Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #174, Eric and Neil discuss the two social media metrics that actually matter. These metrics are THE indicators that show whether or not your marketing strategy is working. Tune in to find out what they are and how to improve upon your ratings. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Which Social Media Metrics Actually Matter? 00:44 – First metric is the engagement rate—the number of reach of your post divided by those who shared, commented, or liked your post 1:03 – Engagement rate is how effective your post is in social media 1:15 – You can check the engagement rate in Facebook insights or to some extent, in Youtube 1:38 – Neil shares that in social media, the more people are engaged, the more likely they will buy 1:40 – Engagement is not about the number of fans, but how they respond to your posts 1:53 – For example, HubSpot’s fan page in Facebook has over a million fans but they are not engaged 2:15 – Another tracking metric is the ROI 2:22 – Social media marketing cost

In Episode #173, Eric and Neil discuss how you can write a killer blog post. Many people can slap a string of coherent sentences together and call it a blog—but, can they capture their readers' attention? Tune in as Eric and Neil reveal solid suggestions for creating a blog that will entice and hook an audience. From your title to the images place amidst your text, all these details count.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: How to Write a Killer Blog Post 00:35 – Write a great headline and continue the thought in the first few sentences to hook the readers 00:59 – Go to Copyblogger for the headline formula 01:15 – Think of blogging as a presentation or a classroom lecture 01:33 – Engage with your readers 01:46 – Start with a conversation 01:57 – Neil shares a sample conversation in a blogpost 03:08 – Use sub-headers or bullets to keep things organized 03:45 – Eric shares an example that can get readers hooked 04:08 – Add media to your blog post 04:32 – Eric uses DesignPickl

In Episode #172, Eric and Neil discuss how you can keep your users engaged with your video. Videos are becoming a more common way in which we share content, so how do you know if you’re doing it right? Tune in to find out some practical tips and online applications that help make your videos more engaging—and the more engaging the video, the more viewers and conversions! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: How to Keep Your Users Engaged with Your Video 00:39 – In 2020, most content will be in video 00:46 – Live videos have become popular and the number of viewers have doubled 01:10 – Keeping your videos short can help you have a high view count, but lower conversion rate 01:28 – First, try to make your video like a story 01:45 – Think about yourself watching a movie 02:13 – “The more storytelling you do—the more emotions you leverage, the more hooks you create, the more sales you end up generating from those videos” 02:30 – Start with a video transcription or caption 02:43 – Rev has

In Episode #171, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 age-old advertising principles that are still relevant and effective to this day. Tune in to learn how the big companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and AT&T are still winning in the advertising world because of these key principles that you can start using today. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Age-Old Advertising Principles that Are Still Relevant Today 00:36 – First, write a great headline 01:08 – Warren Buffett tells his CEOs to always protect their brand 01:22 – Branding is everything and just one mistake could ruin everything 01:43 – Third, tell a story 01:45 – Stories or advertorials drive people and evokes their emotions 02:21 – Fourth, consistency in advertising, regardless of how large your company is or how well-known 02:48 – The Rule of Seven explained 03:10 – Fifth is from 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, by Al Ries and Jack Trout: 03:41 – The “first mover advantage” 04:18 – Sixth is from Don’t Make Me Think

In Episode #170, Eric and Neil discuss 7 advanced marketing automation tactics for your blog. Marketing automation allows you to know your subscribers better and respond to their behavior. Tune in to learn how advanced marketing automation can be very helpful for your blog and what to do with those unopened emails. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Advanced Marketing Automation Tactics for Your Blog 00:36 – Marketing automation is how you market and send messages to people according to their behavior on your site 01:05 – First, on your thank you or intro email, add three different links for people to see what kind of people they are (ex. are you a beginner, intermediate, or advanced online marketer?) 01:52 – Neil shares what he learns through automation if people are opening your email, your open rate goes up 02:21 – If someone isn’t opening for 5 times on a paid email, take the person off the list 02:55 – Third, make sure you have a list or campaign that specifically targets your c

In Episode #169, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 steps for running a successful webinar. Using webinars is one of the best ways to drive people to your website. Half the battle is in the preparation—and, yes, there are right ways to set yourself up for success. Tune in to learn 7 easy steps that will help you and your viewers get the most out of your webinar. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Steps for Running a Successful Webinar 00:45 – Masterminds and enterprise companies use webinars to try and convert people 00:55 – In a webinar, you are educating and building a relationship with your viewers 01:12 – First, have an email reminder 01:25 – “Just because someone registered for it, doesn’t mean that they’re going to remember” 01:30 – Set email reminders ahead of time 01:45 – Second, make sure you have an option for someone to register and watch the webinar within the next 15 minutes 02:28 – Because people are waiting, they are most likely to attend the webinar and the attendance rate

In Episode #168, Eric and Neil discuss how to create content that people actually search for. Creating content that grabs an audience and attracts visitors requires some effort on your part, but where do you start? Tune in to find out what drives people to keep reading and how you can create content that is worth the search. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: How to Create Content that People Actually Search For 00:43 – Shawn Ellis mentions that SaaStr gets 3M visitors per month 01:10 – Jason gets asked on Quora and he answers the questions in his blog 01:30 – Check Saastr/Quora to know how Jason does it 02:04 – Use Google Keyword Planner, KeywordTool, UberSuggest, and AnswerThePublic.com for keyword research 02:47 – If you have a team, grab them and ask to brainstorm on a certain topic 03:15 – You hire a team for a reason 03:30 – Neil shares information from Jason Lemkin’s Quora Q and A blog 04:29 – Neil checks Jason Lemkin’s website visitor count 05:08 – Use Market Muse to upg

In Episode #167, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 unconventional ways to learn marketing. You can learn in more ways than just reading a Dummies Guide or checking in at the next university.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Unconventional Ways to Learn Marketing 00:33 – First is by watching conference videos on Youtube like Inbound 2016 by Hubspot 01:14 – There’s a lot of marketing content on Youtube 01:35 - Second is by networking with individuals 01:40 – Sharing a drink is a good way to do it 02:40 – Individual marketers from other companies share their tactics 03:00 – Third, strategize how to get the most out of conferences 03:19 – Check who’s attending and the influencers that will attend 04:00 – Fourth, practice on your own website 04:25 – The plugins on Wordpress can help you execute what you’ve learned 04:50 – “You have to test it on your own site to be very good” 04:55 – Fifth, access a mastermind 05:03 – There are digital marketers you can pay for about $25/mon

In Episode #166, Eric and Neil discuss the reasons why no one reads your content. Writing content may be easy for you, but are people actually reading it? Is it reaching the right audience? Tune in to find out how posting daily is just as important as knowing how to share your posts. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: Why No One Is Reading Your Content 00:36 – You’re not doing anything to stand out and people are getting bored with the content 01:17 – 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will continue to read the article 01:50 - Search for Copyblogger headline formula and find formulas that help you create attractive headlines 01:58 – Portent headline generator will help you craft awesome headlines 02:10 – Blogger Jon Morrow manages Kissmetrics blog 02:43 – If you can get a drunk person’s attention, you can get the normal ones’ 02:58 – Look at Growth Everywhere’s episode with Derek Halpern 03:10 – Spend time promoting your content 03:51 – “Everybody is

In Episode #165, Eric and Neil discuss how they got their podcast to 1 million downloads in just 4 months. Starting a podcast requires a knowledge base. You need to know how to keep your listeners engaged! Tune in as Eric and Neil tell you just how you can rapidly grow those downloads with a few invaluable tips.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: How We Got Our Podcast to One Million Downloads in Just 4 Months 01:05 – The first 3 years of “Growth Everywhere” were really tough 01:27 – Eric made a lot of mistakes at the start 01:33 – You have to be consistent with your podcast to hold your audience 02:10 – The people who produce the most amount of episodes, get the most number of listeners 02:30 – It’s not about producing really long episodes 02:44 – Neil shares the idea of “The Marketing School” 03:44 – “Information in, information out”—Eric wants valuable information that will make him ACT 04:28 – Eric shares his experience listening to Tim Ferris’ podcast 04:45 – Keep things con

In Episode #164, Eric and Neil discuss what account-based marketing is and how to leverage it. Account-based marketing is a new term for an old, tried and true practice for marketers. Tune in to find out more about account-based marketing and the leads that deserve your attention. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: What Account-Based Marketing Is and How You Can Leverage It 00:36 – Account-based marketing makes you identify ideal prospects ahead of time 01:15 – Have an inbound SDR to look at the exact leads 01:33 – Infer is a software solution that can help determine which leads are your most valuable leads 02:54 – You can spend your marketing effort towards responding and entertaining leads 03:16 – The cost of Infer depends on your size 03:24 – Lead forms work with 15-16 questions spread over a few pages 04:06 – Apple Market Fetch works for people who use Slack and it can scrape the web to find qualified leads 04:44 – Clearbit will show you information of people in your list 05:12

In Episode #163, Eric and Neil teach us how to build a brand using live video. In 2016, live videos became the new trend in business. From SnapChat to Facebook Live, almost every platform has their own channel to facilitate this service—so, why not use it? Listen as Eric and Neil explain the benefits of live video and give us effective strategies to get the most out of this marketing strategy.   Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Build a Brand Using Live Video 00:34 – Videos are getting bigger 01:11 – Live videos are the “behind the scenes” of people’s lives 01:53 – Gary Vaynerchuk leverages videos in his own terms, hiring D’Rock to follow him around and record his videos 02:26 – Gary V is ahead 10x because he does more live videos than anyone else 03:08 – Doing exciting stuff that relates to people equates to higher conversion rates 03:26 – Live videos are like your own TV channel 04:13 – People like doing business with PEOPLE 04:37 – Neil and Eric are both investing in live vi

In Episode #162, Eric and Neil discuss how to outrank your competition when you have fewer links. Link building is an essential part of ranking your website; however, Neil and Eric teach us that it is possible to outrank your competitors thanks to Google Hummingbird. Tune in to find out how to maximize on Hummingbird’s new update to increase search engine traffic to your website. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Outrank Your Competition When You Have Less Links 00:42 – Links have a lot of impact in Google ranking 00:50 – The “Hummingbird Update” had the biggest impact on search engine listings 01:02 – Hummingbird looks at everything in a topical sense 01:27 – The new update looks at topics and themes 01:29 – “Websites with the strongest themes tend to rank the best” 01:49 – The new algorithm looks for depth and detail 02:25 – Look at these blogs to learn more about Hummingbird: GetRichSlowly, MyMoneyBlog, PennyHoarder, and MagnifiedMoney 02:40 – GetRichSlowly is the oldest

In Episode #161, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 elements of an effective marketing report. The marketing report reflects the health of your business and is a great sending base to inform that next step. Tune in to find out WHAT you need to assess and HOW to gather that information, in order to have that clear assessment of how your business is doing. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 - Today’s topic: 7 Elements of an Effective Marketing Report 00:45 – First, have high-level goals 01:08 – Have a different kind of threshold 01:24 – “Have your targets laid out so it is easier for people to digest” 01:31 – Second, look at the growth 01:47 – Examine your growth weekly 03:25 – Assess how to calculate your growth properly—don’t just look at the total visitor count 04:28 – The growth rate should be staying the same, if not increasing 04:39 – Third, use simple, report tracking tools, like Cyfe, and connect it to your spreadsheet report in order to pull data 05:27 – GA data grabber helps you to pull reports

In Episode #160, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 tips that will help you improve the reach of your podcast. Starting a podcast is not easy and improving its reach requires putting in some work. Tune in to learn tips and strategies such as growing your network, changing up your headlines, and maximizing off the traffic you get on iTunes. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Tips to Improve the Reach of Your Podcast 00:35 – #1: Have a following and email list AND push your content out to your channels 00:48 – Eric uses a podcasting host called, “List It” to push to multiple channels 01:15 – Email blast has also been effective for Eric and Neil 02:30 – #2: Show every single episode that you have recorded 02:50 – Eric uses MeetEdgar to schedule his posts 04:04 – #4: “The headlines really impact how many downloads a podcast gets” 04:13 – Copyblogger headline formula can give you templates to create attractive headlines 04:32 – Fortune’s headline generator also helps 04:36 – TitleCapitali

In Episode #159, Eric and Neil discuss what you need to know about digital marketing before investing your time and money. Listen as they explain the benefits of zeroing in on one channel over time and more first hand advice about how to tackle digital marketing for yourself as opposed to outsourcing to an agency. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: What You Need to Know About Digital Marketing Before Investing in It 00:50 – First is to get a high level view of what is going on 00:57 – There are a lot of YouTube videos available, like the one from HubSpot 01:30 – Know what your goals are and be clear with your target 01:51 – Figure out what channel you want to tackle first 02:02 – Neil’s focus is content marketing 03:00 – Neil wants to use YouTube 03:58 – Neil shares how he still maximizes on Facebook, even after he stopped spending money on it 04:30 – “Focus on one channel at a time and focus on things that work” 05:29 – Neil only does a few channels at once 05:49 – NeilPatel.com

In Episode #158, Eric and Neil discuss a how long it actually takes for SEO to work. Having the right expectations in mind will help you as you wait for results. Tune is as Eric and Neil discuss their own experiences with SEO and the techniques that you can do now to boost your traffic. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How Long it Takes for SEO to Work 00:35 – For a brand new website, it takes 6 months to 1 year. For an established website, it can take 6 months or more to get ranking. 00:50 – Neil shares his website’s ranking as an example 01:45 – It took Neil 9 months for him to see a decent ranking 02:00 – The search traffic goes up slowly 02:39 – “It takes good placement to see traffic” 02:53 – Eric shares his own experience with SEO 03:12 – Eric decided to buy a decent age domain 04:00 – Eric made a lot of adjustments with the domain and their website traffic went from hundreds to millions 04:54 – Redirecting an old domain to a new domain helps 05:03 – Having high brand keyword

In Episode #157, Eric and Neil discuss whether guest posting is irrelevant or still effective. Guest posting today works differently than it did before – its main ROI is not to build links, but to deliver value and drive those leads. Listen as Neil and Eric discuss how to best utilize guest posting for your marketing needs. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: Is Guest Posting Still Worth It? 00:44 – Guest posting is posting on other websites for link building purposes 01:30 – It’s still worth it 01:48 – Before, guest posters get author accounts 02:00 – Now, if you’re given an author account, it will be in a sub-page without indexes 02:32 – DON’T waste your time guest posting for links anymore 02:41 – Focus on guest posting to drive leads 03:13 – Neil talks about his friend, Jason, who specializes in guest posting 03:57 – You will see little to no results on your first 6 months of guest posting 04:00 – It takes a year to get traction 04:29 – Eric shares an article he wrote about YouTub

In Episode #156, Eric and Neil discuss a valuable opportunity that is worth considering for your team and business—hiring marketing interns. Listen as they reveal the benefits of hiring interns, tips and tools that can make the hiring process easy, and factors you should consider while looking for the next best fit for the company. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: How to Hire Marketing Interns 00:40 – “The people that are really hungry [to learn]; sometimes, they end up being the best hires” 00:43 – Having a long-term internship program will be good for a business 01:03 – Use Craigslist or a tool called Workable to keep your hiring process simple 01:10 – First, create a good job description 01:19 – Eric uses Spark Hire, which allows video interviewing 02:38 – Neil uses Elevation Scholars to offer marketing scholarships 03:17 – Neil lists his requirements for the marketing scholarships he offers 04:59 – Neil pays for their interns’ services 05:15 – Take your interns to training 05:3

In Episode #155, Eric and Neil talk about 7 creative marketing tactics that you ought to be leveraging. Tune in to discover the online tools that will work for you and the tactics you need to keep your content one step ahead of your competitors. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:28 – Today’s topic: 7 Creative Marketing Tactics that You Ought to be Leveraging 00:37 – #1 Use TurboDial to collect phone numbers of visitors on your website 00:56 – Send TurboDial a signal to send a text message to the person 01:30 – You can program replies when a person responds to your text 02:09 – #2 Make your stuff is available for pirates on torrent sites 02:52 – #3 Use exit pop-ups 03:17 – #4 Make sure your funnel is congruent with your client’s interests 04:13 – #5 Go to BuzzSumo and find out which of your competitors’ posts are going viral 04:21 – Ahrefs will also show you your competitors’ most popular posts 04:29 – Take the post’s URL and put it into Twitter search to show the top users sharing the content 04:37