By TREW Marketing & Wendy Covey
If you are a marketer in a technical company, this podcast is for you. On each episode, host, author, and TREW Marketing CEO Wendy Covey will breakdown an industry trend, challenge or best practice
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The podcast currently has 176 episodes available.
Chris Peer, the author of The Great 8 Pillars: ROI-Driven Marketing for Manufacturing Companies joins us on the podcast this week to walk through all eight pillars and share what he thinks the most important are for industrial marketers. We talk about how to structure marketing operations for success and how to get in front of leadership with the right data that is meaningful to grow your influence within the organization and demonstrate the impact marketing can have.
We also talk about the need for frameworks and processes so that you can have a repeatable model when you launch campaigns. We talk about value proposition and of course your MarTech stack and how AI factors into this equation.
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In this episode, VP of Account Service, Jennifer Dawkins, talks about her experiences at MAICON, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference. Jennifer shares the high-level timeline of how AI is expect to evolve over the next decade and how marketers can keep up. They discuss the rapid advancements in AI, the importance of AI literacy for organizations, and the evolving landscape of content marketing in the age of AI, including the broader copyright implications.
As AI chat continues to answer user questions accurately, we discussed the importance of moving away from "what is" content, and work towards creating compelling content that stands out - with unique points of view and personal anecdotes. I also ask her about the new AI tools she's excited to learn about and try, including video editing tools and integration tools.
The main takeaway from the conference? AI is here. If you don't learn it, you'll lose business to your competitors and it will ultimately hinder your career as a marketer. But it doesn't have to be impossible to learn or implement, start small and don't let initial AI mistakes dissuade you from taking advantage of the tools.
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Curious about the fast-paced world of B2B tech startups? In this episode, fractional CMO Mary Anne Gunn shares her experiences navigating the challenges and opportunities of startup marketing. From building strong customer relationships to balancing sales and marketing, Mary Anne provides actionable insights to help marketers thrive in an ever-evolving environment.
Drawing from her 25+ years of experience, Mary Anne highlights the importance of adaptability in startup environments, understanding what your customers care about, and aligning marketing with high-level business goals. She discusses how to handle the pressure to deliver leads quickly while still laying a strong strategic marketing foundation. Mary Anne also provides practical tips on navigating the volatile nature of startups, balancing sales and marketing alignment, and staying up-to-date in a fast-changing marketing landscape.
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If you're like most industrial companies, attracting and retaining talent is one of your biggest challenges. In this episode we discuss how marketing can play a critical role in recruitment initiatives and community engagement.
Batesville Products Inc., an aluminum casting manufacturer, was facing a problem that plagues many modern manufacturers - they couldn't find or retain talent to fill their vacant production roles. Even when they did fill these positions, there was a high turnover. Mary Jutzi, Digital Marketing Associate at Batesville Products, teamed up with Batesville's human resources team to address this issue. In this week's episode, Mary shares the steps Batesville took to understand the root of their talent problem and the initiatives they launched to address those findings.
This episode is full of out-of-the-box initiatives that were very successful for Batesville Products Inc. From rewriting job descriptions, engaging in community events and local schools, and developing a children's book.
Mary explains how they leveraged their company culture and unique selling points to attract the right candidates. Mary offers advice for marketers tasked with meeting recruiting goals and shares insights on reaching younger professionals.
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Fellow marketers, have you started your AI journey yet? No matter what stage of the journey you're on, The Marketing AI Institute is a resource you can use to accelerate your use of AI.
We are lucky to have Cathy McPhillips, Chief Growth Officer for the Marketing AI Institute, join us on the podcast to discuss her seasoned marketing career and all Marketing AI Institute including their upcoming Marketing AI Conference (MAICON).
Cathy shared the institute's mission to to make AI approachable, accessible, and actionable for marketers, focusing on AI literacy for all. They institute provides many free resources to get started including blogs, white papers, podcasts, research, online courses, and events. The podcast is one great way to learn a little more each week about the latest in AI for marketing and beyond.
We spent a lot of time talking about MAICON and as a past attendee, I can say the event is something every marketer should add to their calendar. From networking, to valuable sessions, to learning from fellow marketers, MAICON is a can't-miss event.
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Writers from the TREW team share how they're using AI chat technology in the writing process. They also give tips on when to use tools like ChatGPT Teams and how to construct prompts and chat threads to get a better result.
Jamie Tokarz, Senior Content Strategist, and Julia Holliday, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist, both use AI chat tools to take their projects up a notch. We discuss how they're using AI tools for research, ideation, content mapping, and editing as well as how these tools have changed since they were first introduced. Has their output improved in quality, or are they still seeing issues with AI "hallucinations"? We also revisit the strategy for prompting and returning to previous chat threads.
We touch on a few different AI tools including ChatGPT Teams, Claude, Perplexity AI, and Gemini.
The two TREW Crewers emphasized that AI is a tool that enhances the writing process but doesn't replace human creativity. Tips for integrating AI into marketing processes include starting small, treating AI as an assistant, and iterating on prompts.
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Worried about Google's generative AI changes? Don't panic! Learn actionable strategies to pivot to mid-funnel content and use AI tools to navigate this new SEO environment successfully.
As we continue our SEO series, Wendy and Dale Bertrand delve into the evolving landscape of Google’s search results due to changing algorithms and the integration of generative AI. Dale emphasizes the need to plan proactively for upcoming uncertainties. He advises marketers to pivot their focus towards middle-of-the-funnel content, targeting customers who have identified their problems and are actively seeking solutions. Their conversation underscore the importance of adapting marketing strategies to provide unique, valuable information that truly resonates with the target audience instead of chasing trends. Additionally, Wendy and Dale delve into the use of AI tools in marketing and stresses the importance of measuring success through conversions and sales rather than merely focusing on traffic and rankings.
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Have you recently found yourself saying, What the heck, Google?! Google search results have been experiencing significant changes, with an increase in discussion sites like Reddit and Quora appearing in search results. This is due to Google's emphasis on first-person experience (EEAT) and combating misinformation. However, the results often include outdated information and unreliable advice.
Additionally, Google's AI overviews, formerly known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), have been quietly rolled out, providing automatic answers to queries but sometimes pulling in inaccurate information from sources like forums. The leaked Google algorithms reveal that clicks, click-through rates, and length of page visits are ranking signals, while on-page SEO and technical backend optimization are less important than we previously thought. To adjust to these changes, marketers should diversify their strategies and focus on reaching their audience where they are through channels like YouTube, events, thought leadership, referrals, digital advertising, and public relations. Content strategies should prioritize deep technical content, real-world projects, and data, rather than introductory topics. It's important to stay flexible and adjust plans as Google's search landscape continues to evolve.
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Industrial manufacturing and engineering companies may go decades without considering a Public Relations strategy. Our guest this week shares why PR shouldn't be overlooked in your overall marketing strategy.
Michelle Garrett is the author of B2B PR That Gets Results, a new public relations book that helps companies understand the importance of PR while providing tactical PR tips. On this episode, Michelle and I discuss how PR can help companies tell their stories and gain credibility. We talk about the misconceptions about PR, the difference between paid, earned, shared, and owned media, and the the integration of PR with content marketing and social media. We also talk about how to measure your PR efforts.
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Has your growth stalled as a system integrator? Then this episode is for you! I talk with a senior consultant who works with system integrators to avoid common sales and marketing pitfalls that hinder growth.
This week, I'm joined by Jack Barber, Senior Business Consultant for Exotek, a boutique consultancy firm focused on system integration companies in industrial automation. Jack has more than 25 years of experience in the system integrator (SI) space, and was kind enough to share his wisdom about what he sees are the most common mistakes SIs make and how he educated them to be disciplined in order to grow leads and expand within their current clients.
We talk about the importance of focusing on specific niches and differentiating yourself in the market. SIs oftentimes fall in the trap of saying they "do it all" which can leave potential buyers confused about their strengths. We also touch on the discipline it takes to be successful during account management, and the importance of expanding accounts instead of just completing a project and moving on to the next client.
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The podcast currently has 176 episodes available.