Creating Connections

What do a dungeon master, a baseball coach, and the Bachelor have in common? Apart from being the pitch for the weirdest reality TV show you’ve ever seen, probably not much. But that’s exactly what the team at Uberflip came up with for their explainer videos. The problem started when they realized that nobody could come up with the same answer when asked what their agency did. So CMO Randy Frisch and the team at Uberflip enlisted the help of a creative agency to get it right. On this episode of #VideoInFocus, we talked about:How to nail your explainer contentWhat is painstormingChoosing a creative agency to partner with For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Curious about converting larger deals faster with an account-centric approach?   Who isn’t?   There might be a few key factors you’re leaving out of your strategy, however.   In this episode of Creating Connections, the CMO at TimeTrade — Lauren Mead — tells us how her team is making valuable connections with decision-makers of key accounts.   Plus, we talk about:   How the TimeTrade team overcame the challenges of transitioning to ABM. How to build a prioritization model for key accounts. Using direct mail effectively in an account-centric approach. For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

In recent years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in how people engage with brands and how brands engage with people.    Many marketing strategies are now dominated by digital campaigns, social media engagement, and educational thought leadership designed to go both broad and deep with audiences.   Keeping up with the demands of content is a struggle.    We’re expected to keep up in both written and video content. But one way to do it is to “push the damn button” and get yourself in the mindset of continuous content creation.    That’s what Bryan Fanzo, keynote speaker and Founder/CEO of iSocialFanz, is here to talk to us about today.    We talked about: The big undercurrents driving the need for companies to change How technology changes everything—and nothing—in marketing Relatability Going both “wide” and “deep” concurrently What exactly a “pager-wearing millennial” means   For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

What makes us love attending conferences where everyone is dressed up as beloved fictional characters?    What makes us buy tickets to see our favorite band for the umpteenth time?    What makes us re-watch our favorite shows again and again?   Fandom.   In this episode of Creating Connections, I discuss the power behind fandom with the author of the upcoming book, Fanocracy, David Meerman Scott.   He dives into:   The neuroscience and psychology of fandom. Practical advice for businesses to develop fans through real human connection. Why he’s seen The Grateful Dead 76 times. Co-writing a book with his daughter.   Check out more books by David Meerman Scott. For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

No one wants to hear you brag about your own product.    They'd rather hear about your customers, or better yet, try the product out for themselves.   On this episode, we hear from Dustin Tysick, VP of Marketing & Growth at Jostle, about the ways he’s flipped his strategy.   We talked about: Bragging about your customers, not yourself. Using video to know when prospects are insanely engaged. Letting free users identify themselves for upgrades.   Check out this resource we mentioned during the podcast: Dustin’s a co-host of the People at Work podcast For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

“Content is king, but engagement is queen, and she rules the house.”    It’s the mantra today’s guest, social media evangelist Mari Smith, is most quoted on--and for good reason.    Content that doesn’t engage its audience is noise, but marketing that’s focused on building a long-term connection with its customers (and future customers!) has the greatest impact.   Plus we look at: Push marketing vs. relationship marketing. How live videos on social media is creating connections. Simple and effective ways to create engaging content.   Resources mentioned in our interview: The New Relationship Model - Mari’s new book Find Mari on Facebook For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Make a personalized campaign fun, and the recipient will have fun too!   That’s just a portion of the advice Wall Street Journal cartoonist and author of How to Get a Meeting With Anyone, Stu Heinecke, shares with us.   Plus, Stu and I discuss: How to achieve a 100% response rate on any campaign Scheduling that first big meeting Humanizing and personalizing your content The differences between wide personalization and deep personalization   Check out Stu’s new illustrative marketing playbook, Get the Meeting! For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We are living in exciting times as B2B marketers.   There’s a content renaissance happening. And, even though prospects are being bombarded with noise, there are ways for your brand to spend quality hours with your target audience every month.   To speak more on this topic is Jay Acunzo, Founder of Marketing Showrunners. He shares exclusive tips on developing an original podcast and video series that can ultimately box out the competition and launch your brand affinity into the stratosphere.   In this episode, Jay and I discuss:   The fundamental shift happening in content marketing. Creating content people actually care about. How leaders can drive continuous creativity in their teams. Building out an original and authentic podcast series to target your audience. For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

With all the content available for sales prospects to consume, next steps can be unclear and, frankly, frustrating.   Video, however, gives companies an opportunity to provide clarity within the process.    In this episode of #VideoInFocus, guest Todd Hartley, CEO of Wirebuzz, talks about why he got out of the audio industry in order to focus on the next big thing: video.    We talk about: Turning an industry pain point into a business opportunity. How Wirebuzz helps their clients close bigger deals. Creating binge-worthy content journeys For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Few things feel worse than a community that is forced, awkward, and contrived.    So how do we create real, authentic communities? Cue Stephanie Baiocchi.    On the latest episode of the Creating Connections podcast, Stephanie shared her insights on:   What it takes to build a thriving online customer to customer community.  What it takes to move that community into the real world with face to face interaction.  How to do it in a way that is real, authentic, genuine, and not forced.  For more content and episodes, check us out on Apple Podcasts and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

We’re lazy.    In the most endearing, non-judgmental way, North Americans are lazy people.  Why else would we be making movies out of EVERY book possible?    Books take days to read. Movies take, at most, a few hours.    What does that mean? Video is key.    But despite all the book-to-movie adaptations, we’ve all heard, or made, every excuse in the book for why we can’t embrace video for business.  “It’s too difficult to get started.” “It takes too much time and money.” “It’s uncomfortable.”    George B. Thomas is a guy that you are going to want to pay attention to, and on a recent episode of the #VideoInFocus Podcast, he talked about:   How to get over your initial fears of being vulnerable on camera Why video isn’t for you (it’s for your viewers) How to use 1:1 video to make a true connection with your buyers

The funnel was invented in 1888.   Why, then, are we still using it to describe the modern buyer’s journey?   On this episode of Creating Connections, we sit down with renowned keynote speaker and best-selling author, Andrew Davis. He gives us the inside scoop on ditching the funnel for the more modern loyalty loop.   We talk about:   Generating small moments of commitment Understanding the buyer’s journey today Delivering great experiences every time   Learn more about Andrew here. This is from a Creating Connections podcast episode. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

How do you make technical information about inground fiberglass pools engaging?   You just have to get started!   Well, there’s a little more to it.    Luckily, Christian Shirilla, Marketing Manager at River Pools, fills us in on how he helped grow River Pools from a small business in Virginia to a nationally-recognized brand.    In this #VideoInFocus episode, we cover:   Why you don’t need the priciest gear to get started with video How to use written content to develop videos Making engaging informational videos people actually want to watch   See River Pools' YouTube channel here. This is from a Creating Connections podcast episode. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Frankly, computers don’t buy anything — people do. So let’s stop treating them like robots.   In this episode of Creating Connections, Shawn Karol Sandy & Dianna Geairn discuss how we got here, to this mindset of selling like robots, and share their thoughts on how B2B companies can sell to humans.   (Shawn is the CRO at The Selling Agency, and Dianna is the Co-founder of TradeShow Makeover)   What we talked about: Selling to humans, even in B2B Earning buyer’s trust How we’ve created robotic, factory-driven sales processes   Resources from the podcast episode: Shawn & Dianna’s YouTube Series, The SellOut Show Alayacare This is from a Creating Connections podcast episode. Check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Everybody is recording video these days. From Snapchat to Instagram Stories, video is everywhere.  But as the demand for video content increases, how do you and your company stay current? You could partner with an agency for all your video needs. But unless you’re Apple or Google, that’s probably not financially feasible.  You could do it all in-house.  But depending on the size of your team, acquiring the equipment and know-how could take up valuable time and resources? What if there were a third way?  Eric Langhoff and his team at TechData think they’ve solved the scalability problem.  On this episode of VideoInFocus, Eric talks all about:  What a self-service video production studio looks like Why Eric’s team saw the need for an on demand video production studio.  How you can set one up for your own company.  You can find this interview, and more like it, by subscribing to the Creating Connections Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our YouTube Channel.

We have a challenge: connecting with customers.  And this challenge is pervasive across nearly every market.  Companies across all industries are having to rethink how they create connections with clients. And one of the best ways to start reconnecting is by taking a look at your brand personality. On this episode of Creating Connections, Marilyn Cox, VP of Marketing at Clubessential Holdings, came on the show to talk about what you can do to strengthen your brand’s personality.

The 1980’s was a heyday for creative advertising content. 30-second commercial spots told full stories with a beginning, middle, and end. With a renewed focus on video, marketers today can learn from the creative efforts of the 80’s. In this episode, Tyler talks to Fergus Dyer-Smith, founder of the internet-centric video production company, Wooshii. They chat about what goes into strong storytelling, and how to take advertising back... to the future.

Good content is like chocolate cake. It’s irresistible and leaves you wanting more. But most marketers get this part wrong.  Instead, they interrupt their audience and do more harm than good when it comes to creating a connection.  Matt Heinz is the President of Heinz Marketing and he’s seen firsthand how building a content marketing strategy around authenticity really works. Matt talks about how the market has shifted from a brand-to-buyer mentality to a human-to-human mentality on this episode of Creating Connections.

Full-funnel video takes customers and prospects from the awareness stage all the way to the decision stage.   It entails teasers, promos, and full demos--and corporate video producers who can wear all the hats to get it done.   Recently I got to chat with Glenn Hughes, Video Producer at Gordian, about the art of full-funnel video and how to get employees to be candid when the camera is rolling.   “As a video producer, I no longer worry about video quality because the most important thing to me is the message,” Glenn said.   Tune into this episode to hear why audio quality is more important than visuals, what to say when employees don’t want to be filmed, and the brainwave that Glenn got during the interview.

Storytelling is important. Ask any big B2C company and they’ll tell you that if you’re not telling a good story, you’re dying.  Nike, Apple, Facebook, you name it. They’re all in the business of story. But what about the B2B companies? The B2B world isn’t exactly known for good storytelling. What role does story play that world?  On this episode of the Creating Connections podcast, Brian Maschler had some fantastic insight on story and breaking through conventional restrictions to create real connections.

With a culture of marketers, sellers, and customer service reps all committed to earning trust, video isn’t an expense anymore.  It’s a business enabler. That’s why nobody really has a video problem. They actually have a trust problem. That’s what I got to talk about in an interview with Zach Basner, the Head of Video Training at Impact--a video strategy that goes way beyond marketing. “Video is a great tool for building trust,” Zach said. Tune into this episode to hear why video should start with sales, how a printer company suddenly needed a full-time videographer, and what the 80% video is all about.

Does your customer experience create conversation? Word-of-mouth influences 90% of B2B purchases. Way more than in B2C. We don't often think about creating conversations with, or among, our audiences. But human engagement is all about real conversations, and those conversations are triggered by exceptional experiences. I interviewed Jay Baer about the brilliant idea of “talk triggers” on our very first episode of the Creating Connections podcast. A talk trigger is an operational choice designed to create customer conversations. Something you do differently in your business because you want customers to tell other people about your brand.  Tune into this episode to hear why competence isn’t enough, how to develop your own talk triggers, and the curious reason why Jay lets his clients choose which suit he wears.

Creating Connections is about finding the human touch in a digital business world. The voices of marketers and sales reps can become a sea of faceless noise that would-be customers drown in. Finding a way to stand out and connect with buyers on a personal level—and earn their trust—is more important than ever. If you’re looking to connect and engage with your audience in truly memorable ways, this podcast is for you. Listen in as host Tyler Lessard chats about exploring the delicate balance between brand and demand, capitalizing on new digital channels such as chatbots and video, and bringing the human element back into B2B marketing and sales.