Digital Marketing Radio

Quick message - Digital Marketing Radio on-hold for a while!

David Bain — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Hey there, David here - I just wanted to record a quick message to say that I’m taking a short break from recording episodes of Digital Marketing Radio.

I want to focus on 2 other things at the moment...

Firstly, Casting Cred, my podcast production agency for B2B brands is expanding a little - I’m now also offering YouTube video series’ and business books as part of my B2B content marketing services - if you want to check out something that I’ve recently produced for a client, have a look at SEOin2022.com - and if you’ve got any questions about maybe doing something similar for your own brand, feel free to email me at david [at] castingcred.com.

And secondly, I’m at the early stages of producing a course on Podcast Presentation skills - and I’m doing a little bit of research on what prospective podcast hosts and guests would like me to include in the course - so if you’d like to be a better podcast host or guest, would you mind helping me out by completing a quick survey?

Just go to PodcastPresentationSkills.com to fill out your thoughts on questions like

- What podcast presentation skills do you admire and why?

- What podcast presentation failings turn you off and why?

- What podcast presentation skills do you want to acquire yourself?

If you’ve got some thoughts to share on that, if you could possibly fill in that quick survey at PodcastPresentationSkills.com, that would be much appreciated!

In the meantime, I’m going to be getting my head down and focusing on my clients and my Podcast Presentation skills course - and I’ll get back to Digital Marketing Radio as soon as I can!

Aloha!

How do SEO and PR work together? With Dayana Mayfield

David Bain — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000

The chances are that you’re either great at SEO or PR - they seem like very different modern marketing disciplines - one technical, one creative. However, to be as effective as possible, they need to work together. Digital PR can be a wonderful way of driving authority - AKA links - to your site.

That’s what I’m going to be discussing on episode 270 of Digital Marketing Radio - with a specialist Copywriter and Digital PR Strategist who helps SaaS companies rank in Google search, and convert that traffic into free trial sign-ups and demo requests.

Her clients include Drift, TravelPerk, and StoryChief, and her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider. Welcome to DMR - Dayana Mayfield.

What is the role of community in B2B marketing? With Joel Harrison from B2Bmarketing.net

David Bain — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000

The world of social media has exploded over the past 15 years. Consumers now have the ability to share their experiences about any kind of purchase imaginable.

But what about B2B? We’re constantly told that B2B marketing is very different from B2C - and that building a community in the world of B2B is a lot tougher.

But is that really the case? And what is the role of community in B2B marketing today?

Joining me to discuss that in episode 269 of Digital Marketing Radio is a man who’s been wholly focused on the world of B2B marketing for the past 17 years. He’s the Editor-in-chief of B2B Marketing - welcome to DMR, Joel Harrison.

PODCAST ADVERTISING: Should your brand be advertising on podcasts?

David Bain — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 14:00:00 +0000

I’ve dabbled in podcast advertising, but there are many brands out there who are spending significant sums on introducing their product or service to ever-increasing podcast audiences.

So what works best when it comes to advertising on podcasts is this something that your business should be considering?

Joining me to discuss that is a lady who’s sold over 50,000 podcast ads in the past year. She has an extensive background in radio advertising - and she’s a current, influential voice in the podcast advertising space - welcome to DMR, the Founder of True Native Media - Heather Osgood.

What is automation in Google Ads and how does automation impact your paid search strategy? With Anu Adegbola

David Bain — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 14:00:00 +0000

I remember using AdWords back in 2005. Paying pennies for all the traffic I desired.

And all I had to do was select a target keyword phrase, write a simple ad, and click publish.

But the sad thing is, 16 years later, thousands of marketers are still treating Google Ads in exactly the same way.

So what is best practice in Google Ads in 2021? How do you use scripts to automate your Google Ads? And how does this impact ad copy and the way it’s created?

Joining me to discuss that is a lady who’s spoken at SMX, The Marketing Meetup and HeroConf. She’s host of the PPCChat Roundup podcast and Freelance PPC Specialist at MindSwan - welcome to DMR, Anu Adegbola.

Podcast Interviewing Skills - with Andrew Warner from Mixergy

David Bain — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Content is at the heart of modern marketing mastership - and it’s very hard to continuously create great content without the help of others.

And if you’re able to persuade some of the leaders in your industry that it’s worthwhile granting you some of their time, you’d better make sure that you make the most of it - you’d better make sure that you know how to interview.

That’s what we’re going to be learning on episode 266 of Digital Marketing Radio - with a man who created the entire category of entrepreneur interview podcasts.

Since 2008 he’s interviewed 2144 founders of key technology startups. He’s the Founder of Mixergy and the author of the soon-to-be published “Stop Asking Questions: How to Lead High-Impact Interviews and Learn Anything from Anyone” - welcome to DMR, Andrew Warner.

Is your email marketing strategy a bit of an afterthought? | Jenna Tiffany

David Bain — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Is your email marketing strategy a bit of an afterthought?

Perhaps you don’t consider email to be a serious marketing channel, and whatever you send is reactive and not planned as part of an integrated marketing strategy.

In this, episode 265 of Digital Marketing Radio we’re looking at how email marketing can be a significant part of the modern marketing mix in 2022 and beyond.

Joining me to discuss that is a lady who’s a Chartered Marketer and awarded Fellow of the IDM with over ten years’ marketing experience.

She’s author of a new book called Marketing Strategy: Overcome Common Pitfalls and Create Effective Marketing - and she’s Founder & Strategy Director at Let'sTalk Strategy - welcome to DMR - Jenna Tiffany.

AUDIENCE RESEARCH: How to learn more about your audience and apply that information to get better marketing results – with Rand Fishkin

David Bain — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 09:00:00 +0000

How much do you truly know about your audience and which message you should be providing specifically for them?

On episode 264 of Digital Marketing Radio we’re looking at how to learn more about your ideal audience and how to use that information to deliver much more effective marketing.

Joining me to discuss that is a man who’ll spill big tech’s dark secrets if you bribe him with enough great pasta or great cocktails.

He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through his writing, speaking and startups - and he’s currently co-founder and CEO of audience research startup SparkToro. Welcome to DMR - Rand Fishkin.

Out of Home Advertising: Why traditional and digital media marketing opportunities are converging - and how to take advantage - with Sam Mallikarjunan

David Bain — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Have you written off traditional media?

Perhaps you’ve been focusing in on online traffic, not really considering that offline could be just as valuable.

Joining me to discuss that on episode 263 of Digital Marketing Radio is a man who taught Advanced Digital Marketing, Innovation Management, and Strategic Economics at Harvard University.

He’s the former Head of Growth at HubSpot Labs and the current CEO & Co-Founder of OneScreen - a pandemic-produced startup set on overhauling the archaic out-of-home advertising industry. Welcome to DMR - Sam Mallikarjunan.

Podcast strategy: Where does a podcast fit into your content marketing mix? - with Jonny Ross

David Bain — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Are you thinking of starting a podcast?

If so, what are your reasons for doing so?

There are well over 2 million podcasts now, but what is the commercial value of starting and publishing a regular podcast? And where does a podcast fit into your overall content marketing mix?

Those are just 2 of the questions that I’ll be asking my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 262.

He’s a digital marketing strategist with a strong background in SEO, web design and training and he heads-up Fleek Marketing - and of course, he has his own podcast - the Jonny Ross Audio Experience - welcome to DMR - Jonny Ross.

How agencies can increase client performance, decrease churn, and stabilize their revenue - with Shaun Clark

David Bain — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Do you run or might you be planning on running a marketing agency?

If so, you’ve probably experienced, or you’re going to experience clients coming and going, and revenue going up and down.

In this, episode 261 of Digital Marketing Radio we’re going to be looking at why clients leave, why revenue isn’t as stable as you’d like, and how to fix it.

Joining me to discuss that is the co-founder of a marketing platform specifically designed to help agencies thrive. He’s the CEO of HighLevel - welcome to DMR - Shaun Clark.

How to be an exceptional virtual presenter - with Oli Gardner from Be the Keynote

David Bain — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:00:00 +0000

How many times over the past 17 months have you turned up to yet another Zoom meeting, only to hear a cacophony of nonsense and a presenter struggling to share their slides?

So you say to yourself... “If that were me, I’d be so much better.”

The week after, it’s your turn - so you start your presentation fully on-form - and completely muted.

Virtual presentation skills are now more important than ever - and that’s exactly what I’m going to be discussing with my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 260.

He’s the Co-Founder of Unbounce - the landing page platform utilised by over 15,000 brands. And nowadays you can find him at Be the Keynote - helping you to become a better and more confident presenter, whether it’s on a big stage, a tiny stage or a virtual stage. Welcome to DMR - Oli Gardner.

5 tips on how to use content marketing neuroscience to grab your audience's attention [with Ahava Leibtag]

David Bain — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000

We all know that content marketing is an essential part of today's marketing mix - but there are so many different forms of content - how does everything fit together? And how do you truly capture the attention of your audience in the current era of content overload?

Those are just 2 of the questions that I’m going to be asking to my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 259.

She’s a 2020 inductee into the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame as an Innovative Individual, has 20+ years of experience in content, and is founder of Aha Media - a copywriting, content strategy and content marketing consultancy based just outside Washington DC in the US - welcome to DMR, Ahava Leibtag.

How to spice up your live streams and turn your continuous content into a show! [with Dre de Vera]

David Bain — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0000

When I started Digital Marketing Radio in 2014 there were 150,000 podcasts. Now, there are over 2 million of them. YouTube’s seen the same exponential growth - there are around 40 million YouTube channels in 2021.

What does that mean to you as a content creator?

You can’t be average any more! You need to work on your audio quality, your video quality and your production value. Your competition in 2021 is anything that competes for your audience’s attention. Your competition is Netflix. And if your content quality is bad, people aren’t going to stick around.

In this, episode 258 of Digital Marketing Radio we’re going to be looking at how to create a top quality, highly engaging show on YouTube, helping you to drive engagement and retain your audience.

Joining me to discuss that is a man with over 15 years of experience in search engine optimization - he's currently the Search Marketing Global Lead at Workday and founder and Host of the SEO Video Show on YouTube - welcome to DMR - Dre de Vera.

How to use emotional targeting strategies to enhance your website conversion rate [with Talia Wolf]

David Bain — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Have you been testing and tweaking your landing pages in a continuous yet barren attempt to improve your website conversion rates?

Maybe it’s time to stop changing button colours - and to start truly understanding who your visitors are, and what they want.

My guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 257 is a lady who’s taught conversion optimization on hundreds of stages including Google, MozCon and SearchLove.

She and her team provide conversion optimization services for high-growth companies using customer-centric methods, emotional targeting strategies and data-driven analysis.

Welcome to DMR - the Founder of GetUplift - Talia Wolf.

3 Tips to Improve Your Copywriting [with Eden Bidani]

David Bain — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Have you ever had to write web copy and caught yourself sounding like a used car salesman?

Maybe you haven’t had that much experience at writing for your own website and you want to make sure that your content’s compelling.

Joining me to share 3 Tips to Improve Your Copywriting on Episode 256 of Digital Marketing Radio is a lady who earned her sales and marketing stripes working in direct sales for 5 years.

Nowadays, she uses her retention-focused acquisition strategies with conversion copywriting to help SaaS, e-commerce, and tech businesses drive crazy-good growth at every customer touchpoint.

Welcome to DMR - Eden Bidani.

The Essential Skills You Need To Become an Effective Digital Marketing Leader - Kevin Indig

David Bain — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

I remember back in 2008 when I started working full-time in a digital marketing role.

It was a techie role that liaised with techies - it wasn’t real marketing - it was playing online. At least that’s what many traditional marketers thought at the time.

Fast forward 13 years and in many arenas, digital has overtaken traditional.

And that’s meant that the size of digital marketing teams has grown exponentially... Which in turn draws our attention to digital marketing leadership - what are the skills you need to be an effective digital marketing leader?

That’s precisely what I’m going to be discussing with my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 255.

He’s a former VP of SEO and Content at G2 - and a current Director of SEO at Shopify - welcome to DMR - Kevin Indig.

What is Product-Led SEO and Why Does it Matter? With Eli Schwartz

David Bain — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

SEO’s changed a lot over the years.

And no - it’s not dead yet. It’s not going to die. It’s still very important for your business.

In fact, in this, episode 254 of Digital Marketing Radio I’m speaking with a man who believes that nothing can take your business to the next level like search engine optimization.

Why do I know that? It’s on the back cover of his brand new book - Product-Led SEO: The ‘Why’ behind building your organic growth strategy.

He’s a former Director of Growth at Survey Monkey and current Growth Adviser and SEO Strategic Consultant at the likes of Tinder, Coinbase and Mixpanel - welcome to DMR - Eli Schwartz.

How to Build an Engaged Community - with Joe Glover from The Marketing Meetup

David Bain — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a highly engaged community?

To build a group of like-minded souls who are passionate about similar things and who trust you to hold everything together.

Today, on episode 253 of Digital Marketing Radio I’m joined by a man who’s done just that.

5 years ago he founded a really, really nice place for the marketers of the world to come together to listen, learn, meet, and share knowledge - and that place now has a community of over 24,00 members.

Welcome to DMR, the Founder of The Marketing Meetup - Joe Glover.

Marketing Automation for Ecommerce - with Rory J Knighton from Runäway Collective

David Bain — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

How efficient and effective is your e-commerce marketing automation?

Are you delivering email at all the right moments? And how effective is your messaging?

Those are just 3 of the questions that I’m going to be asking my guest on Digital Marketing radio episode 252.

He’s the Founder of Runäway Collective - a marketing subscription service, focused on marketing automation and film production, helping small and medium sized businesses play with the biggest and best, without the cost. Welcome to DMR - Rory J Knighton.

How to generate leads on LinkedIn - with Bob Low

David Bain — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

How is your LinkedIn lead generation going?

Are you actively trying to generate leads on LinkedIn? Or do you just view LinkedIn as a serendipitous content sharing opportunity?

My guest on episode 251 of Digital Marketing Radio treats LinkedIn lead generation seriously - and gets serious results for him and clients.

He’s trained individuals from companies including Ernst & Young and Accenture - and he currently helps businesses generate more revenue through LinkedIn Lead Generation - welcome to DMR, Bob Low.

How does LinkedIn Ads compare with other ad platforms? With Anthony Blatner from Speedwork Social

David Bain — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 16:30:00 +0000

Have you tried LinkedIn Ads yet? And if you have tried LinkedIn Ads, are you still actively using the platform?

If not, and you’re spending money on ads elsewhere, why? Do you think that LinkedIn Ads are more expensive? Did you even use LinkedIn Ads correctly?

On today’s episode of Digital Marketing Radio we’re going to be exploring what’s different about LinkedIn Ads compared with other ad platforms - how you need to adapt your campaigns so that they’re better suited to LinkedIn - and what kind of results you should be expecting by advertising on LinkedIn.

Joining me to discuss that is a former eCommerce Consultant for IBM. He’s now the Chief Advertising Officer for LinkedIn Advertising Agency, Speedwork Social. Welcome to DMR - Anthony Blatner.

Product Hunt Launch Strategy: Get your product to #1 on Product Hunt with Andy Cabasso from Postaga

David Bain — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 14:00:00 +0000

How do you launch your new product in tech?

Do you run a big virtual summit, partner with similar brands or spend big bucks on paid ads?

Maybe you should consider Product Hunt as part of your launch strategy.

Overlooked by many, this could be the product launch lynchpin that you’re looking for.

My guest today has started, grown and sold a digital agency - and his current startup went to number 1 for his launch day and number 2 for his launch week on Product Hunt.

He’s the founder of Postaga - welcome to DMR - Andy Cabasso.

How to Produce SERP-topping Viral B2B Content - with Brad Smith from Wordable

David Bain — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0000

It’s common to have SEOs and social media experts in digital marketing teams. But unfortunately it’s also too common to have SEOs and social media marketers produce content by themselves for their own specific needs.

What would happen if SEOs and social media marketers worked more closely with each other, producing incredible content that’s more powerful than the sum of its parts?

That’s what I’m going to discuss on Digital Marketing Radio episode 248 with a man who’s content’s been featured on Shopify, Unbounce and Hubspot.

He lives in Hawaii and he’s the CEO at Wordable - welcome to DMR - Brad Smith.

How to Get a Google Knowledge Panel in 2021 - with Jason Barnard from Kalicube

David Bain — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Knowledge panels are information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities (i.e. people, places, organisations and things) - but what purpose do they serve and how valuable is it for your brand to appear in a Google Knowledge panel?

Those are just 2 of the questions that I’m going to be asking my guest on Digital Marketing Radio, episode 247.

He’s been a musician, a screenwriter, a songwriter and a cartoon blue dog - but he’s currently the Brand SERP Guy - a digital marketer who specialises in Brand SERP optimisation and knowledge panel management. Welcome to DMR - Jason Barnard.

How to use livestreaming to build a community - with Anton Shulke

David Bain — Tue, 25 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

There are pros and cons to livestreaming. Livestreaming is a great way to get content out there quickly - but livestreams may not be as well produced as pre-recorded content. However, another great benefit of livestreaming is the engagement factor. You get to interact with your audience directly with a real, personal approach.

But what do you do with those relationships that you start to build? How do you use livestreaming to foster and build a community?

Those are just 2 of the questions that I’m going to be asking my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 246. He’s hosted and produced hundreds of livestreams - and has a little black book that would make any digital marketer jealous. For the past four-and-a-half years he’s worked for Semrush, where he’s currently Head of Influencer Marketing - welcome to DMR, Anton Shulke.

How to build a successful content marketing strategy in 2021 - Andrew Davis

David Bain — Fri, 21 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

There’s a lot more content out there than there used to be. This means that to be a success, you’re going to have to do something different to everyone else out there.

So what content should you be publishing in 2021 and how do you get it seen by your target audience?

Those are just two of the questions that I’ll be asking my guest on Digital Marketing Radio Episode 245.

He’s a prolific Keynote Speaker & Trainer, a digital skills evangelizer and the founder of Talk Dygital - welcome to DMR - Andrew Davis.

What are the foundation stones required to create a successful modern brand? - with Barnaby Wynter

David Bain — Fri, 14 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

We all know that communication channels have evolved radically over the last 10 years – but how has that changed what a brand can be and do?

On this, episode 244 of Digital Marketing Radio we look at what it takes to create a super-successful brand in 2021.

Joining me to discuss that is a man who’s a brand ambassador, a strategic advisor - and founder of The Brand Bucket Company – welcome to DMR, Barnaby Wynter.

The Future of Events… Post-COVID - with Kathryn Frankson from Informa

David Bain — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

How is the event industry going to change post-COVID? As a marketer should you plan to get back in the events game soon? Or are we more likely to see hybrid events in the future - a combination between virtual and physical events? If so, what does that mean for marketers?

Those are just some of the questions that I’m going to be asking my guest on Digital Marketing Radio episode 243. She’s a lady who’s as passionate about storytelling as she is about marketing and sales - and those two masterminds speak her language.

She specialises in developing virtual, hybrid and physical events – including event marketing strategy that incorporates social media, brand marketing, campaign planning, and performance tracking. She’s the Director of Event Marketing at Informa – welcome to DMR - Kathryn Frankson.

Secret Software

Share a lesser-known martech tool that's bringing you a lot of value at the moment and why that tool’s important for you...

Answer: Turtl (Enterprise content automation)

Next On The List

What's one marketing activity or tool that you haven't tried yet, but you want to test soon?

Answer: Gong (Get unfiltered visibility into what's happening with your sales team, your deals, and your market) & / Saleswhale (Stop marketing leads from slipping through the cracks)

Magical Marketer

Who's an up-and coming marketer that you'd like to give a shout out to, what can we learn from them and where can we find them?

Answer: Deborah Carver from The Content Technologist.

What are Brand Influencers and Does Your Business Need a Brand Influencer? | Neal Schaffer

David Bain — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

We’ve all seen influencers on social media share their opinion on different products and services, but how effective really is this as a form of marketing?

What precisely do brand influencers do... and does your business actually need a brand influencer?

That’s the topic for episode 242 of Digital Marketing Radio where I’m joined by a man who’s an authority on helping innovative businesses digitally transform their sales and marketing.

He’s a Fractional CMO and the author of 4 sales and marketing books including the recently published HarperCollins book “The Age of Influence” – welcome to DMR – Neal Schaffer.

Secret Software

Share a lesser-known martech tool that's bringing you a lot of value at the moment and why that tool’s important for you...

Answer: Carro, Frase & Clearscope

Next On The List

What's one marketing activity or tool that you haven't tried yet, but you want to test soon?

Answer: Circle.io & Teachable

Magical Marketer

Who's an up-and coming marketer that you'd like to give a shout out to, what can we learn from them and where can we find them?

Answer: Miri Rodriguez

Word of Mouth Marketing in 2021 - with JP Clement from Boomtime

David Bain — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

What exactly is word-of-mouth marketing and how does word-of-mouth marketing manifest itself in 2021?

How do you measure the impact of word-of-mouth marketing and how does word-of-mouth integrate with other marketing channels?

Those are just some of the questions that I’m going to be asking today’s guest on Digital Marketing Radio Episode 241 - a man with over 30 years of experience in marketing, digital strategy and product management, for companies ranging from startups to global brands such as Madison Square Garden, Johnson & Johnson and National Geographic.

He’s founded three digital strategy and marketing agencies and is currently CEO of digital marketing service firm Boomtime - welcome to DMR - JP Clement.

Secret Software

Share a lesser-known martech tool that's bringing you a lot of value at the moment and why that tool’s important for you...

JP's answer: Usher Connect

Next On The List

What's one marketing activity or tool that you haven't tried yet, but you want to test soon?

JP's answer: Webeo & If>So

Magical Marketer

Who's an up-and coming marketer that you'd like to give a shout out to, what can we learn from them and where can we find them?

JP's answer: Wes Lemos

How to Integrate Virtual Events into your Digital Marketing Strategy - with Aleksandra Panyukhina

David Bain — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0000

I’m sure that you’re well aware of the value of virtual events. Build great relationships with industry thought leaders, foster an engaged community around your content - and drive more revenue.

But where do virtual events sit in relation to the rest of your marketing mix and how can you better leverage the content generated and the relationships made as a result of your virtual event?

Those questions and more are covered in this, episode 240 of Digital Marketing Radio - How to Integrate Virtual Events into your Digital Marketing Strategy.

Joining me today is a lady who’s specialised in event marketing for the past 5 years.

She’s a former Head of Event Marketing for Semrush and the current Head of Events and Experiences for parcelLab – welcome to DMR - Aleksandra Panyukhina.

[In this episode Aleksandra shared Miro and Notion as her 'Secret Software', Goldcast as her 'Next on the List' and Kathryn Frankson as her 'Magical Marketer'.]

How to establish clear business systems for your team as your company scales - with Ashley Monk

David Bain — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Have you built a business that keeps you busy busy busy? Do you struggle to initiate any new digital marketing activities, simply because you’re snowed under with whatever you’re currently doing?

In episode 239 of Digital Marketing Radio we help you to establish clear business systems for you and your team, as your company scales, so that you never have to say ‘no’ to the next business or marketing opportunity.

Joining me to discuss that is a lady who has the systems, knowledge and experience to optimize ad campaigns, generate new leads, and modernise your marketing strategy. She’s a Facebook and Instagram Ads expert, a marketing coach and consultant - and the CEO of It Media. Welcome to DMR – Ashley Monk.

[In this epsiode, Ashley Monk shared ClickUp as her 'Secret Software', Alex Becker's Hyros and Jarvis by Conversion.ai as her 'Next on the List' and Brandi Mowles as her ' Magical Marketer'.]

How to be an effective brand ambassador in the digital world - with Kerry Barrett

David Bain — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Do you wish that you were a smooth, energetic and articulate brand ambassador? Do you desire to be a podcast or video show guest that every host and viewer resonates with, delivering your message in a clear, calm and personable manner?

In episode 238 of Digital Marketing Radio we look at how to be an effective brand ambassador in the digital world - with a lady who used to have a fear of public speaking but ended up with a 20+ year career in news and business broadcasting.

In 2019 she decided to help others bring their stories to life with confidence and personality though her very own full-service public speaking and media training consultancy – welcome to DMR, Kerry Barrett.

Kerry shared some great tip and resources on how to be an effective brand ambassador in the digital world, including InVideo as her 'Secret Software' and Rosie Kosinski as her 'Magical Marketer'.

How to Use Google Ads in 2021 - with Mike Rhodes

David Bain — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Have you been using Google Ads in the same way for several years? Maybe you’re not even actively using Google Ads because it seems just a little bit too complicated at first glance. Perhaps you want to use Google Ads in 2021, but you’re not quite sure where to start.

My guest today has been running Google Ads campaigns for brands around the globe for the past 15 years. He’s a speaker, an investor, a mountain biker, the co-author of the world’s best-selling book on Google Ads ‘The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads’ - plus the Founder of one of Australia’s largest independent Google agencies, ‘WebSavvy’ – Mike Rhodes.

In this episode Mike selected Descript as his 'Secret Software', Searchie as his 'Next on the List' and Chris "Mercer" Mercer as his 'Magical Marketer'.

Email Marketing in 2021 - with Teresa Heath-Wareing

David Bain — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Email marketing has been around for a very long time, longer in fact than the world wide web. It seems that every few years we hear about another technology that’s going to replace email, but email stubbornly clings on, retaining its high level of importance for e-business communication more than 40 years since the first mass email campaign was sent.

In episode 236 of Digital Marketing Radio, we look at email marketing in 2021, how email marketing strategy has changed and how best to incorporate email into your marketing mix now, and moving forwards.

Joining me to discuss that is a lady who helps Directors and Senior Managers of small to medium size businesses ensure their marketing budget is being used to full effect. She also helps business owners, coaches and freelancers achieve business growth and get out of marketing overwhelm through her online group coaching and step by step training – welcome to DMR, Teresa Heath-Wareing.

Secret Software:

Add Event

Magical Marketer:

Ben Bellamy

Social Media Strategy for B2B Brands – with Andy Lambert from ContentCal

David Bain — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na3XGYIVWn0

Is it possible to make your B2B brand popular on social media?

It seems a lot easier to be on social media as an individual or as a personal brand – or even a B2C brand, compared with a B2B brand. But is social media really that more difficult for B2B brands? And what precisely should B2B brands be doing on social media?

We’ll find the answer to those questions and more from today’s guest - a man who counts the NHS, Virgin and Specsavers among his clients. He’s one of the founding team and Director of Growth for ContentCal - a content marketing platform that’s used by over 40,000 businesses around the world. Welcome to DMR, Andy Lambert.

Andy shared @davegerhardt as a top B2B marketer, @veedstudio as his 'Secret Software', @copysmith_ai & @DescriptApp as his 'Next on the List' and @LouisSlices as his 'Magical Marketer'.

Enjoy!

What is FOMO Marketing and why should you care? | MayKing Tsang

David Bain — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Consumers get exposed to an enormous volume of content each and every day – but how do you cut through the noise and capture your target consumer’s attention - and persuade them to act before the opportunity passes them by?

My guest today specialises in creating FOMO campaigns for her clients by helping to get hashtags to trend through her Facebook live interviews, live tweets and countless other live content publishing strategies.

She’s a digital trainer, a live social media reporter and a FOMO creator - welcome to DMR - MayKing Tsang.

Secret Software:

Twitter Spaces

Next On The List:

Instagram Reels

Google's Core Web Vitals Are Becoming Ranking Signals - What Does This Mean for SEO? | Pam Aungst

David Bain — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Back in November 2020 Google announced that page experience ranking signals for Google Search (SEO) will launch in May 2021, meaning that if users don’t like your page, Google won’t like it either. Joining me to discuss this for Digital Marketing Radio episode 233 is Pam Aungst from Pam Ann Marketing.

Secret software:

KW Finder: Find long tail keywords with low SEO difficulty

https://kwfinder.com/

Next on the list:

Social advertising platforms like Snapchat or Tik Tok

Magical marketer:

Kerry Barrett: Video Content Creator and Producer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrybarrett/

iOS14, Apple vs. Facebook and the Impact on Advertisers and Publishers - with Jim Banks

David Bain — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Apple and Facebook are fighting again! This time it’s over ads and user privacy. Apple is rolling out its iOS 14 updates with a privacy change that could result in Facebook experiencing a significant cut in its advertising revenue.

Today we’re discussing what impact this has on you as an advertiser or as a publisher - and what you need to do about it.

Joining me today to discuss that is a man who’s been a leader in the online ads industry for the past 20 years. He’s a former Head of Biddable Media at Cheapflights and the current CEO of Spades Media and the Founder of Elite Media Buyers - welcome to DMR - Jim Banks.

Software I Couldn’t Live Without:

Hemmingway app highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors in your writing (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/).

Next on the List:

Entity-based SEO Platform, to help you rank higher & stay ranked longer (https://inlinks.net/).

Magical Marketer:

Eric Seufert (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericseufert/)

The Extraordinary Instagram Funnel for Ecommerce - with Ben Leonard from Beast Gear

David Bain — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered how to move from views and likes to building real brand traction and product sales from social media? In episode 231 of Digital Marketing Radio, Ben Leonard, Ecommerce Consultant and Founder of Beast Gear shares his extraordinary Instagram Funnel for Ecommerce.

Software I couldn’t live without:

Seller Chatbot (https://www.sellerchatbot.com/) - The Facebook Messenger Platform Built for Amazon Sellers

Magical Marketer:

Paul Harvey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-harvey-2ab8b51a7/)

How is B2B marketing different in 2021? | Lori Highby from Keystone Click

David Bain — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0000

When was the last time you changed your B2B marketing strategy? Are you missing out on some big B2B marketing opportunities just because you haven’t fully embraced the latest channels? How do you most effectively target B2B consumers in 2021?

Those are just some of the questions that I’m going to be asking my guest today.

She teaches B2B sales and marketing. She’s a speaker, podcaster and blogger, and the Founder of Keystone Click - a strategic digital marketing agency that’s been established for over 12 years. Welcome to DMR - Lori Highby from Keystone Click.

'Secret Software':

(Share a lesser-known martech tool that's bringing you a lot of value at the moment and why that tool’s important for you.)

https://lumen5.com/

'Magical Marketer':

(Who's an up-and coming marketer that you'd like to give a shout out to, what can we learn from them and where can we find them?)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/exponentialinfluence/

4 steps to take before spending any money on online ads | Ivan Janq from Digital Rocket

David Bain — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Are you currently running online ads, but you’re struggling to make them profitable?

Maybe you’ve even pulled back some of your paid campaigns because you just can’t get them to convert as you’d like.

Do you even know which of your ads are working?

In today’s episode of Digital Marketing Radio I’m joined by a self-confessed eCommerce megalomaniac. He set up his own digital marketing agency just 3 and a half years ago and in that time he’s already spent over 50 million dollars in campaigns for clients. He’s the CEO of Digital Rocket - Ivan Janq.

Ivan's 'Maximizing Revenue by Plugging Profit Leaks’ blueprint:

(The report that we refer to during the conversation)

https://e.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZAkLkZMY2w4GBGVPShx1uUeISNIQX1aNv7

Ivan's 'Secret Software':

(Share a lesser-known martech tool that's bringing you a lot of value at the moment and why that tool’s important for you.)

https://www.luckyorange.com/

https://www.semrush.com/

Ivan's 'Magical Marketer':

(Who's an up-and coming marketer that you'd like to give a shout out to, what can we learn from them and where can we find them?)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickshackelford/

Ivan's 'Next On The List':

(What's one marketing activity or tool that you haven't tried yet, but you want to test soon?)

https://www.getelevar.com/

How to use Live Video as the Centre of your Content Marketing Strategy | Katie Fawkes from Ecamm

David Bain — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Are you just at the cusp of deciding to incorporate livestreaming as part of your brand's content marketing strategy? If so, this discussion's for you with Katie Fawkes from Ecamm.

Here's Where To Find Katie:

https://www.ecamm.com/

Katie's 'Secret Software':

https://www.descript.com/

Katie's 'Magical Marketer':

https://www.youtube.com/c/DocRock

Katie's 'Next On The List':

https://clickup.com/

What questions should you ask your SEO consultant? | Lukasz Zelezny

David Bain — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0000

So, you’ve decided that you need an SEO consultant, but how do you get the most out of their time? In this episode of Digital Marketing Radio Lukasz Zelezny shares with David Bain how to maximize the value of an SEO consultant by knowing what questions to ask.

Here's Where To Find Lukasz:

https://seo.london/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seomanagerlondon/

Lukasz's 'Secret Software' Selections:

https://inlinks.net/

https://wordlift.io/

Lukasz's 'Magical Marketer':

https://www.linkedin.com/in/areejabuali/

Lukasz's 'Next On The List':

https://bigml.com/

https://www.lovo.ai/

https://www.deepl.com/

https://sonix.ai/

Is livestreaming worthwhile for B2B brands? | Ian Anderson Gray

David Bain — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0000

It’s a no-brainer that livestreaming can have a dramatic, authority-building impact on personal brands – but what about B2B brands? Ian Anderson Gray joins David Bain to discuss whether livestreaming is worthwhile for B2B brands and if so, how B2B brands can best take advantage of this communications medium.

You can find Ian over at https://iag.me/.

During the episode Ian shared...

- Katie Fawkes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-anne-fawkes/) as his 'Magical Marketer'

- Ecamm (https://www.ecamm.com/) and Restream (https://restream.io/) as his 'Secret Software.

- Clubhouse (https://www.joinclubhouse.com/) as his 'Next on the List'

How to market a marketing agency using LinkedIn Ads | AJ Wilcox

David Bain — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Do you run a marketing agency and have you been considering running LinkedIn Ads to promote your services? If so, this could be the episode of Digital Marketing Radio for you. AJ Wilcox joins David to explore how to set up and optimize the ultimate LinkedIn advertising campaign for agencies.

AJ Wilcox on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilcoxaj/

AJ's 'Secret Software':

https://www.knime.com/

AJ's 'Magical Marketer':

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markpgus/

How to Market a Book on Amazon – DAVE CHESSON | DMR #224

David Bain — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 14:30:07 +0000

Today I'm joined by an online entrepreneur specializing in book marketing. He’s worked with New York Times bestselling authors like Ted Dekker, and the book marketing team of L.Ron Hubbard - plus also, online writers like Pat Flynn and Jeff Goins. Welcome to DMR, Dave Chesson. [you can find Dave over at Kindlepreneur.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to market a book on Amazon, with topics including: You have a very varied background to put it mildly, how did you get into book marketing? I’m interested in exploring your thoughts on producing and marketing a book as an authority-building platform for entrepreneurs and leaders - what are some of the important things to consider from that perspective How should you start out - do you suggest exploring a topic with an audience before starting to write a book At what stage in the process do you consider book marketing? What are the essential elements to include in a book marketing plan? How does marketing a Kindle book differ from marketing a physical copy book? I’m sure that there are thousands of books that are published every week that are great - but only sell a few copies - what are the biggest mistakes that these authors are making? How is book marketing likely to change over the next couple of years? [Tweet ""Focus on one particular traffic generating source, and master that." @DaveChesson #DigitalMarketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Ahrefs [SEO competitor research software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Infusionsoft (or Confusionsoft as Dave says!) [Sales and marketing automation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Focus on one particular traffic generating source, and master that. My regret was that I didn't just stick with Facebook ads, but luckily when I chose SEO that became my focus. And every point, type, version of my business has always utilised that one skill. And that's what's allowed me to single-handedly be successful as I've moved forward.

How to Acquire High Quality Links in 2017 – JAMES NORQUAY | DMR #223

David Bain — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 14:05:44 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who has over 10 years’ experience in competitive SEO & content marketing verticals. He formed his own agency in 2012 and currently works with companies across Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA. Welcome to DMR, James Norquay. [You can find James over at ProsperityMedia.com.au.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to acquire high quality links in 2017, with topics including: Why didn’t you use the term ‘build links’? Are links still absolutely critical to organic success in 2017? What are some examples of great links you can acquire in 2017? Is it wrong to buy links? Do you need to be building links all the time or can you stop after a while? Do nofollow links provide any value? What linking activities used to work, but no longer work in 2017? Are there linking activities that work in Google Australia but not in Google USA? [Tweet ""Do things the right way. Don't cut corners." @connections8 #SEO"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? SEMRush [Keyword analysis] Screaming Frog [Site audits] Ahrefs [Link monitoring] Tenon.io [Accessibility testing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Meltwater [PR tools] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You just want to focus on doing quality work because it's like we say to clients - we do quality work, and we do the type of work that's going to be here and still allowed in 5 to 10 years. Any type of work you do, you want to think about 'how long is this strategy going to last' and that's why you want to think about high quality strategies that are going to last. Things haven't really changed too much over the years, but the things is, ethical work has still stayed the same. Do things the right way. Don't cut corners. Don't do strategies where people say that this will get you ranking in 10 days. You really need to ask them how they are going to do that, because if they're not telling you then they're probably doing something that is not allowed and you're going to end up with a manual penalty.

Honing the Customer Buying Process – KRISTIN ZHIVAGO | DMR #222

David Bain — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 14:36:15 +0000

Today I'm joined by the first woman to sell machine-shop tools in the USA - and since then she’s been learning everything she could about tech and selling... welcome to DMR, Kristin Zhivago. [You can find Kristin over at ZhivagoPartners.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss honing the customer buying process, with topics including: What aspects of that do you think many businesses are struggling with at the moment? Why do you think that is? What can we do better as businesses to pay more attention to the customer buying process? What can marketers do better to provide buyers with what they’re looking for? Content marketing is what a lot marketers are focusing on at the moment - how do we ensure that we’re producing content that helps the buyer process? What are your thoughts on how sales and marketing can do to work more effectively together? How has the customer buying process changes over the past few years and how is this likely to further change over the coming few years? [Tweet ""You can't sell to people you don't know. Guessing is guaranteed failure." @KristinZhivago #Selling"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Teamwork.com [Project management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Salesforce [If you have a programmer in your back pocket!] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You can't sell to people you don't know. Really know your customer as well as you know your best friend or your family. Any guessing is fatal. It's so expensive. It's guaranteed failure. Guessing is guaranteed failure.

How to Optimize Your Facebook Ads – PETER REITANO & JEFF GOLDENBERG | DMR #221

David Bain — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 14:40:53 +0000

Today I'm joined by 2 marketing veterans who have joined together to create a VC-backed Facebook-first performance marketing agency and ad-tech hybrid. Welcome to DMR, Peter Reitano & Jeff Goldenberg. [you can find these chaps over at Abacus.agency.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to optimize your Facebook ads, with topics including: Why Facebook advertising? What’s your second favourite online advertising network after Facebook? Can you talk me through how you go setting up a new campaign on Facebook? How do you target who sees the ad? What’s a great call to action? Are Facebook ads getting more expensive? What are the unique skills required for Facebook advertising compared with other paid networks? Why do people fail at Facebook ads? What’s in development - what’s the future of Facebook ads? [Tweet ""Too many founders think by selecting a niche...they're limiting their business" @jeff_goldenberg"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Workplace [Facebook internal management tool] Google Docs [Online docs] DaPulse [Task management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? General discussion around chatbots My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Too many founders think by selecting a niche to nail at the beginning, they're limiting their business, when really when selecting a niche to nail at the beginning, they're setting their business up for future success. So a couple of ways to look at that - the first is like a video game. I think that startups are like a video game, and you have to pass each level concurrently to set you up for the next level... pick a small niche to nail at the beginning and trust that that is going to lead to bigger things down the road.

The 5 Keys to Building a Great Brand – RICK CESARI | DMR #220

David Bain — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:39:39 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helped take GoPro from a start-up, to over a billion dollars in sales in just a few short years. He is the author of ‘Buy Now’, and his next book is due out soon. Welcome to DMR, Rick Cesari. [You can find Rick over at CesariIgnite.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss The 5 Keys to Building a Great Brand, with topics including: Is building a great brand an integral part to building a great business? Can you not just build a business by offering a great service without worrying too much about your brand? How would you define what a brand is? Can you give me some examples of brands you consider to be great - and why you consider them to be great? I mentioned at the top of the show that we were going to be talking about the 5 Keys to Building a Great Brand - so what are they? Which key to building a great brand is most important? What is the biggest mistakes that businesses tend to make when trying to build a brand? [Tweet ""If you're #marketing a product, spend a lot of time thinking about your #USP" @CesariIgnite"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Infusionsoft [Lead & customer management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Skubana [Inventory management for e-commerce] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're marketing a product, spend a lot of time thinking about your unique selling proposition - what makes you unique in the marketplace. Because if you're able to do that, the rest of your marketing will be easier and you'll stand out from your competitors and help drive more traffic and more sales to whatever you're doing.

Growth Hacking an Online Graphic Design Business – RUSS PERRY | DMR #219

David Bain — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 14:49:37 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helps thousands of businesses improve their creativity through a flat-rate graphic design service. Welcome to DMR, Russ Perry. [you can find Russ over at RussPerry.co/DMR & DesignPickle.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss growth hacking an online graphic design business, with topics including: Why offer a graphic design service for a fixed monthly fee? Was there any other business model that you considered? How did you end up with this model? You grew the business from zero to over a million dollars in 16 months - what do you attribute that success to? How much of a part did growth hacking play? What does growth hacking mean to you? What aspects of growth hacking proved most successful? What precisely about what you did made it a success? Have you changed anything about your growth hacking strategies over the past year to make them even more successful? [Tweet ""Make sure you're charging enough!" @russperry @designpickle #EntrepreneurTips"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Zapier [API integrator] SaneBox [Personal email management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? vMix [Live video streaming software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Make sure you're charging enough. Make sure that whatever you're doing, you're making enough money to pay yourself as well as to reinvest that extra money into marketing and sales and growth. This is what I didn't do for eight-and-a-half years at my agency. I only made enough to pay mostly other people, not necessarily even me, and there was nothing left over. And we've done the opposite [at Design Pickle] as everyone gets paid a fair amount, the clients get to pay us a fair amount, and then we have money left over to grow our business which has been very powerful.

Should online quizzes be part of your digital marketing strategy? – JOSH HAYNAM | DMR #218

David Bain — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 14:23:33 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who claims he's seen more quizzes than pretty much anyone in the world. He’s the founder of a quiz builder used by 30,000 brands including The American Red Cross, Tony Robbins, and LUSH Cosmetics. Welcome to DMR, Josh Haynam. [You can find Josh over at TryInteract.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether online quizzes be part of your digital marketing strategy, with topics including: Why quizzes? Why do businesses like to use them? Why are quizzes better than other forms of lead capture? What are some of the better practises for creating a quiz? What’s the best length of a quiz? Does this change if more people using their mobile device to participate in the quiz? Is it best to offer incentives for people to complete a quiz? What are some of the mistakes that businesses make when creating a quiz? What are some of the first steps for businesses to get started? [Tweet ""Everything starts and ends with a connection between 2 people." @JHaynam @tryinteract #Marketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Close.io [Sales CRM] Trello [Priority management] WordPress [Blogging platform] Photoshop & Canva [Graphic creation] Google Calendar [Diary management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Piktochart [Infographic creator] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I think that everything starts and ends with a connection between 2 people. Whether it's a business and a customer or a business and a partner - whatever it is - everything needs to come down to some sort of connection. And those connections can not necessarily be rushed or forced or anything like that. And with marketing a lot of the time we try to force things by blasting out more and more messages - but I think at the end of the day there's a lot more value to putting in the time, putting in the work and actually taking the time to care about whoever it is you are connecting with, whether it's through a quiz and figuring out who they are before you get on the phone, or it's when you are making a call to somebody and you take the time to figure out what their interests are before you hop on the call. Whatever that is I think that its very valuable to establish those connections, and continue establishing those connections. And that's a universal thing that works literally any business.

Is it possible to humanize chatbots? – PETER LISOSKIE | DMR #217

David Bain — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 14:22:04 +0000

Today I'm joined by a proud geek who runs a business incubator and hangs out with neuroscientists. He works with clients to customize the personality of chatbots to help articulate the essence of their brand. Welcome to DMR, Peter Lisoskie. [You can find Peter over at SlapshotStudio.com/Chatbots.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether it is possible to humanize chatbots, with topics including: You say that chatbots will soon replace traditional websites, search, and apps - replace seems a strong word - is that really the case? Why are Chatbots going to be so popular? How exactly do you define what a chatbots is? What businesses are successfully using chatbots at the moment? Are chatbots right for any business? Are there any common mistakes that you see businesses making with chatbots? Is it more appropriate to sit and wait to see what other businesses are doing with chatbots or get stuck in straight away? What are the first few steps to get started? [Tweet ""I'm just letting people know that it is a good time to get in on #chatbots now." @chatbotnation"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Redbooth [Project planning software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Digital note taking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? There have been times in our life where 'I wish we would have bought that house, I wish I would have invested in Netflix, I wish we would have started to email when it first came out'. I'm just letting people know that it is a good time to get in on chatbots now. Do not wait to be in the mainstream.

Marketing Attribution for the Real World – RUSSELL McATHY | DMR #216

David Bain — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 14:58:03 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who following 10 years working for brand, agency and consultancy data-led positions is now building a marketing attribution platform, helping brands to truly understand how customers interact with their business - online and offline. Welcome to DMR, Russell McAthy. [You can find Russell over at Cubed.ai.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss marketing attribution, with topics including: I first heard of marketing attribution about 5 years ago - and it really seemed like something that would radicalise insight. But it doesn't really seem to have had a massive impact to-date. Is that fair or am I missing something? How would you define marketing attribution? How important is it? What are the challenges that have stopped its rapid rise in popularity? Should every business be building a bespoke model or are their off-the-shelf models that can be really effective? Dropping back to data in general, what are the fundamentals that most businesses should have in place to get the most out of their existing data that’s easily available? Is it reasonable to expect a general digital marketer to be analysing data or is this more of a specialist job? And what about the future? What are some data sources that most businesses aren’t using at the moment, but will need to be incorporating into their insight in the future? [Tweet ""Move away from top & bottom of funnel to middle of the funnel" @therustybear #MarketingFunnel"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Todoist [To-do lists] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Digital note-taking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? How do brands get into the attribution mindset? I wrote about the middle of the funnel. I genuinely think that if we move away from focusing on the bottom of the funnel and the top of the funnel - the 2 things that brands do. They do the bottom of the funnel to convert and the top of the funnel to drive brand awareness. With a psychological shift in the business to say 'who is not going to convert in the business today but will convert in the next month' - that's the middle of funnel. If businesses can start to understand that by using micro-conversions on their website, setting up their analytics better so they can understand what people are doing when they come to the website and don't convert - brands will be able to move their investment to those types of people. And because of the shape of the funnel there is a lot of people there. If you start to invest in that area there is going to be a massive increase in incremental value over a long period of time, but it is that change in the psychology of the organisation to say that they are willing to take a risk on those people that will convert in weeks to come.

Hacking Outbound Sales at Marketing Agencies – FATIMA ZAIDI | DMR #215

David Bain — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 14:28:24 +0000

Today I'm joined by a lady who was named in Marketing Magazine’s top 30 under 30 marketers for 2016. She’s a chair for the Discover Your Personal Brand conference and the VP of Business Development for Eighty-Eight, a Toronto-based creative communications agency. Welcome to DMR, Fatima Zaidi. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss hacking outbound sales at marketing agencies, with topics including: Many marketers switch off when they hear the word ‘sales’. Is that a bad thing to do? What does hacking outbound sales mean? How different is that to conventional sales? What are some of the effective sales strategies for marketing agencies at the moment? What makes you a success compared with other people trying to do the same thing? How do you measure your success? What do you think stops others from being successful at the moment? Tying it back to marketers and salespeople, what can they do to work more effectively together? [Tweet ""Don't just market other companies. Also focus on #marketing your own." @zaidiafatima @88_agency"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Nimble [CRM] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hubspot [CRM / Marketing automation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? [If you're agency marketer] Don't just market other companies. Also focus on marketing your own. Whether that's through SEO, whether that's through paid media, ads, internal campaigns, events, partnerships. Find a way to personally brand yourself and your company. Always get on people's radars in creative ways.

Why is the world of marketing changing so quickly? – SAM MALLIKARJUNAN | DMR #214

David Bain — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 14:27:46 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who teaches Advanced Digital Marketing at the Harvard Division of Continuing Education. He is the co-author of the book “How To Sell Better Than Amazon” and a Marketing Fellow at HubSpot. Welcome to DMR, Sam Mallikarjunan. [You can find Sam over at Mallikarjunan.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss why the world of marketing changing so quickly, with topics including: When you say the world of marketing is changing rapidly, do you mean marketing principles or just tactics and technologies? What aspect of marketing is changing the most rapidly and why? What kind of marketing traits do you tens to see between the most successful businesses nowadays? How should marketers and digital entrepreneurs keep up with the changes? How can you protect your business from being disrupted in this fast changing environment? When a business is trying to build a marketing team, what should they look for in new hires to help to future proof their abilities? Do you think that marketers need to be generalists or specialists? Is it still a good idea for a small business to try to appeal to a global audience nowadays or does being locally focused allow you to build a stronger buyer persona? [Tweet ""Comfort kills. Be the disruption you want to see in the world." @Mallikarjunan @hubspot"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Slack [Team communication] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Social sharing] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Comfort kills. Be the disruption you want to see in the world. If you were going to beat your company, how would you do it? If you were going to deliver more value for your customers, how would you do it? It's a hard, emotional business strategic decision to say that "I am going to kill my own model, or test against my own model". And frankly it required courage. But even though you've survived 100 years, you may not survive the next 10 if you don't stay focused on that.

What does being data-driven really mean? – SAM RUCHLEWICZ | DMR #213

David Bain — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:14:31 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s appeared on some of digital marketing industry's top publications, including: Marketing Insider, Duct Tape Marketing, Convince & Convert and Digital Marketing Radio! He’s an agency senior strategist and oversees the direction and execution of all his clients’ integrated digital marketing & data analytics initiatives. Welcome to DMR, Sam Ruchlewicz. [You can find Sam over at Warschawski.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss what being data-driven really means, with topics including: I hear the term “data-driven” a lot. And sometimes I think that it’s quicker and more effective to just follow your gut. Is that wrong? What does being data-driven mean to you? Does every marketer need to be data-driven or is this only relevant for certain marketers? You also talk about an “economic value model for digital marketing” - what does that mean and why should companies use that approach? You also talk about “increasing alignment” - what do you mean by that? What kind of mistakes do marketers make when they are trying to be data-driven? Does being data-driven not sometimes put an overemphasis on last click? What are your thoughts on attribution and measuring the impact of marketing activities that are much more difficult to measure? What changes in technology are likely to make the biggest difference in the world of data-driven marketing over the next couple of years? [Tweet ""Go through and analyse your data, understanding the paths to conversion" @SamRuchlewicz #DataDriven"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [Website visitor analytics] Tableau [[Data synthesis] Hootsuite [Social media management] Watson by IBM [AI platform for business] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? SEMrush [Organic search success management] Netra [Social analytics] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Start with your goals. Come up with the not only the final conversion that you want someone to do, but everything that proceeds it. Go through and analyse your data, understanding the paths to conversion, what the key markers are that are likely to indicate success and then assigning values to each of them. Because without that, none of these other great technologies work the way that you want them to. But if you understand your business model, and you understand the steps that lead to conversion, a world of possibilities are open to you - and you can really have a lot of success.

LinkedIn Lead Generation – JIMENA CORTES | DMR #212

David Bain — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 14:33:48 +0000

Today I'm joined by a marketing consultant who specialises in LinkedIn lead generation She’s a published author, international speaker and and entrepreneur... welcome to DMR, Jimena Cortes. [You can find Jimena over at JimenaCortes.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss LinkedIn lead generation, with topics including: Why for you is LinkedIn the place to be? When you’re advising clients on how to generate leads from LinkedIn, are we talking about any industry? Or does it just work best for certain types of businesses? And is this through advertising on LinkedIn? Or building personal connections on LinkedIn? What would be an example of a success story to demonstrate what you’re talking about? What are some of the mistakes that you see people making on LinkedIn? When you connect with someone on LinkedIn you can download their contact details - are you a fan of taking conversations off LinkedIn? A year ago Microsoft decided to buy LinkedIn. I haven’t seen any significant change since then. How do you think this might impact LinkedIn in the future? While you’re embracing LinkedIn, I don’t think that you’re on Twitter, is that right? When it comes to being social on the web do you advise people to stick to one or two networks? [Tweet ""Always be focused on growing your network, providing value to them." Jimena Cortes #LinkedIn"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Basecamp [Project management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Everwebinar [Automated webinar software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Think about the people that can take you from where you are to where you want to be. Figure out ways to get those people into your network. For me, the way I've done that has been LinkedIn. Maybe you want to join an association, but if you can find them on LinkedIn that's the easiest way to go. There's always somebody who can help you get to the next thing, so figure out what that is and always be focused on growing your network, providing value to them. But also having people in place that you can turn to today or maybe a few years down the line.

How to use customer data in digital campaign planning – SCOTT DUBOIS | DMR #211

David Bain — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 14:25:16 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helps clients with their challenges in advertising, software design, and business process management. He describes himself as a Technologist, Speaker, Sushi Connoisseur, and a Travel Hacker. Welcome to DMR, Scott Dubois. [You can find Scott over at Pidalia.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to use customer data in digital campaign planning, with topics including: How do you use customer data in digital campaign planning? What data do you use? Are you talking about on ads, or on landing pages, or on both? Do you use customer data in all your campaigns? What type of data do you use? Do you use data from third parties as well as a customer’s own data? Do you use customer data to decide on when to run a campaign? Do you amend campaigns after they’re launched or do you tend to stick with things once they’re published? Are you a fan of being reactive or proactive with your advertising? [Tweet ""Don't try to be all things to all people." says @ScottDubois from @pidalia"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Slack [Team communication] Bear [Note-taking app] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Something I learned very early-on is... don't try to be all things to all people. You're going to be a much better subject matter expert if you get very good at the space that you play in. It's not to say that you shy away from things, but just understanding your business, not trying to be all things to all people is a good takeaway that has served me well.

How to Sell on Amazon – CASEY GAUSS | DMR #210

David Bain — Mon, 29 May 2017 14:41:07 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s leveraged his passions for tech, learning, and helping others to launch and grow a company that now employs more than 20 people, helping his customers grow thousands of different Amazon businesses. Welcome to DMR, Casey Gauss. [You can find Casey over at Viral-Launch.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to sell on Amazon, with topics including: Why is Amazon the platform that you chose to focus on? What kind of products sell really well on Amazon? What’s the difference between a successful Amazon seller and an unsuccessful one? What are the most important elements to think of before you launch your products? What about traffic driving? What are some of the most effective ways to drive high-converting traffic to an Amazon listing? Is it possible to build a list and maintain a relationship with your customers? What can digital marketers learn from selling on Amazon and apply to other platforms? [Tweet ""Be willing to delay gratification." @CaseyGauss #LifeTips"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Gmail, Google, YouTube [Google suite] Glip [Team messaging - competitor to Slack] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? CoSchedule [Marketing calendar] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be willing to delay gratification. So many of my friends from High School just went off and started working those jobs where they're making $15 or $15 per hour because it sounded very good instead of going the college route and doing something better for themselves. It hurts to see. Had they just delayed that gratification four more years, I think they would have been a lot happier and been able to contribute to society a lot more. The same is true in my business. There's definitely routes that we could take that would be more profitable right now, but wouldn't have nearly the same long-term.

Digital Marketing in the Healthcare Industry – KYRA HAGAN | DMR #209

David Bain — Mon, 22 May 2017 14:30:47 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who for nearly 2 decades has helped lead cutting-edge sales and marketing strategies in the healthcare industry. She’s the senior VP and general manager of marketing and communications at Influence Health - welcome to DMR, Kyra Hagan. [Here's the whitepaper that Kyra mentioned during the discussion] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss digital marketing in the healthcare industry, with topics including: Is digital marketing in the healthcare industry very different to digital marketing in other industries? What digital marketing strategies are you currently focusing on? What kinds of marketing challenges do you have particular to the healthcare industry? What does an effective marketing department look like in the healthcare industry? Why is healthcare behind at digital marketing? What do marketers in the healthcare industry need to do better in the future? Can the clever use of marketing technology actually help patients? One thing that you mentioned before the interview was the phrase “the age of healthcare consumerism” - what does that mean? [Tweet ""Focus on the quality of digital consumer experience you provide" @HIT_Mktg_Maven f/ @InfluenceHlth"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Marketing automation platform What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? On Demand [Account-based marketing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? The way that consumers make decisions about healthcare has changed in some pretty profound ways and it has changed permanently. It is undeniable. Organisations have got to have a plan. And that plan is going to require multiple stakeholders in an organisation to come together. It's bigger than marketing - you need your clinical team involved, you need your security team involved, you need IT support for some of these technologies, you need to evaluate and implement. Build a cross-functional team in health systems that's focused on one thing - and that's the quality of digital consumer experience you provide.

Testing and Learning in E-Commerce – JOHN VEICHMANIS | DMR #208

David Bain — Mon, 15 May 2017 13:57:01 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who has held senior online business roles for the past 20 years. He’s been a senior manager at Dell and Apple, a Director at Skype and a Vice President at Expedia. He’s currently Senior Vice President of Online Marketing for Farfetch - welcome to DMR, John Veichmanis. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss testing and learning in e-commerce, with topics including: How would you define testing and learning in relation to e-commerce? Is it necessary for every e-commerce business to be testing and learning or does this only apply to larger businesses? What are some of the more important areas to be testing? How do you structure a test and learn effectively so that you can have confidence in the winning result? How do you define the difference between a winner and not quite a winner? If you do find a winner, does that mean that you should implement that change thought-out your business? How do you decide on what to test? Can you give me an example of a really well structured test? What would be an example of a bad test? Is there a danger that running experiments could be taking our time away from what may be seen as more productive work? Are there some things that just can’t be tested and we have to rely more on our gut instinct? [Tweet ""Data is our real currency" says @johnveichmanis from @farfetch #ModernMarketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? BlueKai from Oracle [Data management platform] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Optimizely [A/B testing tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Data is our real currency. Any marketer typically has a pound or dollar-based budget. I often think about how we get the best return for that spend. Ultimately I think that we should change that dialogue and look at the data assets that we have and make sure that we're getting the best return on those assets, and we're using them effectively. Both in terms of measurement, but also enhancing that user experience and that to me is the real focus. The brief to my team in terms of what are we doing to make sure that we really enhance and get to that one-to-one level - not only in email, across any communication actually. I think that it's a long, winding road ahead. We'll make many mistakes, we'll learn many things form testing hopefully - but that is the most important and interesting space I think.

How to improve your email response rate – GARRETT MEHRGUTH | DMR #207

David Bain — Mon, 08 May 2017 14:34:35 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who is the CEO of a search marketing agency focused on growing marketing qualified leads for B2B companies. Welcome to DMR, Garrett Mehrguth. [You can find Garrett over at DirectiveConsulting.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to improve email response rate, with topics including: Are most companies doing email outreach wrong? Why is reply rate so important? What are the ways that businesses can improve reply rate? What are the biggest things that you’ve learned by testing? How do you recommend building an email list of prospects? Should B2B businesses use a VA to help with their email campaigns? Do you think that email is likely to change much over the coming few years? Should businesses be concerned about SPAM legislation? What software and systems do you recommend? [Tweet ""People judge the quality of your SEO by the quality of your brand." @gmehrguth f/ @DirectiveAgency"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Slack [Team communication] SEMRush [Search marketing software] Screaming Frog [Website SEO crawler] Buzzstream [Research and manage influencers] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at soe point in the near future? Engagio [Account based automation and sales] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Start thinking about market share when you do search marketing. What that means is there are 4 paid ads above the fold. What that means is that you're often below the fold if you're just doing SEO. If you think about it this way... there's 100% market share opportunity. Paid search on average has a 3% to 5% click-through rate. The number 1 spot might have an 18% click-through rate for SEO. Let's assume that you have the number 1 spot for SEO and the number 1 spot for paid search. You're still only capturing 20% to 25% of the market. What I highly recommend to everyone out there is to identify your most profitable keywords at the lowest part of your buying funnel and then take market share by seeing what other sites are ranking for those keywords and figure out how to take advantage of the full 100% of the marketplace.

How has Pay-Per-Click Advertising Changed Through The Years? – JIM BANKS | DMR #206

David Bain — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:30:52 +0000

I'm joined by a man who bought his first paid traffic back in the year 1999. Since then he has worked with over 1000 companies around the world and spent in excess of $200 million on traffic. Welcome to DMR, Jim Banks. [You can find Jim over at SpadesMedia.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how pay-per-click advertising has changed over the years, with topics including: Is there anything that your 1999 self would recognise about Pay-Per-Click Advertising today? Have there been gradual changes since then, or can you pinpoint particular key events since then that have radically changed the way that paid advertising is done? What are the most common paid advertising mistakes that you see businesses making today?z For Pay-Per-Click Advertising today, if you could choose one platform other that Google to advertise on, what would it be? Are there any other platforms where the cost is quite low for the opportunity today? You travel a lot speaking at conferences. Why do you do that and what do you get out of it? [Tweet ""No one paid channel works in isolation." @jimbanks #OnlineAdvertising"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hubspot [Marketing automation software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Xero [Accounting software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? No one paid channel works in isolation. You can't just do Facebook on its own. You can't do AdWords on its own. You can't do Bing on its own. You need to join the dots between them because people move around. We use a lot of remarketing, and people will start a journey on Facebook, then go to Google, then back to Facebook, then onto Bing and so on. we just need to make sure that we're always there.

How to use Video to Share your Company’s Story – ERIC HINSON | DMR #205

David Bain — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 14:44:36 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who just wasn’t satisfied with the way that agencies and B2B brands were doing video... so he founded his own company, specialising in custom videos that help clients capture attention, motivate action, and drive more sales. Welcome to DMR, Eric Hinson. [You can find Eric over at Explainify.com.] [Note: As per Eric's kind offer, listeners can get 2 free chapters of Eric's book here.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to use video to share your company's story, with topics including: Should every company be using video? Why should a company use video to tell its own story? Is it essential for every business to tell its own story on its website? What are the some of the key elements to producing a successful video? How do you measure the value of a video? How do you use video as part of a funnel strategy to drive more leads and sales? Do you think companies should be producing their own videos in-house? If a business did wish to produce their own videos, how should they typically get started with the project? [Tweet ""Entrepreneurship is a game of inches and not yards" @erichinson f/ @explainify #entrepreneurship"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Adobe Suite [Creative software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Drip [Marketing automation software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? It's about showing up for work, executing every day. I think of work as a game of inches, not yards. I'm pretty tired of these entrepreneurs - you see them retargeting us all the time on Facebook - hustle, hustle, hustle. Work hard. Chase this ego. That's just not what I'm about. I don't want to listen to those guys. I think that if you execute everyday. If you show up, remembering that entrepreneurship is a game of inches and not yards, you're setting your mind up for a better shot.

How do you foster creativity? – RANJITH KUMARAN | DMR #204

David Bain — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 14:43:15 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s returned to the company he co-founded, to lead it into a future based around creative collaboration. He’s the Chief Executive Officer at Hightail. Welcome to DMR, Ranjith Kumaran. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to foster creativity, with topics including: Do you think that creatives tend to be protective of their creativity? Is it possible to develop creativity, or it it more of a natural instinct? What is the most common path to becoming a professional creative nowadays - is it still a good ideal to get a university qualification? What are the some of the most important skills to learn as a creative in 2017? Is it possible to be a great creative and highly technical at the same time? If you’re managing a group of creatives, how do you provide feedback and foster greater creativity? Given the plethora of content marketing, how do creatives come up with something unique today? How do you encourage a creative team to be more collaborative? [Tweet ""Your #ContentPipeline is a strategic asset" says @ranjithkumaran from @HightailHQ"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Balsamiq [Mock-up new concepts] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Intercom [Communicate with your customers from your website] Crazy Egg's new website recording solution [Live visitor analysis] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Your content pipeline is a strategic asset. Start thinking about the content you create as vital to your marketing success. Get better at that. The best teams right now are looking to solve this with better tools and processes.

How to Engage and Retain Your Audience – JEROD MORRIS | DMR #203

David Bain — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:40:36 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who creates educational content and digital products that help people develop and grow rewarding, profitable online businesses. He’s the VP of Marketing for Rainmaker Digital. Welcome to DMR, Jerod Morris. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to engage and retain your audience, with topics including: If you produce outstanding content on a regular basis, is that not enough by itself to engage and retain an audience? What do you mean by engaging your audience - is it important to interact with your audience? What are some of the more effective ways to interact with your audience at the moment? What kind of content is particularly effective for you at the moment? How has your content changed over the past year and how are you intending for it to change over the coming year? What kind of mistakes are you seeing other business make with their content at the moment? What about retaining your audience - what are some of the ways that you’re doing that? Is it paramount to ask your audience to opt-in to an email list? [Tweet ""Do whatever you can to balance your pride and your humility." @JerodMorris from @RainmakerHQ"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? GarageBand [Audio editing for Mac] Auphonic [Automatic post production editing] Rainmaker Platform [Digital marketing & sales platform] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? vMix [Live video editing and broadcasting] BeLive [Live interviews to Facebook] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Do whatever you can to balance your pride and your humility, which I think is the most important skill set you can have in building an audience. I think that you always have to have pride in your message, and enough pride in that you believe in what you're saying and that you're going to get it out there - even when you're a little bit afraid and when someone tells you that you're wrong or it's stupid. That pride in what you have to say is going to keep you moving forward. But at the same time, if that runs rampant, and all you're worried about is what you have to say in your message, you're forgetting about the humility you need in order to step into your audience's shoes and realise that your message is only as effective, only as valuable as the impact that it has on them.

Video Advertising on Facebook – MATT JOHNSON | DMR #202

David Bain — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:39:00 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who over the past year has grown a 4-man video marketing agency form part-time to full-time and beyond. He's based out of SouthEast Massachusetts - welcome to DMR, Matt Johnson (@mobiusms on Twitter). [You can find Matt over at MobiusMediaSolutions.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss video advertising on Facebook, with topics including: Why video marketing? Why Facebook rather than YouTube for video marketing? What type of video is working best at the moment? How many videos do you produce for each advertising campaign? Would you have a typical funnel for a client? What typically might you have on a 'thank-you' page? Should you include text and subtitles on every video that you produce? How do you drill down to target a very specific Facebook audience? What is the minimum level of budget that you should be looking at for advertising on Facebook? [Tweet ""You can't trump execution and consistency." @mobiusms #Entrepreneurship"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Final Cut Pro [Video editing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Click Funnels [Customer funnels] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Execution. For me, I don't consider myself to be an entrepreneur. I'm an individual who never thought that I'd be in the place that I'm at right now. And I'm blessed to be surrounded by 3 other guys that do have the entrepreneurial spirit. For me, what I've really realised is that the difference between people whoa re successful, and people that aren't (successful) comes down quite simply to execution, and that's it. That's what it really came down to for me. You can't trump execution and consistency.

Site Speed in a Mobile-First World – PETE CAMPBELL | DMR #201

David Bain — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 16:05:06 +0000

Welcome to the third in a 3-part series of Digital Marketing Radio episodes, recorded live at the Search London Meetup – a special episode sequence, helping to celebrate reaching the milestone of 200 episodes of Digital Marketing Radio. In this, episode 201, we hear the talk given by Pete Campbell from Kaizen - 'Why Brands Need to Focus on Site Speed in a Mobile-First World'. In this episode Pete talks about things like: New developments in speed technology What a slow site costs you Results from a big site speed study, looking at the top 700 e-commerce sites in the UK And most importantly – how to make your site a whole lot faster Let me know your thoughts on this episode format! Do you want to hear more, do you want to hear less of this type of episode? Tweet me @DavidBain to tell me your views. Next episode we’re going to be back to the regular format with the return of the ‘this or that round’ and all that jazz. :)

HREFLANG for International SEO – NICHOLA STOTT | DMR #200

David Bain — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:14:17 +0000

Welcome to the second of a 3-part series of Digital Marketing Radio episodes recorded live at the Search London Meetup – a special episode sequence helping to celebrate the "double ton" of DMR episodes. In this, episode 200, we hear the talk given by Nichola Stott from theMediaFlow on HREFLANG for International SEO. View the slides from the presentation below. In this episode, Nichola talks about: how to set up HREFLANG, the most common errors in setting up HREFLANG what HREFLANG isn’t for, the pros and cons of implementing HREFLANG in the head section versus an XML sitemap... and much more! This is really important information if you’re trying to target multiple countries online. Enjoy! (Next episode we’re going to be hearing from Pete Campbell from Kaizen, sharing his thoughts on “Why Brands Need to Focus on Site Speed in a Mobile-First World.”)

Where do Meetups fit into the Marketing Mix? – JO TURNBULL | DMR #199

David Bain — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 15:40:27 +0000

Over episodes 199 to 201, I wanted to do something a little different to help celebrate the 200th episode of Digital Marketing Radio – before we return to the regular format in episode 202. What I did a couple of weeks ago was go along to a local meetup called Search London where I recorded 2 great talks on SEO – and also chatted to the host of the meetup – Jo Turnbull. In episode 200 of DMR, Nichola Stott from TheMediaFlow will share “HREFLANG for International SEO: Lessons from 3,000 Implementations” And in Episode 201, Pete Campbell from Kaizen will be sharing “Why Brands Need to Focus on Site Speed in a Mobile-First World.” But first of all, in this, Episode 199, I wanted to chat with Jo Turnbull, the host of the meetup, search London. I chatted with Jo about whether or not she ever struggled with the consistency of putting on Meetup events, why she uses both Eventbrite and meetup, the pitfalls of putting on a meetup, what she does to promote the event, how Search London has personally helped her - and her future vision of Search London. I started off by saying to Jo that her meetup had been around for quite a while, and asking her a little bit about the history behind it...

How to implement a people-based marketing approach – ASA WHILLOCK | DMR #180

David Bain — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 14:48:56 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who is a part technical product manager and part marketing visionary. He is is a principal product manager leading Adobe Marketing Cloud’s Device Co-op and People Core Services teams. Welcome to DMR, Asa Whillock. [You can find Asa contributing to Adobe’s digital marketing blog] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to implement a people-based marketing approach, with topics including: How do you define people-based marketing? How do you implement a people-based marketing approach? What are the benefits of people-based marketing? What would be an example of people-based marketing in action? In relation to this, what consumer privacy issues should today’s businesses be aware of? How does people-based marketing differ from the marketing approach that many companies are taking today? Today we’re seeing a mobile-first reality for many businesses. Is it difficult to apply a people-based approach to mobile? Something else we’re seeing today is the proliferation of big data. How does a people-based approach sit with that? [Tweet ""People are the ones who purchase products, not devices." @awhillock #PeopleBasedMarketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? PowerPoint [Presentation deck software] Adobe Connect [Web conferencing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Digital notetaking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Invest in people-based marketing. It works. No matter if you're a measurement professional, if you're a data management professional, if you're in advertising. Every facet of digital marketing benefits from the perception of 'who are the people behind this device'. Because people are the ones who purchase products, not devices. That's it!

Generating Leads on Social Media – OLLIE WHITFIELD| DMR #179

David Bain — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 14:36:52 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who loves to spend time building personal brands. He’s a social selling and lead generation expert from the Creation Agency... welcome to DMR, Ollie Whitfield. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss generating leads on social media, with topics including: How is social selling different from selling on your own website? Should every business be selling on social media? What’s the wrong way to sell on social media? What about lead generation? What makes a great lead generation campaign on social media? What kind of costs are involved? How have social lead generation techniques changed over the past year? How do you integrate content marketing into the mix to improve your conversion rates? What social media networks do you focus on and why? What might the expanding opportunities in 2017? [Tweet ""Knowledge is power." @OllieWhitfield_"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Everything on my iPhone [Apps such as Instagram, Twitter, Hootsuite, Feedly] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Onalytica [Influencer marketing tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Knowledge is power. For me, I've just turned 20. What gives me the right to talk about social selling? It's only the things I've had to learn and find out from other people. In the same train of thought, what's to stop anyone else learning about anything that they want. If you're watching this or your're listening, you've got the Internet. Use it. There's a ridiculous amount of things on it. You could never hope to consume it all. My only hope is to at least try.

Are there any businesses that DON’T need digital marketing? – MARK WRIGHT | DMR #178

David Bain — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 14:26:18 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who’s an influential entrepreneur, a self-taught digital marketing specialist, someone renowned for his success in winning BBC’s The Apprentice 2014. He’s the founder of one of the UK’s fastest growing digital marketing agencies, Climb Online, welcome to DMR, Mark Wright. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether there are any businesses that DON'T need digital marketing with topics including: Do you talk to any businesses in the line of your work that don’t even have a website? What percentage of businesses that you talk to would you say aren’t spending any money on digital marketing atall? Do you think that there are certain businesses that can still achieve significant success without having any digital presence? Is that always going to be the case in the future? What’s more important - brand awareness, or generic keyword traffic? Is a website always the first thing to get - or is more relevant sometimes nowadays to be ‘social first’? What kind of digital marketing activities are you using to promote your own agency? What kind of trends are you seeing at the moment with the services that your clients are asking you to provide? What are your projections on how this might change in the future? [Tweet ""If you want to earn more, you've got to learn more." @Mark_E_Wright"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? DoubleClick [Paid media management] PPC Samurai [AdWords automation] Majestic [SEO link research] Screaming Frog [Website crawler] SEMRush [Competotor research] Moz [SEO software and training] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Team communication] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you want to earn more, you've got to learn more. When I got the most successful in this sector, and when I've been the most successful in business, it's when I've educated myself as much as possible. You need to figure out ways to market your business, ways to run your business more effectively, but also you need to go on and implement that and take risks. People who learn the most, read the most and take the biggest risks are the most successful. And I think that there's no other way around it. Figure out who the experts are in your industry, listen to what they've got to say, make a strategy for your business and your marketing and go out and do it. Don't be afraid to take risks and don't be afraid to spend money. And your business and your strategy will be successful.

Is it possible to be a great digital marketing generalist? – BEN OLIVER | DMR #177

David Bain — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 14:56:59 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who’s worked as a digital marketing expert, both in-house and agency-side for a number of different companies. And when he’s not working in his regular job, you might be able to find him being a casual tour guide based in Melbourne, Australia. Welcome to DMR, the Head of Digital at ‘ID Collective’, Ben Oliver. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether it is possible to be a great digital marketing generalist with topics including: We’re talking about whether it’s possible to be a great digital marketing generalist today - or whether you need to specialise - what are your thoughts on that? You say that social media marketing and content strategy are your areas of strengths - should every digital marketing generalist have one or two specific areas of focus? How did you decide on what areas to focus on? Talking about your areas of focus - social media marketing and content strategy - what’s working for you at the moment and why? How do you start to plan a content strategy and social media campaign? Apart from listening to Digital Marketing Radio :) how do you stay on all the latest trends and how do you know if you are following the right advice? What would you advise to a digital marketer getting started today? What things should they focus on? And what are your thought on how digital marketing teams will be structured in the future? [Tweet ""Set yourself the #goal of doing one additional #TrainingCourse per year." @BenOliverAus"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Microsoft Excel [Spreadsheets & data analysis] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Mavrck [Identify & activate micro-influencers] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Keep learning. Set yourself the goal of doing one additional training course per year. And try and do it in something that you're not familiar with. Try and do something that is just a bit outside your 'wheelhouse'. Not to say that you'll need to become an expert in it. But at least you'll be able to speak the language of those particular experts. Dedicate an hour in your day where you can sit down - and dedicate that to growing your mind on what's happening.

How effectively are you using Google Analytics? – DARA FITZGERALD| DMR #176

David Bain — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 14:06:32 +0000

Today I'm joined by an experienced trainer and conference speaker who specialises in providing Google Analytics consultancy and services. Welcome to DMR, Dara Fitzgerald. [You can find Dara over at MeasureLab.co.uk.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss "How effectively are you using Google Analytics?", with topics including: Is Google Analytics the right analytics software for the majority of businesses? How many businesses don’t even have their GA scripts installed correctly? Is it always best to use Google Tag Manager to install the script? What other things need to be done in the set-up process to take full advantage of all the reports that Google Analytics can offer? Is it / why is it important to set up Search Console data sharing? If you haven’t got a lot of time, what are some of the reports that you need to be aware of? Is it important to set up email reports? If so, what should be included in that? The first thing that you see in the menu is Intelligence Events - how does that differ to Goals? Something else I see in the Audience section is ‘Cohort Analysis’ - what’s that about? What useful features do people tend not to use? [Tweet ""Don't just rely on the out-of-the-box solution for #GoogleAnalytics." @darafitzgerald"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Slack [Internal team chat] MyMeasureLab [Internal tool] GoSquared [Live chat for business] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Audience Centre 360 & Attribution 360 [Google Analytics 360 Suite] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? A lot of businesses aren't using the full functionality in the very powerful free version of Google Analytics. Push Google Analytics harder for your business. Don't just rely on the out-of-the-box solution. Make sure that you're fully aware of all of the features that are available. Pick the ones that are most relevant to your business. And make sure that you've got them implemented correctly. And that you're actually using the data effectively as well. There's no point in adding extra data if you can't use it. Focus in on whatever reports are right for your business, then make sure that you have somebody or some people who can effectively use that data and actually drive improvement - because that's what it's all about.

If you’re not split-testing at the moment, are you missing a trick? – CHRIS DAYLEY | DMR #175

David Bain — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 16:03:19 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who envisions a world where every business tests their ideas. He formed his own conversion optimization agency ‘Dayley Conversion’ - in 2014, which later became part of ‘Disruptive Advertising’. Welcome to DMR, Chris Dayley. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss split-testing, with topics including: Should every business be split-testing the performance of their web pages? From the businesses that you talk to, what percentage would you say are carrying out split tests on a regular basis? What’s wrong with just launching a new version of a page and comparing the results with previous conversion rates? What if you’re a busy marketer with little dev resource. Should you still be doing split testing? What kind of tests are really good to get started with? What would you say to someone who said to you that they’ve tried split testing before, and they didn’t notice any difference? What changes that you’ve made in the past have resulted in big improvements? Is it possible to make mistakes with split testing and actually make your conversion rate worse - if so, what kind of mistakes have you seen? [Tweet ""Do #ABtesting on your site. If you've tried it in the past, try it again." @Chrisdayley"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hotjar [Webiste visitor testing] Optimizely [Webiste visitor testing] Visual Website Optimizer [Webiste visitor testing] Adobe Target [Webiste visitor testing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Adobe Recommendations [Tweak automated product recommendations] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Do A/B testing on your site. If you've tried it in the past, try it again. Think bigger. Think more dramatic. And if you need to, get some outside help to get additional ideas. But if you're not testing on your website, then you are missing half of the digital marketing pie. You're just sending traffic to a site that you assume is working.

Growing a digital marketing agency from China – JOSH STEIMLE | DMR #174

David Bain — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 13:11:31 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who failed at business through most of his career running a digital marketing agency and nearly went out of business in 2012. But now he's a TEDx speaker, has written over 200 articles for publications like TechCrunch, Forbes, Mashable, Time, and Inc, his agency has grown to 25 staff, and he's the author of the new book Chief Marketing Officers at Work. Welcome to DMR, Josh Steimle. [You can find Josh at JoshSteimle.com] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rLyTAzQOpM On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss growing a digital marketing agency from China with topics including: How did you turn it all around? Why China? And are all your staff based in China? How has your business benefited from moving to China? And what have you found most difficult about doing business in China? Where are most of your clients based? So from your perspective, what does it take to run a successful digital marketing agency today? What makes a successful client/agency relationship? What’s been your biggest learning experience in growing your agency? How do you grow an agency quickly? What prevents growth? If you were to advise someone who was thinking of starting their own agency, what are the essentials to get right to begin with? [Tweet ""Empathy trumps just about anything else you can do when it comes to marketing." @joshsteimle"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Docs [Online document creation and sharing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? HipChat [Team group chat] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? It's empathy I think. I recently had the opportunity to interview 30 CMOs from huge corperations - Paypal, Spotify, GE. And one things that came through to me from all these interviews that I did was these people really understand their customer. And in marketing if you 'get' your customer - you understand what motivates them, where they're coming from, why they buy, then you'll get all the right 'tactics'. You'll figure out how to connect with them, how to sell to them. So I think that empathy trumps just about anything else you can do when it comes to marketing.

How important are online reviews? – STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER | DMR #173

David Bain — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 16:06:38 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who went from profitable to over $100,000 of debt in the 2008 crash, but used it as an opportunity to restructure his thinking, and start focusing on value. Welcome to DMR, Stephen Christopher. [You can find Stephen over at Seequs.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH01uuOsE5A On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the importance of online reviews, with topics including: Are online reviews important for any business? And where are the most important places for customers to be leaving reviews? How do you persuade a satisfied customer to leave a review? What makes a really effective, believable review? What would you say to a business thinking of faking a few reviews? Do you find that reviews can positively impact SEO? Is it possible to discourage people from leaving a negative review? What if you have a negative review that you believe to be unjust? What are your thoughts on how online reviews might evolve in the future? And here's the article Stephen mentioned on how to get false reviews removed from Yelp. [Tweet ""Just take the time and do it right." @StephenMChris"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? SEMRush [Competitor tracking & keyword research] Google Analytics [Website visitor tracking] Google Search Console [Website performance] Hotjar [Visitor video recording and heat-mapping] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Brightedge [Enterprise SEO management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Just take the time and do it right. Really think what digital marketing is all about. It's about solving a customer's problem, and then talking about that in the digital world so that we're attracting them as customers. Just do it right. Take the time to write the content. Take the time to develop the relationship. I've seen it over and over where that pays off ten-fold compared with trying to trick the system.

Using Psychology to Build A Great Website – STEVE LINNEY | DMR #172

David Bain — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 14:45:57 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who build a brand - Learning People - from an unknown entity into one of Europe’s largest online training providers. He’s now set up his very own digital marketing consultancy based in Brighton, England. Welcome to DMR, Steve Linney. [You can find Steve over at eMRKTNG.co.uk.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMf_8zRBt4E On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss using psychology to build a great website, with topics including: Why do you need to be thinking about psychology when building a website? How do you know about the thought process of your users? Are you a fan of talking to potential website users before a website is built? Can you think of an example of a really well designed website from a psychological perspective? Does this psychology of users change depending on how they’re viewing your site (mobile / desktop etc) - and if so, how do you deal with that? What kind of things really put people off when they’re visiting as website? Has the expectations of users changed as technology has changed? How do you future-proof website design, so it will still look good in 2 or 3 years time? [Tweet ""Kevin Costner was totally wrong. If you build it they definitely won't come." @stevelinney"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Evernote [Digital note-keeping] Asana [Task management for teams] Dropbox [File storage and sharing] Google Docs [Online document creation and sharing] Adobe Creative Cloud [Online creative software] Adobe Experience Design [Wireframing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Attribution software / better analytics My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Understand your audience and have that meaningful connection with them. Don't just go for the sale at any cost. Create a website that caters towards a need and answers a question. Create content that people really want to digest and share with people, and if they love your content, they'll love your brand - and then they'll want to purchase from you, and they'll want to keep on coming back as well. Understand your audience, meaningful connections and long-term relationships.

How to Sell Digital Marketing Services – JOE APFELBAUM | DMR #171

David Bain — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 14:50:40 +0000

Today I'm joined by a public speaker, a certified Google Trainer, and a published business author. He’s the co-founder of a digital marketing agency based in Brooklyn, New York. Welcome to DMR, Joe Apfelbaum. [You can find Joe over at AjaxUnion.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXfmyPHzMHY On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to sell digital marketing services, with topics including: Can you sell digital marketing services using just digital marketing, or do you have to go face-to-face instead? What are the common mistakes that agencies use when trying to sell their services? What successful selling tactics have changed over the past few years? What kind of things are prospects looking for now? How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? How have your services changed over the years? Are clients looking to take different roles in-house now? What will agencies look like in a few years time? [Tweet ""Don't look for a transactional relationship. Seek a transformational relationship." @joeapfelbaum"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Basecamp [Project management] Active Collab [Project management] Zoho Projects [Project management] Hubstaff [Time tracking software] Zoho CRM [Customer relationship management software] Salesforce [Customer relationship management software] Pipeline Deals [Customer relationship management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Marketo [Marketing automation software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're a business owner. If you own an agency or any business - if you're a consultant and you're looking to grow, have a plan. A very specific plan. Have intention. Go out get a mentor, get a coach - and have them help you execute on the plan. If you're just all over the place and you're trying to get there as fast as possible, and you're not sure where you're going, you might get somewhere else. So the number 1 takeaway is have a clear plan for 2017. There's just over 100 days left until the end of the year. So now is the time for you to set the plan. What is the exact amount of clients that you're going to have? What is going to be the exact type of product or service that you're going to offer them? How are you going to get them, and who are you going to use to help you get them? And then go out and execute.

How to Launch a Digital Business – DAVID DARMANIN | DMR #170

David Bain — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:26:01 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who over the past 10 years has generated hundreds of millions of dollars, growth consulting to fortune 500 businesses. He has built teams, developed brands and run hundreds of tests for his clients, resulting in him starting Hotjar - software offering heatmaps, recordings and other website visitor feedback. Welcome to DMR, David Darmanin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHKhYtZrFM4 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to launch a digital business, with topics including: What made you decide to launch Hotjar? How did you position Hotjar differently compared with the competition? What did the first version of the software look like? How did you recruit your initial users? What initial feedback from your users surprised you the most? What did you optimize about your own purchase process based upon your own software? How big a team did you need to get to that stage? What did public launch of the business involve? What has been the most effective strategy to grow the business quickly? And you can find David's 9-step action plan that he talks about towards the end of the interview here. [Tweet ""Listen to your users, become your users - and give a shit." @daviddarmanin @hotjar"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Intercom [Customer communication platform] Google Apps [Team collaboration software suite] Facebook Ads [Online advertising] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Tatango [Mobile messaging for agencies] Gain Insights [Business intelligence] Tableau [Visualise your own data] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listener needs to take away and implement in their businesses? Listen to your users, become your users and give a shit. I've worked with so many clients where we have uncovered a big problem that the users have. But then their inability to go out there and execute on that is sometimes worrying, and that can lead to you losing to your competitors... just get out there, find out the number 1 big problem and solve it.

How to Generate Leads on Twitter – TERRY GREMAUX | DMR #169

David Bain — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:27:33 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helps entrepreneurs to generate leads on Twitter. He’s the founder of The Hashtag Hunter - welcome to DMR, Terry Gremaux. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmzPYYt9wnA On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to generate leads on Twitter, with topics including: Why is Twitter still important? Are hashtags at the heart of what you do on Twitter? I see that it looks like you joined Twitter in August 2015 - were you using another handle before that? What style of Tweets do you find to be most effective? What are some great calls to action on Twitter? A tweet of yours says “content doesn’t matter - distribution is the game.” What do you mean by that? Is it just as easy to be successful on Twitter as a brand, compared with an individual? What other forms of social media marketing are particularly effective for you at the moment? What’s your background prior to getting into social media coaching? [Tweet ""The #dream is free but the #hustle is sold separately." @Terryjgremaux"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Evernote [Note-taking app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Social video & image messaging] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You need to hustle man. Whatever you do out there. You have to be willing to put in the work. I get up at 4.45am pretty much every day and we live a pretty amazing lifestyle. I take a lot of time off during the day, playing with the kids. You've got to hustle. You've got to want it. The dream is free but the hustle is sold separately. You have to want it, you have to go get it. And the second step to that is if you don't get up every morning and you don't get jacked-up and your feet hit the floor and you're excited to be alive, you're probably not seeing where you want to go, you're not seeing that vision on the wall that you're chasing, you need to see that every day to keep you going 'cause life gets hard... when you combine those 2 you can't lose.

How to Sell on Social Media – MELONIE DODARO | DMR #168

David Bain — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:27:31 +0000

Today I'm joined by a lady who helps businesses, sales teams and professionals to increase leads and generate more clients, on social media. She’s the founder of Top Dog Social Media - welcome to DMR, Melonie Dodaro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V-HkvpJ2Vk On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to sell on social media, with topics including: Is it not a bit of a turn-off to be sold to on social media? What are the right ways to sell of social media? What platforms are you finding to be particularly valuable at the moment? What are the common mistakes that you see businesses making when they try to sell on social media? You’re also author of the LinkedIn Code. What are some of the most effective ways to use LinkedIn for sales? What type of business professional can benefit most by engaging on LinkedIn? What are some effective messages to say when you’re reaching out to someone on LinkedIn for the first time? What about calls to action - what are you finding to be be particularly effective at the moment? What’s the future of selling on social media? [Tweet ""Don't collect connections, build relationships." @MelonieDodaro #Quotes"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Buffer [Social media scheduling] Manage Flitter [Twitter management] Yesware [Email analytics] SproutSocial [Social media management] Agora Pulse [Social media management] Screenflow [Screencasting and video editing software] Adobe Posts [Create images for social media] Canva [Create images for social media] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Analytics software. My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Don't collect connections, build relationships. And to truly build those relationships you ultimately have to move them offline. So utilise online tools for what they are. They're amazing, they're brilliant, they offer so much value. But they're not everything. And one last thing - pick up the phone sometimes! Let's not forget about that old fashioned thing that was invented many many years ago - it still works!

Should You Be Advertising on Instagram? – ANDREW FOXWELL | DMR #167

David Bain — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 14:27:26 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s come from being a congressional press secretary, to leading online advertising strategy for the likes of Hootsuite, Fitbit and Eventbrite. He’s co-founder of the social media advisory firm Foxwell Digital. Welcome to DMR, Andrew Foxwell. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether or not you should be advertising on Instagram, with topics including: If a business advertises on Facebook, should it also be advertising on Instagram? What makes a great Instagram advert? How do you measure success? What kind of call to action is effective? What kind of business should definitely be advertising on Instagram? Is there any particular type of business that shouldn’t bother with Instagram advertising? What are some common mistakes that you see businesses making with Instagram advertising? What are a few tips on how to setup your first Instagram advertising campaign? How targeted can you be when you’re selecting your audience? Does Instagram have a broad spectrum of users or is it skewed to a particular type of user? [Tweet ""You can actually mess around with Facebook's targeting without ever launching an ad" @andrewfoxwell"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Facebook Power Editor [Facebook ad management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Ad Espresso [Facebook ad management] Angora Pulse [Social Media Management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you aren't right now advertising on Facebook or Instagram I would encourage you to get in and start experimenting with that, and learn about the tactics and the tools that you have there. Mostly centering around targeting. You can always go into the Facebook ads manager, into the audiences section - there's a thing in there called the saved target audience. And you can actually mess around with Facebook's targeting without ever launching an ad. If you've not done that, I wold encourage you to do that.

Social Media Advertising Today – LARRY KIM | DMR #166

David Bain — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:19:48 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who has spoken at many top search marketing events including INBOUND, SearchLove, SMX and Pubcon. He regularly share his advice on Social Media Examiner, Search Engine Land and Social Media Today. He founded Wordstream, and his new company is MobileMonkey - Larry Kim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6icEHKYK-c On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss social media advertising today, with topics including: Does advertising on social media need a completely different mindset and strategy compared with more traditional pay per click search advertising? Is Facebook the biggest social media advertising opportunity for most businesses at the moment? What type of advertising on Facebook tends to be most successful at the moment? What are the constituent parts of a successful Facebook Ad? How do you categorise your Facebook Advertising according to who you’re targeting? Once you’ve got your campaign up and running, what are some ways to optimize its performance? What about Twitter advertising - what are you finding to be most effective there at the moment? And what are your thoughts on the future of social media advertising? [Tweet ""Be the unicorn in the sea of donkeys." @larrykim #Leadership #Quotes"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Uber [Transport] Twitter [Mass communication] Facebook Ads [Social media advertising] Google Analytics [Visitor analytics] Salesforce [CRM] Marketo [Marketing automation] BuzzSumo [Find influencers] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? vMix [Live video editing] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be the unicorn in the sea of donkeys. There is just so much crap and garbage out there. The key to success is just being the remarkable company that isn't a donkey.

How to Optimize Google AdWords in 2016 – JACOB BAADSGAARD | DMR #165

David Bain — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 13:12:33 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s helped over 2,000 businesses grow, using the power of pay-per-click advertising and website optimization. He’s a passionate entrepreneur, on a mission to help businesses achieve online marketing success. Welcome to DMR, Jacob Baadsgaard. [You can find Jacob over at DisruptiveAdvertising.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr82ZGK7S48 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to Optimize Google AdWords in 2016, with topics including: Should Google Adwords still be one of the primary online advertising considerations for most businesses? Where are the opportunities in AdWords in 2016? What are the common mistakes that you see businesses making with AdWords? What are the biggest changes that you’ve seen in Google Adwords over the past few months? Where are the key opportunities with AdWords at the moment? What about device targeting? How do you best segment your ad campaigns to target different types of devices? What kind of ad copy are you finding to be effective at the moment? And what about best practice for landing pages? [Tweet ""Go talk to your sales team to solidify your marketing programme." @jakebaadsgaard"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Salesforce [CRM] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Domo [Business intelligence software] Grow.com [Business intelligence software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Go talk to your sales team to solidify your marketing programme.

How to grow a business FAST – BOB RUFFOLO | DMR #164

David Bain — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:01:21 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helps SMBs increase their brand awareness, improve their lead generation, and enhance their customer acquisition. He’s the Founder and CEO of IMPACT Branding & Design. Welcome to DMR, Bob Ruffolo. [You can find Bob over at ImpactBND.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqXRIe8bJDg On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to grow a business FAST, with topics including: Would you say that there’s a common theme to why some businesses just can’t get traction with their growth marketing initiatives? How do you know if you’ve got the right team to grow your business? What are the next steps to get growth underway? How do you know what to aim for – how do you set your growth goals and objectives? Do you think that using the right technology is essential in modern marketing? What type of technology is most important right now? And is it important to grow fast? What are some marketing strategies that are particularly successful at the moment for fast growth? [Tweet ""If your company is not growing, look at the people in your team." @bobruffolo #BusinessGrowth"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hubspot [Marketing automation software] Hotjar [Conversion rate improvement software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Pokémon GO [Augmented reality game] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If your company is not growing, look at the people in your team. Are they working as a team? Are they getting along? Are they the reason why you can grow or are they the reason why you're not growing?

Launching a Physical Product in the Digital Sphere – MICHAEL DEVLIN | DMR #163

David Bain — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 14:01:19 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who has personally built multiple seven figure e-commerce stores, and generated over £5M in sales in the UK, and $14M for his clients in the US. Welcome to DMR, Michael Devlin. [You can find Michael over at MassConversions.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss launching a physical product in the physical sphere, with topics including: Are the digital marketing tactics that work for selling physical goods very different compared with the tactics used for selling digital goods or services? And when’s it best to sell goods from your own website, and when should you sell goods from somewhere like Amazon? What kind of goods are really good to be selling on Amazon at the moment? And what are some first steps to start selling on Amazon? Do you market from other traffic sources to Amazon? How important is creating a launch sequence? How do you capture your customer's details so you can market to them again in the future? What are your thoughts on the future of selling on Amazon? What about e-commerce in general - are there there any other up and coming opportunities to be aware of, or will Amazon still be the big beast? [Tweet ""You don't have to invent a product to be innovative." @MassConversion #MarketingQuotes"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Screenflow [Video editing software for Mac] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Manage By Stats [Amazon selling software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're looking to get into e-commerce, do not procrastinate. Do not fear the unknown. Get your idea. Don't worry too much about it, don't overthink it and just go for it. It's a simple as that.

Cross-Channel Marketing Management – BEN TEPFER | DMR #162

David Bain — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 13:01:16 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who spends most of his time "in-the-field", talking with industry leaders, customers and prospects to understand their marketing challenges. He’s a product marketing manager for Adobe Campaign - welcome to DMR, Ben Tepfer. [You can find Ben over at Adobe’s Digital Marketing Blog.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU8k7daOrGQ On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss cross-channel marketing management, with topics including: Multi-channel - or double-down on one channel - what tends to be most effective in digital nowadays? Is it reasonable for marketers to have a comprehensive knowledge of different disciplines? Should marketers aim to be more specialist in the future? How have software and systems changed over the years to assist with cross-channel campaign management? Is it ever best just to manage campaigns naively, on their own platforms? What marketing activities are you finding to be very effective at the moment from an ROI perspective? What are your thoughts on the future of digital marketing campaign management - will it become tougher or easier? [Tweet ""Have different #CrossChannel experiences for each individual." @bentepfer #marketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Microsoft Office on the go [Office on your phone as an app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Facebook app [Facebook on the go] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Cross-channel is absolutely key. However, you need to think about the strategy behind it and why you're doing it as well. Don't just send out emails because everybody is doing it. Same thing with social or mobile. Think about the channels that your consumers are already engaged with. And think about your strategy moving forward, and what channels you want to include. So don't dive in head-first into a sea of 30 or even 6 channels. Think about strategically where am I now, and where do I want to go... Have different cross-channel experiences for each individual.

The power of email marketing in 2016 – CAREY GREEN | DMR #161

David Bain — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:27:02 +0000

Today I'm joined by a 'DIY internet marketer' who's studied and learned from the successes and mistakes of other online entrepreneurs to move his own businesses forward, focusing on the power of email marketing. Welcome to DMR, Carey Green. [You can find Carey over at PodcastFastTrack.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKPwbU8ZEZs On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the power of email marketing in 2016, with topics including: Why did you decide that focusing on email marketing was going to be most effective tactic for you? How do you explain the difference between SPAM and appreciated email? What kind of content do you include in your emails? How regularly do you send emails? How do you get your emails opened and read? What’s a good call-to-action to have in an email? What’s a good response rate? What software do you use? Do you set up automated sequences of email? Should email be essential for every type of business? [Tweet ""Your clients aren't going to come to you. You're going to have to go find them." @CareyNGreen"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Wizy.io [Email management for Gmail] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Online note-taking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Your clients generally aren't going to come to you. You're going to have to go find them. And that requires that you take a very careful look at who is your ideal client. And then you find them. You find where they hang out, how you can connect with them - and you reach out. You've got to initiate that relationship. I know for some people that's kind of intimidating and a 'salsey' feeling, and I felt that way until I realised that sales is just about adding value. It's just about giving benefits to people that they are willing to exchange money for, because it's of so much more value to them.

How to grow your business faster with Facebook – CHRIS SMITH | DMR #160

David Bain — Tue, 19 Jul 2016 13:21:32 +0000

Today I'm joined by a ‘USA Today’ bestselling author. He’s a man, who’s founder of a digital marketing and sales coaching company that helps businesses grow faster. Welcome to DMR, Chris Smith. [You can find Chris over at Curaytor.com] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh0jEN2htqI On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to grow your business faster with Facebook, with topics including: What are you finding to be some of the most effective sources of traffic at the moment? Is that for most types of business? What’s the difference between an effective Facebook Ad and one that doesn’t work so well? And what kind of landing pages are working well for you at the moment? What else are successful businesses doing to enhance their lead conversion rates at the moment? And you’re also a fan of “inside sales”. How would you describe “inside sales” for anyone who hasn’t come across the that term before? [Tweet ""You can't do anything if you don't have eyeballs and attention." @Chris_Smth #Marketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Facebook Ads [Pay per click advertising] Follow Up Boss [Lead management for the Real Estate industry] Slack [ Team Communications] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Sidekick [Email open & click tracking] Yesware [Analytics for salespeople] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You can go all-in with Facebook. You can use a Page, and Groups and your Profile and Ads, and Videos and Live and Messenger and you don't have to be a jack-of-all-trades. If you never used Snapchat, Instagram, Google Plus - any of those other social networks for the next 2 to 3 years, you went all-in on Facebook, your business will be just fine. And I believe Facebook is the Internet. It's the best CRM of all time. It's the best ad-targeting of all-time. And right now my friends, it's the lowest cost it will ever be.

How to choose a domain name for a website – ANDREW ALLEMANN | DMR #159

David Bain — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 14:40:26 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and the Washington. He’s been editor of a site covering the business of domain names for over 10 years now. Welcome to DMR, Andrew Allemann. [You can find Andrew over at DomanNameWire.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG_CyLjhM6M On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to choose a domain name for a website, with topics including: Is a .com always best? I was on your website DomainNameWire.com today and I was impressed at the interaction that you have in the comments - you seem to have more comments on your blog that on social media - is that something that you try to encourage? What makes a good domain name for a website? What are the biggest mistakes that people make when selecting a domain? If the .com isn’t available, is it a good idea to try to think of a different brand name? What about these new domains like .agency or fashionable domains like .me - what are the pros and cons of selecting one of those? What are your thought on the future of the web - will it still be essential to have a great domain when some businesses make all their revenue through Amazon or apps? [Tweet ""Make sure that people can easily spell and remember your #DomainName" @DomainNameWire"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? DomainTools.com [Domain information service] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Prototyping on Paper [iOS app for prototyping] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? When you pick out a domain name, make sure if you tell someone that name, they can understand how to spell it, and how to say it back to you.

How to use analytics to grow your business – KARL STAIB | DMR #158

David Bain — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 14:40:09 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who can help you improve how you gather data; and use it to improve your business. Welcome to DMR, the "Analytics Growth Guy" Karl Staib. [You can find Karl over at DominoConnection.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgoBLQBnr_M On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to use analytics to grow your business, with topics including: How often should a business look at its website analytics? Should even a small business owner try to get comfortable with reviewing website stats? What important stats in particular tend to get overlooked? How do you improve your stats? Is A/B testing essential? What are some good things to focus on in an A/B test? I don’t hear much about multivariate testing nowadays - is that still sometimes better that A/B tests? What about user testing? Can that be better than analyzing your stats sometime? [Tweet ""If you think you need you redesign your website, you probably don't" @KStaib #websitedesign"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Docs [Online document creation & sharing] Visual Website Optimizer [A/B split testing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Unbounce [easy landing pages & split-testing] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you think you need you redesign your website, you probably don't. I know it makes you feel good, and it's nice to have a fancier looking site, but some of the best sites out there are just very simple, very straightforward, easy to navigate. And I would suggest looking at those analytics - what's going on behind the scenes? And start making small changes versus a 'splashy change'.

Writing for the Web in 2016 – GLORIA RAND | DMR #157

David Bain — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 14:40:03 +0000

Today I'm joined by a lady who helps small business owners and entrepreneurs to achieve success in their health as well as their business. Welcome to DMR, Gloria Rand. You can find Gloria over at GloriaRand.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbsJN-_Xnk On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss writing for the web in 2016, with topics including: How would you say copywriting with SEO in mind, has changed over the past few years? How do you decide on what content to write? What is your process for optimizing that content? Should a business be writing its own content - is outsourced content writing going to be high enough quality? How much would you say is the minimum base level amount of content that a business needs to be launching with on a website? How often should a website be publishing new content? What about the ideal length and structure for content - can you talk a little about that? Could written content by itself be enough, or is it always import to be also including video and images? Can SEO by itself build a business in 2016 or do you absolutely have to be doing other things as well nowadays? [Tweet ""Focus on delivering #content that is answering your customer's questions" @GloriaRand"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Lead Pages [Landing page software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Infusionsoft [Customer interaction software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you want to attract customers and clients, focus on delivering that content that is answering your customer's questions, because that's going to help you be seen as that authority in your niche.

Affiliate Marketing in 2016 – PRIEST WILLIS | DMR #156

David Bain — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:39:43 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s been involved with affiliate marketing for over 10 years. He’s run several enterprise affiliate programs and now runs Affiliate Mission - the fastest growing affiliate management startup in North Carolina. Welcome to DMR, Priest Willis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_7YiRPZNQ On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss affiliate marketing in 2016, with topics including: How did you get started in affiliate marketing? How much has affiliate marketing changed over the years? Can the majority of customers tell the difference between an affiliate link and a regular link? What do you think can be done to get customers to trust recommendations more when the referer is making a commision from sales that are generated? If you’re a publisher that is thinking of getting started with trying to make some extra revenue through affiliate links, what’s the best way of getting started? What types of businesses should definitely be thinking about having their own affiliate program? What’s the best way for a business to get started with their own affiliate program? Is there software that you can recommend? How do you build a list of affiliates who what to promote your products? [Tweet ""Don't analyse it until you paralyse yourself. Just go out and create something." @priestwillis"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Capsule [CRM] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Zencaster [Record audio locally] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Don't get overwhelmed with all the information you see about affiliate marketing or even digital marketing for that matter. Set a clear plan for what it is you want to do. Find out the business you want to create. Don't analyse it until you paralyse yourself. Just go out and create something. Because we get caught up a lot of times if we don't think the graphics are good enough on the website. They key for you is to know who you are, know what it is that you want to do, create a plan, create a business - find a tactic. If you want to get into affiliate marketing, really dig-in on that. And then just launch off and start doing stuff. Don't force yourself to be what you're not.

Pay Per Click Search for B2B – GLENN SCHMELZLE | DMR #155

David Bain — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 14:39:41 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man,whose agency helps B2B clients to generate leads through the power of pay per click advertising. He’s been involved with Google AdWords for over a decade and became a Certified Google Partner in 2012. Welcome to DMR, Glenn Schmelzle. [You can find Glenn over at MarketingWhatsNew.com] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpGZpBsZkPI On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss pay per click search for B2B, with topics including: Is Google AdWords still very effective for B2B? How has the way that you use Google AdWords changed over the years? If you’re not trying to make a direct sale as a result of the traffic that you drive from your pay per click campaigns, how can you measure the effectiveness of it? What kind of landing page and call-to-action are you favouring at the moment? Do you also advise your clients on how to nurture their leads? Have some categories of keyword phrases not become unaffordable for certain industries on Google? Are there other up-and-coming advertising networks apart from Google that are starting to be effective for B2B? If a marketer is taking over a pre-existing PPC campaign, how would you suggest they prioritise their work? [Tweet ""The engineering approach to #LeadGeneration is the best way to win the war." @heyglenns"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Keep [Keep track of notes and thoughts] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? SEMRush [Competitive data for digital marketing professionals] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? The fact that we have used words in marketing like a campaign has done a disservice to the way that we need to approach how we generate interest and leads online. This isn't a single sprint, it's a marathon. the benefit is, the more consistent you are, and the further you move up the maturity stages, and how you are running your pay-per-click and what kind of content you're putting in front of your audience - those benefits will pay off perpetually in terms of better conversions, more quality conversions and more cost effective conversions. So I would encourage people to take a long-term mentality with this. They will eventually get there. And they need to be deliberate in how they structure their marketing programme. It's like Rome, you won't build it in a day. I look at it more like an engineering enterprise. The Romans gave us engineers. The engineering approach to lead generation is the best way to win the war, and win the day ultimately.

How to start, scale, and sell a Digital Agency – JASON SWENK | DMR #154

David Bain — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:06:26 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who after college went off to work for Arthur Anderson - but quickly realised that the big-5 consultancy life wasn’t for him. So he pivoted, and started a digital agency that quickly grew to a multi-million dollar operation. And then after 12 years, sold it. And now he’s helping other digital agency owners to do the same. Welcome to DMR, Jason Swenk. [You can find Jason over at JasonSwenk.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ams6iQvqqds On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to start, scale, and sell a digital agency, with topics including: Why did you decide to start a digital agency to begin with? What are a few of the mistakes that you see people making when they start their own agency? Are the challenges now completely different to the challenges when you got started? Do you find that a lot of agencies just get to a certain size and then just stagnate? What are the main things that an agency owner needs to be doing to grow the agency fast? How do you position your agency so that somebody want to buy it? Are there still opportunities to start an agency in 2016? Should an agency that gets started now be very niche in terms of its services and target market? [Tweet ""The things that separates everyone is just taking action" says @jswenk #JustDoIt"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Infusionsoft [Marketing automation software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Blab or experimenting with other live streaming software like Wirecast Go My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Action. One word. Take action. And that's it. So many of us listen to podcasts, read books, go to courses. But never take action. The things that separates everyone is just taking action, not being afraid to fail, learning from failures and executing.

The 3 Objectives of building a digital marketing blueprint – CURTIS THORNHILL | DMR #153

David Bain — Tue, 31 May 2016 14:01:57 +0000

Today I'm joined by the CEO of a company that was named in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies over the past year. Welcome to DMR, Curtis Thornhill (@AptResults). [You can find Curtis over at AptMarketingSolutions.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the 3 Objectives of building a digital marketing blueprint, with topics including: Data-driven Customer Engagement: Big data and analytics are driving the trend back to relationship marketing practices of customer grooming, retention and loyalty. The opportunity: customer modeling can produce not only quantifiable outcomes but also messages that resonate. Mobile Technology’s Omnipresence: Digital marketers can take a page from the most innovative companies by developing mobile apps that support marketing initiatives and zeroing in on informational needs. Monetizing Metrics to Measure Social Media: Enterprises are relying more on monetization metrics (rather than impressions and traffic). Expect engagements to become increasingly focused on outcomes from the social channel, leading the way on innovating the social experience to drive conversion and purchases. [Tweet ""I would focus on investing in an internal rigour around #BigData" says Curtis from @AptResults"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Callr [Automated calls to alert you about upcoming meetings] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Team communications software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I would focus on investing in an internal rigour around big data. That doesn't have to be a very advanced solution, or a build-out of an entire team. But I do think that taking the steps to map out what that will look like internally will set out a lot of new opportunities, help you improve your performance; and also enhance a lot of the campaigns that are currently running.

Should you be using Snapchat? – MOJCA MARS | DMR #152

David Bain — Tue, 24 May 2016 15:00:13 +0000

Today I'm joined by a social media consultant who founded her own consultancy right after after losing a job, at an advertising agency. Welcome to the founder of Super Spicy Media, Mojca Mars (@mojcamars). [You can find Mojca over at SuperSpicyMedia.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether or not you should be using Snapchat, with topics including: I presume that you’re quite happy that you lost your job? Should every serious digital marketer be using Snapchat? What do you say to someone who’s downloaded the app, played with it and thought “NO” that’s not for them? Would you describe Snapchat as a content marketing channel? Is Snapchat really hear to stay and continue to increase in popularity over the coming few years? What’s the best way of getting started with Snapchat? Do you have to be an extrovert to be on Snapchat? Does it not take loads of time to use Snapchat? What’s the point in building a community on Snapchat if they can only see your content for 24 hours? How does Snapchat work with the rest of the marketing mix? [Tweet ""It comes down to personality. That will make my business different." @mojcamars #ThinkDifferent"] Snapchat links Here are a few links to usernames to follow on Snapchat (as discussed in the episode)... https://www.snapchat.com/add/mojcamars https://www.snapchat.com/add/garyvee https://www.snapchat.com/add/seanwestv Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Native Mac Calendar [Calendar app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? I don't really use a lot of software! My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be more personal. There is still not enough personality when it comes to social media and it comes to marketing, communicating your expertise. Of course value is important and with that value you can also share your personality a little bit more, because that's what differentiates one business from the other. So if I compare myself to another business, we can both offer the same vale, and the same advice, but basically it comes down to personality - and that's what will make me different from the other business.

How to connect with your subscribers – FRANK KLESITZ | DMR #151

David Bain — Tue, 17 May 2016 14:53:49 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who helps his clients, get more clients from their number one business asset - their existing customer or prospect database. Welcome to the CEO and co-founder of Vyral Marketing, Frank Klesitz (@VyralMarketing on Twitter). [You can find Frank over at GetVyral.com] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to connect with your subscribers, with topics including: Do you find generally that businesses have databases that they're not taking full advantage of? Why do you think that is? If you’re talking to a database that haven't heard from you for a while, what kind of things do you start communicating with them? What are some of the effective ways to grow a cold database into a warm set of prospects? How do you track the ROI of building that relationship? How much time should you generally allow to turn a cold lead into a warm prospect? Do you generally rely on the telephone as your tool of choice or do you prefer automating the process? [Tweet ""You need to build a list of the people who are most likely to hire you" say @VyralMarketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Apps [Work software for business] Infusionsoft [Sales and marketing workflow management] Fonality [VOIP services for business] Unbounce [Landing pages] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Group communication] Hubspot [Marketing automation platform] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You need to build a list of the people who are most likely to hire you, that have the money to hire you, the money to give you. And focus all your effort into that list. Building on that list and working on that list. If you're just focused on publishing a bunch of videos or publishing a podcast or articles, and putting it out to the world, and magically hope that people are going to magically going to discover you and buy from you, it tends to be more of a pipe dream than reality. I recommend for you to build a list of people, and go extremely deep into that list of people to be able to make sales.

Lead Building with LinkedIn – LAWRENCE HOWLETT | DMR #150

David Bain — Tue, 10 May 2016 15:00:46 +0000

Today I'm joined by a digital entrepreneur who’s worked for himself from the age of 13. He co-owns a well-established full service web agency in the UK and runs his very own podcast called More Demand. Welcome to DMR - Lawrence Howlett (@lawrencehowlett). [You can find Lawrence over at NewEdge.co.uk] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qKhHiHJ6iA On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss lead building with LinkedIn, with topics including: How effective is LinkedIn as a source of leads? What type of business can use LinkedIn most effectively? What's the most effective process for driving leads from LinkedIn? Is it important to have a pro LinkedIn subscription? What messaging works best? What call to action works best? What other forms of lead building are you finding to be effective at the moment? What are your thoughts on the future of LinkedIn and the necessity to be on other social networks? [Tweet ""Create before you consume." @lawrencehowlett #BusinessProductivity #GreatQuotes"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? InfusionSoft [Sales and marketing automation software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? HubSpot [Inbound marketing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Create before you consume. A lot of the time, even with LinkedIn, we'll log-in and we'll just read what other people are spewing out. We'll log-in to our Facebook, and we'll read what other people are spewing out. And then that takes us on a half-hour tangent and before we know it, we've lost out mindset, and we've not created anything. So what I do religiously in the morning is not open my emails, not open the news feed or anything like that. I sit down and do my content creation, whether that's a blog or a podcast or a webinar. Create some content for the site. That's what I want to do first before I then go and consume other people's content.

Generating business leads through mobile live streaming – PETER STEWART | DMR #149

David Bain — Tue, 03 May 2016 15:00:18 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who’s a presenter, producer and trainer for a world-renowned broadcasting corporation. He’s also author of a few books - including one on how to use the live streaming platform, Periscope. Welcome to DMR - Peter Stewart (@TweeterStewart). You’ll soon be able to find Pete over at PeteStewart.co.uk. (Website going live soon!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjgNkCrJ-Js On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Generating business leads through mobile live streaming, with topics including: Why Periscope? Can mobile live streaming actually be a really effective medium for driving leads? What are some examples of brands that are doing this really effectively at the moment? Do businesses need to be worried about being legally compliant when they have their staff live streaming? How do you promote your live stream? Do most people watch your show in the app or elsewhere? Do you republish the replay elsewhere? What kind of call to action works well to gather leads? [Tweet ""A lot of people are concerned when it comes to #LiveStreaming. Just try it." @TweeterStewart"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Tweet Deck [Twitter management] iMovie [Video editing software] Cameo [Video editing software for iOS] Splice [Video editing software for iOS] Gravie [iOS app for putting text on video] Beedeo [iOS app that adds text that moves with content on videos] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Communications / sharing app] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Try it. That's it. Try it. A lot of people are concerned when it comes to live streaming. I think now is a fantastic opportunity to get on it. Now is a really good time to get on, see how it works, make the mistakes and build your niche, start building a bit of a following before the big boys and millions and millions of other people get on and it becomes a crowded marketplace. If you decide after a couple of dozen that it's not for you, then OK, you've given it your best shot.

SEO in the Year 2020 – RAND FISHKIN | DMR #148

David Bain — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 14:20:09 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man, who for over 10 years has been one of the most consistent leaders in the field of organic search marketing. He’s author of 2 books, and also co-founder of Inbound.org. Welcome to DMR - the Wizard of Moz - Rand Fishkin (@randfish). You can find Rand over at Moz.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W9GnB2rzb4 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss what SEO might look like in the year 2020, with topics including: Will we still be calling it SEO in the year 2020? To me it seems that SEO is splitting into different specialisms - UX, website performance, content marketing to name a few. Will an SEO be able to do everything in 2020 or will the role become even more specialist in the future? Do you think the average small business owner be more or less concerned with SEO in the year 2020? What are the SEO strategies that work well in 2016 that won’t work so well in 2020? What do you think Google Plus might look like in 2020 and do you think that Google might have purchased Twitter or another major social network by then? How will websites and the way that we consume them change by 2020? And what about the Google SERP - what are your thoughts on how that might change? How will Google determine authoritative and relevant content in the year 2020? What user behavior metrics might Google be measuring in 2020? How might organic search results be displayed in 2020 and how will they integrate with paid search? How will AI change SEO? How do you think negative SEO might evolve? Will we get better at cross-device tracking and multi touch attribution? [Tweet ".@randfishkin says that traffic from an email list can boost organic rankings #IntegratedMarketing"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Type Form [Online forms & surveys] Twitter Polls [Online forms & surveys] Pocket [Read articles later] Nuzzel [Find top social stories that your friends share] Culture Amp [People analytics for your company] Similar Web Pro [Website & app insights] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Part of my wants to say Slack, but I have used Slack quite a bit [Messaging app] Buzz Stream [Outreach and link building] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If I had been listening to this as a web marketer, if I hadn't already been thinking about the idea that organic traffic could drive my rankings, I would be thinking about that very strongly. I'd be thinking about what is a way I could be driving organic traffic to pages I'm on the cusp of ranking - I'm on page 2 / I'm on page 3. I just haven't got the signals I quite need to rank. May be what I need is more organic traffic efforts. How could I get included in an email list? How could I get more social traffic? How could I get more engagement on the page? More people sharing it, more copy and paste behaviour, people emailing it to each other. I think that might be the missing link for some folks who aren't ranking for what they want to rank for.

How to turn a podcast into a book – MATTHEW TURNER | DMR #147

David Bain — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 15:00:02 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man who I interviewed first 18 months ago - back on episode 54 of Digital Marketing Radio, where he shared some great tips on the art of storytelling in marketing. Since then he’s interviewed 163 successful and inspiring entrepreneurs for his very own podcast - and he’s about to publish a book on the subject. Welcome for the second time to DMR - Matthew Turner (@turndog_million). [You can find Matt over at Turndog.co/SM] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IALiLcA70bQ On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to turn a podcast into a book, with topics including: Did you know that your destination was to write a book at the start of your podcasting journey? Did you find that your ability to interview well improved as the episodes went by? How else did the process change you? What would you do differently if you had to do it again? What would you advise anyone intending on embarking on a similar project? Who did you like interviewing the most? Who did you like interviewing the least? What method are you using to publish your book? Have you looked into the pros and cons of self-published or trying to get a book deal? How are you promoting your book? What is your objective by publishing the book? What do you want to do next? [Tweet ""You can't take a day off from being the best version of who you are" says @turndog_million #Quotes"] The Successful Mistake Mistake the book will be out in mid-June 2016. Find out more about it and register interest at Turndog.co/SM.

How to grow your audience on YouTube – ROBERTO BLAKE | DMR #146

David Bain — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:00:10 +0000

Today I'm joined by a man whose work has been recognized by Forbes, Advanced Photoshop Magazine and Photoshop Creative Magazine. He’s a creative entrepreneur with 10 years commercial experience in design and marketing. Welcome to DMR, @robertoblake. [You can find Roberto over at RobertoBlake.com.] On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to grow your audience on YouTube, with topics including: You've got 90,000 subscribers and loads of videos with tens of thousands of views. What’s your secret? Do you have to produce beautiful videos to be successful? When did you start on YouTube? What kind of videos tend to get the most views? Do you promote your videos much after you publish them? What kind of call-to-action do you have? Has YouTube changed much over the past couple of year? How do you think YouTube will continue to evolve? Are there other video networks starting to compete with YouTube? Is producing videos for YouTube quite different from hosting a live event? [Tweet ""#InfluencerMarketing is going to crush #PPC in the next 5 to 10 years" @robertoblake #MarketingQuotes"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? The Adobe Creative Suite [Design and creative editing software suite] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Post Planner [Social media scheduling software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Respect the relationships which you have. Whether it's with your customers, your clients. Whether it's with the people you work with or the people in your employ. Or the audiences that you want to build. If all of your actions are dictated by creating value for other people - creating something awesome, putting it out there because it will help or benefit other people beyond you - beyond putting money in your pocket, beyond giving you what you want in ROI or vanity metrics or whatever it is. Good intentions ultimately matter. And I'm not saying that from a rose-coloured glasses perspective. I'm saying that as human beings, if you don't have good intentions towards us, we will see it eventually. And we will make a decision with our wallets. We will teach you the same painful lesson that Blockbuster learned. When you don't create a good experience for us, we will teach you the same painful lesson that companies have when their top talent quits and goes to the competition. We will teach you those same painful lessons if you do not respect your audience, your viewer-ship, your family, your employees, your clients, your customers. They make you what you are. The network that you have is some of your greatest value and if you treat people poorly, you treat them unintelligently, you show that you're only in this for yourself and what you can syphon from them - they will see through it and they will cut you off at the knees and you will have nothing. So, if you want to grow an audience on YouTube, you want to build a business, respect people and respect human beings. Start thinking about returning on the relationships. Think about what you can give and stop just thinking about how to make as much of a quick buck as possible, or how to get a quick view, or how to fake it until you make it or do a scam. Be more than willing to let good intentions and the respect of a relationship prepare you to deliver on the hard work that success and creativity demands from you.

What’s the difference between social media marketing for B2B & B2C? – BRIANNA SMITH | DMR #145

David Bain — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 15:00:55 +0000

Today I’m joined by an Integrated Marketing Manager who started her career as a brand strategist. She’s also Adjunct Professor at UMSL where she teaches the Social Media Marketing course. Welcome to DMR, Brianna Smith. [You can also find Brianna over at BeingYourBrand.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4QHeOunEj8 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss "what’s the difference between social media marketing for B2B & B2C?", with topics including: How long have you been involved with social media marketing? How much has it changed? What specifically has changed? What’s the difference between social media marketing for B2B & B2C? What works best for B2B? Does B2B businesses still need to be active on social media? What networks work best for B2B? What works best for B2C? What networks work better for B2C? How should B2B and B2C social profiles be set up differently? [Tweet ""There's no area of the business where marketing should not be involved." @Brianna5mith"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Canva [Online graphic design] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Clear Voice [Find influencers to help grow your brand] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Take an inbound marketing approach to nurture your customers. If you're B2C, get them down that funnel faster. If you're B2B, nurturing those customers through the sales process, use your awesome marketing tools to help sales push them further down the funnel.

Measuring the impact of your social media activities – PERRY DRAKE | DMR #144

David Bain — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 15:00:31 +0000

Today I’m joined by the Professor of Digital and Social Media Marketing at the University of Missouri. He is the author of ‘Optimal Database Marketing’ and founder of the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference - Welcome to DMR, Perry Drake (@pddrake). [You can find Perry over at UMSLdigitalconference.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lTWP9eAh8Y On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss measuring the impact of your social media activities, with topics including: Is it essential for everyone who represents a business on social media to be measuring the impact of their activities? What are a few of the most important metrics to be keeping an eye out for? What are some of the more effective activities to be doing on social media? What tools are you using to measure social media activity? What are some of the more effective paid advertising opportunities on social at the moment? Are there any social platform activities that you can’t measure, that you just have to rely on gut instinct to justify the value of the activity? What trends are you seeing in use of social media at the moment? What social platforms are catching your eye at the moment? [Tweet ""Be consistent in everything that you do in #socialmedia." @pddrake"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hootsuite [Social media management] Fan Page Karma [Analyze and improve social media profiles] Google Insights [Demand / supply monitoring] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Marketing automation software in general My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Figure out who your are, what you are as a brand, what you stand for. Be consistent in everything that you do in social media. Don't violate your rules. I have my own personal set of social media rules that I never violate.

How to attract and engage email subscribers – TOM TATE | DMR #143

David Bain — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 15:00:12 +0000

Today I’m joined by someone who moved from project management, to educating and communicating the value of email marketing to digital marketers, entrepreneurs, and content creators everywhere. Welcome to DMR, Tom Tate (@tnrt). [Tom is Product Marketing Manager at AWeber.com. You can also find him over at Weekly.coffee] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmho2MO3AY8 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to attract and engage email subscribers, with topics including: How would you compare the value of email marketing compared with other digital channels? Is it important for every type of business to be building a list? How much detail on your prospects is it best to get, or will email suffice? What are some of the more effective ways to attract new subscribers at the moment? Is it possible to come across as very personalised, but still be very much automated? What are some of the more effective ways to get your subscribers to open and engage with your emails? Are there any idea length or content type for emails? What are some of the more effective calls-to-action for emails? What about subject lines? What about the from line, should that be a person or a company? What are your thoughts on the future of email marketing? [Tweet ""Start work on building out that authenticity and that voice" @tnrt"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Mozilla Thunderdbird [Email software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Communications app] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? There are people out there who would love to hear from you. You as a small business owner or a marketer. You have an authentic, original voice. Find that voice. Even if you're not a great writer, just start work on building our that authenticity and that voice and finding ways to connect with people through email because it's so rewarding.

Creating Customers on Autopilot – JON BUTT | DMR #142

David Bain — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:00:24 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who sold his business for 7 figures back in 2003 and then retired. And then got bored. So he started an e-commerce business, and that’s now generated over 20 million dollars in sales to-date. Welcome to DMR, Jon Butt (@MarketingOwners). [You can find Jon over at MarketingForOwners.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMwtWb_czo On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss creating customers on autopilot, with topics including: You registered FireProtectionOnline.co.uk back in 2006 - how significant to your success is the fact that you were previously involved in that industry? Michael Gerber says “work on the business not in the business” & that’s what you also seem to apply to what you do. When you started off were you very hands on in every marketing activity? What marketing activity should a business try to automate first? What marketing activity shouldn’t a business owner automate? How has automation technology changed over the past few years? Can any business create customers on autopilot? What are the biggest mistakes you see when a business starts to automate customer acquisition process? [Tweet ""Spend 20% of your time building a business. 80% of your time marketing." @MarketingOwners"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Process Street [Process and Workflow management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hubspot [Marketing automation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Everybody spends too much time and too much energy getting over-involved in the business. All businesses are the same. they have production, marketing and finance. That's pretty much it. Businesses just run on the same framework. You need to make sure that you have marketing nailed down - and all you need to do is follow an existing proven system. there are plenty out there, plenty out there for free. Just look at YouTube, plenty of stuff. 20% of your time building a business. 80% of your time marketing. If you are building a busienss, this is not a short-term thing. Slow and steady wins the race.

BONUS: Art Jones interviews me on my digital marketing journey | DMR #141b

David Bain — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 15:00:12 +0000

Just after I interviewed Art Jones for episode 141 of DMR – he also interviewed me for his own show. And it struck me that on that show, I talked a lot about my own background in digital marketing; and my own views on online marketing success, and on podcasting too. That’s not a side of me that you get to hear very often here on DMR – so thanks to Art, I decided to release that interview – as a bonus episode here. It’s going to be a little bit different, but if you’re a regular listener, it’ll give you an opportunity to find out a little more about me, the man behind the Digital Marketing Radio microphone. Here are a few of the things that we discuss: Am I a jackhammer or a hummingbird? Do I take advice from many people, or just a few people? What was my first business that I started in the year 2000? Did the things I learned from business in the past help me with building an online business? How I got involved in SEO and making money online What’s the story behind the 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing? How did the 26-Week Digital Marketing Plan get started? When did I discover podcasting and what drew me to it? How did I manage to put together such a professional podcast process? What do I think of LinkedIn as a social networking tool? What advice to I have for fellow podcasters? What advice do I have on video marketing with YouTube? And also towards the end Art asks me: If I only had one word to describe myself what would it be? Do I have a guilty pleasure? What’s the biggest risk I’ve ever taken? What’s my biggest life dream? If I could ask just one person, alive or dead for advice, who would that be? And why? Name 2 books that you can recommend that you are reading, or plan to read. Share 2 pieces of advice for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. To conclude: Just to the end of the discussion I mentioned that I’m going to be launching a brand new podcast. I’m also going to be launching a brand new training program. If you’re a coach, a consultant or some other expert, and you’d like to enhance your sector credibility and you’re thinking of starting your own podcast, I’d love to hear your feedback in terms of what you’re looking for. So I’ve set up a survey at StartYourOwnShow.com. I’d love to hear your views on what you’re thinking of doing; and what challenges are concerning you in relation to starting your own show. The survey at StartYourOwnShow.com won’t be available for long. So if it’s up there when you go there I’d really appreciate 5 minutes of your time to tell me your thoughts.

The Art of Standing Out – ART JONES | DMR #141

David Bain — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 10:49:41 +0000

I'm joined today by someone who believes that sales, as we practiced it in the last century is dead! He's a man who believes that it's absolutely essential to stand out and rise above all the noise made by the competition. Please welcome, the principal consultant at “The Art of Standing Out” - Arthur Jones. You can find Art over at TAO-iM.com. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the art of standing out, with topics including: Is one way for a business to stand out, by adapting technology quicker than its competitors? What are the most important technologies for businesses to adapt as soon as possible? Are humans still important? What about communication with prospects - how much of that should be automated and systematized and how much should you rely on an individual’s personality? You say that storytelling is also important - how much of that can be built into the system? Will the art of standing our rely more and more on technology in the future? [Tweet ""Accept the responsibility to be a leader, that we all can be." @ArtJones"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Mindmeister [Mind mapping software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Messaging & storytelling app] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Each of us has the opportunity to lead. And if we're doing digital marketing, we're stepping up to the plate to lead the tribe of people that we're in service to. So accept the responsibility to be a leader, that we all can be. Cultivate the expertise of a leader - that is being mindful, using your intuition, using your sense of empathy and continuing to grow into that. And being a good leader also means that you do that soft-skill development for self-awareness, while you're gathering all the data that you can to get a mash-up of soft-skills, data to reach the audience that you are in service to - and go change the world.

Why is everyone ignoring your content? – DAN TAYLOR | DMR #140

David Bain — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 15:00:13 +0000

Today I’m joined by a UK digital marketer with a passion for digital communications. He’s currently an SEO account manager based in Yorkshire, England. Welcome to DMR, Dan Taylor (@danny_taywitter). You can find Dan over at KeywordsAndJargon.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-XH0eRX4pw On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss why everyone is ignoring your content, with topics including: Why do so many content marketers struggle to get traction with their content? What are a few of the biggest mistakes that you see people making? Is it getting more difficult than it used to be? What is the right way to do it? Is it necessary to pay to play in 2016? What does the future of content marketing look like? [Tweet ""Invest time into looking into your #AnalyticsData. Learn about your audience." @danny_taywitter"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Canva [Online image design made easy] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Huballin [Generate content marketing topic ideas] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Invest time into looking into your analytics data and learning what your audience is actually saying back to you. If you're putting out a load of Facebook posts and they're getting good engagement in terms of 'Likes', yes that's good - but if it's the same people that are liking it every single time, your actual reach isn't growing. Look at what pages aren't performing on your blog. See what keywords you come up for in Search Console. Invest time in creating and maintaining good content.

Social Media Strategy for Senior Executives – DIONNE LEW | DMR #139

David Bain — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Today I’m joined someone who consultants to boards on “social media for business”. She’s author of “The Social Executive: How to Master Social Media and why its Good for Business”. Welcome to DMR, @DionneLew. You can find Dionne over at DionneLew.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pohpca09v9Y On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss social media strategy for senior executives, with topics including: Is it actually a good idea to get all senior executive active on social media - or is social media simply not right for some people? What percentage of senior executive would you say are active on social media at the moment? For those who are active, what are the downsides of being active? What are the benefits? What are some of the most effective networks to be on? What are some examples of the best ways for senior execs to interact on social media? What are some of the most effective networks and why? Can Facebook be effective for senior execs? [Tweet ""#Scheduling is not #automation" @DionneLew"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Buffer [Social media scheduling] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? I try not to get distracted by new tools and software! I prefer to rely on websites like Razor Social by @IanCleary and programs like Digital Marketing Radio to keep me up to speed with things. My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be social, be global. Whether you're a CEO or board member or professional, be social, be global.

How to grow your business by being a guest on other people’s platforms – MICHELLE EVANS | DMR #138

David Bain — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 15:00:03 +0000

Today I’m joined someone who walked away from her global marketing strategy role at Microsoft in 2012 to help entrepreneurs and small business owners tame their marketing monsters; and design results-based strategies that actually work. Welcome to DMR, Michelle Evans (@michellelevans). [You can find Michelle over at michellelevans.com] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNZ3eRIQehI On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to grow your business by being a guest on other people’s platforms, with topics including: No regrets about walking away from Microsoft? One of the marketing methods that you’re finding to be particularly successful at the moment is what you call “guesting” - what do you mean by that? What are the different types of “guesting” that work best at the moment? Where does someone find “guesting opportunities” How do you prepare for a guest opportunity? And how do you turn these guest appearances into actual business? I’m starting to get a few requests to guest on Digital Marketing Radio - how do I tell between someone who wants to offer value, and someone who just wants to promote something? [Tweet ""Figure out what 'guesting' platform is the right one for you" @michellelevans"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Basecamp [Project management software] Less Annoying CRM [Customer relationship management software] Typorama [Text to graphics for social media] Legend App [Text to graphics for social media] Rev Recorder [Smartphone dictation recording app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? WebinarJam [Webinar software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Figure out what 'guesting' platform is the right one for you. And start making those connections and getting those opportunities to get out and connect with the host, with the audience and really sharing what you have to share in your message.

Learning from your competitor’s PPC campaigns – LEON KRISHNAYANA | DMR #137

David Bain — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 15:00:04 +0000

Today I’m joined by a tech entrepreneur who is a passionate builder of SAAS products that solve real world problems. He’s the founder of a company that monitors Google, Bing and Yahoo text ads and trends; and offer PPC competitor insight. Welcome to DMR, Leon Krishnayana (@leonkrishnayana). You can find Leon over at iSpionage.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io6INlWHWzY On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss learning from your competitor's PPC campaigns, with topics including: Is it essential for every business that runs PPC ads to be analyzing their competitor’s ads? What are the most important aspects of an ad to analyze? Obviously you shouldn’t just copy your competitor’s ad copy - or can you? What are some specific ways that competitive intelligence helps with managing PPC? What are some of the biggest mistakes people make with PPC campaigns? How is PPC changing? Is CPM or video or other forms of paid advertising going to take over? [Tweet ""Word of mouth marketing is the highest converting channel for us." @leonkrishnayana"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [website visitor stats] MailChimp [Email marketing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Marketing automation software in general My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're starting out then you really need to get more traffic to your website first. If you're not in the vicinity of anybody's mind, no matter how great your product or service is, it's useless. If you already have some level of visibility on the internet, customer success would be something that you would want to focus on. Word of mouth marketing is so powerful. That is the highest converting channel for us. You can only get that is you provide a good service or a good product.

How to create a compelling online offer – MATTHIAS MAZUR | DMR #136

David Bain — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 15:00:09 +0000

Today I’m joined by someone who was ranked the number 1 tennis player in Switzerland before suffering a career-ending injury at the age of 17, forcing him to reevaluate his entire life. Since then he’s built a multimillion-dollar internet marketing business in less than 36 months and authored a book called MAXIMIZE: 29 Strategies to Turbocharge Your Business with the Power of the Internet. Welcome to DMR, Matthias Mazur (@mattmazur). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLdQWlKDbo On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the how to create a compelling online offer, with topics including: What is a compelling online offer? What are the most important elements of a successful online offer? What are some of the mistakes that businesses make when trying to create a compelling online offer? Can you realistically expect someone to make a purchase on their first visit to your website, or do you have to nurture that relationship first? A lot of your training focuses on consultants. What are a few great calls-to-action that consultants should use on their website? Online marketing changes constantly. What are some of the more essential aspects on online marketing in 2016? Is it essential for every coach or consultant to build their personal brand authority in 2016? If so, what are some of the more effective ways of doing this? [Tweet ""You're really just one great offer away from 7 figures in business." @MattMazur"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Skype [VOIP software] Dropbox [Online document storage] RoboForm [Password storage] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snapchat [Video messaging] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? When Matt Damon won the Oscar for Good Will Hunting, he said "You're one good movie away from being the biggest star you could ever imagine." Because that's what happened to him. In the same way that that happened to him, I've seen it for us, for clients, you're really just one great offer away from 7 figures in business. Literally in the next 3 to 6 months. When you have an offer that is compelling - that the market wants - that's multiple 7 figures in the long-term. And pure freedom for you. So that would be the main thing that I would focus on.

New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing Teams – TIM MATTHEWS | DMR #135

David Bain — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 15:00:18 +0000

Today I’m joined by the author of “The Professional Marketer”. He’s also the VP of marketing at InCapsula, welcome to DMR, Tim Matthews (@timmatthewssv). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QQ2uCnqDT0 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the New Year’s resolutions for marketing teams, with topics including: Why have resolutions for marketing teams? Is January the best time for resolutions? One of the resolutions you suggest is “Be the Buyer Day” - what’s that about? Something else that you think is an important resolution is talking to customers - but does that apply to digital marketers as well? What else is on your own list of marketing resolutions this year? Do you have a team that decide their own resolutions? One of the main reasons that your book “The professional marketer” exists is because of Kickstarter. Were you quite happy with the Kickstarter experience? What’s one thing you might do differently if you did a future Kickstarter campaign? [Tweet ""Never overlook an opportunity to optimize." @timmatthewssv"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Optimizely [Split testing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hotjar [Live user experience tracking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Never overlook an opportunity to optimize. Marketing has changed from produce a bunch of stuff and then you're done for the year to constant weekly optimization of everything. Social channels, website, sales training. You name it. I think we're on a treadmill now in marketing. Just every week think about what could you do better next week, and then the week after that. I think you're going to improve a lot. And it's a lot easier in some ways than my annual resolutions to think about every week how I can get a little bit better, and a little bit better. Maybe it's a smaller bite if you will.

SPECIAL: How to Blog Successfully in 2016, with Yaro Starak

David Bain — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 10:00:54 +0000

I first interviewed today's guest way back in 2007, and I've got a fun special interview to share with you today, comparing his answers in 2016, with the answers that he gave me in the original interview back in 2007. Yaro Starak is the founder of Entrepreneur's Journey, the trainer at Blog Mastermind and the author of the Blog Profits Blueprint. (You can download a copy of Yaro's Blog Profits Blueprint for free here: http://www.digitalmarketingradio.com/yaro.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR4WEQZcCno Remember to download your free copy of Yaro's Blog Profits Blueprint here: http://www.digitalmarketingradio.com/yaro Here are the questions that I asked Yaro back in 2007, which we also cover in this interview: The first question is a general knowledge question for you – what TLD does Scotland use? Is it better to use a brand name or a descriptive phrase as a domain name? How do you go about selecting a WordPress theme for your site? If you were to recommend 2 WordPress plugins to install, what plugins would you choose? Is it important in 2016 to ensure that your blog can be read on mobile devices and if so, what does the average blogger need to know about that? What do you think of bloggers using Feedburner to power their RSS feeds? Is there still a major problem with spam blogs? And how challenging is dealing with spam in general? What is your biggest tip on why a business should start a blog? If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you spend your time doing in your business? Do you have any intention to quit blogging or is it a lifetime passion?

How do you choose the right social network for your business? – JANET FOUTS | DMR #134

David Bain — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 09:00:58 +0000

Today I’m joined today by a 20-year digital media marketing veteran. Someone who’s 6th book, "Mindful Social Marketing - How authenticity and generosity are transforming marketing" is set to be released in the near future. She is the is founder and CEO of Tatu Digital Media. Welcome to DMR, Janet Fouts (@jfouts). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OEweXirLDQ On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the how to choose the right social network for your business, with topics including: How many social networks should a business be on? How does a business decide which are the right networks to be on? What’s the latest shiny new platform to be on? Should business leaders be on social media or should it be their social media managers sharing content on their behalf? You also wrote a book on Google+ for business - is Google+ as important as it used to be? What are some of the more effective content sharing strategies at the moment? Your book talks about how authenticity and generosity are transforming marketing - what do you mean by that? Can you sell directly on social media? What’s the future for the big social networks? Do you think Twitter and Facebook are going to be the social goliaths for years to come? [Tweet ""Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen and then listen some more." @jfouts"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Sprout Social [Social media dashboard] Buzz Sumo [Social media listening tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? I try all the tools! My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen and then listen some more. Because we really need to be paying attention more to what our customer wants than what we want to tell them.

What social media management tools should you be using? – IAN ANDERSON GRAY | DMR #133

David Bain — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 15:00:10 +0000

I'm joined today by a man who specialises in social media tools and systems to turbo boost your productivity and efficiency. He is a speaker, trainer, consultant, web developer and founder of Seriously Social - welcome to DMR, Ian Anderson Gray (@iagdotme). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP_AvHVXcL0 On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the social media management tools, with topics including: What’s it like to have a .me domain? How many social networks are you actively on at the moment? What social networks are you currently using the most? And how do you them? You also link to Vine from your Twitter profile? Can you measure the value of being on Vine or is that just for fun? You follow 40,000 people on Twitter - how on earth do you manage that? Is it sufficient for a small business owners nowadays to be using native social media apps and dashboards or so you think that 3rd party dashboards are essential for most businesses? How do the tools that you recommend change depending on the size of the business - what would your recommendation be for social media management tools for bigger businesses versus smaller businesses? I’d like to talk a little more about posting style and interaction style. What are some of the bigger mistakes that you see at the moment? What are the things that you definitely need to be doing in terms of posting style and frequency? [Tweet ""When you get behind your computer or smartphone, don't forget relationships. @iagdotme"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Gmail [Online email] WordPress [CMS] IFTTT [If This Them That] Feedly [RSS reader] Buffer [Social media syndication] Agora Pulse [Social media management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Convert Kit [Email software] Active Campaign [Email software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I'm really into tools. Tools are fantastic. They can save you so much time, they can solve problems. But, they're not going to solve all your problems, and ultimately relationships are key. When you get behind your computer or smartphone, don't forget relationships. Build those relationships, those strong relationships because you never know what's going to happen. If possible, try to meet them in person. Go to conferences. Create situations where you can meet these people face-to-face.

How to stand out in the crowded digital world – ANDREW & PETE | DMR #132

David Bain — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 15:00:30 +0000

I'm joined today by 2 chaps who love showing small businesses how to unleash the power of standing out in a competitive world. They run what they call their very own Stand Out Marketing company - welcome to DMR, @AndrewAndPete. [You can find Andrew and Pete over at AndrewAndPete.com.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5zu-VlifKo On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the how to stand out in the crowded digital world, with topics including: What are some of the most effective ‘stand out marketing activities at the moment? How did you get started in business together? You describe yourselves as visual marketers - what do you mean by that? If anyone views your avatar, they’ll see that you look as if you’ve been involved in an explosion - what’s that all about? What made you decide to record the videos for the home page of your website? Can any business stand out with visual marketing? You also mention that you like to stand out with your email marketing. What do you do to do that? I see that you use MailChimp - do you have an autoresponder series set up? You also do talks on Facebook Advertising - what’s some of the best practice at the moment there? [Tweet ""If you are remarkable then people are going to talk about you no matter what." @AndrewAndPete"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Dropbox [Online document storage and management] Google Drive [Online document storage and management] Edgar [Social media scheduling] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? ConvertKit [Email marketing for bloggers] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Stand out and be remarkable. We don't want you to go away and think that you need to be good at what you do. We don't want you to go away and think that you need to be great at what you do. Or even amazing. We want you to be remarkable. And when we say remarkable we only say that because it's worth making a remark about. So if you're not getting people to spread the word about you, then your business isn't going to fly as much as it should do or it could do. So if you can create an experience or have a story that people just have to pass on to other people, then your business is going to fly.

Digital Marketing Predictions for 2016 from 54 Different Experts | DMR Christmas Special

David Bain — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 23:13:12 +0000

It’s the Digital Marketing Radio Christmas special 2015! For this mammoth 2-hour episode I'm joined by 54 experts who share with me – and you – their number one digital marketing prediction for 2016. Remember to subscribe to the audio podcast in iTunes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNdFiv5WGLQ Taking part in this episode were: Saul Colt from Hubba Calin Yablonski from Inbound Interactive Alexandra Tachalova from AlexTachalova.com Amy Schmittauer from Savvy Sexy Social Kevin Krason from BizNet Susan Baroncini-Moe from Business in Blue Jeans David Horne from DavidHorne.me Ilise Benun from Marketing Mentor Liam Martin from Staff.com Kamila Gornia from KamilaGornia.com Mike Russell from New Media Europe Alex Harris from Alex Designs Olga Andrienko from SEM Rush Danny Ashton from NeoMam Jamie Turner from 60 Second Marketer David Shaw from DavidMarkShaw.com Tom Treanor from Wrike Chris Marr from the Content Marketing Academy Cosmin Negrescu from SEO Monitor Jeremy Boeh from NEXT High School Martin Waxman from MartinWaxman.com Lukasz Zelezny from uSwitch Ryan Buchanan from eROI Andrew McCauley from Autopilot Your Business Kevin Hillstrom from Mine That Data John Lee Dumas from Entrepreneur on Fire Mickey Lonchar from MickeyLonchar.com Janet Fouts from JanetFouts.com Paul Julius from Frixil Alex Makin from Syneka Marketing Alita Harvey-Rodriguez from Milk It Academy Trevor Young from PR Warrior Heather Porter from HeatherPorter.com Jonny Ross from JonnyRoss.com Mark Pack from Blue Rubicon Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting Jon Buscall from Moondog Marketing Andrew and Pete from AndrewAndPete.com Mark Asquith from Excellence Expected Colin Gray from The Podcast Host Daniel Burstein from Marketing Sherpa Jeff White from Kula Partners Robert Brady from Clix Marketing Mark Traphagen from Stone Temple Consulting Matthew Turner from Turndog Adam Vowles from SUSO Digital Beki Winchel from PR Daily Brandon Yanofsky from My WP Expert Joel House from Black Shirt Marketing David Rodnitzky from 3Q Digital Ian Anderson Gray from IAG.me and I’m David Bain - founder and host of Digital Marketing Radio. The next episode will be published on Tuesday the 5th of January - have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes! :)

The challenges of digital marketing at a large corporation – JARRETT BYROM | DMR #131

David Bain — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 15:00:28 +0000

I'm joined today by someone who leads the PPC & SEO efforts for a large multinational corporation. He’s Director of SEO & digital advertising at Pearson Education. Welcome to DMR, Jarrett Byrom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEul0LMeHks On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the challenges of digital marketing at a large corporation, with topics including: Is it better to have a small budget, and be able to make decisions quickly, or have a larger budget, and having to spend more time justifying why you want to do things? What are the particular challenges that you face heading up the digital marketing department in a large organisation? How do you justify doing what you want to do if senior management don’t really ‘get’ digital marketing? What about SEO - how do you sell that internally? What are some of the more effective digital marketing activities for Pearson at the moment? I can see that 40,000 staff work for Pearson and that your main website doesn’t seem to focus on selling. How many websites do you have? How do you measure the ROI of brand marketing? [Tweet ""You need to focus most of your time on doing things that scale." @JarrettByrom"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Excel [Spreadsheet software] Moz [SEO management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Blab [Live streaming software] Meerkat [Live streaming software] Periscope [Live streaming software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You need to focus most of your time on doing things that scale. If I had to say one thing, that's really going to define your success in the digital marketing world, is to do that with your time. Spend the vast majority of your time doing things that are going to scale.

How to be a podcast guest – TOM SCHWAB | DMR #130

David Bain — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:00:26 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who transformed his business from a regional player to a national leader using Inbound marketing. He’s a man with a passion for empowering entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small business owners. Welcome to DMR, Tom Schwab. You can find Tom over at TMschwab.com/DMR. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b03JXxRmSjE On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss growing your business as a podcast guest, with topics including: Is it really possible to grow a business quickly without paying for advertising? So how many podcasts have you been on as a guest? How to be a podcast guest Do you host your own show as well, or is it better just to appear on other shows? How do you go about appearing on these shows? What do you do to prepare beforehand? What are the more common mistakes that interviewees make? Is it right to talk about your own product or service on other people’s shows? What’s the most effective call to action to make when you’re being interviewed on a podcast? [Tweet ""Marketing is about starting a conversation with someone who could be an ideal customer." @TMSchwab"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Text Expander [Save time typing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Software that my customers are using My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Marketing is about starting a conversation with someone who could be an ideal customer. Just always remember that, and decide what are you going to do for marketing - can you start that conversation on social media? Can you start it as a podcast host? As a podcast guest? Is it best to do it one-to-one? Figure out what that is. How you can start that conversation. and that is your marketing secret.

Antifragile Marketing: How to Grow your business in uncertainty – MARK TRAPHAGEN | DMR #129

David Bain — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 15:00:33 +0000

I'm joined today by a man who markets a marketing agency - he’s the Senior Director of Online Marketing for Stone Temple Consulting, a digital marketing agency serving major brands. Welcome to DMR, Mark Traphagen. You can find Mark over at StoneTemple.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHfDn1iaK8o On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the antifragile Marketing, with topics including: What exactly is antifragile marketing? How do you build a marketing team to prepare for an uncertain world? How do you build a system that is capable of adapting to shocks? Is it possible for a large marketing team to react to unexpected events, or are smaller teams more naturally better suited to change course? If you’re a marketing director, in charge of a large department that’s been quite regimental in its past thinking, how do you introduce out-of-the-box thinking? What about people in your organisation who don’t like change, and just focus on doing their own jobs well - should they be pushed to try different roles to expand their awareness of other things that are going on in the business? [Tweet ""Become a practitioner above a theoretician." @marktraphagen"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Buzz Sumo [Social sharing insight] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? SEMRush [Competitive analysis software] Similar Web [Competitive analysis software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Trust your experience, trust your instincts and do it. Become a practitioner above a theoretician. Don't ignore theory, but most valuable is just go out and do it day after day and be learning from what you do. Fail fast.

How to build and manage your own online community – ANN SMARTY | DMR #128

David Bain — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 15:00:32 +0000

My guest today is the former Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Journal. She’s the Brand and Community manager at Internet Marketing Ninjas and the founder of My Blog U. Welcome to DMR, Ann Smarty. You can find Ann over at MyBlogU.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9vDL5WtIU On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to build and manage your own online community, with topics including: Why is it important for a business to manage its community? Should every business try to foster its own online community? What are some of the benefits to having your own online community? What are some of the mistakes that businesses make when trying to build their online community? How do you get started building a community? What are some of the best platforms to build a community on? How do you manage to encourage ambassadors to grow your community on your behalf? [Tweet ""If you launch your product and you love it, it means you've launched too late!" @seosmarty"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Tweet Deck [Twitter management] Cyfe [Online marketing dashboard] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Sprout Social [asfafasf] oktopost [Social media analytics] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Do it! So many people are waiting for something before they launch, or before they start building their community. They think that it's so complicated or even starting a site is such a huge task. People are always looking for a 'good time' to do it. You know what? There is no good time. I like the quote: "If you launch your product and you love it, it means you've launched too late." If you plan to do something, just do it.

How can e-commerce stores take advantage of email marketing? – JOHN MCINTYRE | DMR #127

David Bain — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 15:00:30 +0000

Today’s guest has been featured in Forbes, Superfast Business and Marketing Optimization TV - I’ve been on Marketing Optimization TV with Alex too! My guest has built up a popular email marketing podcast, The McMethod, with over 200,000 downloads to-date and he’s also founder of his own ecommerce email marketing agency. Welcome to DMR - John McIntyre. You can find John over at ReenGager.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKBrzo1fZuE On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how can e-commerce stores take advantage of email marketing, with topics including: Why focus on helping ecommerce stores? What is specifically different about email marketing for ecommerce? Is it essential to use a 3rd party service like Sendgrid for transactional emails? How do you use email to increase customer spend? Is it important to personalise email newsletters based upon a customer's product interest & if so, how do you do it? Where are the biggest lost opportunities that many businesses are missing out on when it comes to email marketing? Are there certain ecommerce platforms that make it easier to integrate email marketing? Is there any other method of communicating with customers such as text messaging or social media that is increasing in importance or can you see email remaining King for the remaining future? [Tweet ""The problem is that you just haven't figured out how to make it work yet." #Quotes @johnmcintyre_"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Get Drip [Marketing automation] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Active Campaign [Marketing automation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? When I think about the last 3 or 4 years of doing this and playing this game, I think that the biggest thing that would have changed everything else would have been sticking with stuff. And not just sticking with one business, because I've stuck with one business for the past 3 years. Not just sticking with one business, but with sticking with one project within the business. If it's not working for you within 3 months, the problem isn't you. The problem is that you just haven't figured out how to make it work yet. And the solution then is not to go and try something different, it's to keep on working on that thing and feel the pain of failing at it, of having to grind, just like everyone else does, feeling that you're not as smart as you like to think you are.

What metrics should you be tracking to measure your SEO success? – COSMIN NEGRESCU | DMR #126

David Bain — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 15:00:08 +0000

Today I’m joined by a man who started his own digital agency in 2007 and transformed it into an SEO focused agency in 2012, quickly becoming a leader in the Romanian market. Welcome to DMR, Cosmin Negrescu. You can find Cosmin over at SEOmonitor.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37GVl4xV40g On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the metrics you should be tracking to measure your SEO success, with topics including: Is being a good SEO all about being a good scientist, knowing the figures, the formulae. Or do you need to be an artist as well to be a great SEO? So what are the most important metrics to consider in tracking SEO nowadays, and how have they changed over the years? What are some of the common SEO mistakes that you see businesses making? Is it still OK to ask for links? How are SEO activities changing? Do you find that Google’s algorithm is different in Romania compared with the UK and the USA? What are your thoughts on the future of SEO? For example, will Facebook and Apple become more important search engines? And what about voice search? [Tweet ""Focus on areas that we think we are great; and on people that most need our solution." @ncosmin"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Apps [Productivity tools] Hubspot [Marketing automation] Buzz Sumo [Social content performance] Buzz Stream [Influencer outreach management] SEMRush [Competitor research] Majestic [Link index database] Deep Crawl [Deep site technical analysis] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Last Pass [Online password manager] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Focus. For me as an entrepreneur and as a marketer, it's the focus on the product or the service that I want to market and grow that is very important. It's the focus on the areas that we think we are great, for the people that most need the solution that we are building.

Should every business be using a social media dashboard? – EMERIC ERNOULT | DMR #125

David Bain — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 15:00:37 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by someone who’s crazy enough to compete with hootsuite! He’s an entrepreneur with a passion for SAAS businesses - welcome to DMR, Emeric Ernoult. You can find Emeric over at AgoraPulse.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OrrGycblRA On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether every business be using a social media dashboard, with topics including: Why build a social media dashboard? What kind of efficiencies can a small business gain by using a social media dashboard? Isn’t it best just to focus all your efforts on the one social network and do a quality job there? Why do you focus on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? What are the biggest opportunities on those networks at the moment? Is it still important to drive traffic back to your site and build your own email list? What’s the future for these social networks? How will they continue to evolve? N.B. I introduced Emeric saying that he was "crazy enough to compete with Hootsuite" - here's an interesting blog post that compares the various social media management tools, showing that AgoraPulse are doing very well indeed! [Tweet ""Ask: Are these things going to help us build the business we want to build? Yes or No!" @eernoult"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? ChartMogul [Analytics for Stripe and other payment software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Active Campaign [Email marketing, marketing automation & sales CRM software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Wake up every morning and ask yourself "Am I going to focus on the most important thing to take my business to the nest step, to build my long-term vision, to build towards my long-term goal?"

Monetizing Yourself – NATALIE SISSON | DMR #124

David Bain — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 15:00:07 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by someone who’s built a multiple six figure business, while travelling the world. A lady who is a number 1 bestselling author, podcaster, speaker and adventurer who believes everybody has the right to choose freedom in business and adventure in life - welcome to DMR, Natalie Sisson! (You can find Natalie over at SuitcaseEntrepreneur.com.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0C4vfl2H4A On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss monetizing Yourself, with topics including: Can anyone monetize themselves online? What’s a realistic timescale to start to bring in a few thousand dollars per month? What are some of the initial steps to get started? Is it possible to do this part time? What are a few strategies that are working particularly well at the moment? What things used to work but aren’t so effective now? Will this get easier or harder in the future? [Tweet ""Listen to @yoda: Do or do not. There is no try." @nataliesisson"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Asana [Task management tool] Paypal [Online payments] Google Apps [Google Drive, calendar & Gmail] Time Doctor [Software for time management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hubspot [Marketing automation software] Click Funnels [Marketing automation software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Listen to Yoda: Do or do not. There is no try. We need a lot more doers in this world and less people going "I'll try that someday" or "I don't have time for that". I'm all about taking action and I think at the end of the day, if you want to make something of your life, if you want to impact people, if you want to do good in this world and leave a really cool legacy, take action and don't put off doing tomorrow what you could do today.

What are the traits of a good social brand? – TIMM MCVAIGH | DMR #123

David Bain — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 15:00:04 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by someone that helped me the first time I used Blab. He’s got more than 25 years’ experience in marketing, having assisted companies like Coca Cola, American Express and Proctor & Gamble in the past. Welcome to DMR, Timm McVaigh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0wnxaOvDxI On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the traits of a good social brand, with topics including: In the future, will it be possible for brands to be a success without being social? What are the traits of a good social brand? What is the social aspect of a brand? Can a logo or “persona” be sociable, or is it down to the people in the organisation? Surely if a company’s products or services are good enough then their customers will do the talking on behalf of the brand on social media? Should your brand’s social voice always be congruent with your brand identity? How should personal brands and corporate brands sit together? So much has happened in the digital world over the past few years. Can you imagine how social platforms might continue to evolve, and if so how brands might have to adapt? [Tweet ""A good social brand listens more than it speaks." @brandideas"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Adobe Creative Cloud [Design and creative software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Social analytics tools in general My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You've got to transform your brand beyond logo and message and the thing that we do to the thing that it does for someone else. And that means having a conversation. That means allowing your you to be the voice of that relationship. Social means that we've become a person in a corporate world, and that corporate voice has to be more a person than just 'we are a company changing the future'. People want to know why you're changing the future and have a conversation around how can we help to change the future with you.

Is it important for every marketer to understand the art of storytelling? – JEREMY BOEH | DMR #122

David Bain — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 15:00:51 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQYiwQU7Jvc Today's guest describes himself as a consultant, a storyteller and a builder. He's also the Entrepreneurship Director of NEXT High School in Greenville South Carolina and one of the co-founders and original architects of The Space - an entrepreneurship programme at Wofford College. Welcome to DMR, Jeremy Boeh. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the art of storytelling in marketing, with topics including: Is it important for every marketer to understand the art of storytelling? How would you define being a good storytelling marketer? What would you say makes a good story? What's the starting point if you want to weave a better story about your brand? What are one or two examples of brands that do storytelling really well? I'm sure that you can do storytelling the wrong way as well - what are some of the pitfulls to avoid? Where do you incorporate a good story into your content - do you need to weave your story into all types of content like your site and emails or is it best just to use your blog and social media to do your storytelling? How do you measure the ROI of storytelling? [Tweet ""Hustle over recognition and impact over everything." @jeremy_BAY"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? HootSuite [Social media management] The entire Google Apps system What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Periscope [Personal broadcasting tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Understand that IMPACT should be at the beginning of everything you do. Hustle over recognition and impact over everything. If you're making an impact, the end result should be that you're improving people's lives and not how much money you're making from it.

Personal Branding: Why Ugly Never Wins and what to do about it – PHIL PALLEN | DMR #121

David Bain — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:00:21 +0000

My guest today build brands for TV personalities, experts and entrepreneurs. You've seen his clients on on television, including Shark Tank, Dancing with the Stars and The X Factor. He’s also author of a book called “Shut up and Tweet” - welcome to DMR, Phil Pallen. (You can find Phil over at PhilPallen.co.) On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss personal branding, with topics including: Can an ugly person become beautiful? What makes a beautiful person appear ugly? What are some of the best things to do when reaching out to people for the first time? What are some of the mistakes that people make when presenting themselves to the public? What are some of the most effective ways to get noticed by influencers? If you’re being interviewed, what are a few things that you need to do to improve how you’re perceived? How do you decide on a brand’s personality? [Tweet ""You'll get there if you make it about THEM, not YOU." @philpallen"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Docs [Document management] BillingsPro [Online Invoicing by MarketCircle] Evernote [Collect ideas for podcasts] Pinterest Secret Boards [Personal brand ideas] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Infusionsoft [Online communication management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Remember that it's not about YOU. Successful brands are built when we make it about THEM, when we satisfy a need - like any good business does. So make it about the person that you're selling to, or you're offering something to.

Is it still necessary to be creative to build a great website? – JONATHAN TILLEY | DMR #120

David Bain — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 15:00:08 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdEDT1CIMA Today I’m pleased to be joined by someone who helps creative people transition into being successful, creative freelancers with website makeovers, e-courses, and public speaking. He’s also spoken at TEDx – and while there, took the time to roll around the floor – as a cat. Find out more about Jonathan at JonathanTilley.com. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether it is still necessary to be creative to build a great website, with topics including: In a world where there are so many wonderful website templates, is it still necessary to be creative to build a great website? On your own website, you say that you help clients with 5 main things.. 1. Build a responsive website 2. A logo 3. An about page 4. Website security 5. Promo material like business cards Why is a logo important? What are the important characteristics of an effective logo? Why do you need to have a prominent ‘About’ page? What should it include? Why? Why are hard-copy promo materials important? What should business cards include? What other hard-copy promo materials work? [Tweet ""Don't do it unless it's fun!" @JonathanTilley5"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? MailChimp [Email marketing software] Procron [Social media scheduling] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Periscope [Personal broadcasting] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Don't do it unless it's fun! This is a huge adjust/pivot point for me. I was doing everything that you're supposed to do like article submission, guest blog posting; and I tried all those different things out and it became so tedious and I was just so pissed off with everything. And I was just chatting with my friends and they were saying, 'this doesn't seem like fun for you anymore'. And they said 'why don't you try to do something that is fun?'

Why Good Content is not enough: and what to do about it – DAVID SHAW | DMR #119

David Bain — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 15:00:06 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by an experienced CMO and technology savvy entrepreneur. Someone with a passion for digital marketing and how technology can help his clients achieve their goals - welcome to DMR, David Shaw! You can find David over at DavidMarkShaw.com. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss why Good Content is not enough, with topics including: If I work in a business and I produce what I consider to be a great piece of content - and I do this on a weekly basis, surely eventually if the content’s good enough, at least after a while, something’s going to get some viral traction? Was content by itself ever good enough? Is it getting harder to be a content marketer? What type of content works best at the moment? How do you market a piece of content? What’s the future for content marketing? [Tweet ""Be consistent with your content production. Consistency is the key." @Davidmarkshaw"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Buffer App [Social sharing scheduling] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Optimizely [Split testing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be consistent with your content production. Consistency is the key. Be as valuable, as useful as possible and the customers will come.

How does PR work in 2015? – BEKI WINCHEL | DMR #118

David Bain — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:00:05 +0000

Today I'm joined by an author, a speaker and a social media consultant, all rolled into one! She’s the co-editor of the leading PR, marketing and social media publication “PR Daily” – welcome to DMR, Beki Winchel! You can find Beki over at PRDaily.com and on her About page. On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how PR works ion 2015, with topics including: What’s the difference between traditional PR, and PR in 2015? Is it time to completely forget about traditional PR? Is PR part of marketing or is it a separate discipline? What’s the difference between social media and modern PR? Take me through the steps of building relationships with influencers. What mediums are working really effectively for you at the moment to communicate with influencers - so which social network is working really well - and how do you get in touch? How does video fit into the mix? [Tweet ""It's not about YOU. In good relationships, people put the other person first." @bekiweki"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Bundle Post [Social media curation] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Analytics tools My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? It's NOT about YOU. In good relationships, people put the other person first.

Is Google AdWords too expensive for most businesses? – BRAD GEDDES | DMR #117

David Bain — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 15:00:02 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by the author of the most comprehensive and well-received book on Google AdWords in print - it’s called Advanced Google AdWords. Some of the brands that he’s worked with include Amazon, Yahoo, and Business.com. He’s the co-founder of Ad-Alysis - welcome to DMR, Brad Geddes! On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether Google AdWords is to expensive for most businesses, with topics including: Is it really possible for a regular business to bring in lots of profitable traffic from Google AdWords nowadays - or is it much more difficult than it used to be? What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see companies making with Google AdWords campaigns? Is it more difficult for certain industries? What’s the secret behind achieving a great quality score? On a limited budget is it best to start with exact match keywords, or are there other just as effective ways to get going? Should a business use specialist landing page pages from companies like Unbounce or is a regular website OK? What are the best things to split test? [Tweet ""If your site doesn't convert you shouldn't spend any money on paid search." @bgtheory"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? AdWords Editor [PPC Ad Editor] Bing Editor [PPC Ad Editor] Excel [Microsoft spreadsheet software] AdAlysis [Ad testing] Windows Live Writer [Blogging tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Marin [PPC campaign management software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Ensure your website converts for traffic you send it. It doesn't matter what your medium is. Email's great. Social's great. SEO is great. Paid search is great. If your website can't convert it, who cares?

Facebook Marketing Today – DENNIS YU | DMR #116

David Bain — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 15:00:00 +0000

Today I’m joined by an internationally recognized expert in Facebook marketing. Someone who’s an author at InsideFacebook and also been featured in the Wall Street Journal. He’s the co-founder and CTO at Blitz Metrics – welcome to DMR, Dennis Yu! On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Facebook marketing today, with topics including: How much has the Facebook marketing opportunity changed in the past 12 months or so? Are there certain business sectors that do best when it comes to Facebook marketing – or can Facebook marketing really work for any business? What are some of the mistakes that you see businesses making with marketing on Facebook at the moment, and how can these mistakes be rectified? What’s some of the best practice to squeeze maximum business results out of Facebook? Is it important to build a personal brand on Facebook or can just focusing on Facebook as a business brand work? Should your business personality be more light-hearted on Facebook that on other social sites like LinkedIn? Is the big opportunity with remarketing or more conventional pay per click advertising? What’s some of the best practice with remarketing? Do you advise using Facebook’s native advertising platform for managing a remarketing campaign or is it better to use a service like AdRoll or Perfect Audience? [Tweet ""Learn through the mistakes that we've made with other people's money." @dennisyu"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Boomerang [Email reminder system] Ghostery [Chrome plugin] Infusionsoft [Communication sequencing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? AdEspresso [Facebook advertising management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I'm the Check-List King. I want you to follow these check lists and go through them and give me feedback. Go to BlitzMetrics.com/GTM and start there - and then you're going to learn about how to do Facebook advertising for a dollar a day. You're going to learn about the set-up checklist, you're going to learn about personal branding which is at BlitzMetrics.com/PBG. I want everyone to go through these checklists, and if you find something that really resonates with you, tweet at me (@dennisyu), or talk about it on LinkedIn - or email me (dennis [at] blitzmetrics.com). I want to see your success. I am here because I want to see everyone be successful based upon some obvious things that we have learned through making lots of mistakes with other people's money.

Building brand visibility through relationships – ALEXANDRA TACHALOVA | DMR #115

David Bain — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:00:54 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be joined by someone who was responsible the explosion of SEMrush’s brand presence in Europe. She now focuses on helping to drive the brand awareness of many different digital marketing tools - welcome Alexandra Tachalova (@AlexTachalova on Twitter and here on LinkedIn) On this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss building brand visibility through relationships, with topics including: Do you really think that building relationships with experts can result in measurable marketing success? Is it possible that investing in relationships can result in a better ROI compared with other more traditional digital marketing tactics? How do you go about building those relationships? How do you leverage the power of those relationships from a marketing perspective? What kind of marketing activities would benefit from these relationships? How would you run these marketing activities? Can you think of a time that you’ve actually been able to measure the impact that building these relationships in terms of brand visibility? [Tweet ""If you really care about your business, focus on real people - on real emotions." @AlexTachalova"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? BuzzSumo [Social media monitoring] Ahrefs [Backlink analysis & content explorer] SEMRush [Competitive intelligence] Kerboo [Data intelligence] SEOMonitor [SEO Performance tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Horizon by Branded3 (Yet to launch to the public) [Competitive intelligence tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Don't waste your time on trying to somehow trick Google with manipulative techniques and link building; anything which isn't focused on building real relationships. If you really care about your time and your business, focus on real people - on real emotions. This is the best approach. If you invest in a couple of people per week, or per month, it's going to pay you great dividend in the end. Because those people can share real interaction. And on top of that, they may even write blog posts about you and mention you in their speeches. That will have a significant effect on your brand authority and visibility.

Creating a Holistic Digital Marketing Strategy – ANTHONY KIRLEW | DMR #114

David Bain — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 15:00:12 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be talking to a man, who founded his first Internet Marketing firm back in 1999. He’s worked for a large search agency, in-house for couple of major brands and is a regular conference speaker - he's welcome to DMR, Anthony Kirlew. You can find Anthony over at AnthonyKirlew.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to create a holistic digital marketing strategy, with topics including: Do you think that brick and mortar businesses generally ‘get’ digital marketing nowadays more than they used to a few years ago? What do you feel businesses struggle most with at the moment when it comes to digital marketing? Tell me about your 'SWOT' approach to digital marketing What would you say are the things that businesses think that they’re doing well - but they’re actually not? If you’re doing work for a bigger business that employs multiple agencies to do different digital marketing activities - is it possible to tie everything together in a joint approach? [Tweet ""Before starting a marketing plan, make sure you know who your target customer is" @AnthonyKirlew"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? iOS [iPhone operating system] Sprout Social [Social media management] Google Drive [Document sharing] Quicktime [Watch & edit videos] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Periscope [Mobile broadcasting] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Before starting a marketing plan, make sure that you know who your target customer is, know what their specific needs are, and know how you can serve those needs in a way that's different than your competition.

Should every business be split-testing web pages? – ALEX HARRIS | DMR #113

David Bain — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 15:00:09 +0000

Today I’m pleased to be talking to an award-winning web designer, a man who’s created over 7000 different A/B split tests - he’s the founder and host of Marketing Optimization TV - welcome to DMR, Alex Harris! Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss split-testing web pages, with topics including: What got you so passionate about website conversion rates? I’ve been watching the most recent episode of your podcast, Marketing Optimization TV - that’s episode 104 as we record this. And Ton, your guest on that episode says that if you’re getting below 1000 conversions per month, don’t do A/B testing. Is that something you agree with? What are some of the things that a business should focus on before starting A/B testing? What are some of the general good web design practices that work well at the moment? There are so many specialist, pre-tested landing pages now like LeadPages and Unbounce. Is this the best place to start? Do you conduct multivariate tests - or do you prefer A/B tests? What’s your favourite software for split-testing? How else is web design changing? [Tweet ""The way you see your website is a lot different than the way your customer sees it." @alexdesigns"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? VWO [Website CRO optimization] Optimizely [Website CRO optimization] Google Analytics [Analytics software] Hotjar [User tracking] Inspectlet [Heatmaps] Survey Monkey [Surveys] User Testing [User journey funnels] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hubspot [Marketing automation] Marketo [Marketing automation] Vero [Email personalisation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? It's not about winning awards. It's really about getting results. Not only for yourself and for your clients, or the companies that you work for. But you really want to build yourself as a person of character, focused on results. If you are known to produce, and to produce results, you'll always be able to get a job. So don't assume that you just need to have a pretty website. You want to really have it focused on results.

Periscope marketing for business – MARK SHAW | DMR #112

David Bain — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 15:00:40 +0000

The Periscope personal broadcasting app was launched just a few month ago, but it’s already seeing over a million broadcasts per month. And today’s guest is one of the leading Periscope authorities with over 20,000 followers - Mark Shaw. You can find Mark over at MarkShaw.biz. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Periscope marketing for business, with topics including: Why did you so quickly decide that Periscope was the place to be? Meerkat’s another personal broadcasting app - is Periscope better than Meerkat? How would you describe Periscope to someone that doesn’t know much about it? Does every business need to be aware of Periscope? Is Periscope a place for brands - or is it better for individuals? What are a couple of your best tips for getting started on Periscope? What are some of the mistakes that you see people and businesses making on Periscope? [Tweet ""The world needs more doers, not more talkers. DO IT!" @markshaw"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Gmail [Email] & Google Calendar Dropbox [Document sharing & storage] Hootsuite [Document sharing & storage] Periscope [Mobile broadcasting app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Buffer [adADad] Twilert [adADad] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? The world needs more doers, not more talkers. DO IT!

Is Apple’s iOS 9 a ‘Game Changer’? – ED DALE | DMR #111

David Bain — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:00:31 +0000

I'm joined today by one of Australia's top digital marketers - he's the creator of The Challenge and the Founder of MagCast - Ed Dale. This episode of Digital Marketing Radio is brought to you by DEEPCrawl. When you need a comprehensive website crawler, that identifies and monitors how your site is performing through the eyes of a search engine, I recommend DEEPCrawl. DEEPCrawl gives a complete and accurate picture of the health of your website architecture - and identifies where the gaps are. Get your free website crawl of up to 10,000 URLs at DEEPCrawl.com/report. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether Apple's iOS 9 is a 'Game Changer', with topics including: Should businesses that only have websites and don’t have apps be worried or is it perfectly OK just to potter on, just with a website? Is it necessary to be on any other app store, or is Apple the only one that counts at the moment? Apple are in the process of testing the release of iOS 9 as we speak - and one of the features that they’re releasing is in-app search. And that allows Apple to crawl the website of the app. It also allows the app to handle deep linking and support structured data to surface in search. Could any of that be a game-changer? Should Google be scared? What about the Apple watch - is that something that you’ve got or planning to get yourself? [Tweet ""often the things that actually work are not the things that you thought would work." @Ed_Dale"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? RSS Readers in general What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Group communication software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You need to be testing. Because often the things that actually work are not the things that you thought would work.

How has digital marketing strategy changed through the years? – DR DAVE CHAFFEY| DMR #110

David Bain — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:00:33 +0000

Today I'm joined by someone who’s been a digital strategist since 1997 - he’s author of 5 best-selling books and recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 worldwide gurus who have shaped the future of marketing - Dr Dave Chaffey. You can find Dave over at smartinsights.com. In this episode of Digital Marketing Radio we discuss digital marketing strategy through the years, with topics including: You've been a digital strategist since 1997 - so that means that you've seen lots of changes. But what stays the same? Can you think of one strategy or technique that you’ve been teaching since the very beginning that hasn't changed at-all? Are you generally in favour of as many digital marketing activities as possible being carried out in-house, or are there activities that agencies generally do better than in-house? In your book, “Digital Marketing - Strategy, Implementation and Practice” you talk about B2B digital marketing and B2C digital marketing - how would you summarise the main differences between the activities involved in B2B digital marketing versus B2C digital marketing? You also changed the name of your book from Internet Marketing to Digital Marketing - and I also changed the name of my own training program from the 26-Week Internet Marketing Plan to the 26-Week Digital Marketing Plan - what were YOUR reasons for changing from “Internet marketing” to “Digital marketing”? You wrote a book on email marketing - Do you think email marketing is more important now than it’s ever been? What are some of the major digital marketing trends to be aware of at the moment? [Tweet ""I don't get why businesses don't seem to invest in CRO." @DaveChaffey"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [Analytics software] Kiss Metrics [Analytics software] WordPress [CMS] Hootsuite [Social media management] Buffer [Social media management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Infusionsoft [Marketing automation] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I don't get why businesses don't seem to invest in CRO. You need to be running tests across the whole website, the whole customer journey.

YouTube Marketing Guide – NATHAN HAGUE | DMR #109

David Bain — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:39:07 +0000

Today on Digital Marketing Radio I'm joined by the marketer other marketers go to for YouTube advertising advice - Nathan Hague. In this episode we discuss his YouTube marketing guide, with topics including: Can YouTube really drive quality leads to a business? How should you structure your YouTube ads? What should you do with tablet traffic viewing your video ads? Should you target YouTube categories or specific videos with your advertising? How do you differentiate your desktop and tablet traffic? How can you take advantage of tags on other people's videos? What software do you use to manage your YouTube advertising campaigns? [Tweet ""I hate websites - they suck and they can die!" @australiawow"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Facebook Target Grow [Targeted Twitter followers] The Green Button [LinkedIn] Twubs.com [Find Twitter chats] SocialBro.com [Twitter marketing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? KissMetrics [Analytics software] Hootsuite [Twitter management] Xero [Accounting software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Take a step back and survey all that is marketing, take stock what it working and have a look at what is really working for you according to your analytics and make some business decisions for your future based on that, and not on what you think you should be doing.

What are the latest trends in SEO? – MICHAEL FLEISCHNER | DMR #108

David Bain — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 16:00:57 +0000

Michael Fleischner has appeared on the TODAY Show, ABC World News, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media like Digital Marketing Radio! He’s author of SEO Made Simple and you can find him over at BigFinSolutions.com and in his My SEO Made Simple community. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the latest trends in SEO, with topics including: Is it possible to to practice SEO nowadays as a silo artform, or in 2015 is it always necessarily to practice integrated marketing? How would you define integrated marketing? What would you say are the latest trends in SEO? What are the most significant ways in which SEO has changed in the last couple of years? What are the keys to an effective organic optimization strategy now? Do you have any predictions of how SEO might evolve in the future? Will SEO ever die? [Tweet ""Always be learning. There is so much happening and so much changing so rapidly." @mfleischner"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [Website visitor tracking] Moz [SEO campaign management] Hootsuite [Social media management] Also Michael mentioned Link Detox in the main show dicsussion What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Traditional marketing platforms in general My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Always be learning. There is so much happening and so much changing so rapidly.

How is conversion rate optimization evolving in 2015? – MATT DYOR | DMR #107

David Bain — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 16:00:21 +0000

Matt Dyor is Founder at Payboard, where he helps customers generate more business value from their existing website traffic. You can find him over at Payboard.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss conversion rate optimization (CRO), with topics including: How do you define conversion optimization? How has conversion optimization changed over the past few years? How do you track visitors across multiple devices? How is customer journey optimization different than conversion optimization? What are a few of the biggest mistakes that companies are making with conversion optimization at the moment? Why is it a good time for marketers to start focusing on conversion optimization? Should everyone in a marketing department be aware of conversion optimization and what to do about it? Do smaller companies have an advantage over larger companies when it comes to CRO? [Tweet ""Empathise with people who have no idea why you're awesome!" @mattdyor"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Twitter [Social media] ZootRock [Social media management] Buffer App [Social media management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Marketo [Marketing automation software] Also, here's Matt's blog post that we discussed, talking about Twitter advertising. My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be data driven. Really empathise with people who have no idea why you're awesome & look at the world from their perspective & help them figure out why you're awesome as soon as possible.

Can face-to-face events build your digital authority? – MIKE RUSSELL | DMR #106

David Bain — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 15:00:38 +0000

[ NOTE: Please note that my isn't perfect in this episode due to a recent studio move, so apologies about that! It will get better again for future episodes :) ] Mike Russell is founder of Music Radio Creative – an audio-on-demand service based on the Isle of Wight. He’s also putting together a brand new event called New Media Europe, to be held in Manchester in September of this year. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether or not going to face-to-face events can build your digital authority, with topics including: To build your digital authority fast, do you think that you have to attend face-to-face industry events? What’s your main reasoning behind hosting live events? Over the past year or so, you moved from producing a UK Podcasters event to a New Media event. What was your thought process being the brand shift? What are some of the main challenges you've faced in organising your own events? You've got some top speakers at New Media Europe. I've had some top interviewees on Digital Marketing Radio. But it’s one thing for me to get half an hour of someone’s time, compared with asking for a few days of someone’s time and flying then half-way around the world. How do you persuade people to speak at your event? If someone’s listening to this, and they want to put on their own event, what are a few of the essential steps that they need to go through? [Tweet ""Blogging sets up a tone but podcasting helps get people to know, like and trust you." @imikerussell"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Adobe Edition [Audio editing software] Adobe Creative Cloud [Adobe software suite] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Analytics SEO [SEO software platform] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Start a podcast. If you're not, get on Google Hangouts. Get closer to your audience. Make a connection. The topic about this episode is all about 1-to-1 connections and meeting in person and that magic that happens when you actually meet someone - so get as close as you can to your audience. Blogging sets up a tone but podcasting helps get people to know, like and trust you. And if you can do video - I've already steered away from video for so long - and even my Adobe Edition tutorials that I have, for ages, if you watch the initial ones you will see that they are just Screenflow - there's none of me on it. And it was actually Ray Ortega who gave me this tip - he's a fantastic audio and video podcaster in the United States - he just said to me one day, "Mike, why don't you just flick on your web cam and have your face up there while you're going an Adobe tutorial." And I did. And that was the turning point for me, connecting with my audience. Because they were like - "Oh, that's Mike!"

How important is reputation management? – CHRIS SANFILIPPO | DMR #105

David Bain — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:00:18 +0000

Chris Sanfilippo is the president of Rank K.O. and a reputation management expert. You can find him over at RankKO.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss reputation management, with topics including: Does every business need to be concerned about Reputation Management? Is it possible to control Google Suggest results? Why are micro sites such an effective reputation management strategy? Is it ethical and right to try to try to bury negative comments that are valid? So what are some of the best ways of removing content from search engines? What about negative social media discussion – how do you manage that? Do you also have to monitor forums, or any other sites? Where should you try to publish positive, good content, so that negative content is less likely to be found? [Tweet ""There's no need to reinvent the wheel." @csanfilippo01 #DigitalMarketingRadio"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? SERPWoo [Keyword monitor] Mention [Where your brand is mentioned online] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Monitor Backlinks [Monitor the backlinks to your website] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? When it comes to managing your online reputation, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. Take a look at a lot of other businesses in your industry, and see what's ranking on page 1 for their business name, even look on page 2. And if you see websites starting to appear more and more, that means for this specific industry, that business listing site or that map listing site or whatever it may be, that one is going to rank higher, based on the industry that you're in. Those are going to be the websites that you are going to want to build your business listings on first - and if you go and you do that and get a dozen of those you're going to have a shot at really maintaining a good base for your online reputation because you're somewhat controlling the first page of search results.

Why do so many people #FAIL with PPC? – CHARLES VALHER | DMR #104

David Bain — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 15:00:40 +0000

Charles Valher is the CEO and founder of ‘PPC Empire’ - a company that proudly doesn’t do SEO! You can find him over at PPCEmpire.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss why so many people #FAIL with PPC, with topics including: I always find it interesting to talk to people who aren't digital marketing generalists – and you've nailed your colours to the PPC mast – why pay per click? How did you get started with PPC? What type of paid ad works best on YouTube at the moment? Are you charged if someone presses 'Skip' on YouTube? How much do ads cost on YouTube? How highly targeted can you be when you select demographics or targeted audiences on YouTube? Why paid traffic so important in 2015? What are the main differences between the PPC platforms? How to know what PPC platform is right for your business? What are the elements of a successful PPC campaign? Why do so many people Fail with PPC? What are your predictions for the future of PPC? [Tweet ""There is no shortcut. Learn your skill and become a master." @CharlesValher #DigitalMarketingRadio"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Podio [Project management software] SEMRush [Competitor research tool] Optimyzer [AdWords tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Tube Master Pro [YouTube marketing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're going to go into an area, or you're going to start your business, commit and do the grunt work. there's plenty of people that we perceive as an overnight success - but there is no shortcut. Learn your skill and become a master.

Can ‘brick and mortar’ businesses be good content marketers? – MARK ASQUITH | DMR #103

David Bain — Tue, 26 May 2015 16:00:16 +0000

Mark Asquith is the owner of digital and design agency DMSQD - and the founder and host of the Excellence Expected podcast. You can find him over at either dmsqd.com or excellence-expected.com Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether 'brick and mortar' businesses can be good content marketers, with topics including: How do you find the time to run a successful agency and a podcast that’s published 2 days a week? Do you edit your own podcasts as well? Why did you decide to launch a podcast? Why a 2 day a week podcast? Are you going to carry on with 2 episodes per week? Do you have any plans for other shows? As you're into design, do you interact on Pinterest and Instagram as well? Does your podcast work closely together with your agency business or are they largely separate entities? Do you think that all traditional businesses should be producing their own content or can this be outsourced? Something else that you’re passionate about is great design. Where does design fit into great content marketing? [Tweet ""Think about the users. Just give them something that's high quality." @MrAsquith"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? HotJar [Visitor heatmaps & video recordings] Evernote [Online note taking] Dropbox [Document and file sharing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Cyfe [All-in-one dashboard] Meet Edgar [Social media management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You've got to think about the customers. Think about the users. Just give them something that's high quality. Give them something that's got a lot of value. Give them over and above what they expect - no matter what that is, whether it's content, whether it's pricing strategy, whether it's service, whatever that is. But specifically in digital marketing you've got to get into their mindset. An that, no matter what the tactic is, no matter what the strategy is, if you can do that then you'll have much more success.

Are Keywords Dying in SEM? – DAVID RODNITZKY | DMR #102

David Bain — Tue, 19 May 2015 16:00:11 +0000

Back in October 2014 David Rodnitzky wrote an article called “Preparing for a keyword-less SEM world” – on the face of it that sounds an incredible thing to say. But of course Google’s advertising opportunities extend much further than pay per click ads beside search results now. Find out more in my interview with David Rodnitzky from 3QDigital. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether or not keywords are dying in SEM, with topics including: How would you say Google are actually killing keywords? Why are keywords not as important as they used to be in search engine marketing? When did you get started in search engine advertising? What was it like in search engine advertising back when you go started? How much if anything of what applied back then still applies now? What are the biggest paid advertising opportunities at the moment – Facebook / Twitter? And of course you provide paid advertising services at 3Q Digital – can you see more of these activities being done in-house in the future? How can you measure the effectiveness of native advertising? If so, what does that mean for the future of agencies? What are the likely to be the big advertising opportunities over the coming 12 months? It is possible to successfully cross-device track visitors at the moment? Is last click an acceptable form of attributing referring traffic credit? [Tweet ""You need to figure out where your customers are and not beholden to a specific channel" @rodnitzky"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Excel [Spreadsheet software] Google Analytics [Visitor tracking software] Omniture [Visitor tracking software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? A data management platform of some sort My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Follow your customer. Whether you're a B2B or B2C company people are using multiple devices and they're on multiple channels. And you need to figure out where your customers are and not beholden to a specific channel or a specific device, but understand the customer journey and then set up your marketing to reach them where they're actually visiting on the internet.

Infographic marketing strategies with DANNY ASHTON | DMR #101

David Bain — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:00:35 +0000

Danny Ashton is Founder of NeoMam - a visual content agency based in Manchester, UK. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Infographic marketing strategies, with topics including: What’s the difference between visual content marketing and infographic marketing? Looking back at splash flash pages Can widgets be useful from an SEO perspective? Can infographics help from an SEO perspective, or are they only useful for a brand building and direct traffic driving? What are some the mistakes made with infographics? What is best practice when it comes to infographics? How do you get bloggers to embed your infographic? What’s the future for visual content marketing? What's the difference between content marketing in the UK and content marketing in the USA [Tweet ""Identify who your digital audience is... before you even think about blog posts..." @dannyashton"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Buzz Sumo [Content performance analysis] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Gorkana [Media database] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Identify who your digital audience is. Identify who you sell to and break all those things down. Have that before you even think about blog posts or infographics, which is often the opposite of what most people do.

Is SEO for eCommerce different? – NICK EUBANKS | DMR #100

David Bain — Tue, 05 May 2015 16:00:30 +0000

Nick Eubanks is the owner of top-ranked SEO Blog, SEONick.net and the creator of the SEO training course Master Keyword Research in 7 Days. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss SEO for eCommerce, with topics including: What’s the difference between being OK at keyword research and mastering keyword research? Do marketing managers understand search intent? How specific do you need to be when you are building content to rank for specific long-tail keyword terms? Should you focus on your who site first, or it it best to just optimize a few categories really well? How do you attribute value - do you just use last click? How does doing keyword research for an eCommerce store differ from doing keyword research for a service based business? What are some particular challenges that an eCommerce business might face that other businesses might not? What is the best CMS to use for eCommerce? What has changed in SEO for eCommerce over the past 12 months? What’s likely to most impact SEO for eCommerce over the coming 12 months? [Tweet ""I don't want a desktop solution. I want to pay more money for a hosted solution." @nick_eubanks"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Term Explorer [Keyword research] Deep Crawl [Site health] URL Profiler [Audit links] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Pick 20 keywords for your business. Base them first on intent, second on volume and lastly on competitiveness. And then figure out how long it's going to take you to rank for these terms and what's the cost going to be.

How to increase conversion rates – STEWART ROGERS | DMR #99

David Bain — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:01:46 +0000

Stewart Rogers analyzes the marketing technology sector and writes studies for VB Insight, including the State of Marketing Technology report. He also breaks martech news for VentureBeat. You can find him over at insight.venturebeat.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to increase conversion rates, with topics including: What’s had the biggest impact on conversion rate improvement over the past 12 months? Should you be producing content based upon your target audience, or your own personality? How much information should you be looking for when you ask people to opt-in to your email list? How is big data impacting email marketing? How is personalization impacting conversion rate optimization? How so different generations use social media? What doesn’t work so well that used to work well a few years ago? What are some of the biggest mistakes that you see companies making at the moment? Can you give us a few examples of companies that are doing particularly well when it comes to conversion rate optimization? What do you think will be some of the biggest conversion rate optimization opportunities over the coming 12 months? What conversion rate improving marketing technology is catching your eye at the moment? [Tweet ""Conversion rate optimization is effectively free money. Start doing it." @TheRealSJR"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? HotJar - [Visitor recordings & heatmaps] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Conversion rate optimization is effectively free money. Start doing it.

Instagram & Pinterest Marketing – KEVIN PEREIRA | DMR #98

David Bain — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 15:01:25 +0000

Kevin Pereira started off as a small business owner with InstaMaids, before selling up and joining the Wet Shave Club as co-founder and CMO. There, he has repositioned the business as an eCommerce store with thousands of members. You can find him over at his Groove Learning group on Facebook. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Instagram & Pinterest Marketing, with topics including: Why did you decide to focus on image-based social media networks as one of the main marketing channels for Wet Shave Club? Do you find both Instagram and Pinterest to be just as effective, or is there a better network for what you’re doing? How do you measure traffic to your site from Instagram when there aren't any direct links from images? So what’s your posting strategy? What types of images are more likely to engage your audience? How do you get people to engage with you? Do you participate in paid media spend on social media? What’s the future for Instagram and Pinterest? How do you identify prospective bloggers for your outreach campaigns? What other forms of digital marketing are working particularly well for you at the moment? What are the mistakes that you see other companies making with their online marketing activities? [Tweet ""Be persistent. You cannot measure the success of something instantly." @wetshaveclub"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Instagress [Instagram automation software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Intercom [Email and messaging management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be persistent. You cannot measure the success of something instantly. Especially when it comes to social media. It is over a long period of time. 6 months to a year. So being persistent is probably the biggest thing I would say that helped us.

At OMN London Meetup – 19th March 2015 | DMR #97

David Bain — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:00:06 +0000

I wanted to do something a little bit different for this episode of Digital Marketing Radio – because each episode so far has been recorded either using Skype or Google Hangouts. So I went along to one of the biggest digital marketing Meetups in London – OMN London it’s called and asked a few attendees and speakers there for their thoughts on the state of digital marketing today. Later on in the episode I'm going to tell you about a brand new free SEO course that I’ve just released. But first of all, conversations with a couple of people that I met at the OMN London meetup. One of the first people that I got talking to was a chap called Jacob Flindt - listen to explain about him and his business. Now it’s quite easy for those of us involved in digital marketing to live in a bit of a bubble, thinking that everyone understands the ease and benefits of marketing your business online – but that’s not always the case. So I wanted to know whether Jacob thought that his target audience were generally comfortable with the options available to them when it comes to digital marketing. I thought that was an interesting thing to say, because it also mirrored by own experience working as a digital marketer in the in the financial services industry for a while. I went on to chat to Jacob about how with the proliferation of smartphone devices, digital marketing techniques were changing rapidly. I also asked Jacob what aspect about this was affecting his industry the most. Then Jacob and I wandered in to the main function room, had a beverage or two – and our conversion goes a bit leftfield - Jacob starts telling me about the marketing lessons that can be learned from Basil Fawlty… I then had the opportunity to speak with Aiden Carrol, one of the evening’s speakers. And I was very impressed with Aiden’s charisma. So I started by asking him how he became such an engaging speaker. I’d also be interested in your thoughts as well dear listener – do you like me mixing up the episode format a little bit, or do you prefer me sticking with the tried and tested format of interviews that I’ve been publishing so far? Send me a Tweet @DavidBain and tell me what you think.

Social Signals SEO – LUKASZ ZELEZNY | DMR #96

David Bain — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 21:13:29 +0000

[Tweet ""What is your added value? What are you offering to customers?" @LukaszZelezny"] Lukasz Zelezny is an event speaker, Head of Organic @uSwitchUK and self-confessed SEO, PPC & social media geek! You can also find him over at Zelezny.uk. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss social signals SEO, with topics including: Do you think that it is necessary to be prominent on social media nowadays to have great SEO? What impact do you think social has on Google’s algorithm? Are elements like Facebook likes actually part of Google's algorithm? Do social brand citations on social media have an impact on SEO? You also blog on LinkedIn – you don’t have that content anywhere else? Is LinkedIn the most effective social media network for you at the moment? Is being on Google+ a good use of your time? Is it best to focus on just a few social networks or should you try to 'be everywhere'? Is it worthwhile treating LinkedIn as your own blogging platform? Is it a good idea to accept anybody as a contact on LinkedIn? How did you get in to SEO? Is SEO not dead now? ;) Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Search Metrics [Keyword research tool] SEMRush [Keyword research tool] Majestic [Backlink analysis] aHREFS [Backlink analysis] Brand24 [Brand tracking] TalkWalker [Social Media Analytics] Fresh Web Explorer [Compare mentions and links] Screaming Frog [Site crawling] Deep Crawl [Corporate level site crawling] Moz [On-page optimizer] BuzzSumo [asfasf] Hootsuite [Social media dashboard] ViralContetBuzz [Social media sharing] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? What is your added value? What are you offering to customers? Why do you want to rank? Focus on the business objectives just now.

Digital Marketing Technology & Blogging – CHRIS GARRETT | DMR #95

David Bain — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 20:30:44 +0000

[Tweet ""It's not about who you know. It's who knows what you can do." @chrisgarrett"] Chris Garrett is Co-Author of the ProBlogger book and Chief Digital Officer at Copyblogger Media, responsible for Rainmaker.fm. You can find Chris over at ChrisG.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Digital Marketing Technology & Blogging, with topics including: You registered ChrisG.com back in 1998 – you've been in the digital sphere for a long time! What do you remember about the early years of the web? How did you get into blogging? What about WordPress? When did you start using that? Are you still a coder? Given the development of social media, Is a blog more or less important for a business to have now compared with a few years ago? Over the last couple of years we've seen inbound marketing automation software become more intelligent – what developments in marketing technology are most impacting your workflow at the moment? Is it more difficult for the solopreneur to take on the big boys now? And what marketing technology trends are worthwhile keeping an eye on in 2015? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? GitHub [Online collaboration] HipChat [Private group chat] Skype [VOIP service] Trello [Online workflow management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Google Hangouts [Group video calls] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? I go back to what I said about networking being the most important part of my career. It's not about who you know. It's who knows what you can do. Networking should be about being generous to people, helping people and having people remember your value to them. Keep that network happy and positive!

How to start an eCommerce business – PAUL RYAZANOV | DMR #94

David Bain — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 16:00:33 +0000

[Tweet ""budget your investment 20% to back-end development and 80% to smart marketing." @paulryazanov"] Paul Ryazanov is an event speaker and a digital marketing expert with a focus on helping retail businesses with their eCommerce strategy. You can find him over at MageCloud.net. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to start an eCommerce business, with topics including: You've spoken at quite a few events in the US – how did you get involved in that? What on-page conversion rate tools do you use? What would you say are some of the biggest eCommerce trends in 2015? Why do you focus on Magento as an eCommerce platform? What are the biggest benefits of selecting Magento over WooCommerce and Shopify? How to keep your platform scalable? Is it easy enough to transfer your Ecommerce platform from WooCommerce to Magento? Why should you be careful with WooCommerce? Is it easy enough to split test inside Magento? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Optimizely [Conversion rate optimization] Crazy Egg [Heat mapping software] EyeQuant [Eye tracking software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Outreach.io [Sales Automation Platform] AnalyticsSEO [Enterprise SEO Platform] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Try to budget your investment with 20% of it into back-end development and 80% of it into smart marketing.

Google Plus for Business tips – MARTIN SHERVINGTON | DMR #93

David Bain — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 01:29:18 +0000

[Tweet ""People that aren't using Google+ a lot tend to be very hard on it" @MartinSherv"] Martin Shervington is a consultant, speaker, trainer and coach on all things Google. He’s the community manager for Plus Your Business – you can find him over at PlusYourBusiness.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss Google Plus for Business tips, with topics including: Is Google+ a social layer, a social network or both? If a small business owner doesn’t have much time to focus on social media, should Google+ be priority? Is it more important to try to be an influencer from your personal Google Plus profile, or build up the authority of your businesses’ Google+ page? When a business is signing up for a business page, what are some of the most important first things to do? Does Google+ as a social destination work for the majority of businesses? Is it possible for the average user to build up a decent volume of followers on Google+? What are 2 or 3 post types that tens to get most engagement on Google+? Can building up circles on Google+ be better than building your own list? Many people such as Larry Kim from WordStream are very vocal in saying that Google+ is on the way out – what’s your response to that? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? BufferApp [Social media scheduling] Google AdWords [Pay per click marketing] Genesis [WordPress framework] Infusionsoft [CRM tool] Circloscope [Google+ management] NOD3x [Influencer finder] Friends+Me [Google+ post distribution] AgoraPulse [Facebook & Twitter social media management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Google+ is part of the Google ecosystem. It's got a Google search engine attached to it. I think that people should ignore a lot of the press and give things a go.

What is Content Marketing? – CHRIS MARR | DMR #92

David Bain — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:01:10 +0000

Chris is the founder of The Content Marketing Academy - Scotland's first and only annual content marketing conference. He's also founder and host of The Marketing Academy Podcast. You can find him over at Learning-Everyday.co.uk. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss what is content marketing, with topics including: How would you define content marketing to a small business owner? Does content marketing include private correspondence like email? Does every business that has a website need to be involved in some form of content marketing? The importance of leading with your personality If you only have 3 or 4 hours per week, should you just focus on one type of content marketing? Is it important to publish your content at the same time every week? Is it wise to have a schedule to produce your content before the publishing date? What is the biggest learning experience that you have come through as a result of publishing your podcast? What can you learn by editing your own podcast? What are some of the biggest mistakes that businesses make with content marketing? Why you shouldn't think of content marketing as a 'campaign' Is it possibly to measure the impact of content marketing? What are some of the newer content distribution opportunities in 2015? [Tweet ""My biggest mistake was not getting offline enough" @chrismarr101"] Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? AllThings [Task management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Slack [Team communication] Meet Edgar [Social media management] Sprout Social [Social media management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Find a way to get your customers closer to you. Pull them in. Find a way to build a community with this one thing that you all have in common.

Audio Recording Equipment – COLIN GRAY | DMR #91

David Bain — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:57:52 +0000

[Tweet ""There is no best mic for everyone. It actually depends on what YOU sound like." @thepodcasthost"] Colin’s a Podcaster and Online Educator, and has been teaching Podcasting skills for over 6 years. You can find him over at ThePodcastHost.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss audio recording equipment, with topics including: What piece of audio equipment that you have – bang for buck - would you say has had the biggest impact on your sound quality? Should you pick a dynamic mic or a condenser mic for your home studio? What are the concerns that people should have with a dynamic microphone? Why is there not one best microphone for everyone? Why is podcasting different from radio broadcasting? Where should you route your sound after the microphone - is a mixer necessary? What creates sound interference? What is a Cloudlifter device and how does it help your sound recording? Are external soundcards necessary to record interviews? Can you just rely on on the microphone on a portable audio recorder like the Zoom H4N or H5? Is it always important to always do a lot of post production editing? Why can background noise sometimes be good? Why can having a 'series' approach be better for your podcast? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Audacity [Audio editing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? All Things [Task management system] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Start a podcast!

Is Building an App worth it? – LOGAN MERRICK | DMR #90

David Bain — Sat, 28 Feb 2015 19:33:26 +0000

[Tweet ""create a tool for your customers that will engage them, and keep them working for you." @logantjm"] Logan Merrick is the Co-founder & Director of Buzinga App Development, an innovative mobile app development company in Melbourne Australia that focuses on building Startups that solve real world problems. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss whether building an app is worth it, with topics including: How do you develop an app that sells for $12 million dollars? Split-testing website headlines Should most businesses have a mobile app? How do you decide what to include when building an app? Is it important to just start with one app store? Which app store is best to get started with your first app? What are the main advantages of an app over a mobile site? Will someone that downloads your app become a better quality customer over time? What kind of app development industry trends are happening right now? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? WordPress [CMS] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? HubSpot [Inbound marketing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you were to think about building a mobile app, look at how you can create a tool for your customers that will engage them, and keep them working for you.

Selecting Images for Websites – DAVID GILLESPIE | DMR #89

David Bain — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 23:59:52 +0000

[Tweet ""Keep the voice of your customer in your ear at all times." @davidgillespie"] David Gillespie is the CMO of ImageBrief – where brands, publishers and agencies find the right shot, and hire photographers. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss selecting images for websites, with topics including: Do you think that you can always see the difference when a professional photographer has taken the shot? Does the quality of images that you use on your website really matter? What are some of the mistakes that businesses make when selecting images for their website? Is it really important to consider your brand’s values before selecting images for a project? What kind of brand considerations do you need to be aware of before selecting a photograph for a site? Do smaller businesses really need to invest in a professional photographer? Should you have your brand colours or perhaps representatives of your target audience in your website images? Is it important to split-test images to decide which one to use? Should the social network that you use to share images depend on the type of business? What other social networks are popular among photographers? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Evernote [Personal organizer] Optimizely [Split testing] Invision [Workflow improvement & collaboration] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Take it back to the person you are trying to reach. Don't get worried about the hot platform of the day, the app the buzzword, whatever. Because there's going to be a new one tomorrow. Stay focused on your consumer. Keep the voice of your customer in your ear at all times. If you stay close to them, everything else will sort itself out.

Personal Branding Strategy – CHRIS DUCKER | DMR #88

David Bain — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 23:25:06 +0000

[Tweet ""Your personal brand is what people say about you when you're not around." @chrisducker"] In 2009 Chris Ducker was working 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. Fast forward a few years and he’s totally changed his life - and his business. He’s the author of the number 1 bestseller on Amazon, “Virtual Freedom” - and the host of the New Business Podcast. You can find him over at ChrisDucker.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss personal branding strategy, with topics including: In the future, will building a personal brand be more important than building a business brand for small businesses? Say someone’s a fairly successful small business owner. But they don’t have much of a personal brand. What are some of the first steps when it comes to building a personal brand? What about reinventing a personal brand – is that different to building a personal brand from scratch? If I’m describing you to someone who’s never heard of you, how would you prefer to be described? Do you need to have a personal brand strapline? Is it actually easier to establish a personal brand? How would Chris Ducker prefer to be described when he isn't there? Is it important to try to 'control' the first page of Google results for your personal brand? If you have a business that is already branded with its own identity, should you change that to a personal brand? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Apps [Office suite software] Buffer App [Social media management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Infusionsoft [Small business CRM] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Sit down and work out whether or not the personal brand is something that you really want long-term. You have got to understand that this isn't something that you can do for a year. This is your name. This is your reputation. Your personal brand is what people say about you when you're not around. It can't just come and go. You've got to commit to building a personal brand. You can't start a website and then never update it. It's important to truly do it if it's the right move for you right now. So I would sit down and work out - is this what I want to do? If it's not then that's fine as well - focus on building your business, and maybe you have a blog on your business website - whatever the case may be. A perfect example is the Virgin Group with Richard's blog. You've got Richard Branson blogging on there quite regularly as the CEO. But he doesn't do it at RichardBranson.com - he does it at Virgin.com/Richard. There's a difference. So really figure out if this is what you want to do, and if it is, go-ahead and run with it at 180 miles-per-hour until you've build out your hub. And start creating the content and serving that audience. And if it's not, then stick with what you're already doing. That's fine - just don't stress yourself out too much.

What is Customer Insight? – SUSAN ABBOTT | DMR #87

David Bain — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 21:50:25 +0000

[Tweet ""As a digital marketer, nobody can do everything." @SusanAbbott"] Susan Abbott is a specialist in customer insight and creative problem solving. You can find her over at LinkedIn, AbbottResearch.com and CustomerCrossroads.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss what is customer insight, with topics including: How can having customer insight improve your competitive advantage? What are some of the most effective ways to gather customer insight? And how do you pinpoint the most valuable data for your business? How can you improve your competitive advantage using customer insight? What are the differences between online and offline customer insight? The importance of looking for common themes Why emotion-driven marketing is essential How to communicate the results of an inquiry Why looking for anecdotes is important Should you focus on your key customer segment in your research? Why you should always look at what some of the best marketers in the world are doing Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Dropbox [File sharing / productivity tool] MailChimp [Email marketing] LinkedIn [Networking] Snagit [Image and video screen capture software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? HubSpot [Inbound marketing software] Shopify [E-commerce software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? As a digital marketer, nobody can do everything. So you have to pick a few strategies and try to do them really well. Good brands are built by offering people things of real value. So when you're thinking about content marketing, this is not 'pitch heavy'. This is 'real value marketing'. People see the content, think you're brilliant, and that's why they get in touch. The content is never a pitch.

How to use Twitter for Marketing – KEITH KELLER | DMR #86

David Bain — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:43:17 +0000

Keith Keller has appeared on numerous radio shows, teleseminars, webinars and Google Hangouts across the US, Canada, Europe, and Australasia. He is known as the Global Twitter Marketing Specialist. You can find him over at KeithKeller.com.au. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to use Twitter for marketing, with topics including: How has Twitter marketing changed over the past few years? Should Twitter be an important part of the social media marketing mix for all businesses? And what other social networks are on the rise in 2015? Are there any types of businesses that shouldn't be using Twitter? Does Twitter work for local businesses? What doesn't work on Twitter? What is spamming on Twitter? What is the most effective day of the week to Tweet? What format of tweets work best? What is the most important part of Twitter in recent times? Why including images in Tweets can help you to stand out from the crowd How SoundCloud can help you with your Twitter marketing How might Twitter change in the future? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? BufferApp [Social media scheduling software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Snip.ly [Link shortening and content sharing service] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Twitter is awesome, and I'll stand by that. But it's part of the social six. And it's part of an evolving and ever-changing social media space. You've got to take them somewhere. Twitter is only relevant if it's going somewhere. I would suggest - either work diligently on an email marketing list or make sure that you've got a lovely blog or website that's yours your domain, what I call your home base. Twitter and Pinterest and Instagram are wonderful - but you've got to take them somewhere. So my number one takeaway is don't rely on social media. Only use it as a traffic generator to bring them back home.

Content Marketing Strategy for 2015 – TOM TREANOR | DMR #85

David Bain — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 22:54:34 +0000

Tom Treanor is the Director of Content Marketing & Social Media for Wrike, a leading Project Management and Collaboration SaaS company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss content marketing strategy for 2015, including: How would you describe content marketing? Can content marketing involve trying to directly sell to someone? Where is it best to publish your content? Why is content marketing a powerful marketing strategy? How do content, social media and SEO fit together? And what are the biggest mistakes companies make related to content marketing? Why is content marketing more powerful than other forms of digital marketing? How to attribute the true value of content marketing Why a blog shouldn't be an afterthought Why you need to be consistent with your content marketing strategy in 2015 How would you describe content marketing? Can all companies use content marketing? How do you measure the overall effectiveness of a blog? Is it a good idea to be using a commenting system on your blog & if so, which one? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [User tracking] Google AdWords Keyword Tool [Keyword research] SEMRush [Competitive SEO intelligence] Hootsuite [Social Media Management] Buffer [Social Media Management] WordPress [Content Management System] Joomla [Content Management System] Wrike [Collaboration system] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? BuzzSumo [Social alerts] Sprout Social [Social Media Management] Atomic Reach [Content quality] Group High [Influencer outreach] Trackur [Influencer outreach] Little Bird [Advocate marketing] Follower Wonk [Twitter analytics] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Part one, you need to set up your home base for both search and social - this would be your website and blog. Number 2 you need to populate your website with great, relevant content for your audience.

How to start a successful blog – MATTHEW LOOMIS | DMR #84

David Bain — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 07:15:01 +0000

Matthew Loomis launched Build Your Own Blog to serve people and online businesses searching for a smooth blog setup that points them in the direction of long term success. He loves to counsel timid beginners on overcoming those initial blogging fears that hold back isolated, direction-starved dreamers. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss how to start a successful blog, including: What are the main secrets to successful blogs? As a blogger, is it important to pick and stick to one particular niche? What kind of blogging targets should you be setting to start off with in 2015? Why you need to learn to 'shine' as a blogger Is WordPress always the best platform for blogging? What length of blog post works best now? Should the majority of your blog posts be in the written format? Is SEO important to be aware of when starting off on your blogging journey? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? WordPress.org [ Blogging platform] Olark [Instant messaging service] MailChimp [Email marketing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Online lists] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Invest in your platform. Don't try to take short-cuts or to get by with freebies when it comes to your online business or your website. Because your website is your online store-front. If you're starting a conventional business, you wouldn't want to begin your business in a rat infested dive. You would do whatever you could to start your business in the best location possible.

SEO for eCommerce – ADAM VOWLES | DMR #83

David Bain — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:15:23 +0000

Adam Vowles is Head of Content and Outreach at SUSO Digital (@susodigital on Twitter) – a company that offers Digital Marketing Solutions for E-commerce and Technology Companies. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss SEO for eCommerce, including: What are the essential elements of SEO that you need to be aware of when you run an e-commerce site? Do you have to be both technical and creative to be a great digital marketer? What outreach strategies are likely to work best in 2015? Is WordPress a good idea for an eCommerce store? Why is sticking to one tactic with SEO 'shooting yourself in the foot'? What is 'influencing the influencers'? What is the future of SEO - will it be agency or in-house led? What will make a great digital marketer in the future? How many user signals does Google use in its organic search algorithm? Are titles and descriptions still really important for SEO? How do you keep your backlink structure natural? Should you consider using Google's 'Disavow tool'? What are some of the best ways to conduct blogger outreach? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? AHREFS [Backlink checker] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Search Metrics [Enterprise SEO data] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Add value. That's the most important thing now. You can't really get away with trying to game the system too much if you're gong to survive in an eCommerce world. You need to talk to your customers like they're real people - because people buy from people. Centre everything about your business around the customer. What problems do they have and how can they solve your problems?

B2B Digital Marketing Strategies – GORD HOTCHKISS | DMR #82

David Bain — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 07:15:01 +0000

In addition to being the CEO and co-founder of Enquiro (which was acquired on October 26, 2010 and is now part of Mediative), Gord Hotchkiss is a past director and Chairman of SEMPO (The Search Marketing Professionals Organization), a columnist for MediaPost and Search Engine Land, a regular presenter at all the industry shows and a popular keynote speaker. He is also the author of The Buyersphere Project: How Business Buys from Business in a Digital Marketplace. You can find him over at OutOfMyGord.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss B2B Digital Marketing Strategies, including: How is B2B marketing different from B2C marketing? What is key when trying to understand B2B purchase behaviour? Why does lower traffic figures not necessarily matter when you run a B2B site? Should you always be looking to meet B2B prospects face-to-face? How to deal with risk when communicating with B2B prospects Is reputation management more important for B2B? Is it important to be a content marketer if your primary focus is a niche B2B market? Is it appropriate to try to build an email list of B2B prospects? Is LinkedIn an appropriate place to make first introductions? Does paid advertising has to go hand-in-hand with earned exposure? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? DEVONthink [Information management] Google Trends [Consumer insights] Trello [Project management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? AdGooRoo [Competitive intelligence tool] Comscore [Competitive intelligence tool] Plus software for usability audits My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be an empathetic marketer. Learn how to step outside your reality and into the reality of your audience. Become very good at understanding their perspective and giving your clients (if you're an internal marketer or an agency marketer, it doesn't matter), just be really good at being able to bring that outside-in perspective and then share that internally and communicate it. And be a champion for that point of view, because in my years of marketing, it is amazing to me how few companies really have a good handle on what their customers think about them, how they qualify their buying decision and how they decide to buy something or not buy something.

5 Content Marketing Predictions for 2015 – DAVID BAIN | DMR #81

David Bain — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 23:54:48 +0000

Episode 81 of Digital Marketing Radio is very different, because for the first time I don't have a guest - I've been meaning to do more episodes like this, but at least I've finally got round to it now! First of all, let's start off with some news... I'm going to be taking the next couple of weeks off, so the next episode will be published on Tuesday the 6th January 2015. Why a Tuesday I hear you ask? That's because from next year I'm going to be just publishing 2 episodes of Digital Marketing Radio per week - on a Tuesday and a Thursday. Let me know how you feel about that! I'm doing that because I want to focus more on other projects as well - plus I want to also start broadcasting live videos of each video - and that's going to take a little more preparation. Hopefully you'll also find that my reduced schedule can further enhance the quality of the content as well. You also might have noticed that I've recently published a new page on the site where I share the top 5 tools and services that I use to power Digital Marketing Radio. Check that out when you have a moment. But let's get into the 'meat' of this episode, and that's the content marketing predictions for 2015: 5 Content Marketing Predictions for 2015 I've been searching online for what I believe to be the best content marketing activities for 2015. I've found 4 from other people, and I've also added one from myself at the bottom. 1) Customer experiences will define content creation By Melissa Breker - Co-Founder, Content Strategy Inc Melissa says that in 2015 we will see content as an experience. She says that we need to think past silo-based content and use customer journeys to determine how content can create different experiences. (Ref. http://blog.newscred.com/article/17-influencer-digital-marketing-predictions-for-2015/) 2) More videos than ever By David Wells – Founder, Inbound Now David says that in 2015 more and more companies will start creating so-called ‘explainer videos’ and giving them a prominent role in the user experience tactics. (Ref. http://www.inboundnow.com/10-online-marketing-trends-predictions-2015/) 3) Real time content will become more important in 2015 By Helen Mussard – Vice President, Global Marketing at Vibrant Media Helen says that this is about being able to align content to things that have just happened and not just have an editorial calendar set up. She says that she thinks that there will be a focus on news that breaks and is topical. (Ref. http://contently.com/strategist/2014/11/11/10-content-marketing-predictions-for-2015-from-top-industry-minds/) 4) Google will continue to remove tools and cut back on analytics By Debra Mastaler - President and owner of Alliance-Link.com (Ref. https://twitter.com/debramastaler/status/515518942694367232) 5) In 2015, progressive small businesses will start to be their own media production house and start their own show. And larger businesses will begin to purchase the best of these shows. By David Bain - Host, Digital Marketing Radio You may well know that I'm also considering producing and publishing a new training course called "Start Your Own Show". If this might be of interest to you I'd really appreciate if you would take 2 minutes of your time to complete this questionnaire. Have a great Christmas, New Year and rest! I look forward to continuing to get to know you in 2015. All the best David

Public Relations Strategies – SCOTT BARADELL | DMR #80

David Bain — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:15:35 +0000

Scott Baradell is president and founder of Idea Grove, a public relations and inbound marketing firm focused on enterprise technology clients – and he’s based in Dallas and also has offices in London. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Public relations strategies What’s the secret to successful PR moving into 2015? What about inbound marketing – what are some of the most successful strategies at the moment? And is PR an integral part of inbound marketing? What defines good PR now? What form of content works best at the moment? The 2 types of buyer - the now buyer and the future buyer Why over time content marketing is a better bet compared with pay-per-click marketing What is the value of a Wall Street Journal article compared with a vertical trade? Do you use attribution modelling software? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Vocus [Public relations software] Trend Kite [Monitoring media coverage] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Link Detox [Find bad links SEO software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? The answer to audience and media fragmentation - which is the challenge for every business today - is to identify who your core audience is, and then use your core content in as many ways as possible, to reach them in as many places as possible.

How to improve website performance – JAMES GREIG | DMR #79

David Bain — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:00:07 +0000

James Greig is the founder of online business optimisation software provider Bloomtools. James founded the software development arm of Bloomtools in 2004. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How to improve website performance How do you actually judge how well your website is performing? Is web page loading speed really that important? And if you don’t have a mobile friendly site, how does that impact your visitor retention? What are the major changes that James has seen in digital marketing over the past 10 years? What is the trouble with the web industry as a whole? What is the the main problem that businesses are facing with website designers at the moment? What are the biggest challenges that most websites face? Why web designers need to think like a consumer Why it's important to design a website that looks similar to other sites Are content management systems for websites the only way to go? How important is web page loading speed and what can be done to improve it? Where should your web server be located? How you can nominate the country that you want top optimize your website for Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google AdWords [PPC tool] Google Analytics [Website analytics tool] Google for Work [Collaborative software tools] Crocodoc [Website editing tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Remarketing using Facebook Advertising [Advertising tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Make sure that your website has all the basics first - check out how your site performs on mobile. Test your website on the Bloomtools Grader.

What conversion metrics are essential? KEVIN HILLSTROM | DMR #78

David Bain — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 07:00:35 +0000

Kevin Hillstrom is the founder of MineThatData, a consultancy that helps retailers, e-commerce brands, and catalogers to understand how customers interact with products, brands, and channels. So Kevin: year-on-year, are customers continuing to spend more money online? Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What conversion metrics are essential? We often hear the mantra "mobile first", but is that true for all customers? Why do companies often ignore campaign and conversion data? What are the most important metrics to analyse when it comes to selling online? Are there any particular industry sectors that are more likely to be able to sell online? What about age segments - how does online purchasing behaviour change by age? The shift from desktop to tablet and how that impacts buyer behaviour How will buyer behaviour change moving forward? What data are companies not looking at but they should be looking at? How buyer behaviour has changed over the past 3 or 4 years and why a conversion rate drop isn't necessarily a bad thing The logical progression between a visit from a non-branded term and various repeat visits Why an indication of visitor progression is an important metric Why looking at the half life of metrics is important How to get your customers to become more loyal Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? SPSS [Data mining] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? A genetic algorithm [An algorithm that mimics natural selection] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? The interaction of marketing channels and customer demographics - you have some older individuals who are going to behave a certain way. This interaction between age and demographics is going to push companies in 2 different directions. It is going to be harder to separate your business from ageing customers if that is your demographic! Learn who your customer is and how they use technology to determine your path moving forward.

Smart marketing objectives – ILISE BENUN | DMR #77

David Bain — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 07:00:37 +0000

Ilise Benun is the founder of Marketing-Mentor.com, a national speaker, the author of 7 books for the “creatively self-employed,” and co-founder and host of the “Creative Business track of HOW Design Live”, an annual design conference. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What are smart marketing objectives? How do you ensure that your marketing methods are as smart as possible? How do you communicate in an era when people seem to respond less and less? How do you ensure that your marketing methods are as smart as possible? Can you still be creative in your digital marketing strategies when you’re working as a freelancer? Why you can be more creative when you are doing your own marketing How much time is appropriate to be focusing on marketing when you are a freelancer? Why a blog isn't the first marketing tool you should think of What are the most important ways of building your 'list'? Why face-to-face networking is still really important How to opt-in contacts on a ace-to-face basis Tips for 1-on-1 emails How often should you keep in contact with your subscribers? Can you still email your subscribers if you haven't communicated for months? How well can relationships be nurtures over email? The important elements of building a buyer persona Is it always a good idea to put prices on your website? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Skype [VOIP software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Evernote [Organizational software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Make a commitment to a target market and focus on a few marketing tools first - don't try to do everything, so that what you have is manageable and easy-to-do so that you can do it every day.

Email Marketing Ideas for 2015 – RYAN BUCHANAN | DMR #76

David Bain — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 07:00:32 +0000

Ryan Buchanan is CEO of eROI, a digital marketing agency, which he founded to inspire and be inspired. His philosophy is all about stepping into client's shoes with a business mindset first. You can find Ryan over at eROI.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Email marketing ideas for 2015 Is email marketing still innovating? Will social ever overtake email as a reliable customer communications medium? How has the increased use of mobile impacted email marketing? How Ryan obtained the domain eROI.com Is collecting email addresses still essential for most businesses now? Using tools to capture data from both web and social Whether or not email will always be part of the marketing mix Why organic reach is so much of a challenge on Facebook The multiple touch points of a customer order journey Are companies innovating fast enough to take advantage of mew technology? What is the 'fluid web'? What can you learn from your customers? Working towards a single view of the customer across multiple devices Why customers abandon shopping carts and what to do about it What is progressive disclosure or progressive profiling? Working on increasing the conversion rate while still capturing as much information as possible How aggressive should a business be when it comes to asking for an email opt-in? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Docs [Group collaboration software] Asana [Group collaboration software] Harvest [Time tracking software] LinkedIn [Business research] Litmus [Email testing software] ExactTarget [CRM Software] Blue Hornet [Email marketing software] Google Analytics [Website analytics software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Salesforce [Enterprise CRM tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Ask why - always get back to that core goal you want to accomplish - Why am I doing this? Why email Why search? How am I being strategic rather than just jumping right in there and looking for the 'red shiny ball'?

Local Search Engine Optimization – DAVID WHATLEY | DMR #75

David Bain — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 07:00:12 +0000

David Whatley is the Founder and Managing Director at MiShop Local, a specialist local search optimisation and citation building service for Brands, National Chains, Franchises and Agencies. You can find him over at mishoplocal.co.uk. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What is local search engine optimization? How is local search optimisation different to conventional websearch? What challenges do companies face with local search optimisation? What's the difference between local SEO and local listing optimistion? Is Google good at determining your location if you aren't signed in to your Google account? Is there still a big local SEO opportunity out there? Do businesses still have to submit their details to Google, or will Google glean information that is already out there? What happens if Google has no confidence in relation to the information that is already out there about your business? Is it still important to get listed in small local directory websites? Can a business expect to see a reasonable volume of traffic from a local listing on Google? Can you have a local listing on Google if you don't have a website? How can a business differentiate itself from its local competitors? How important is your brand to local optimisation? Should you ask your customers to write reviews about your business on Google local? Are there other sites that you should ask your customers to review your business on? Why getting a surge of reviews isn't great Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Drive [Project management tool] Wrike [Project management tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Hubspot [Inbound marketing tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be consistent wherever customers look or find your services. If you have multiple locations, ensure that your name, address and phone numbers are being listed as intended.

PR strategy examples for 2015 – DAVID HICKEY | DMR #74

David Bain — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 07:00:56 +0000

David Hickey is Area Director for the online media monitoring company Meltwater; helping businesses drive growth and build brands. You can find them over at Meltwater.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: PR strategy examples for 2015 Does traditional PR still work? What PR strategies no longer work effectively? How has social media impacted the way that good PRs communicate? What’s a better PR strategy for 2015? Are the wrong people interacting on social media? Is there one social network worth focusing on? Are traditional media releases still relevant? Why you reach more people by focusing on the top 5 influencers How do you encourage brand mentions? Why you need to look for an emotional response on social media How do you deal with negative brand mentions? Is it a good idea to publicly interact with users who aren't happy with your brand? Why the rise and rise of social media has been disruptive Can PR professionals still control the company message? What communication styles are particularly effective at the moment? Is it best just to focus on the one social network? Can you sell directly on social media? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? A great CRM system [Meltwater bespoke tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Zendesk [Client servicing software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Knowing what brand you are trying to build, and what communities you are trying to reach are two key starting points for PR and social.

Crisis communication examples – GERALD BARON | DMR #73

David Bain — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:00:07 +0000

Gerald Baron is a specialist in emergency and crisis communications, with deep experience in working with government agencies and Fortune 100 companies. You can find him over at agincourt.us Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Crisis communication examples How has the way that crisis communications are dealt with, evolved over the past couple of years? How do you deal with social media communication in a crisis? What communication management technologies assist with crisis management moving into 2015? Why every business that wants to be big need to interact with their customers online How to prepare to deal with natural disasters when they happen (from a social media perspective) Why now is too late when dealing with crisis Whether or not it is possible to deal with a crisis on social media without knowing all the facts Crisis management using a combination of Twitter and your own website Why you must be able to update your website yourself What software and technologies can assist with crisis management? How do you deal with engagement in a crisis? Why text and phone notifications are very important The use of social media monitoring tools in a crisis Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? A blog [WordPress.org] Twitter [A blog promotion tool] Also discussed: Not Without Salt [Popular blog by Gerald's daughter] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Instagram [Image based social network] Pinterest [Image based social network] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Most organizations don't understand that news has become a conversation. Embrace the change!

What is New PR? – MARTIN WAXMAN | DMR #72

David Bain — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:00:13 +0000

Martin Waxman is a social media, content marketing and communications strategist and teaches digital strategy at University of Toronto SCS. He's also the co-founder of three PR agencies and president of Martin Waxman Communications. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What is New PR? How has content marketing changed over the past few years? What is the ‘zen’ of content marketing? Is there a difference between content marketing and new PR? How do you communicate effectively in a crisis? The United Breaks Guitars case study The importance of adopting the publishing mindset Why "do a news release" is the easy answer Why your posts have to really engage people on Facebook Why you need to start thinking of Facebook as a paid channel Why some PR agencies haven't changed Why PRs need to become better visual story tellers Why community management is a fantastic model for PR You need to do 'scripted improv' Why bloggers are their own form of media Why 'beige' companies may not have a future Why one or two ill-timed tweets can cause a crisis As discussed - the "United Breaks Guitars" video Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Evernote [Note taking app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Travel apps [Replacing guide books] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Never be complacent. We've learned in the past 5/8 years how much the world has changed, and how much it continues to change. Think of ourselves as scientists. Test things out and try to see what works then be prepared to adapt. Embrace the next great thing that comes along that helps us achieve our goals.

Digital Marketing in India – PARAMVIR SINGH | DMR #71

David Bain — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 07:00:38 +0000

Ex-advertising Art Director, National Award Winning Cinematographer Paramvir Singh runs DesiCreative out of sheer love for advertising and brands. You can also check him out at Kiss Films. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Digital marketing in India How is the digital marketing landscape different in India compared with Europe and the USA? Why are clients in India still spending so much money on TV marketing youth brands? How is marketing in India likely to evolve over the next few years? How India has skipped the laptop revolution right to the mobile revolution Are most mobile phones based on the Android platform in India? Is Facebook an important marketing channel in India? How reliable is the internet in India? Will advertising shift to mobile soon in India? Are consumers quite comfortable with purchasing online in India? Why international brands should do business in India What kind of phraseology should you be using when speaking to prospective customer in India - are there any cultural differences to be aware of? The blogging network, IndiBlogger Do bloggers feel obliged to give your product a positive review in India? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? The Browser [Safari, Chrome and Firefox] plus browser extensions from software like Future Tweets What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Klout [Social media authority scoring] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Get other people to say that your brand is desirable! When you beat your own drum, people don't take you so seriously.

What is word of mouth marketing? – SAUL COLT | DMR #70

David Bain — Fri, 05 Dec 2014 07:00:39 +0000

Saul Colt is Chief Evangelist at online accounting service Xero – and he’s also one of Canada’s best experiential marketers and can be found at Saul.is. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What is word of mouth marketing and how do you encourage it? What about stunt marketing? What’s that and how does it work? Can every business be creative with its marketing? Why it comes down to knowing your customers Why shocking is appropriate for some brands Why you may not have to be on the big 3 social networks Can all negative PR disasters be 'fixed'? Why most ads aren't really that important Can you still make a significant impact with content? Why you can't be just outrageous - everything must still have a purpose Why Saul prefers dealing face-to-face with people What to do if you are bored with Twitter Can any business be outrageous in their marketing activities? Why companies should have a face rather than a logo as their avatar Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Trip It [Travel organizer] Xero [Accounting software] Google Docs [Document storage and sharing] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? WhatsApp [Group chat tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Push the limits. When you are creating experiences and memorable activities for people, know your customers as well as you can. Know where the line of good taste is, and know how to take 2 baby steps over the line. Get people to talk by creating something worth talking about.

Do you need a voice over artist? – STEPHANIE CICCARELLI | DMR #69

David Bain — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 07:00:21 +0000

Stephanie Ciccarelli is author of Voice Acting For Dummies, and the co-founder and CMO of Voices.com. Considered one of the most connected people in the industry, she’ been heard on radio, appeared on television and contributed to articles in Forbes, Success Magazine, and CNNMoney. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Do you need a voice over artist? Is the selection of a voice to represent your brand really that important? How does a quality voice over benefit digital marketing? How can a voice impact your brand? And what are the common mistakes that businesses make when it comes to picking a voiceover artist? What is your best tip for content strategy at the moment? Do you have insights on what will be important in the digital marketing space in 2015? Can you be turned off a brand by listening to the wrong voice? Should a business put together the full script for a voice over artist? How to make a script your own without changing it Is it possible or a good idea to split test a voice over artist? What about accents? Are regional accents good or bad? Do certain accents carry more 'weight'? Does someone's age or maturity impact the perception of a voiceover? Is the quality of audio important? Do you need to ask your audio professional for a certain type of file type? How to select the ideal voice over professional Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hootsuite [Social media management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Pinterest [Image-led social network] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You really need to know your brand. You know what it stands for. You need to know what it does, what it doesn't do. And just essentially how you want it to shine in front of other people.

eCommerce marketing strategies – JOEL HOUSE | DMR #68

David Bain — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 07:15:22 +0000

Joel House is one of Australia's leading eCommerce Marketers, helping dozens of businesses grow their sales and traffic month after month. You can find him over at onlinevisions.com.au. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: eCommerce marketing strategies What are the best traffic sources for an eCommerce business? What is the quickest way to double sales in eCommerce? And what are the 3 elements every eCommerce site should have? How should eCommerce business owners structure their sites for SEO? Is social media important for eCommerce? The shifts in buyer behaviour over the past couple of years What are the best sources of new traffic for an eCommerce business? Is PPC or SEO traffic best for eCommerce? What is the biggest issue when it comes to SEO for eCommerce sites? What's best - having just the one domain for a large site or having a single domain for each category of product? What mistakes do you see businesses making with retargeting? What is a branding based retargeting campaign vs. a product based retargeting campaign? What is the best length for a retargeting campaign? When do you need to change the ad copy for a retargeting campaign? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Infusionsoft [Marketing automation software] ahrefs [SEO performance software] Visual Web Optimizer [Split testing software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Video editing software My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? If you're not started, get started. Be persistent and build a plan. Don't expect to make a million dollars in your first year - but the most important things is to get started, and to keep growing.

BRENT DYKES Interview – the Web Analytics Action Hero | DMR #67

David Bain — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 07:15:20 +0000

Brent Dykes is the Evangelist for Analytics at Adobe and is responsible for guiding and evangelizing the vision of Adobe’s analytics solutions. He is also the author of two books: Web Analytics Action Hero and Web Analytics Kick Start Guide (Limited time, download this book for free here). Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What does it take to become a web analytics action hero? How do you prioritise your analytics efforts? And how do you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your online analysis? What's more important when employing someone to work in analytics - maths or marketing? Should everyone in the marketing team be involved with analytics? Is it best to employ a specialist agency for analytics, or someone to work directly for you? What are the most important areas to be looking at initially from a priority perspective? Understanding what we want our customers to do The importance of building a conversion funnel Can you get your visitors to come back to your site and convert again? What Brent includes in his 'Web Analytics Action Hero' book and why How to become a data driven marketing team Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Adobe Analytics [Website analytics tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Adobe Target [Testing / targeting software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You need to trust the data. Understand what you're trying to do online, and then get the right metrics in place to evaluate those business goals that you have.

Solving “Keyword not provided” in Analytics – LAURENCE O’TOOLE | DMR #66

David Bain — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 07:15:23 +0000

Laurence O'Toole is CEO of Analytics SEO - a cloud based SEO software platform offering unique, big marketing data and tools for marketing professionals everywhere. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Solving "keyword not provided" in Analytics What do you do when the vast majority of your keyword data is missing in analytics? Redesigning a website? What are the important web design considerations approaching 2015? What’s Big Data Analytics and how can it improve your business? What does content marketing have to do with "keyword not provided" in Analytics? Mobile website data and what keeps Laurence awake at night! Whether or not Google will turn off 100% of keyword data Why you have to rely on data at a landing page level Can you be more intelligent than by presuming that generic keyword phrases are used to find content-rich landing pages? Why someone telling you that they can get 100% of your keyword data back aren't telling the truth What attribution model is right for you? Why are Google might be removing some of their keyword data What is big data and why is it important in today's world of SEO? As discussed in the interview, here's Laurence's page on Big SEO Data Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Analytics SEO [SEO software] Salesforce [CRM software] Zendesk [Customer service software] Insight Squared [Salesforce analytics app] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Full Contact [Unified contact management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? No matter whether you're B2B or B2C, try to create a systematic process and constantly tweak it and refine it.

Is Google Plus for SEO still important? – JEFF SAUER | DMR #65

David Bain — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 07:00:29 +0000

Jeff Sauer is a digital marketing consultant, teacher and internationally recognized speaker who shares his Google Analytics and SEO expertise on the popular Jeffalytics blog, while also contributing to top online marketing industry publications. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Is Google Plus for SEO still important? Is it still important to establish yourself as an authority on Google+? What are some of the heaviest elements (most important) in the Periodic Table of Google Analytics? Is it possible to have a 5-year plan when you work in the digital marketing industry? Why Google Authorship didn't work as Google intended Why Google Plus itself won't die Getting clean data into Google Analytics Understanding what Google Analytics means to the business When you should forget about software and focus on real business goals Should you choose to take every opportunity as they come or plan everything along the way? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Google Analytics [Visitor tracking software] WordPress [CMS] OptimizePress [WordPress Theme] Slack [Communications software] Jeff's Periodic Table Infographic Courtesy of: Depth of Knowledge by Jeffalytics My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Always work towards either learning something or growing. It's really hard to start a new business! Just stay focused and keep on going forwards.

Social media integration – OLGA ANDRIENKO | DMR #64

David Bain — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 07:00:59 +0000

Olga Andrienko is the Director of Social Media at SEMrush. She has five years of experience in conversion marketing, and has increased SEMrush’s revenue from social media by an average of 30 percent monthly. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Social media integration How should a company integrate social media strategy into its marketing mix? How can a company measure ROI from social media? And what is the impact of social media on SEO? The importance of monetizing offline events for social media Is social media a better brand builder than a traffic generator? Most people that follow you on social media are already your customers Social media isn't the best way to attract new customers Why you are fortunate if you work in e-commerce UTM tracking for social media managers Viewing what users like and dislike about your competitors Reviewing which social media posts are popular and why Do social media activities every impact natural search rankings Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Hootsuite [Social media management] Sprout Social [Social media management] BuzzSumo [Performance analysis for content] Rival IQ [ Competitor analysis software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Nimble [Social CRM] David's "Why SEO Will Never Die" presentation for SEMRush My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Social media isn't an option, it's a must. It's a question of how you position yourself there and how you communicate. Find your voice. Check what others are saying and always remember that it's social in the first instance, not media.

How to get leads online – HEATHER PORTER | DMR #63

David Bain — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 07:00:54 +0000

Heather Porter is a mentor to small business owners struggling to grow their business online and Co-Founder of the Digital Agency Autopilot Your Business. She is co-host of a popular online marketing podcast listened to regularly in over 80 countries, publisher of a digital magazine, and has co-authored 4 books. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How to get leads online What are some of the most effective ways to collect leads online? Once you have a lead, what do you do with them? And how can you convert a lead into a sale using marketing automation? In late 2014, what are some of the most effective ways to collect leads online? For small businesses, the importance of building up your brand before you focus on advertising Where to include your call to action Why it's important not to use the same call-to-action through all of your content Where to include your call-to-action in your YouTube video A great tip for driving leads from Kindle books The importance of strategically positioning opt-in forms Heather's recommendation for email marketing software How to turn your lead into your customer Why you need to offer a specific signature product or service Is it important to include a telephone number on your website? How you can use Google Hangouts to answer general questions from your customers Tools to improve interaction with Google Hangouts Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Basecamp [Project management tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Help Scout [Help desk software] Slack [Customer communication tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Get your autoresponders set up! Spend a little time to write your first few emails in the sequence including your first couple as stories, your middle ones content and your last ones as call-to-action. See Heather's autoresponder in action at AYBGuide.com.

Social media marketing management – ANDREW MCCAULEY | DMR #62

David Bain — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 07:00:53 +0000

In 2006, Andrew McCauley started his own business consulting company and one of his first clients asked him how people were using Facebook for their marketing. He had no idea what Facebook was, let alone use it for business. Thus began his journey on studying Social Media for business. Today you can find Andrew at AutoPilotYourBusiness.com. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Social media marketing management Was it actually possible for businesses to utilise Facebook back in 2006? How do you effectively delegate your social media marketing? How do you structure the building of your own social media team? How much social media marketing can actually be automated? What impact has 'pay to play' on Facebook had with businesses? Why you don't want to build your business on rented land Is it still important for the majority of businesses to have their own Facebook page? When building a team, why it is important to recruit people that understand and embrace your brand Why it may not be a great idea for an agency to provide social media posting services Different communication styles on different networks Is it important to try to 'be everywhere'? What social media tasks are appropriate to automate and what tasks should you definitely be doing on a manual basis? Should the majority of content that you share on social media be your own? Should you share the same content more than once? How might social media marketing evolve over the coming year? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Skype [VOIP] Basecamp [Team management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Podio [Project management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Pick one thing and just do it. Too many people get overwhelmed. Version one is better than version none!

Mobile website SEO tips – BRIDGET RANDOLPH | DMR #61

David Bain — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 07:00:23 +0000

Bridget Randolph is an online marketing consultant for digital agency Distilled. She is particularly interested in the way that developments in mobile technology and social media affect our online experiences, and how these changes impact the nature of digital marketing. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Mobile website SEO tips From an SEO perspective, how do you optimise your site for mobile? Is it necessary to have a separate marketing strategy for mobile? How will developments in mobile technology impact digital marketing in general? Why to think of mobile as just another browser Why it depends on who your target market is Why some people are surprised what they find in their analytics How to check for mobile usage in Google Analytics Does a user's behaviour depend on the device they are using? Why Google's research shows that mobile isn't necessarily mobile What you can learn from Amazon Focusing on micro-conversions Best practice for building a mobile friendly website (Distilled blog post) Mobile Strategy for Small Businesses (Moz blog post) Why there are divided opinions about having an app as well as a mobile site The 5 elements of consideration before you decide to build your own app Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Screaming Frog [Site crawling tool] Deep crawl [Site crawling tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Swrve [Mobile ROI] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Understand your customer. Understand how people use their devices, use your website and interact with you across all your channels. If you understand where they are and who they are, you'll know how to talk to them.

What is behavioural targeting and is it effective? – SHAWN AGUILAR | DMR #60

David Bain — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 07:00:58 +0000

Shawn Aguilar is the Digital Marketing Manager at TapSense, where he creates and executes lead generation campaigns across all digital channels. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What digital marketing activities are most effective for lead generation? What is behavioural targeting and is it effective? How do you run a successful re-targeting campaign? What is behavioural targeting and is it effective? What is real-time bidding? Is LinkedIn effective for B2C as well as B2B? Is focusing on lead generation essential for every business? What are the differences between Hubspot and Marketo when it comes to inbound marketing? Should every business consider inbound marketing? The importance of setting a conversion pixel on your site When is the right time to 'give up' on a re-targeting campaign? Trying to solve the multi-device tracking challenge Google's advantage in the world of re-targeting Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? LinkedIn Ads [Pay per click advertising] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Facebook Custom Audiences [Pay per click advertising] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Break down silos. It will be beneficial for your marketing team if they understand what your sales team are doing.

Marketing automation for small business – KYLEE LEGGE | DMR #59

David Bain — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 07:00:56 +0000

Kylee Legge from Virtual Marketing shares her marketing experience with those in the small business sector as publishing a book as the new and improved business card is only part of a much bigger picture. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Marketing automation for small business What marketing techniques are essential to be aware of when moving from a physical business to a fully automated business? What marketing tactics used in physical businesses still apply to virtual, automated businesses? How much of your marketing is possible to automate, and how much should be left to a personal, one-on-one touch? What are the most important aspect of a business' activities to automate? How much time do you need to automate the marketing activities of your business? What software and systems do you recommend? The 9 marketing techniques that Kylee recommends Kylee's recommendation for publishing digital magazines What the future holds for online marketing When is the right time to use re targeting? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact your marketing success? Adobe Business Catalyst [Website and marketing platform] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Techsmith [Screencapture on a phone] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? You want to create to create a product or service that can not only be virtually marketed, but wherever possible fully virtually delivered.

SEO for small business – DAVID BOBIS | DMR #58

David Bain — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 07:00:55 +0000

As well as being an award-winning author and part time writer for No Cure Magazine, David Bobis spends most of his time as the Search and Communications Director of digital agency based in Brisbane, Australia, called Studio Culture. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: SEO for small business Are keywords still relevant? What are some of the ways to maximise SEO on a WordPress site? In relation to SEO, what is the first things that a business should invest in? Should you be researching keyword phrases to include on each page on your site? How to define your competition Some of the best free SEO tools SEO using Facebook and eBay Is link building still alive and well? Leveraging offline relationships for SEO How to generate links using stories Top SEO plugins for WordPress Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your marketing success? Google Drive [Team collaboration software] Asana [Team collaboration software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Basecamp [CRM software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Invest in a great product or service before you focus on SEO - then grind - do the hard work necessary.

How to promote your blog – ANNABEL CANDY | DMR #57

David Bain — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 07:00:53 +0000

Annabel Candy is a Digital Strategist, Web Designer and Copywriter who's been running her own digital marketing agency for 16 years at Mucho. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Is blogging just as effective as it used to be? How to promote your blog How often should you blog? How do you get the mainstream media to feature your blog? How do you build a revenue stream from a blog? Can non-technical people succeed in blogging? Is it worthwhile blogging if you only have time to blog once every 2 weeks? How do you get your articles published in print publications? Is there any difference in writing style for web vs. print? Is it possible to drive people back from a print publication to your blog? Should you focus on building a revenue stream from your blog? Do you need to know how to publish a blog, or should you just get someone else to do the technical work? How many subscribers do you need? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? WordPress [Blogging software] Evernote [Organisation software] Hootsuite [Social media management software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? AWeber [Email marketing software] Infusionsoft [Marketing automation software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Blogging is not for everyone! Find something that you can stick with!

What should a marketing plan include? – ALEX MAKIN | DMR #56

David Bain — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 07:00:40 +0000

Alex Makin is the Managing Director and Principal Founder of Syneka Marketing. Syneka Marketing were finalists in 2013 and 2014 in the Australian Marketing Institute's Awards for Marketing Excellence. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How important is having a marketing plan? What should a marketing plan include? How should you measure the effectiveness of your marketing activities? Should a business implement marketing activities without a plan? What challenges are retailers facing at the moment? Identifying opportunities Do you need to have your marketing tactics included as part of your marketing plan? What comes first, defining your core proposition or asking your customers what they think you should sell? Integrating your marketing activities Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Vtiger CRM [CRM Software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Watch this space! Video "Best Practices For Developing Effective Marketing Strategies and Plans" Additional resource mentioned by Alex: www.marketingselfassessment.com.au My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be clear on what your value proposition is, make sure that it is a value proposition that actually exists in the marketplace, and be consistent in how you promote it.

Brick and mortar marketing in the digital world – SUSAN BARONCINI-MOE | DMR #55

David Bain — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 07:00:37 +0000

Susan Baroncini-Moe is the author of the bestselling, Business in Blue Jeans: How to Have a Successful Business on Your Own Terms, in Your Own Style. She is an executive coach and a digital marketing strategist. Recently named one of Online Marketing Institute’s Top 40 Digital Marketers of 2014, she regularly speaks to audiences of all sizes and has shared the stage with business giants like Michael E. Gerber, Bob Burg, and Larry Winget, among others. Susan and her businesses have been featured in Redbook Magazine, USA Today, MSN Living, Investor’s Business Daily, Yahoo Finance, and American Express Open Forum, and she is a Guinness World Records® titleholder. You can find more articles by and information about SusanBaroncini-Moe at http://www.businessinbluejeans.com/. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What are some of the best ways for brick and mortar businesses to leverage digital marketing? How do you build a 'village' to support your business? Who holds the Guinness world record for the world's longest uninterrupted live webcast? Brick and mortar marketing in the digital world What are the biggest digital marketing challenges that smaller businesses face? Where is the best place to start for smaller businesses? What impact is 'big data' having on smaller businesses? The challenge that many businesses are facing with Facebook The importance of claiming and controlling social pages Building a mastermind for your small business Why having networking connections is also important Focusing on administration in your business Building your own 'advisory neighbourhood' Is it important to also do business face-to-face? The main differences between online business marketing and brick and mortar business marketing Is digital marketing becoming more ethical? How do you deal with negative reviews online? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Photoshop [Image manipulation tool] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Freshbooks (maybe!) [Bookkeeping software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Digital marketing is certainly something that most businesses should be looking at, but there are lots of other marketing activities that should be considered too.

The art of storytelling in marketing – MATTHEW TURNER | DMR #54

David Bain — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 07:00:36 +0000

Matthew Turner is 'Turndog', an Author, Brand Storyteller & Speaker who spends each day Discovering, Creating & Sharing Inspiring Stories. He keeps busy with lots of storytelling goodness, but at the minute he's writing THE SUCCESSFUL MISTAKE: a book about overcoming your #GreatMistake and transforming it into your best idea yet. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: The art of storytelling in marketing Is it possible for a brand to be a good storyteller? What are some of the most important lessons you can learn by interviewing over 150 entrepreneurs? How do you implement storytelling into your digital marketing mix? The importance of making a brand personable Defining your brand story Sharing your story with the right people - defining your key audience Should you use 3rd person on your about page? What are some of the biggest mistakes that successful entrepreneurs have made? How interviewing people can assist with your own development The Successful Mistake Interviewee Video Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Contactually [CRM software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Lead Pages [Email marketing & conversion rates] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Value the relationships. Don't just wish that you knew people - go out there and do something.

The difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing – JOSHUA STRAWCZYNSKI | DMR #53

David Bain — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 07:00:35 +0000

Joshua Strawczynski is the Managing Director of J Marketing, a marketing consultancy that works across traditional and digital business. He has a proven record of growing businesses through marketing structure and discipline. As a result he was named in the Australian Institute of Management’s Top 30 under 30. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: Difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing How important is branding for online business? What do we do badly in digital? Why business strategy has to be at the heart of digital marketing What print media is performing particularly well at the moment? Can one person be expected to implement a comprehensive digital marketing campaign? What are some of the most important considerations when aiming to create an effective online brand? Where should you invest to ensure that your brand is trusted? What CMS do you recommend? What are the pros and cons regarding WordPress? Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Basecamp [Project management software] Xero [Accounting software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Do things differently. Don't be afraid to be completely different. Look at the market and say "how can I stand out?"

How to use YouTube for marketing – JAYDE LOVELL | DMR #52

David Bain — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 07:00:02 +0000

Jayde Lovell and Bec Susan Gill are YouTube video producers, who run the YouTube Channel 'Did Someone Say Science'. Previously, they were the digital dream for the world's largest PR agency Weber Shandwick, where Jayde worked as the Vice President of Digital for Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Bec was a creative director and videographer based out of Singapore and London. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How to use YouTube for marketing What makes a successful video? Why are there lots of mega-celebrities on YouTube, but not many successful brands? Is video marketing harder for brands? You've made a great video and uploaded it to YouTube - now what? If you can't afford to employ a pro video team, can you still compete with the big boys? Figuring out your target market Offering value to your audience Promoting your video Why passion is so important Is the message more important than video quality? What microphones to use for videos How long should a video be? Should you finish each video with a call-to-action? What should your call-to-action be? Including keywords in the appropriate places Adding written transcriptions to videos Tips for brands Here's the video we mention during the discussion: Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? YouTube Analytics [Analytics software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Adobe Premiere [Video production software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Be authentic. If you're being authentic then you can't help but be successful!

How to measure Social Media ROI – ALAN MORTE | DMR #51

David Bain — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 07:00:46 +0000

@AlanMorte is a Co-Founder at Three Ventures Technology, an enterprise Analytics, Search Marketing, and Responsive Web Development firm. His work with Google Analytics has been published in Digital Marketing Monthly, named by Kiss Metrics as one of the top resources for Google Analytics in 2014, and will be speaking on tracking strategies to measure social ROI with Google Analytics at SMX Social Media in Las Vegas. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How to measure social media ROI The common issue with marketers How to use Google Analytics to get the best out of social media Do you need any other 3rd party solution to track your social media success apart from Google Analytics? Is it important to tell Google Analytics that certain traffic comes from Google Analytics tracking groupings Tagging your links with mediums, sources and campaigns Whether adding tracking parameters onto your URLs will impact your SEO results Should you ask bloggers to add tracking parameters to the links that they give you? Customised reports and secondary dimensions in Google Analytics Conversion rand revenue related metrics The importance of social media marketers understanding Google Analytics What are the other tracking options? What are the best social networks to focus on from an ROI perspective? Here are some links to what we discussed on the call: How to measure Social ROI with Google Analytics Google Analytics URL builder Chrome add-on Here's a video of Alan discussing the topic further:

DMR #50: ROBERT BRADY – Advertising on LinkedIn

David Bain — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 07:00:03 +0000

Robert Brady is the founder/PPC wizard of Righteous Marketing. He is a Google Partner, BingAds Accredited Professional and certified with Marketing Experiments for Online Testing and Landing Page Optimization. He has worked with a variety of different companies ranging from a small grass-fed beef grower in Idaho to large B2B SaaS companies. He currently resides in Idaho Falls, ID and can often be found skiing, mountain biking, or playing ultimate frisbee in the park. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What's the best way to get started with LinkedIn advertising? Where to ads appear on LinkedIn, and what targeting options are available? What are the common mistakes made when advertising on LinkedIn? What makes LinkedIn unique compared with other pay per click networks? Can LinkedIn work for any business, or is it just appropriate for a B2B business? Where do ads appear on LinkedIn and what targeting options are available? What kind of click through rate might an advertiser expect from LinkedIn advertising? How much traffic can you actually drive to your site from LinkedIn ads? What kind of targeting options are available? What is the easiest way to get started with LinkedIn advertising? What are the biggest mistakes that businesses make with advertising on LinkedIn? How might LinkedIn advertising improve over the next year? The challenge with timing your ads on LinkedIn Some of the key answers shared on today's episode... Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Excel [PPC tools] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Adobe Media Optimizer [Conversion tracking] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Really know who the right person is. Define that person not just by keywords, but know their interests, their job title, what kind of companies they work for. You've really got to know who you're trying to get in front of, and have a very accurate picture of who that person is - that way you can make sure that you're getting your stuff in front of the right person.

DMR #49: PETE WHITMARSH – How does Google AdWords work?

David Bain — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 07:00:00 +0000

Pete Whitmarsh is Head of PPC at Search Laboratory and is responsible for a team of 20 PPCers. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How do you really know the optimum amount you should be bidding on a keyword, on Google AdWords? Should everyone be targeting specific devices and times with their Google AdWords' campaigns? What are the up and coming paid search opportunities to look out for? Is Google AdWords generally the best place to start in terms of PPC? How does Google AdWords work? Are there better targeting opportunities on Facebook? How do you know the optimum amount that you should be bidding for your pay per click traffic? How do you establish the best ROI? Is there a best position number to be aiming for? Do you generate much more traffic if you appear at the top of the paid search results? What impact did the 'enhanced campaigns' update have on average click costs? What ad extensions or other bid options are worthwhile paying close attention to? How important is landing page quality? Pete's Past, Present and Future of PPC video presentation (see below) The Past, Present and Future of PPC - video presentation by Pete Whitmarsh Some of the key answers shared on today's episode... Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Excel [PPC tools] AdWords Editor [PPC tools] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Adthena [Competitor monitoring tool] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their own businesses? Don't be afraid to try new things. Keep on top of the industry news. If you never try it, you never know if it's going to work.

DMR #48: OREN GREENBERG – SEO techniques in 2014

David Bain — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 07:00:57 +0000

Oren Greenberg is MD of Kurve, a search specialist digital marketing agency and head of search for Wonga internationally. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: What's it like working as head of search in the payday loans industry? What SEO tactics don't work anymore? SEO techniques in 2014 When your brand perception is tarnished, how do you handle that from an SEO perspective? Competing in an industry known for black-hat SEO Spammy, short-term SEO vs. a longer-term approach Why using advertorials for SEO isn't a good idea Does guest blogging still work? Do you have to be a big brand to rank well nowadays? Are backlinks still important? Is there a correlation between rankings and brand mentions? Is Google's algorithm different in different countries? Is foreign language SEO easier? Some of the key answers shared on today's episode... Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Link Research Tools [SEO] Linkdex [SEO] Moz [SEO] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Newscred [Content marketing] Contently [Content marketing] Quill Content [Content marketing] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? How can you really improve if you're not measuring successfully? You've got to measure in order to succeed.

DMR #47: JON BUSCALL – Guerrilla marketing examples

David Bain — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 07:00:55 +0000

Jon is head of JontusMedia, a creative marketing & design agency operating out of Stockholm, Sweden. A small team of guerrilla marketers, Team Jontus currently serve clients in Europe, North, South America, and Asia. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How long should a marketing campaign run before you know it's been a success? How does old school print media sit with the digital marketing world? What are the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make when it comes to digital marketing? How would you define guerrilla marketing? Guerrilla marketing examples The return on integrating offline marketing with online activities What are some of the biggest mistakes that online marketers are currently making? Why you need to identify your goal before you start your marketing campaign Why a lead isn't necessarily a goal Some of the key answers shared on today's episode... Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? Asana [Project management] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Trello [Project management] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.

DMR #46: ALLEN ZUK – How to self-publish a book

David Bain — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 07:00:53 +0000

Allen Zuk began his career in newspaper design and production in 1990, working his way up to production management, then moving on to web design and multimedia in 1997. He became involved in the book publishing industry in 2001 as a technical editor of digital design titles, and in 2004 he relocated to Toronto to start Clamour Creative Inc, a company providing digital publishing services and consulting to self-publishers, media companies, and various other publishing industry clients. He has also been teaching technology courses in the Toronto Humber College Creative Book Publishing Program since 2006. Today on Digital Marketing Radio we discuss the following: How to self-publish a book What recent change has had the biggest positive impact in the publishing industry? Is self-publishing complicated? Is there still a perceived value in print books vs. e-books? Are there any other print-on-demand options apart from CreateSpace and Lightening Source? Does using CreateSpace give you a better opportunity to appear on Amazon? Does Lightening Source produce better quality books compared with CreateSpace? Will most readers be able to tell the difference between a print-on-demand book and a traditionally published book? Where are the main places to publish an e-book? Should you give away your content for free? Is having a bigger publisher behind your book important? What comes first, the title or the book content? Some of the key answers shared on today's episode... Software I couldn't live without What software do you currently use in your business that if someone took away from you, it would significantly impact the success of your business? The Adobe Creative Suite [Web Design software] What software don't you use, but you've heard good things about, and you've intended to try at some point in the near future? Zoho [CRM software] My number 1 takeaway What's the single most important step from our discussion that our listeners need to take away and implement in their businesses? It's important to always consider self-publishing as an option - consider having a print-on-demand book instead of a business card!

DMR #45: LYENA SOLOMON – How do you ensure that your website is as user friendly as possible?

David Bain — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:00:27 +0000

David: How do you ensure that your website is as user friendly as possible? Is it best to focus on multiple digital marketing activities at the same time or is it sometimes better to focus on just the one single activity? And what are the most effective digital marketing activities at the moment? Those are just few of the questions that I intend to ask my special guest today Lyena Solomon. Lyena, welcome to DMR. Lyena: Thank you very much. Hello, everybody. David: Hello and, well say hello in everyone's behalf. Lyena designs tactical steps to optimize websites, digital content and search marketing, with one goal in mind. Revenue. Her expertise is a SEO, PPC, analytics and usability. So Lyena, what comes first SEO or website design? Lyena: It looks like it's a trick question. Like, what's comes first, the chicken or an egg? David: What comes first? The chicken or the egg? Lyena: It's important to have both SEO and usability in mind when you design a website. The design should be pleasing to the people who come to your site. It needs to meet their expectations and as well as if you're paying attention to SEO, SEO should be helpful for users as well as search engines to identify what your website is about and help everybody to read your content and consume what you have available. David: Right, okay. I simply ask that question because I get frustrated myself when I deal with website designers or I get asked to help to optimize websites that have been designed already and designed in a horrific manner with no SEO thinking in mind at all. And of course SEO really is never really finished and probably good website design can evolve overtime as well. The important thing is just, as you say just to be aware of one another activity as you progressed to design phases. How do you ensure that your website though is as user-friendly as possible and you can really maximize whatever conversion rate goals that you have setup? Lyena: I think that you need to understand what your visitors are looking for. When they come to your website, they have a mission. You need to help them complete that mission, at the same time help them complete your mission as well. You have to have calls to action. You have to help clear visitor paths that they have to go through and that's where design and usability help a lot.

DMR #44: ELISA GABBERT – Do you need a content marketing strategy first?

David Bain — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 13:00:24 +0000

David: Do you need a content marketing strategy before you start producing content? Is it important to have a consistent tone of voice in all of your content? And is it essential to have a call to action at the end of your content? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Elisa Gabbert. Elisa welcome to DMR. Elisa: All right thank you very much for having me. David: Oh thanks for joining me. Elisa is the Content Marketing Manager at WordStream, an online advertising software and services firm that also offers free tools for digital marketers. So Elisa, how would you define content marketing and how has it changed over the last couple of years? Elisa: Well I suppose I would define content marketing as using content, which has become sort of a buzzword, but all that really means is things like blog posts or guides or videos, anything that you post on the web and is consumable by people as a way to basically bring in potential leads, possibly new customers, and just to build your brand. This is something that companies have been doing actually for a really long time but I don’t that they always called it content marketing. I guess I would say that the main way that it's changed is that there’s really has been a focus on making sure that the content is high quality and that it’s really what your prospects want so that they’re delighted by you and that they want to keep coming back and consuming your content and sharing it with other people. As opposed to maybe previously there was more of a focus on search engine rankings and quantity-over-quality. Yeah, I think it’s basically putting content quality and readability first over things like technical SEO, search engine optimization. David: Okay, and so that's your thoughts on what it is, do you think it’s evolved quite a bit over the last couple of years? Elisa: I think it has evolved. I think that more and more people are doing it and that just makes it so much more competitive. First of all you have companies who are doing it really for marketing again as a way to generate needs or to try to just drive more traffic if you have an e-commerce model. We’re also competing, all those companies that are doing internet marketing are also competing with more of like journalism type models, big media models, websites like Huffington Post and BuzzFeed. There’s just so much new content coming from so many different sources all the time. A lot of times you’re competing for attention on social media and what blogs do people read, how much space do they have mentally to read content, what newsletters are they already getting? It’s very very competitive so … That’s a big challenge.

DMR #43: DANIEL BURSTEIN – How should you get started in content marketing?

David Bain — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:00:58 +0000

David: How should you get started in content marketing? How do you determine the content that performs the best? and how do you best serve your existing customers with content marketing? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask my special guest today, Daniel Burstein. Daniel, welcome to DMR. Daniel: Thanks for having me. David: Welcome. Daniel is Director of Editorial Content at MECLABS working with a team of reporters digging for actionable information while serving as an advocate for the audience. So Daniel, how have website visitor's expectation of content changed over the past few years? Daniel: That's a great question because when we think back, we're talking on the pre-call by how much time you spent online and online marketing. We think back in the early days of online marketing, it was just impressive that there were websites, right? People were just happy to be able to go online at any time of day. I remember some of the first ads for some of the brick and mortar companies who had websites up was, "You could visit our store 24/7." It was just that big of a deal. In the early days, people were just happy to be able to go on a website and get any information, but as things has evolved especially in the late 2000s, over the last decade, 2008, 2009 leading into the turn of the decade, there have been such a growth in social media, in blogs, in online content in general that there's just been a lot of noise that's been created. Customers now have to try to find a way to filter through that noise, so it's not enough to just give them basic information. You really have to serve them and you really have to give them something that helps answer a key question or key pain point they have. Sometimes when I talk to marketers now, they have a blog up or they have a free e-book or they have a free white paper and they think that's something of value because it's free, the audience could get it there and it's free, but it's really not because when you think about it, they're paying with your time, they're paying with their energy, they're paying with attention.

DMR #42: CARA WHITEHOUSE – What are the benefits of SEO versus PPC?

David Bain — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:00:32 +0000

David: What are the benefits of SEO versus PPC? What is the downside of SEO versus PPC? And how does search marketing stack up against other forms of online marketing such as social media? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Cara Whitehouse. Cara, welcome to DMR. Cara: Thank you very much for having me. David: Welcome! Cara, heads up, Reload Digital, a London-based agency specializing in helping clients find the right blend of search, social, and other forms of online marketing to grow their business. So Cara, how do you define when a client should be using SEO or PPC? Cara: There's a lot of factors, really, but I guess the main one that we generally focus on is about understanding the time frames that a client is working to. For example, if it's October and the client wants to be looking at boosting their traffic in run up to Christmas, the only realistic search marketing option is PPC because SEO, as a general rule, just simply won't kick in quick enough to get the results that they need. Time frame is definitely ... That's one of the most important. There are others as well. Competition, of course, is another factor, particularly in terms of the SEO side of things. We have to consider how difficult it will realistically be to achieve results, depending on what other players in the market are doing, and how big they are. Budget as well, of course, plays a role, especially when it comes to costs per click. PPC can be a fantastically profitable platform, but if those costs per click are exceptionally high - I've seen £40 per click - that definitely adds a layer of risk that some clients just aren't prepared to take. David: Okay. £40 per click, I would imagine you're talking about Google AdWords there. Cara: Yes. Of course, PPC does go across other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, anything really whereby you pay per click. I think most people think about it primarily as Google, and that's probably where we work with most of our clients.

DMR #41: ANDREW J CASS – What are the rules for prosperity in the new economy?

David Bain — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 13:00:19 +0000

David: What are the rules for prosperity in the new economy? How do you apply conventional sales skills to an online world? And is it really possible to sell from a mobile device? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Andrew J. Cass. Andrew, welcome to DMR. Andrew: Hey, David. Thanks for having me. Good to be here. David: Well, thanks for joining me. Well, Andrew was a seven-figure producer in two separate sales businesses before the age of 35. He's also one of the few Dan Kenndy certified business advisors and co-founder and president of RemarkaMobile. So Andrew, do you think that new web-based businesses are forgetting about learning sales skills? Andrew: I do actually because what's funny today is a lot of people I think like to hide behind, they like to hide behind the internet today or hide behind the web today and sort of sell virtually, which I think you can to a degree. But I think, the more you try to remove the actual person-to-person touch that we came up with or at least, that I came up with. You're leaving a lot on the table. David: Right, okay. So sales skills then definitely apply in the new economy? Andrew: For sure. I think when we talk about the new economy, we're talking really internet, the internet economy, the mobile economy that we're in right now. I think that we rely too much on technology. I know, I don't and you probably don't, David, that's why we're here. But I think, many people do. I think they rely too much on technology and it makes them a little bit lazy and they start to forget that at the end of day, people buy people and people trust people. And they do business with people they like and trust. We have to kind of keep the person element in the sales process as much as possible. In my work, I like to talk pre-internet and post-internet since as you mentioned before, I was a young stockbroker, investment banker in New York when I came up when I was 23, 24 years old. We only had a telephone, that was it. There was no internet, no video, no Google, nothing, just the telephone. We had to make a lot of dials and do a lot of prospecting, so we really learned the art of telephone communication. Then post-internet, as I got online and built an online information information and internet marketing business, I was able to maintain the communication skills I had and then, blend them with technology; automation and leverage. I think if you do those two things, you can build an amazing business. But what I find today is people do one or the other. The old school tends to stay old school. The new school doesn't want to hear from the old school. They just want to be new school. Like I said before, they sort of hide behind technology. It's a delicate balance and it's a balance that very few businesses even explore.

DMR #40: JUSTIN DEAVILLE – What SEO and link building tactics are working in 2014?

David Bain — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:00:52 +0000

David: What SEO and link building tactics are working for big name brands in 2014? Is guest posting dead or is this something that still works from an SEO prospective? And what about link bait, what are the most effective strategies to encourage back links? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask, today's special guest, Justin Deaville. Justin, welcome to DMR. Justin: Thank you very much David, how are you doing? David: Very good thank you. Well, Justin is Managing Director at award winning digital marketing agency, Receptional.com. He was also previously Chief Executive officer at Keyword Research company, Wordtracker. So Justin, you've been involved with keywords, SEO and link-building for quite a few years, now. What's your opinion in terms of how SEO and Keywords have evolved over the last few years. Do any tactics that used to work six or seven years ago, still work today? Justin: That is a good question, David. And, maybe I could let you in to a secret and say that most of the tactics I will be talking about, while not exactly the same format, you know, marketing in its general sense hasn't changed that much and there will be kind of variations on some of the tactics that were working several years ago. I mean, I think SEO has changed probably more in the last eighteen months than almost any point in its history and so some of the old school tactics of directory style link building that, you know, you used to employ someone often that would be someone in India who would charge you $10 to generate a thousand links. That kind of old school link building is absolutely dead. That would do you a lot more harm than good but, you know, the old school tactics which were based around good solid marketing and replicating the good marketing tactics that you would use offline but online, those things will work and will probably continue to work for many years after I am no longer here. David: (laughter) Well let's hope it’s a long way off. Justin: Yes. (laughter) I think we both agree on that.

DMR #39: DAVID HORNE – How do you run a successful modern marketing agency?

David Bain — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:00:42 +0000

David B: How do you run a successful modern marketing agency? Why is the best marketing invisible? And how do you earn your customer's trust in a high-tech world? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, David Horne. David, welcome to DMR. David H: Thanks for having me, David. Pleasure to be here. David B: Welcome. I try to have as many people on here called David as possible! David H: Yeah. David B: David Horne is a writer and marketer based in North Carolina. He's co-founder of the modern marketing firm Magnetic Ideas and founder of Fan Park, a subscription platform that connects fans to their favorite artists and thought leaders, David, what's the difference between a modern marketing firm and a traditional marketing firm? David H: I think the biggest difference is traditional marketing may not take a digital first approach or really factor in a lot of the design thinking principles around solving problems and creating pathways and looking at that from not just a specific channel, but strategically and then what are the best ways to do that across all mediums with digital being a cornerstone of that; digitalize the hub and then the other areas of marketing, whether it's advertising or traditional print or branding or whatever and how those fit in to that to create some consistency across the board. David B: You say that traditional firms aren't design led. Does that mean that design should be the primary focus of a modern marketing firm? David H: I do and when I say design I think of it more on the terms of the big D-design, so not necessarily how something looks but how are we solving a problem and what are the options to solve that problem because there's typically many different paths and ways to achieve a goal. It's about looking at everything, all the internal factors and external factors in resources, what are your capabilities at that brand or that company, as well as what's available out there for them to do to connect best with their audience and customers.

DMR #38: BRANDON YANOFSKY – Where should you host your WordPress site?

David Bain — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:00:22 +0000

David: Where should you host your WordPress site? On a shared server, a VPS, or maybe on your own server? What WordPress themes are best in 2014 and what WordPress plugins are particularly useful at the moment? Those are just three of the questions I intend to ask our special guest today, Brandon Yanofsky. Brandon, welcome to DMR. Brandon: Thank you! David: Brandon is founder of MyWPexpert.com, a home of WordPress tutorials, advice, and reviews designed to assist you along your online journey. So Brandon, why WordPress? Brandon: Well, I actually got into WordPress when I was starting one of my first companies. I hadn't actually ever used it before that. I kind of got stuck with it; I tried some of the other CMSs out there and just found that none were really like WordPress. It's so popular that there's a lot of different plugins out there, a lot of different themes and support out there that you can't get with other CMSs out there. So you can do pretty much whatever you want with WordPress that you can't get with other CMSs. David: So it doesn't look like that in any point in the future there's going to be a competitor who comes up and has the potential of replacing WordPress. Brandon: Well, I'm sure at one point there will be. I'm sure someone will come along with something better, possibly, at some point but not at anytime soon. David: Out of interest, what year was that you came to WordPress for the first time? Brandon: The first time that I came across it was in 2009, I believe. That was when I was still in college and I had my first business starting up. Before that, I would just play with I-Web and the crappy softwares Apple gave you. Other than that, just trying to do stuff on Weebly when I was first getting started, I believe. Stuff that was just very basic website building stuff.

DMR #37: BRANDON NOLTE – What does it take to start and build your own successful e-commerce store?

David Bain — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:00:16 +0000

David: What does it take to start and build your own successful e-commerce store? What are the common mistakes that e-commerce stores make and how do you increase your e-commerce conversion rates? Those are just 3 of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Brandon Nolte. Brandon, welcome to DMR. Brandon: Thank you so much for having me, David. David: Thanks for joining us. Brandon is an e-commerce entrepreneur. He's founded a store, bringing in over $20,000 a month in revenue. His favorite things include hiring, working with his awesome team, and saying no! So Brandon, what prompted you to start an e-commerce store? Brandon: I guess I was looking for a way out of my previous business, which was a Kindle publishing business. It was actually doing really well for me, but I wanted to grow myself and my skill set. I thought e-commerce sounded like fun. It's probably not the most scientific way to go about it. Yeah, I was really just looking to grow myself as an entrepreneur. I feel like the e-commerce business model really allows you to expand your skill set. There's so many things you can learn from e-mail marketing to customer service to building teams and stuff like that. David: How long ago was it that you actually started? Brandon: The store went live basically January 1st. It's been running pretty much this whole year. David: Okay. Wow! We're talking just the beginning of October 2014. You're talking about 9 months or so it's been going. Fairly fresh, but you're obviously doing very well already. What would you say are the things you've done so far that has driven along the furthest that made it to the success that it is today? Brandon: I think the first one is certainly finding a good market. I ended up getting into a market where I saw that there was demands. I think, a lot of times, people go into businesses because they have a great idea or they think they have a great idea, and they have to try to validate it with the market. What really convinced me to get into my particular market was just talking to somebody who was already in it. After hearing his success, I wanted to get in. That was validation enough for me to try it. I guess the point I'm trying to make is you want to make sure that there is enough demand for your store to grow. That's certainly one of the things that's important.

DMR #36: ALITA HARVEY-RODRIGUEZ – How do you best build an authentic list of email subscribers?

David Bain — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:00:20 +0000

David: How do you best build an authentic list of email subscribers? Should you buy an email list or is it best to build one for yourself? And does email marketing also work just as well for B2B? Those are just the three of the questions I intend to ask today's special guest Alita Harvey-Rodriguez. Alita, welcome to DMR. Alita: Hi, David. How are you going? David: Very good, thanks. How are you doing yourself? Alita: I'm very well, thank you. David: Superb. Well, Alita is the founder of Milk it Digital Academy, helping businesses to uncover hidden profits in digital business channels through business development workshops. So Alita, your philosophy is “data beats emotions”. What do you actually mean by that? Alita: Good question. Thank you for asking. It's a question that I get asked a lot. What I mean by "data beats emotion", it's very simple is that we're no longer in an era of business where we can simply rely on our gut feeling in order to make a decision to grow our business in the most profitable way possible. The numbers are all there for us to make decisions in the best way possible. Even if a lot of my clients come to me thinking that they don't have this information and it just takes a couple of hours of asking some really strategic questions to get this information, pulling apart P&L reports, looking at Google Analytics, looking at any kind of insights that they might have within their business and pulling them into a form which we can manipulate and get a solid answer to a question. For example, how much should I be spending on Facebook marketing in order to pull a return? Well, the first thing we need to find out is, actually, is Facebook marketing going to pull a return for you based on industry statistics, also together with existing data within the business. Then we can figure out accurately how much money you actually should be investing for a particular campaign to get a result within 10% either way.

DMR #35: Matt Hodkinson – Is there a disconnect between social and the bottom line?

David Bain — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000

David: What are the most effective ways of using content marketing for lead generation? How do you qualify your leads to ensure that your list is relevant? And is there a disconnect between social and the bottom line? Those are just 3 of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest Matt Hodkinson. Matt, welcome to DMR. Matt: Good morning David. David: Thanks for joining me. Matt is the founder and CEO of Influence Agents, helping IT and professional service firms generate more traffic leads and sales, using effective social media and inbound marketing strategies. So Matt, how do you determine the true value of social media interaction? Matt: I think for many business owners, David, it's got to come down to the bottom line. That's clearly where they're thinking is going to be. No matter how airy-fairy we tend to be sometimes talking about the conversational value and the intangible of social media, many business owners will still be thinking, on some level, on "How is this going to benefit my business?" Clearly social media, in terms of its invention, we didn't originally think about it as a bit of a business tool, and yet, it seems to be that, that's the way it's happened. Now that there's no escaping that, I think business owners will inevitably be thinking, this has got to be a tool for fueling the bottom line for fueling sales and "How can I best do that?" I think in terms of measuring, in terms of that engagement, it's incredibly important not to be a broadcaster. It's incredibly important not to just be talking about your products and services. In fact, if talking about your products and services at all. I don't think there's a place for sales. There's no place for that push marketing approach. Yet, we still see, obviously a great many people doing that.

DMR #34: Lianne Savage – How can you convert more prospects into customers?

David Bain — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 13:00:11 +0000

David: How do you define your business prospects? How can you convert more prospects into customers? And how can you increase your profitability per transaction? Those are just three of the questions that I tend to ask today's special guest, Lianne Savage. Lianne welcome to DMR. Lianne: Hello, David. Thank you for having me. David: Well welcome. Lianne is a business growth strategist who helps to bring offline profitability skills to the online world. She's created what she calls the sales influx system so that businesses can attract customers that spend more, purchase more often, and refer their friends. Lianne, how does a business actually know that it's attracting the right website visitors. Lianne: Always be looking at the stats. There's some key indicators that you can look at. Your bounce rate is going to tell you whether they're staying on your website or leaving straight away. If you've got loads of people leaving straight away, then it's clear that they're not the right people for you. Then have a look at how long they're staying around for, are they signing up onto your mailing list, are they progressing along or are they just straight in and straight out. You can also look at where your customers are coming from, are they coming from places where you know your ideal customers are hanging about at or are they coming from all over the place. David: Right. Okay, that's interesting. With stats like that you can also look at what kind of devices the people are using and perhaps you'd also notice that traffic from certain devices aren't performing that well, are bouncing off your website; and there could be lots of different reasons for that. Lianne: Yeah, definitely. It's so important especially with such a rise in use of mobile. When you're doing updates onto your website, changing the layout and things, check it from your mobile, check it from tablets, see how it looks, see how it is when a customer first lands on your website because, when they first land on your website, in those first few seconds they're going to decide whether they're going to stay or whether they're going to go.

DMR #33: Kamila Gornia – What particular challenges are solopreneurs facing with digital marketing?

David Bain — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:00:12 +0000

David: What particular challenges are solopreneurs facing with digital marketing? It is possible for solopreneurs to be everywhere? How does content marketing integrate with e-mail marketing? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask. Today’s special guest Kamila Gornia. Kamila, welcome to DMR. Kamila: Hi David. How are you? David: Very good, thanks. All the better for you joining me today. Kamila: Thank you. David: Kamila is a business coach who works with passion driven solopreneurs to get their mission and message into the world through specific online marketing strategies and mindset support. So Kamila, what’s the biggest digital marketing mistake that you see solopreneurs making at the moment? Kamila: I see a lot of solopreneurs is really trying to spread themselves a little bit too thin, especially with marketing. They think that they can do it all at the same time or learn it all at the same time which is, I’m sure you know, not really the case. You can’t learn every single thing and do it well right of the bat. I see a lot of people trying to be in an expert in every single field and then they just don’t succeed at any of it. David: Not a good idea to try and be everywhere. Does that mean that it’s not a great idea for solopreneurs to be, for instance, on every social network out there? Kamila: No, that’s not necessarily what I mean. I think it’s great to be on the lot of the social … Most of my background is in social media. I definitely recommend being in social media. What I don’t recommend is if you have no idea what social media is and having no background knowledge about any of it is to start it all at the same time and not get comfortable with one before moving to the next.

DMR #32: Jeff White – Is it important for your content marketing to be beautiful?

David Bain — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:00:49 +0000

David: Is it important for your content marketing to be beautiful? How does good design impact conversion rates? Should most businesses be developing their own app? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Jeff White. Jeff, welcome to DMR. Jeff: Thanks very much for having me, David. David: Thanks for joining us. Jeff is that odd dichotomy, a creative who could also think in code. Nearly 11 years ago, Jeff founded Kula Partners, a boutique agency specializing in design, development, and inbound marketing. Jeff, 11 years is a long time in digital marketing. How much has your marketing ethos changed over that period? Jeff: I think everything has changed in that period since. It's quite incredible. I originally got into building websites in 1994. David: Wow Jeff: The early era, pre-Netscape even. Just to see the progression of what we've gone through and the development of web standards, mobile, and everything else, the whole thing has changed. I think as I've matured and as our firm has matured over the last decade or so, we've really started to look at putting in place metrics, and measurement, and just getting a better understanding of what's working, what's not, and where we're going to go from there, and also how we do things for our clients as well. It's a really different world even from five or six years ago when we were all just really excited to be getting on Twitter. It's a really different time now. I think, these days, it's not just a matter of being part of it or having a profile. It's a matter of what you're doing with it and how are you helping your prospective customers, and bringing value to the internet as a whole, I guess. David: 1994, were you actually designing websites for other people back then or were you just experimenting with things yourself? Jeff: No, I was actually a couple of years away from graduating from design school. We had clients from other universities like engineering departments. I think the first website that I ever built for somebody else was for a wind-powered car that a local university team was putting together to take to a competition. We branded it and built the website for that, but yeah. I still have it on a disc somewhere.

DMR #31: Dave Jackson – What gear do you need to record a great podcast in 2014?

David Bain — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:00:29 +0000

David: How did podcasting start, and what's the technology behind podcasting? How does podcasting fit into your content marketing mix, and what gear do you need to record a great podcast in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's guest, Dave Jackson. Dave, welcome to DMR. Dave: Thanks for having me. Glad to be here. David: Welcome. Dave's one of podcasting's originals. He's been podcasting since April 2005. He has a degree in education, and he's one of the world's top podcasting consultants. He's spoken at events, such as NewMediaExpo, and he runs SchoolofPodcasting.com. Dave, I'm so impressed with your consistency of recording and publishing. What's your secret for staying focused? Dave: Number one, there's a great program called Feedly. It's an RSS reader. Along the ways of going through everything podcasting, when I find a really good website with great content, I throw it into that website, and so every morning when I fire that up, I'm checking probably about eighty different websites for any kind of information on podcasting. When a headline catches my eye, I'll go over and check it out, so I'm always ... It drives my wife crazy. I'm always in pursuit of more knowledge. She's always like, "Don't you ever turn it off?" I'm like, "Well, no," because she was like, "What are you doing?" I'm like, "I'm reading an article." She's like, "Really? On what?" I'm like, "What do you think? Podcasting." It's just something I live and breathe, and it's not something that I really have to work on staying focused. To the point of nausea in the case of my wife. I'm always thinking about podcasting, and always looking for new technology, new techniques, new success stories. That's pretty much what I live and breathe.

DMR #30: Trevor Young – Is it best to brand your business as your personal name?

David Bain — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:00:50 +0000

David: Is it best to brand your business as your personal name? What is a micromaven and how do you build your personal profile into a global microbrand? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Trevor Young. Trevor, welcome to DMR. Trevor: G'day, David. How are you? David: Very good, thanks. How are you doing yourself? Trevor: Pretty good in sunny Melbourne, in Australia. David: Sunny Melbourne. I remember my time in Australia last year and it was mostly sunny. Trevor is a speaker, a consultant and an adviser who helps businesses to tell their story, grow their audience and build their brand using social media and content marketing. You'll find him over at prwarrior.com. Trevor, in your recent book, "Microdomination," you talk about building a mini business empire around a personal brand. Is it better to brand your business as a personal name in the modern business world, do you think? Trevor: I guess it depends on what your goals are and given that we're now starting to operate virtually and as collectives and a lot of people, they are the business, so, certainly, if you're going down the pathway, you're going to be the main … you've got the expertise and you are the business, then, absolutely. Because as we know, people do business with people and as the old saying goes, we do business with people we know, like, and trust so, therefore, the goal is to use all the tools that are at our disposal to get more people to know us, like us and trust us. We have a personal brand whether we like it or not. What people think about you as the … the saying from Jeff Bezos, "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room," so it opens the question up what do you want people to say about you when you're not in the room and so, wouldn’t you want to have an influence on that?

DMR #29: Sharon Latour – Why is digital marketing so gray to most people?

David Bain — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 13:00:59 +0000

David: Why is digital marketing so gray to most people? What are the best marketing tips for entrepreneurs? What are the current new technologies that SMEs should pay attention to? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask my special guest today Sharon Latour. Sharon, welcome to DMR. Sharon: Thank you David. Thanks for having me. David: Thanks for joining me. Sharon is CEO of a full service marketing agency called Marketing Bee, specializing in small business marketing. According to StartupSmart, she was one of the top 25 hottest entrepreneurs to watch in 2013. Sharon, what are the biggest marketing challenges that small businesses are facing at the moment? Sharon: That's a great question David. From my perspective, the biggest gap that I can see at the moment in small businesses executing marketing very well and more specifically digital marketing is that there's a big gap between what they do online and the actual business vision and business strategy. What I mean by that is, they would go out and seek out a web developer or someone to work with, but there's a big lack of connection between the actual business vision and what it is that they're actually working on. I see a lot of people planning their social media presence or even their digital presence, so their website or digital branding, that kind of thing, with no reference at all to what it is that they're actually planning to achieve within zero to three months, three to six months, and six to twelve months of their business. I kind of see it as that being the biggest issue at the moment. The second biggest problem to me would be that we, unfortunately, in the last five years, we've seen a bit of a rise in a very under-regulated industry. It's very easy nowadays for someone to go do a course for half a day or a couple of hours a week and to become a digital marketer without actually having strong commercial knowledge. Small business with itsy-bitsy pieces of cash are going out there and seeking out the wrong professionals to execute their presence and their strategy. That's kind of the two main things that I see as a big gap in terms of how small business can benefit from the digital industry in general at the moment.

DMR #28: Liam Martin – What is the best way to structure the setup of a remote working team?

David Bain — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:00:34 +0000

David: What is the best way to structure the setup of a remote working team? What are pitfalls of setting up a remote team and how can they be overcome? You’ve decided to hire a remote digital marketing team, where’s the best place to start? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Liam Martin. Liam welcome to DMR. Liam: Thanks for having me David. David: Well welcome. Liam’s CMO and Co-Founder of Staff.com, a remote staffing platform that only allows to hire long-term remote labor. So Liam we’ve discussed the benefits of outsourcing in an interview that we recorded together about two years ago actually. How do you feel that outsourcing has evolved over the last couple of years? Liam: That’s an interesting question. In 2012 there was a huge … The space was really quite open and the space was evolving. I think about maybe 1% of all staffing was run remotely. I’m talking about staffing agencies, now we’re probably about 4-5%. We’ve seen a 400-500% jump in the space in just that amount of time. That means a huge exposure to a lot more different ecosystems. You’ve seen platforms like Fiverr as an example. That’s a recent company for $5 tasks; very interesting. Mechanical Turk has absolutely exploded now. There are all of these companies that are connected to Mechanical Turk that really just focus that huge crowdsourcing network to figure out any other type of task that you’d absolutely want. There’s super interesting companies that now do crowdsourced translation as an example. You’ll have people that will be learning another language. They’ll have quizzes given to them to translate pieces of text and they’ll actually crowdsource that solution. Basically people are gamifying translations that you’re paying for on the other end. Then on the higher end, platforms like us that offer full time remote labor, we’ve seen our numbers explode in that short amount of time. Really you’re seeing a labor market that is truly evolving, moving from small little projects to longer and longer-term contracts to basically full time employment. Employees that are really now working full time remotely whether it’s guys in Southeast Asia that are making one to $2,000 a month that are absolutely fantastic at their jobs. They’re making a lot of money relative to their countries, but can work wherever they want. We actually have a very interesting story connected to that too.

DMR #27: Kevin Krason – What is marketing automation?

David Bain — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 13:00:07 +0000

David: How much website traffic is enough? What’s an appropriate conversion rate from website visits to leads? And what is gated content? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Kevin Krason. Kevin, welcome to DMR. Kevin: Thanks David. David: Kevin founded Biznet in 1994 to realize his passion for the internet marketing and business industries. Biznet is one of the most successful and enduring web develop, an internet marketing companies in Michigan. Kevin, happy 20-year anniversary! Kevin: Thank you. Thank you. It’s been quite a journey. There’s just never been a dull moment. David: I’m sure. It has been. That’s extremely impressive 20 years because that’s obviously the year that’s … I think that was the year that eBay was founded, wasn’t it, or perhaps Yahoo. Kevin: I will tell you, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I will tell you this. In the beginning, when we first started, America Online was the most popular tool for connecting folks together and it was really a BBS at that point. American Online didn’t add web access until1995. They were ahead of AOL. David: Wow. I think I was first on the web in 1999 actually. Kevin: Okay. David: But I started my first business in the year 2000. That was still fairly early on compared with most people but a long way behind you! Kevin: Yeah. I have open presentations with "back when Al Gore and I invented the internet" and I usually get a bunch of chuckles, so it’s always fun.

DMR #26: Alex Williams – What is Brand Identity Development?

David Bain — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 13:00:29 +0000

David: What is Brand Identity Development? How do you tell your brand story? How does that all come together as part of a coherent marketing strategy? Those just really the questions that I intended to ask today’s special guest, Alex Williams. Alex, welcome to DMR! Alex: Hello David. Thank you for having me on. David: Welcome. Alex likes to call himself the “Swiss Army Knife” of marketing in creative services. He offer services like logo and identity development as well as marketing strategy; and you can find them at thermalexposure.com. So Alex, you enjoy wearing lots of different hats then? Alex: Yeah. I guess I have to. I started out as a web developer just in the early days around 1998. That’s make a grandfather in internet years. David: Before my time. Alex: Yeah. After doing a little bit of web development, I really got a hankering for getting into design. Once I was into design, I realized I needed to use my own photographs and so I taught myself photography and that transitioned into video and so yes, I wear a lot of hats. I guess you’d say I might attention deficit disorder or something because I jump from thing to thing, but yeah, it keeps me happy. David: I’ve worn lots of different hands but I try and wear just one hat at the same time. Because I remember back in … I didn’t start getting online in terms of running a business online until about 2000 but it’s still quite a long time ago and I was using Photoshop back the obviously, things have moved on so much really. Really, you focused on Brand Identity Development at the moment and how … Alex: Yes. That’s correct. David: How would you describe that? Alex: I work with a lot of new company startups, nano-technology and the kind of things that we have in the Pacific Northwest. Just lots startups so people come to me and they say, “I need a logo.” Well, what do you do? There’s a lot of questions that goes into the very first elements of creating a brand. Yeah, I find it really useful to interview my clients to find out what it is exactly that they do and how they’re changing the world. You really need to differentiate yourself from other people and you need to think about all those things even before you begin to create a logo.

DMR #25: Scott Gallagher – What are the 3 pillars of local SEO?

David Bain — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 13:00:42 +0000

David: What are the 3 pillars of local SEO? Why are real reviews important? What is rich media and why is that important as well? Those are just 3 of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Scott Gallagher. Scott, welcome to DMR. Scott: Thanks David. David: Scott helps small businesses get qualified leads from the organic channels of the internet. He's co-founder of Local Marketing Source and founder of WON Marketing. Scott, you focus on local SEO, but you don't like to call it SEO, why is that? Scott: That's true. We do. The practice of SEO or search engine optimization essentially is just that it's trying to optimize content to satisfy the needs of search engines. At some point in time in my business career several years ago, I started to look at this and think about what the search engines are trying to accomplish. When I was back in school and spent all this money on getting my university degree I got in marketing, a specialty in marketing with a Bachelor of Commerce and ... David: Was that worth it? Scott: Well, as it is, that's arguable. There's definitely some aspects that I learned. The definition of marketing, David, and this is not word for word, but you can go to Google and get it from the AMA which is American Marketing Association and that's, creating content that has value with an audience and distributing that content to where the audience is going to reside. I took a step back and started to think about that, "Wait a minute ..." David, "... this is just creating content to a customer segment." It really is just marketing.

DMR #24: Ekaterina Walter – What can thinking like Mark Zuckerberg do for your digital marketing?

David Bain — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:00:10 +0000

David: What can thinking like Mark Zuckerberg do for your digital marketing? Is it essential to be visual in your story telling in using social media and how do you start building meaningful relationships with influencers. Those are just two of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Ekaterina Walter. Ekaterina, welcome to DMR. Ekaterina: Hello David, great to be here. David: Wonderful to have you here. Well, Ekaterina’s laid strategic and marketing innovation for fortune 500 brands such as Intel and Accenture. She’s also author of the bestseller Think Like Zuck, the five business secrets of Facebook in probably brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg and co-author of The Power of Visual Storytelling. Ekaterina, you’ve provided social media advice to a lot of big brands but is social media more challenging for big brands compared with single honor businesses? Ekaterina: Well David, the reality is I think as marketers whether we’re business owners or marketers in a big brand, our key goal should be building relationship capital, right? That is the basis for any success either you talk sales or customer service or brand awareness or even personal relationships. I think the challenges are different. It’s not easy to do so. It’s easy to do social. It’s not easy to be social. That sort of mentality of how to use social media as a tool to drive my ultimate goal which is build relationships and ignite tribes around my brand. If I’m a small business in a small community, that’s how my business thrives, right. It thrives on relationships, people knowing me, people trusting me, people understanding the products that I carry and having personal relationship with me in that community. The same goes for bigger brands is just in a larger scale. Either way you have to spend time and you have to pay attention to your customers, current and potential to your partners to your network. The reality is I think they have different challenges, small business where they usually short on resources and they need to really prioritize and larger brands where they a lot of times have resources but the scale is different, right?

DMR #23: Dr Angela Hausman – Is it possible to have a data driven social media strategy?

David Bain — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 13:00:17 +0000

David: Is it really possible to have a data driven, results-orientated social media strategy? How does public relations fit into the modern marketing mix? What are the changes that are occurring at the moment in social media? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Dr. Angela Hausman. Angela, welcome to DMR. Angela: Thanks. David: Angela's the head of marketing at Group Surfing. Angela owns Hausman and Associates, full service firm operating at the intersection of marketing and social media. Angela, I'm interested in this phrase, at the intersection of marketing and social media. Is social media not part of marketing then? Angela: Sure. Social media is part of marketing and I think that's why I used the tag line on my website at the intersection of marketing and social media. The reason is because even though social media is part of marketing, a lot of people who are operating in this space don't act like it is. They act like somehow social media is this totally different animal and often they think of it as a combination of technology and journalism. I have a problem with that because I think marketing is very important. One of the things that tracks really well for me on my blog are the articles where I really talk about traditional marketing concepts and how they can be adapted to social media because not very many people are out there talking about that. David: Can you perhaps give us an example of marketing done well via social media? Angela: I think there are lots of really good examples of marketers who really get social media. One of the ones that I heard recently is Talenti which is a high-end frozen yogurt gelato product. They use social media mainly because they didn't have the budget to do traditional advertising and I actually think that they were better off that way than if they had the money. Sometimes having too much money is a bad thing. It lets you get sloppy.

DMR #22: Derek Murphy – What are the most important tools for creating your own book?

David Bain — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:00:49 +0000

David: What are the most important tools for creating your own book? Where you should you self-publish your own book? What are the most effective techniques for promoting a newly published book? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Derek Murphy. Derek’s a bestselling author and book design expert and has been a leading voice in how to use design to sell more books. He’s also finishing his PhD in literature while running over a dozen book and publishing related online businesses. Derek, tell me a little bit about the software that you recommend to produce books? Derek: A lot of people recommend Scrivener. Scrivener is a word processing software that’s specifically for books. It’s a little easier than Word because inside of Scrivener, you can organize different chapters and you can make notes and you can make a bulletin board to collect ideas or research so that you have everything for your book together in one place. Then, you can go through it and edit it. Scrivener also has a pretty good export to Kindle or ePub. From making e-books from your Word content, a lot of people like it. I wouldn’t use it to format print books because I think people use Scrivener to finish the book and to write it. You could an OK e-book because e-books are really simple. It’s basically just text. To design the interior, you should match the style with the book cover. You should use the same fonts and it’s important to have everything laid out well and very professionally. You can use Microsoft Word for that but Adobe InDesign makes a much cleaner looking book. Like the book cover, it’s very difficult to do it yourself. If you’re going to do it, you want to find a nice looking template where you can just use something to start with and just tweak it and add your content rather than just making it up as you go or trying to do it from scratch.

DMR #21: Bryan Collins – What is the most common business writing mistakes that writers make?

David Bain — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 13:00:52 +0000

David: What does it take to be a productive writer? What is the most common mistake that business writers make? And if you produce more quantity, does that not reduce your quality? Those are just two of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Bryan Collins. Bryan, welcome to DMR. Bryan: Thanks for having me on. David: Well, welcome. Bryan is a writer who lives an hour or so outside Dublin, Ireland - and right now he’s just published his new book ‘A Productive Writer’. Bryan, do you think a great writer should focus on creating great writing only or can a great writer also be a great social media marketer too? Bryan: That’s a very good question, David. I’d say that if there’s two things that a writer needs to do today - particularly an online writer - they need to spend firstly time creating great content and writing and they also need to spend an equal - if not more time - marketing and sharing that content. There’s no point going and locking yourself into a cave and producing a great piece of work, and then leaving it sitting there and hoping that somebody comes along, sees how great it is and tells all her friends. You’ve to put your work out there because there’s so much noise now on the internet, there’s so many people producing high value content, that you need to go out and you need to tell people stories about your content, about your writing, how it’s going to benefit their lives and how it can even change them. I think Seth Godin even says that all great marketing is storytelling and great writing is storytelling too, so there’s definitely … great writers should do both. David: Does that mean that a great writer can't just focus on the writing and that it’s not possible to rely on other people to do the social media marketing on their behalf? Do you think to work best on social media it actually has to be the writer that does the interaction on social media as well? Bryan: If you are Stephen King or if you are a John Grisham … a massive publishing house behind you then you can probably go off and do whatever you want. I think the rest of us maybe have to go off and spend some time marketing our writing. I think even Paulo Coelho has over a million followers on his Twitter handle.

DMR #20: Mark Pack – What does it take to be a top twenty political blogger?

David Bain — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 13:00:06 +0000

David: What does it take to be a top twenty political blogger? How do you persuade traditional thinkers to adopt digital marketing strategies and what’s the future for journalists? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Mark Pack. Mark, welcome to DMR. Mark: Thanks very much for having me on. David: You’re most welcome. Mark is an associate director at Blue Rubicon, an award-winning consultancy that transforms the reputations of some of the world’s biggest organizations. He’s also a visiting lecturer at City University in London in the Journalism Department. Mark, you’ve marketed using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to name just a few activities, but is the written word still your favorite communications medium? Mark: That’s a good question. I think the written word, in many ways, is the toughest communications medium; so quite often, if you’re busy, if you’re stressed, if you got too many things to do, I wouldn’t necessarily say always feels like my favorite but there’s no doubt the written word is still immensely powerful. And in fact, very often, the most successful use of for example, social media channels, is to promote the written word, is to share, is to engage, is to respond but is all centered around having some good in-depth written words as the piece of content that you’re then generating buzz, engagement, discussion and sharing for. David: Right. Okay and so the written word not dying out any time soon then. Mark: I certainly hope not. David: Do you think that the style of communication online that you use, i.e. videos or pictures or written word in some format, should depend on your customer base or should it depend on the abilities of the people producing the content? Mark: I think it’s important to try to bear your audience in mind all the time; so, what is the format that will suit them, what is the style that will suit them and also communicate your issues, your messages, your branding most effectively. A good example of that is the use of footnotes, if you’re flicking through a set of books; the ones with footnotes immediately seem more credible; they immediately seem more authoritative.

DMR #19: Jenn DePaula – Can social media really be ‘done for you’ by an agency?

David Bain — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 13:00:57 +0000

David: Can social media really be 'done for you' or do you have to retain control over your own voice? How do you use Instagram and Pinterest as marketing channels and why are some businesses using Squarespace instead of Wordpress? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask my especial guest today, Jenn dePaula. Jenn, welcome to DMR. Jenn: Hello, thank you for having me. David: Well, thank you very much for joining us. Well, Jenn is the co-founder of Mixtus Media, a Nashville-based social media and content marketing firm that specializes in serving authors and book publishers. Jenn, I'm interested, why do you actually end up focusing on the publishing industry in terms of where you offer you services? Jenn: Well, we initially started, I got my career started off in the music industry back in 2000. 2000 was really kind of a turning point for the music industry in turning into a more digital focused industry. I think they clawed and heaved their way up the hill of digital publishing and it seems like it's still going on just that battle of physical content which is the CD and just other items that musicians sell to the digital frontier. For the first 10 years of my career, we were really going through with musicians how the best market their content, their music to in a digital form and just the struggles and the lessons learned through that, we started noticing that our authors are going through much of the same thing. Over the last few years, just with Kindle coming along on the Nook and all these other digital devices for people to consume books, they were going through many of the same struggles that musicians were going through even five years ago. Through our experience with working with musicians and obviously the book world and the music world are different beasts, but they serve an audience that's consuming their product digitally. It's really, it's been an education not only for publishers, but also for authors as well because they aren't used to having to market themselves. They aren't used to having avenues such as social media and blogs and other digital ways to connect with people. Usually, they just had to hand off their manuscript to a publisher and that was that.

DMR #18: Jeffrey Samorano – Is WordPress the right CMS for the majority of businesses?

David Bain — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 13:00:12 +0000

David: Is WordPress the right CMS for the majority of businesses? Should you use a theme framework or should you have your own theme designed from scratch? What WordPress plugins are most important in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Jeffrey Samorano. Jeffrey, welcome to DMR. Jeffrey: Thanks for having me. David: Jeffrey is a part designer, part WordPress programmer, bringing balance and vision to projects. His strength is managing client expectations by seeing the vision of the bigger picture. Jeffrey, what's the bigger picture for WordPress? Will it continue to be the CMS of choice for more and more businesses moving forward? Jeffrey: Honestly, in my opinion, I think it is. It's got some great traction. It's complete. I mean, what is it, 60 million websites now are running WordPress. I don't think it's planning on slowing at all. It's pretty much dominating. David: It's the place to be. Nothing's going to take it over at any point to the near future. Jeffrey: Yeah. David: How long have you actually been designing sites using WordPress yourself? Jeffrey: We've been designing sites for over 10 years, but working with WordPress specifically, for just under eight years now. David: Wow. That's still quite a long time. I published my first WordPress site in 2007, so that was seven years ago. That's quite a long time ago as well but eight years is even longer. Why did you actually choose then eight years ago to move on to WordPress? What was it about that particular CMS? Because really, it was just a blogging platform at the time, wasn't it? What persuaded you that that was going to be really worthwhile to focus on? Jeffrey: You know, that's an awesome question. I'm glad you asked it because I've had those discussion with a lot of our clients and they've asked, "Well, why should I use WordPress? Why not Joomla or Drupal or something like that?" Really, what it came down to it, we started back when websites were made in tables and strict HTML, and then CSS came out. That was always advancing and then PHP and other scripts like that. It always got more and more.

DMR #17: Chris Von Nieda – What comes first – SEO or website design?

David Bain — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 13:00:56 +0000

David: What comes first - SEO or website design? Is it essential for SEO and website design to work closely together? What's the future for SEO? These are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest Chris Von Nieda. Chris, welcome to DMR. Chris: Thanks, David. A pleasure to be here. David: Chris is the founder of ROI4My.com a website design and SEO service provider based in Arizona. Chris, you got involved in website design way back in 1998. How did you end up building an interest in SEO? Chris: It's great that you're able to build websites, David, but, of course, if no one knows about your website or no one is finding your website, then that really defeats the purpose. Of course, if you're building a website to grow your business or to make money on revenue or provide services for a client, you've got to get people to the site and get them to perform the actions that you want when they arrive at the site in order to be successful. David: That's a very progressive website design service provider because I've certainly seen a lot of websites that visually look appealing but if you looked behind the source code, they're absolutely scary in terms of being optimized to be found in Google. Chris: Yeah, that definitely can be the case. You had mentioned when a website is being developed, how important it is that they have the SEO required elements in place. For example, if you're developing your website and you don't have things like your heading tags properly formatted according to Google's Webmaster guidelines, that could impact your search engine rankings and decrease the amount of traffic to your site. Google makes it pretty easy. They provide Webmaster guidelines and a terrific SEO starter guide that if you just read that and apply the principles that they're kind enough to pass along, in most cases, you can build a pretty nice website and have it ranked well in the search engines coming out the gate.

DMR #16: Amy Schmittauer – What does great video content marketing look like in 2014?

David Bain — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 13:00:40 +0000

David: What does great video content marketing look like in 2014? What’s best... publishing shorter videos more often or publishing longer videos with less frequency? Is it feasible for just about any business to be producing their own videos? Those were just three of the questions that I intend to be asking our special guest today, Amy Schmittauer. Amy, welcome to DMR. Amy: Thank you so much for having me David. David: Thanks for joining us. Well, Amy is the president of Vlog Boss Studios, a creative digital agency specializing in video content marketing. She’s also the founder and face of SavvySexySocial.com, a video blog which helps SMBs and content creators develop and execute a social media marketing strategy. Amy, what are the main facets of great video content marketing? Amy: I think the most important things is that people don’t realize how important their audience is to their content development. A lot of people just want to go out and start making videos that they love themselves but the reality is you need to remember who you are trying to attract with your content and make something specifically for them. When you do that, you just become a better video creator overall. You are making highly-targeted information that is valuable to your audience. You’re even talking to the camera even like you’re in person with somebody. It just makes you a better creator when you think specifically about who your audience is and who your avatar is and you’re making really, really relevant content that way. I think as long as you’re keeping that person in mind at all times, you’re off to a really, really good start. David: Right. Okay, that’s interesting. You mentioned the avatar and person in mind there. Because obviously we have heard that marketing advice before when you’re actually putting together your content to begin with, you should be thinking about one particular individual. Is that what you’re meaning by that? Amy: Yeah, you want to be as specific as possible. A lot of people will think of a general audience but the more specific you can be, the better you’re going to be. A lot of people think that that will limit you but the reality is even if your audience is a very, very specific one, it doesn’t mean that you can’t help more people than that. There may be others that come in because of that. For instance, I hear this example a lot... Red Bull has a very specific audience. It’s very adventurous, young men who love these crazy sports and doing flips on skateboards and crazy stuff like that.

DMR #15: Ashly Lorenzana – Do you need any special software to create a Kindle book?

David Bain — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:00:06 +0000

David: Do you need any special software to create a Kindle book? How do you format a Kindle book and do you publish a Kindle book? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Ashly Lorenzana. Ashly, welcome to DMR. Ashly: Thank you so much for having me. David: Thank you for joining us. Ashly is an expert in Kindle publishing, book marketing, blogging, and also freelance writing. You can find her over at AshelyLorenzana.com. Ashly, is publishing a Kindle book easy or is it a bit of a learning curve to grasp the essentials? Ashly: I think it's getting easier. I think there are some aspects of Kindle publishing that are still somewhat of a challenge for people who are new to the whole process. The formatting is one of the trickier areas, cover design, a lot of people struggle with that it seems like, but other than that, I would say it's fairly easy. Amazon has made it pretty easy for people at this point in time is my opinion. David: Is this a logical area for businesses to be getting into as a promotional tool do you think or is it largely a medium just for creative writing and authors getting themselves published? Ashly: I think it's definitely got huge potential for both. I see a lot of different people coming from different backgrounds, bloggers or business people who are doing really, really well with it, so I think it's very flexible. I think it has huge opportunity for both crowds. David: What about the actual creation of the books themselves? I understand that you can simply get even a Word document and essentially publish that as a Kindle book, but is that the right way to go down or are you better to actually choose some kind of more specialist software to actually produce your book? Ashly: There's a lot of different ways you can go about it. They accept several formats. You're right, you can just do a Word document and that works. They also have specific templates for Word that work really well, but as far as the best or the right way to do it, personally I haven't really seen any software that I was really impressed with for formatting. That's just my personal opinion. I'm old school. I just do the HTML myself and then make an E-Pub. That's technical for a lot of people. I don't know if that's really the best thing for someone who is new to all this to be getting into. Word is probably the easiest. That's what I would recommend.

DMR #14: Mickey Lonchar – What types of content marketing don’t work anymore?

David Bain — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:00:40 +0000

David: Is it necessary to persuade people to buy from you online or can great informative content do the job for you by itself? What types of content marketing don't work anymore? Do you need to cover as many bases as possible when publishing your content or is it focusing on just one platform best? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Mickey Lonchar. Mickey, welcome to DMR. Mickey Lonchar: Hi, David. Nice to be with you. David: Great to have you here. Mickey describes himself as a Chief Persuasion Officer, a media neutral content creator, crafting big ideas for marketers of all sizes and finding creative ways to amplify them through the integration of great customer experience. Mickey, is it possible to build a great business nowadays without being a regular content creator? Mickey Lonchar: I think it's possible. It's almost like if you're very well known, you have an established reputation already, people are already spreading good words about you, yes, it is possible but for most of us who don't have the luxury of having been around for 25 years and have a very loyal customer base, content marketing is a way to really connect with potential customers and fans. One of the biggest changes, I think, since, I'll say in the last 20 years, but it's really speeded up recently has been the change of control of the marketing process from the marketer to the consumer or the user. It used to be that if I'm a marketer, I controlled especially the communication. You really only heard what I wanted you to hear, whether it was through paid advertising or public relations or whatever. I also determined where you could find this product, pretty much how much you'll pay for it, and on and on, so in that process you were getting a lot of information from me, no one else. These days, communication, data, information is everywhere and as an example, if I were to purchase an item that I don't buy everyday, like say a dishwasher, something like that where I don't really have a lot of the knowledge necessary to make a good decision on my own, I could find all sorts of information about it just by reading consumer blogs or chat rooms, people who've had experiences with a particular brand or had problems with it. Amazon, for example, where you can buy appliances these days, you'll read reviews from people who really liked it, people who didn't like it, blah, blah, blah. I can do comparisons with other units. I can shop for the best price. I can do all of that without ever involving the marketer, so it's really important for marketers to really understand how this process is working and that these days you're really just one voice of thousands that consumers are getting. Content marketing really is a way to make that voice relevant that you have to really anticipate people's needs, to help them along their journey, and to be seen as the good guy, the guy who really was there that helped me out without having in mind that, "Well, if I give you this information, then I expect you to buy my product from me."

DMR #13: Jonny Ross – Has SEO been overtaken by social media?

David Bain — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:00:27 +0000

David: Has SEO been overtaken by social media? What are the most imperative areas of SEO to get right? What does good web design look like in 2014? Those are just a few of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Jonny Ross. Jonny welcome to DMR. Jonny: Hi. David: Well Jonny’s actually the founder of Jonny Ross Consultancy. An SEO web design and social media service provider based in Leeds in the U.K. Jonny, is it important that SEO and social works closely together or can you work as two silo departments, barely speaking to each other? Jonny: I think that’s a really interesting question. I think a lot of people do believe that they can work independently. For an effective campaign the more each part understand each other the more powerful the entire campaign can be. I think SEO has very much moved towards social media. It’s nothing new. It’s happened over the last three or four years. There’s a major swing. For me SEO is just about good content and getting that content popular. Well, what do you use to do that? Social Media. I think the two things are extremely closely related. I think the more each party can understand each other and work together on it the far more effective a campaign can be. David: So do you think there are other ways of getting that content out there nowadays without embracing social media. Or do you think nowadays a brand that wants to be successful online absolutely has to have their own social profile as a presence. Jonny: I think there are other ways of getting content out. There’s no question about that. Certainly there’s still traditional press. There’s traditional online PR sites. Certain ones are still highly valued. It doesn’t have to be social media. Certainly the easiest door into all of this is social media. I think any company that’s not embracing social media really needs to think about that. I just blogged about the football industry. The latest thing coming from UEFA is that they are saying that they’re going to prosecute people just for taking a video clip of someone scoring a goal because that’s their intellectual property and it’s potentially going to cause damage to contracts with Sky and ITV, etc., etc. For me they need to start embracing social media because they’re just going to lose fans. I’m quite passionate about this because I know you’ve got lots of questions. I think all companies need to embrace social media and not go against it.

DMR #12: Hannah Brenzel – Should every business publish online video?

David Bain — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 13:00:22 +0000

David: Should every business be publishing online video? What type of video works best and what are the biggest video marketing pitfalls? Those are just 3 of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest, Hannah Brenzel. Hannah, welcome to DMR. Hannah: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. David: Hannah is the content marketing coordinator for ViralGains, a viral video marketing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. On a daily basis, she creates content designed to educate brands, agencies, individuals, and businesses of all sizes on importance of integrating online video into marketing campaigns. Hannah, integrating online video into marketing campaigns, do you mean paid video advertising campaigns or organic viral videos? Hannah: We generally focus on paid advertising campaigns, mostly because every piece of content really needs that boosts to get to the right audience so they can blow it up through organic sharing. There are sometimes those peak brands will create really awesome video content that people pick up and start spreading on their own and that’s where the organic comes in, but not every video is going to have that traction. That’s why we believe a paid spent in the beginning can get your video to the right audience so that they start sharing with their networks and then it just spreads from there. We believe that the paid boosts can really help a video go viral. David: Paid advertising in terms of videos. I'd like to dig in and really delve into the type of video, the length of video and what works best really. Starting with the length, would you say that it has to be short all the time or there any instances where you'd actually use quite a long video for paid advertising? Hannah: A lot of people watch long-form video content. I know Vine has picked up Instagram video with all this short consumable bits of content. People really enjoy that. It's very sharable but when a brand can really tell a story through 2 to 5 minutes of video, we find that very valuable because people are connecting with the brands through that storytelling. Just trying to fit all of your messaging in 30 seconds, you have a lot more creativity with long-form video content. Depending on what you're trying to get across there really isn't an if you should do shorter or if you should do long argument. Preferably you do a little bit of both but either way you're going to see success as long as you can tell that story.

DMR #11: Calin Yablonski – Is local marketing very different from global digital marketing?

David Bain — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 13:00:48 +0000

David: Is local marketing very different from global digital marketing? What are the best sources of traffic for local businesses, and what digital marketing strategies work best for local businesses in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Calin Yablonski. Calin, welcome to DMR. Calin: Hey, thanks a lot, David. Thank you. David: I'm trying to focus on pronouncing your name correctly there. Calin: You did a pretty good job. It's Calin Yablonski. I know it's a bit of a tongue twister. David: Calin's founder of InboundInteractive.ca providing local businesses with a professional suite of digital marketing services. Calin, I'm impressed that you actually called it Inbound Interactive back in 2009 because was that not actually before the term “inbound marketing” was really coined? Calin: Actually, Inbound Interactive was a name that I came up with about three years after I officially launched my business. I'd like to pretend that I was really insightful and ahead of the curve, but no. “Inbound” was a term that we came up with as we saw the transition towards inbound marketing. David: That explains it. Calin: Yeah. It takes some of the mystery out of it. David: It's very interesting actually the difference in Google trends between what people refer to certain services as because obviously internet marketing was probably something that agencies called it seven plus years ago, but now it's probably more associated with making money online and move to online marketing was popular for a while, digital marketing. Now, it's really breaking down into various segments and niches, and by marketing is obviously one of them. Calin: Yeah. It's been really interesting even looking at where we generate a lot of our traffic to our website and our leads from. Five years ago, if you ranked for internet marketing in Calgary, you were generating a lot of customers from it, and that just isn't the case today. Where like you mentioned, a lot of the services have started to segment where now customers are more in the loop with what they should be searching for, and so you'll see people optimizing for local SEO, or organic SEO, or even more specific for things like penalty removal or Google AdWords consultant. There certainly has been a transition that we’ve noticed over the last couple of years for sure.

DMR #10: Carol Tice – How and where is it worthwhile publishing eBooks?

David Bain — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:00:39 +0000

David Bain: Can you really make a living writing? How and where is it worthwhile publishing eBooks and what's an effective promotional cycle once you've published an eBook? Those are just three of the questions that I tend to ask our special guest today, Carol Tice. Carol, welcome to DMR. Carol Tice: Hi. Thanks for having me. David Bain: Thanks for joining us. Carol is a long time freelance business writer who now helps writers earn more through her Make A Living Writing blog which is listed in the 2014 Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. She's also author or co-author of two print business books and five eBooks for writers. So, Carol, can you really make a living writing? Carol Tice: As a freelance writer? Yeah, absolutely. There is so much opportunity out there and only going to be more in the future. What happened in the downturn was a lot of companies got rid of staff and they started using more freelancers for all kinds of creative tasks and they learned that they loved it and that it worked out great and every study they do of major corporations that ask them how they feel about working with contract staff, will they do more in the future? Everybody says yeah. We're going to do more and more of it. It saves them money. Freelancers get to live flexible lives. Yes, there's collapse in the magazine sector and a lot of change going on, but a lot of that is moving online and there's a ton of good opportunity there. I work with a lot of writers who are doing a lot of blogging for businesses for some pretty nice money, companies are not going to stop needing to market themselves and more and more, they're looking to freelance. The trick is to stay off of the craigslist ads and Elance's of the world and proactively find better quality clients. You kind of have to stay out of those sort of race to the bottom, bottom feeding world of "Please write this for me for five dollars." But plenty of people have already tried out that world and figured out that they're not going to be able to actually market their business successfully using those... using somebody in the Philippines who's barely literate in English or in India or somewhere. There's a ton of work out there.

DMR #9: Matt Forman – What is the most effective source of website traffic in 2014?

David Bain — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 13:00:41 +0000

David: What the most effective source of website traffic in 2014? How has this changed over the last couple of years and what's the most important trend to keep an eye on over the next year? Those are just two of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today Matt Forman. Matt, welcome to DMR. Matt: Hi, David. How are you? David: I'm very good. Thank you. You sound very good as well with that bird-chirping environment. Matt: Yes. It's a glorious day over here in Australia. I'm just enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful weather. David: I'm jealous! Matt is the founder and the managing director of Traffika, a digital generation firm helping high-growth medium and large organizations to optimize their businesses online. Matt, do you find that your average new client understands what they should be doing with their digital marketing strategy or do you typically find that you have to educate before you get started? Matt: Yeah. That's a great question, David. I think there's a probably couple of different answers to that. I think a generalized answer, education is a very important part of what we do in the sales process with our new clients and also just generally into the market. I think digital marketing is an area that's changing by the minute almost and the pace of change is also accelerating. We find that lots of clients or potential clients who come in to us saying "We've heard about this, we've heard about this but we don’t know what to do about it. Can you help us?" That's generally the starting point for any conversation.

DMR #8: Stan Smith – Do you need to be on every social media network?

David Bain — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:00:23 +0000

David Bain: What social networks are most effective for business in 2014? How do you measure the effectiveness of your social media interaction; and is there still a place for business blogging in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Stan Smith. Stan, thank you very much indeed for joining me. Stan Smith: Thank you for having me. I’m sure we’re going to have some fun. David Bain: Absolutely. Now, Stan is a business growth strategist at Push Social, particularly focusing on using social media tools to achieve a competitive advantage. His main expertise is in social media and business blogging. Stan, blogging has been mainstream for nearly 10 years or so now. Has social media finally taken over, or is there still a place for business blogging in 2014? Stan Smith: That’s a great question. I believe that blogging gets stronger as the social media channels get stronger. I arrive at that premise really by thinking about blogging and social media this way. Blogging is the story that your business is telling. It’s the information that you’re providing to your prospects, you’re providing to your customers and your fans. Now, that content needs to be distributed to an audience, the targeted audience in the best case scenario, and social media is still the channel for distributing that. They are really at a symbiotic relationship, so you really can’t have one without the other. I believe that business blogging is as strong as it’s ever been, and I think it’s going to get stronger as we move forward, and it only will get even better as the social channels improve as well.

DMR #7: Rich Brooks – Is blogging still important?

David Bain — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:00:11 +0000

David Bain: What's the difference between a website and a blog? What's the best setup for a blog in 2014? What's the future for blogging? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Rick Brooks. Rich, welcome to DMR. Rich Brooks: Thank you very much for having me. I'm looking forward to it. David Bain: You're welcome. Rich is president of Takeflyte.com, a web design and internet marketing agency based in Portland, Maine. He's also founder of the Digital Marketing Conference, Agents of Change taking place just a couple of weeks after this interview is published. Rich, when I ask you what subject you wanted to talk about today, you said blogging. Why was that? Rich Brooks: Well, I still think blogging is a critical part to any small businesses online success. I know that social media gets a lot of the attention these days; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram. Those are sexy topics, there's no doubt about it. But so many of these tools are really somebody else's tools. You've heard the saying before when you're publishing on Facebook, you're actually working somebody else's land. You should always be building your own house on your own property. For me, one of the big reasons why I think blogging is so critically important is because really is to steal a line from my friend, Denise Wickman, "It's a home for your intellectual property." While I certainly go out and I use social tools like Facebook and Twitter, I often try and bring people back to my blog where I can do a little bit more education and go a little bit deeper than 140 characters might allow me to. Also, before I got into social, I was really into search engine optimization, SEO. For me, that was actually the reason I got started in blogging because I wanted to create content that the search engines could find that would help me and my clients gain visibility in the search engine. There are a lot of reasons why I think blogging is still important even if it happens to be that the buzz and the attention might be placed elsewhere.

DMR #6: Jamie Turner – How has mobile marketing evolved?

David Bain — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:00:01 +0000

David: Why is it essential to claim your business online? How differently do customers interact with mobile compared with desktop and how are the most progressive businesses using mobile marketing in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask today’s special guest, Jamie Turner. Jamie welcome to DMR. Jamie: Glad to be here. I’m really flattered that you asked me to join in the conversation. David: Wonderful to have you. Well, Jamie Turner is an internationally recognized author and thought leader who’s helped the Coca Cola Company, AT&T, and CNN to tackle complex marketing issues. He’s also coauthor of Go Mobile which was the number 1, best selling mobile marketing book on Amazon. Jamie, I guess mobile marketing has gone from starting to happen in 2012 to absolutely essential in 2014? Jamie: It really has. We’re really in an era where people are using mobile more and more frequently to connect with the brands they love. In fact, I know you’re based out of the UK. I was born in London but in the United States, more than 50% of our time is spent on mobile devices. Now let me define that so that it doesn’t throw a curve ball to too many people. Mobile is defined as a smartphone or a tablet, but if you take those two things and put them together, more than 50% of the average person’s time in the United States is now spent on mobile devices as opposed to their desktop computer. It’s finally the year of mobile. It’s actually here, people have been talking about this is the year of mobile forever. We’re actually really doing it, and things are rocking and rolling on that front.

DMR #5: Cathy Boudreau – How to automate your inbound marketing

David Bain — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 06:30:19 +0000

David Bain: What exactly is inbound marketing? How can it help to automate your marketing? Is lead nurturing really worth it? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Cathy Boudreau. Cathy, welcome to DMR. Cathy Boudreau: Hi, David. Thanks for having me. David Bain: Thanks for joining us. Cathy is a social media manager for Harvest Solutions, a CRM automation consultancy firm. Cathy deals with all of the Harvest Solutions' inbound marketing efforts, using HubSpot as a marketing automation tool. Cathy, for those listening who don't really know, how would you describe inbound marketing? Cathy Boudreau: I would describe inbound marketing as a way to market to people without giving them an interruption, such as with outbound marketing, you're making phone calls or sending them direct mail pieces. That's all considered outbound and interruptive. Whereas, inbound is you're getting people to come to you. They're doing a search on the internet and they find you. They find information on your website. They download an offer that you’ve put on your website. All of that stuff is coming in to you. That's how I would describe inbound versus outbound.

DMR #4: Paul Julius – How important is A/B testing?

David Bain — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 06:30:01 +0000

David Bain: What exactly is A/B testing? Why is it important? How do you determine a split testing winner? Those are just three of the questions that I'm going to be asking our special guest today, Paul Julius. Paul, thanks for joining us on DMR. Paul Julius: Hi, David. Great to be here. David Bain: Good to have you here. Could you begin by telling us a little bit more about you and perhaps what you do yourself as well? Paul Julius: Sure. Right now I work for a company called Consultwebs. We're a legal marketing firm. I run all the AdWords paid search campaigns for all our clients. That includes setting up the campaigns, doing the keyword research, managing their budgets, really all that thing. Optimizing for ROI is the bottom line. David Bain: Okay. Paid so search, does that encompass more than pay-per-click or it's just pay-per-click that you focus on? Paul Julius: The primary thing that I think everybody's most familiar with is Google AdWords. We have looked into some other things like doing content marketing with stuff like Outbrain and smaller media buys and native advertising, too, but the main thing, I would say, is pay-per-click. David Bain: Okay. You work in a really competitive marketplace. Is that correct? Most of your clients are in the law area, if I'm not mistaken. Paul Julius: Yes, sir. Absolutely. It is very competitive, and they are all in the legal field, which has some of the highest cost per clicks out there, right below insurance and mortgage. Yeah, it's competitive and it's tough to squeeze every value - every little bit of value - we can out of each click.

DMR #3: Alan Morte – What are the most important reports in Google Analytics?

David Bain — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 06:30:04 +0000

David: What are the most important reports in Google Analytics? How should you customize your dashboards and what metrics are the most important to be keeping an eye on? Those are just three of the questions that I’m going to be asking our special guest Alan Morte today about Google Analytics. Alan thanks for joining us on DMR. Alan: No problem. Thank you having me. I appreciate the time. David: Alan is the president of Three Ventures where he uses analytics to help his clients increase the ROI from millions of dollars marketing spend annually. So Alan, is it nearly always Google Analytics that your clients use or are you finding that other tracking tools are just as popular? Alan: There are other tracking tools that are just as popular. Google Analytics has the brand name behind it. Obviously you have Adobe’s products and Omniture but really it just depends on … Its going to really depend on the CTO and the technology staff and what their preferences are but Google Analytics really they do a good job with offering a free version where a lot of startups or lot of baby companies that started in 2005-2006 have implemented the products since its early infant stages and now they are getting to the point where they are becoming bigger companies heading to 5, 10, 15, 20 million dollar in annual revenue range that they already have Google Analytics in place. We definitely see a lot of companies using Google Analytics. As far as it being the best tool, I think that varies client to client depending on what exactly the goals of the business are; maybe the plan or objectives of the quarter year etc.; maybe five year plan something like that.

DMR #2: George Michie – How does attribution modeling impact paid search?

David Bain — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 06:30:42 +0000

David Bain: How has pay-per-click search changed over the last few years? What is attribution modeling and how will attribution modeling impact paid search and SEO in the future? Those are just three of the questions that I'm going to be asking today's special guest, George Michie. George, welcome to DMR. George Michie: Thanks, David. It's great to be here. David Bain: Oh, great to have you here. Thank you very much for joining us. George is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Scientist at RKG, an industry leader in search and performance marketing. George is a member of Google's Performance Marketing Council and a longstanding contributor to Search Engine Land. Chief Marketing Scientist. That sounds interesting. George Michie: Yeah, it's a big title to live up to but ... I'll call it aspirational if nothing else. David Bain: It certainly intrigued me. What does it involve? What would you say your role involves in a daily basis? George Michie: I think our view is that marketing in general should be approached as a data-driven science. That we ought to apply testing methodology as you do in science. That we ought to judge performance based on metrics rather than based on strategic opinions that creative guys come up with. Creative is an incredibly important piece of marketing, but whether it works or not is something that data should determine, not the highest paid person in the room.

DMR #1: John Lee Dumas – Is podcasting really worth it?

David Bain — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 17:24:50 +0000

David: What has been the biggest positive change in podcasting over the past 2 years? What’s the best piece of digital marketing advice that you’ve ever received and what do you think is going to be the biggest change in podcasting over the next 2 years? Those are just 3 of the questions that I’m going to be asking today’s special guest, John Lee Dumas. John, good to have you on DMR. John: David, I am stoked to be here and with those questions I am prepared to ignite my friends! David: Wonderful. John Lee Dumas is the founder and host of Entrepreneur on Fire, a top ranked podcast being the best in iTunes 2013. John interviews today’s most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs 7 days a week and has been featured in both Time and Inc. Magazine and is founder of Podcaster’s Paradise - a community where podcasters can create, grow and monetize their podcasts. Entrepreneur on Fire generates over 550,000 unique downloads a month with past guests such as Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Barbara Corcoran, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Guy Kawasaki. Recaps of the 650+ episodes and much more can be found at EOFire.com. John, you’ve been recognized as one of the industry leading experts in podcasting as a business. What do you think has been the biggest positive change in podcasting over the past 2 years since you got started? John: Without a doubt David, it has been the majority of the population utilizing smartphones. It has been such a game changer when we went from 49% to 51% of people actually having a computer in their pocket, literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can whip it out, they can listen to Entrepreneur On Fire, they can listen to your show and it’s streaming and it’s on demand. Biggest game changer that I’ve seen.