Actionable Marketing Podcast

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."