“A bad marketer is one who does things based on their gut.” As the co-founder of Orbit Media, an author, and host of Content Jam in Chicago, Andy Crestodina helps marketers quantify those gut impulses with actionable data and strategies. Andy is also a speaker at Social Brand Forum 2016 in Iowa City this September, where he’ll be talking about Google Analytics Fundamentals: How to Measure What Matters For Your Business. We discussed all of this on this week’s On Brand podcast.

About Andy Crestodina

Andy Crestodina is a co-founder of Orbit Media, an award winning, 35-person web design company in Chicago. Over the past 15 years, Andy has provided web strategy and marketing advice to more than 1000 businesses. Andy has written hundreds of articles on topics including search optimization, social media, Analytics and content strategy. He is also the author ofContent Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.

Episode Highlights

You have to practice data-driven empathy. Andy is one of the most actionable speakers I’ve seen. His talks are loaded with practical, tactical insights. He even shared one on the podcast. “If you put a search box on your site that’s great. It’s helpful. But it also provides an opportunity for listening.” Andy offered a step-by-step hack for creating a Google Analytics report based on search queries your users run. “This allows you to practice data-driven empathy. You can create more content around these searches.”

Don’t let your marketing get taken over by hippos. “A bad marketer is one who does things based on their gut. If you’re not applying data then you’re just going by HIPO — Highest Paid Opinion.”

Why live events make potent content. Andy and I both host live learning events (Content Jamand Social Brand Forum). “In person content blows people away. Live events rule the day.” He also quoted our mutual acquaintance Blair Enns who says that, “The only differentiator creative firms have is their expertise.” Live events allow you to put this asset front and center. More from Blair.

One more actionable marketing tip from Andy? “If you do something, if someone says something nice about you online, add that evidence to your website. Not just a testimonials page because no one reads those. Make every page your testimonials page. Use embedded tweets. We have to condition ourselves to put that stuff in the good file.”

What brand has made Andy smile recently? “The daily Quora emails. They make me smile every day.”

To learn more about Andy, you can follow him on Twitter and check out Orbit Media andContent Jam!

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