Digital Marketing Troop: Recent Episodes
Silverback Strategies
Digital marketing can be hard. But it doesn’t have to be. Level up your marketing skills in just 30 minutes each week with John Tyreman as he interviews marketing leaders and practitioners on a variety of marketing topics like SEO, paid media, strategy, buyer psychology, branding and more.
How are you going to increase organic search traffic for the rest of 2022? Listen to this podcast episode to learn which SEO trends may impact your business in the coming months. In this conversation, we cover:
- How insights from Bing can bring clarity to a page's performance
- Google's focus on ecommerce
- Putting DuckDuckGo in perspective
- Mobile vs desktop trends
- The evolution of Google's Core Web Vitals
- Why artificial intelligence isn't as smart as we make it out to be
Performance starts with strong team chemistry. On this episode, John Tyreman shares 10 characteristics of a healthy marketing team and examples for each:
- They have good team chemistry
- They understand why buyers buy
- They align goals and business objectives
- They're proficient with marketing technology
- They understand business finance and metrics
- They can manage projects across multiple resources
- They use the right agencies, consultants, or freelancers
- There is a blend of creative, analytical, and promotional skills
- They flex to adjust tactics while staying true to overall strategy
- They communicate well with other departments and stakeholders
If this bill becomes law, it would have a major impact on digital marketing as we know it. Apple wouldn’t be able to pre-load applications on its devices. Amazon could not preference its in-house label products over third-party sellers'. Google could not surface its reviews over others in search results.
Recurring guests and SEO experts Kurt Lambert and Geoff Kerbis join the show to discuss how digital marketing could change as a result.
- Summary of the bill and its potential impact
- How it would impact your search visibility on Google
- How Amazon and Google may pivot to maintain their ecommerce margins
- The impact on applications that on Apple’s App Marketplace
- How companies can evolve digital marketing alongside regulatory changes
Here is a link to the bill’s language:
link to bill here
Here is the referenced article by Rand Fishkin:
https://sparktoro.com/blog/google-apple-and-amazon-stifle-innovation-when-they-favor-their-own-products/
Remote work has fundamentally transformed many different kinds of businesses and employees. But it’s made it difficult to build and maintain a healthy company culture. Erika Khanna joins the show to share her experience building a healthy remote-first culture, including practical tips you can put to work right away. In this episode we cover:
- The difference between remote vs asynchronous work
- General best practices for using Slack with colleagues
- The benefits and drawbacks of “core work hours”
- Balancing remote work and back to the office
- Onboarding in a remote environment
- Hiring for remote positions
Twitter can be a powerful platform for founders and entrepreneurs. But the road to success may not be what you think. If Twitter is an auditorium, you don't need to be standing on the stage. Instead, network within the crowd. Kevon Cheung, founder at Public Lab, joins the show to share his perspective on how to build in public on Twitter. In this episode, we cover:
- How to define Twitter success
- The role of a Twitter profile page
- Personal brand -vs- active presence
- Framework for creating content every day
- How to connect with more people and grow followers
- Striking the right balance between personal and professional
Connect with Kevon on Twitter @MeetKevon, and buy his book at http://findjoyinchaos.com/
Laura Lopuch is on a mission to make $200,000 in one year while working a max of 10 hours per week. She’ll be able to do this by fueling her business through cold email outreach. In this episode, she shares her experience and perspective. We talk about:
- How she landed on her goal of $200k and 10 hours per week
- Different types of cold email outreach other than a sales pitch
- How other channels like LinkedIn and Twitter play with email
- How to balance personalization with email volume
- The key elements of a successful cold email
- The gray area of GDPR and where cold email pitches fit in
If email doesn’t drive at least 20% of revenue, you have room to improve your email strategy. There are two big components: acquisition and retention. Unless you’re collecting a user’s email, they may not come back to your website. This first-party data is critical to continuing the conversation with new users and retaining loyal customers. Joe Portsmouth joins the show to share insight about how companies can level up their email marketing strategy. In this conversation we cover:
- The role of email marketing in the modern marketing funnel
- The importance of segmentation and personalization
- Email tactics for retention, cross-sells, and customer feedback
- How copywriting for email is like copywriting for Twitter threads
- How to avoid spam traps and stand out in the inbox
- How acquisition and retention teams can collaborate more effectively
Joeportsmouth.com
Twitter: @joe_portsmouth
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephportsmouth/
Nearly 75% of consumers want to be able to text with a business. But many businesses don’t offer this mode of communication with their buyers. Aaron Weiche joins the show to talk about how businesses are using two-way text messaging to close more leads and generate conversations with buyers. In this episode, we cover:
- Where texting fits in the modern marketing funnel
- How two-way texting is different from LiveChat or other SMS tactics
- What kind of businesses would benefit from texting with buyers
- Results businesses can expect when adding texting as a communication channel
- What kind of buyers prefer texting with business
- The relationship between two-way texting and customer experience
https://leadferno.com/blog/survey-how-do-consumers-want-to-contact-a-business
TikTok is growing in popularity among marketerse as a platform with both great organic reach as well as advertising potential. Haley Nininger and her team have successfully generated leads and enrollments for an alternative education provider using TikTok. She joins the show to share her experience testing different approaches on the platform. In this episode, we cover:
- Firsthand experience as a user on the platform
- Experience testing TikTok ads for an alternative education provider
- Where TikTok fits in the platform mix and the marketing funnel
- Why you might soon see TikTok videos in Google search results
- How TikTok compares to other platforms like SnapChat
- Which industries may benefit from investing in TikTok ads
This episode marks a milestone for Digital Marketing Troop. After one year, we look back on some of our favorite soundbites from some incredible guests: * Katelyn Bourgoin, CEO of CustomerCamp * Andrew Nelson, President of Silverback Strategies * Tim Parkin, President of Parkin Consulting * Kelly Waffle, Managing Director at the Hinge Research Institute * Ahmad Munawar, Founder of Boutique Growth * Joel Gustafson, Digital Marketing and UX Manager at Oregon State University * Hunter Montgomery, CMO at ChurnZero * Geoff Kerbis, Associate Director of Client Services and SEO at Silverback Strategies * Nick Bennett, Director of Evangelism and Customer Marketing at Alyce * Mark Raffan, Founder of Content Callout, Host of the Negotiations Ninja podcast
Nick Bennett has built an impressive social media presence on LinkedIn, and hosts the Rep Your Brand podcast. He shares his experience and perspective on personal branding and how it can be a major force for professionals of all stripes. In this conversation, we cover:
- overview of personal branding, evangelism, and customer marketing
- how to get started with a personal branding program internally
- the power of niching down, and how Nick was challenged to focus on "field marketing" in his posts
- different ways to stay consistent with a posting routine
- Nick's experience at Alyce and how personal gifting can be a secret weapon in your marketing strategy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbennett1/
https://www.alyce.com/
John Moore, Strategic Consultant, Speaker, Writer, and Founder of Trust Enablement, discusses the difference between sales enablement and revenue enablement. In this episode, we cover: * What is enablement? * Revenue enablement fundamentals * The leap to un-gating content * The role of enablement professionals * And much more
Listen, subscribe, and leave a review.
Audio and video content will have a major impact on search engine optimization. Geoff and John discuss how companies can take advantage of these content formats to grow organic visibility online. In this episode, we cover:
- how to structure videos for search
- on-page optimizations for platforms like YouTube
- why companies may want to invest in podcasts
- Google's ability to index the spoken word
Content marketing is intimidating. It’s a big investment of time and money, but can have tremendous ROI in the long run. A good content strategy builds momentum with intention. This starts by establishing a consistent production process, then maximizing output. The internal links from your ranking content will drive momentum and build more traffic.
James Scherer, VP of Growth at Codeless, shares a “pillar and post” content strategy that has taken organic monthly search sessions from 0 to 55,000 in 15 months. James shares this strategy, case studies and more. In this episode, we cover:
- How companies can implement a pillar and post content strategy
- Case studies of EarlyBird and Monday [dot] com.
- The role of AI in content marketing
When you understand why people buy, you can market smarter. Katelyn Bourgoin joins the show to share how you can unlock marketing superpowers through customer research. Listen to this episode to learn:
- Why customers “hire” products to do a job*
- How marketers can extract insights from customers
- Why reviews and testimonials are copy gold
- Different ways to validate what you hear from customer interviews
*Watch the Clayton Christensen video here: https://youtu.be/sfGtw2C95Ms
Connect with Katelyn on Twitter @KateBour
Mark Raffan was almost eaten by great white sharks. Yes, he shares that story. He also shares how B2B brands can become thought leaders by investing in content marketing. Here's what we cover: * why B2B orgs should invest in content * getting stakeholder buy-in for content * insourcing vs outsourcing content * amplifying content with influencers
Joel Primack, Advisor of Charla, Co-Founder of Revenue Era, and Host of the Community-Led Growth Show shares his perspective on how businesses can use communities to fuel growth. We talk about:
- examples of different communities
- managing communities
- the impending "community correction"
- measuring the impact of community
In a world where most marketing thought leaders talk about being customer-centric, Tim Parkin beleves they should instead focus on teams first. In this episode, Tim shares his perspective on:
- the attributes of a successful team
- how to foster collaboration and communication
- why you should focus on both direction and velocity in marketing
- a case study of a trade school who increased website conversion rate from 5% to 20% with a simple fix
- why most marketers suck at testing
Jeroen Courthout, Co-Founder of Salesflare, joins the show to talk about how marketing and sales teams can better use their CRM tools. In this chat you'll learn:
- why teams should focus on habits, not goals
- how CRM usage can impact your customer data strategy
- how to compete toe-to-toe with giants in your industry
The higher education industry has evolved dramatically over the pandemic. As a result, marketing leaders have been forced to adapt.
This episode features Joel Gustafson, Digital Marketing and UX Manager at Oregon State University and Jacob Sibley, Associate Director, Client Services at Silverback Strategies as they talk about their collaborative approach to generating enrollments. This episode covers: * changes to the higher ed industry * impact from platform changes * the customer journey in higher ed * successful lead-gen channels * working across siloed departments
Ahmad Munawar built a strong personal brand and organic social media following through videos and podcasts. He joins the show to talk about his journey building a digital advertising program in-house for his agency, Boutique Growth. In this conversation, we talk about: * Why he chose to nail one channel at a time: Facebook Ads, YouTube, then LinkedIn * Challenges to building a paid media program in-house * The impact of a strong personal brand on paid media performance
Out-of-sync digital marketing objectives can lead to inefficiencies. Or worse—it can have a major impact on culture. Andrew Nelson joins the show to discuss how businesses can align digital marketing objectives to business goals. In this episode we talk about:
- the three main business goals
- examples of digital marketing objectives
- how to set SMART objectives
- real-world examples of alignment from top-to-bottom
Kelly Waffle joins the show to share recent research on what high-growth software companies do differently than their slower-growing peers. In this episode we talk about: * the 4 key advantages of high-growth companies * opportunities for digital transformation * why software companies should invest in SEO * and much more
Dan Englander, Founder & CEO of Sales Schema, joins the show to share his perspective on how companies with longer lead-to-sale cycles can scale revenue operations. In this episode, we cover:
- biggest challenges aligning sales and marketing teams
- how to find the right balance between personalization and scale
- going outside of personal networks and referrals to win new business
- building an effective revenue team in the right order
Skyler Reeves, CEO & Founder of Ardent Growth, shares how he applies financial modeling to content marketing to drive ROI. He's developed an algorithm to assess what TAM looks like for any given industry by analyzing keyword data. In this conversation, we cover:
- How to apply financial modeling to content marketing plans
- Why most teams fail at content marketing
- The metrics marketing should and should not focus on
- The importance of having a repeatable production process
- And much more
Recurring guest Geoff Kerbis joins the show to talk about a site migration project that prioritized core web vital updates, resulting in a 25% increase in organic web traffic after only a few months. In this conversation, we talk about:
- How to work with developers to prioritize CWV updates
- The impact of CWV updates on site migration timelines
- The impact of CWV updates on organic search visibility and good URLs
SEO for B2B SaaS companies is different from other industries. Jacob Clarke joins the show to talk about his experience and perspective on the best approach to optimizing these businesses for search visibility. In this conversation, we answer questions like:
- What KPIs make the most sense to track?
- How should these companies approach keyword research?
- What's the best way to create content for this industry?
- How do you convert traffic into leads?
Google Business Profile is the new brand of Google’s local business management platform. Most recently called Google My Business, Google rolled out the new name along with some new features ahead of the 2021 holiday season. Kurt Lambert joins the show to talk about this change and how it will impact location-based businesses.
- Google Business Profile is designed to make management easier for small, location-based businesses
- GMB app is being deprecated, pushing users and managers deeper into platform features
- More data will be available for marketers, like call history and live chat messages
- Over time, new insights from a business’ profile can impact local SEO listings
- With Facebook faltering in 2021, Google is primed to be the go-to digital advertising platform for location-based businesses
Google Analytics 4 is the new website analytics reporting platform offered through Google. Ben Yehle joins the show to talk about changes to GA4 and his experience exploring the new platform.
- Platform changes since GA4 rolled out in October, 2020
- Top reports to use for marketers
- Benefits of organizing reports in a library
- Why businesses who set up GA4 tracking have a leg up, and why you should get set up, too
Alaska Airlines case study example:
https://adswerve.com/blog/how-advanced-analytics-helped-alaska-airlines-achieve-a-30-increase-in-roas/
Apple’s advertising business has more than tripled its market share in the six months after it introduced privacy changes to iPhones that obstructed rivals, including Facebook and Google, from targeting ads at consumers. Some say they’ve created an unfair advantage. In this podcast episode, Louis Belpaire joins the show to explore questions like:
- How did this happen in the first place?
- What is Apple's end goal?
- What ripple effects did this have on other platforms like Facebook and SnapChat?
- How has Apple's brand identity changed over the years?
- Should governments impose more regulations on the advertising industry?
Doom scrolling on social media is the act of spending an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of negative news. On this episode, Laura Devinsky shares her perspective on how to hook users while they're scrolling with killer creative. We answer questions like:
- What is "doom scrolling"?
- How can marketers stop users from doom scrolling?
- How will paid ads on social change with rising ad costs?
- What campaigns have done a good job capturing attention? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOU5HnH7SzY)
- What would doom scrolling look like in the metaverse?
SEO is an investment in your expertise, authority and trust. It's a long-term investment in future brand visibility, and it needs to be sold that way internally. On this episode, Geoff Kerbis zooms out to look at SEO on a more appropriate timescale, answering questions like:
- Why should companies invest in SEO?
- How do you set the right expectations to stakeholders in sales and finance?
- How do you know when to focus on SEO -vs- a website redesign?
- What other pitfalls should marketing leaders avoid?
- What role can an agency play in helping marketing leaders plan for an investment in SEO?
There are 2.3 billion monthly active users on YouTube. 400 hours of video is uploaded every second. Google generated nearly $20 billion in advertising revenue in 2020. There is plenty of opportunity for companies to run advertisements on the platform. On this episode, Laura Devinsky shares her experience managing YouTube ad campaigns, offers relevant examples and actionable takeaways. We answer questions like:
- What are some common YouTube ad types?
- Why do people use YouTube in the first place?
- What goes into building a creative strategy for YouTube ads?
- How often should campaigns refresh creative?
- What role does influencer marketing play?
Sales, marketing and customer success teams need to be aligned in B2B SaaS organizations. This helps companies grow, but also to retain net revenue and sell deeper into existing accounts. Hunter Montgomery, Chief Marketing Officer at ChurnZero, joins the show to talk about how these teams can work together to drive meaningful results. In this episode, we answer questions like:
- What’s the role of customer success within B2B SaaS organizations?
- How should organizations budget for customer success investments?
- What are the gaps between marketing, sales, and customer success?
- How should marketing teams plug in to drive customer retention efforts?
- How important is it for customer success to have strong sales skills?
- How does ChurnZero leverage their own platform for marketing?
https://churnzero.net/
In the final part of the episode, Andrew Nelson and Chris Picarde answer audience-submitted questions about how they managed to restructure client delivery teams using the Predictive Index—a talent optimization platform.
In part one of this two-part episode, Andrew Nelson and Chris Picarde share how they managed to restructure client delivery teams using the Predictive Index—a talent optimization platform. We go behind the scenes to show how Silverback Strategies coordinates across teams of technical experts, strategists and creatives to generate leads and revenue for clients. We cover:
- Setting a strong cultural foundation
- Balancing skills -vs- attributes
- A new way to organize teams around clients
- Team personalities and their strengths
Learn more at silverbackstrategies.com
You can't spell conspiracy theory without S-E-O. Geoff Kerbis joins the show to share his theories on why tech giants like Google, Amazon and Spotify are making certain changes. On this episode, speculate about questions, like:
- What's Google's real motive behind the CWV update?
- Does Amazon want to know everything about you?
- Will Amazon compete for your branded terms?
- What is Spotify's angle with podcasts?
Learn more at silverbackstrategies.com
Keyword research can be vague and nebulous, but it doesn't have to be. Jacob Clarke joins the show to share how he approaches keyword research for SEO, including:
- why keyword research is essential for SEO campaigns
- first steps to getting started with keyword research
- how to find keyword ideas to write about
- signs of a great keyword
- tools to help with keyword research
To learn more, visit www.silverbackstrategies.com
Measuring share of voice on search helps marketers who want to become more well known for specific key words or topics. Jordan Crawford and Alison Reyes join the show to share their experience measuring share of voice. In this episode, we talk about:
- why measuring share of voice is important for SEO
- how to measure share of voice and tools to help
- how to select competitors to measure against
- real-life example of measuring share of voice
Learn more at https://www.silverbackstrategies.com/
End-to-end measurement is the process of attributing revenue to a particular source. This is made possible when the right systems are connected together. This week, Terry Guttman joins the show to talk about his experience with end-to-end measurement. In this conversation, we talk about:
- an overview of end-to-end measurement
- common mistakes or pitfalls marketers should avoid
- capturing the right data at conversion points
- factoring in upper-funnel campaigns
Learn more at https://www.silverbackstrategies.com/
Google is changing how they match advertisements to keyword phrases. The trend moves us to a more broad, automated approach. Andrew Fuchs joins the show to share his perspective on:
- the difference between broad, phrase, and exact match
- what happened to broad match modified (BMM)
- the impact to display/video keywords
- trends across Silverback's client portfolio
One big challenge facing marketing leaders is knowing when to make key investments, like advertising on the Google Display Network. On this episode, Mary Davin joins the show to talk about her experience running responsive display ads (RDAs). In this conversation we talk about:
- the difference between traditional and responsive display ads
- when a company should consider RDAs
- examples of responsive display ads that performed well
- reporting capabilities of RDAs
- what elements are needed to fuel RDAs
Marketing spans a wide range of arts and sciences. So naturally, it attracts an eclectic mix of personalities. This presents a major challenge for brands who need to scale up their marketing efforts. Steve Dyson, Talent Acquisition Specialist, joins the show to talk about his experience with what makes up a high-performance marketing team, like:
- why attributes are just as important as skills
- tools to predict personality fit for the role
- ways managers can promote cohesion
- the role of diversity in building teams
Website optimization has become more technical, especially with Google's Core Web Vitals update. Naturally, this means SEO and development teams need to be in sync. Kurt Lambert and Geoff Kerbis return to the show to talk about how SEO and dev teams should work together. In this conversation, we discuss:
- where SEO work stops and dev work begins
- how to structure SEO and dev teams
- how to build trust between SEO and dev teams
- technical optimizations to address Core Web Vitals issues
With fewer targeting capabilities on digital ad platforms and with more companies saturating the market with content, it can be hard to stand out from the noise. That's why the creative elements of a marketing campaign are critical. In this episode, Emily Bliss shares her perspective on:
- the role creative plays in marketing today
- how to combat ad fatigue among your audience
- examples of campaigns measuring creative performance
- three key methods to measure and test
Kurt Lambert and Geoff Kerbis join the show to talk about Google's Core Web Vitals: content loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. In this conversation, you'll hear:
- examples for each type of core web vital
- when this may impact your site
- what resources companies will need to address issues
- theories on why Google is making this change
Businesses can use an SEO content strategy to drive qualified website traffic from organic search channels, like Google or Bing. Jacob Clarke joins the Digital Marketing Troop to talk about his experience. On this episode, we talk about:
- when SEO should be a priority
- biggest mistakes brands make
- how to research keywords
- the role of technical SEO
- "would someone type this into Google"
Please listen, subscribe, and leave a rating and review!
Sales organizations that thrive on a steady flow of inbound leads have an opportunity to leverage paid social for lead generation. LinkedIn is a viable source for some, but not all businesses. Jacob Shibley joins the show to talk about his experience with LinkedIn ads, and what a “full-funnel” strategy looks like. In this conversation, we talk about:
- The companies that benefit from LinkedIn ads
- The three primary objectives of LinkedIn campaigns
- How data privacy changes impact LinkedIn
- Examples of successful “full-funnel” campaigns
Refreshing stale content is a huge SEO opportunity for marketers. Jacob Clarke joins this week’s episode to share his expertise. In this conversation, we talk about:
- 3 telltale signs of when content needs a refresh
- how to approach this type of keyword research
- real examples of content refresh projects
- the impact marketers should expect
Learn more at silverbackstrategies.com
Google threw a wrench in marketers' strategizing when they announced their third-party data deprecation initiative is on pause until 2023.
After weeks, if not months, of feverish planning to shift to a first-party data strategy, marketers might be wondering what to do now. Haley Nininger explains why Google hesitated and what might be next, both for third-party cookies and marketers looking to use the learnings over the last few weeks to be ready for 2023.
TJ James joins the show to discuss iOS 14.5 and its impact on Facebook Ad campaigns. Here's the key takeaways to know:
- Reduced demographic information in reporting, including gender, age, etc.
- Limited insight into device- and platform-specific conversions
- Campaign consolidation to maximize machine learning signals
- Lower match rates and importance of lookalike audiences
Geoff Kerbis is back on The Digital Marketing Troop, this time bringing his SEO expertise to illuminate Google’s Featured Snippet. In this episode, we talk about:
- What types of Featured Snippets exist
- The relationship between Featured Snippets and voice search
- When you should optimize for clicks vs Featured Snippets
- The legend of Sven Johnson, and much more…
Paid media expert Haley Nininger explains how changes in data privacy affects the performance of advertising on Google. In this episode, we talk about:
- New layers of filtering dramatically impact the size of your target audience
- Why you should take a “full funnel” approach to advertising
- Ways to create more opportunities for value exchange
- How to approach, measure, and improve platform strategy with actionable tips
Listen and subscribe to learn how your paid media strategy should be ready for 2021, the year of consumer data privacy.
Google Analytics 4 is the next version of their leading website analytics platform, Universal Analytics. Aside from prioritizing privacy of web users, it’s simply much different than what digital marketers are used to navigating. Ben Yehle, senior analytics account manager, explains the must-know information for digital marketers, including:
Changes in reporting, formatting, and defaults
Less default granularity in events
Expiration of user data and alternatives provided by Google
Ben addresses what to expect and how to adjust, giving you the edge in adopting Google Analytics 4.
SEO experts Jacob Clarke and Jordan Wogenstahl explain the importance of an optimized Google My Business profile and provide guidance on how to ensure listings are as complete as possible and working as intended. In this episode, we covered:
- Industries that benefit most
- Real examples of company profiles
- Core elements and advanced features
- And much more...
Louis Belpaire discusses one of the most important and pressing topics facing the digital marketing industry today: the deprecation of third-party cookies and how to shift to a first-party data strategy.
- What is the origin of the "magic cookie"?
- What changed causing 3rd-party cookies to go away?
- How quickly do marketers need to pivot to a 1st-party data strategy?
Listen and subscribe.
Emily Bliss and Lauren McVetty join the show to talk about the power and importance of audience research.
Together, they’ll tell you audience marketing can be easy but effective. From interests to demographics, you can use these findings to improve your digital marketing with better content, better creative, and better messaging. Listen to this to get a better sense of who may be listening to you.
Silverback Strategies’ Kurt Lambert, VP of SEO & DevOps, and Andrew Fuchs, Director of Paid Media & SEO, provide their views on how SEO and Paid Media work well together based on years of experience in the digital digital marketing space.
In the premiere of The Digital Marketing Troop, host John Tyreman welcomes two SEO experts from Silverback Strategies to discuss whether or not backlinks impact SEO in a meaningful way.
John facilitates a conversation between Silverback Strategies’ Geoffrey Kerbis, SEO team lead, and Jordan Wogenstahl, senior SEO account manager to get their differing views. Which side will you take?