What does growth look like when AI is changing every week, paid traffic is evolving, and your business has to keep adapting in real time?

In this behind-the-scenes episode, Molly Pittman and John Grimshaw pull back the curtain on what Smart Marketer has been building, testing, and improving in 2026. From Axon/AppLovin and TikTok Shop to AEO, AI-powered creative, new software, and launching an ecommerce brand from scratch, this episode is a candid look at how Smart Marketer is thinking about the future.

You'll hear why partnerships are becoming one of the biggest growth levers, why founder visibility matters more in the AI era, and why not every experiment needs to work in order for your business to keep moving forward.

"Not everything has to work. If everything is successful, you're probably not doing enough." – Molly Pittman

• Why Smart Marketer is expanding beyond courses, agency services, and masterminds. • How Axon/AppLovin is creating new paid traffic opportunities for DTC brands. • Why TikTok Shop requires a different approach than traditional paid media. • What AEO is and why AI search may become a major growth channel. • How Smart Marketer is using AI to create more direct-response ad creative. • Why partnerships can unlock faster business growth and new opportunities. • What Molly and John are learning from launching an ecommerce brand from scratch. • Why the info product space is not dead, but it is evolving. • How to decide what to scale, what to cut, and where to focus next.

• Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com

• Smart Marketer Podcast: https://smartmarketer.com/podcast

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/

• Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/

• Thumbstop: https://usethumbstop.ai/

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.

00:00:22 – Welcome: What's Changing Across Marketing Right Now 00:01:10 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:14 – Molly Welcomes John Grimshaw to the Podcast 00:03:28 – Behind the Scenes: What's Been Happening at Smart Marketer 00:04:34 – How Smart Marketer Has Evolved Beyond Courses 00:06:29 – Why Business Leaders Must Keep Innovating 00:07:34 – Launching the Axon/AppLovin Masterclass 00:09:30 – The Power of Partnerships in Business Growth 00:11:51 – Testing TikTok Shop as a New Growth Channel 00:15:19 – AEO, AI Search, and Optimizing for Answer Engines 00:17:27 – Why Founder Visibility Matters in the AI Era 00:19:13 – Introducing Thumbstop: AI-Powered Ad Creative 00:23:51 – Smart Marketer's First New Software Tool in Years 00:24:49 – Launching a New Ecommerce Brand From Scratch 00:28:59 – Why Partnerships Are Central to Smart Marketer's Next Chapter 00:31:00 – Building Agentic AI Systems for Ecommerce Brands 00:33:01 – Why Courses and Info Products Are Not Dead 00:35:49 – The Reality of Testing New Ideas 00:37:59 – How Smart Marketer Is Refocusing for the Rest of 2026 00:38:29 – Molly's Reminder: Not Everything Has to Work 00:40:38 – Final Thoughts and a Bandit Cameo 00:41:15 – Closing CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share the Show

Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners who want to stay ahead of what's coming next.

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Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

AI tools are changing how people research, compare, and make buying decisions, and the brands that show up in those answers are going to have a massive advantage.

In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with entrepreneur and AEO expert Kasim Aslam to unpack what Answer Engine Optimization really is, how it differs from traditional SEO, and why founder-led content, real expertise, strong reviews, and authentic authority are becoming non-negotiable for brands that want to stay visible.

You'll also hear early results from Smart Marketer's first AEO client cohort, including wins from brands like BabyRX, Winona, and Outdoor Vitals, plus why AEO may be one of the biggest organic opportunities since the early days of SEO.

"If you believe in your product, if you're truly a thought leader, if you have the information and if other people really like what you have to say, AEO is great." – Kasim Aslam

• What AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, is and why it matters right now. • How AI-driven traffic differs from traditional SEO and paid traffic. • Why founder-led brands and expert-driven content are winning in AI search. • The role schema markup plays in helping AI tools understand your website. • Why reviews, reputation, and real authority are becoming major ranking signals. • How to think about attribution when AEO cannot be tracked like Meta or Google Ads. • Why "being for someone" is one of the most important marketing advantages in the AI era. • Early AEO case studies from BabyRX, Winona, and Outdoor Vitals. • Why brands that lack a clear point of view may struggle as answer engines become more influential.

• Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/

• Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/

• AEO: https://aeo.co/

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.

00:00:16 – Introduction: Why AEO Matters for Modern Brands 00:01:16 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:20 – Molly Welcomes Kasim Aslam to the Podcast 00:04:11 – The Power of Long-Term Relationships in Business 00:06:34 – How Molly and Kasim's AEO Partnership Began 00:11:09 – Why AEO Is the Future of Marketing 00:13:14 – What Is AEO and How Is It Different from SEO? 00:15:42 – How Kasim Started Studying Answer Engine Optimization 00:16:44 – Why Understanding the Machine Matters 00:18:01 – Why AEO Strategy Must Be Vertical-Specific 00:19:16 – Why AEO Is Harder to Game Than Traditional SEO 00:20:08 – Why Reputation, Reviews, and Real Authority Matter 00:22:34 – Why Context Changes Every AI Search Result 00:24:48 – Why Direct Response Marketers May Struggle with AEO 00:26:14 – How to Measure AEO When Traditional Attribution Breaks 00:28:47 – Bot Traffic, Citations, and Secondary Success Signals 00:30:22 – The Return of "How Did You Hear About Us?" 00:32:54 – Early AEO Results from the First Client Cohort 00:34:33 – BabyRX Case Study: From Zero Visibility to AI Citations 00:35:31 – Why Schema Markup Is Critical for AI Visibility 00:37:32 – How Content Repurposing Helps AI Validate Authority 00:39:47 – Winona Case Study: Growing Share of Voice in Google AI Mode 00:40:46 – Outdoor Vitals Case Study: From Invisible to 34% AI Visibility 00:42:12 – Content Atomization and Founder-Led Authority 00:43:23 – How to Apply for the Next AEO Test Cohort 00:45:03 – Why Answer Engines Trust People More Than Brands 00:47:41 – Why Brands Need a Real Point of View 00:48:09 – Final Thoughts: Why AEO Rewards Businesses That Truly Serve Their Market 00:49:47 – Closing CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share the Show

Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners who want to stay ahead of what's coming next.

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Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

AI can help your team move faster, work smarter, and free up hours of repetitive work… but only if you build the habits, systems, and ownership to actually use it.

In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Rytis Lauris, co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, shares the six practical lessons his company learned while transforming a 200+ person organization into a more AI-native team. From monthly AI Days and simple point-solution agents to the mindset shift required to "manage" AI assistants, this episode is packed with real-world examples you can bring back to your own business.

"AI can really help us to be way more productive and to be better employees, to be better specialists, to be better humans." – Rytis Lauris

If you've been wondering how to get your team to move beyond "playing around with ChatGPT" and start using AI to save time, improve processes, and scale smarter, this one is for you.

• Why AI adoption has to be intentional and led from the top down. • How Omnisend uses monthly "AI Days" to help employees build real AI habits. • Why simple point solutions often work better than complex AI agents. • How a sales team built an AI follow-up tool without engineers. • How Omnisend reduced influencer review time from 90 hours to 20 hours per month. • Why AI tools should be treated like products, not one-time projects. • The importance of assigning a human "manager" to each AI agent. • Why AI works best when it improves existing processes instead of creating new work. • How AI can support email, SMS, segmentation, forms, support, and sales workflows. • Why the future belongs to humans who learn how to scale themselves with AI.

• Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/

• Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table

• Omnisend Smart Marketer (sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.

00:00:15 – Welcome: Moving Beyond AI Marketing Tasks 00:01:13 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:02:39 – John Introduces Omnisend and Rytis Lauris 00:04:16 – Why Becoming AI-Native Isn't as Simple as Buying Tools 00:06:14 – Lesson 1: AI Does Not Adopt Itself 00:07:18 – How Omnisend Uses Monthly AI Days Across the Company 00:08:19 – The Sales Follow-Up AI Agent That Saves Time After Calls 00:09:30 – Reducing Influencer Review Time from 90 Hours to 20 Hours 00:10:31 – Lesson 2: Complexity Is a Trap 00:12:21 – Why Point Solutions Beat Over-Engineered AI Agents 00:13:24 – Lesson 3: Switch from a Project Mindset to a Product Mindset 00:15:24 – Lesson 4: Iteration Isn't Sexy, But It's Inevitable 00:16:24 – Why Every AI Agent Needs a Human Owner 00:17:23 – The AI Voice SDR Example: Smart, Useful, and Still Imperfect 00:19:13 – How Omnisend's AI Support Agent Resolves 40% of Support Conversations 00:21:19 – Lesson 5: Build on Existing Processes, Don't Create New Work 00:22:13 – Rytis' LinkedIn AI Agent Story and Why AI Won't Create Habits for You 00:23:55 – Omnisend's Most-Used AI Features: Subject Lines and Preheaders 00:24:47 – AI for Email Copywriting and Segment Building 00:25:58 – AI Form Generation and Giving Customers Control 00:26:48 – Lesson 6: AI Is an Assistant, Not the Enemy 00:28:00 – How Point Solutions Can Free Up 30–40% of Your Time 00:28:45 – Recap: The Six Lessons for Becoming AI-Native 00:30:11 – Special Omnisend Offer for Smart Marketer Listeners 00:30:39 – Closing Thoughts

Thank you for tuning in to the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue bringing you practical marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes systems, and real-world business insights from operators who are doing the work.

If you enjoyed this episode:

Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Share this episode on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at [email protected].

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

AI is changing how customers discover, research, and choose brands. If your business isn't showing up in AI-generated answers, you may be missing the next major wave of organic visibility.

In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Julian Lopez from the Smart Marketer team breaks down AEO, Answer Engine Optimization, and what brands need to do now to become the recommended choice inside AI tools, AI overviews, and answer engines. From schema markup and indexability to brand authority and bottom-of-funnel search intent, Julian shares the early signals Smart Marketer is seeing after analyzing thousands of AI-driven commercial searches.

"Your brand is not what you say, it is what AI is able to pull out of the answer." – Julian Lopez

• What AEO is and why it matters for brands that want to stay visible in the AI era. • Why SEO isn't dead, but the game has changed. • How AI tools research, compare, and recommend brands behind the scenes. • Why your website is becoming less of a destination and more of a data source. • The difference between informational traffic and bottom-of-funnel commercial intent. • How schema markup helps AI understand your products, people, and brand. • Why third-party sources, reviews, Reddit, directories, and social proof impact AI recommendations. • How to structure your content so AI can retrieve, understand, and cite it faster. • Why brand authority now depends on what AI can verify across the web. • What agentic shopping may mean for the future of ecommerce.

• Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/

• Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.

00:00:20: Welcome: AI, Paid Traffic, Creative and Organic Visibility 00:01:11: Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:02:14: Molly Introduces Julian Lopez and the Importance of AEO 00:03:47: How to Get Your Brand Recommended by AI 00:05:00: Create Relevance, Not Awareness 00:06:03: Why AEO Is Still an Emerging Discipline 00:07:09: What Changed: AI Enters the Search Experience 00:08:16: Search Is Becoming Delegated Research 00:09:39: Is SEO Dead? What's Actually Changing 00:10:41: What Commercial Search Results Look Like Now 00:12:11: The Future of Walled Gardens, Wearables and AI Everywhere 00:14:11: GEO, LMO, AEO: What Should We Call It? 00:15:10: The Goal: Become the AI-Recommended Brand 00:16:19: What Smart Marketer Found After Thousands of AI Queries 00:17:22: Why Your Website Is Now a Data Source 00:18:28: The Challenge: AI Platforms Are Black Boxes 00:19:28: SEO Still Matters, But Rankings Aren't the Whole Story 00:21:29: How AI Answers Actually Work 00:22:38: Why Bottom-of-Funnel Questions Are the New Opportunity 00:23:21: The Site Is Not the Destination, It's the Data Source 00:24:29: The Answer Budget Theory: How AI Chooses Brands 00:26:43: Why AI Looks Beyond Your Website Before Recommending You 00:28:10: Your Brand Is Built on the Sources 00:29:10: The AEO Action Plan: Indexability, Content Readiness and Authority 00:32:11: Why You Need to Let the Right Bots Access Your Site 00:33:06: Schema Markup: Helping AI Understand Your Business 00:36:38: How to Make Product Pages More Specific for AI 00:38:44: IDs, Entities and Connecting Your Website's Information 00:39:45: Optimizing Product Data, Ratings and Rich Results 00:40:44: Content Structure: Make Your Pages Easier for AI to Retrieve 00:42:12: Cover Topics, Not Just Keywords 00:43:12: Brand Representation and Authority in the AI Era 00:44:23: Agentic Shopping: What's Coming Next 00:45:13: Wrap-Up and Final Applause

Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and ecommerce operators.

Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at [email protected].

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

What if your ad creative system could think more like Meta's algorithm?

In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Smart Marketer's Director of Creative Ben Bennett and Creative Operations Manager Melvin Cotton III break down the exact system they use to plan, produce, analyze, and scale paid social creative in the age of AI and Andromeda.

From diagnosing what's actually working inside your ad account to building scalable creator systems and using AI to uncover hidden performance insights, this episode is a masterclass in modern paid creative strategy.

"Our overall goal is to establish a strong system that provides us good creative and strong feedback." – Melvin Cotton III

If you're tired of guessing what makes ads work and want a smarter process for creating winning creative, this episode is for you.

• Why marketers are overcomplicating "Andromeda" and what actually matters

• The difference between what Meta sees in your ads vs. what it knows about users

• How to use AI to analyze creative at scale

• The creative variables Smart Marketer tracks across every ad

• Why "creative volume" alone isn't enough anymore

• How to identify gaps in your messaging and creative strategy

• The framework for building a scalable creative production system

• Different ways to source UGC and creator content effectively

• Why operational systems are critical for creative scale

• How feedback loops improve ad performance over time

• Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/

• Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months.

00:00:17 – Introduction: The Paid Ads Machine 00:01:19 – Ezra Firestone on Why He Uses OmniSend 00:02:41 – Live from Mentor Table Nashville 00:03:55 – How Ben Bennett Joined Smart Marketer 00:06:18 – Creative Planning in the Age of Andromeda 00:08:18 – Why AI & Andromeda Feel Like a "Black Box" 00:12:55 – Using AI to Analyze Creative at Scale 00:17:08 – Building an AI-Powered Creative Data Lab 00:22:34 – Closed Variables vs Open Variables in Creative Analysis 00:25:55 – Applying Marketing Frameworks to Ad Creative 00:29:20 – Turning Creative Data Into Actionable Insights 00:33:32 – What AI Reveals About Winning Creative Patterns 00:36:07 – Why Beginner-Focused Ads Outperformed Problem-Aware Messaging 00:40:56 – Transitioning from Analysis to Production Systems 00:42:01 – Building a Creative Menu for Your Team 00:45:16 – Different Systems for Sourcing UGC & Creator Content 00:48:20 – Creator Compensation & Contracts 00:49:59 – Managing Creative Operations & Tracking Systems 00:51:48 – Identifying Where You Are on the Creative Spectrum 00:52:23 – Final Thoughts & Downloadable Resources

Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue bringing you actionable marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes systems, and real-world business insights.

If you enjoyed this episode:

Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode on social media and tag @smartmarketer Send feedback or questions to [email protected]

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

AI can help you write faster, but that does not mean it should be writing your ads for you.

In this podcast episode taken from our Smart Paid Traffic Live training, Senior Paid Performance Specialist Dominique Nobel breaks down her step-by-step process for using AI to create stronger Meta ad copy. You will learn how to build a brand intelligence document, generate better hooks, write stronger body copy, improve headlines and descriptions, and use AI as a volume tool while keeping strategy, judgment, and customer insight in human hands.

"AI is the volume producer, and us humans, we are the ones that are going to be doing the judgement and be the filter." – Dominique Nobel

If you have been using AI and getting copy that feels bland, generic, or a little off, this episode will show you a smarter way to prompt, edit, and test.

• Why vague AI prompts lead to vague, generic ad copy

• How to create a brand intelligence document before asking AI to write anything

• Dominique's step-by-step prompt process for Meta ad copy

• How to generate hooks that stop the scroll and open curiosity loops

• Why body copy should focus on mechanisms, transformation, and objections

• How to write headlines and descriptions that support the click

• Why your CTA should include both a clear action and an objection crusher

• How to use AI for volume while keeping human strategy, fact-checking, and editing in control

• Smart Marketer: https://www.smartmarketer.com/

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Smart Paid Traffic: https://smartmarketer.com/smart-paid-traffic/

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend (Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months)

00:00:16 - Introduction: Using AI to Write Stronger Meta Ad Copy 00:01:13 - Sponsor: Why Ezra Uses OmniSend 00:02:18 - Meet Dominique Nobel and Today's AI Training Agenda 00:04:02 - Rule #1: Your AI Output Is Only as Good as Your Input 00:05:43 - Why You Must Fact-Check and Humanize AI Copy 00:07:40 - AI as the Volume Producer, Humans as the Filter 00:08:45 - Start With a Brand Intelligence Document 00:10:45 - What to Include in Your Competitive Intelligence Prompt 00:13:19 - Writing Better Hooks for Meta Ads 00:20:26 - Building the Body Copy After the Hook 00:26:39 - Why Headlines and Descriptions Still Matter 00:31:08 - Writing CTAs That Drive Action and Handle Objections 00:34:28 - How Hook, Body, CTA, Headline, and Description Work Together 00:35:21 - Live Case Study: Building AI Ad Copy for a Supplement Brand 00:38:16 - Prompt Cowboy AI and Choosing the Right AI Tool 00:39:11 - Final Recap: Test, Iterate, Edit, and Humanize 00:40:27 - Closing Message

If you enjoyed this episode, help us get it in front of more marketers.

Leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode on social media and tag us using #WeOutHere Have feedback or questions? Email [email protected]

If you are ready to grow faster, check out our free trainings and resources at Smart Marketer.

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit

Episode 273: Scaling to $300M+: Paid Media, Attribution & Building Teams That Win

What does it really take to scale to $300M+ in revenue and spend $300K per day on ads?

In this live Mentor Table session from Nashville, Molly Pittman sits down with entrepreneur Rob Schmidt to break down what actually changes as you grow, from attribution and paid media to leadership and team building.

"You have to be really comfortable relying on your other leaders… You need to find good people to surround yourself with that you can trust because you can't do it all yourself. And even if you do, you're not going to be able to put your all into what actually matters for you." – Rob Schmidt

If you're trying to grow, simplify, or step into your role as a true operator, this episode will challenge how you think about scaling.

• Why you cannot scale without trusting your team and how to delegate effectively

• What changes when you are spending millions per month on paid media

• How to think about attribution across multiple models and time windows

• Why relying on a single attribution model can lead to poor decisions

• How to evaluate new channels and big marketing bets

• The truth about brand versus direct response and what actually drives growth

• How to use data and internal tracking to make better marketing decisions

• Why top operators constantly revisit fundamentals and keep learning

• Smart Marketer: https://www.smartmarketer.com/

• Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/

• Mentor Table: https://landing.smartmarketer.com/pages/mentor-table

• OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend (Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months)

00:00:16 – Introduction & Live Mentor Table Session 00:01:13 – Sponsor: Why Ezra Uses OmniSend 00:02:16 – Meet Rob Schmidt & His $300M Brands 00:03:18 – Inside Winona & Willow 00:04:10 – Rob's Journey from Agency to Operator 00:07:20 – Leadership Shift: Delegation and Hiring 00:09:31 – Paid Media at Scale: What Actually Changes 00:10:39 – Attribution Challenges and Data Complexity 00:12:46 – Direct Response vs Brand Marketing 00:15:10 – Making Big Bets and Testing New Channels 00:17:39 – What Winning Looks Like Moving Forward 00:21:48 – Q&A: Attribution Tools and Data Strategy 00:25:41 – Measuring Organic Traffic and SEO Impact 00:28:21 – Brand vs Direct Response Budget Decisions 00:29:42 – Final Thoughts and Wrap Up

If you enjoyed this episode, help us get it in front of more marketers.

Leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode on social media and tag us using #WeOutHere Have feedback or questions? Email [email protected]

If you are ready to grow faster, check out our free trainings and resources at Smart Marketer.

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit

Most entrepreneurs are stuck optimizing the wrong things.

In this Mentor Table conversation, Ezra Firestone and John Grimshaw break down the real levers that drive business growth from customer acquisition and profitability to product strategy and operational focus.

If you have been buried in the weeds, this episode will help you zoom out, simplify, and focus on what actually moves the needle.

"Don't quit before the miracle, man, just keep going. I am telling you that it is shocking how effective that strategy is." – Ezra Firestone

• The 3 core levers that drive sustainable business growth • Why most businesses waste time on micro optimizations • How to balance profitability versus growth • What makes a true hero offer and how to find yours • The truth about customer acquisition versus retention • How to simplify your business and cut what does not matter • Why creative is the number one lever in paid traffic right now • How top brands are using AI and creators to scale content

• Smart Marketer – https://smartmarketer.com/ • The Smart Marketer Show – https://smartmarketer.com/smart-marketer-show/ • OmniSend (50% Off) – https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend • Mentor Table – https://landing.smartmarketer.com/pages/mentor-table

00:00:16 Introduction: Business Strategy and Growth Levers 00:03:48 Why AI adoption is failing and how to fix it 00:05:53 The 3 core levers of business growth 00:06:42 Micro versus macro and where real growth comes from 00:08:54 Key metrics: new versus returning customers 00:10:46 Profitability, margins and marketing spend 00:13:23 Why your offer not your ads is the real problem 00:14:09 The lifecycle of a winning product 00:17:05 The 3 elements of a winning offer 00:20:23 Simplifying operations and cutting what does not matter 00:21:36 Building a scalable creative system 00:27:57 Paid creators versus influencers versus ambassadors 00:31:46 Leveraging customer data for influencer outreach 00:38:20 The KPI dashboard every business needs 00:45:39 Product development: hero versus supporting SKUs 00:53:10 The future of digital marketing and policy 00:57:20 Final advice: staying in the game long enough to win

Thank you for tuning in. Your support helps this podcast grow.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow, review, and share it with someone who would benefit.

Leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode and tag Smart Marketer Send feedback to [email protected]

Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit

Are you overthinking your campaign structure while missing what actually drives results?

In this episode of the Smart Marketer Podcast, Molly Pittman and Smart Marketer's Director of Advertising, Denis Paskalev, continue the Meta Ads Q&A series, diving into retargeting, targeting strategy, and how the algorithm is really working in 2026.

From whether you still need separate retargeting campaigns to how creative is now doing the heavy lifting, this conversation breaks down where marketers should actually be focusing their time and energy.

"You don't really need to have a separate retargeting campaign because the algorithm is going to do a lot of this." – Denis Paskalev

If you are still relying on outdated targeting tactics or overcomplicating your setup, this episode will help you simplify and win.

• Whether Meta automatically handles retargeting inside consolidated campaigns • When it actually makes sense to run separate retargeting campaigns • Why broad targeting is becoming the default and what that means for your strategy • How creative and ad copy now act as your primary targeting tools • The role of messaging in attracting different customer avatars • How Meta uses signals like visuals, text, and audio to find the right audience • When to use interest targeting and why it may disappear soon • How to approach testing campaigns with broad versus guided targeting • Practical ways to research and validate customer avatars • How to uncover new audiences using customer data, reviews, and competitors

• Free Meta Ads Mini Class – https://smartmarketer.com/meta-ads-mini-class-v3/ • Smart Marketer – https://smartmarketer.com• Molly Pittman – https://mollypittman.com• Omnisend – https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend (Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months)

00:00:17 – Introduction: Continuing the Meta Ads Q&A Series 00:01:12 – Ezra Firestone on Omnisend and Email and SMS Growth 00:02:16 – Does Meta Handle Retargeting Automatically 00:03:20 – When You Should Use a Separate Retargeting Campaign 00:03:26 – Is Interest Targeting Still Relevant 00:04:27 – How Creative Becomes the New Targeting 00:05:07 – How Meta Indexes Creative, Copy, and Audio Signals 00:07:17 – Broad vs Interest Targeting for Testing Campaigns 00:09:03 – How to Research and Validate Customer Avatars 00:10:21 – Using AI and Customer Reviews for Avatar Insights 00:11:32 – Leveraging Reddit, Forums, and Ad Comments 00:12:43 – Identifying New Avatars from Real Customer Behavior 00:14:51 – Why Business Owners Miss New Opportunities 00:15:06 – Using Competitor Research and Meta Data to Refine Targeting 00:16:20 – Final Thoughts and Wrap Up

Thank you for tuning in to the Smart Marketer Podcast. Your support helps us continue sharing actionable insights for marketers and entrepreneurs around the world.

If you enjoyed this episode:

Leave a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode with a fellow marketer or entrepreneur Tag us on social media and use #WeOutHere

Have feedback or questions Email us at [email protected]

Serve the world unselfishly and profit.

Episode 270: Organic Social vs Paid Ads What's Actually Working Right Now (And Why Most Brands Get It Wrong)

Most brands are doing organic social completely wrong and it's costing them growth.

In this episode, Zach Dampier breaks down what's actually working with organic social right now… and how to use it alongside paid ads without burning out or chasing the wrong metrics.

If your organic content feels like an afterthought or just a weaker version of your ads, this episode will completely reframe your strategy.

"Organic and paid are not competing for your resources. They're doing completely different jobs in your customer's journey."- Zach Dampier

• Why organic social is not just "free ads" (and what it should be instead)

• The real role of organic content in your customer journey

• How to create content that builds connection, trust, and loyalty

• The biggest mistake brands make when measuring organic performance

• Why follower count can actually hurt your growth if you're not careful

• When to prioritize paid ads vs. organic (and how to scale both together)

• The 3-phase framework to build a sustainable organic strategy

• How to turn organic content into a paid traffic flywheel

• Simple ways to make organic more measurable (without overcomplicating it)

• Smart Marketer – https://www.smartmarketer.com/

• The Smart Marketer Show – https://smartmarketer.com/smart-marketer-show/

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00:00:15 – Introduction: Why Organic Social Feels Like an Afterthought 00:00:53 – Sponsor: Why Ezra Uses OmniSend for Email & SMS 00:01:56 – Organic vs Paid: The Core Misunderstanding 00:03:42 – The #1 Mistake Brands Make with Organic Content 00:04:27 – The Real Job of Organic vs Paid Ads 00:06:05 – What's Actually Working: Real Organic Content Examples 00:07:42 – Why Authenticity & Storytelling Drive Engagement 00:10:14 – Vulnerability, Trust & Building Real Brand Connection 00:11:04 – The Problem with Chasing the Wrong Metrics 00:11:52 – Why Your Social Metrics Might Be Misleading 00:13:32 – The Truth About Follower Count (And Why It Can Hurt You) 00:15:41 – Reels vs Carousels: What's Working Right Now 00:17:25 – The Metrics You Should Actually Track 00:18:15 – How Organic & Paid Work Together (The Right Way) 00:19:08 – When to Focus on Paid vs Organic (Early-Stage Strategy) 00:21:24 – Organic as "Meta Insurance" Explained 00:23:13 – Turning Organic Content into a Paid Flywheel 00:24:50 – Making Organic Measurable with Tools Like ManyChat 00:25:43 – The 3 Phases of a Winning Organic Strategy 00:27:32 – Final Takeaways: Long-Term vs Short-Term Growth

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