Digital Marketing Happy Hour

Why is data integration the cornerstone of marketing operations? What are the three steps to managing your data integration and the six primary data integration techniques? In this episode, Chris and Ryan continue the discussion around marketing operations with a focus on the types of data integrations and how to properly manage your data so you can gain business intelligence and improve decision making.

TikTok has a new CEO; Google Ads announces privacy-focused changes for Analytics, Tag Manager and enhanced conversions; Yelp announces Custom Location Targeting and more features to expand reach for local businesses; Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of May 17, 2021.

What is Marketing Operations (MarOps)? Is it important to have a plan for marketing operations even if you're still a startup or SMB? In this episode, Chris and Ryan explain why marketing operations is important to maintaining business efficiencies and breaking down silos, and offer five steps on how to create a marketing operations strategy.

Branded content, influencer marketing make up the biggest slice of digital ad budgets; HubSpot Expands Its CRM Platform With the Launch of Operations Hub; Google Earnings Smash Sales Records as Digital Ad Market Booms Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of May 3, 2021.

You optimized your website for Local SEO, completed your Google My Business Profile, and created a new marketing campaign to collect some positive reviews for your business. How do you know if your Local SEO strategy is working for your SMB? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss the analytics to focus, specifically the key performance indicators you should be monitoring, as well as some key SEO tools to measure how you're performing.

Google's ‘Project Bernanke' gave titan unfair ad-buying edge, lawsuit claims; Gartner Says 63% of Digital Marketing Leaders Still Struggle with Personalization, Yet Only 17% Use AI and Machine Learning Across the Function; Microsoft confirms $20B acquisition of AI and speech recognition company Nuance; Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of April 19, 2021.

Is SEO important if I have a brick-and-mortar physical location? Are there things I can do to improve my local search listing? In this episode, the first of a two-part series focused on Local SEO, Chris and Ryan discuss the reasons SEO is more important than every for brick-and-mortar businesses and how your business can take advantage of simple tips and tricks to rank higher in local searches.

Amazon's share of the US digital ad market surpassed 10% in 2020; Clubhouse Discusses Funding at About $4 Billion Value; Google's John Mueller: Changing Dates on Pages Won't Improve Rankings. Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of April 12, 2021.

What are the best SEO analytics, metrics and KPIs to determine if my content strategy is working? What SEO tools should I be using? Do I need to hire an SEO agency? In this episode, Chris and Ryan talk with Steve Wiideman about the importance of transparency in SEO, when to outsource vs. in-source your SEO, and which tools and analytics you should be using regularly.

Facebook to enable users to control who comments on their posts; LinkedIn confirms it's working on a Clubhouse rival, too; Most U.S. marketers ready to quit in last year. Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of April 5, 2021.

Does content marketing still work in 2021? How do I know if I'm producing the right content? What's the best way to measure the true results of my content marketing efforts? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss why content marketing is still a critical component of your marketing mix, which KPIs to use based on your business, and how to know if you're making the right content decisions.

Study Says 65% of Google Searches Do Not Click on Results but Should They?; Google to Invest $7 Billion in Bet on Post-Pandemic Office; Pandemic Unleashes New Big-Box Era. Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of March 29, 2021.

Google's User-Tracking Crackdown Has Advertisers Bracing for Change; Amazon in talks to carry exclusive NFL games on Prime Video; Taco Bell owner Yum Brands buys A.I. business to improve marketing and Google My Business report shows how people found your business. Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of March 8, 2021.

Australia passes news content law after battles with Facebook, Google; Facebook will reverse news block in Australia; Snapchat Now Reaches 70% of 13 to 24 Year Olds and Facebook updates Ads Manager for SMBs. Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of March 1, 2021.

Does your content marketing strategy change if you're B2B instead of B2C? What if we're in the middle of a global pandemic? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith discuss the results of a survey performed by the Content Marketing Institute to see what the differences were in B2B vs B2C content marketing strategies and what the most successful businesses had in common.

Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of February 22, 2021.

Did your content marketing strategy change during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic? According to a survey performed by the Content Marketing Institute, 82% of businesses made quick changes due to the pandemic. However, only 26% say they changed their content marketing strategy. In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss the results of the survey, which content marketing strategies will not change even after the coronavirus outbreak ends, and where you need to focus your content marketing efforts for 2021 and beyond.

Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of February 15, 2021.

The 2021 Superbowl was the most live-streamed NFL contest ever, with an average minute audience of 5.7 million viewers. Does this mark the beginning of the end for TV advertising? What are the best alternatives for marketers who are looking to reach their audience? In this episode, Chris and Ryan discuss how live streaming has transformed the viewing experience and how marketers can evolve with customers' behavior to find, reach, and grow their audience.

Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of February 8, 2021.

Traditionally, Super Bowl ad spots sell out quickly as big brands look to make a splash at one of the most-watched events of the year. However, this year has brought big changes to consumer behavior, causing brands to adapt their marketing strategy. In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith discuss who's advertising this year, who's sitting it out (ad spots are selling for $5.5 million dollars for a 30-second window), who's taking advantage of the opportunity, and what you can do when you don't have the budget.

Should you be worried about the new privacy features in iOS14 and how they impact advertising? Is GDPR only applicable in the EU and are there other privacy laws you should be aware of? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith chat with privacy expert Punit Bhatia about all the new privacy laws, what consumers need to be aware of, and how businesses can be transparent while still advertising their products and services effectively.

Digital Marketing Happy Hour: Last Call is a weekly podcast that recaps the latest in digital marketing news, marketing technology, advertising, and more! Grab a beverage while we peruse the news and catch you up on anything you might have missed for the week of February 1, 2021.

Why are movies so much fun yet most content so boring? How can you create better content that still drives business? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith talk with Kristina Paider about the three key components of a Hollywood story, why character DNA is so important, and how you can create better content for your business or brand using this same approach.

In June 2020, Apple announced there will be changes to the iOS 14 update that will require that all apps in the App Store show a prompt to iOS 14 users in accordance with their AppTrackingTransparency framework. What does this mean for advertisers? What is the issue with Facebook? In this episode, Chris and Ryan review the impact of the changes, discuss the disagreement with Facebook, and share ideas to help you evolve your advertising strategy for these new privacy laws.

Should I be using Facebook Ads for awareness and lead generation at the top of the marketing funnel or conversions at the bottom of the marketing funnel? What is the best way to remarket to my leads? In this episode, Chris and Ryan chat with Bob Regnerus about deep funnel marketing strategies, why Facebook is one of the best social media platforms for remarketing and conversions, and which common pitfalls to avoid. You'll learn the playbook directly from the author of the Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising.

Are you struggling to get results with your Facebook Ads campaign? The algorithm used by Facebook has changed, which means if you don't modernize your strategy, you may be missing out. In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith chat with Salome Schillack about her easy-to-follow Facebook Ads strategy that will help you find your audience and optimize your results. You'll learn all about Salome's process, which has evolved with Facebook to focus on increasing engagement and generating conversions.

2020 was a roller coaster of year with many challenges for all of us, both personally and professionally. Despite the many challenges, we are choosing to end the year feeling a strong sense of gratitude. We are grateful to you, the listeners of Digital Marketing Happy Hour, as well as the many guests who joined us in 2020. In this episode, Chris and Ryan break down the "Best of Digital Marketing Happy Hour 2020" featuring guest highlights and important takeaways, including Jay Baer, Scott Brinker, Neal Schaffer and many more.

This is a story all about how our life got flipped, turned upside down. Just kidding, that's another story. But if you take a minute and sit right there, in this episode, Chris and Ryan share the story of how they met, how they started working together, and how the Digital Marketing Happy Hour was born. If you want a few laughs and some inspiration on how to stop holding yourself back, this is the episode for you!

COVID-19 has dragged consumers and businesses alike through a digital transformation. However, are these new behaviors here to stay or will some of them revert to the 'old' normal? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith break down the 5 major shifts in consumer behavior that are here to stay and how your business can react and benefit.

We're nearly a year into a global pandemic and economic downtown, but has consumer behavior changed? What about customer expectations? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith take a look at the latest digital marketing data and trends, as well as the consumer confidence index, to analyze what you need to know to reach your customers during this holiday season.

In a recent survey, 19% of organizations reported they are still not measuring the results of their content marketing. What?! More people are consuming content than ever before. Are you one of them? If you are measuring your results, are you using the right metrics? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith discuss different methods for measuring your content marketing and which metrics are best for each stage of the marketing funnel. · If you're not taking the time to measure it, how do you know if you're producing the right content? · How do you know if you're reaching your audience? · How do you know if you're achieving your goals? Make sure your metrics are aligned with your goals. Btw, brand awareness alone is not a goal…it's an objective (we'll explain). However, there are metrics you can use to measure brand awareness effectiveness. When you go to evaluate your content marketing performance, ask yourself these 3 questions: 1. Are people consuming your content? 2. Are they sharing your content? 3. Does your content lead to conversions (i.e. Leads)?

Is email marketing a relevant communication medium in 2020? Have privacy laws such as GDPR, CASL, and CCPA had an impact on email marketing? What does it mean to personalize and segment an email list? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith break down the third pillar of digital marketing - email, where they discuss why it's still important, how to cultivate a strong subscriber list, and how to build campaigns that generate results. Let's be clear up front...email marketing is certainly NOT dead! Not only is email marketing one of the most effective tools to increase revenue, but it's practically in every single industry - we all use email. And for those who always say, you know, email is dead, how much you want to bet they have at least one email app on their phone and they probably use it. · In fact, email is more than 40x more effective for acquiring new customers than either Facebook or Twitter (source: eMarketer). · A message is 5x more likely (on avg) to be seen in an email than an organic Facebook post (source: Campaign Monitor). · The DMA reports that email marketing drives more conversions (66%) than any other channel, including social media, online search, and direct mail. You can't just email for the sake of emailing. Implement a plan where you promote content that solves a problem and adds value to emails. Part of that strategy should include segmentation and personalization. Mass email communication does not return the kind of results as segmented and personalized emails do. “Don't be selfish with your marketing. Focus on your customers' needs, personalize and segment effectively.” - Christopher Casale

Social media has been important for the last decade, but heading into 2021, it may be the most important pillar of digital marketing. In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith break down the second pillar of digital marketing - social media, where they discuss the demographics of each social network and the best way to engage with your audience on your chosen platforms. You must put the social back in social media! What is your plan? Do you have a plan? Use the social media platforms where your audience lives, but don't spray them with non-stop promotion posts. There's a time to hard sell – don't do it in the DM. Step 1 – Know your audience Step 2 – Post and reach out to them with nuggets of helpful info Step 3 – Stay consistent and stay engaged Tips: · Make them social, · add value, · engage with your audience, · and don't just be so selfish that you don't engage with other people, Visit their social media profiles - engage with them, Like their content, share their content, comment on them because that is what makes social media so great.

Why is posting content essential? Is search engine optimization still important? What role does voice search (Siri, Google, Cortana) play today? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith break down the first pillar of digital marketing - search, where they discuss why search is still relevant, the many facets of search, and how you can help your business get found. Content marketing stats: · The average buyer consults 5.1 sources of info along their path to purchase. · 93% of U.S. traffic comes from Google search, Google Images, & Google Maps. · SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media. · 76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day. Don't create content for the sake of content. Have a strategy and a goal to measure your success against. Know who your audience is, understand their problem, and create content that tells them how to solve that problem Finally, be patient. SEO is a marathon, it is not a sprint! There are so many reasons why the first pillar of digital marketing is Search. In a pandemic induced digital transformation for many SMBs, SEO has never been more important.

Do you know who your ideal customer is? Is your focus too broad? What marketing strategy do you use to attract new customers? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith chat with Jason Osborn about the RETHINK formula and how businesses are applying it to find their niche and supercharge their results. How many of you have a documented marketing strategy? Have you found your marketing strategy is not providing the kind of results you had planned? Even if your plan got turned upside down in 2020, you still need to have a plan. It may be time to RETHINK your marketing strategy process. Jason gives a detailed formula to follow when crafting your plan and provides great examples so you can create your next marketing strategy. He proves any business, no matter your size or industry, can easily put together a winning marketing plan.

For many SMBs and Entrepreneurs, the thought of marketing automation can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Which tools are right? What if you make a mistake? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith offer three tips for simplifying your marketing automation putting you on the path to successful digital transformation for your business. How do you simplify your everyday tasks in order to put more time into what is getting your business results? Two words: Marketing automation. To sum it up, marketing automation is simply streamlining your marketing activities. Whether it's scheduling out your social media posts on a platform like Buffer, creating an email lead nurturing sequence through a platform like HubSpot or lead tracking within a CRM, these are all everyday examples of marketing automation.

You created that content, you posted it on social channels, you crossed your fingers, lit a candle and said a prayer - is it actually working? Check your analytics! How do you know which data points to look at? Not all metrics are created equal and it's important to know which ones are the most important. I n this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith walk through the different ways to use analytics to measure how your content is performing. Do you look at website traffic, conversions, leads, sales, etc.? After you have defined your goals, you will have a clear understanding of what to look at when evaluating what piece of content on your website is working and what is not. Is a lot of traffic to a blog good even though there are no conversions? Depends. For example, if you want leads, but you're driving content to a high funnel content piece with no call to action, you probably won't get the desired outcome. In this case, conversions might not be the best metric. However, do you know how to evaluate if that piece of content brought a new user to your website, and then at another time they came back and converted? We'll show you how to use the Model Comparison Tool to evaluate what's working and what's not. Chris and Ryan share a few tips to evaluate how to judge whether or not your content marketing is working for you and dispel some content marketing metric misnomers. Check out how to evaluate your content marketing with analytics.

You've put a lot of effort into developing your content to get it 'just right.' Now, what do you do? Abandon it and move on to the next piece of content? No, repurpose it! In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith discuss some of the best strategies and tactics, including free tools you can use, for repurposing your content to achieve the best content marketing results. Work smarter, not harder! The rule of seven simply says that the prospective buyer should hear or see your marketing message at least seven times before they're going to buy from you. You work so hard on content creation, but many fall short on efficiently repurposing that content. You need to be where your audience lives and repurposing your content to fit on the various media is crucial. An important key is to not just copy and paste your original content, but tailor it to the platform when you're repurposing (e.g. sharing a blog post on Facebook will be slightly different from the post copy you use when you share it on Twitter). Learn to take one epic piece of content (e.g. blog post, video, podcast, etc.), and slice and dice to fit other platforms where your audience lives. Chris and Ryan discuss some of the best strategies and tactics, including free tools you can use, that have worked for us in repurposing content to achieve the best content marketing results.

You already know that content and content marketing is vital to build awareness and drive leads. However, with customers all at different stages in their buying journey, how do you know which content is right for each stage? In this episode, Chris Casale and Ryan Smith dissect the marketing funnel (read: marketing flywheel) to analyze which types of content are right for each stage to help your customers with their decision making. While the funnel has evolved over the years, the basic premise of the funnel is still very relevant in today's digital marketing age. Top of Funnel - Awareness Stage (Flywheel: Attract) Where people looking for answers, resources, education, research data, opinions, and insight. Middle of Funnel - Consideration Stage (Flywheel: Engage) Where people are doing heavy research on whether or not your product or service is a good fit for them. Bottom of Funnel - Decision Stage (Flywheel: Delight) Where people are figuring out exactly what it would take to become a customer.

Data has proven that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down, yet businesses and individuals alike fail to take this simple action. Why is developing and writing down your marketing plan so important? In this episode, Chris and Ryan chat with Cody Butler about his book, The 90-Day Marketing Plan, and how to develop your goals by beginning with the end in mind and staying committed to them to create lasting success.

Content is King – yep we know that one. However, who doesn't struggle or have anxiety with consistently creating content ideas?

If word of mouth is vital to successful marketing, how come businesses never have a word of mouth marketing plan? How have customer expectations changed during this global pandemic? In this episode, Chris and Ryan chat with Jay Baer about how to rewire your customer experience (CX) to exceed customer demands and generate more online reviews.

We've ALL suffered through the accept a LinkedIn invitation and then receive an immediate pitch, right? Ugh! It's awful, it rarely works and it leaves a sour taste in your mouth...even if you can see the immediate pitch coming a mile away. However, you don't have to have the spray and pray approach on LinkedIn. Work smarter not harder. Brynne Tillman is unequivocally a master in the art of social selling that provides results! Christopher Casale and Ryan Smith have a magnificent conversation with Brynne and she'll show you:

When you think of Martech you may think of automation. For a lot of SMBs and #entrepreneurs you may think of confusion and feel overwhelmed. It doesn't have to be that way! If you're in the Martech space you think of Scott Brinker. Brinker, who we like to think of as the Godfather of Martech, breaks it all down in an interview on Digital Marketing Happy Hour with Christopher Casale and Ryan Smith on how SMBs have a distinct advantage, especially in today's turbulent climate over other larger businesses. The affordability of martech tools and the agility of most SMBs gives them more opportunities than ever before.

When it comes to finding the right tools for your business, a simple Google search can feel overwhelming. If you try to experiment with every new martech tool it will inevitably become expensive. It's a common problem. Christopher Casale and I came up with a list of tools (mostly free or at a freemium level) that every entrepreneur or startup business should experiment with within their business. The types of tools are categorized into:

The 3 most important areas of digital marketing that are vital for your business are: · SEO · Social Media · Email (yes, email) None of these are actually dead – no matter what clickbait article you read. The common denominator for these pillars is Content Marketing. At a very high-level, every SMB and #entrepreneur needs to: 1) Create a Digital Marketing Plan (and document it)! 2) Identify your objectives and goals 3) Create content that speaks to your Ideal Customer Avatar or Buyer Persona 4) Incorporate the 3 digital marketing pillars into your marketing mix: a. Optimize your content for search engines b. Distribute your content via your website, social media and email Listen as Ryan Smith and Christopher Casale dig deep into the 3 Pillars of Digital Marketing on the Digital Marketing Happy Hour.

The digital revolution has changed everything and marketing is no exception. Consumers expect information at their fingertips and want a response on their timeline. How is marketing meeting this demand? In this episode, Chris and Ryan talk with Carlos Gil about the end of marketing and how businesses can outcompete and outperform their competition.

Why do International companies consider influencer marketing the most important tactic in their marketing toolbox? What are the keys to building long-term successful relationships with your customers? In this episode, Chris and Ryan are joined by Neal Schaffer to discuss the Age of Influence and the three main strategic pillars to a successful marketing campaign.

When the economy shuts down during a global pandemic, how do you keep your business alive? The question is how do you survive in the current economic climate, especially if you work for #smbs or are an #entrepreneur? It's important to change your mindset and list out all the business possibilities, even if it's unconventional to your previous revenue streams. Christopher Casale and Ryan Smith explore the trending data on business operations during COVID-19 and which industries were hit the hardest. You must learn to pivot like Ross (yes, that Ross....think Friends) and make the digital transformation so you can survive and thrive in 2020 and beyond!

We hear about influencer marketing all the time, but have you ever wanted to learn how to get started as a micro influencer? Which social media platforms are best for micro influencers? It may not be exactly what you think. Here's a hint: video is where it's at. But how long should your video be? Hashtags - yes, of course, but don't use the most general hashtags that are broad in scope. Does going Live on video make that much of a difference? How often should you post content? Christopher Casale and Ryan interview with Evan Morgenstein on why micro influencers are the next entrepreneurs. Evan shares his vast knowledge and experience with us, including several takeaways you can implement today to help you get started!