Call to Action

I know we're on hiatus, but if you're interested in PPC then we have something very exciting just for you...

When I got an email from the Growth Hackers team asking if we'd like to preview Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown’s new book for the Call to Action podcast, it was a no-brainer. The book is called Hacking Growth and it's full of interesting stories about businesses you know and love. Listen now to get Sean and Morgan's inside perspective on writing the book and the stories inside Hacking Growth.   

Call to Action is over 2 years old. Wow, time flies! We've learned a lot in that time, and have decided that it's time to dive even deeper into the issues that affect the lives of marketers like yourselves. So make sure to subscribe to this feed if you haven't already. That's your call to action!

In this episode, we speak with Dave Gerhardt about Drift's bold decision to remove all lead gen forms from their content. Plus, hear how their internal "Marketing Manifesto" went viral on SlideShare and continues to direct daily work at Drift.

In this episode we get one of our favourite content marketing thought leaders back on the podcast. Andy Crestodina, co-founder and strategic director of Orbit Media, talks with us about how he uses analytics to help the creative juices flow, and how major surgery changed his thoughts about his work. 

In this episode, find out what happens when the Unbounce blog team stopped publishing for two weeks and focused instead on optimization. Listener beware, this tale might just give you the inspiration to conduct a similar experiment.

In this episode, we speak to Samuel Scott, Director of Marketing at logz.io, about a post he wrote for TechCrunch about why the tech world has marketing all wrong. He explains why the martech world has fallen into an echo chamber of meaningless buzzwords — and what can be done about it.

Two years ago, we had our most controversial interview on the podcast, ever, with Angus Lynch, who was defending the use of exit overlays on landing pages. Time has passed, and overlays have become common practices on the web. And now, we've built them into Unbounce as Convertables, so we sat down with Angus again to chat about what has changed, and how you can use them to generate more conversions across your entire website.

At Unbounce’s Call to Action Conference in September, Cara Harshman, formerly of Optimizely, told the audience that it’s time to kill the homepage. We asked her why, and what should rise up in its place.

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we talk to Aaron Orendorff, founder of iconiContent, about the epic presidential marketing teardown he wrote for the Unbounce blog (psst, it got over 6000+ shares!). He explains how he got 18 CRO experts to contribute and which candidate's CRO he thinks worthy of election.

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we talk to Mitch Joel, president of the global digital marketing agency Mirum. Mitch discusses how he got into the industry and the process of growing a digital agency to the point of acquisition. Plus, find out whether or not global agencies are paying close attention to marketing technology.

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we talk to Peep Laja, founder of ConversionXL, on how changing his agency's structure to focus solely on conversion rate optimization saw a revenue increase of 60%... plus, hear what his CRO superpower is!

David Darmanin, CEO of Hotjar, talks to Call to Action about how centering the user in their growth strategy helped Hotjar grow to over 100,000 users.

Be a fly on the wall as Unbounce's Marketing team switches to an agile model and tries working in two-week sprints.

We recently hired a new director of Marketing, Michelle Mercier, after an almost year long search. We spoke to our CMO Jeremy Wallace about what he was looking for in a director… and why it took so darn long. Plus, you also get to hear Michelle's side of the story and how her first few weeks at Unbounce were. 

In this special two part episode of the Call to Action podcast, Unbouncers Amy Wood and Helen Arceyut-Frixione sit down with our CTO Carl Schmidt and our Director of Data Science, Tommy Levi to try to get some answers about the mysteries behind “machine learning" and how it can help, or hurt, digital marketing

In this special two part episode of the Call to Action podcast, Unbouncers Amy Wood and Helen Arceyut-Frixione sit down with our CTO Carl Schmidt and our Director of Data Science, Tommy Levi to try to get some answers about the mysteries behind “machine learning" and how it can help, or hurt, digital marketers. 

In this episode we talk to Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent Inc., about a realization he had about marketing one day while playing Dungeons and Dragons. But what about D&D could possibly change the way that Ian thinks about marketing? Listen to find out!

Haters gonna hate. But Jay Baer of Convince and Convert doesn't think you should let their comments roll off your back. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, he explains why he thinks you should clap back - and even hug your haters.

Hear the business leads of Weber Shandwick, 88 Creative and 6S Marketing lead a powerful discussion on how to generate more organic growth for your agency in 2016. This is the second half of a two part episode. 

Hear the business leads of Weber Shandwick, 88 Creative and 6S Marketing lead a powerful discussion on how to generate more organic growth for your agency in 2016. This is the first half of a two part episode. 

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we interview Scott Stratten of Unmarketing about why he thinks most marketing is bad... and is only getting worse. Plus, Scott shares how sales, marketing and customer service can all work together to create a seamless brand experience.

The great folks at Uberflip have just launched their very own podcast, Flip the Switch, and our Content Director Dan Levy spoke with Uberflip's VP Marketing Hana Abaza about the nitty gritty details: finding your audience, figuring out ROI and what can go wrong on launch.

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we talk with Brian Hemeryck, Unbounce's Growth Strategist, about the results of his ambitious project to launch eight new marketing growth experiments in eight weeks. Plus, learn why Brian accepted the position under the condition that he would not be titled "Growth Hacker."  

What happens when you've seen more landing pages that anyone on the planet? Well, for one, you start noticing poor and positive marketing experiences all over the web. And then you start noticing optimization tactics at play in the real world, too, like when you're shopping for a blender or using a poorly-designed bathroom sink. But you also learn a heck of a lot about marketing. And if you're Oli Gardner of Unbounce, you try your best to share your learnings with other marketers. 

After writing a couple best-selling books and speaking at a ton of marketing conferences, Julien Smith decided it was time to put his money where his mouth is - so he co-founded Breather, a company that rents out private spaces by the hour. Since Breather is based here in Montreal, Julien came by the office to chat us about his seemingly backwards transition from marketing thought leader to real-world marketer and CEO.

Imagine being the only marketer on the team at a budding startup. You need to know the best practices for all sorts of campaigns: paid, content, social, email, partnerships… the list goes on. What's more, you're responsible for both strategy and execution (no matter how brilliant you are, there are only 24 hours in a day... and fewer if you want to, y'know, sleep). That's a lot of hats to wear. Sound like a nightmare? Well, it was the reality for Georgiana Laudi back when Unbounce was just a baby company. Today, she is the VP of Marketing and has watched the department grow to have more than 30 employees. And while the role was surely stressful (wearing a lot of hats can make you look goofy), Gia's hands-in-everything position taught her a lot about being a marketer and a manager.

We all have that friend we go to when we need relationship advice. But it's not always about heartache or that roommate who won't do their dishes. Sometimes it's your leads who are breaking your heart. You thought you made a great first impression, so why don't they want a second date? When your lead gen opportunities are resulting in the marketing equivalent of a one-night stand, let Mike King of digital marketing agency iPullRank be that friend. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Mike tells you how you can create long-lasting relationships with leads - the kind that keeps them coming back for more.

The first year of becoming a parent is a rollercoaster of emotions, from terror to pure joy and everything in between. You can't sleep, you don't have time to eat and you go from laughing to crying in mere seconds. But in the end it's all worth it, because like every proud parent, your podcast's achievements become your own. Nope, that wasn't a typo. We're talking about a different kind of baby - one you can download on iTunes. That's right, folks, the Call to Action podcast just turned one, and we're celebrating as many others have celebrated their first birthday: by diving headfirst into a volleyball-sized cupcake. (I wish!) Join me, Unbounce's Multimedia Producer, Stephanie Saretsky (a.k.a. Beansie), and Content Strategist Dan Levy as we chat about the lessons learned during the podcast's first year, including how dang tricky it is to measure the value of a podcast and why not all ideas are good ideas. On top of that, we chat about what's to come for season two, and how you can get involved.

We've all experienced that feeling of dread. You've got your pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), but your mind is as blank as your Google doc. And your landing page copy isn't going to write itself. Before you throw up your arms and abandon your work, listen to the latest episode of the Call to Action podcast. Unbounce's Content Strategist Dan Levy interviews Grant Lingel, Content Manager of professional service provider Bunny Inc. about tricks he's used to break free of the prison that is writer's block.

Branding and performance are typically seen as being on opposite ends of the marketing spectrum - the PPC specialists run their campaigns while the branding experts concern themselves with more high-level strategy. But as Dana DiTomaso, Partner at digital marketing agency Kick Point explains in the latest episode of the Call to Action podcast, if you don't see how the two relate, you're likely cheating yourself out of a higher conversion rate.

Your customers don't care that you think your product is better than the competition. But they do care about consuming delightful, in-depth content that will make them better at their jobs… which raises the question: is it possible to educate your audience with highly useful content without tiptoeing around what you actually sell? Gregory Ciotti, Content Strategist at customer support software Help Scout, thinks so. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, our Content Strategist Dan Levy speaks with Gregory about how product marketing is the new content marketing.

"New year, new me" is a phrase I'm sure you're all hearing lately. For those who actually need to restructure their content teams or strategies this year, that phrase might be ringing especially true. But how do you figure out which changes will bring about the biggest benefits? Our content strategist, Dan Levy, nerded out with Jay Acunzo of NextView ventures about the different ways to grow a high-performing content team, and why developing a credible content strategy is hard work, but absolutely necessary. Plus, hear Jay talk about his issue with the growth hacking trend.

Psst! We're taking a lil' break for the holiday season but will be back to our regular podcasting schedule on January 6th. We all know what spam looks like when it lands in our inbox, yet we're quick to approve email marketing campaigns that are strikingly similar… That's the realization that Steven Moody, founder of Beachhead Marketing, had one day - and what he cautions against in our latest episode of the Call to Action podcast. In the episode, Steven chats with Unbounce's Content Strategist Dan Levy about how to woo the people on your email list (so they don't mark your emails as spam).

Every marketer (and their mom) knows the importance of running campaigns that are data-driven. But if you've got your head down optimizing for conversions, you can become blinded by that data - and forget that behind every click, there's a person. Creating better marketing experiences for the person behind the click was a recurring theme at MozCon 2015 - and it's what Chelsea Scholz, Campaign Strategist at Unbounce, discusses passionately in this week's episode of the Call to Action podcast.

Copywriters walk a fine line between adhering to best practices and thinking outside the box. On the one hand, you don't want to mess with what works. On the other, you need to get adventurous if you're going to stand out from the crowd - nothing kills conversions like lazy copywriting. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Copy Hackers co-founder Joanna Wiebe challenges marketers to take chances with their copywriting, and pinpoints three common mistakes that result in lazy copy that just doesn't convert.

Good copywriters aren't afraid to put themselves out there. They write from the heart and let their true voice shine through in their work. But being authentic shouldn't come at the expense of writing clear, helpful copy. So how do you make your boss and clients happy without sacrificing your voice? In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we chat with Unbounce writer Brad Tiller about reconciling your company's (or client's) voice and your own. Then, we speak to Brian Lenney, copywriter at Inbound.org, about how you can use the power of vulnerability in your copy to connect with prospects and push them toward conversion.

Facebook users react to and interact with content differently than Twitter users, and you won't see results from your social media campaigns if you're blanket publishing across all networks. But with all the social media platforms out there, it can be a real pain in the booty to tailor every piece of content to each specific network. But as we learned in the latest episode of the Call to Action podcast, there's plenty that can be done to streamline the process; Ryan Stewart, founder of WEBRIS, shared some analytics hacks to help you see better results without having to work harder.

Have you ever run a PPC campaign that was working pretty well, but never seemed to get to the next level? You may have experienced what PPC insiders call the "AdWords Plateau," the point where your campaigns are maintaining their value, but are no longer driving the kind of growth you need. So, do you just sit back and rest on your laurels? Heck no! We want your campaigns to always be converting better. That’s why in this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we talk to Igor Belogolovsky, co-founder of Clever Zebo, about advanced AdWords tactics that can push your campaigns up and off the plateau.

Jobs in print media may be drying up, but content marketing has created thousands of jobs for writers. On this new playing field, what exactly does it take to set yourself apart from the army of other content marketers? According to Demian Farnworth of Copyblogger, it takes great determination, a healthy dose of usability knowledge... ...and a whole lot of caffeine. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Demian breaks down the anatomy of a successful web writer.

Diving into the world of landing page optimization can seem a little bit overwhelming. There is a lot of conflicting advice surrounding your design, your CTA button, your copy. So it may just be easier to throw a page up and cross your fingers for those conversions. But hold up. There are still some basic landing page mistakes that every marketer should know to avoid... so why are they so common? That's why in this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we speak to Casey Ark about the most common landing page mistakes that his agency faces, and how to solve them.

For many, Facebook advertising is an untamable beast. Not only is it super competitive and constantly evolving, but it can also be flat our intimidating. With all those switches and levers, it can be hard to laser in on the tactics you need to optimize your advertising campaigns. But in this episode of the Call to Action podcast, we'll deconstruct a proven strategy that Matchnode, a Chicago agency, used to dramatically increase the ROI of their client’s marketing campaign.

When you work on a marketing team, the right hand doesn't always know what the left is doing. The analytics people work on their stuff, the content people work on theirs. But could they tell you what the other is working on, and why it's important? Not always. Which is a shame, because analytics and content marketing aren't as far apart on the marketing spectrum as you might think. Or at least they shouldn't be. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Hiten Shah co-founder of Kissmetrics and Crazy Egg (to name a few), makes the case for why more content folks should spend more time thinking about data, and vice versa.

Marketers are constantly revisiting the timing of their editorial calendars. But the content marketers at Buffer got tired of the same old "What's the ideal frequency?" question, and decided to ask something much more controversial:   What would happen if we were to stop posting altogether?   That question lead to a somewhat nerve-wracking 30-day publishing experiment. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Buffer's Content Crafter Kevan Lee gives us all the dirty details.   You'll learn:   Just how much traffic Buffer lost during the experiment. The platforms Buffer used to republish content, and which ones brought them the biggest wins. Some good one-liners to feed family and friends when they ask you what you actually do at work all day.

So many marketers have speculated about whether they should be publishing longer posts or just more frequently. Which will result in more traffic? More leads? HubSpot took it upon themselves to find out once and for all with an epic publishing experiment that took place over the course of six months.   In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, HubSpot's Marketing Blog Editor Ginny Soskey gives us the skinny on their results.   You'll hear:   How a late night Twitter conversation between HubSpot and Moz writers inspired the experiment. Which type of post surprised Ginny by being a poor performer. How their findings have changed the way that Ginny manages the editorial calendar and the content HubSpot creates.

Planning a conference can be intimidating. Venues? Expensive. High-profile speakers? Often busy and hard to get hold of. Plans going awry the day of? Stressful. But delighting your audience with an actionable live event? Priceless. This episode of the Call to Action podcast is all about using video to create exceptional marketing experiences around your events. Unbounce's Dan Levy caught up with Wistia's Director of Business Development Kristen Craft to chat about how video can be the catalyst that pushes prospective attendees from "maybe" to "I want to go to there."

Some people think that social media marketers get to play around on Facebook all day and call it a job. And with some of them making cringe-inducing mistakes, social media marketers have to be more alert than ever. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Unbounce's Community Manager Hayley Mullen shares how to steer clear of social disaster by avoiding six super common mistakes - and why social media has become further away from PR and closer to PPC marketing. And at the top of the show, we catch up with Unbounce's German Community Manager Ben Harmanus about how our community is growing in Deutschland.

In this episode of Call to Action, Unbounce's Art Director Denis Suhopoljac shares how marketers and designers can work together to create landing pages that actually serve your campaign goal. Then, we talk to full-stack marketer Vincent Barr about what exactly a wayfinding convention is and how it can help you guide your visitor toward your call to action. 

Marketing automation helps you create hyper-targeted campaigns, but it can also have unforeseen benefits. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Marketing Automation Specialist Yash Chaurasia shares how Unbounce's search for a marketing automation platform has lead to better communication and more collaboration across departments. Still, marketing automation software isn't the magic bullet that some make it out to be. Hana Abaza, VP of Marketing at Uberflip, explains why a fool with a tool is still a fool - and why those who just "set it and forget it" are likely limiting the success of their campaigns.

Having awesome content isn't the be-all and end-all of a successful content marketing strategy. If you're not being deliberate about how you send your readers down your marketing funnel, you're not going to see results. In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Oli Gardner, co-founder of Unbounce, recalls how the company used an ebook to pull in leads before the product was even ready. Then, Unbounce's Dan Levy and Michael Karp of Copytactics discuss tactical ways that you can put your content to work and gain qualified leads in the process.

In this episode of the Call to Action podcast, Unbounce's Dan Levy talks to Jennifer Pepper (Unbounce’s Customer Success Content Strategist) about this tricky video task. They dive deep into the importance of a data-driven approach to video marketing campaigns, and share some tried-and-true storytelling methods that'll give your videos that extra kick.