Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In episode #1299, we discuss how Donald Trump spent over $19 million on Facebook advertising in 2019! This huge amount of money, that dwarfs the democratic budget, is symptomatic of the current media and marketing landscape. Join us to hear about the lessons that can be learned from this example. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How Donald Trump Spent $19.4 Million on Facebook Ads in 2019. [00:44] The Guardian article that sparked today’s episode. [01:45] Long-term implications of these kinds of tactics with the growth of AI. [02:27] How data is being used to change people's perceptions. [03:48] Manipulation is ever-present in media and marketing; what can you learn? [05:04] Awareness and positivity in the advertising space. [05:23] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Donald Trump The Guardian 'One Year Inside Trump's Monumental Campaign' Bloomberg Leave Some

In episode #1298, we share seven trends in the software as a service space! From free tools and customer experience improvement to thought leadership and the move towards platforms, following these trends can help you and your SaaS business today! Tune in to hear the most important things you should be keeping up with. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: 7 SaaS Trends for 2020. [00:35] Product-led growth, free tools and indoctrinating users into your ecosystem. [01:07] Allowing a computer to do the work for you with the rise of AI and ML. [01:47] Improving customer experience and going above and beyond for retention. [02:45] The move towards platforms with multiple features and tools. [03:35] Branding and becoming a thought leader in your space. [04:41] Ways to make up for advertising costs! [05:40] Using an API for partnerships and more.  [06:21] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in

In episode #1297, we ask what works better for affiliates, niche content or general news? There are a number of different routes you can take with your affiliate marketing, from very general to very niche. We recommend erring more on the side of niche, for SEO and customer retention. Tune in hear the benefits of specialization and becoming an authority! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: What Works Better for Affiliates? Niche or General News. [00:35] Some examples of affiliate sites and what they do. [01:34] The conversion impact of niche websites and becoming an authority. [02:52] People like specialists; do not try to be everything to everyone. [04:02] Broader is not better, specific sites do better on search engines. [04:29] Building a brand in order to generate revenue. [05:02] That is it for today! [05:04] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Wirecutter BuzzF

In episode #1296, we talk about how to drive more paid sign-ups in your sale funnel. Funnels are the all-important part of your sales system and you need to optimize yours in order to get maximum customers and sales! Tune in to hear about using video, on-boarding and pricing to up your game! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How to Drive More Paid Sign-ups in Your Funnel. [00:33] Explaining the role of a funnel in sales. [01:11] Driving traffic to your homepage through your blog and a re-marketing pixel. [01:43] Simplifying on-boarding and focussing on the customer experience. [03:22] Using a re-marketing video with emotion and logic to capture customers. [04:44] Introductory pricing and creative ways to open the door for users. [05:58] That is it for today! [06:00] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Hotjar OptinMonster Ahrefs Netflix Hulu Leave Some Feedba

In episode #1295, we run through our list of highly recommended tools to help you get your brand and message out there. From email service providers to the best text message tools on the market, we share it all. Tune in to hear which of these tools are also great for integrating with your existing tool stack! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: Seven Course Tools to Help Spread Your Message.  [00:58] Make landing pages quickly by using Leadpages and Unbounce. [01:24] Kajabi: an all-in-one course tool to help create and market courses.  [02:08] The benefits of doing webinars and EverWebinar’s evergreen offering.   [02:36] PicSnippets connects with email tools and allows personalization.  [03:12] Choose ManyChat as your chat, SMS, and email service provider.  [03:45] Use PlusThis that connects with your webinar automation and email tools.  [04:28] How you can use text messages and create a shared inbox for your team.  [05:13] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind

In episode #1294, we give you the inside scoop on Neil’s course funnel so that you can apply it to your business. Using an email to drive your audience to a webinar and following up with a week-long email sequence with an expiry date is a sure way to capture a large portion of your target market. Tune in to hear how to round off the funnel with text messages and all the tools Neil uses in his stack. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How You Can Swipe Neil’s Course Funnel that Generates 380k/Month. [00:46] Selling info products that teach you how to do marketing. [00:56] Driving the audience from emails to webinars and then making a pitch.  [01:09] Following up with a week-long email sequence with a countdown timer at the end. [01:27] Sending text messages to everyone who watched the webinar but didn’t end up buying. [01:58] Offering a free trial to those you didn’t capture before. [02:50] The percentages that bought from each of the funnel points. [03:21] The majority of sales came fro

In episode #1293, we talk about how you can actually get sh*t done with a small team! We discuss the ideal team size, how to set out your to-do lists, hiring, communication and more! Listen in to hear how you can start getting more done with less. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How to Get Shit Done with a Small Team! [00:33] How many people are on a small team? [01:12] Eric's current team and how they crank out loads of video content. [02:33] Daily breakdowns, easy to-do lists and getting them done! [04:40] Minimum amounts of meetings and wasting no time on unnecessary communication. [05:11] Hiring the right people by setting smart tasks. [06:07] That’s it for today! [06:09] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Asana Trello Leave Some Feedback:   What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below   Did you enjoy this episode? If s

In episode #1292, we ask whether you should be doing events! Although events can feel like a slog and take up a lot of time and energy, they definitely do have their uses, as we have learned from hosting some of our own. Tune in to hear how you can start small and generate great leads and learn at the same time! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: Should You Be Doing Events? [00:39] Before we start, remember to check out our upcoming event! [01:01] Why events are tough; organizing, food, location and all the moving parts. [01:44] How our minds changed about doing events when we tried them out! [02:10] Don't do events to make money — they are great for learning and leads. [03:13] Smaller events for cheaper, more accomplishable goals. [04:40] Steps to take before hosting your own roundtable dinner. [06:32] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Traffic and Conversion Sum

In episode #1291, we talk about what you can learn from Adobe to help your company grow faster! We discuss how Adobe reduce churn, put out consistent and compelling product design, acquire smartly and more! Listen in to hear how you can make similar moves for your benefit! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: What You Can Learn from Adobe to Help You Grow Faster. [00:32] A quick introduction to Adobe to those unfamiliar. [01:15] The difficulty of cancelling with Adobe and amount of pages in the process. [02:10] The new trend for companies to become platforms to capture many segments. [03:31] Smart acquisitions and increasing traffic through a good catalogue. [04:10] The links between great branding a successful service or product. [05:07] Strong consistent design; Adobe's intentional work and visual language. [06:10] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Adobe WP Begi

In episode #1290, we share seven nifty marketing tactics to deploy right now! From social media posting to tools on your website, push notifications and messaging, we give you a whole bunch of ways to get more traffic, more reach and more sales today. Tune in get the low down! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: 7 Nifty Marketing Tactics to Deploy Now. [00:31] Making use of Instagram Carousels and Guest Carousels. [01:20] Driving traffic and backlinks on your website through tools for your industry. [01:58] Transferring content from Instagram to LinkedIn to increase reach. [02:46] Unique ways to use push notifications for more traffic. [03:34] Finding content to advertise on with tools like TubeSift. [04:02] The efficacy of charts and data in posts; increased backlinks and reach. [04:45] The secret power of text messages for connecting and closing. [05:57] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Ment

In episode #1289, we ask whether copying is a shameless tactic in marketing. Copying is part and parcel of the marketing game, we can see so many examples of companies copying each other wherever we look. From the biggest to the smallest names out there, they all do it. That does not mean there are not better and worse ways to copy! Tune in to hear our take on how you can keep up without selling out. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: Is Copying A Shameless Tactic? [00:39] Marketing is all about competition, so what are the rules? [00:59] The feature on ClickFlow that sparked these questions around copying. [02:07] The logic behind Eric's decisions to add this feature to ClickFlow. [03:29] Someone will copy you, it is only a matter of time. [05:24] Elevating the customer experience; looking at the example of Amazon. [06:02] Accepting the nature of marketing and working to retain customers. [06:44] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing Scho

In episode #1288, we share five top ways to keep your content fresh and relevant, thereby protecting your SEO investment. Upgrading or adding a few paragraphs to your content is a simple way to boost the traffic to a post. Tune in to hear how you can leverage your best-performing pages to help those that are decaying.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: Five Ways to Combat Content Decay and Protect Your SEO Investment.  [00:34] An explanation of what content decay entails. [01:18] Upgrade or add to your content to keep it fresh and relevant. [01:28] Sometimes simply adding a paragraph or two can boost your traffic. [01:41] When you might want to consider deleting your decaying content. [02:24] Consolidate by creating a power page that links up all your posts. [03:13] Use Google Search Console to check which pages dropped the most. [03:45] Link poor performing pages to ones that are still going strong.  [04:05] Utilize the awesome, free content decay feature inside of Clickflow.  [05:0

In episode #1287, we give you tips for getting the most out of your PR campaigns. Instead of hiring expensive PR firms, why not considering doing it yourself? There are at least two good reasons why the leader of a company often does the best job when it comes to PR. Tune in to hear why you should always focus on your product or service rather than simply communicating your successes. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How to Hack PR to Drive A Flood of Free Traffic.  [00:34] While PR helps with credibility, it won’t always give you the results you are looking for.  [00:54] The key to getting traffic from PR – know how to do it right. [01:05] An example of a successful PR campaign and how one piece of content escalated. [02:30] Get PR that is related to pushing your product or service, not based on ego.  [03:13] Ask the question: will this PR piece solve a problem for people? [04:10] Expensive PR firms often don’t succeed in producing successful campaigns.  [04:44] Why campaigns that yo

In episode #1286, we share the truth about ranking for difficult SEO head terms. There is really no use in trying to rank on broad terms that might apply to your business, the real money is in finding specific terms that you can rank for and maximizing your conversions from there. Tune in to hear some examples of how you can niche down and level up! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: The Truth About Ranking for Difficult SEO Head Terms. [00:34] What is an SEO head term? [01:35] Focussing on ranking for the best head terms to drive conversion. [01:51] Competitive terms and the rates of return on ranking for generic terms. [03:35] Looking for more niche terms for better conversion rates. [03:20] That’s it for today! [04:35] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Ubersuggest Leave Some Feedback:   What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments bel

In episode #1285, we explain how you can run twenty powerful growth experiments per month! So many of the biggest and most successful companies out there are fast-moving and run tests all the time. Tune in to hear how you can start implementing progressive experiments in your business immediately! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How to Run 20 Powerful Growth Experiments Per Month. [00:48] What is a growth experiment? [02:01] Neil's usual setup for running experiments at his companies. [03:30] Limiting the amount of experiments for impact and efficacy. [05:12] Privacy concerns in a modern setting and the importance of authentication. [06:11] That’s it for today! [06:13] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Asana Trello PirateMetrics Leave Some Feedback:   What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode?

In episode #1284, we discuss how Eric grew a dying business into a company that earns millions! A few years ago, Eric acquired Single Grain and has since built into a really successful marketing powerhouse! Tune in to hear the strategies and actions he employed to first save the company and then make it so successful. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How Eric Grew a Dying Business. [00:39] Eric's acquisition of Single Grain and how he took over as CEO. [01:10] The events that led up to Single Grain almost dying! [01:46] The price the Eric paid for the company, how it was split and the revenue at the time. [03:00] How Eric managed to turn the company around into a million dollar business. [04:10] Driving leads and customers with new marketing strategies. [04:52] Eric's advice to failing businesses; keep at it and focus on culture. [06:29] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s

In episode #1283, we talk about what Neil learned buying a blog for 500k! A while ago, Neil bought his Kissmetrics blog back from the investors as a marketing move for his own website. Listen in to hear about the process, the reasons for the acquisition and the lessons he learned. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: What Neil Learned Buying a Blog for 500k. [00:40] The blog that Neil bought and why. [01:07] Neil's thoughts around buying the blog back from investors after it tanked. [02:46] The response that the investors had to Neil's offer. [03:07] The marketing learnings from the acquisition about merging, cleaning and drop-off. [03:58] Neil's integration period and the process of migration. [04:49] What the company and investors did after the acquisition. [05:12] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Kissmetrics Leave Some Feedback:   What should we talk about

In episode #1282, we lay out five uncommon ways to convert blog traffic into buyers. From making better use of chatbots, to content upgrades and calls to action, we have you covered! Listen in to hear how you can get more buyers out of your blog traffic! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: 5 Uncommon Ways to Convert Blog Traffic into Buyers. [00:35] The power of chat is still underutilized. [01:11] The quick way to use Neil's old business to get yourself more buyers! [01:42] Content upgrades and making the most of your email contacts. [02:28] Driving traffic with yes or no questions. [03:14] Super signatures and calls to action at the end of your emails. [04:08] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Intercom ManyChat You Can Have My Old Business Russell Brunson ClickFunnels Leave Some Feedback:   What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comme

In episode #1281, we talk about how a good company culture affects your marketing and how you can go about building it. It is no coincidence that so many of the most successful leaders in the world of entrepreneurship put the utmost emphasis on culture. Join is to hear about the benchmarks of great culture and what you should focus on! TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How a Good Culture Affects Your Marketing. [00:39] The common denominator in big, very successful companies. [01:49] The importance of people in building culture and companies. [02:30] Transparency, similar values, culture-fit and priorities. [04:00] Culture is about what you do, not what you have. [04:57] Why the best leaders in the world obsess over company culture. [05:23] Growth-oriented people will serve you bette than money-oriented people. [06:24] That is it for today! [06:26] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned

In episode #1280, we discuss how to deal with haters on social media. Our main lesson here to is to not waste your time, rather focus on yourself and let people say what they will! Tune in to hear why Gary V and many other successful entrepreneurs also employ this tactic. TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:25] Today’s topic: How You Can Deal with Haters on Social Media. [00:40] Non-believers, naysayers and those that say you cannot succeed. [01:15] Experimenting, flipping an industry on its head and ignoring the hate. [02:04] How Gary V deals with online haters. [03:18] The hopelessness of responding and engaging with negative people online. [03:39] Gossip and aiming to turn around bad attitudes. [04:31] Do not waste time thinking about haters, focus on yourself! [04:48] That’s it for today! [04:51] To stay updated with events and learn more about our mastermind, go to the Marketing School site for more information. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Ubersuggest TikTok Gary V Quora WealthFront