Press Play: Video Marketing Leaders

Thanks for joining us for the first season of the Press Play Podcast!  For more information about Explainify and the Press Play Podcast, check out our website!  https://explainify.com/

On this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Alex Matulionis joins host Derek Gerber to discuss all of the exciting things happening at CaptivateIQ. Alex is a software engineer with CaptivateIQ, and he is on the frontlines of all the business's recent and upcoming developments.  You don't want to miss this episode! Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Alex Matulionis and CaptivateIQ (4:36) Partnering with Workday(5:42) Using education as a marketing tool(10:19) Full-stack development(12:50) A deeper look into CaptivateIQ(15:29) What's next for CaptivateIQ?LinksDerek GerberAlex MatulionisCaptivateIQ  Quotes“If you need anything for calculating sales commissions and incentivizing your salespeople, CaptivateIQ is the way to go.” (5:09) - Alex Matulionis“Our platform is super flexible and very dynamic, and it can do quite literally anything you want it to do.  However, that's a tricky problem to solve because with a lot of moving parts, it takes someone who almost has omniscient knowledge of the system.  So we're working tirelessly on improving the whole user experience.” (14:39) - Alex Matulionis

In this episode of the Press Play Podcast, Derek Gerber talks with someone who played a significant role in shaping the childhood of Derek's generation. Tom Bancroft spent over a decade with Disney as a Supervising Character Animator before founding multiple production companies, including Pencilish Animation Studios, where he currently acts as the Chief Executive Officer.  Whether you realize it or not, you are likely already familiar with Tom's work. His time at Disney later became known as the Second Golden Era for Disney animation. He animated characters for several well-known Disney movies, including The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tarzan, Mulan, Atlantis, Brother Bear, and Pocahontas. He also created Mushu, a dragon character in Mulan.  Shownotes(0:38) Introducing Tom Bancroft(8:37) Crowdfunding in animation(16:48) Bjorn the Last Unicorn and Mind Over Murphy(21:38) What sets Pencilish apart?(26:23) NFTs(32:05) Closing thoughtsLinksDerek GerberTom Bancroft PencilishPencilish YouTubeBankrupt Brothers Animation Podcast   Quotes“How many movies can you think of from when you were a kid that are still around today and people know about them? It's a very rare occurrence, and so for me to say I have five or six movies that people still really remember is kind of amazing at my age.” (4:26) - Tom Bancroft“We also now have an army.  We not only got them to invest and help us get going, but we have this army of shareholders that hopefully are not only fans of me or animation, but of this company that they now co-own with us, and so they want it to succeed.” (14:27) - Tom Bancroft“That's what we're talking about is cutting out middlemen nowadays and going direct to our audience.  And we can do that now because guess what.  We all have a distribution system in our hands, and it's in our pockets all day long.” (30:50) - Tom Bancroft

In this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Derek Gerber sits down with Ayla Acosta, an Account Service Executive in the Arizona Diamondbacks' corporate partnerships department. The pair discusses the importance of synergy and alignment with corporate partners, resuming in-person programs and activations, and why video should be an essential part of marketing programs.  You don't want to miss this episode!Shownotes(0:39) Introducing Ayla Acosta(2:01) Synergy and collaboration(3:15) Adapting strategies for an evolving world(6:59) How video impacts corporate partnerships(9:03) Reintegrating in-person programs(12:57) What's next for Ayla and the Diamondbacks?(14:50) Sports betting (16:43) Final thoughtsLinksDerek GerberAyla Acosta Quotes“You need to make sure that you're collaborating correctly with all of your partners.  You know, we call it a corporate partnership because it is a partnership at the end of the day.” (2:10) - Ayla Acosta“When we're looking for new partners or we're looking to continue working with our current partners, we just have to make sure that alignment is there between our organizations.” (2:38) - Ayla Acosta“You're trying to use video to portray events and emotions, and you want to do that in a way that words can't.  So if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million.” (7:31) - Ayla Acosta“We're trying to utilize videos for a lot of our press releases and any big news that we have coming out because we want to showcase what the experiences are, not just tell you what it is. Because if we feel like we can show you, you'll have a better idea of what to expect.  You'll get more excited about it and want to come and be a part of it.” (7:43) - Ayla Acosta“One thing that I've noticed about the Arizona Diamondbacks and something that really drew me here to begin with was just how much we play into our fans.  It's all about fan experience.” (10:16) - Ayla Acosta

In this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Tim Torigian joins host Derek Gerber to discuss marketing best practices. Tim is the Director of Corporate Partnerships for the New England Free Jacks, a professional rugby team based in Boston, Massachusetts, which recently completed its first season hosting home games.  Thanks for listening!Shownotes(0:38) Introducing Tim Torigian and the New England Free Jacks(5:57) How digital marketing is spreading the Free Jacks name(8:54) Showcasing partners(13:24) The challenges of marketing a team in a major market(17:00) What's next?   LinksDerek GerberTim TorigianNew England Free Jacks  Quotes“We can talk to people not just in New England, but we've got fans all over the county, if not all over the world, because our players are coming from all over the world.” (7:07) - Tim Torigian“As much as we liked being partners with [Delta], and it's such a great value, but, you know, we love having them out at games.  We try to almost return the favor.  We want to make it so when people come out to a Free Jacks game, they have that same experience that they would have if they're flying Delta.” (7:50) - Tim Torigian“Whenever we have someone who we think is going to be a good fit and we have some great conversations, there's no shortage of creativity.  And kudos to our team and our management.  They give us a lot of flexibility and say ‘If you guys have a good idea, let's run with it.  Let's see what can happen.'” (11:32) - Tim Torigian

SummaryOn this episode of the Press Play Podcast, Rick Girard joins host Derek Gerber to discuss hiring best practices. Rick is the CEO of Stride Search Inc., specializing in helping startups make the correct hiring decisions. He also hosts the podcast Hire Power Radio, and he is the author of Healing Career Wounds.  Tune in to hear about how to ensure you are hiring the best candidate every time!Shownotes(0:38) Introducing Rick Girard and Stride Search(5:55) Success stories(7:44) The Great Resignation(9:20) Successful education and marketing strategies(10:46) Interviews must connect with corporate values(14:27) What to expect from the HireOS (19:28) Closing thoughtsLinksDerek GerberRick GirardStride Search  Quotes“We make [hiring] decisions based on whether or not we like somebody, or whether or not they bring the skills that we need.  So we make decisions based on irrational thought patterns that essentially put us in bad positions, and it doesn't really put us in a position where we're setting ourselves up for success.” (4:43) - Rick Girard“If you want to be successful as a company, people need to be aligned with the values of the company at its core.” (11:12) - Rick Girard“You should be getting an ROI out of every person that you bring on board.” (13:35) - Rick Girard

SummaryDon't worry; it's only rocket science!On this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, host Derek Gerber discusses rocket science, animation, and all things in between with Iliya Pyshny, the man behind Spaceiac.  Iliya studied electrical engineering and computer science before dropping out of school to commit himself full-time to Spaceiac.  Iliya's online persona, Spaceiac, publishes engaging, easy-to-understand explainer content that simplifies the complicated science behind rockets.  Together, Derek and Iliya discuss why Iliya chose animation, developing an animation style, and how Iliya uses animation to simplify complex ideas.Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Iliya and Spaceiac(5:03) What inspires Iliya's content?(11:52) Developing an animation style(14:38) Using animation to teach complicated concepts(18:25) Adapting for a longer format(20:27) Why Iliya chose animation over live footage (23:57) Closing thoughts LinksDerek GerberSpaceiac Quotes“If you try to improve your content and you actually experiment a little bit, you first make your content really unique and stand out from the rest, and people really appreciate the work because if they go through your feed and everything, they really see the progression curve of all that.” (6:49)“I try to explain it as simple as possible so that even my smaller siblings understand it, and they are 10 and 11.  So, if I can explain that to them, I'm pretty sure that everybody can understand it.” (16:01)  “I know [from cartoons], if you take away the voice-overs and everything, the story is still coherent, and that's one of the things that's really great with 2d animation.” (22:00)

On this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Derek Gerber sits down with longtime friend Will Crist. Will is a certified EOS implementer, and he believes in a brighter future for entrepreneurs, their businesses, and their teams. Derek and Will discuss COVID-19's effects on the workforce, the importance of purpose, the EOS curriculum, and much more.  Check it out!Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Will and EOS(5:32) Why Will chose EOS(8:38) Five things businesses need to understand(11:53) The importance of purpose (14:37) EOS curriculum(18:31) Deciding if EOS is right for you(22:18) People aren't quitting!LinksDerek GerberWill CristEOS   Quotes“Companies are going to have to change the way that they recruit, retain, and motivate their people.” (3:17)“What's important is doing what you love doing, because that's where you're going to find the most fulfillment.” (9:19)“People can talk about what their experience is to find out if there's a fit, and then people can decide whether they want to invest the time, the resources, and the money to make their business better.” (19:54) 

On this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Derek Gerber sits down with Kim Ades, Founder and CEO of Frame of Mind Coaching and The Journal That Talks Back. Kim is passionate about helping others achieve mental wellness, and she has some creative solutions to accomplish her goals. She and Derek discuss the motivation behind her businesses, how she helps others, and how she utilizes video to promote her ventures.  Check it out!Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Kim Ades and Frame of Mind Coaching(6:14) Teaching others how to accomplish their goals(13:17) Marketing strategies(19:28) What's next for Kim and Frame of Mind?LinksDerek GerberKim AdesFrame of Mind Coaching  The Journal That Talks Back Quotes“From the get-go, what we noticed was that if we could lay down the whole accountability model and leave it alone and say, ‘Let's help people simply think differently.  Let's help them align their thinking in their beliefs with their desires and their goals,' then they will naturally take action to reach their objectives.” (8:05)“You can have a million goals, but if you have all this chatter running around in your brain that doesn't let you rest, it's going to be very, very hard to reach your goals.  And then when you don't reach your goals, guess what happens?  The chatter gets worse.  It gets louder, harder, and harsher.” (10:23)“What we're really doing is trying to tell the story, and the story is that there's a huge issue in the world with mental wellness at a young age.  And so the question is, how do you get help?” (14:06)“It's really important for us to always be adding value when we are creating videos.” (18:22)

SummaryOn this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, Zane Heinselman joins host Derek Gerber to discuss marketing the minor league experience.  Zane is the Director of Sales and Partnerships for the St. Paul Saints, the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.  Tune in to hear how Zane is making sure that the Saints are standing out from the crowd in a major league city!Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Zane Heinselman and the St. Paul Saints(2:11) Finding partners that engage with the community(4:10) Curating a memorable experience at a minor league ballpark(7:34) Engaging fans through partnerships (12:56) Using digital content to level the playing field (15:16) Engaging with the community in wacky ways LinksDerek GerberZane Heinselman Quotes“Our corporate partners need to understand that we are a community asset, so they need to be engaged also with the community.  So when we're seeking corporate partners, we want to find partners who want to be with the community, want to engage with the community in the same way we do, and want to build multi-integrated partnerships that have value [across multiple channels].” (3:14)“When we can put the Saints flare on everything we do outside the ballpark and on our digital team, it really helps engage with partners, engage with fans, and help continue to build our brand.” (10:06)“I think that the biggest thing that digital content does is it almost levels the playing field a little bit.” (13:11)

Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Josh Baker and PBR(3:15) The PBR as a national lifestyle brand(6:58) Brand success stories(10:12) Josh's job as CRO(12:50) Making PBR a household name(18:24) Myth-bustingLinksDerek GerberJosh Baker  Quotes“We're starting to kind of crack the egg on non-endemic brands that don't really care about bull riding per se.  What they want is access to our fans.” (6:17)“Due to how we've captured the market with content, if someone wants real, high production Western sports content, they have to come through PBR.” (17:57)

In this week's episode of the Press Play Podcast, host Derek Gerber talked with Chris Pope, the Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The Quakes, one of the Los Angelos Dodgers' Minor League affiliates, was forced to forfeit its 2020 season to COVID-19 along with the rest of Minor League Baseball. Rather than sitting back and waiting patiently for the opportunity to host baseball games again, Pope and the Quakes made use of the extra time by streamlining several of their systems, preparing the organization for future growth and success.  Check it out!Shownotes(0:41) Introducing Chris Pope and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes(3:22) Adapting to today's norms(9:29) Maintaining value for partners during the pandemic(15:58) How is the Quakes organization setting itself apart?(19:19) The push for a new video board(24:26) What's next for Chris and the Quakes?LinksDerek GerberChris Pope Quotes“COVID was really bad for a lot of people, but hopefully we're able to take a lot of the downside or things we weren't doing great and make them really good for this year.  And now we can take that stuff and move it into the 2022 season and make 2022 even better than it was pre-pandemic.” (13:35) “When I'm selling a sponsorship, I'm not selling a national corporate deal.  I'm selling that you are part of our community – Like, we are a staple of the community, and now you're branding yourself with a staple of the community who's been here for almost 30 years.  We're going to hold hands and everybody's going to hopefully love us both.” (18:42)“We have an internal motto and it's called ‘Fun, Wow, Yes.'  We're going to provide a fun experience.  We're going to make sure the fan says, ‘Wow.'  And we're going to say, ‘Yes,' whenever we possibly can.” (22:16)

Shownotes(0:41) Introducing Samanee and Secureframe(6:17) Adjusting to the new normal(9:51) Explaining HIPAA, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 (14:43) Preparing for international clients(18:25) Planning your roadmaps(21:15) Making complex ideas simple(25:33) What's next for Samanee and Secureframe? LinksDerek GerberSamanee MahbubSecureframe  Quotes“If your employees don't know how to protect their data themselves or their customer's data, it's a really big problem, especially with the rise of breaches and hackings that seem to happen every single month.” (2:02) “The reality is most [security awareness] educational content feels like it was made in the 90s.  It is not super entertaining.  It's not super engaging.  It feels really forced and not fun, and no employee really enjoys going through security awareness training.”  (2:59)“I love that we've been able to build a product that can keep up with the modern times, that can be done anywhere, and is educational, engaging, to the point, and helps people ultimately understand the information they need to understand so they can keep their company secure.” (8:01)“How are you going to capture my attention?  Is it by putting me through an hour-long webinar that is dreary and slow and I don't really retain what happened?  Or can you give me a one-minute video that makes me go, ‘Whoa, that made a lot more sense.  I want to digest more.  I want to share this with my team.  I want to get better at this.'” (24:10)

Shownotes(0:40) Introducing Ryan Vanlow(4:18) Taking partnerships digital(10:44) The PlayBall! program(14:44) What campaigns are happening now?(17:13) Differentiating yourself in sports marketing(24:51) Mythbusting(27:50) What's next for Ryan and the OKC Dodgers?LinksDerek GerberRyan Vanlow Quotes“When you know the material and you listen to your client, they're going to tell you what they want, what they do, and if they do something in the market already.” (17:42)“I'm a huge believer that just because someone says no, it might be no for this season, but you have to keep building that relationship.” (23:09)

Shownotes(1:02) Introducing Jeff and the Seattle Kraken(6:44) Preserving history to create a new future(11:18) Partner stories(15:35) The power of video(20:33) Prioritizing community (23:28) What's next for the Kraken?(27:21) Myth-bustingLinksDerek GerberJeff Webster  Quotes“The companies and corporations and groups in this region have such a heart for sports, and I think it's because they know that the fans and the people of this region have a heart for it.  That's one of the best ways that they can connect with those potential customers and such.” (12:41)“You look at our relationship with Amazon, and of course, you start a project like this in a town like ours – Who's the first company you're going to want to get in touch with? Obviously, Amazon comes to mind.” (13:40)“That brand launch video has followed us everywhere we've gone.  I mean, it's been reposted many, many times, especially by influencers and others around our industry.  I think it was something that we were really proud of as far as being part of our brand launch, and that video lives forever.” (17:44)“Community is at the center of everything we've done since we started this, and I think there's many examples of this.  You don't have to go far to find them.” (20:43)

Shownotes(0:34) Introducing Sloane Evans and the Houston SaberCats(2:43) Utilizing digital mediums to increase ad visibility(5:13) Partnering with sponsors to meet both party's goals(10:50) End-to-end marketing campaigns(14:51) Myth-busting(27:16) What's next for Sloane and the SaberCats?LinksDerek GerberSloane Evans  Quotes“We were fortunate to know in advance that we would be able to have at least 50% capacity in our stadium, but a lot of it was if you are at 50%, how are we going to get that other 50% of your fans, right?  How are we going to make up for that 100%?  What additions can you do?” (3:16)“We get a strong connection with our local youth [rugby] clubs.  They get to put on games beforehand, and this translates into easy stuff we can start selling to sponsors that want to have a strong community presence and still a presence with our team.”  (12:35)“For me, my biggest goal entering this world was ‘How do I help businesses while also helping our team?'” (16:51)

Shownotes (0:41) Introducing David Jay (6:47) Using video to bring humans back into the equation (9:20) The biggest challenge in video (11:31) Focus on the customer's problem (14:24) Innovation in video (19:05) People doing business with people (22:35) Video as an invitation to a conversation (27:19) What's next for David? Links Derek GerberDavid JayWarm Welcome  Quotes “I think frustration is probably the number one driver for innovation, and that's something that pulled me into software because software can be something that lowers our frustration.” (4:41) “You see businesses going out of business left and right, day after day, and it's because they shouldn't be thinking about it from that standpoint. They shouldn't be so focused on scaling it. They should be focused on serving their clients, and the fact is humans can do that better than robots. Video can do that better than text. Face-to-face can do that better than something that is infinitely scaleable” (8:30) “The biggest challenge right now for probably any video service is getting people away from feeling like they need to present themselves in this perfect, produced fashion...What's really powerful now is the video that's personal, that isn't perfect.” (9:40) “Most [video] is just content that you're broadcasting out in the world, where I think that's what's changing nowadays. Video content is not just a promo piece anymore. It's an invitation into a conversation.” (23:44) https://explainify.com/

Shownotes(1:14) Introducing Adam Hartel and Gnomon(6:52) What sets Gnomon apart?(11:40) Creating a space for creatives to learn(16:40) Animation is hard work!(20:01) Streaming's effects on animation trends(24:32) What's next for Adam and Gnomon?LinksDerek GerberAdam Hartel Gnomon Quotes“I think one of the ways we market the school is we create a community around ourselves that is accessible to everyone...My goal whenever I'm presenting about the school is always to add value right then and there to the listener.” (3:11)“There really is a high demand for artists in the industry, and everybody kind of can look at it sometimes with a scarcity mentality...but that's not the way it is, because we know that our students, our graduates are in high demand.” (14:42)“What we're looking for is those artists with the drive to do the work and to follow through in the training they're going to need that's going to augment their personal goals and artists in the style and area that they want to work in.” (22:27)

Shownotes(0:46) Introducing Maddy Martin and Smith.ai(5:06) How pairing AI with humans can generate more sales(16:06) Asking questions to understand your client's goals(19:23) Co-marketing(23:24) Myth-busting(27:52) What's next for Smith.aiLinksDerek GerberMaddy MartinSmith.ai  Quotes“We're constantly sharing best practices back and forth between the phone receptionist side and then the chat agent side.  We might build a technology that sequences a conversation on a chat agent sort of playbook, and then that's something that we want to bring then to the phone side and say, how can we better streamline the phone calls to make them more accurate, efficient, and speedy.” (6:21)“How can you use the language that they bring to you back to them for improved marketing, for improved advertising, and in those sales discussions, equip your sales team to better enable those deals to go through.” (12:00)“You want to help people use their time wisely to evaluate your business.  And asking them the questions is a steering mechanism.  It sets good guidelines and boundaries for how the relationship will move forward.” (17:43)“Right now, we see the blend of human and AI being the best hybrid use case, greater than the AI alone because that lacks the personal finesse and that compassion and human connection.  But the human alone is, as we know, very error prone.  No matter how great their training or background or experience, and they do benefit from some technology backing them up.” (25:37)“Robots are very capable, but they're only as capable as what we can write algorithms for.  And there's a certain heart and soul piece that we haven't figured out.”  (26:34)https://explainify.com/

Shownotes(0:41) Introducing Garrett Mehrguth and Directive (3:29) Utilizing first-party data(7:05) Prioritizing activation rate over acquisition cost (13:22) Rethinking Request a Demo(17:27) Defining your niche(20:59) Single persona campaigns(23:18) Being patient with your ad campaigns(30:01) What's next for Directive?LinksDerek GerberGarrett Mehrguth DirectiveQuotes“Instead of focusing on how cheap you can get a lead, I want to figure out how cheap I can get someone from a marketing action to a sales action.” (9:37)“When you start to think through it like that, all of the sudden your campaigns start to work and you just have to really maximize, like, who am I talking to?  Why do they choose us?  And what's a good enough offer that I can get them from apathy to action?  But when you put that all together, then your campaigns work.”  (12:53)“Most businesses aren't so good at getting the customers they want that they have to settle for any customer.” (18:46)“I think the start of good marketing is saying exactly who you're for as much as who you're not for, and being confident in that.” (19:16)“So you have to really understand who's the person you work with after they signed the contract.  That is your customer.” (20:05)“I can't make my messaging resonate with everyone.  In other words, if my messaging could be for anyone, it's for no one.  And so once I have my messaging drilled down to my exact persona in my exact industry, and I know their exact pains, all of the sudden my advertising works.” (20:31)“Next thing you know, my conversion rate goes from like maybe 4, 5, 6% to like 40, 50% because my messaging, my creative, my copy, and my asset are all personified to exactly what I'm targeting.”  (23:01)

Shownotes(0:39) Introducing Laura Smous from Verblio(4:32) Understanding your customers' required outcome(7:27) What sets Verblio apart?(10:13) The role of AI in content creation(19:23) Focusing on your niche(22:21) Measuring success with content creation(26:29) Myth-busting(32:36) What's next for Laura and Verblio?LinksDerek GerberLaura Smous Verblio Quotes“Understanding what will make [your client] feel like they have hit their desired outcome is something that you have to do upfront...And then that ties closely then to your end audience as well, which is just making sure you spen the time to understand who your customers customers are, and making sure that they understand them as well.” (6:03)“It may not always make sense to sell someone more content.  It may make sense for them to look at a few categories of pieces that have performed well and are decaying, or pieces that should have hit the mark but didn't, and actually refresh those, which like I said, in many cases may mean less content.” (8:00)“If you know that you have something really special and you've got that niche and you have the ability to pull it off and speak to that audience, you are much, much more likely to rank faster by creating this very niche-specific content around a focused segment.” (21:24)“You want your content library as a whole performing for your business.  So, you need page-level performance to get there, but it's really over time, I think, the collection of things that established credibility that are going to be what sustains you.”  (22:54)

Shownotes(0:44) Introducing JP Clement and boomtown(5:24) Using data to tell stories(10:22) Using analytics to drive leads(15:11) Busting the top 3 myths about digital marketing(21:27) Wrap upLinksDerek GerberJP Clement boomtime Quotes“We tell stories because I don't want to throw a bunch of charts and tables and numbers at our clients.  They're not going to look at it, and they're not going to understand it.” (8:40)“Marketing is not 100% creativity.  It's 50% science, and the other half is 50% what I like to call feng shui.” (9:35)“We use things like email marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, and so on, and we put these pieces together in a way that I believe is very creative.  And this is how we get our clients over that hump to differentiate themselves.” (11:37)“There will be some quick pops from or digital marketing efforts now, but some of those investments may hit us 9 or 12 months form now.”  (19:11)

Shownotes (0:34) Introducing Bradley Riesenberg (8:51) Using video to take the Hoag Classic to the next level (16:35) Reimagining how we approach storytelling (19:31) The ins and outs of TV ad sales (21:57) What's next for Bradley and the Hoag Classic? Links Derek Gerber Bradley Riesenberg Quotes “Most tournaments on the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry, and PGA Tour Champions, they have some cause behind them that they are raising money for in their communities. So that's why our events are so important to the communities because we really do generate all that community engagement and infuse that money into our communities." (6:26) “The first thing is that it has to be authentic. So all of the branding and community engagement is kind of for not if there's no thought behind that.” (17:01) “There are a million different ways for you to build value into your brand perception, awareness, loyalty, and legitimacy without ever trying to have to say ‘buy this.'” (18:38) 

Shownotes(0:33) Introducing Rob Thompson and GamePlanU(2:57) Utilizing videos in your pitch(7:50) Finding an audience and telling your story(11:53) Interstitials(17:43) Using audio and video to get in front of your audience(21:08) What's next?LinksDerek GerberRob ThompsonGamePlanU  Robthompzon.biz Quotes“There's people out there that are really, really good at raising money, but they don't have the backend to actually execute.  And there's other people that are great executor's but they're horrible in front of the camera.  So you have to find if you're not good in front of the camera, put someone else that is, that could tell your story for you.”  (6:23)“What are those attributes that might be funny, education, emotional?  Think about all those pieces, and if you could put that into a 60-second to two-minute video to tell that story, that's an easy way to break the ice.  That's an easy way to keep your brand out there.” (9:06)“If you are a business owner and you're thinking of how do I make my auto dealership or how do I make my garage or pest control company cool, well, put a piece of your humor into it.  You know what your clients are looking for.  Make it educational, make it emotional, and make it funny.  Make it one of those three or blending all three, but tell the story in a funny, unique, educational way that people will remember.” (13:32)“No one likes to be sold, but they all like a story.” (14:10)

Shownotes(0:37) Introducing Wendy Covey and TREW Marketing(2:56) Solving the video disconnect(7:10) You can't afford to ignore content marketing(14:07) Effective supplemental content(17:33) Automating content(19:51) Busting content marketing myths(24:29) Getting started in content marketing(28:37) Wrap upLinksDerek GerberWendy CoveyTREW Marketing  Quotes“97% of technical buyers watch video for work at least one hour weekly...If you compare that with how seldom technical companies are producing video and how few video assets they have on their websites, you can see there's a really big disconnect.” (3:41)“The power of video in particular is that you can personalize [it].  So you can hear the author talk about that material rather than just see their name on the white paper.  And now you have a person behind it and a person behind your brand too.” (5:57)“[Everyone] should realize that over 50% of the technical buyer's journey is conducted online before someone wants to engage with sales.  And so, if you don't invest in content, and you do have dated things on your website, you may never make it to have a sales conversation.  Your competition is going to wipe the ground with you.” (7:44)“When you message about your company, those same words, that same tone and voice, it should be carried out in ever content asset downstream, you know, whether it be your webpages, your videos, or your case studies.” (25:56)

(0:38) Introducing Beth Stephens and Soapbox Influence(3:41) Why you shouldn't be sleeping on influencer marketing(7:45) Building and protecting your brand(10:23) Staying alert to stay fresh(16:49) Busting the myths of influencers (20:18) Finding the niche(28:39) What's next for Soapbox?LinksDerek GerberBeth StephensSoapbox Influence Mike's Hot Honey   Quotes“If you think about all of these use-case scenarios for a product, and when you use an influencer, they can tell their audience, ‘Hey, you've got to try this with sushi,' or ‘Hey, check out this cocktail that I made using Mike's Hot Honey.'  So they start to get the wheels turning, and start to use all of these different scenarios that maybe a traditional marketer agency would never come up with.” (6:41)“I think sometimes we're prone to just do the same things we do and be very formulaic in our approach to the day.  And that's not going to yield fresh ideas and thought processes if we're around the same people and the same ways of thinking every day.” (12:06)“I think, to your point, you can constantly be on, and you can be learning, and you can be thinking and observing and kind of gleaning information that affects and propels your business forward anytime.”  (15:15)“So I think the myth being, does this stuff work?  Yes, it does.  But like any other form of marketing, it really comes back to the call to action and a clear strategy.”  (18:43)

(0:33) Introducing Blake Puryear and Drip(3:53) Utilizing email data to send smarter(6:18) Targeting with better messaging (8:39) Integrating SMS(12:47) What content should go in an email?(18:52) Growing your email listLinksDerek GerberBlake Puryear Drip Quotes“Start sending to the people who are more open to clicking and interacting with your emails.  Widdle down your lists.  Find those segments that perform best, and then market to those segments the way that they need to be marketed to.” (4:50)“I think one interesting thing that I've seen is following the source of acquisition and what marketing campaign they come in on, and then having flows tuned to that language that copy that imagery from the marketing campaign.” (6:26)“Folks connect with their phones and their inbox on their phones more frequently than they do with their email inbox.  And if you can get on their phone, you're going to build a closer relationship with the customer.” (9:11)“You don't want to send your weekly newsletter out via text message.  You want to treat that as your high value, abandoned cart – this person had an item in their cart, they started checkout, they almost go there.  Follow up via text and close the deal that way.” (11:20)“You would not believe how many brands are saying, ‘I want to grow my email list,' but they're not even asking for emails in the first place.  This is one of the most core important things to have an engaging time or interaction-based pop-up that just asks them for their email in exchange for some form of value.” (20:08)