Goal Talk Podcast

Search engine optimization is one of the essential pieces of your marketing strategy. What does SEO help your business achieve? It helps pages on your website rank well on search engines like Google and Bing so you can get be found by in market searchers with high intent. SEO is a mostly free tactic that will allow Google to scan your website content and rank it for a search query, based on the information on your website and the search itself. In this episode, WordStream's in-house SEO manager Gordon Donnelly breaks down the essential elements of starting out in SEO, tips for optimizing your site, and resources for finding the right keywords for your business to focus on. Remember to watch on YouTube @wordstream and follow us on Twitter @goaltalkpodcast & @WordStream.

Last time we had Mark on the podcast, we discussed the preliminary data around how the social effects of social distancing and mandatory business practice modifications have impacted digital marketing for advertisers. That episode was released about a month ago as we were navigating the first few weeks of the majority of the effects of the pandemic worldwide. In the episode, we discussed how search trends and patterns are shifting, some options for small business assistance from the government, and the data around how the mandated changes have impacted the PPC results for multiple industries.This week, we have more information—including more data—about how the long-term effects of COVID-19 are playing out for a variety of advertisers. With strong signals of a rebound in the PPC results for advertisers in many industries, this episode discusses the options advertisers have for reading their own data and working towards reactivating their accounts for continued success.  

For this episode, I interview another tenured WordStream marketer Greg Herrmann, our in-house learning and development program manager, to discuss the importance of creating a culture that promotes a healthy balance between work and personal life. Throughout this episode, we discuss why providing an environment of trust and balance is important, as well as some examples we have both experienced in our time in the work-force. We provide examples of companies doing it really well, and some ways to provide a great and manageable balance to employees. ***An important note about the episode: This interview with Greg was recorded before we’ve felt the majority of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These insights are mainly focused on examples and tactics available within the traditional business environment where employees come into the office but can also be useful for companies during the pandemic.***

We’ve discussed so many essential aspects of marketing and management for small businesses in this season of the Goal Talk podcast, starting from making a website and identifying your value proposition to managing high potential employees and running digital ad campaigns. This week, I interview with our Director of our in-house agency, Zina Kayyali to learn all about another vital aspect of your digital marketing campaigns and the place that the conversions happen, your landing pages.Throughout this episode, you’ll get pivotal information for setting up landing pages that help with quality score are guaranteed to inspire the traffic you brought to the page to convert. Throughout the episode, we discuss:  - Essential aspects of a landing page all advertisers need to include.  - How landing pages should be structured.  - How to create a landing page without a developer.  - How to approach testing your landing pages for increased performance.  - Different ways to use landing pages for each advertising platform.  - And more!An important note about the episode: This interview with Zina was recorded before we’ve felt the majority of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These insights are mainly focused on examples and tactics available within the traditional marketing landscape, but can be useful for all campaigns.

Let’s get right to it: Ad copy is arguably the most important aspect of your search marketing campaigns. Often the most visible component of an ad, the copy is the hook, line, and sinker to reel in your target audience. While many other aspects we discuss are also very important in the success of your campaigns, ad copy is how people will experience your company and how you will encourage those clicks.In this episode, I interview Customer Success Program Manager Jeff Stevens on how to effectively write ad copy that inspires clicks for any industry.Throughout the episode, we discuss:  - How to approach writing compelling ad copy.  - How to meet Google’s set of conditions for a high quality score.  - How to organize your headlines and descriptions.  - Different formats and extensions to utilize.  - How to use keywords for relevancy and extensions.  - And more!An important note about the episode: This interview with Jeff was recorded before we’ve felt the majority of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These insights are mainly focused on tactics available within the traditional marketing landscape, so some options will not be available to you or your business at the moment. Regardless, these insights to writing ad copy will benefit you in adjusting existing copy and for writing new ads.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused so much uncertainty, and the digital marketing landscape is no different. As search and buying behavior changes in the wake of public health concerns, our marketing tactics must follow. And in this week’s episode, I have a very special guest to the podcast! Drumroll, please… Welcome to the podcast, Mark Irvine! WordStream’s Director of Strategic Partnerships Mark Irvine was voted #1 most influential PPC expert by PPC Hero and Microsoft Advertising. He has been with WordStream for over 7 years and travels across the globe to speak and engage with marketers about PPC.One of Mark’s responsibilities at WordStream is to analyze and help produce our industry research, data trends, and benchmarks for the search marketing industry. In this very special episode, Mark and I discuss the current digital marketing landscape, and how it has changed in response to social distancing and government mandates around the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the episode, you’ll get:  - How COVID-19 has changed the state of digital marketing.  - How COVID-19 has shifted the way that people are searching online.  - Some of the most notable changes to the 2020 PPC benchmarks.  - What marketers should focus on updating within their accounts.  - Industry winners and losers in response to the changes.  - Updates businesses should make to their local listings.We’ll cover all this and more. Make sure to check out this episode to get important industry updates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the biggest mistakes we see made by companies, both B2B and B2C, is stopping their marketing efforts after the sale. While of course marketing is pivotal to earn customers for your business and get the word out about your offer, it’s equally as important to continue to build a relationship with customers after you have completed the sale. Whether your product is something that can be repeatedly purchased by your customer or is a one-time buy, these insights are valuable for all marketers as they help with improving retention, bettering your product to fit more customers’ needs, and helping your business earn referrals.This week, I sat down with WordStream’s resident customer marketing champion Kim Castings to discuss exactly what customer marketing means and how you can build a truly customer-first business. Throughout the episode, you’ll learn:   - What customer marketing means, and how a company can truly be customer-led.  - Some examples of companies that do customer marketing really well, plus what we can learn from them.  - Differences between how B2B and B2C companies can approach being customer-led.  - The most effective ways of staying in touch with a customer after a sale.  - Types of data companies should be collecting to be successful in customer marketing. We’ll cover all this and more. An important note about the episode: This interview with Kim was recorded before we’ve felt the majority of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These insights are mainly focused on tactics available within the traditional marketing landscape, so some options will not be available to you or your business at the moment. Regardless, customer marketing is a really important aspect of making a successful business any time, and it will make all of the difference in retention and gaining new customers.

A couple of weeks ago, we broke down how the Google Ads auction works, including how Google’s algorithm chooses which ad to show, how to best optimize, how budgets are spent, and which metrics are the most vital to track. This week, we tackle another extremely popular social media platform for advertisers, Facebook and Instagram.For this episode, WordStream’s Manager of Paid Search Scott Mesite and I talk through how the Facebook ad auction works to better understand how best to set up campaigns, structure accounts, set budgets, and optimize your ads to be successful on the platform.Throughout the episode, you’ll learn:    - Which factors determine whether your ads show for a user.  - Some of the targeting options available for advertisers.  - Which metrics are most important to track.  - How Facebook determines how much money you’ll spend on a campaign.  - The major differences between advertising on search versus advertising on social media.We’ll cover all this and more. With this episode, we’re back into discussing more in-depth marketing tactics with this episode, so make sure to let us know if you have any follow-up questions or suggestions for more topics!You can find this week’s episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as your favorite podcast app. Also, don’t forget to watch new episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the podcast’s Twitter account for episode releases, ask the hosts questions and join in on the conversation.About the podcastThe Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights. Listen here.

As a manager or a business owner, you may have a team working under you. Sometimes, you’re able to identify individuals that are highly engaged, high producing, and express the drive to do more than what their job currently entails. Those individuals can be classified as high-potential, and require a specific type of guidance for the relationship to work for both them and your business. So how do you identify and empower your employees that may be high potential?  In this next management focused episode of the Goal Talk podcast, we dive more deeply into the specifics around being a really good manager for your employees, and how you can realistically approach fostering a high potential employee to be as successful as possible. In this week’s episode, I sit down with Lucy Lemons, WordStream’s SVP of People Success to discuss:   - What it means to be a high potential employee.  - How to identify a high-potential employee on your team.  - Tips for employees to “manage up” if they’re not feeling supported.  - How managers can find a balance between challenging and supporting employees.  - How WordStream approaches high potential employees.  Throughout the episode, Lucy and talk through all of the above topics as well as give specific examples and tools to use to be as effective as possible in working with high potential individuals.  Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights.   Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcast  Watch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream

In our last marketing episode, we discussed digital advertising at a high level across many platforms such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Bing. This week, we’re diving into one of the biggest ad platforms to discuss how the Google ad auction actually works so you can better position your campaigns for success.Advertising on Google encompasses quite a few of their owned platforms, including search, display, Gmail, and YouTube. In this episode, we’re specifically breaking down how the Google Ads auction works for search, and what specifically Google takes into account when determining which ad to show for a related search query.For this episode, I sit down with WordStream’s own PPC account manager and in-house expert Kristina Simonson to discuss:   - Which factors determine your ad showing over a competitor.   - How Google determines how much you’re going to spend on a placement.   - How bidding methods work.   - Which key metrics you need to track.   - How Google adjusts to changes within an account.Throughout this episode, Kristina and I cover all this and more to give you an in-depth understanding of how Google prioritizes advertisements and matches relevant ads with a user. Fair warning! This episode is a little more technical than our previous episodes, as we’re moving further along our marketing journey.You can find this week’s episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, as well as your favorite podcast app. Also, don’t forget to watch new episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the podcast’s Twitter account for episode releases, ask the hosts questions and join in on the conversation. Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights.   Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcast  Watch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream

Now that you have the basics of the online advertising platforms laid out, you may find yourself in the position of needing to expand your team. Whether you’re looking for your first employee or continuing to build out your team, this week’s episode is sure to help you better navigate the process.As you know, it’s so important to have the right people in your corner when working to build a thriving small business, and having the right information and tools at your disposal is pivotal. The good news is that a lot of people are excited about the prospect of helping a small business work towards growth and success. Making sure there is alignment in terms of working styles, needs and requirements of the role, day-to-day activities, and overall fit can be a challenge.In this week’s episode with WordStream’s first-ever recruiter, who is now running our internal talent acquisition team, Nicole DeSisto, we cover what you need to consider when expanding your team, including:    - When the time is right to expand and hire    - How to write a compelling job description    - Where to look for applicants    - How to conduct the interview process    - What you need to include in an offer letter    - How to handle compensation    - And more!This episode will serve as your jumping-off point when hiring the next great member of your team. Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights.    Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcast  Watch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream

Digital marketing truly does encompass so many different tactics and campaign types that it would be its own podcast in and of itself (and maybe we’ll dive deeper in subsequent seasons!) In this episode, we’re talking about digital advertising on platforms like Google, Facebook & Instagram, and Bing.The landscape of PPC is vast and ever-changing, but it’s not inaccessible. Want to get more people exposed to your business and bring in valuable leads? It’s time to start spending on digital marketing campaigns.In this week’s episode with Holly Niemiec, digital advertising account manager on WordStream’s Managed Services team, we cover the basics of advertising online such as:    - Some need-to-know statistics of PPC.    - What PPC entails.    - Which platforms are most crucial for advertising.    - What budgets are necessary to get started.    - How to set up your first campaigns for success.    - & more!

  A buyer or customer persona is a semi-fictional representation of the attributes of the people that are likely to make a purchase from your business. This includes specific features like personal attributes, motivations, behavior patterns, and goals specific to the people that make up your growing customer base. Able to be used across all facets of a company, personas help marketers, sales professionals, and support staff relate to and more effectively communicate with the people they are trying to bring into their business umbrella.  In this week’s episode with WordStream’s director of product marketing Erik Mansur, we take time to discuss the topic of personas, and cover:  - What a buyer persona really looks like  - How it can be used by marketers and business owners  - How to create personas that are specific to your business  - Businesses that may not need personas to be successful  - & more!   Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights.   Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcast  Watch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream

Value propositions are incredibly important to establish for your different products or service lines as they’re being developed, brought to market, and advertised.  WordStream’s senior product marketing specialist Elaine Stone and host Mikayla Wyman sit down to discuss:  - What a value proposition is  - Why your business really needs one  - Tips for writing one that works for you  - Specific examples of great value propositions  - & more!  Throughout the episode, you’ll get valuable insights into just how much your value proposition will do for you from all aspects of the business.  Goal Talk podcast is all about giving small business owners and marketers the information they need to succeed. From advertising tactics that help you personalize your message for your customers to management styles that will help your employees perform at their full potential and feel satisfied in their role, we’re sharing valuable takeaways to help you and your business flourish by interviewing the experts and sharing their insights.    Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcast  Watch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream

In the first episode of the Goal Talk podcast from WordStream, digital marketer Mikayla Wyman sits down with WordStream’s lead visual designer Kate Lindsay and UX designer Jed Robinson to discuss the components you need to create a website that’ll work for your business.  So much of digital marketing comes back to your website. You could be a master of Google Ads copywriting and Facebook Ads audience targeting—it doesn’t matter if people don’t trust your website and convert there.  Jed and Kate offer expert advice on how to effectively approach building a website. We deep dive into how to look at your product or service and determine which goals you want your website to accomplish, conduct some research, and put design and web best practices to work to make those elements successful. We even discuss the best ways to go about maintaining that site for performance as you build out your advertising programs, and why it’s so important. Make sure to leave a review on your favorite podcast app if you liked the first show! Follow us on Twitter: @goaltalkpodcastWatch this episode on YouTube: @wordstream