strategy is.
• The importance of knowing your audience: What do they want to read about? Joshua talks about a few hints and tips for getting more people to read your content.
• Why the skyscraper technique often works well.
• How to reach out to industry influencers in an effort to build a relationship.
• Some ways NOT to approach link-building with outreach.
• Tips on how to know whether your strategy is working: What metrics should you be looking for?

Links:

The SEO Project

Skyscraper Technique

Joshua on Ahrefs

BuzzSumo

CoSchedule

Quotes by Joshua:

“The first place to start is to have something worthwhile, something that people will actually link to.”

“My number one piece of advice would be just to be as genuine as you possibly can.”

“Even if you're creating great content, even if you’ve got everything else right, most people won’t rank for the terms that they want to rank for without getting at least some links.”

Successful content marketing depends on publishing great content consistently. Do you know how to know what’s working and what’s not? More importantly, can you learn as you go so you can improve your future blog posts?

Today, we’re talking to Zach Bulygo, the blog manager at Kissmetrics. We’ll talk about Zach’s process and planning, how to work with guest writers, how to publish lots of content with a small team, and how to turn your marketing blog into a leading authority. Sit back, relax, and get read to glean a ton of great information from Zach.

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Some information about Kissmetrics and what Zach does there, as well as what topics are covered on the Kissmetrics blog.
• Why the team as Kissmetrics embraces guest posts and how those fit into the site’s strategy.
• The goals of the Kissmetrics blog and how the team uses data analysis and testing to achieve them.
• How Zach uses data to know that the blog posts and CTAs are working and how the information helps the team tweak future blogs for more success.
• The standards that the Kissmetrics team holds its guest writers to.
• How Zach manages the blog as the only permanent person on the team.
• The typical workflow for a blog post on Kissmetrics.
• Zach’s advice for a marketing team that is hoping to add blog content to their marketing mix.

Links:

Kissmetrics

CoSchedule

Blog Post: What’s the Difference Between Google Analytics and Kissmetrics?

What does a true marketing leader look like? What kind of results do they get? How do you lead and develop a culture that is hyper focused on growth and routinely produces 10X results and builds audiences into the hundreds of thousands?

Today I’m talking to Eric Siu, the CEO of the digital marketing agency Single Grain, the host of the Growth Everywhere podcast, co-host of the Marketing School Podcast with Neil Patel, and a contributor to noteable online publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and more.

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• What Eric is up to and his vision for Single Grain as a place to grow
• The importance of people, culture, and trust when stepping into a new company
• Hiring really good people and getting out of their way
• Sticking with the Growth Everywhere podcast even when the first year was a grind
• Batching and using systems to get everything done
• How content scales well and the importance of playing the long game
• Building out a framework to repurpose content, especially when starting out
• Focusing on one thing each day and delegating things that can be delegated
• The hiring funnel, core values and a trial assignment

Links:

Single Grain

Marketing School Podcast

Growth Everywhere Podcast

CoSchedule

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Video marketing: When you use it to grow your audience, it’s as much a science as it is an art. There are so many platforms, strategies, and networks; how do you know where to focus your time, money, and energy for the biggest return?

Today we’re talking to Mark Robertson, the co-founder of Little Monster Media, the founder of ReelSEO, and a digital video veteran. He’s going to talk to us about increasing your reach and growing your audience through video marketing.

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Information about Little Monster Media and what Mark does there.
• What platforms to focus on for people who are new to video marketing.
• How brands can build their audiences using YouTube and Facebook Video.
• How brands can follow the practices of publishers to see success when it comes to advertising and content marketing. Mark gives examples of brands that create compelling content without being “in your face.”
• How to know whether video is a medium you should use and harness, as well as stats on how video affects the brain in comparison to how text affects the brain.
• The importance of testing and measurement when it comes to getting your material in front of the right people.
• What measurements and technical details to pay attention to in order to succeed with video marketing.

Links:

Little Monster Media

CoSchedule

When your potential customers are looking for your product or service, how do you think they find it? Right, they usually start with Google. In order for them to find you, you need to show up in those search results. Have you wondered how to do that?

Today, we’re talking to CoSchedule’s own Rachel Wiinanen, our inbound marketer. She works a lot with AdWords, creating ads that will lead to click-throughs and lead to conversion. Today she’s going to tell us all about targeting the right keywords, writing engaging messaging, and optimizing your landing pages. She’ll also talk to us about what metrics to measure and share her thoughts on budgeting and goal-setting. You won’t want to miss this episode!

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Rachel’s job description and mission at CoSchedule.
• Rachel’s strategy for attracting the right audience through AdWords.
• Thoughts on writing great ad copy that gets clicks, as well as why testing is so important.
• How Rachel works with landing pages to boost the conversion rate.
• What Rachel measures when analyzing campaigns: trial acquisition cost, click-through rate, and more. She also talks about how she monitors various metrics.
• How to determine a budget when it comes to ads.
• Rachel’s best advice for someone who is new to AdWords and is just getting started.

Links:

AdWords

CoSchedule

Google Analytics

People learn from and remember their experiences. When they’re good experiences, they’ll want to come back for more. If you want your audience to keep coming back to you, you’ll need to create valuable experiences for them.

Today we’re talking to Carla Johnson, the brains behind Type A Communications and the author of Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing. She will talk to us about how to create value with our content, how to manage change within your organization, and how to break the status quo.

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Information about Type A Communications and what Carla does there. She also talks about what it was like to co-write Experiences and some of the takeaways of the book.
• Carla’s best advice for marketers who want to create value for their audience.
• The differences between relationship-building and experience-creating, as well as why now is the right time to start focusing on creating experiences.
• Examples of brands that have gotten the experience-building down to a science, including Nike and Vail Resorts.
• Tips for making this new era of marketing something your company implements and succeeds with.
• Carla’s basic steps behind content creation management and her best advice for marketers who want to break through the status quo.

Links:

Type A Communications

Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing

CoSchedule

Quotes by Carla:

“With the sophistication of consumers and the social world in which we live, just having a relationship isn’t enough.”

“People need to feel a little uncomfortable and understand that what has historically been safe is now perhaps the risky option.”

“We have to start being able to look at brands and ideas and experiences... that have nothing to do with our industry or with marketing. Dig deep and understand what has inspired you as a person.”

Have you had the frustrating experience of sending out social media posts only to receive no engagement whatsoever? Most marketers have had this happen, and some have it happen frequently. Today we’re going to be talking to CoSchedule’s own Nathan Ellering. He’s the head of demand generation here at CoSchedule, and he has conducted a study that allows him to predict how well a particular post will do on any social media platform. Do you want to increase your social media engagement? If so, you won’t want to miss today’s show.

Some of the highlights of this episode include:

• The scoop on CoSchedule and what it is Nathan does here as the head of demand generation. Nathan also shares how big the demand generation team is.
• Why Nathan took on his research project on which social media posts tend to do well on which platforms and how he evaluated different standards of performance.
• How the demand generation team uses data to do what works, over and over again.
• How Nathan went from having massive pile of data to putting it all into motion to work for CoSchedule.
• Why marketers should focus on content before mechanics.
• Hints on where to get the inspiration needed to create great content. Nathan explains methods such as PAS (problem-agitate-solve), bridge after bridge, AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action), and the 4 Cs (clear, concise, compelling, credibility).
• How to use closed-ended questions, controversy, anecdotes, and quotes on social media for maximum engagement.
• Specific strategies for finding success on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+.
• Nathan’s very best advice on leveling up your social media skills.

Links:

CoSchedule

Best Times to Post on Social Media

Best Times to Send Email

CoSchedule Social Message Optimizer

Have you thought about what makes someone a thought leader? One of the best ways is to publish content consistently. Today we’re talking to Shawn Smith, the co-owner of Trizone. Shawn knows all about how to create high-quality content with limited resources, how to involve subject matter experts in creating your content, and why automating processes can help you get everything done. You’ll want to stay tuned to hear about all of this and more!

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• A bit about Trizone and what Shawn does there as a “jack of all trades.”
• What it’s like working with a small team and how they work as efficiently as possible.
• What fluidity means to Shawn and how it helps his team be more effective and productive when it comes to creating great content.
• How automating some of the process helps Shawn and his team be more efficient and save time.
• How and why the Trizone team works with subject matters to help them with their content creation and thought-leadership. Also, Shawn talks about how he gets into contact with them and gets them to contribute.
• Shawn’s best tips for working with subject matter experts and collaborating with a remote team of people.
• Information about the Trizone workflow process and why it works for them.
• Advice for a small team who is looking to become an authority in their niche through content creation.

Links:

Shawn Smith

Trizone

Slack

CoSchedule

You’ve probably read uninspiring, forgettable content. Having emotional messaging helps you connect with prospects, creating trust and relationships that can lead to sales. Today we’re chatting with Emma Tupa. Emma is the product marketing specialist at CoSchedule and is an expert on conversion copywriting. She uses just the right messaging to help clients find solutions to their problems and to make CoSchedule’s content memorable and trustworthy.

If you want to know how to create emotional messaging to stand out, build relationships and sell more, you won’t want to miss out on today’s show!

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Emma’s background and how she ended up being the product marketing specialist at CoSchedule, as well as what Emma does on the product marketing team.
• Emma’s definition of product marketing and how it helps create relationships that can lead to sales.
• Why it’s important to include emotion in the copy that you write and how to figure out which types of emotional messaging would best resonate with your clients.
• Emma’s thoughts on finding a good message when you have a diverse clientele, as well as why it’s important to have an idea customer in mind.
• How to tell whether your messaging is effective and actually working to help you build relationships and create conversions.
• Some easy ways to jump-start adding some emotional messaging into your copy.
• Incorporating humor into your copy: How to do it with gifs, hashtags, and more.
• What Emma recommends for someone hoping to improve their writing.

Links:

Emma Tupa

CoSchedule

PopKey

Copy Hackers