Demand Gen Daily: Recent Episodes
Blue Meta
Whether you are marketing to B2B or B2C, if you want to get the latest info on how to generate revenue profitably through marketing best practices, this is the show for you! In 10min or less Monday to Friday, Nick and Ricky (the Co-Founders of Blue Meta) will help you take your results to the next level. From Strategy to Digital to Creative and everything in between, if it’s getting people results we’re bringing you the inside scoop. Remember to follow the podcast and subscribe to our newsletter.
Demand generation: the process of creating awareness and demand for your products or services. It expands your audience, generates urgency, and clarifies your solution to transform interest into profitable revenue.
We’re back with the second part to our discussion about B2B Demand Generation! In this episode we elaborate on what we talked in the first part of this topic about the different KPIs you can be tracking month to month to determine which tactics are driving the best results for your B2B business.
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Demand generation is a critical aspect of any B2B service-based business, and tracking the right key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential to ensuring the success of your demand generation strategy. In this podcast, we'll outline the most important KPIs to track, as well as some best practices for measuring them effectively.
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In this episode of the Demand Gen Daily podcast, hosts Nick and Ricky discuss strategies for e-commerce businesses to increase their ROAS (return on ad spend) from single to double digits. They emphasize that there is no single way to achieve this, as it is highly contextual to each individual market. However, they offer some broad rules, including the importance of having a solid remarketing funnel and utilizing effective email marketing. They explain that email marketing can significantly boost ROAS, as it is cheaper and allows for greater scale when targeting previous shoppers and email subscribers. They also caution against common pitfalls in email marketing, such as not properly segmenting email lists and failing to offer compelling deals and promotions. Overall, the episode provides valuable insights for e-commerce businesses looking to increase their ROAS and scale their operations.
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In this episode of the Demand Gen Daily Podcast, hosts Nick and Ricky discuss how to diversify your sales beyond Amazon and transition to other channels or your own website. They share tips on building brand trust, reaching out through different channels like Google and Facebook, and whether to sell on your website or drive more sales to your Amazon store. Tune in for valuable insights on how to grow your sales beyond Amazon.
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As an Amazon seller, you're always looking for ways to grow your business, but scaling can be challenging. Most Amazon sellers are selling five or fewer products, which limits their earning potential. To truly break through the earning barriers and succeed on Amazon, you need to scale your business.
So, what does it mean to scale on Amazon? Scaling means expanding your product range, increasing your sales volume, and building a solid reputation in your niche. But scaling is not easy, and it requires a lot of effort, time, and resources.
In this episode of the Demand Gen Daily Podcast, we discuss the importance of reducing operational costs for Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) sellers. Here are the top topics we cover:
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We identify shipping costs, manufacturing costs, and storage fees as the three big expenses that need to be minimized.
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Advising against shipping by air and recommend partnering with a third-party storage facility to reduce storage fees.
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Emphasizing the importance of accurate sales forecasting to avoid overstocking or stockouts, which can also increase costs.
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If you're looking to launch a product on Amazon, you might assume that if you build it, they will come. Unfortunately, that's not the case. To give your product the best chance of success, you need to develop a launch strategy that's both intelligent and hyper-focused. In this episode of the Demand Gen Daily podcast, hosts Nick and Jayce share their expertise on product launches on Amazon, with a particular focus on key strategies for winning the launch game.
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If you're considering selling on Amazon, product research is the most important step in your journey. In this post, we'll discuss why Amazon product research matters and provide you with four key takeaways to help you launch a successful product on Amazon.
Emotional attachment to a product idea can be detrimental.
One of the biggest mistakes new sellers make is becoming emotionally attached to a product idea. They may have romanticized a certain idea of a product and believe that their product is the best. However, this subjective opinion may not matter to the buying community. Therefore, it's important to choose a product that has reasonable demand, rising demand, and fewer competitors.
Choose a product category that is less competitive.
Entering a product category where you're trying to find that niche within a niche may not be the best strategy. Instead, go for a product category that's generally less competitive. Research the top 10 product category leaders to see if they're based in China or have a significant content marketing advantage. This will help you understand if you can compete with them in terms of price and marketing. Use tools like Google Trends, Jungle Scout etc to get this info.
Research your competition before investing in product development.
Before investing in prototypes and product development, research your competition to understand their ad and content marketing strategies. This will help you go into the competitive arena with your eyes wide open. Additionally, choose a product that has a clear visual distinction from its competitors.
Leverage your advantages.
While Chinese sellers may have a price and manufacturing advantage, there are advantages that Western sellers have as well. For instance, Western sellers can leverage their quality, branding, and customer service to stand out from the competition. Therefore, it's important to identify and leverage your advantages to compete in the market.
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Amazon reviews have a significant impact on a product's sales volume. In this Demand Gen Daily podcast episode, Nick and Jayce discuss how to generate genuine ethical reviews the right way. Here are four key takeaways from the conversation:
Request Reviews Compliantly: Amazon provides a feature to request reviews from recent buyers. However, to comply with Amazon's terms of service, you cannot suggest or allude to the possibility of a reward, payment, or a free product. Incentivizing reviews in any way can lead to account suspension.
Public Review Networks Are Not Recommended: Public review networks involve subscribing to a service, buying a product at full retail price, and getting refunded immediately after purchasing. Reviewers then write a review for the product they got for free. Public review networks have a lot of scammers, artificially inflating sales and reviews, and risking account suspension.
Private Review Networks Take Time to Build: Private review networks are built by collecting email addresses through content marketing, incentives, and promotions. Periodically, the brand offers their community free products for purchase at full retail price, with the promise of refunds if the product is reviewed. Private review networks are compliant and avoid account suspension.
Commenting on Public Reviews Is No Longer Allowed: Brands cannot comment on public reviews anymore, even if the buyer is unresponsive to messages. Commenting provided great social proof and showed other buyers that the brand tries to resolve issues. However, Amazon removed this feature, and brands cannot use it anymore.
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When you start seeing some success with a product, competitors can find your sales data and want to get a piece of what you’re getting so they introduce a knockoff product from yours. This episode talks all about knockoffs on Amazon and what you can do to work around them.
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It’s often said that Amazon is a race to the bottom where there no profit etc etc. It’s a common concern raised amongst our clients because they may have a premium product. But guess what! Premium products can do really well on Amazon, you don’t always have to compete on price.
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One of the major factors in top ranking products is the title and the keyword prioritization that the product title uses.
We discuss the details of how you can maximize the character count in Amazon and how to ensure your bullet points are written both for human and bot readers for ultimate Amazon rankings.
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The hero shot is the first product image on an Amazon listing and also the first image that shows on Amazon results pages when you are searching for products.
We call it the hero shot because you’re trying to get the best clickthrough as possible. But how do you get the best hero shot? We’re going to talk about that.
Amazon listing optimization is all about tweaking the listing to improve a variety of things including session rates, sales and session duration.
What is an Amazon listing - everything that you as the buyer see on a product page - product images, video, title, bullet points, everything that shows above the fold. Then after that you have A+ content, scroll even further you’ll get to the reviews section.
It’s important to ensure your listing is getting optimized to comply with the most recent Amazon algorithm. In this podcast, we discuss some of the details.
When you talk about the 80/20 rule with how to be successful on Amazon, most of your success is going to be determined by which product(s) you choose to launch.
It’s very common for successful Amazon sellers to have gone through the whole process of product attempts/ launches before they find out if the product is successful. We’ve found that for every 8 products a company tries to sell on Amazon, one product out of the bunch would really take off and pay or the whole effort. That being said, your passion for a product isn’t going to determine its success on Amazon.
Product launching successfully is really about doing it in such a way that it’s sustainable and repeatable.
If you’re selling a physical product on ecommerce, 98.9% of ecommerce sellers on the internet can’t afford NOT to sell on Amazon. We discuss why.
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When you find yourself in situations where you’re not quite winning, the cause is likely the nuance is getting lost. This really comes down to communicating what the critical piece of product or service unique to the market. If you’re not doing that you’re going to have a hard time generating success.
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There’s a lot happening in the market place and the economy with inflation and increasing interest rates and we’ve talked about how this is impacting businesses in previous episodes. The thing to keep in mind is that there is always a way to find a strategic advantage to navigating different shifts in the market.
TL;DR: Now is the time to push your advantage - if you have the ability to increase your budgets or take advantage of other companies pulling back their spend, do it - it’ll help you gain market share.
Artificial Intelligence, Chat GPT, these are all things that have become increasingly hot button topics in the industry recently. We’re going to discuss how AI won’t be taking your job just yet and what you can do to keep your skill set current in the wake of the growth of using AI for more and more marketing tactics.
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Developing a strategy for how you’re going to achieve marketing results is crucial, but don’t let it hold you back from actually executing the tactics you need to get those results. Spinning your wheels constantly reiterating the strategy because trying a tactic for a short period of time to find it doesn’t work is a sure fire way to waste time. You need to give tactics and execution time to gather data, see what can be improved and re-iterate there first before going back to the strategy to plan something new.
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This episode is all about our marketing related predictions for 2023. How will marketers adapt their budgets as a reaction to the economy? How will AI impact creating marketing campaigns from a copy and design standpoint? These questions and more will be discussed as we prepare for the new year ahead.
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With the start of a new year fast approaching, there is a heavier focus on budgeting and what should be done about it leading up to 2023. When budgeting, regardless of time of year, it’s important to consider short, medium and long term goals and planning to determine your overall investment in your marketing.
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In the sixth and final installment of the ‘questions to ask an agency’ series of the podcast, we discuss quality control. Quality control takes 2 different areas into consideration - 1) quality control around brand, and 2) quality control around KPIs and Metrics. We cover off the primary questions that relate to these and what sorts of things you should be looking for that may be red flags when considering an agency as your new marketing partner.
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In the fifth installment of the ‘questions to ask an agency’ series of the podcast, we discuss setting clear expectations. Some agencies set very clear parameters at the beginning of your relationship and some don’t. Depending on their answer may be a red flag. We discuss some questions you can ask in your interview process to get a clear understanding of what you can expect when working with a certain agency.
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In the fourth installment of our ‘questions to ask an agency series’ Nick and Ricky discuss looking at if an agency is more proactive or reactive. These types of questions will allow you to understand how you as the client are being considered when it comes to planning and ensuring qualitative and quantitative data align with getting results.
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In the third installment of our ‘questions to ask an agency series’ Nick and Ricky dive into personas and creative testing. 71% of companies that use a persona methodology are hitting their business goals so it provides strong evidence that they are important to achieving goals. Ensuring that your new agency partner has the details and ability to drill down into specifics about personas and how different creatives appeal to different users within that persona.
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Before hiring an agency, you want to ask what traffic channels they work with and strategies are involved in running multichannel advertising. It's important to partner with an agency who has your best interest in mind to get the most efficient ROI out of the entire buying journey. Ultimately, understanding how an agency maximizes cross channel performance is essential for creating collaborative relationships that bring compelling business outcomes.
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Whether you're looking to switch digital marketing agencies, or you're looking to hire a digital marketing agency for the first time, it can be a daunting process with so many factors to consider. In this multi-part series, Nick and Ricky will go into details on how to hire a digital marketing agency and will help you make sure you're asking potential agencies the right questions.
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If you're scratching your head wondering why you've hit a plateau in results, it may be time to look internally. Nick and Ricky go in depth on 5 things your marketing team may be lacking, which include:
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Awareness
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Recognition or agreement to the importance of something
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Perceived time
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Skills or "how-to"
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Interest or enthusiasm
Look out for these issues in your team as they may be holding you back from getting results.
You may think the when it comes to Google Ads, it's all about the keywords so your brand doesn't matter. However, that's not the case! Your brand value can have a significant impact on the success of your Google Ads campaigns. Brand value impacts everything from your click-through-rate to your conversion rate. Leveraging your brand value on Google Ads is part of the recipe for success.
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It's easy to say that conducting an audit on your marketing should be done all the time, but in reality it's not feasible. That's why it's important to select the right timing! There's a lot of factors to consider, but some main times include:
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When there's a misalignment of your KPIs and metrics
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During seasonal/market shifts
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When there's significant changes in your business metrics
In addition to these times, selecting a regular rhythm, whether that's every month or every other month, is crucial to ensuring your business is on the right track.
When it comes to analyzing your KPIs and metrics, false positives are important to be aware of. Conversions are a good indicator of performance, but it doesn't stop there. False positives can be avoided by looking at data beyond clicks and conversions, such as average order value or sales qualified leads. It's important to also take a look at where your traffic is coming from as bot traffic can lead to inflated results. Make sure you're digging deep into your data and looking at the whole picture!
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A Fractional CMOs have been on the rise over the last 2 to 3 years. Fractional CMO is typically a part-time position and they can help with leading your marketing strategy and managing your marketing team. If you can't afford to fulfill a full marketing team, this may be your solution. Find out everything you need to know about hiring a Fractional CMO in this episode.
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So you're tracking data, but how do you make sense of it in order to make the right decisions for your business? That's where you might need to manually connect the dots yourself and spend more time reviewing your business metrics. It's easy to get caught up in the details, so make sure you take time to look at the big picture. Not looking at the big picture can lead to false positives, which can prevent your business from achieving its full potential.
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Everyone talks about it but not everyone's doing it - User Generated Content, or UGC for short. If done correctly, UGC can provide great cost savings. For example, it's possible to get a video or series of content at a fraction of the cost of what it would cost a full production. You can also get valuable insights from running UGC as ads against your current ads to see what performs better. However, it's important to pick the right content creators for you brand to ensure they are aligned.
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We dicuss ways you can spot opportunity in the market during a recession. For many businesses, a recession means pulling back on digital ad spend, which presents an opportunity to steal market share from your competitors. When the market is going either up or down, it's a great time to shore up the sales that are missing.
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The performance trap is a very real thing that many companies can easily get stuck in. This is where your team can be looking at the data, but misinterpreting it. According to the data and best practices, you think you're doing all the right things, but none of it is actually leading to results for the business. That's when it's time to take a step back, look at your objectives, measure metrics alongside KPIs and gather qualitative data on your SQLs (sales qualified leads).
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The path to poor results is a slippery slope and it often starts with 3 innocent mistakes.
These mistakes include:
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Missing the nuance. This means you're not spending enough time on the details that matter.
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Not waiting long enough. Pivoting too quickly can optimize your way out of the results.
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Not looking at the metrics. LTV to CAC and missing the dollars for the pennies.
Make sure you're looking at the right data points when you're making decisions.
During a recession, companies need to be strategic about their sales and marketing efforts in order to weather the storm. One thing you need to consider in a slow down is your cash position versus your competitors. If your cash position is stronger, there's opportunity to steal market share from your competitors during a downturn. On the other hand, lifetime values for customers can change in a recession. For example, people who might normally purchase a product or service three or four times per year may cut back to two purchases per year. Therefore, it's more important than ever to make data-driven decisions.
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As we continue to face an unprecedented time, consumer behaviours are still shifting in response to the current environment. One key change that we have seen is the increasing prominence of digital advertising. In a world where we are spending more time online than ever before, it is essential for companies to have a strong digital presence. We talk about what you can be doing to remain competitve.
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Many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs, but it is important to do this in a strategic way. Redistributing your budget based on your current needs is one way to make sure you are not cutting costs arbitrarily. We discuss ways of how you can invest in short, medium and long term initiatives to ensure you come out on top after the recession.
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As a business owner, it's important to always be aware of what your competition is doing. This can help you anticipate their next move and stay one step ahead. However, simply keeping an eye on your competitors is not enough. You also need to be monitoring your own performance using metrics and KPIs. This will help you identify opportunities for improvement and ensure that you are staying competitive.
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We're in the midst of a recession, and that has a lot of business owners feeling anxious about what the future holds. Many are wondering what they can do to make sure their company comes out on top. Sales and marketing are two areas that are often put under the microscope during times like these.
That's why we're dedicating the next few episodes of our podcast to discussing how businesses can survive - and even thrive - during a recession.
With the current trend of customer acquisition costs increasing, it is important to have a good understanding your LTV to CAC ratio in order make strategic decisions about marketing and sales efforts. It may seem simple, but if customer acquisition costs double and lifetime value doubles, there's no net change in profit. Therefore, customer lifetime value may be the key for your business to increase profitability.
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LTV to CAC is the model that Nick and Ricky use every day for clients and themselves. In part 4 of LTV to CAC, they discuss the main factors in influencing lifetime value. When it comes down to it, lifetime value is primarily about strategy. On the other hand, customer acquisition costs have limited control by companies and it's immediate to midterm in nature. So, with enough long term planning, your business could be in the driver's seat of controlling lifetime value. Some factors to focus on when it comes to increasing lifetime value include: pricing, brand initiatives, and content.
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In their first episode, Nick Bideshi and Ricky Bandelin give their take on demand generation and how it really comes down to lifetime value versus customer acquisition cost. It's simple; if your lifetime value is greater than your customer acquisition cost, that means you have a profitable business. If not, then this could be a challenge for your business. Listen to learn more about their methodology.
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No matter how small or large your business is, understanding the factors that influence lifetime value is essential to making sound marketing decisions. In part 2 of LTV to CAC, Nick and Ricky will explore three primary factors: frequency, average order value, and contribution margin. We'll also take a look at some real-world examples to help illustrate these concepts. By understanding how each of these factors impacts lifetime value, you can develop strategies to increase profits and grow your business.
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In the third part of LTV to CAC, Nick and Ricky discuss a major pain point many business owners are currently experiencing: increasing customer acquisition costs. They will cover ad optimization techniques such as conversion rate optimization or data quality improvements that can help you reduce your advertising budget while still acquiring new customers at an adequate rate for profitable growth.
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Blue Meta CEO and CMO, Nick Bideshi and Ricky Bandelin, sit down to talk about the uncertainty of the current market and how your business could be winning with 4 steps.
Blue Meta CEO and CMO, Nick Bideshi and Ricky Bandelin, sit down to talk about the uncertainty of the current market and how your business could be winning with 4 steps.
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Whether you are marketing to B2B or B2C, if you want to get the latest info on how to generate revenue profitably through marketing best practices, this is the show for you! In 10min or less Monday to Friday, Nick and Ricky (the Co-Founders of Blue Meta) will help you take your results to the next level. From Strategy to Digital to Creative and everything in between, if it’s getting people results we’re bringing you the inside scoop. Remember to follow the podcast and subscribe to our newsletter.
Demand generation: the process of creating awareness and demand for your products or services. It expands your audience, generates urgency, and clarifies your solution to transform interest into profitable revenue.