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The Marketing Companion

The world’s most entertaining marketing podcast! Mark Schaefer and a rotation of brilliant guest hosts provide new marketing insights and timely advice that help you navigate the future of digital business, The Marketing Companion is always fun, always interesting, and always on-target with ideas that will turn up your marketing intellect to an “11.”

S12 E8 · Mon, April 07, 2025
The Crisis of Imagination
How do we break through the noise in industries that have normalized dull? You're about to embark on a crazy journey of misfit Barbies, back alley tee shirts, and criminal wine as Mark Schaefer and Carla Johnson explore the crisis of imagination in marketing. We all want to do better work ... what is holding us back? Plenty, as it turns out!
S12 E7 · Mon, March 24, 2025
Staying ahead of the learning curve
It's harder than ever to keep up with the world and you can't do it alone. Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo share their favorite strategies for tapping into expert advice and staying relevant in a fast-changing world.
S12 E6 · Mon, March 10, 2025
The personal brand pivot
Are you working on your personal brand? I hope so! It's like an insurance policy for your career. But what happens when you out-grow your brand and it's time to climb a new mountain? Moving on can be difficult and emotional. Amanda Russell discusses the next step in her journey and why it was time to take a risk.
S12 E5 · Mon, February 24, 2025
The AI impact on SEO
New co-host Andy Crestodina unwraps the hottest topic on the web these days — the impact of AI on SEO. Most websites are starting to get hits from AI sites, and Mark Schaefer reports that he's gained new customers. But what is the secret to success? Mark and Andy also debate LinkedIn newsletters — is it too late to find success? Is it robbing readers from your website?
S12 E4 · Mon, February 17, 2025
We must disrupt marketing now
In this special episode, the legendary host of the Marketing Book podcast, Douglas Burdett, comes out of retirement to interview Mark Schaefer about his new book "Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World." From now on, "competent" doesn't cut it. The bots are coming but we still own crazy. This is a time to ignite the human fireworks of creativity if marketing professionals are to transcend the threat from artificial intelligence.
S12 E3 · Mon, February 10, 2025
AI and cognitive decline
As we hurtle into the AI Era, there will be many unintended consequences, and one of them might be a cognitive decline. Early research shows that as we increasingly depend on AI for our thinking and decisions, our brains become lazy. What are the implications for education? Are we re-defining humanity or returning to a simpler time before information overload? Paul Roetzer and Mark Schaefer also discuss the DeepSeek outfall, Ai marketing fails, and more
S12 E2 · Mon, January 27, 2025
The Most Human Company Wins
In an AI world, the need for human connection will be more profound than ever. Dana Malstaff and Mark Schaefer talk about new ideas to integrate a human connection into AI prompts, communities, and content strategies. Here are some truly unique ideas that will make you re-think how you connect with customers and audiences.
S12 E1 · Mon, January 13, 2025
Big marketing ideas for 2025
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey pluck out a few big trends that have them excited for the new year. From the executive implications of AI to a focus on premium experiences, this is a fascinating exploration of what's coming next. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S11 E28 · Mon, December 30, 2024
The key to success isn't having the best answers. It's having the best questions
In this fun and thought-provoking show, Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo challenge each other with the best questions they could ask each other — and then dissect the beauty of the question. Amp up you content game by listening to this extraordinary debate! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Jay Acunzo consults experts and entrepreneurs to differentiate their messages and content. He hosts the podcast How Stories Happen, where guests dissect signature stories piece by piece, and runs the Creator Kitchen, where experts learn to become stronger storytellers. Learn more at jayacunzo.com
S11 E27 · Mon, December 16, 2024
The magic of NotebookLM
In this mind-bending episode, Mark Schaefer demonstrates why NotebookLM has taken the AI world by storm.
S11 E26 · Mon, December 02, 2024
Three questions that will change your career
Keith Jennings talks about how Mark Schaefer's new book became a catalyst for his career reinvention. Mark and Keith discuss their history of personal reinvention and the three questions they use to judge whether they are stagnating on the job. This is Keith's final episode on the show and Mark announces two new co-hosts for the podcast's 14th season. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact. He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ keithjennings/ .
S11 E25 · Mon, November 18, 2024
Protecting children in the digital world
Mark Schaefer and Paul Roetzer dissect several evolving AI-related developments, including the emerging emotional bond between children and AI bots, a humanoid fine artist, how AI is transforming education, and more.
S11 E24 · Mon, November 04, 2024
An inside view of LinkedIn success
Mark Schaefer brings LinkedIn expert Richard Bliss onto the show. Richard covers basic LinkedIn strategy, the role of AI and bots, collaborative content, emerging role of video and more. This episode contains bonus Q&A content about LinkedIn newsletters, streaming video, and LinkedIn for newbies. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking .
S11 E23 · Mon, October 21, 2024
Burning a community to the ground
Marketing visionary Dana Malstaff built one of the most successful communities on the planet. With 80,000 members, it was a revenue engine and an inspiration to her enthusiastic followers. Here why Dana decided to start over. This will be one of the most moving and inspiring stories of leadership and courage you'll hear.
S11 E22 · Mon, October 07, 2024
The Making of a Signature Story
Every keynote speaker and content creator knows the value of that signature story – a tale that drives home a point with passion, insight, and a little drama. But how do you come up with these stories, and how do you craft them to serve you well in your marketing? Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo explore this topic in this new episode. You'll learn how each identifies, nurtures, and delivers their best stories. And you'll get to hear two of their favorite tales. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subscribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Jay Acunzo consults experts and entrepreneurs to differentiate their messages and content. He hosts the podcast How Stories Happen, where guests dissect signature stories piece by piece, and runs the Creator Kitchen, where experts learn to become stronger storytellers. Learn more at jayacunzo.com
S11 E21 · Mon, September 23, 2024
Influencer product launches
Ed Sheeran launched a new hot sauce in cooperation with Heinz. It makes so much sense. Ed doesn't have to harvest the tomatoes and make anything! Why aren't more bands launching products with influencers? While celebrity endorsements have been around for ages, giving stars a stake in an actual product has been rarer. Meanwhile, influencers are launching their own products – with or without the brands. Why don't brands get ahead of this? Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell discuss this trend on the new episode of The Marketing Companion. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Amanda Russell is a marketing leader, entrepreneur, and scholar. By age 32, she built and sold two successful businesses: an online fitness subscription community for women and a digital marketing and production company. She served as Chief Marketing Officer at a NYC-based portf
S11 E20 · Mon, September 09, 2024
The mystery of social objects
Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings explore the role of social objects in marketing. They are everywhere; they drive word-of-mouth marketing, and this is one of the least-explored ideas in the arsenal. Learn how to use social objects for your own business and why this idea is indispensable in the AI Era. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact. He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ keithjennings/ .
S11 E19 · Mon, August 26, 2024
Does AI Have a Marketing Problem?
AI is suffering from low adoption, lousy press, fear of job loss, and frankly a confused public. Is it time for AI to embark on some marketing of its own? That's just one of the subjects Mark Schaefer and Paul Roetzer discuss in this new episode of The Marketing Companion. Mark and Paul also cover the future of the AI copyright problem, the new "robber barons" breaking the law to make AI come alive, regulation, new marketing applications, and much more.
S11 E18 · Mon, August 12, 2024
Brand Communities: State of the Nation
Mark Schaefer and Sara Wilson dive into the red-hot world of brand communities. Who is doing it well and why? What are the challenges? What is the role of influencers and what's next? We'll explore that and more in this new episode. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking .
S11 E17 · Mon, July 29, 2024
A search for personal peace
On this episode, Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey talk about their search for personal peace within the corporate world and beyond. Both have been on a journey to live a life with less stress and more satisfaction, in sometimes divergent paths. They discuss financial freedom, impact of social media expectations, anxiety and depression, staying "centered," meditation, experimenting with psychedelics, and more. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S11 E16 · Mon, July 15, 2024
How curiosity fuels marketing
Jay Acunzo contends in this episode that you don't need to be brilliant to be an effective content creator. You need to up the ante on curiosity. Curiosity is one of the most important "soft skills" of marketing. But can it be learned? Improved? Spread to a team? You'll find out on this new episode. Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking .
S11 E15 · Mon, July 01, 2024
Beyond imposter syndrome
It seems like imposter syndrome is referenced everywhere these days. It's such a common obstacle to success but there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell explore this provocative topic from their own life experiences. Amanda has had extensive "brain training" as an elite athlete while Mark explored a family of origin narrative to discover personal roadblocks. It's a new take on a very old and ubiquitous problem. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do 'higher education. Former Olympic-level athlete, Founder-
S12 E14 · Mon, June 17, 2024
What business are you in? Really?
Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings dive into one of the most complicated questions in the business world ... What business are you in? Deceptively simple, Devilishly complicated, this question has been an obsession for the greatest minds in marketing for decades. And this is a question that is more relevant than ever. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact.He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ keithjennings/ .
S12 E13 · Mon, June 03, 2024
Philosophical Quandaries About AI
Mark Schaefer and Paule Roetzer of the Marketing AI Institute get out of the trenches for a moment and look at big questions facing marketers as AI barrels forward. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking .
S12 E12 · Mon, May 20, 2024
The future of social listening
Most brands depend on social listening platforms to gauge brand sentiment, consumer feedback and competitor activities. But what happens in a world where most customers don't want to be seen and heard? Sara Wilson is working on this problem and in this new episode, we explore new ideas about community, conversations and the critical aspects of consumer insight in an AI World. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking .
S12 E10 · Mon, May 06, 2024
The Human side of AI
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezy look at the foundational and enduring role of humans to create impact, loyalty, and relationships even as they are preoccupied with AI. Mark and Mathew explore the importance of events, communities, networking and loyalty. They also talk about the next big AI "unlock" for humans, the last human competitive advantage against AI, outcome-based content marketing, and Web3 farming. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S12 E9 · Mon, April 29, 2024
Big ideas from the marketing retreat
In this special bonus episode of The Marketing Companion, Mark Schaefer and Daniel Nestle review some of the key learnings and highlights from The Uprising marketing retreat. The event featured acclaimed thought leaders on AI, content marketing, word of mouth, branding, and more. The intimate setting and group conversations created many a-ha moments. You can learn more about the Uprising retreat here .
S12 E8 · Mon, April 22, 2024
When to stop and start your content projects
Mark Schaefer reveals his content anxiety – is he missing something by sticking with the same content formats for more than a decade? Jay Acunzo describes his strategy of starting and stopping shows and why it makes sense ... or not. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast
S12 E7 · Mon, April 08, 2024
Unraveling the global sports industry
Amanda Russell has a front and center seat in one of the biggest controversies in the history of sports. Millions of young athletes are losing their health, and in some cases their lives, to radical training programs. In this new episode, we look at the marketing of disruptive ideas in a fascinating discussion. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do 'higher education. Former Olympic-level athlete, Founder-to-sale Entrepreneur and Marketing Consultant who still loves the brain gymnastics of helping people and companies become more influential among their desired audience. Professor, Author "The In
S12 E6 · Mon, March 25, 2024
A backlash against "purpose" in marketing
Too many companies are claiming to be beacons of social good and then not delivering. The result is a backlash against purpose-filled marketing, especially with young people. Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings explore the current state of marketing and its role in our businesses and lives. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact.He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ keithjennings/ .
S12 E5 · Mon, March 11, 2024
Getting started with AI for your business
The world of Ai overwhelming. How do grab ahold of something in this hurricane of daily developments and actually start something for your business? Mark Schaefer and Paul Roetzer cut through the overwhelm to offer practical steps. There is bonus content on this show that explores AGI, impact on marketing careers, and more.
S12 E4 · Mon, February 26, 2024
The next generation of consumers is here
Marketing to Gen Z requires drops, collabs and customization as table stakes, nostalgic IP as a ticket to ubiquity, participatory game mechanics driving virality, content and commerce finally tying the knot, and billionaire influencers, to name a few. Mark Schaefer and Sara Wilson explore how the most successful brands navigate major shifts reshaping Gen Z lives, such as the rise of AI, digital campfire platforms and the collapse of traditional media channels. These brands all know how to garner the most valuable commodity in the world: attention. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social- marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing tr
S12 E3 · Mon, February 12, 2024
A new look at loyalty
Brand loyalty has been in decline for years. But Mathew Sweezy is heading up new technological innovations to build loyalty through experiences and games native to the digital lifestyle. Catch a glimpse of the future of innovation with Mat and Mark Schaefer. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S12 E2 · Mon, January 29, 2024
My biggest business mistakes
We all make mistakes but rarely talk about them. That changes today as Jay Acunzo and Mark Schaefer reveal their biggest flops, miscues, and embarrassments. A lot of lessons, a lot of fun ... you won't want to miss it! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast
S12 E1 · Mon, January 15, 2024
Breaking all the rules of eCommerce
If it seems like Shein and Temu have taken over the world overnight, you would not be wrong. These leading retail brands came out of nowhere by seemingly breaking all the rules of marketing. Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell break down the biggest revolution in retail since Amazon! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do 'higher education. Former Olympic-level athlete, Founder-to-sale Entrepreneur and Marketing Consultant who still loves the brain gymnastics of helping people and companies become more influential among their desire
S11 E27 · Wed, December 27, 2023
From Paycheck to Purpose: Why I Stopped Growing My Business
Mark Schaefer explains a process that started 25 years ago to begin moving his business decisions from money to activities that brought joy. Keith Jennings compares this to a five-step career journey that starts with "don't mess up" to "meaningful work that brings joy." Where are you in the process? Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact.He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ keithjennings/ .
S11 E26 · Mon, December 18, 2023
The freakiest podcast ever
In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, Mark Schaefer was faced with a crisis and he asked AI to solve it for him. You'll just have to hear it to believe it.
S11 E25 · Mon, December 04, 2023
The creator-based commercial strategy
Creators are building brands, businesses, and loyal communities faster than the largest brands in the world. This is undoubtedly one of the most important trends of our lifetime, with vast implications for the future of marketing. Mark Schaefer and Sara Wilson team up to dissect this development and dissect research with vast implications for our commercial strategies. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social- marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing trends; she coined the term "digital campfires" in the Harvard Business Review to describe the types of spaces where young audiences are gathering online today, and often speaks and leads wor
S11 E24 · Mon, November 20, 2023
The business case for Personal GPTs
With OpenAi's revolutionary new offering, everyone has the ability to create custom applications -- just by typing commands in your own style. You can create whatever you can imagine! Everyone can be a coder now. Let's cut through the hype and explore the possibilities and constraints of this remarkable technology. Mark Schaefer hosts Paul Roetzer, founder of the Marketing AI Institute.
S11 E23 · Mon, November 06, 2023
Six pillars of our marketing future
In an unprecedented solo performance, Mark Schaefer discusses his thoughts on where our marketing priorities will be in the next few years. is the metaverse still alive and kicking? Tune it to find out!
S11 E22 · Mon, October 23, 2023
The beauty of messy marketing
Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell explore the Pratfall Effect, a psychological model that says we gain trust and credibility through revealing our mistakes. In this fascinating episode, they look at case studies from Mark's dressing habits and a weird burger commercial, to cookies and Mark Zuckerberg's hoodie. Mistakes in marketing can work, but only within a certain context. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do 'higher education. Former Olympic-level athlete, Founder-to-sale Entrepreneur and Marketing Consultant who still loves the brain gymnastics of h
S11 E21 · Mon, October 09, 2023
The generosity strategy
Can you base a marketing strategy on generosity? It's complex, exciting, and perhaps a key part of our future in business. Keith Jennings has studied the psychology and sociology of generosity and is convinced it should be a core strategy. Mark and Keith explore this idea and a multitude of angles when kindness counts most of all in this unusual episode! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact. He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/ in/keithjennings/ .
S11 E20 · Mon, September 25, 2023
Scaling human-powered marketing
As marketers sort through the new bag of AI magic tricks, it's important to stay centered on real value and the human connection at the center of marketing. In this episode, Mark Schaefer and Dennis Yu take a fresh look at the Human-Centered Marketing Manifesto and debate its relevance in the new digital landscape Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Dennis Yu is on a mission to create a million jobs by training up international workers to serve American companies. Former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on ads. Best-selling author and speaker.
S11 E19 · Mon, September 11, 2023
Gen Z Exposed
Sara Wilson and Mark Schaefer attended Z Con, the first conference fully dedicated to Gen Z -- up on by Gen Z leaders. It provided a fascinating glimpse into the minds and memes of a generation that punched above its weight when it comes to cultural influence. In this show you'll get an eye-popping look at what it takes to achieve business and brand success when it comes to this new generation of consumers. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social- marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing trends; she coined the term "digital campfires" in the Harvard Business Review to describe the types of spaces where young audiences
S11 E18 · Mon, August 28, 2023
The personal impact of AI
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey discuss how the AI revolution is impacting them as business leaders, entrepreneurs, and simply individuals trying to make their way in the world. Mark and Mathew discuss their current AI priorities, hacks, and the aspects of this development keeping them up at night. Where do they see the pitfalls and opportunities? Find out in this fascinating episode! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S11 E17 · Mon, August 14, 2023
The unified theory of content success
There are plenty of frameworks for successful content creation, but can ANYBODY breakthrough with a successful blog, podcast, or video series these days ... or does it take some "special sauce?" Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo debate the issue and don't always agree in this fascinating episode. Mark and Jay cover what it takes to create a defensible content property, the importance of being pissed off, why marketers create the worst content, and the importance of "awe" in the content world. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker, and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . For more of Mark’s insights every week, subcribe to his award-winning blog . Mark also offers classes in personal branding and professional speaking . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast
S11 E16 · Mon, July 31, 2023
The AI hierarchy of content
AI is moving quickly into every crevice of the marketing world but the impact on content has been immediate and profound. Where does AI matter, and where will humans persist and thrive? Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell discuss a hierarchy of content in the AI world and the impact on the personal brand. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do higher education.
S11 E15 · Mon, July 17, 2023
Master the Art of Business Narrative
Mark Schaefer and Ketih Jennings reveal the difference between story and narrative as it relates to business strategy. In this wide-ranging discussion, they unpack the role of narrative in branding and corporate influence, Eastern versus Western storytelling style, and more. This episode has special bonus content going deeper on this subject from RISE community members.
S11 E14 · Mon, July 03, 2023
Public speaking in the marketing mix
Dennis Yu and Mark Schaefer explore why public speaking is becoming a more important in the marketing mix. Speaking builds authority and trust and can cut through the disinformation of our world. Mark and Dennis also reveal some of their public speaking highs and lows and reveal their secrets to battle onstage nerves. This episode is a fascinating and fun collection of tips and stories! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Dennis Yu is on a mission to create a million jobs by training up international workers to serve American companies. Former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on ads. Best-selling author and speaker.
S11 E13 · Mon, June 19, 2023
The greatest content marketing experiment in history
This episode provides a behind-the-scenes look at the production of a singularly unique content marketing project. Mark Schaefer pulled together 35 subject matter experts from ten countries to create one of the most unique content experiments in history. Jump into this show to discover Mark Schaefer's biggest personal business risk. There was no going back when these experts decided to move forward with a project that would change their lives. Featuring Daniel Nestle, Frank Prendergast and Anna Bravington.
S11 E12 · Mon, June 05, 2023
The future of loyalty
"Open Loyalty" is an exciting new idea that transforms traditional notions of loyalty with cutting edge technology. Some of the biggest brands are experimenting with the idea. Let's learn about the future of loyalty with Mathew Sweezey and Mark Schaefer. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helped Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew an independent consultant, a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S11 E11 · Mon, May 22, 2023
What is the gist of YOU? Relevance in the AI world
In this era where AI is nipping at the heels of our marketing careers, there is no more important idea than defining how you fit into this new eco-system, or, ad Jay Acunzo puts it, "What is the gist of you?" Jay and Mark Schaefer take a deep dive into the meaning of brand and personal relevance in a world exploding with new creative output. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," “Belonging to the Brand,” and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast
S11 E10 · Mon, May 08, 2023
The luxury brand enigma
In this unique episode. Amanda Russell and Mark Schaefer offer an exclusive look at the extraordinary marketing challenges in the field of marketing. In a world where taste, scarcity, and exclusivity rule, the foundations of mass marketing are meaningless. How do luxury brands connect in a personal way that builds community? There are important lessons here for any marketer! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Amanda Russell is the founder of the Global Center for Influence (C4In) , launching (2023) at the University of Texas at Austin with a mission to help brands & people learn how to position themselves and their companies for success, bridging the gap between academia and practice. Amanda's mission is to enhance how we do 'higher education. Former Olympic-level athlete, Founder-to-sale Entrepreneur and Marketing Consultant who still loves the brain gymnastics of helping people and companies become more influential among their desired audience. Professor, Author "The Influencer Code", Speaker, Board Member and Director of C4In
S11 E9 · Mon, April 24, 2023
What the “Whole Self” Movement Means to Marketers
Should we bring our "whole self" to the marketing profession? A powerful sociological trend is changing norms and expectations of our customers and employees. What are the advantages and disadvantages of vulnerability and self-disclosure? Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings weigh in! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "Belonging to the Brand" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Keith Jennings is an executive and writer who equips professionals to serve with values, generosity, and social impact.He serves as vice president of community impact with Jackson Healthcare. Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/ in/keithjennings/ .
S11 E8 · Mon, April 10, 2023
The new and now of social media marketing
Mark Schaefer and social media marketing expert Denis Yu dive into the most important trends including the true value of the blue check mark, the most powerful platforms right now, the future of TikTok, and the truth behind Facebook's foray into the metaverse. You'll also hear some hair-raising stories about information and privacy! Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "Marketing Rebellion" and "Belonging to the Brand." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Dennis Yu is on a mission to create a million jobs by training up international workers to serve American companies. Former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on ads. Best-selling author and speaker.
S11 E7 · Mon, March 27, 2023
AI and cultural impact
AI is everywhere and seemingly everything these days in the world of marketing. But now that we're getting through the magic trick phase of AI we're beginning to observe the powerful impact it could have on culture, community, and careers. Let's begin the discussion today, a discussion that is just starting in our world today.
S11 E6 · Mon, March 13, 2023
Cracking the Gen Z Code
Sara Wilson has been studying Gen Z with a detective-like intensity and her new research report gives us a guide for connecting with them. We talk about their hideouts, their curious aesthetic, the role of "faux-stalgia," the importance of the absurd, and much more. Your head will spin with new insights and ideas in this conversation with Mark Schaefer. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion," and “Belonging to the Brand.” His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social- marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing trends; she coined the term "digital campfires" in the Harvard Business Review to describe the types of spaces where young audiences are gathering online today, and often speaks and leads workshops on this and other topics related to social innovation, web3, and Gen Z consumption trends to companies around the world such as Microsoft and McKinsey.
S11 E5 · Mon, February 27, 2023
Creativity and the true threat of AI
Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo take a deep dive into the utility and threat of AI platforms like ChatGPT. They explore the very nature of creativity and Jay explains the three foundational ideas and why AI falls short on two of them. Mark presents a dystopian future view of creativity, a scenario he says is probable in five to 10 years. Ultimately Mark and Jay agree that personal connection through content will determine success or failure. Mark describes three different types of content and why AI will dominate at least one of those categories. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," "Marketing Rebellion," and “Belonging to the Brand.” His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/ unthinkable-podcast
S11 E4 · Mon, February 13, 2023
Nonprofit marketing insights
Mark Schaefer and nonprofit marketing authority Keith Jennings unwrap new ideas in nonprofit marketing, including a new way to segment audiences, why a focus on "product" enables better nonprofit marketing, and why nonprofits should consider community-based marketing.
S11 E3 · Mon, January 30, 2023
My biggest accomplishment
In this show, Mark Schaefer and two friends, Samantha Stone and Chad Parizman, weave a story of his greatest professional accomplishment -- ten years in the making. It's not a book, it's not a famous speech. This is the story of 30 people who took a risk together. Samantha Stone is the founder and CEO of The Marketing Advisory Network. She is a teacher, consultant, marketing strategist, researcher, and the author of Unleash Possible. Chad Parizman has been a digital marketing strategist for HGTV and Pfizer and currently leads brands into an effective social audio strategy through his company Ader Communications.
S11 E2 · Mon, January 16, 2023
Marketing that heals!
In this unique episode, Mark Schaefer talks about how viewing "community" through the lens of brand marketing is not a strategy that works, it is marketing that heals. In fact, community might be the greatest overlooked marketing opportunity in the history of marketing opportunities. The legendary Douglas Burdette serves as a special co-host for this episode. This episode includes a free chapter of Mark's new book " Belonging to the Brand ." Douglas Burdette is the founder of Artillery Marketing and the host of the well-known Marketing Book podcas t. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN," "Marketing Rebellion" and " Belonging to the Brand ." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising .
S11 E1 · Mon, January 02, 2023
The Tom Peters interview
Tom Peters was named as one of the top 10 business minds of this century and he just published an extraordinary new book. In this interview, he covers some surprising topics with typical boldness: His surprising take on "quiet quitting." "You don't have to like your employees, but you have to love them." Why great speakers act out of a sense of desperation about their message Why "business is community, period." Your job as a leader is to "hire well and promote." Why he is perpetually pissed off Why we need to hire "the quiet ones." Tom is best-known for his book "In Search of Excellence" and his new book is "The Compact Guide to Excellence."
S10 E27 · Mon, December 19, 2022
Big marketing ideas of the year
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey talk about some of the landmark marketing events of 2022 and project what might be important in the coming year. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Mathew Sweezey is the Co-Founder of Salesforces Web3 Studio where he helps Salesforce and their top customers transition into Web3. Mathew is also a best selling author, and avid adventurer.
S10 E26 · Thu, December 08, 2022
ChatGPT changes marketing forever
In five days, one million people signed up for ChatGPT, a sophisticated artificual intelligence program now broadly available in a user-friendly interface. At a minimum this upends our approach to content, social media, research, and strategy. For many, it will be the end of their careers as they've known it. To help us figure out what's next, I turned to a revered tech analyst, Shelly Palmer. In this special episode, Shelly explains why he things ChatGPT "changes everything," the opportunities and limitations, and his career strategy. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Shelly Palmer is an author, speaker, educator, and tech analyst.
S10 E25 · Mon, December 05, 2022
Reimagining content marketing
Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo re-think content marketing from the ground up, contending that that the personal brand and their trusted audiences may drive strategy more than "helpful content." Instead of a content department, Mark and Jay think through what a "content culture" would look like that nurtures in-house creators, establishes a space for outside industry thought leaders, and assigns full-time creative duties at an executive level. This is a model that is already happening at media companies. Why not transfer these best practices to the corporate and agency world? Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising . Jay Acunzo is an author, speaker, and host of the podcast Unthinkable -- the show about marketers who trusted their intuition, not the best practices, and all the unconventional, refreshing things they did to build their brands and leave their legacies. Learn more and find a Starter Pack of episodes at https://jayacunzo.com/unthinkable-podcast
S10 E24 · Mon, November 21, 2022
Building relationships in a fast-moving world
Amanda Russell relates an amazing story of how she cuts through the clutter to surround herself with powerful business relationships. This is a graduate level class about networking strategy and gaining attention of thought leaders in a busy world. Some themes: Deep research on potential connections Creating value that cuts through the noise Continual effort to build on momentum Establishing a mutually-beneficial relationship Focus on the individual, not the ask Prioritizing follow up and follow through Establishing reciprocity The role of community Mark and Amanda also discuss the phenomenon of imposter syndrome. It seems to be everywhere but neither one of them has this condition. How do they approach scary new situations and ambiguity with confidence? Amanda Russell is a college educator at the University of Texas, author of The Influencer Code, and consultant on influencer marketing. Mark Schaefer is a strategy consultant, college educator, keynote speaker and the author of 10 books including "KNOWN" and "Marketing Rebellion." His annual marketing retreat is The Uprising .
S10 E23 · Mon, November 07, 2022
Status drives marketing
Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings explore a vastly overlooked aspect of marketing -- status. While this may seem like a taboo topic, seeking status drives almost every aspect of our lives from where we live to our art, music, and brand devotion. Mark and Keith connect the dots between status and key cultural trends, especially the shifts we are seeing from Gen Z.
S10 E22 · Mon, October 24, 2022
New use cases for NFTs
NFTs have been in the news so much lately, and there's so much to learn! In this show, Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey talk about NFTs as a tool to build community, loyalty, and brand identity through some exciting new use cases.
S10 E21 · Mon, October 10, 2022
GenZ is hiding from us
Social listening platforms are meaningless when it comes to young people today. Gen Z is hiding out in their digital campfires on Fortnite, Roblox and other hard-to-reach places. Mark Schaefer and Sara Wilson discuss how this new generation of tastemakers are re-defining community, marketing, and how we reach our customers. Sara Wilson is a journalist-turned-social-marketer (former Facebook & Instagram) who works with brands, publications, and platforms like YouTube, Nike, Bumble, the New York Times and many others find, engage and grow obsessive communities across digital channels through her consultancy SW Projects. Sara also writes frequently on the subject of digital marketing trends; she coined the term "digital campfires" in the Harvard Business Review to describe the types of spaces where young audiences are gathering online today, and often speaks and leads workshops on this and other topics related to social innovation, web3, and Gen Z consumption trends to companies around the world such as Microsoft and McKinsey.
S10 E20 · Mon, September 26, 2022
The next two years in marketing
Mark Schaefer and Dennis Yu get out their crystal balls to look at the biggest impacts on marketers in the next two years. Will it be the metaverse? NFTs? Influencer marketing? The hosts don't always agree on this but you'll gain a fascinating perspective on what's coming next!
S10 E19 · Mon, September 12, 2022
Fresh take on the four Ps of marketing
Put down your smartphone, shut down the metaverse, and close TikTok for a moment to re-visit one of the most important marketing theories of all-time, the Four Ps of marketing. Mark Schaefer and Robbie Fitzwater provide a fresh, surprising, and perhaps controversial take on what the theory means to marketers today.
S10 E18 · Mon, August 29, 2022
How to do self-promotion well
Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell both have globally-recognized brands but took drastically different routes regarding their self-promotion strategies. In this show, the co-hosts discuss their pitfalls and challenges, the need to evolve strategies over time, the limits of self-disclosure, being "on-brand," over-sharing, and more.
S10 E17 · Mon, August 15, 2022
Values-based marketing in transition
Have you considered how brand and marketing messaging evolve over time? Have you noticed a trend from product attributes to values? Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings offer a new way to think about marketing in a changing world with implications for how you and your business can stand out in a noisy world.
S10 E16 · Mon, August 01, 2022
Marketing jobs state of the market place
Digital marketing pioneer Dennis Yu and futurist Mark Schaefer debate the state of the marketing jobs market. The market is red hot but can it stay that way? What job skills are needed to compete now in and in the future? And how can we take advantage of technology to fill marketing jobs in creative new ways? It's a can't-miss show!
S10 E15 · Mon, July 18, 2022
The solution to crappy customer service
Mark Schaefer and co-host Brooke Sellas talk about a ground-breaking new book that covers the essential online customer care strategies. They discuss the elevated emotional furor on the web today, the risk that comes with taking a stand, the impact of Web3 on customer service, and practical strategies for nurturing meaningful customer connections.
S10 E14 · Mon, July 04, 2022
Web3 and the future of CRM
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey have a wide-ranging conversation exploring the truth and consequences of crypto winter, co-creating brands, NFTs as the future of CRM and much more. This is an amazing opportunity to peer into the mechanics of Web3 with an industry futurist and thought leader.
S10 E13 · Mon, June 20, 2022
A case study in marketing community
Like many of us, Mark Masters struggled to build his marketing agency. His own marketing and advertising weren't creating momentum for his business. And he felt rather empty with the transitory, transactional nature of marketing. So he tried a bold experiment. He started a learning community that revolutionized his business. This is a bold discussion that may point to the future of marketing.
S10 E12 · Mon, June 06, 2022
Consulting best practices
Mark Schaefer and Amanda Russell dive into their consulting practice secrets. How do they keep the clients coming in? When do you "fire" a customer? What is their best consulting advice? All this and more in this jam-packed episode.
S10 E11 · Mon, May 23, 2022
A new marketing framework
Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings discuss a creative new way to think about products and services that opens up new marketing strategy possibilities.
S10 E10 · Mon, May 09, 2022
TikTok insider secrets
Dennis Yu just published the bestselling book on TikTok and had unprecedented access to the inner workings of the company. This is a fun show filled with surprises, insights, and practical ideas.
S10 E9 · Mon, April 25, 2022
Conversation as marketing strategy
Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas explore the vital role of conversation in the marketing mix. How has the pandemic changed customer care? AI? The metaverse? How are marketing leaders grossly misunderstanding the connection between sales and marketing conversations? All this and more in this fascinating episode!
S10 E8 · Mon, April 11, 2022
Connecting to customers in the metaverse and beyond
Traditional marketing is fracturing before our eyes. Web3, NFTs, and the metaverse will become the standard way of connecting to a new generation. Mathew Sweezey helps us navigate this bold new world and understand the implications of a post-cookie, post-SEO, post-content world.
S10 E7 · Mon, March 28, 2022
Marketing a boring company
Is it possible to create a meaningful and effective digital presence for even boring companies? Commodity products? This is a surprising discussion between Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo that will push your brain in some new directions! Let's take a fresh look at marketing boring companies and products!
S10 E6 · Mon, March 14, 2022
Influence Marketing: State of the Nation
Amanda Russell occupies the epicenter of influence marketing and in this show, we cover the dirty secrets, the corruption, and the true opportunity for influence marketing in the digital era. You'll also hear a world premiere announcement of a significant new development that could have a far-ranging impact on the marketing world!
S10 E5 · Mon, February 28, 2022
Is persuasion possible?
This is an epic discussion between Mark Schaefer and Keith Jennings exploring 50 years of cognitive research and a conclusion that it is almost impossible to change a person's deeply-held beliefs. Certainly this is a massive marketing challenge. But at least under three conditions, change is possible. And in fact, we may be in the perfect storm of opportunity. Get out your pen and paper. You're going to be taking notes on this one!
S10 E4 · Mon, February 14, 2022
Understanding Web3 and its impact on marketing
Marketing legend Sandy Carter joins the show to talk about the hottest topic in marketing: Web3. Is it over-hyped, the future of our field, or a little of both. Tune in to hear Mark Schaefer and Sandy sort it out.
S10 E3 · Mon, January 31, 2022
Civil activism and woke marketing
In this revealing show, Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas look at the rapidly changing world of civil activism and "woke" movements on company culture and marketing strategy. We are in an unprecedented time when outside forces unrelated to our company and product can influence marketing strategy in unprecedented ways. This is an unmissable episode
S10 E2 · Mon, January 17, 2022
15 Marketing Trends in 40 Minutes
Mark Schaefer and Mathew Sweezey apply a rapid-fire approach to marketing trend analysis in this fast-paced show. What's hot, what's not? Is it social media, content marketing, podcasts, web3? You won't want to miss this expert analysis.
S10 E1 · Mon, January 03, 2022
Money and creativity
Mark Schaefer and Jay Acunzo break down their creative journeys and the relationship between money and creativity. This episode is full of unique insights as they talk about resources versus resourcefulness, the bane of money, the future of creativity, and the poetic inspiration of "Rocky."
S9 E27 · Mon, December 20, 2021
The weirdest show ever
Influencer and educator Amanda Russell joins Mark to reveal how she has transcended tragedy to create a bold new personal future. As we close out another pandemic year we look back into our lives and reveal the lessons we learned about how to find light in the darkness, hope in despair and a survival mindset when your world seems to be falling apart. You’ve never heard an episode like this before.
S9 E26 · Mon, December 06, 2021
Habits of successful marketing
Keith Jennings climbs aboard the Companion train to discuss the role of habit in marketing strategy, success, and results. It's a topic that has been overlooked for too long and this discussion shines a light on the role of habit in leadership, cultural change, and gains.
S9 E25 · Mon, November 22, 2021
A million new marketing jobs
Entrepreneurial genius Dennis Yu steps into the co-host's seat to discuss his plan to create 1 million new marketing jobs. We also get into sales bros, Jake Paul, lousy LinkedIn pitches, robo-consulting, true personalization, and how "emotional AI" is going to be the biggest game-changer.
S9 E24 · Mon, November 08, 2021
True community and the future of marketing
"Community" might be the most important and misunderstood marketing buzz word. Brooke Sellas joins Mark Schaefer to discuss community success and failure, the connection to true marketing opportunity, and its role in a crypto-enabled creator economy of the future.
S9 E23 · Sun, October 24, 2021
How content works in the world today
Jay Acunzo and Mark Schaefer discuss how reach, resonance, and relevance are intertwined and evolving into something new in a post-SEO world. They show how expertise is now a commodity on the web unless you have the brand to go with it. They blow up the notion of monetizing an audience into some practical and rational ideas. This episode will re-frame your idea of how content works in the world today.
S9 E22 · Mon, October 11, 2021
Influencers are everything
The is the first episode of a re-launch of The Marketing Companion featuring a discussion with Mathew Sweezey, marketing director for Salesforce. In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover trending news items from Facebook and TikTok and then go deep into how influencers are reinventing traditional retail, branding, eCommerce, and entertainment. This will reframe your view of the future of marketing.
S9 E21 · Sun, September 26, 2021
A farewell to Brooke
In this new episode, Mark Schaefer has a big announcement about the future of the Marketing Companion. Mark and Brooke discuss the evolution of branding as well as trending news from Peloton and Facebook.
S9 E20 · Mon, September 13, 2021
Twisting reality for marketing gain
In this show, Mark and Brooke look at a variety of AI innovations that could impact content marketers and consumers, including holograms and deep fakes. They also cover solutions to content overload, stunning new research on post-pandemic consumer trends, and Brooke's go-to karaoke song.
S9 E19 · Sun, August 29, 2021
Today's new marketing opportunities
Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas discuss how technology is opening new "seams of opportunity" in marketing for senior living, virtual meetings, healthcare, real estate, insurance, and other industries.
S9 E18 · Sun, August 15, 2021
AI gets real, maybe too real
What happens when AI can accurately replicate a conversation with a lost loved one? The personality of a business leader like Steve Jobs? The presence of Jesus or Gandhi? Does it become a tool for healing and great leadership, or will it become the next addiction? Mark and Brooke dissect a case study from the news in this surprising and fascinating discussion.
S9 E17 · Mon, August 02, 2021
Megatrend: Live Commerce
One of the most interesting and important trends coming out of the pandemic is Live Commerce. Born in China and now spreading rapidly around the world, this trend combines influencers, streaming, entertainment, and impulse buying. Mark and Booke also discuss the strange influence of Peppa Pig, Instagram's pivot, and why young people are not going into sales.
S9 E16 · Mon, July 19, 2021
Shifting content platforms
The wonderful world of marketing continues to evolve! What can we learn from the evolution of streaming services, a disturbing change at TikTok, and re-discovery of the written word (newsletters are HOT!). Plus, a tribute to Zelda.
S9 E15 · Sat, July 03, 2021
Revenge travel and marketing at a crossroads
After a grueling year, pandemic-weary consumers are heading for the hills. Every vacation venue is over-booked. But what happens when this surge in demand meets an employment crisis? Mark and Brooke kick off the ninth season of The Marketing Companion with their analysis, plus a post-content marketing world, and a dating app for Gen Z.
S9 E14 · Sun, June 20, 2021
Ten non-obvious market shifts
The pandemic has created an era of unintended consequences. In this episode, Mark and Brooke present 10 non-obvious emerging trends that could present new opportunities for marketers everywhere. In this exciting show, Mark challenges you to see the world through the lens of "fractures in the status quo."
S9 E13 · Sun, June 06, 2021
What is the future of Snapchat
Snap seems to be making all the right moves. The stock is soaring and so is revenue. But their latest move is confusing. Or, is it bold and ground-breaking? Mark and Brooke debate the prospects for Snap as well as trends in emotion detection, Gen Z career choices, and Mark's issue with Resting Bitch Face.
S9 E12 · Mon, May 24, 2021
Pandemic revolutionizes marketing employment
New research points to radical changes on the marketing job front. The good news is, jobs are growing. The bad news is, you might need to upgrade your skillset. Mark and Brooke explore the post-pandemic job market as well the fall-out from the digital ad apocalypse.
S9 E11 · Mon, May 10, 2021
The intro takes over
Scott Monty and Tim Washer, creators of the famous Marketing Companion intros do a show takeover and provide their unique perspective on Mark Zuckerberg, influencers, TikTok, and beyond!
S9 E10 · Sun, April 25, 2021
Problems with purpose-driven marketing
The hottest topic in marketing is the new emphasis on purpose-driven marketing. Consumers are rapidly organizing and activating online. Is this something every company should adopt, and how do you even begin? Mark Schaefer offers tangible advice. Mark and Brooke also cover the new emoji king and an update on the state of digital ads.
S9 E9 · Mon, April 12, 2021
The essence of marketing with Tom Peters
Business legend Tom Peters leads today 's show with a boatload of direct and entertaining advice about compassion, excellence, personal branding, extreme community, and his surprising final thoughts to marketing leaders of the world.
S9 E8 · Sun, March 28, 2021
How to fix marketing with Raja Rajamannar
This special episode features Raja Rajamannar, the CMO of MasterCard. Raja contends that marketing is deeply flawed and heading for trouble. The answer lies in creating a new marketing mindset recognizing the indisputable consumer truths.
S9 E7 · Mon, March 15, 2021
The most disruptive Gen Z trends
Mark and Brooke dissect some of the most interesting and surprising Gen Z trends. Absurd content? Pinterest fans? Hype houses? This and more in the new Marketing Companion episode!
S9 E6 · Mon, March 01, 2021
The next big advertising innovation
Mark starts the show with a moving example about how marketing is about helping during this pandemic and Brooke introduces case studies illustrating the emerging power of LiDAR on marketing and advertising.
S9 E5 · Mon, February 22, 2021
A special message from Mark
Mark Schaefer reflects on the fact that there is light at the end of this tunnel!
S9 E4 · Sun, February 14, 2021
Unlocking business momentum
Mark and Brooke dive into the secrets of personal and marketing momentum and explain how a poor boy growing up in the slums of Philadelphia a century ago changed our view of the world forever.
S9 E3 · Mon, February 01, 2021
Content marketing pressure
In this episode, Mark and Brooke use examples from YouTube and streaming TV to show how the pressure on content marketing is becoming relentless. This episode also features exclusive content from Martin Lindstrom and lessons from Mark's first sabbatical.
S9 E2 · Sun, January 17, 2021
Can the internet unite people?
The new episode kicks off with Mark answering this question: "Can the internet be used to unite people?" and then the hosts cover some non-obvious trends emerging from the pandemic era.
S9 E1 · Sun, January 03, 2021
The Most Human Podcast
In this unique episode, Mark and Brooke talk about the personal impact of 2020 on their lives, their most valuable lessons from a year gone wrong, and their hope for 2021.
S8 E27 · Sun, December 20, 2020
Free content? A rant
On this episode, Mark rants about the destructive social media monetization model. Mark and Brooke also dissect the exploding world of online mental health and the fastest-growing job title in the land!
S8 E26 · Sun, December 06, 2020
The marketer is an artist
The new show features interesting takes on media and soccer, an amazing pandemic pivot from a luxury brand, deer in compromising positions, and a discussion of the marketer as an artist.
S8 E25 · Sun, November 22, 2020
Title: Virtual human influencers
Non-human, AI-generated influencers are now generating millions for their paid sponsors. They don't get sick, they don't complain and they are a significant marketing mega-trend.
S8 E24 · Mon, November 09, 2020
Synthetic content is coming
Fake news is just the beginning. New technology will allow anyone to create Hollywood-quality effects and replicate humans with uncanny accuracy. What are the implications for society, business and marketing?
S8 E23 · Mon, November 02, 2020
My shiny best self
In this special episode, Mark Schaefer discusses the stressful realities of the pandemic on his life and urges listeners to consider their historical narrative.
S8 E23 · Sun, October 25, 2020
Comfort marketing
As the pandemic wears on, new customer wants and needs provide opportunities for marketers. Mark and Brooke look at the big word for the next two years: COMFORT.
S8 E22 · Mon, October 12, 2020
Marketing dress for success
There is a small edit needed here. Brooke's audio weirdly cut out and then we resumed Marketing dress for success Has Zoom changed the rules for business decorum or should do the rules of "Dress for Success" still apply? Brooke and Mark debate this plus in-home drones and when the power of celebrity endorsements work TOO well!
S8 E21 · Mon, September 28, 2020
The ideal marketing skills right now
With all the changes in the world, it's a good time to pause and reflect on the ideal skillset for a marketing career. How has the pandemic changed marketing careers? What is the best way to keep your skills current? Google and other companies saying that a college degree is not important in some tech careers any more. Will that trend move to marketing as well?
S8 E20 · Mon, September 14, 2020
Initiative versus hustle
Is the hustle culture still relevant in a pandemic era? What does gerbil food and CBD oil have to do with anything? And why are people seeing more UFOs? Mark and Brooke tackle these questions and more on the Marketing Companion's 200th episode!
S8 E19 · Mon, August 31, 2020
Creativity in a crisis
The pandemic has created an immense challenge for creatives who depend on live sets and collaborations. Mark and Brooke explore the ups and downs of the creative process in a crisis. When will the new TV content come back?
S8 E18 · Mon, August 17, 2020
An inside marketing view from Adidas
In this special episode, Mark Schaefer talks with Adidas global brand communications director Fabio Tambosi. We explore how the pandemic is re-defining sports, the consumer behaviors that are changing forever, the eCommerce surge, how Adidas pulled off the world's biggest social media hack, and business lessons from LeBron James.
S8 E17 · Mon, August 03, 2020
How the pandemic is changing lifestyles
Fashion, food, music, even love ... the pandemic is changing our lives in surprising ways -- with deep implications for marketers. You'll enjoy these insights into the emerging "cottage core" trend, how business can save music, and what happens to love in a crisis.
S8 E16 · Mon, July 20, 2020
Sliding into DMs
Mark and Brooke go toe-to-toe in an episode that covers Instagram fetishes, LinkedIn spam, Facebook boycotts, influencers united, and the reason everyone loves Mark Schaefer's feet.
S8 E15 · Mon, July 06, 2020
The kids are in charge
Mark and Brooke examine emerging research that may indicate key post-pandemic consumer changes. Among the insights in this episode is the indication that children have taken over the eCommerce function for the family. Other topics include comfort spending, commerce levels, BOPIS, and new digital advertising trends.
S8 E14 · Mon, June 22, 2020
Rational marketing in a crisis
Mark and Brooke dissect an extraordinary piece of thought leadership from author Martin Lindstrom. Lindstrom creates a data-based view of the likely "new normal" and this episode explores the implications for the new "imbalances" and marketing professionals.
S8 E13 · Mon, June 08, 2020
Hate is good for business
Mark and Brooke discuss an explosive revelation from the Facebook strategy playbook: The company is mindfully encouraging extremism, ignoring warnings from 2016 that the platform was contributing to hate and polarization. The hosts also discuss the emerging importance of corporate communities and the post-pandemic normal.
S8 E12 · Mon, May 25, 2020
A revolution in customer conversations
Technology is creating incredible opportunities to connect with customers in meaningful new ways. Mark and Brooke look at some of the most exciting examples of how marketing and customer connection might be transformed.
S8 E11 · Mon, May 11, 2020
The return of Mark
Mark Schaefer returns to the show after recovering from COVID-19 and relates three lessons of his experience, including an unexpected insight with long-term implications for the world. Mark and Brooke reflect on the impact on their own businesses and how they are being inspired during this crisis.
S8 E10 · Mon, April 27, 2020
Creating Personal Customer Experiences With Context
Guest host Mathew Sweezey joins Brooke Sellas to talk about his new book, The Context Marketing Revolution. Together, we discuss the five context elements needed to create better customer experiences.
S8 E9 · Mon, April 13, 2020
Remarkable Marketing During A Challenging Climate
Guest host Katie Robbert joins Brooke Sellas to discuss how brave brands stay relevant in times of crisis, including advice from other top marketing experts, a note on advertising, and which tools are making work-from-home easier.
S8 E8 · Mon, March 30, 2020
The huge mega-trend show
Mark and Brooke dissect important new research to find some surprising shifts in the use of social media, smart speakers, podcasting consumers. We reveal the identity of listener number one million!
S8 E7 · Mon, March 23, 2020
Embracing the chaos
Mark Schaefer shares his view of personal and business priorities in this time of extreme disruption and loss.
S8 E6 · Mon, March 16, 2020
Would you sleep in your pub?
Mark and Brooke dissect a variety of trends including an experiential marketing plan that includes "full body towelettes," innovations from Twitter and LinkedIn, a discussion of slow tech adoption, and a personal reflection from Mark on his competition.
S8 E5 · Mon, March 02, 2020
The millionth listener show
On the latest show, Mark and Brooke announce a contest to honor the one millionth download of The Marketing Companion podcast! Could YOU be the lucky winner? The hosts also cover big news from the podcasting world plus innovations coming from Twitter and Instagram.
S8 E4 · Mon, February 17, 2020
Is there still a place for blogging?
New statistics show that blogging activity has slumped after a decade of continuous growth. Mark and Brooke examine the true story behind blogging in the content ecosystem and also discuss an integrated marketing trend, the marketing ideas consumers love most.
S8 E3 · Mon, February 03, 2020
Are holograms the next great content form?
Need a celebrity for your next event? New technology may allow you to bring Elvis, Marilyn Monroe or Elvis to your next customer meeting. Mark and Brooke look at this new trend as well as LinkedIn events, and the impact of digital detox ion the advertising industry.
S8 E2 · Sun, January 19, 2020
Machine learning for real-world marketers
Machine learning is entering the world of everyday marketing helping us streamline tasks and free up time for our employees and customers. The tech is getting simpler and less expensive. Mark and Brooke look at how this can be applied to our everyday marketing lives. They also cover an unexpected new retail trend and discuss tech optimism versus tech pessimism.
S8 E1 · Mon, January 06, 2020
Ten years of social media with Jay Baer
Mark Schaefer and guest Jay Baer reminisce about their decade in social media. What were the hits, the misses, the things they love, the trends they regret? Lots of wisdom and insight jam-packed into this unmissable episode!
S7 E37 · Mon, December 23, 2019
The big huge megatrend show
In this episode, Mark and Brooke discuss some surprising trends impacting marketing in the years to come, including a surprising take on a "culture in, brand out" movement that is percolating in the business world. And, the world is introduced to the "Nimbie"
S7 E36 · Mon, December 09, 2019
Podcasts and one-way friendships
Mark and Brooke explore "parasocial" relationships that seem to be forming in the podcast space and how this might be useful to brands. They also look at an experiential marketing case study and marketing lessons from the streaming video wars. Meanwhile, Brooke debates a potential move to another closet.
S7 E35 · Mon, November 25, 2019
Why are marketing jobs disappearing?
Forrester reports on a 20-year trend to eliminate top marketing positions. If marketing is central to the success of your company, what is going on and what can we do about it? Hosts Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas explore this vital topic and also explain why "anxiety" is the hottest social media trend.
S7 E34 · Mon, November 11, 2019
The Fake News Episode
Mark and Brooke dissect some heavy issues surrounding the legal, ethical, and political issues surrounding social media news, ads and fact-checking. Practically, what can be done? The hosts also explode the "OK Boomer" craze, marketing leadership imperatives, and the 10 words that absolutely indicate fake news.
S7 E33 · Mon, October 28, 2019
What will replace Facebook?
A few years ago, Mark Schaefer predicted that "Facebook would be the next Facebook," explaining that the company had the engineering, technical, and financial resources to build or buy their way into the next phase of social networking. Is that still the case? Brooke and Mark also examine developments at Amazon and an "office-less" office.
S7 E32 · Mon, October 21, 2019
LESSONS Bonus: How to give your first big speech
In this final bonus episode, Mark Schaefer gives away another free chapter from his book LESSONS: Essays to help you embrace the chaos. In this installment, he provides his best tricks to help you get ready for an important presentation.
S7 E31 · Sun, October 13, 2019
Key takeaways on the future of marketing
Host Mark Schaefer hosted a marketing retreat dedicated to exploring the future of marketing. Mark and Brooke report on some of the key takeaways from this exciting gathering of business thought leaders.
S7 E30 · Sun, October 06, 2019
LESSONS Bonus: The one word that changed my life
In this exclusive bonus chapter from Mark Schaefer's book LESSONS, he tells a story about one his great mentors changed his life with a single word!
S7 E29 · Sun, September 29, 2019
To survive a digital onslaught, add emotion
Many businesses are being disrupted by new digital entrants. Perhaps the only way to fight back is to add emotion. Mark and Brooke look at a new retailing case study, the end of likes, and a new marketing platform from Amazon.
S7 E28 · Mon, September 23, 2019
LESSONS Bonus: Essential lessons from Peter Drucker
In this free audio chapter of Mark Schaefer's book LESSONS, Mark provides you exclusive insight from studying under management and marketing legend Peter Drucker
S7 E27 · Sun, September 15, 2019
How do you stay relevant?
In this episode, Mark and Brooke discuss the vital topic of staying relevant in a fast-changing world. There are some surprising insights here as they tackle strategies on trends, skills, technology and even the impact of your personal appearance.
S7 E26 · Sun, September 08, 2019
LESSONS Bonus: How to remain bot-proof
Use the same book cover graphic on all five episodes please. In this exclusive bonus content, Mark Schaefer provides a free chapter from his essential new book LESSONS: Essays to help you embrace the chaos, In this episode, Mark teaches us how to stay relevant in an age of disruption
S7 E25 · Mon, September 02, 2019
In praise of non-conformity!
Marketers flock to whatever is popular until the ruin it. Mark Schaefer rants on this show that great marketing should be about non-conformity. He and Brooke Sellas also discuss an exciting new trend from Nike, an honest tech movement and the 10 Gen Z words you need to know now.
S7 E24 · Sun, August 25, 2019
LESSONS bonus: How to dial up the grit
In this bonus episode, Mark Schaefer provides and essential chapter from his new book LESSONS: Essays to help you embrace the chaos. In this free chapter, mark explores how to function as a business person when you're dying inside.
S7 E23 · Sun, August 18, 2019
The worst marketing move ever
Mark and Brooke reveal one of the worst marketing tactics in history, now being used by At&T and others to drive customers to their breaking point. Also, TikTok comes of age and a new book to help you embrace the chaos!
S7 E22 · Mon, August 05, 2019
Video everywhere
This episode highlights a few marketing mega-trends including platform-agnostic video, using customer social media comments as marketing gold, and the three characteristics of genius.
S7 E21 · Sun, July 21, 2019
A desperate crossroad for advertising
Whether you'e working for a big company or a small one, the advertising industry is getting crunched in all directions. Mark and Brooke look at trends in TV, digital, podcasts, TikTok, and gaming that will determine the future of advertising.
S7 E20 · Mon, July 08, 2019
Influencer marketing as performance art
Some social media influencers have turned their lives into a dramatic, brand-fueled play. Nothing seems real, let alone authentic. What does that mean for marketers? Mark and Brooke also cover an attempt to measure company culture and a shocking look at the data your iPhone is broadcasting about you.
S7 E19 · Mon, June 24, 2019
New considerations for digital ads and monetization
New monetization considerations at Facebook, with short video content, and Google maps comes to the forefront in this new show. And Mark and Brooke introduce a new video feature exploring the wonders of mukbang!
S7 E18 · Sun, June 09, 2019
Impact of fake news on your marketing department
Samsung announced a new AI technology that allows somebody to create "deep fake" videos of individuals with a single photograph. As the ease of this technology improves and costs come down, every business is vulnerable to advanced forms of deception. How do you prepare for this now? Mark Schaefer and Brooke ("Brookie Cookie") Sellas take on this critical topic.
S7 E17 · Sun, May 26, 2019
The true story of trolls
Trolls seem to ruin everything good about the web with their persistent, hate-filled ranting. But there is a fascinating psychology behind what they do and why. Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas examine this topic, as well as the case against influencers and a scientific proof of content shock. The hosts also consider the art of spam.
S7 E16 · Sat, May 11, 2019
Marketing research out of reach?
The number of consumers refusing to participate in research has quadrupled since 1990, imperiling some marketing efforts. Mark and Brooke look at the problem, ding Instagram on a weird strategy, and agree with Amazon's tough stance on employee productivity. They also sing.
S7 E15 · Sun, April 28, 2019
Can values-based marketing go too far?
Values-based marketing is a hot topic. Aligning with customer values is an important consideration but what happens when a company starts to act more like a non-profit? A fascinating discussion! Hosts Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas also demonstrate ASMR live, look at the retail apocalypse and show why Dell CCO Karen Quintos is a great marketing leader.
S7 E14 · Sun, April 14, 2019
what is the future of social media?
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas look at the mega-trends forming the future of social media. The future is hazy for marketers ready to place their bet. The show also looks at the economics of live events and the hottest (secret!) chat app for teens
S7 E13 · Sun, March 31, 2019
A rant: social media lemmings
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Brooke Sellas cover highlights from Social Media Marketing World and Mark points out a lemming-like marketing trend. The show features BossMom Dana Malstaff and advice on monetizing a Facebook Group, plus using social for government surveillance.
S7 E12 · Mon, March 25, 2019
Rebellion Papers: Word of mouth marketing
Ted Wright is a word of mouth marketing pioneer. On this final episode of the Rebellion Papers, Ted discusses why the world's oldest marketing idea has never been more important or relevant in the post-loyalty era.
S7 E11 · Wed, March 20, 2019
Is it time to break-up the Facebook Monopoly?
A new co-host is welcomed onto the Marketing Companion to discuss the growing concern over digital monopolies. This has become a political issue in the U.S. that extends beyond party lines. Is the Facebook franchise doomed? The hosts also discuss a new book by Brian Solis and digital burn-out.
S7 E10 · Sun, March 17, 2019
Saying goodbye to Tom
In this special episode, Mark Schaefer says farewell to Tom Webster as the long-time co-host of The Marketing Companion and announces plans for a re-boot of the podcast.
S7 E9 · Sun, March 10, 2019
Rebellion Papers: Advertising without the ads
In this limited edition series, Mark Schaefer introduces the innovative marketers featured in his book "Marketing Rebellion." Marc Simons is one of the founders of Giant Spoon, a path-finding agency creating fun and immersive customer experiences. He's leading the way with this controversial new marketing approach.
S7 E8 · Mon, March 04, 2019
A deep dive on social media realities
In this show, Mark and Tom look at some eye-popping new data covering the social media landscape. For an up-to-the-minute glimpse of the social web, you won't want to miss this show!
S7 E7 · Sun, February 24, 2019
Rebellion Papers: Reimagining marketing in human terms
In this limited edition series, Mark Schaefer introduces two of the innovative marketers featured in his book "Marketing Rebellion." Steve Rayson, founder of BuzzSumo, contends that the biggest problem in our field is the over-use of technology and automation. Marketing icon Philip Kotler urges marketers to adopt a more human-centric approach that emphasizes emotion and experiences.
S7 E6 · Sun, February 17, 2019
The most valuable marketing skills
Mark and Tom look at surprising new data on hard-to-find marketing skills, the idea of creating a career as a social media influencer, and the myth of employee advocacy.
S7 E5 · Sun, February 10, 2019
Rebellion Papers: Co-creating the customer journey
In this limited edition series, Mark Schaefer introduces some of the innovative marketers featured in his book "Marketing Rebellion." Megan Conley is a ground-breaking agency founder who insists that tomorrow's customer journeys will be co-created with the involvement of our customers.
S7 E4 · Sun, February 03, 2019
The unintended consequences of tech
Too many times companies are saying "whoops" after introducing new ideas. Testing new ideas becomes complicated when the sample size has to be large and consumers don't want to be treated like lab rats. Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster unpack this vital issue. They also discuss the opportunity to turn Marketing Companion into a television series. Intro music credits: Heartwarming by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100207 Artist: http://incompetech.com /
S7 E3 · Sun, January 27, 2019
Rebellion Papers: Marketing Anthropologist Martin Lindstrom
In this limited edition series, Mark Schaefer introduces some of the innovative marketers featured in his book "Marketing Rebellion." Martin Lindstrom is a fascinating anthropologist who plops himself into the middle of homes and businesses to find the consumer secrets others miss. He is leading the way in a new way to view marketing leadership.
S7 E2 · Sun, January 20, 2019
A Marketing Rebellion has begun
How do you win in a post-loyalty, post-sales funnel, post-advertising world? Mark Schaefer discusses the genesis of his new book "Marketing Rebellion" with Tom Webster and reveals some exciting bonus content coming to Marketing Companion fans.
S7 E1 · Sun, January 06, 2019
Marketing's most inspiring leaders
When it comes to marketing and business leaders, Kerry Gorgone has talked to some of the best through her Marketing Smarts podcast. In this special episode of The Marketing Companion, Mark and Kerry discuss the leaders and marketing wisdom that have inspired her the most over the years.
S6 E25 · Mon, December 24, 2018
The Alternatives to Advertising
The advertising industry is convulsing as traditional channels dry up. This episode explores how "pipelines" are effortlessly feeding products into consumer households, why young influencers are ruling the roost and how advertising's brightest light is destroying new publishing models. Mark and Tom hand our their annual "wurst" awards.
S6 E24 · Sun, December 09, 2018
Why sentiment analysis is unreliable
In this episode, Mark and Tom dissect research indicating severe reliability problems with popular sentiment analysis algorithms. They also discuss re-branding strategy in the news, new evidence of mis-trust in corporate brands and Alexa's growing dominance.
S6 E23 · Mon, November 26, 2018
Three trends pointing to marketing change ahead
Mark and Tom talk about why Microsoft's president is calling for immediate legislation on some new technology, why ad agencies are losing business to consulting firms and why "the show" may be the most important consideration to your marketing plan. It all points to changes on the marketing landscape.
S6 E22 · Fri, November 09, 2018
The AI marketing impact
Marketers have too little time and too much data. Why isn't AI making a positive impact on data analysis yet? How will new opportunities with smart speakers integrate with AI and what does the artificial intelligence revolution mean for business education? Nipsey makes a surprise appearance to show off new human-like qualities.
S6 E21 · Sun, October 28, 2018
The economics of professionalism
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster explain how a strong economy impacts professional behavior, why streaming television is heading for a fall-out and how Facebook's first entry into hardware tips the creepy scale
S6 E20 · Sun, October 14, 2018
Realities of the Entrepreneurial Journey
Host Mark Schaefer reflects on lesson learned in his ten years as an entrepreneur, and Tom Webster dissects why there are no new social media channels emerging.
S6 E19 · Mon, October 01, 2018
The Triumph of Medium
Mark and Tom explain why you should be excited by the promise of Medium, nervous about the WSJ coverage of internal Google politics, and applauding an insurance company for doing something crazy cool.
S6 E18 · Sun, September 16, 2018
Who rules the internet?
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster tackle three huge topics: New regulations trying to get internet companies to conform globally to one country's standards, political stands in the marketing mix, and Apple's third act. Also, there is a surprise performance from Nipsey the smart speaker.
S6 E17 · Sun, September 02, 2018
Marketing lessons from KISS, Paula Abdul and an actor we don't remember
In this episode Mark and Tom talk about some of their favorite marketing stories and lessons on the marketing genius of KISS, why intrapreneurship won't work, and how singer Tom Jones is a master networker.
S6 E16 · Sun, August 19, 2018
Hidden opportunities for launching successful new podcasts
In this episode, Mark and Tom review new research that points to vast opportunities in the podcast world. This show goes deep into podcasting reality and unearths data-driven insights all podcasters need to consider to develop and grow their shows.
S6 E15 · Mon, August 06, 2018
Emotional connection and the modern brand
Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster discuss the growing challenge of establishing emotional connection in a world of declining loyalty and point to an amazing success at Spotify, the rise of anger on Facebook, and a revolution at LinkedIn. They also vanquish Mercury Retrograde.
S6 E14 · Sun, July 22, 2018
Is the future of retailing a store without sales?
The retail industry has been in a state of upheaval for decades. Is a store that sells no goods the future? Tom Webster and Mark Schaefer think so, and they discuss it in this new episode of The Marketing Companion. Listen in as they also debate what will happen when digital ad prices keep rising, a threat to marketing nobody's really discussing, and their effort to make The Marketing Companion the world's most hipster podcast.
S6 E13 · Sun, July 08, 2018
Why customers really don't want to engage with your brand
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster dissect several big new ideas, including the role of customer engagement in digital transformation, Facebook's big new opportunity for community leaders, and a content marketing fail from GE (or, is it?). Plus, Tom riffs on cows.
S6 E12 · Sun, June 24, 2018
A special fifth anniversary show
Against all odds, Mark and Tom have completed five years of podcasting together. In this episode, the hosts reflect on how they got started, how the program has changed and what's next for The Marketing Companion faithful.
S6 E11 · Mon, May 28, 2018
Our favorite marketing books
In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster review some of their favorite recent marketing books, including new releases from Bernadette Jiwa and Neen James.
S6 E10 · Sun, May 13, 2018
There's no escaping Facebook
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster examine several current marketing issues, including a stroke of brilliance from Amazon, Google culture, and the unexpected dominance of Facebook in the surging private messaging space.
S6 E9 · Sun, April 29, 2018
The brand stand: Mixing politics, social good and sales
In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster talk about a new Schaefer book in the works, AI, hacking, and how companies are being forced to take a social, and even political, stand in the world today. This trend is undeniable, but flies in the face of classical economics. how does a marketer sort it out?
S6 E8 · Sun, April 08, 2018
The New Ethics of Marketing
There are a number of ethical issues emerging as technology allows us to connect to consumers in new ways. Just because we can, should we? In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster look at "addiction" as a goal, the cultural implications of AI, and new research on the time it takes to become a friend. And oh yes, to celebrate a milestone, they introduce the world's first audio infographic!
S6 E7 · Sun, April 01, 2018
Back to the future: What's old is new again in marketing
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster reflect on the hot topics they covered five years ago and discuss the relevancy of influence marketing (and Klout), Google Glass, Twitter strategy and more. And they bring out a retro look at Google Pants!
S6 E6 · Mon, March 19, 2018
Spinning social media in a new direction
Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster discuss revealing new research that may indicate a tipping point for social media, video, podcasts and smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home.
S6 E5 · Sun, March 04, 2018
Is social media marketing still a thing?
Social media marketing has been the hottest marketing concept for the last 10 years. Is it losing steam, or just taking off? In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster look at the data and reveal new perspectives on where social media fits in the marketing mix. The fellas also reveal a new premium service to sell fake followers so you can become an influencer in record time!
S6 E4 · Mon, February 19, 2018
Are we at the end of experiential marketing or the beginning?
How important is it to create customer experiences that lead to awareness and loyalty? In this episode, Mark and Tom explore dramatic trends impacting any strategy involving customer experience. They also dive into stupid agency tricks and a wishlist for our favorite tech leaders. And Tom issues an apology for mis-casting Mark!
S6 E3 · Sun, February 04, 2018
Influencers gone world, Facebook changes, and "Tech-lash"
What is "Tech-lash?" Mark and Tom cover a variety of subjects in this fast-paced show. They cover the Facebook changes, an explosive report on influence marketing, the fastest-growing tech gadget (surprise!) and new rumbles about a backlash against the largest tech companies.
S6 E2 · Mon, January 22, 2018
Staying relevant in a marketing career
Have you ever wanted to learn what Mark and Tom actually do for a living? In this unusual episode Mark and Tom open the curtains and talk about their careers -- How they got to where they are today and how they intend to remain relevant for the next level. A fascinating discussion about relevance in the fast-changing digital age!
S6 E1 · Tue, January 09, 2018
The marketing agency of the future
Special guest Mitch Joel, president of Mirum, discusses the challenges of the modern marketing agency. What are the implications of higher levels of competition, the trend toward bringing work in-house, the impact of AI and other new technologies, and the emerging eCommerce on-ramps? You won't want to miss this fascinating discussion!
S5 E26 · Sun, December 24, 2017
Cocooning consumers and more amazing mega-trends
New research from Ford shows that consumers are polarized, energized and a bit weirded out by what marketing is up to these days. Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster take a look at this new report and discuss the implications for business leaders. And they have a casting call for "Marketing Companion: The Movie." Who will play Mark?
S5 E25 · Sun, December 10, 2017
Are books the ultimate content marketing channel?
How could writing a book help you establish thought leadership, open new opportunities, and grow your business? Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster explore these issues and open the Marketing Companion Holiday Catalogue for exciting gift "ideas."
S5 E24 · Sat, November 25, 2017
Is Facebook the most evil company?
Five years ago I predicted that Facebook would become the most evil company on earth. The claim was tongue-in-cheek, but the logic was solid: The "raw material" that Facebook uses to build its wealth is our personal information. As a public company, Facebook has a mandate to grow its profits every quarter, without exception, without end. At some point, to meet that relentless financial goal, Facebook will have to take greater and greater risks in both collecting our personal information and monetizing it. ... and that sets up the potential for evil. We caught a glimpse of how Facebook might do this when the doors were blown open on a controversial experiment the company conducted to manipulate emotions through the news feed . What is really going on at Facebook? Will my prediction eventually become true? Is Facebook evil? Facebook evil, the inside story A number of high-profile executives have recently weighed-in on the "Facebook evil" factor: In his final days as president, Barack Obama himself warned that Facebook and Twitter were becoming a threat to democracy. “We become so secure in our bubbles that we accept only information, whether true or not, that fits our opinions, instead of basing our opinions on the evidence that’s out there.” Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya recently echoed this sentiment. “Do I feel guilty? Absolutely I feel guilt,” he told CNN . “Nobody ever thought that you could have such a massive manipulation of the system. You can see the reaction of the people who run these (social media) companies. They never thought it was possible.” Sean Parker, who briefly served as Facebook's president, said the social networking site exploits human psychological vulnerabilities through a validation feedback loop that gets people to constantly post to get even more likes and comments. “It's exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology,” he said. “The inventors, creators understood this consciously. And we did it anyway." The psychology behind Facebook became the center of a public debate when a story about a company called
S5 E23 · Thu, November 09, 2017
Three touchy subjects
On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I open up a discussion on three touchy issues in the digital realm. YouTube's deplorable algorithm: The New York Times reported that evil people have been slipping violent cartoon knock-offs into the YouTube Kids channel. In this case, relying on an algorithm to vet children's programming is unacceptable. This is a problem that is not difficult to solve but it appears to us like greed and laziness is driving the wrong behaviors. We make a case that YouTube should be held to the same standard as traditional television networks. Is regulation in the cards? We say yes. Social sharing in decline -- Steve Rayson of Buzz Sumo published research that shows an apparent correlation between the amount of content that is published on a subject and the amount the content is shared. In other words, as a topic grows saturated with content, people become weary of the content and engage less. We discuss how Content Shock isn't a trend, it's a wave. One touchy implication for marketers: A very common strategy of "piling on" to popular content topics doesn't work. Outing people on social media -- We discuss the recent sexual harassment episodes involving Weinstein, Spacey and Scoble and how social media has become the engine for "outing." What are the implications for business, for marketing, for working with influencers? And what is the psychology behind accepting or rejecting these claims? Are we in a world where accusations become facts? We also introduce Nipsey: The new Marketing Companion smart speaker system. Let's just say it still has some development work ahead! This is a very provocative and interesting show. You won't want to miss it ... Click here to download the latest episode or subscribe in iTunes Complete Marketing Companion Episode Guide Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners. Find the podcast on Stitcher Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter <a href= "htt
S5 E22 · Thu, October 26, 2017
The Humor Show
One of my great marketing heroes is Tom Fishburne . Not only is he a brilliant innovator and marketer, he is THE WORLD-FAMOUS MARKETOONIST: On the new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I had the great fun and pleasure of interviewing Tom about humor in marketing including ... The "slow revelation" that made him realize humor could be a key part of his marketing future The connection between "story" and humor in corporate communications The process companies go through to add humor to their marketing communications Why the best humor starts with pain points What happens when you get it wrong How you consider humor, cultural references, and the international audience Tom discusses his new book Your Ad Ignored Here: Cartoons from 15 Years of Marketing, Business, and Doodling in Meetings And Webster and I challenge each other to a joke-off. I won. You won't want to miss this interesting (and funny!) episode about humor in marketing ... Click here to download the latest episode or subscribe in iTunes Complete Marketing Companion Episode Guide Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners. Find the podcast on Stitcher Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . 88% of Consumers check online before making a purchasing decision. Brand24 gives you instant updates about what your customers are saying about you. Now you can give them timely responses and give your customers peace of mind. With Media monitoring you can search the web for key topics, trends, or discussions. Brand24 enables you to reach customers, so you can react and engage quickly to real-
S5 E21 · Fri, October 13, 2017
The end of lazy marketing
I had an opportunity to attend the outstanding Marketing Profs B2B Forum and witness a truly tour-de-force speech by my friend and podcast co-host Tom Webster. Although we had mentioned this talk in a previous podcast episode, I had not seen Tom's presentation and I found his insights to be remarkable and very relevant to marketing today. I thought our Marketing Companion fans needed to hear some of those insights. Using lessons from his political research, Tom makes the case that you can't win in marketing today by staying in the "treetops," by immersing yourself in dashboards. You need to get down in the trees and get back to basics by visiting customers. He argues for radical segmentation to the point that "personas" may be out of style. In the new episode we also discuss quite a remarkable revelation made by Dharmesh Shah , one of Hubspot's co-founders. Shah said that content marketing is now pay-to-play and that content today has a "cover charge." In addition, you'll hear these snippets: "I'm feeling this in my loins" "I've found a younger podcast host." "We want our freedom, we want more Mark." You'll have to hear it to believe it, I suppose. Here we go: Click here to download the latest episode or subscribe in iTunes Complete Marketing Companion Episode Guide Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners. Find the podcast on Stitcher Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . 88% of Consumers check online before making a purchasing decision. Brand24 gives you instant updates about what your customers are saying about you. Now you can give them timely responses and give your customers peace of mind. With Media monitoring you can search the web for key topics, trends, or discussions. Brand24 enables you to reach cust
S5 E20 · Fri, September 29, 2017
Marketing dominance through content curation
There's a lot of pressure to create content today. Epic, authentic, viral content. But perhaps the key to content success is not necessarily through originality, but through creating a wise curated content stream that helps people save time and money. Most industries have at least one go-to newsletter of curated business highlights. If your industry doesn't have that, maybe it's a golden opportunity. I've seen people create curated content in pharma, tech, defense, and entertainment. Many have gone on to leverage this real or perceived expertise into consulting, books, and speaking careers. But summarizing the work of others isn't necessarily easy. In fact there is a certain art to it which we cover on the newest episode of The Marketing Companion. In this episode, Scott Monty takes over as co-host for a day and explains his process behind the Full Monty newsletter. He explains how an internal newsletter at Ford Motor Company was the inspiration for what has become the go-to weekly content in the digital marketplace. We also explore why there seems to be a "Tom Webster bias" creeping into the show ... Click here to download the latest episode or subscribe in iTunes Complete Marketing Companion Episode Guide Click here for the show’s RSS feed – for Android listeners. Find the podcast on Stitcher Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . The results don’t lie: Typeform has a 57% completion rate on surveys, against the industry average of 20% (according to Survey Gizmo ). The difference? Typeform’s one-question-at-a-time interface creates a memorable user experience. Use images, animated GIFs, and even video to express yourself more fully. And Typeform integrates with your favorite tools including Google Sheets, M
S5 E19 · Fri, September 15, 2017
The politics of content marketing
In this new episode of The Marketing Companion , Tom Webster and I cover some of the highlights of the 2017 Content Marketing World. It was the first conference Tom and I attended together for some time so it was a good opportunity to compare notes on the content marketing spectacular. We discuss: Why Tom faced a nearly empty room for his politics-related talk Why Mark thinks "loyalty" is a fading marketing idea Content Marketing World hits and misses And as a bonus, we announce new plans for Companion Storm 2 ! Check it out! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . The results don’t lie: Typeform has a 57% completion rate on surveys, against the industry average of 20% (according to Survey Gizmo ). The difference? Typeform’s one-question-at-a-time interface creates a memorable user experience. Use images, animated GIFs, and even video to express yourself more fully. And Typeform integrates with your favorite tools including Google Sheets, MailChimp, Airtable, and hundreds more. Remember: What you ask matters. How you ask is everything. Go to Typeform.com/companion to receive a special 30 percent off discount for our podcast fans! Between 30 percent and 50 percent of your online visitors use your website’s search function. But analysis proves that customers rarely see the precise content that leads to a sale. Why leave this conversion opportunity to chance? Deliver search results that create sales conversions by deploying the powerful machine learning intelligence of Site Search Inspector from SoloSegment . Site Search Inspector can be set up quickly and continuously “learns” how to improve your search conversions. Visit the SoloSegment discount page to get 10 percent off your order for Marketing Companion fans!
S5 E18 · Thu, August 31, 2017
Advertising industry in a meltdown
It seems like everywhere you look the news is bad for the ad industry. In just the last few weeks, the news has reported ... The stock value for many large agencies is in decline as company billings fall. Traditional ad impressions are down almost everywhere as newspapers, radio, and magazines struggle to survive. Many of their customers -- the big CPG brands -- are cutting ad spending as their most valuable products struggle to be relevant to today's digital consumers. Ad blocking continues to rise in developed nations ( Ad Age called it an "apocalypse") Many companies are bringing the rising areas of influence and content marketing in-house to save costs and maintain direct relationships. Like I said ... a mess. What's the future of Madison Avenue and how does it turn things around in this rapidly changing world? That would be a fun discussion to have ... which is exactly what Tom Webster and I do in this new episode of The Marketing Companion. You won't want to miss this scintillating analysis! Resource mentioned in this episode WSJ article on advertising decine Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . The results don’t lie: Typeform has a 57% completion rate on surveys, against the industry average of 20% (according to Survey Gizmo ). The difference? Typeform’s one-question-at-a-time interface creates a memorable user experience. Use images, animated GIFs, and even video to express yourself more fully. And Typform integrates with your favorite tools including Google Sheets, MailChimp, Airtable, and hundreds more. Remember: What you ask matters. How you ask is everything. Go to Typeform.com/companion to receive a special 30 percent off discount for our podcast fans! Between 30 percent and 50 percent of your online visitors use your website'
S5 E17 · Thu, August 17, 2017
Personal marketing successes and failures
In this very personal episode of The Marketing Companion, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster reveal their own best marketing successes and failures. Learn why desperation may be a key to success, how money is made in the margins, and why a dial-up internet connection destroyed a great business. Mark and Tom also announce plans for the first human-powered self-driving vehicle!
S5 E16 · Fri, August 04, 2017
Amazon's new social network primed for success?
Starting a new social network is a perilous prospect. The battlefield is littered with companies that had big ideas and little results ... Meerkat Ello Path Google+ It's a tricky business. A new social platform needs to solve a unique customer problem or find an under-served niche and then avoid assassination by Facebook (by having intellectual property and a huge war chest to protect it). It has been so difficult breaking into the pantheon of elite social networks that in the past five years there has only been one new entry (Snapchat) that is attracting significant advertising dollars. Until now. Amazon Spark is news This month Amazon launched its own social network, Spark. Amazon Spark is available through the mobile app and is sort of a mash-up of Instagram and Yelp. And I think it's going to be a hit for several reasons. It passes the Schaefer sniff test: It occupies a unique niche and Amazon has the war chest to do it right. Also, unlike Google, which seems to use its best customers as guinea pigs as it tries to "fail fast," Amazon is more methodical. When it introduces something new, it is usually done right. Another reason I think this is going to work is because it is addictive. Since you get to tailor your experience, you only see posts about products that will delight you. It's like flipping through an Instagram account of awesome products and how people are using them. It's early days. Will it work? Who knows, but as a marketer, I am certainly paying attention to ANY significant new effort from Amazon and I think this is a winner. And there's more. In our new episode of The Marketing Companion , Tom Webster and I discuss this new social network and more. We also get into: Projections of augmented reality dominance YouTube versus Netflix in the video wars Lessons in customer service (or the lack of it) Also, Tom and I experiment with "Chipmunk Speed." You'll have to hear it to believe it. You won't want to miss this! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . The results don’t lie: Typeform has a 57% completion rate on surveys, against the industry average of 20% (according to <a href= "h
S5 E15 · Fri, July 21, 2017
A new marketing channel emerges
Google search goes away? You might think this title is ridiculous. Maybe even sensational. But traditional web search is changing dramatically and it's a real concern for marketers and traditional SEO. Let me explain ... As consumers, we depend on a reliable list of products and references from Google to get through our daily lives, find the right dress, or answer a question in an argument. Google now processes 40,000 search inquiries every second of the day! On the business side, we want to be the answer . This is the heart of the digital marketing battle -- Whether organic or paid, we want to be at the top of the search results. This is the penultimate goal of content marketing - to earn our way to the top of that list of Google content recommendations. But what if there was no longer a list of results? What if there was just one answer ... And it wasn't coming from Google. The new way to search emerges In 2015, voice search went from a statistical zero to 10 percent of all search results and ComScore estimates that by 2020, 50 percent of all searches will be by voice. While it won’t likely replace existing screen-based search, voice search is already enough of a factor that businesses need to understand strategies for being found this way. And a significant portion of those strategies will be new: No one I know of really has an existing SEO strategy for Siri! As evidenced by a new Smart Audio Report from Edison Research and NPR, smart speakers are becoming part of our daily lives, and at least at this point, the winner is Amazon Echo (better known as "Alexa.") Google has its "Home" product and Microsoft, Apple and other companies will have serious entries soon, but the biggest beneficiary of the boom in voice-controlled personal assistants and search has been Amazon. An indispensable voice This new home appliance is having an increasing impact in people's lives. Developing a "voice search skill" is like learning to type with your thumbs five years ago. Smart speakers are becoming part of the fabric of our lives: 65% of smart speaker owners indicate they would not want to go back to life before getting their devices, and 42% say their device is now “essential” to their everyday life. 70% of smart speaker owners say they are listening to more audio at home since acquiring their device – across news/talk, podcasts, audiobooks and music. Among smart speaker owners, 45% expect to purchase another device – and, of the non-owners surveyed, more than half say they are likely to purchase their first smart speaker in the next six months. Another important finding is that smart speaker owners are using the devices to manage their home
S5 E14 · Thu, July 06, 2017
Influencer Marketing Grows Up
Back in 2010, I wrote one of the most fun and fascinating blog posts of my life. A new trend was coming into view, led by a company called Klout . By analyzing millions of bits of social media data and the reactions the posts caused, the company proclaimed it could estimate your social media influence. At the time, it was a revolutionary idea. My post, which projected some of the implications of such an application, seemed to rock the social media world. It was shared more than 2,000 times and attracted hundred of comments, many of them harshly critical of this company and their bold claims. People lamented that they didn't want to be ranked and rated and that their social media presence was not something that could be assessed and dissected. But there was something there ... But I disagreed. I was intrigued by the idea. Using big data and algorithms to judge social media effectiveness made sense. Klout was a blunt instrument ... but it was also a start-up that I thought I was on to something. And, believe it or not, I was about the only blogger out there who did! I saw a huge potential in what I called at that time "social scoring." The term did not catch on, but Klout did, a forerunner to the many sophisticated social media influence measurement systems in the marketplace today. A few months after I wrote the post, I had a chance to meet the company's founder, Joe Fernandez , at SXSW. Joe was taking a tremendous amount of heat from the social media analysts and bloggers ... but I also learned that he receiving a lot of traction with some of the biggest brands in the world. Despite the fury in the world of bloggers, his idea was catching on. with corporate marketers. This was a new way to actually discover the passionate product advocates in the world, those who were gaining massive audiences through their independent content creation. The cusp of a revolution The world of power and influence was being flipped on its head. The traditional media editors and executives in the corner offices weren't calling the shots like they used to. We were on the cusp of a marketing revolution, led by anyone willing to step up and let their voice become heard through blogs, videos, and podcasts. Most exciting to me, companies were actually enacting the first influencer marketing programs -- and seeing amazing results. While the social media world was pounding Klout, the critics were missing the bigger picture, the entire new influence trend! A frenzy was building to connect with these new media stars. Eventually my early interest in influence marketing helped me land a book contract to write <a href= "http
S5 E13 · Thu, June 22, 2017
Should you believe the "Meeker Report?"
Like many digital marketers, I look forward to the epic internet trends report produced each year by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins . Better known as "The Meeker Report," the epic slide deck is an exhaustive summary of the relevant trends we need to be considering for our companies as the digital world moves forward. Over the past few years, Tom Webster and I have discussed this report on our podcast, The Marketing Companion, and it has always been one of my favorite episodes of the year. However, this year, my keen-eyed co-host (who knows a thing or two about research) noticed a pattern that arguably tarnishes the reputation of the report. Much of the report obviously features Kleiner Perkins' investment partners, its specific financial interests, and it even has a section sponsored by another company. Sponsored content in a research report? Over the years, I've read a lot of analysis of the Meeker Report and I've never heard another person connect the dots like this. Kudos to Tom for his sharp-eyed observation. In the new episode of the Marketing Companion, Tom and I begin by dissecting the report, culling out data points which may impact our listeners, but we also look at this from a content marketing angle. What makes this report important, effective, and distinctive ... and will Kleiner Perkins ruin it over time by catering to sponsors and its own self-promotion? We don't imply that Kleiner Perkins has done anything sinister. In fact, we like the report. But at the same time, it is not necessarily an "Internet Trends" report ... it is a report that supports KP's investment decisions. This is a unique analysis and an important new perspective about our industry's most notable annual research. Listen to this episode and let us know what you think ... Resources mentioned in the podcast episode: The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly Content Shock Reliance Jio Tom Webster dives into a little more detail in his observations on this blog post Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our co
S5 E12 · Fri, June 09, 2017
Achieving escape velocity with your marketing message
My Marketing Companion co-host Tom Webster told me that within a few weeks, three of his clients all came to him with the same question: How do we get our content discovered? The answer you typically hear in our space is "create quality content and it will rise to the top" but that does not work any more. Perhaps it never has. There are content discovery algorithms and bots working behind the scenes that hold us in our place. The digital world is presented to us in an ever-shrinking filter. Tom uses some examples from the music industry to show how content is starting to rise to the top through a never-ending popularity "loop." This reality -- and how companies are dealing with it -- makes for an incredibly interesting episode of our podcast. Content discovery strategies Tom makes the point that in our digital world so much of the content we see is issued to us based on some popularity formula that we don't have the experience of surprise and delight we used to experience looking through a record store, a book store, or a magazine stand. Our options for discovery might are more limited in the digital sphere than in the "real world!" And that makes it harder for new content, new brands, and new ideas to be discovered. What we want is what we know, what is familiar. This implies that the goal for marketing in this environment is to create "habit," more than "loyalty." We also get into a great discussion on differentiation, segmentation, and lessons from a new New York Times blueprint to get their content discovered in the future through technology, quality and new content forms and new skill sets. You won't want to miss this! In our show, we also introduce our new sponsor CoSchedule , the world's greatest marketing scheduling utility. Ranked as the best business tool built by a startup on Entrepreneur.com, you can receive your exclusive Marketing Companion 30-day free trial by heading to www.coschedule.com/marketing-companion . And, on the lighter side, I reveal to Tom surprising common business phrases I picked up on my recent visit to Eastern Europe. Ready? Here we go ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . CoSchedule is the world's number one ma
S5 E11 · Fri, May 26, 2017
Artificial intelligence, real marketing
The inevitability of a business world dominated by artificial intelligence seems to be the headline of the day, and yet the notion for many marketers may seem distant and unreal. On our Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I have been toying with this subject for years and decided it was time to devote a full-blown episode to the topic. Artificial intelligence and marketing -- what's real, what's now, what's ahead? Our latest episode is a far-ranging discussion that gets into: Customer service -- brighter days ahead The incremental change that is happening now AI as a source of innovation The revolution in marketing technology ... it's more than automation The impact on our jobs (Tom and I disagree on this point) You won't want to miss this timely and important discussion. Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . SaneBox is like a super-smart assistant who’s been with you for years and knows what’s important to you. It moves unimportant emails from the inbox into a new folder and summarizes them in a digest, where you can quickly bulk-process them. An average SaneBox customer saves 12+ hours/month. It works with any email provider, client or device. And we have a special offer for you. Simply go to sanebox.com/marketing to receive a risk-free 14-day trial and $25 off your initial subscription! With glowing reviews from TechCrunch, Forbes, The New York Times and emailers everywhere, you will fall in love with email again. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers, and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. It is an indispensable application for content research, analysis and SEO. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!
S5 E10 · Fri, May 12, 2017
The content monetization minefield
For decades, I've been a big fan of the sports channel ESPN. They have a great brand -- serious about sports, but not too serious about themselves. Their bold style of storytelling went far beyond the cable TV channel to web, print, apps, satellite radio, social media, and podcasts. They created exceptional content, bought into premium sports events, and seemed to be nurturing their brand as effectively as any company. From a content standpoint, they seemed to be doing everything right in the digital age. And they just laid-off 100 people. It just made no sense. ESPN is an iconic standard of multimedia content excellence. If they can't make money with their content, who can? What went wrong? The content monetization challenge When I dug into it, it became clear that the ESPN story provides a great case study about the bigger picture of content, branding, the expense of producing content, the success of Facebook and mobile ads, channel fragmentation, the transition from advertising to subscription models, "cord-cutting" in the television business, and more. It turns out that this is not just an ESPN issue. It's a content monetization issue. ESPN's parent company Disney said that interest in the sports network has never been higher -- it's just that the subscription audience has moved online where the content is free and ads have not caught up. This ad-industry fall-out may just be the tip of the iceberg. A recent New York Times article points out that TV ad spending is still probably too high and out of touch with the reality of where consumers are spending their time -- online and social media. Exploring the problems with ESPN reveals the rifts in the dynamic world of content and business today. And, it made a fantastic podcast topic! Please join me and Tom Webster as we dissect this case study, the content monetization challenge ... and the world's worst games. Ready? Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . SaneBox is like a super-smart assistant who’s been with you for years and knows what’s important to you. It moves unimportant emails from the inbox into a new folder and summarizes them in a digest, where you can quickly bulk-process them. An average SaneBox customer saves 12+ hours/month. It works with any
S5 E9 · Fri, April 28, 2017
The real data behind content marketing secrets
This headline is a bit misleading. In fact, you will probably receive far more than 20 incredible insights from our Marketing Companion conversation with BuzzSumo founder Steve Rayson . The episode posted a few days ago and we have already received more comments on this conversation than any other episode. Arguably, Steve Rayson analyzes more content than any other person in the world -- billions of pieces in all. Tom Webster and I tap into his years of experience and I think you'll find some of his insights both remarkable ... and perhaps even a little controversial. Here's a sample: Content doesn't go viral Don’t bank on your content going viral. Content NEVER goes viral in the true sense of two people share and two of their friends share, then two of their friends share etc. It just doesn’t happen. Studies show that over 90 percent of content people read from social comes from just one point of separation from the original source. To get content to "move," you need multiple influential broadcasters at the same time. Links are more important than shares. Links give your content longevity. Most people share without reading A big influencer recently shared a post on Twitter but forgot to include the link. It was still shared more than 50 times. None of them added the link and I assume few, if any, of them read the post. We see many examples where a post gets more shares than views. People link and share for different reasons (can discuss the different reasons) Both shares and links matter but links give your content longevity. Personally I much prefer links to shares. Content marketing is hard work, not rocket science. You need to produce regular content that is helpful to your audience. However, to produce unique and valuable content you need to be an expert or very knowledgeable. Otherwise it is difficult for you to add value. The data show the value of original research content as it gains both shares and links. Try to help people and expect nothing in return. Share your knowledge, your network and your compassion. In time this will be returned and more. Steve hates pop up forms and landing pages As Mark Schaefer says in his speeches, "love is the killer app." Give away your content for free, don’t barter for an email address. "I hate landing pages," Steve said. "I never use them on our site. If people like our content they can sign up. I particularly hate the forms that say sign up or click agree I am an idiot w
S5 E8 · Thu, April 13, 2017
Your content: When is it time to pivot or quit?
I recently had a conversation with pioneering blogger Chris Brogan and he mentioned that he had ended his latest podcast series and had begun a new one. "I just thought it was time to create something new," he said. This seems like such a simple idea, and yet it set my wheels spinning. Creating content means building equity in an audience and a body of work. What would make you decide to walk away from that? My promise to you on this blog is that it will always be relevant, interesting, timely, and entertaining. It will be worth your time and I will never let you down. But what if the ideas no longer come to me? What if it becomes a chore? When is it time to end this thing ... or any content project on the web? The art and science of stopping I've been consistently creating content for eight years. I've blogged at least twice a week, every week, since 2009. I've written six marketing books in that timeframe. Tom Webster and I have published more than 100 episodes of The Marketing Companion podcast over four years. I've consistently posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn (and less consistently on YouTube and Snapchat) ... and I've never considered the thought of quitting. It's a delicate subject but an important one. What are the signs that you're getting stale, that your audience is dis-interested, or that it's simply time to start something new? Tom and I had never debated this before. We started The Marketing Companion in 2013 without ever having a discussion about our long-term goals, and our purpose ... let alone the end the game. We did it to learn about podcasting and have a little fun along the way (and we do). But the show has become a "thing" now. We have sponsors. We have thousands of people all around the world who listen to every show. But one day we will have to pull the trigger and stop. What does that look like? So this new episode of the podcast is dedicated to "stopping." Tom and I have a frank discussion about our expectations and endings. We reveal for the first time a period last year when the show was in crisis and what we did about it. We're NOT stopping, but I think you'll enjoy this very unusual show on endings ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com</
S5 E7 · Fri, March 31, 2017
A special 100th episode
In 2012, I escaped the crazy crowds of SXSW to have dinner with my friend Tom Webster and his wife Tamsen. We had a magical evening and at the end of our time together I commented that I wish we had recorded the conversation. A lot of people would have loved to hear that debate! A year later, I was thinking about starting a podcast. It was a difficult decision because I didn't want to begin anything that would distract me from creating great content on the blog. I decided I needed a podcasting partner and there was literally only one person I could do it with -- Tom. When I asked him, he didn't hesitate. Would he want to do a podcast with me? "Absolutely," he said. And with that one word, we began a four-year journey together that has culminated this week in the 100th episode of our show. For 99 episodes, we have torn into marketing's biggest issues but for this milestone, we asked our friend Douglas Burdette to interview us about the process and perils of creating 100 episodes of a podcast. I think you'll enjoy a bit of reflection on our show and as always, we can't let a show go by without having a good bit of fun along the way. Thank you so much for supporting us in this journey. We never take you for granted and we'll always be committed to creating the world's most entertaining business podcast for you! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!
S5 E6 · Fri, March 17, 2017
The audio revolution and the opportunity for smart marketers
Is social media turning into a three-horse race? New research by Edison indicates that Americans are starting to migrate to three big social media platforms, while usage and preference is flattening out on secondary platforms. In this scintillating, 99th episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster reveals a study 2o years in the making: The Infinite Dial. Some of the highlights of this show: The social media shake-out: Why Snapchat will last and Twitter is in trouble Emergence of smart speakers (like Google Home and Alexa) ... and why Apple is falling behind. The profound implications of the extraordinary growth in video subscriptions The decline of advertising opportunities and the impact on marketing Surprising listener trends in podcasts (and why young people aren't going there) The rise of YouTube as a music channel In this episode, Tom and I also read our spam, because we can. Who's ready to rumble? Resources mentioned in this podcast: Edison's Infinite Dial Report Norm McDonald's Moth Joke . Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!
S5 E5 · Fri, March 03, 2017
New media influencers are changing marketing forever
If you've been following popular culture at all, you've probably learned by now of the downfall (at least temporarily) of YouTube's greatest star, PewDie Pie . PewDiePie, a Swedish gamer and humorist, is the first person alive to hit 10 billion views on YouTube. He pulls in more money each year than most Hollywood movie stars and he's the epicenter of YouTube culture. And then it all went south. The Wall Street Journal documented at least nine of his videos that had anti-Semitic messages. Two in particular went viral, one were two people in Africa held up a provocative sign and another where an actor dressed as Jesus explained that Hitler had done nothing wrong. The outfall was swift. An affiliate of Disney terminated his contract with a thud. His career was over, right? Not so fast. Here's the rest of the story. In his initial apology video, PewDiePie seemed stunned. He said, "What I really don't understand is how you people did not get the joke." In a second video he railed at The Wall Street Journal for not understanding new media and accused the organization of targeting him. Millions of online fans around the world defended him, and after the article, his subscriber base increased at its fastest rate ever. Several journalists also came to his defense, including a prominent Jewish writer . Nonplussed, PewDiePie created a video where he goes back in time and kills Hitler to clear his name. It received over 6.5 million views. On the surface this makes no sense. How can people rally behind a person who sponsored those kind of messages? The truth is deeper, more subtle, and there is a profound message here for every company employing Millennials or selling to them. Something has changed. This is the topic of a fascinating new episode of The Marketing Companion. Any show that begins with rich Corinthian leather and ends with Hitler has to be interesting (you have to hear it to believe it). I think this is one of better shows and it pulls in some help from Chris Brogan . If you've never listened to the Marketing Companion before, give it a try. If you don't laugh in the first 90 seconds I'll give you your money back. Here we go ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their gener
S5 E4 · Thu, February 16, 2017
Fame, fortune and the art of becoming known
Three years ago, I was working on what would be the biggest consulting contract of my career. It was a potential deal with a U.S. government agency and as part of the bidding process I had to be interviewed by their senior procurement professionals via Skype. It was a bit intimidating. The stakes were high and I was facing a table full of people I didn't know. I started to introduce myself but two sentences into my presentation, the procurement director interrupted me. "Oh Mr. Schaefer, we all know who you are," she said. "We've read your blog for years." At that moment, I knew the competition was over. I was going to get that contract, for this simple reason: I was known, and the other bidders were not. Of course I was capable and competitive, but all things being equal, being known provides a powerful edge in the business world. I knew this contract was going to come my way ... and it did. This is a powerful example of the critical role your personal brand can play in the world today. Whether you just want more doors to open for you, you want to write a book someday, or speak before an important industry event, if you're known, you're going to have more success. There are so many personal and professional benefits that depend on becoming known today. And it might mean something more than that very soon. Being known might mean "relevance" in an imploding world of white-collar employment. Economists say that technology could kill 5 million jobs in the next three years -- mostly "knowledge worker" positions. Things are going to get competitive out there. Becoming known may be the only permanent, sustainable competitive advantage we have in this tumultuous world. But where do you start? How do you do this? What is the role of social media? Blogs and video? Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat? How much time does it take? This seems so overwhelming. Well, until now. It does not have to be. In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, I give the inside story of my new book. How I wrote it, why I wrote it, and how you, too, can become known. Please enjoy a FREE CHAPTER of the new book > Free chapter of KNOWN Now, on to the podcast -- KNOWN, or "GNOME," as Tom refers to it, lays out an actionable plan to develop a profound digital presence that is accessible and achievable. Let's dig into this together, shall we? Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter <a href= "http://www.scottmonty.com/p/newsletter.html" target="_blank" rel= "noope
S5 E3 · Thu, February 02, 2017
What does digital transformation mean to marketing?
Is your head spinning over the prospect of digital transformation and marketing? Certainly the change ahead might seem dizzying. Social media and social selling, Big Data and analytics, new listening platforms, and artificial intelligence are just a few of the ideas gaining momentum. How does a marketing leader manage through this level of change? In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I interview Bryan E. Jones , VP North America Commercial Marketing for Dell Technologies. I have known Bryan for four years and I always learn something from him. In all my travels, I've never met another executive who is more tuned-in when it comes to the integration of technology and sales and marketing. Our latest episode of The Marketing Companion is an extraordinary conversation, revealing: The importance of cultural support and leadership in a digital transformation. Why you can't "metric" a digital culture. How Dell is using training as a core component of employee involvement and social selling. What is the difference between IT transformation and digital transformation? How do we make technology work for us in marketing? How Bryan challenges his commercial team to take risks, experiment, and push the boundaries of social media through innovation contests. How do you keep focused on the technologies that will have really have an impact? The shift toward video. And of course Tom and I have a little fun along the way, revealing the secret behind the Marketing Companion Headquarters and why Meerkat is the ideal sponsor: Ready for this? Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!.
S5 E2 · Thu, January 19, 2017
Is the Age of Apple over?
The polish is off the Apple. One tech commentator said there was something missing from the recent Consumer Electronics Show: Nobody was saying they were the "next Apple of ..." Paypal founder Peter Thiel told the New York Times that the age of Apple is over. Provocative? Sensational? Or is there a kernel of truth there? The company seems to be focusing on incremental change instead of bold new life-changing tech. They are falling behind in AI and smart speakers. IOS-based phone sales have been flat to declining for years. The Apple laptops are getting unfavorable reviews from consumer sites. The company seems to be solving problems that consumers aren't having. Microsoft sales are surging with historically Apple markets like creatives. What's going on and what can be done? Is the Age of Apple over? Sounds like a great topic for a podcast, right? Right! Tune-in as Tom Webster and I explore the future of the world's most valuable brand and their decision to get into original content. Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour!
S5 E1 · Thu, January 05, 2017
Streamification, Smart speakers and other marketing changes to watch
I've been in marketing more than 30 years and I think we're facing the period of greatest change in my experience, probably the greatest period of change in the history of marketing. In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and explore the bold ideas that will have a profound impact on marketers including smart speakers, artificial intelligence, and the "streamification" of content. You won't want to miss this episode. We also get into our new app SlapChat. You need it. We all need it. Resources mentioned in this podcast The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future By Kevin Kelly Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! Affinio is now offering a FREE eBook co-authored with Mark Schaefer called How to Identify, Understand and Grow Your Ideal Content Audience . Check it out, as well as their new free audience Discovery tool . Affinio is an advanced marketing intelligence platform that leverages the interest graph to understand today’s consumers. Affinio believes that if we can understand individuals at a deeper and richer level,
S4 E26 · Fri, December 23, 2016
The Internet of Things and the future of marketing
No list of hot technology trends is complete without a mention of the Internet of Things (IoT). But as we go into a new year, how does this become real to us as marketers? How is IoT going to show up in our daily worklife? Tom Webster and I thought this would be a fascinating topic for an episode of our podcast but frankly the subject is over our heads! Not that this has stopped us before ... but we decided to try something new and actually get some expert advice on this important topic. On this new episode, Tom and I interview Dr. Ari Lightman , professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University . I first met Ari through work we have done together for Dell Technologies , and through our meetings over the years at Dell-EMC World we've become friends. Ari is living with the realities of the Internet of Things every day and he provides extraordinary insights in this episode of The Marketing Companion. We cover amazing topics such as IoT and ... personalization communications with different market segments market research defining the stories most important to our customers the coming service level that will enable new marketing applications the tangled implications for privacy the impact on marketing employment levels. Ari also tells us why he teaches his students that the Internet of Things is the Internet of Threats and how new vulnerabilities occur through everyday maintenance of these nodes -- at work and at home. You won't want to miss this extraordinary episode ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com . BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s pow
S4 E25 · Thu, December 08, 2016
Conversational marketing and the gig economy
In the next episode of The Marketing Companion Tom Webster and I explore three rich and timely topics: The "Gig economy" -- The ability to match buyers and sellers in order to monetize incremental time has revolutionized the economy. As much as 2 percent of the U.S. economy may be gig-based. But there is a seedy underbelly to this trend. Conversational marketing -- This is beyond the social media mantra of "conversation." New technology like bots enable one-on-one conversations to develop enhanced personal profiling about ... you. This could revolutionize customer service and targeted marketing. Will bots know you better than your best friend? Fake news and filter bubbles -- Our homogeneous newsfeeds are contributing to the fake news epidemic. In this episode, I also put Tom to the test -- can he identify the world's funniest joke? Click here to discover if he passed the test ... Resources mentioned in this episode: Pew study on the gig economy. If you can’t access the episode above, click on this link to listen to Episode 92 Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! Affinio is now offering a FREE eBook co-authored with Mark Schaefer called How to Identify, Understand and Grow Your Ideal Content Audience . Check it out, as well as their new free audience Discovery tool . Affinio is an advanced marketing intelligence platform that leverages the interest graph to understand today’s consumers. Affinio believes that if we can understand individuals at a deeper and richer level, then we can fundamentally change the way people relate to one an
S4 E24 · Thu, November 24, 2016
Understanding the US election and its implications
America has been through a tumultuous election cycle, perhaps the strangest and most divisive time in the country's political history. What does it all mean? Sure, a lot has been written about this, but it's rare to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse from a person who was in the very heart of the process. This week in our new Marketing Companion episode, Tom Webster provides extraordinary insight into what happened on election night and what it means to those of us in marketing. What happened to the polls, and what does it mean for the accuracy of market research? The downside of probability calculators and how they might have impacted the election. The role of "social desirability bias" and how it shows up on social media Was the election won on Twitter? How big data and analytics delivered the election win The importance of the focused message and a movement The impact of fake news If you listen to one podcast, it would probably be This American Life with Ira Glass. But if you listen to TWO podcasts, you should listen to The Marketing Companion. Right? Check it out: Resources mentioned in this episode: Larry Rosin's post The Hidden Group that Won the Election for Trump If you can’t access the episode above, click on this link to listen to Episode 91 Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com , BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! Affinio is now offering a FREE eB
S4 E23 · Wed, November 09, 2016
The content dominance strategy
I want to share a statistic that kind of blew my mind. In 2011, about 20 percent of non-game Internet revenue came from content subscriptions (to stuff like Hulu, Spotify, Amazon Prime, and Netflix). The bulk of the revenue has historically derived from advertising. Today, that number has completely flopped with subscription-based revenue at 80 percent -- in just five years! And content-based subscriptions will account for more than half of all internet consumer media growth in the next five years. These projections came from Activate CEO Michael Wolf's presentation this month at a recent Wall Street Journal Conference. What makes this trend even more remarkable is that "cord-cutting" (getting all your media from the internet instead of traditional TV and cable) is only growing at just 1 percent per year. Growth in cord-cutting has been blunted because just 12 percent of the U.S. has access to the minimum speeds needed for multiple pay TV video streams. In our new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I dissect this trend and its implications for marketing. The new media economy and advertising I commented that the amount of video content being consumed is exploding, driven by two trends: Viewing is now asynchronous, meaning you can view it any time you want and even consume in a binge Fueled by subscription revenues, channels like HBO and Netflix can take greater risks on quality long-form storytelling An entirely new media economy is being driven by this content-driven trend, and the news is not good at all for advertisers. The millions of hours consumers now spend with subscription content is "unaddressable" by advertisers. Essentially, the places to even spend advertising budgets is drying up. This trend also explains some of the content/carrier alliances and mergers. Could this open up new marketing opportunities? The development of this new media economy is simply a fascinating idea and you'll not want to miss this recorded conversation. Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com , BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitorin
S4 E22 · Thu, October 27, 2016
The marketing skills you need to succeed today
There has been nothing short of an intense debate about the marketing skills needed for career success today. Gurus like Gary Vaynerchuk have decried college educations, claiming they are a waste of time and money. In an excellent and thought-provoking post , the brilliant Christopher Penn scolds the profession for falling behind, and warns that we need to keep up with topics such as cloud computing, mobile development, and integration software to be relevant. Unilever CMO Keith Weed claims there is a " lost generation " of marketers in their 30s and 40s who are unprepared to lead digital brands and are faking their way through. Still other marketing leaders such as Allison Dew , a senior VP at Dell, references a new workforce study when she says the 400 people on her marketing team better be steeped in marketing fundamentals and possess an ability to solve problems, not be masters Snapchat. It has been more than two years since Tom Webster and I discussed this topic on our podcast and with the rate of change in the industry, we thought it was time to bring some attention to the issue. In the latest episode of The Marketing Companion we dissect the state of the marketing nation and explore the marekting skills needed to prevail in our field today. Ready for this? Here we go! Disclosure: Dell Technologies is mentioned in this post and podcast. Dell compensated me to attend its Dell World event in 2016 but exerts no editorial control over content I post. Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty and his new podcast available here: fullmontyshow.com , BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run ov
S4 E21 · Thu, October 13, 2016
The Elements of Persuasion
We talk a lot about influence, but what is the true goal of influencing? Persuading. While I was far afield in South America for the past few weeks, Tom's wife Tamsen sat in for me in this episode of The Marketing Companion. Tom and Tamsen talk about the relationship between influence and persuasion, and what it really takes to not only make an impact, but to change behavior. Persuasion has a number of elements, and you can't truly persuade without understanding your audience -- not just the story you want to tell them, but the information they want and need to hear or read to achieve their own goals. Ultimately, any successful marketing initiative takes time, and has to incorporate a "mosaic" approach to branding -- some persuasion happens in the moment, some over time. Tom and Tamsen dissect persuasion from both a speaking and writing standpoint, and offer advice for marketers that is more than 2,000 years old, but still holds true. The key to changing behavior is balancing the appeal to reason, the appeal to emotion, and the appeal from credibility. Most content marketing misses including all three, which creates a gap between what the marketer wants to communicate and what they actually do communicate. Along the way, Tom and Tamsen also discuss a number of marketing concepts, including: The role of word-of-mouth and reviews The difference between how we buy and how we DECIDE to buy The problem with the "marketing funnel" and why customer journey models oversimplify consumer behavior Why marketing is just pattern recognition The fourth component to persuasion that technology has enabled The problem with modern sales emails Also, Tom and Tamsen wax poetically about the Ronco Bass-o-matic , and they present the first edition of the Cirque du Companion, an audio feast for the senses, including the talents of: Marselles Coe - with various impersonations Ian Anderson Gray - a wonderfully bizarre theme song Annika Baer (Jay's daughter) - a Gollum impersonation Joanne Sweeney-Burke - speaking backwards Ready for more? Here we goooooooooo ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter <a href= "http://w
S4 E20 · Thu, September 29, 2016
Courageous marketing
In our latest edition of The Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I explore a couple of fascinating topics. The first is that marketers seems undeterred by the fact that most corporate content is not working, at least in a measurable way. Various research reveals that content marketing is not seen as effective by a majority of marketers, yet content creation budgets continue to rise dramatically. In our podcast, Tom Webster described content marketing as "an uphill slog" with the value of content "rapidly approaching zero" due to the flood of helpful and quality content that's available. But Tom points out that "Marketers have to do something, and this is that something." Is FOMO -- the fear of missing out -- driving a high level of content creation when the metrics don't seem to pan out? We explore the psychology and economics of this enigma, pointing out: Many marketers have a short-term focus and do things day-to-day hoping that the accumulation of activity means something. Google's impact on declining content value The fact that content marketing takes time. Marketers may be exhibiting patience. Google Analytics does not measure everything that is meaningful. We don't know the slight adjustments in the views of our readers/listeners/viewers with each piece of content. Over time, marketers will spend money on the media that can be measured. There will be a flight to better-quality channels if content marketing cannot be better measured. The other topic we discuss is courage in marketing, inspired by a talk by Jim Stengel , former CMO of Procter & Gamble. Mark and Tom look at two different examples of courage in marketing: Dominos admitted that their pizza was lousy , even showing consumer groups comparing the product to cardboard. Sprint swiped the "Can you hear me now" spokesperson from Verizon. Tom loved this approach ... I hated it. The new episode of The Marketing Companion is filled with big ideas and I know you'll enjoy it. Resources mentioned in this episode We referenced the creative commercials featuring the character Flo from Progressive . Doug Kessler of Velocity Marketing The post How Google ruined content marketing by Chad Pollitt Please support our
S4 E19 · Thu, September 15, 2016
Content quantity wins out over quality
It's not often that you see a blog post that makes you think, discuss, and maybe even a little sick to your stomach but that's what Steve Rayson of BuzzSumo achieved with his controversial post " The Future is More Content ." Steve has put out some thorough, well-developed thought leadership pieces over the years and this post is among his finest because he brings up an ugly topic we choose to ignore -- that swarming the web with content -- maybe even crappy content -- is a legitimate strategy. It's a topic I've covered in The Content Code book and in a recent podcast episode -- when you get it down to it, the best content marketing strategy is to create " Content Shock " for your competition by finding an unsaturated topical niche and then thoroughly dominating it to the point that you attract most of the Google juice. If you don't believe me, try competing with Hubspot in the content space. In a follow-up post, Chad Pollitt of Relevance goes a step further to explain that Google actually encourages quantity over quality . Perhaps their algorithm is hurting their own customers! Steve Rayson's article points to several examples where the "quantity" strategy is occurring. He points to the Washington Pos t strategy of increasing their publishing rate to attract more views. He furthers his argument by noting that cost of content is coming down which will rapidly enable a "quantity" strategy. We'll soon have computer algorithms creating loads of crappy content for us at very low cost. In fact, it is already happening. Steve mentioned to me that companies like Automated Insights are offering to produce 1,000 blog posts for $250. Are the posts any good? Maybe they don't have to be. Steve argues that the future of content marketing is quantity, not quality. Of course this goes against the conventional wisdom of almost every content marketing guru around these parts, but here's the truth -- Steve has only revealed the dirty little content marketing secret everybody knows but doesn't want to acknowledge: quantity can beat quality. At least in some cases ... Quality still matters, mostly Whe
S4 E18 · Thu, September 01, 2016
The enigma of critical thinking and marketing today
I received a pretty big shock recently, a discovery that made me re-think who I am and what I know. For many years I have enjoyed digging into my family history. For many of us in the U.S. -- nearly all of us immigrants -- our family tree has tangled roots and uncovering where we come from can be an obsession. Most of the Irish side of my family came over during the potato famine of the mid-1800s. Some of my German ancestors where actually craftsmen in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. But one Dutch side of the family seems to have the longest history with America and in some way, the most sad. I recently discovered that one ancestor from this line of the family was a slave-owner in Virginia. The mind game This possible scenario for many Americans who have a long heritage in the country, but to actually have this ugly fact staring you in the face is unsettling, at least to me. To think that something in my distant blood had something to do with slavery just makes me shiver. And the mind game I pay is ... if I lived in that era, would I have been any better, or would I have just gone along? Psychologically, the justification for slavery was upheld by the leaders of the community, businesses and even the church, in some cases. In a rural Virginia village of the early 1800s, there was really no place to go for a dissenting point of view. There was no Internet, no Google, no television, no radio ... I probably wouldn't even have had access to a major newspaper. If I was cut off from the outside world, would I have any opinion beyond what I absorbed and repeated from the leaders in my isolated community? I'll never know if I would have had some sense of justice or if I would have fallen in line with the family business. I only have hope, and maybe sympathy, for the struggle of my made-up 1800s self. But what about today? That sort of information isolation is a thing of the past. With access to unlimited information, knowledge, opinions and insight ... is it any easier to be a a critical thinker and make an informed decision? The answer might surprise you. Social media and critical thinking Here is a grand irony. In this modern day, we have the accumulated knowledge of the human race in the palm of our hand, and we use this device primarily to rant about politics or share cat pictures. Although we have the infinite opportunity to learn and consider opposing views, the level of critical thinking may be no better today than the people who had access to no information in the 1800s. We're too busy to think, too busy to dig for truth. A recent study showed that in general, people use social media to connect to like-minded people in their local communities instead of learning about other views and cultures. <a href= "http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/24/social-networking-site-changing-
S4 E17 · Thu, August 18, 2016
The importance of being known
I used to be a big shot. In my corporate marketing days, I was among the top 1 percent on the company organizational chart. I was awarded seven patents and I earned two masters degrees. I closed the biggest deal in the company's history, worth more than $5 billion in sales. I earned a big salary and managed a highly-visible team of global all-stars. I had received two Chairman’s Awards for outstanding achievement, a stock award that was the highest recognition in my company. As far as I know, I was the only employee who had earned this twice. In my position as Global Director of eBusiness, I was the company’s go-to guy for anything Internet. My corporate life was a frenzy of activity. I was getting hundreds of emails a day, conference calls at all times of day and night, and lots of new opportunities and recognition. But I had also been dabbling in some entrepreneurial side businesses and, once I my kid’s college tuition was paid for, I decided it was time to re-invent myself and venture out on my own as a business owner, consultant, and college educator. I will never forget the eerie thing that happened the morning of my first day out on my own. The frenzy was over. No emails. No calls. No meetings in Paris. No communication of any kind. I was experiencing the Veil Of Silence! A new equity of online influence In my company, I was well-known and respected. But now that I was starting over, nobody knew me. Nobody knew -- or cared -- that I was a big deal just 24 hours ago. On my first day as an entrepreneur, I was the go-to guy for nothing. True story. When I started my new consulting business, my first two customers were a college kid trying to start a local catering business and a real estate agent. My first professional speaking gig was before the Lions Club in Farragut, Tennessee. The fried chicken served at lunch was delicious by the way. I had gone from being a person who was wined and dined atop skyscrapers in Shanghai to a fumbling entrepreneur building an entirely new reputation, and an entirely new brand, from scratch. Talk about a humbling experience. But in less than five years, I built a brand reputation that opened up consulting assignments with some of the biggest companies in the world, including Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, and The U.K. government. I wrote best-selling (really) business books. I was in a position to give speeches at convention halls filled with thousands of people. I’ve lectured at some of the world’s top universities and was even a guest speaker at a European “think tank” that had attracted famous authors and diplomats like Nelson Mandela. The new path to power My path to re-invention was filled with mistakes and bad habits that I carried over from the old corporate world. And this is what I had to learn the hard way: There is an entirely new paradigm of power in the online world … or what I call the new “equity of influence.” H
S4 E16 · Thu, August 04, 2016
Why Content Shock is coming to an ad near you
If you read between the lines, Facebook just told us it’s going to become a lot more expensive to be in marketing soon. In their recent blockbuster earnings announcement, CFO Dave Wehner said something interesting: Facebook’s ad load, or the total number of ads the company can show to each user, will be a "relative non-factor for predicting Facebook’s future revenue growth starting this time next year." Translation: Facebook is about to max out on the number of ads it can show users inside its platform, which means it will need to find other ways to grow the company’s ad business in the future. Simply increasing the number of ads it shows people will not be an option. The optimal ad load is really a mix of art and science,” Wehner said. “We also want to be thoughtful about making sure each person’s overall feed experience has the right balance of organic and ad content.” This was surprising to analysts, as evidenced by the fact that many of them then asked Facebook’s executives to elaborate on what this means. So what does it mean? Monetization options It means that Facebook will need to do three possible things: 1) add more users, 2) create better-performing ads that it can sell for more money, or 3) find creative new ways to monetize our personal information. Facebook’s user base is already growing — it added 60 million new users last quarter alone — but the “create better ads” part seems more difficult. Facebook will either need to do a better job proving its ads lead to sales, which it’s already trying to do , or offer more premium ads, like the commercials you might see on TV. A few years ago, I wrote a post called Content Shock: Why Content Marketing is not Sustainable which predicted this eventuality. As companies compete for limited attention span, the cost of marketing will have to go up as the channels “fill up" with content. In essence, this is what social media platforms WANT to do. The more Content Shock they can create, the higher the prices they can charge for ads. Let’s look at what’s happening over at Snapchat, the newest marketing darling. To monetize its popular platform, Snapchat recently began inserting ads between customer stories. Customers are pushing back. They piled on to Snapchat to get away from ads! But here they come. How many ads can Snapchat display? There is a limited ad inventory, and as that gets sucked up by eager marketers the price will go up and up. Eventually some companies aren’t going to be able to hang in that environment for long. It will be just too expensive. For some companies, it already is. As content popularity increases, it costs more to promote and compete.
S4 E15 · Thu, July 21, 2016
Should Facebook be regulated?
Should children be exposed to graphic violence on Facebook without your knowledge and consent? Is it a widely-available broadcast channel like TV that should be regulated, or is it something different? The social web has created amazing opportunities to learn, discover, connect, and have fun. But with the advent of innovations like live streaming video, horrifying images of terror and violence are becoming a more common staple of our news feed. Facebook's "terror policy" is pretty weak. In fact, it has proclaimed boldly that any live stream -- no matter how controversial or ghastly -- is welcome on its live video platform unless the violent act is celebrated. So, for example, if a hostage is live-streaming a beheading, that's deemed appropriate content for a Facebook live stream. If a hostage live-streams a beheading and says, "The infidel got what he deserved," it would be deleted by Facebook because it glorifies or celebrates violence. The violent act itself is OK ... it's the intent of the person filming that determines whether it is appropriate for public consumption or not. Kind of a weird line, but that's the Facebook guideline right now. As of this moment, there is no way parents can absolutely guarantee that their children will not be exposed to horrific images on Facebook, not through Facebook or any third party app. Even if Facebook tweaks its algorithm to be age-sensitive, these videos could be seen through a share, by viewing another timeline, or by searching for the content. Shouldn't we have a right to NOT see horror? Should Facebook be regulated? In the United States, there are regulations in place to keep obscene, profane, and violent content away from children on radio and television. Cable channels and subscription radio are not covered under these regulations because they're considered "subscriptions." Since there is so much free "cable" video streaming around on apps these days, you might debate whether some of the regulations are dated or not, but clearly the government has a regulatory intent to protect citizens from content that is obscene or violent. There is no reliable filter in place to moderate violent content on Facebook -- wouldn't the government intent extend to this channel too? Facebook might argue that a person has to opt-in to its service, like subscription television channels (although it's free). So it is more like a cable channel than a network broadcaster. But isn't opting into Facebook similar to opting in to owning a radio or television? There are no ongoing subscription fees or commitments. The government recently ruled that the Internet is a "utility" like water or electricity. It is essential to modern life, not an o
S4 E14 · Fri, July 08, 2016
The new psychology of content consumption
Is the psychology of content consumption changing? That's the central idea behind an amazing new discussion featured on The Marketing Companion podcast. Have you tried our free Internet radio program yet? You'll have to hear this podcast to believe it -- the first order of business is the introduction of the world's first audio emojis! But then we get serious. Tom Webster and I get into some discussions that are guaranteed to get you thinking about the nature of content and content consumption today. This 30-minute episode includes ... Why Snapchat may be the most important communication channel on earth right now and how the "cognitive costs" of this platform will keep it relevant even when grandma joins in. The dramatic behavioral shift in consumer content streaming behavior . It appears that a massive psychological change is underway and there is more widespread trust in the cloud. There are some trends here that will amaze you. Facebook's random acts of strategy. The company is introducing new concepts and then stopping them, experimenting with newsfeeds in weird ways, and promoting new functionality in a seemingly random way. Does the company really have any strategic plan, or are they demonstrating an enlightened model for innovation in the digital age? Does Facebook need to be regulated by the Federal Communications Commission like other broadcasting channels in the U.S.? Is the rapid development of technology exceeding a government's ability to understand it and discern possible threats and opportunities? ... Pretty cool stuff, right? Now it's your turn to step right up and experience the fun and excitement of The Marketing Companion, the world's most entertaining business podcast. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights into content discovery, monitoring, influencers and outreach, content research and planning, and competitor research. Find out why so many Marketing Companion fans are now hooked on Buzzsumo. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! Affinio is now offering a FREE eBook co-authored with Mark
S4 E13 · Thu, June 23, 2016
Marketing mega-trends
Each year, Mary Meeker compiles a wide-ranging report on the top Internet trends on behalf of venture capitalist firm KPCB. The report goes on for 213 pages. And do you have time for that? No! That's why Tom Webster and I distilled the report into the profound marketing trends that will have the biggest impact on you. Some of the ideas we cover in our new podcast are: Why "viral" is more is more viral that ever and how Facebook Live will become the ultimate in reality TV and a revolution in journalism. Why self-driving cars will dramatically change our behaviors and unleash new personal productivity. The economic battle for your business may get down to music, movies, books, and switching costs. Will Facebook need to get into the music business? The game-changing technology of voice recognition accuracy. The malignant complexity of data and the vulnerability of a "single-source" supply channel. Pretty interesting stuff? If that wasn't enough, it's the third anniversary of The Marketing Companion and Tom and I have a traditional gift change to remember. Let's get to it! Resources mentioned in the podcast: Jeff Jarvis Blog post on self-driving cars and the future of content Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! Affinio is now offering a FREE eBook co-authored with Mark Schaefer called How to Identify, Understand and Grow Your Ideal Content Audience . Check it out, as well as their new free Discovery tool . Affinio is an advanced audience intelligence platform that leverages t
S4 E12 · Thu, June 09, 2016
The greatest social media opportunity? You might be surprised!
We are rapidly moving toward an ad-free world, which is kind of scary because the Internet really, really, really depends on ads. Ad blocking increased by 94 percent between 2015 and 2016. About one-third of all smartphone owners block the ads that make all that great free content possible. I probably consume more content than ever. But I do it though Netflix, through Sirius radio, through Spotify. I don't personally use an ad blocker ... but I don't see ads, either. Fortunately, there is a new social media super-power that presents an extremely attractive new advertising venue: Podcasting. You heard me correctly. Podcasting is the little advertising engine that could. You can't block an ad on a podcast, and when the ad is delivered by a trusted podcast host, the format is arguably the most effective way to connect to some audiences right now. In fact, ComScore reports that people prefer ads in podcasts over any other digital medium ! Now is the time to get in on the ground floor of sponsored podcasts. Fueled by smartphone ownership and the advantage of being the "multi-task" medium, podcasting is experiencing its greatest growth spurt ever, as evidenced by this new report from Edison Research : Most of the growth is occurring with consumers under the age of 55: And podcast consumers are voracious, spending more than four hours per week consuming an average of five different programs: Podcast consumers are desirable ad targets for many brands because they are significantly more affluent and educated than the average American: Finally, podcast consumers are much more likely to follow your brand: In a sign that the advertising power of podcasts is starting to be recognized, Scripps, a traditional media company, is making major investments in the space: It bought podcast advertising company Midroll Media for $50 million in cash in 2015, and Scripps just acquired Stitcher , a podcast-streaming app, for $4.5 million. As a marketer, the research had an impact on me and I enjoyed hearing more about this opportunity and the future of podcasting when I discussed it with Tom Webster on our latest episode of The Marketing Companion. If you love podcasting, marketing, advertising, social media, or just the sound of Tom's voice, you won't want to miss this show. Plus, you'll learn about Tommodium, a new pharmaceutical product from the Marketing Companion Labs. It's the solution to Social Media Constipation and ... well, you'll have to hear to believe it. He
S4 E11 · Fri, May 27, 2016
Cutting through the marketing noise
In our new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I explore a theme of marketing challenges to rise above the increasing noise levels to connect to our customers. It's a difficult proposition and getting harder all the time. Some of the topics in this jam-packed 30 minutes of marvelous audio content include: Rising losses from ad-blocking are pushing marketing dollars into new places. An unlikely source of content innovation -- printed magazines and books. Innovations to merge games with serious editorial content to drive page views and engagement. Surprising insights on what almost every marketer is missing when it comes to creating effective video content. And if this wasn't juicy enough, Tom and I introduce a star-studded new motion picture: "Chatbots: Revolution" starring Sean Connery, Marge Simpson, and Slurry the lovable Marketing Companion Chatbot. You are not going to miss this are you? Let's find our marketing signal. References for this podcast Ad blocking to cost $12 billion Kickstarter project for print-only tennis magazine Most people watch with the sound off Washington Post new story form and games Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! <a href="http://www.gotomeeting.com/webinar" target="_blank" rel="noo
S4 E10 · Thu, May 12, 2016
A modern marketing wish list
In the latest episode of The Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I reveal our wishlist of what we would like to see "more of" and "less of" on the web. Among the topics we explore: Brand skepticism and brand bullying -- It seems like any time a company authentically tries to be "human" on the web it attracts an attack. If we want brands to show up in a more human way, shouldn't we reward them? Evangelism -- This word is a red flag for me. When anybody describes themselves as an evangelist for ... (fill in the latest social technology) ... I immediately wonder about the credibility of the person. "Evangelism" suggests you have a specific agenda and your goal is to "convert" instead of "lead." The web need more business leaders and fewer evangelists. Long-term thinking -- Why Uber needs to be more like Nike. A brand develops from a collection of small interactions over time. Do brands still have the patience to be great? Whining -- Let's stop whining and start taking care of each other. Want to make the world a better place? Think about how you're showing up in your little corner of the world. ... and there's much more. Also, I have been experiencing chatbot envy. Apparently this is the way to go now, according to Facebook. So Tom and I decided we needed to get ahead of this curve by introducing Slurry™, the new Marketing Companion chatbot. It's not quite ready for primetime, but it is rather entertaining! Ready for some fun? Here we go. Resources mentioned in this podcast: New eBook from Affinio Understanding Your Alpha Audience Chevrolet Little Red Corvette tribute to Prince The speech This is Water by David Foster Wallace Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. Check out BuzzSumo’s powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! GoToWebinar – a leader in online events –
S4 E9 · Sat, April 30, 2016
The epic switch from social networks to private networks
Over the past few months I've seen a few trends coming together but I'm not sure I grasped the significance of what's happening until I heard a recent comment from my 16-year-old nephew. Here is what I have seen occurring: WhatsApp has rapidly become the biggest messaging service in the world with more than a billion users . Snapchat is a juggernaut with the 18-24 age group, now earning more daily check-ins than Facebook. The company founder insists it is “ not a social network .” Facebook is the social network for most of the world, yet their major investment is in the development of private Facebook Messenger, including bots that would help companies scale “human” interaction through the service. More than 900 million people use Messenger now.Instagram (owned by Facebook) started private DM in 2014 that focuses on the sharing of content with up to 15 people in a threaded approach. The artificial intelligence-powered messaging space that allows third parties to build and deploy chatbots is predicted to facilitate 40 percent of mobile interactions by 2020 as “smart agents” proliferate, according to Gartner . After falling behind Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, Apple has become laser-focused on improving Messages. Other private messaging services like Viber and Kik have established footholds with certain demographic groups and have attracted millions of users. And here is the quote from my young nephew: "Oh Facebook is dead. My friend posted on Facebook and we made fun of him. We only use Snapchat now because who wants to put everything in public all the time? This just connects me with my real friends." Of course you can't pin a trend to the comment of one person but he helped articulate the idea I had been pondering: A seismic shift in how people connect to each other. People are more interested in actually communicatin
S4 E8 · Thu, April 14, 2016
Facebook chases down Snapchat
So much going on today! So many changes to consider. Facebook and Snapchat and content wars. OH MY! In this new episode of The Marketing Companion Tom Webster and I consider some EPIZOODIC new ideas that will be affecting your marketing programs now and in the future. Listen in for some TREMENDIFIED new insights on: Snapchat rejected Facebook's takeover bid last year. Mark Zuckerberg is taking revenge like a jilted lover. Watch out for this ZUCKERFICATION of Facebook Messenger. Facebook and Snapchat ... AT WAR? The surprising new study that shows how people consume content in their cars. GOLLY GOSH this is unbelievable! Audible is seeking WORLD DOMINATION on everything audio. The Netflix of audio? WOWZERS. The epic battle for the content eco-system is heating up! Apple? Google? Amazon? TAKE COVER! Twitter's new partnership with the National Football League. A multimedia SHOCKER! Is this the salvation of Twitter or is this FOURTH AND LONG for the company? Also, don't miss this FREE eBook co-authored by Mark Schaefer and our sponsor Affinio called How to Identify, Understand and Grow Your Ideal Content Audience . Did I just say this is FREE? Why, yes I did. Well, you're probably ready to jump out of your seat by now. Please. Stay Calm. Your podcast awaits. Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. Check out BuzzSumo's powerful technology to look at the hottest content trends down to the hour! GoToWebinar – a leader in online events – is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect and convert your target audience. You can generate qualified leads, establish thought leadership and build brand awareness for up to 1,000 attendees. Trusted by start-ups to global organizations worldwide, GoToWebinar helps businesses reach over 40 million people each year. Affinio is now offering a FREE eBook co-authored with Mark Schaefer called <a href= "http://www.affinio.com/understandingyouralphaaudience" target= "_blank" r
S4 E7 · Fri, April 01, 2016
Why Twitter matters
First, let's establish something. Despite all the Wall Street belly-aching about Twitter, The Bird is a powerful force in our world. It is a place for innovation, conversation and collaboration. It is where news breaks and politicians rant. It is the place for real-time commentary on live events. But if Twitter has no paying customers, it will not be a platform forever. So there is the rub. Twitter has an enormous and passionate audience. It has a goldmine of real-time data. It is a primary method for getting news to spread. It is changing the world through Twitter chats. ... and yet nobody is paying for any of this. Twitter will never have the mainstream panache of Facebook or the dead-simple interface of Instagram. It needs to find a way to focus on being profitable with LOW user growth ... and you know, there are LOTS of companies that do that. But what Twitter lacks in growth it makes up for in high-octane relevance. When Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa cross swords over marriage and marijuana, they do so on Twitter. When Oprah single-handedly lifts a brand's stock price 23 percent, she does so on Twitter. And when a politician gaffes so hard it sparks a mocking hashtag, he or she (but probably he) does so on Twitter. Twitter has become part of the fabric of our lives. So as the stock for our beloved little channel continues to tumble, Tom Webster and I decided to take this on. How do you save Twitter? We cover a lot of ground in this 30 minute episode of The Marketing Companion and you're going to enjoy the debate! Here we go! How to save Twitter ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial and use the coupon MARKETING-COMPANION to get 20% off BuzzSumo for the first six months. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. GoToWebinar – a leader in online events – is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect and convert your target audience. You can generate qualified leads, establish thought leadership an
S4 E6 · Fri, March 18, 2016
Snapchat For the Win
For the first time since Facebook unseated MySpace in the hearts and minds of teens, ladies and gentlemen, we have a new social media champion -- Snapchat, at least if you're a young American (cue David Bowie). While Facebook continues to dominate overall social media usage, in a new report from Edison Research, Snapchat has eclipsed Facebook with social media users aged 12-24. In fact, 72 percent of them now use Snapchat and 26 percent cited this as the channel they use most often, up from 15 percent just a year ago, a mind-blowing statistic. At the same time, Facebook dropped from 43 percent to 32 percent as the most-used network for that age group. This new report prompted a fascinating discussion with Tom Webster on our Marketing Companion podcast. We also discuss: Why this trend is another way consumers are becoming "less available" to advertisers. Why influencer marketing is growing in importance and how it is transforming in this ad-free era. Is Snapchat social media as it was meant to be? It's unencumbered by Likes, status and brands (for now). New data on podcasting and why Tom Webster now believes this should be considered a "mainstream" channel. Why the "short attention span" view is a myth. The enigma of radio -- receivers are disappearing but reach is holding steady. Content in the future -- might be unrecognizable from where we are today. Are you ready to hear more? Of course you are. Let's get to it. Resources cited in this episode: Edison's Infinite Dial research Mark Schaefer's review of 2016 SXSW highlights Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter The Full Monty , the best weekly curation of digital news. BuzzSumo is the world’s best way to discover, analyze and amplify your content. Run over to BuzzSumo today for a 14 day free trial and use the coupon MARKETING-COMPANION to get 20% off BuzzSumo for the first six months. Beyond data, BuzzSumo offers priceless insights to take your marketing to the next level. GoToWebinar – a leader in online events – is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect and convert your target audience. You can generate qualified leads, establish thought leadersh
S4 E5 · Fri, March 04, 2016
Silver lining in the bad news about content marketing
There is a steady drumbeat of bad news about content marketing ... The output of content per brand increased by 78 percent in one year, but content engagement decreased by 60 percent at the same time. On social networks, brand-generated content is seeing the lowest engagement rates now than any other time. BuzzSumo reported that even the best content creators are seeing dramatic declines in social referrals. 50 percent of professionally-marketed blog posts receive fewer than eight social shares. Content Marketing Institute, the relentless cheerleader for all things content, reported in their new research that satisfaction with the measurable results of content marketing slipped from 38 percent to 30 percent in just a year. A TrackMaven report concluded that a majority of professional marketing content fails to have an impact and calls this “the darkest picture to date of content marketing.” BuzzSumo's analytics genius Steve Rayson recently wrote: Whilst in earlier years it was possible that if you produced good content it would get found and shared, almost by virtue of its quality, this is no longer the case. There is now so much content that even producing great content is not enough. But despite the gloom, here is a fundamental truth: Content Marketing works. Which of course is part of the problem. In fact, the more it works, the more people invest in content. The more content, the more competition. The more competition, the more it costs to compete just to maintain the gains ... and this is exactly what we're seeing in the marketplace right now. The trick is adjusting to these new realities. How do we overcome that level of information density? How do we assign value to our work? And how do we produce content that rises above the noise? That is the topic of our new podcast episode and one that will surely make you think and perhaps it will even cheer you up in the midst of all this gloomy news. There is a path forward, but we need to adjust to these new realities instead of denying them. Here's how: Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome show intro. Be sure to check out his amazing newsletter <a href= "http://www.scottmonty.com/p/newslette
S4 E4 · Sat, February 20, 2016
Unlocking the new secrets of customer service
How much time do you spend each week learning something new? It's a problem for me, which is why I love podcasts so much. I can usually find a way to fit in a 30 minute podcast and feel energized and refreshed. I am even getting a lot of new blog posts ideas from podcast discussions that inspire me. If you haven't discovered podcasts as a way to get energized and inspired, the latest edition of The Marketing Companion would be a great place to start. In this latest edition you'll hear about two new apps to help you create content, a list of the worst apps in the world (including the Death Simulator), and some radical new insights into customer service best practices. Two cool new apps for the content creator Tom Webster and I start the show covering two new content-creation apps we love. The first one is Anchor , an app that Tom uses to record and share soundbites on the go. These soundbites are called “waves" and could have an interesting impact on content creation. Lots of possibilities here. I talk about how I am using Blab and why I love it. I'm still in the experimental stage but see huge potential in this as a flexible and easy way to create quality content. I am even combining Blab and Slideshare . Radical insights into customer service The heart of the show is a discussion of the surprising data behind Jay Baer's new book Hug Your Haters . Tom Webster led an Edison Research team to discover the truth of customer service on the web today. Here are some the fascinating tidbits that came out of the show: Why Jay's new book is not the one he started out to write. What industries are number one for complaints? What company gets the single-most number of complaints? The vast implications of customer expectations for response speed. What do you do about that 2 percent of "haters" who just love to hate? They won't go away no matter what you do. How do you know when it is time to walk away? The Hatrix -- a strategy for dealing with haters Onstage haters versus offstage haters and the amazing data that points to radical new social media service strategies Why the emphasis on Twitter complaints may be overstated. I'm sure you'll love this show. Especially the part about poop. Here we go ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. Many thanks to our friend Scott Monty for the awesome
S4 E3 · Sat, February 06, 2016
Words that inspire and the stories behind them
On the latest edition of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I get personal. Between us, we have more than 50 years of marketing experience and we've learned many important lessons along the way. In this new episode, we look back and discuss the advice we have received from mentors along the way that changed the course of our careers. We also take Bollywood by storm. More or less. I think you will really enjoy this one ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. GoToWebinar – a leader in online events - is one of the easiest and most effective ways to connect and convert your target audience. You can generate qualified leads, establish thought leadership and build brand awareness for up to 1,000 attendees. Trusted by start-ups to global organizations worldwide, GoToWebinar helps businesses reach over 40 million people each year. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S4 E2 · Mon, January 25, 2016
Achieving the digital mindset
What does it mean to be "digital?" Is your business digital? How do you know it is? Is it enough? Research shows only 18 percent of all businesses are really optimizing digital in a way that creates competitive advantage and those that do leave their competitors far behind. Which side do you fall on? In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I go deep on this topic and discuss what it really means to be a digital business, the importance of adopting a digital mindset and the impact on all of us as marketers. We also look at a case study of a company "going digital" that resulted in a $9 billion loss and the lay-off of nearly 18,000 employees. Are the stakes high? Yes, they are. Do you need to listen to this podcast? Yes, you do. Well ... here it is for your listening pleasure! Resources mentioned in this podcast The Inside Story of what Really Went Wrong at Target Canada , Canadian Business What Digital Really Means , McKinsey Global Institute The Most Digital Companies are Leaving the Rest Behind , Harvard Business Review Illustration courtesy of Flickr CC and Vancouver Film School Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S4 E1 · Sat, January 09, 2016
The internet we need to save
Tom Webster and I have been doing a podcast together for nearly three years. And this is what Tom had to say about our latest episode: "This was our best podcast ever." What made it so? Is the Internet changing for the better or for the worse, and should businesses care? We were inspired by a passage in a recent London Guardian post by Hossein Derakhshan . I miss when people took time to be exposed to opinions other than their own, and bothered to read more than a paragraph or 140 characters. I miss the days when I could write something on my own blog, publish on my own domain, without taking an equal time to promote it on numerous social networks; when nobody cared about likes and reshares, and best time to post. That’s the web I remember ... That’s the web we have to save. How has the Internet changed in ways that help us or hurt us? Are our values and the promise of the web being slowly "boiled away?" Is the "inward gaze" of social media becoming a dead-end for content? As "newness and popularity" replace authority on the web does its significance decline? One of our deepest and most interesting discussions. I think you will enjoy audio discussion. Is this the Internet we need to save? Resources mentioned in this podcast Iran's blogfather Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are killing the web. How Facebook and Instagram are killing the Internet Mark Bernstein The book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition target="_blank" Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E26 · Sat, December 26, 2015
Twitter strategy, politics and authenticity gone mad
What impact does social media have on politics? In this episode, Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster look at current events in the marketing space including Twitter's marketing strategy, the impact of social media on politics, the expectation of authenticity and Millennials in the workplace.
S3 E25 · Fri, December 11, 2015
What's next for marketing in 2016
The Star Wars editon of Google pants. Let's just get that out of the way. Yes this is part of the cherished and much-anticipated Marketing Companion Holiday Catalogue. It's not just the dream book of 2016. This may be the Dream Book of the Century. At this point you may wondering, "Mark, where can we get this spectacular book of wonder?" The answer my friends is blowing in the wind. No it's not. There is no wind on a blog. The secret is in the latest edition of The Marketing Companion podcast. In our annual holiday extravaganza, my scintillating co-host Tom Webster and I tantalize and tease your deepest desires with brand new products such as CrapChat and your very own You Can Be An Influencer Starter Kit. And thanks to our creative friend Ralph Cipolla ( ralph.cipolla@me.com) for the Catalogue design. Alas, The Marketing Companion is a serious podcast for serious people and we also grudgingly cover a REAL topic -- our projections for the marketing trends to watch in 2016, including: The rise of advanced new opportunities for sampling and trials The fourth digital epoch is ushered in by Facebook Oculus, opening amazing new business models. Two trends that will make podcasting the best advertising value. We begin to leave our content "homebase" and build a stronger presence on Facebook as the content "magnet" drifts away. Why computer-generated content could transform the marketing function. Why personal branding is even more important in the marketing world of 2016. ... and more! Seriously. There's more. And did I mention CrapChat? Yes! Get you some. OK, time to put down the holiday punch and click this audio file to check out our marketing madness for the month ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations."
S3 E24 · Tue, December 01, 2015
Every way to monetize content
I went into the business for the money and the art came out of it. If people are disillusioned by that remark, I'm sorry. It's the truth. -- Charlie Chaplin There are lots of amazing ways to use content for your business. You might want to establish your voice of authority, use content to educate, to help with customer service, perhaps even to entertain. But some of us want to make money. The opportunities to make money from content have changed dramatically in the past 18 months. Traditional methods like inbound marketing and advertising have been under attack while new models like "rented" content and patronage have emerged. In this environment, what is the best way to make money from your content? In this new episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I assess every opportunity for monetization including: Indirect Subscriptions/paywall Advertising Affiliate links Sponsored content Native advertising Rented content Inbound leads Re-purposed content through events, book, webinars Micro-payments Patronage Which ones are going up? Which are going down? Which do you need to keep your eyes on? Tune in to the latest episode of The Marketing Companion to find out! Resources mentioned in this podcast: Ian Cleary Kim Garst Written.com Patreon NBA Savant Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations. Illustration courtesy Flickr CC and <a href= "https://www.flickr.com/photos/pict
S3 E23 · Fri, November 13, 2015
Stats-A-Palooza
I'm a data junkie. So this is a good time for me to be in marketing because we sure have a lot of amazing facts and figures at our finger tips. But once in a while I see some fact that is mind-blowing and I thought it would be fun to share some of these with you! On our latest podcast episode, Tom Webster and I dug deep into the bowels of the Internet to explore some of the most amazing facts and figures from the social web. It's social media BELIEVE IT OR NOT! The number one pinned item on Pinterest (MOUTH-WATERING!)! The most photographed brand on the web (BY FAR!)! Mind-boggling data on Snapchat (GASP!) The biggest messaging app in the world (NO WAY!) The number one social network in the world (it's NOT Facebook?) The magic of Kik (WHAT???) The huge slide in Facebook posting! (MIND-BLOWING!) Ads -- the most effective content type (HUH??) The mind-numbing impact of mobile on content distribution (DEATH DEFYING!!) ... Plus SHOW TUNES!!! You simply have to hear to believe it! Are you ready for this? Here we go ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E22 · Fri, October 30, 2015
The Rant Show
Bollywood dancing. You know you love it. You know you want to do it. So join Tom Webster and me on The Marketing Companion to learn of our new "product line" (many thanks to out friend Ralph Cipolla for the awesome graphic!). Tom and I also get a little prickly on the new edition of podcast. After a brief dance routine (really) we tee-off on online trends that drive us a little nuts: Faking your way through the work-life balance The "live your dream" fallacy Bizarre eMail marketing mis-fires Android podcast dreams Inane round-up blog posts LinkedIn spam Ready to join our podcast Bollywood-style? Put on your dancing shoes and let's dive in: Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E21 · Fri, October 16, 2015
Sales and marketing transformation in the digital world
There is no corporate function that has been transformed more quickly -- and more dramatically -- by technology than sales and marketing. In this episode of The Marketing Companion, Tom Webster and I look at the state of the art of sales and marketing, and discuss the role and relevancy of this career path in a digital age. Some of the incredibly interesting topics we cover include: Emerging technology focuses on many traditional marketing functions. Are marketers becoming redundant? Are we in an era of real-time sales ... or real-time marketing? Or both? Sales has always been day-to-day/tactical, marketing is normally more long-term, and cerebral ... but is this still true? Are the roles merging? We unpack the key ideas behind marketing today -- maneuverability and demand. Daniel Pink and the idea of the age of "servant sellers" -- Isn't that what content marketing is about? Is that enough? Google's Moment of Truth -- People consult 10 pieces of content before making a decision, double what it was a few years ago. What is driving this? Content Shock and analysis paralysis -- How is this affecting sales? Does content mean anything in the decision process? Isn't much of what we want simply an irrational and emotional decision? Can content contribute to that? Forrester projects that a quarter of the sales job will be eliminated in the next few years. WIll algorithms replace marketers? Why Tom believes CMO's are an endangered species (and why I disagree). Why start-ups are particularly vulnerable to marketing issues. You will NOT want to miss this. Ready? Here we go ... Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E20 · Fri, October 02, 2015
Competitive pressures on content marketing
Tom Webster and I have the opportunity to experience a broad swath of marketing ideas, organizations and people during our travels and it's always fun to compare notes on what we're seeing out there. In this episode of The Marketing Companion we look at some interesting things that will be transforming content marketing efforts in 2016 and beyond. Some of the things we cover in this new episode of The Marketing Companion ... Is content marketing about leads or relationships? How is this shifting? What is Inbound Marketing? Is it merely a source for potential cold calls or something else? Ad blocking. What does this have to do with content marketing? A lot! New investments in influence marketing are on the way. Trusted friends -- and even celebrities -- matter. Why are ad agencies in an influence feeding frenzy? The impact of Millennials -- how their buying habits will make us adjust our content marketing. Back to the Future -- the return of true sponsorship? Scintillating? Of course. Provocative? You bet! Let's dig in ... Resources mentioned in the podcast A list of all the podcasts and show notes for the Marketing Companion Scott Monty Mike Hind Joe Chernov Social Brand Forum Crystal Ad Blocker Article: Crystal impact on legitimate eCommerce sites like Wal-Mart Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and
S3 E19 · Fri, September 18, 2015
Critical marketing lessons from 2015
2015 is going down in the books as a transformational year for the discipline of marketing. There is just so much going on ... and it's going on so FAST! As Tom Webster and I compared notes from our recent journeys we began to see some themes and marketing lessons that we thought would be entertaining and useful to discuss on our podcast. So ... we did! On the latest episode of The Marketing Companion we get into some wild discussions on some thought-provoking developments such as: Branding is more important that ever. In fact we're at a tipping point where every person must be a brand to be relevant in this digital age. Relationship mode versus sales mode in content marketing Facebook is slipping through our fingers as a business tool, as the most important social channel evolves into something new. Content monetization at the point of contact The renaissance of social media engagement and interactive media Growing sophistication of social media marketers Courage as a core marketing competency This is a podcast you cannot miss. Here we go: Resources mentioned in this podcast Kristian Strøbech Kelly Michael Ulrik Heilmann CEO of Bolius gShift's new URL innovation that will allow marketers to track the value of content and influencers. <stro
S3 E18 · Fri, September 04, 2015
The shifting sands of Facebook marketing
Have you figured out Facebook marketing? What if I told you that organic reach is GOING UP for many businesses in 2015? Impossible you say? Well, then you will need to catch up with our new episode of The Marketing Companion where we discuss the "secondary advertising ripple" and how it's creating new complexity for companies trying to figure out what's happening on their Facebook page. But wait! There's more! Some of the other ripped from the headlines topics on this episode include: A discussion on new data on how an increase in negative feedback can actually be a positive for some businesses that are increasingly turning to Facebook as a customer service channel. 1 billion people logged into Facebook on a single day last month. We discuss Facebook as a sociological driver of community and connection. Or, are they just in it for the money? Blab -- Meerkat killer or just another app in the line of streaming video innovation? I like it a lot, but Tom has some reservations about using this technology for marketing purposes. Bottom line: Live is hard. A live Blab for Mark and Tom and our loyal listeners? Yes, it is going to happen. The latest innovation from The Marketing Companion laboratories: Mashley Addison. With no further delay, let's dive in shall we? Resources mentioned in this episode The worst song in history - Escape: The Pina Colada Song AgoraPulse The End of History and the Last Man Blab Kerry Gorgone's post on the legal issues with live video streaming Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift
S3 E17 · Fri, August 21, 2015
Telltale signs that it's time to end your business
The entrepreneurial spirit was strong in me, even at an early age. I always had some gig going. I sold Christmas cards door-to-door. I raked leaves and cut grass. I watched kids and dogs. I did anything I could to make a buck. But my first entrepreneurial venture was also my shortest one and it occurred when I was five years old. That's right. I started my first business before I entered the first grade! My family home at that time was at the intersection of two busy streets. When people stopped at this corner from any direction, they would throw their cigarette butts out the window. I noticed that most of these butts still had a lot of tobacco in them. So my idea was to unwrap the used cigarettes, recover the unused tobacco and sell it. Now, in hindsight, that is a pretty gross business. But for a five-year-old kid, this was a vision of money falling from heaven. Of course when my mother found out what I was doing she made me stop right away (and take a bath). My first start-up literally went down the drain at that moment. Which brings me to today's topic. If you have an idea you love, and you're driving a new business as hard as you can, how do you know when it's time to finally call it quits? Probably one of the hardest moments in your life, right? My Marketing Companion co-host Tom Webster and I have both had to give up on start-up businesses and decided to devote some time to discuss ... when is it time to call it quits? Is the biggest problem quitting early or quitting too late? A discussion of the number one reason for new business failures Following your heart versus your head - the chronic entrepreneurial failure The pervasive and mythological legend of entrepreneurship in America Why "intrapreneurial" efforts are so difficult The rise of the entrepreneurial unicorn And as an added bonus, Tom and I review the worst mobile apps of 2015. You won't want to miss this episode! Resources mentioned in this podcast Failure of Zirtual Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker Clay Hebert Chris Brogan's podcast Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our
S3 E16 · Sat, August 08, 2015
The Influence Marketing Show
Advocate marketing is getting a bit ... prickly. While there are undoubtedly some wonderful programs out there, and many brands are doing it well, there is a rising tide of weird stuff going on in the influencer space, as we explore on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion. The ability for anybody to publish content and gain an active audience has transformed the media world and democratized influence. Many companies are becoming aaware of these "citizen influencers" and how they might be impacting the attitudes and buying behaviors of a target audience. Connecting to these trusted influencers and advocates and their engaged audience can provide an effective and rapid opportunity for content transmission. In this edition of our Internet radio show, Tom Webster and I crack open a case of advocate marketing topics such as: How companies are gaming influence and cheating brands blind. The advantages of advocate marketing Influence marketing done right -- What make an effective campaign? Examples of brands using influencers to successfully connect to new audiences and new platforms Why influence marketing is becoming a gamble The burned-out influencer Becoming a human NASCAR jacket Authentic Advocacy versus celebrity endorsement The model for influence marketing, Bethany Mota Pretty amazing discussion, right? Let's do this thing! Resources mentioned in this podcast The book on influence marketing, Return On Influence Crowdly The book The Content Code: Six essential strategies to ignite your content, your marketing, and your business Augustine Fou's Slideshare channel on ad corruption <a href= "http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/business/media/cool-influencers-with-big-followings-get-picky-about-their-endorsements.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad
S3 E15 · Fri, July 24, 2015
The real story about real-time marketing
Real-time marketing is one of the hottest trends around, prompting entirely new agency specialists and tactics in the last few years. But it has also proved to be disastrous for several brands and the trend might even be losing some steam. This is an issue for rich discussion on the latest Marketing Companion podcast and, in fact, Tom Webster and I disagree on the promise and potential of this marketing trend. In our latest episode we discuss ... Are brands still holding onto old business models because real-time marketing is disruptive How real-time marketing (like the Oreo moment) might be "extraordinarily dangerous" for brands -- why Tom thinks it is "improv advertising," and why I think it is something more. Can you sustain "clever" as a strategy? When companies like DiGiorno issue tweets that backfire, is brand value erased? Can real-time be successful when it creates provocations that lead to awareness and conversations? Why a company's organizational structure may determine whether "real time" works. Is real-time marketing a tactic or a strategy? Brands responding to each other on Twitter -- effective moments, or brands pleasuring each other? Seasonal Advertising Disorder -- latching on to weird trends to make a brand relevant Is real-time marketing about an ad or a relationship? Does this trend help describe why marketing business is coming back in-house? Are you ready for this? Let's go! Important resources mentioned in this episode: PR News article on real-time marketing A discussion on several real-time marketing movements , including DiGiorno Pizza Jerry Seinfeld's Pop-Tart joke Post on bringing marketing work inside Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift
S3 E14 · Fri, July 10, 2015
The future of content strategy
In this era of complex and overwhelming information density innovation will rule as brands find ways to cut through the clutter. In terms of leading content innovation, there is no better leader to observe than Jay Baer of Convince and Convert. Two years ago I would have introduced Jay as a blogger but that is not nearly sufficient enough to describe America's foremost new media mogul. In the past 24 months Baer has introduced rapid short-form videos, a new curated content property, five new podcasts and flurry of new publishing innovations on channels like LinkedIn and Facebook. In this amazing episode of The Marketing Companion, Jay was my pinch-hit co-host and we cover vital content marketing topics such as: Why video rules as a content form and the demographic change driving growth in this channel. How to maintain a cost-effective content creation strategy The myth of audience overlap Why Jay has launched seven podcasts and his monetization strategy Why curation has opened up a new customer connection The content strategy pivot that was "scary" for Jay Thinking through a content "funnel" for your business The future of content marketing strategy The platform changes that are forcing "liquidity" in marketing strategy Fasten your seatbelt. Here we go ... Important resources mentioned in this episode: Jay Today video series Convince and Convert podcast programs Blog and Definitive newsletter Mark's post on Facebook and content distribution strategy Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an eng
S3 E13 · Fri, June 26, 2015
Why privacy is about to become the hottest marketing issue
If you read through one piece of research this year it might just be a new report from the University of Pennsylvania on marketers, consumers, and privacy. The research is important not just for its surprising revelations about privacy but also for its unapologetic scolding of the way marketers have been mis-leading their customers. The new Annenberg survey results indicate that marketers are misrepresenting a large majority of Americans by claiming that Americans willingly provide personal information as a tradeoff for benefits they receive. To the contrary, the survey reveals most Americans do not agree that "data for discounts" is fair. The researchers say that Americans are resigned to giving up their data -- and that is why many appear to be engaging in tradeoffs. Americans believe it is "futile" to manage what companies can learn about them. Getting furious with marketers The study reveals that more than half do not want to lose control over their information but also believe this loss of control has already happened. By misrepresenting the American people and championing the tradeoff argument, marketers give policymakers false justifications for allowing the collection and use of all kinds of consumer data often in ways that the public find objectionable. The researchers write that the futility they found, combined with a broad public fear about what companies can do with the data, portends serious difficulties for the institution of consumer commerce. This remarkable study provided a source of rich conversation for Tom Webster and I and we captured this conversation on our latest Marketing Companion radio show. You won't want to miss our observations on: The shocking way marketers are manipulating our personal data How most Americans overestimate the extent to which the government protects them from discriminatory pricing Why honesty can serve as a point of differentiation Facebook's leadership role in this issue How companies are using personal information to institutionalize a profound form of discrimination I believe this is one of the most illuminating discussions we have had on the podcast and I hope you'll tune into this crucial discussion: Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. If you are looking for a cost-effective way to reach your audience, build your brand, and develop sales leads, try GoToWebinar, from Citrix. GoToWebinar is a great way to share live presentations right from your computer, reach, and influence an audience of hundreds of people. Its button-click simple and r
S3 E12 · Fri, June 12, 2015
In defense of Facebook
In a scathing blog post, the co-founder of Ello blasts Facebook as monstrous entity dedicated to hurting people in the margins of society. In this episode, hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster blast Ello back and explain why Facebook's "real name" policies provide a healthier and authentic social media platform.
S3 E11 · Sat, May 30, 2015
How we keep up and improve as marketers?
It's hard to believe but Tom Webster and I have been making beautiful podcast music together for two years and in this anniversary extravaganza we have a long list of celebrity appearances. None of them could actually make it to the show, but we did have a long list. Thanks to Marketing Companion Super Fan Rev Ciancio for this awesome graphic![/caption] Actually we do have moderately interesting guest stars on the show including the robot from Lost In Space . His price was right and he did not eat much. We also use this opportunity to explore the idea of the incredible rate of change and strategies we employ to keep up. We discuss things like: The surprising roles of conferences in knowledge transfer (not much impact) Appointing a personal board of directors Does grad school matter? Our top choices for reading material that keeps us ahead (check out a list of resources below) Can't miss resources to move your brain in new ways BTW, if you are a regular listener of The Marketing Companion it would be great if you would consider leaving a review on iTunes and express your fandom. Ready to pick up some great new ideas? Here we go!! Resources mentioned in this podcast Fortune article on best graduate degrees Flowing Data Freakanomics McKinsey Quarterly Economist Daniel Kahneman Brain Pickings by Maria Popova Pew Center for Research on the Internet and American Life Scott Monty's This Week in Digital News Round-up Christopher Penn's blog Awaken Your Superhero Post on Gray Social Media Social Media Marketing World Rand Fishkin of MOZ Marketing Profs B2B Forum Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. I
S3 E10 · Sat, May 16, 2015
Do marketing personas still matter?
On The Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I continue to plow new ground. For example, in this latest episode, we become the first on-demand radio show to mention The Kardashians and B2B buyer personas in the same sentence. We discuss why Zappos employees are fleeing the holocracy, and explain how this concept began with Star Trek. Sort of. And just when you thought it could not get any more interesting, Tom Webster defines the "rectally derived persona." It's insane I tell you. But we also get into some pretty awesome discussions on the Verizon-AOL deal, why sender-centered content is killing some businesses, and the critical difference between an audience and a customer. Please, for the sake of all that is good and true in the world of marketing, click below and listen to this jam-packed 30 minutes of awesomeness. Resources mentioned in this show Mark's article on customer personas Interesting further reading -- Zappos War on Management by Gianpiero Petriglieri Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. If you are looking for a cost-effective way to reach your audience, build your brand, and develop sales leads, try GoToWebinar, from Citrix. GoToWebinar is a great way to share live presentations right from your computer, reach, and influence an audience of hundreds of people. Its button-click simple and rock-solid reliable. All you have to do is work on your presentation. GoToWebinar does the rest. Learn more at GoToWebinar.com . The Marketing Writing Bootcamp is our most popular course from MarketingProfs University and as a podcast fan you can get $200 off the normal $595 price. The course is 1 3 classes, each 30-40 minutes in length, for more than 7 hours of on-demand learning. Learn from your desk, on your commute, or your couch. The co <span st
S3 E9 · Fri, May 01, 2015
The rise of new content forms
One of my predictions for 2015 was that the incredible wave of information density we all face as marketers will force innovation in content forms. Let's face it, the way we create and consume content has not changed significantly in a decade. The need to stand out will finally force companies to help us create and consume in new ways. And change is in the air. A few new ideas are percolating out there and that is just one of the subjects covered in a very entertaining episode of The Marketing Companion (how many podcasts feature McDonald's characters, an imitation of Ringo Starr and talking apples in the same show?). Here are some of the topics on our mind as Tom Webster and I explore the depths of marketing goodness and light: New content forms. Yahoo is preparing to release its first major consumer product in almost three years and the first product built from scratch under CEO Marissa Mayer. The company is said to be unveiling a mobile app that combines live and recorded video and text, blending aspects of live video apps like Meerkat, YouNow and Skype and the recorded video messages popularized by Snapchat. Can this revolutionize video storytelling? What about the hot new video creation app Storie ? It allows you to easily piece together video stories on a smartphone. New audio apps Opinion and Spreaker are creating what amounts to audio text messaging. And of course Meerkat and Periscope have ushered in the era of video streaming -- and some legal concerns (The NHL recently announced a ban on streaming apps at their games ). Facebook is here to stay -- We discuss new research that shows (once again) there is no mass evacuation from Facebook. We have a discussion on Facebook and the apparent stranglehold they have on teens. Tom discusses why a Facebook account is the new driver's license. Finally some good news on the publishing front -- A newspaper success story? YES! Learn how the Harrisburg Patriot-News and its Penn Live site is the leading the way with a social-media-first news strategy. An inspirational and bold strategy! And what about the Google network? Last week, Google announced that it is working with carriers Sprint and T-Mobile to offer a wireless service that will seamlessly switch between Wi-Fi hotspots and 4G LTE cellular networks called Project Fi. The move isn't likely to threaten the dominance of Ver
S3 E8 · Fri, April 17, 2015
The new realities of podcasting
Last week I was having a new Internet line installed at my home. I explained to the workers, all under 30, that I needed a period of quiet during the middle of the day because I was about to record a podcast. "What's a podcast?" one of the young crew asked. "It's an Internet radio show," I explained. "Oh," he said, "I have heard a few of those. But what's a podcast exactly?" I then launched into an impromptu lesson on podcasts but it dawned on me that this fellow, like about 20 percent of Americans, was indeed listening to a podcast ... and like the majority of the world, he didn't know what a podcast is. This underscores some very interesting research revealed on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion. Calling a podcast a podcast is confusing to many people. We don't call an online magazine a printcast. It's still a magazine. We don't call an online newspaper a journalcast. It's still a newspaper. Why do we treat audio differently? One podcaster who has broken away from the podpack is Mike Stelzner , founder of Social Media Examiner and the talented host of the SME podcast . "We call the Social Media Marketing podcast an on-demand talk radio show," he said, " because everyone knows what talk radio is, and on-demand is an easy way to distinguish it from traditional radio." This might seem trivial until you hear the explanation from my podcast ... er ... on demand talk radio show ... co-host Tom Webster and why this nuance might be a huge hurdle to mainstream growth. I learned something important through this discussion and I think you will too. Let's dive in, shall we? Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations. .
S3 E7 · Fri, April 03, 2015
The late, great era of social media engagement
Remember when social media was about engagement? I could argue that the biggest trends we are witnessing are all about NOT engaging! For example, The hottest apps right now are Meerkat and Periscope, essentially turning you into your own live-streaming channel. In other words, you're broadcasting. One of the fastest-growing platforms is podcasting. In essence, there is no engagement. Likewise, fast-rising channels like Pinterest and Instagram don't have the engagement levels we used to see on Facebook and Twitter. Several popular blogs including Chris Brogan, Jay Baer and Copyblogger have eliminated their comment sections. Without question, "engagement" is not as fashionable as it once was. Does it still have a place in the social media eco system? This is the topic tackled with my erstwhile podcasting partner Tom Webster on the latest edition of The Marketing Companion. We would be most pleased if you listened to it. Here it is, in all its auditory glory: Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E6 · Fri, March 20, 2015
Cracking The Content Code
In the latest Marketing Companion, we take a "behind the scenes" examination of The Content Code , a new book that charts a course for winning in a world of overwhelming information density. But along the way, Tom Webster and I also discuss ... A few takeaways from SXSW 2015 The virtures of a sub-premium dating service Why the four benefits of traditional publishing are obsolete, and what I did about it. The reason why this is the hardest time to be in marketing -- ever. The Alpha Audience -- Why this is the bedrock of your business. Why you should be writing for the smallest possible audience. Why it's time to re-evaluate the sacred cow of SEO. Why the success of digital marketing might rely on gray social media. Wow. That sounds like one great podcast, doesn't it? Well let's stop this dilly-dallying and get right to it! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new games, contests, analytics, polling platforms, and other innovations.
S3 E5 · Fri, March 06, 2015
Company culture and your future marketing success
I used to work for a big metals and mining company called Alcoa. Whenever I worked on a new customer contract, we always had an extremely conservative legal position, especially when it came to anything that had to do with the competition. Everybody in sales and marketing had to go through annual training programs about what to do if we ever saw a competitor, or a competitor spoke to us. If we were attending a trade show where a competitor would be, we had to get written permission ahead of time from the Legal Department and brush up on our training again. Does this sound like overkill to you? It might make more sense if you knew that the company was the subject of the most famous lawsuit against a corporate monopoly in U.S. history. Alcoa actually lost the suit, leading to the break-up of the company into smaller parts that eventually grew into the company's competitors. Can you imagine what that would be like? Your former manufacturing plants and employees turn into your competitors almost overnight? Obviously something that dramatic would have a powerful impact on the company culture. No wonder Alcoa was so conservative when it came to anything that looked like monopolistic behavior. Oh by the way ... that famous legal ruling? It occurred in 1944. Company culture rules. Can you see how complex and important corporate culture can be? An event that happened decades ago still influences the company culture today. You really have to dissect the cultural DNA of a company to understand how it works. And I believe there is no more powerful influence on a company's ability to change and adopt new marketing practices than culture. This is the subject of an extremely interesting new Marketing Companion podcast. Of course Tom Webster and I also introduce three new Marketing Companion products including a discount escort service and subpar child care. Simply a natural connection, right? But that's another story. The challenge of corporate culture and how to get over the resistance to change is a struggle for almost all of us today. In this podcast we discuss: Why so many executives are slow to change and what to do about it How to get a change effort started: education, quick wins and the safe sandbox The foundational blocks of leadership Why you MUST document your progress as a buffer against future change The social media quote that gives Mark a stomach ache. The march of Milennials is on. How will this impact culture? Culture swap -- Can we cross-pollinate cultures? Are you ready? Let's do this thing! Resources mentioned in this podcast episode: Merav Chen <a href= "http://www.artillerymar
S3 E4 · Fri, February 20, 2015
Don’t Block Me, Bro!
Ad blocking seems to have the advertising industry in crisis but there doesn't seem to be a unified plan to do anything about it. Why? If you haven't become addicted to The Marketing Companion podcast yet, this would be a good episode to try it out. Tom Webster and I cover some amazing topics ... with a little humor and fun thrown in the way as well. In the latest episode, we unwrap: Ad blocking -- A crisis is emerging in the online ad industry. 9 percent of all Internet ads are now being blocked. To make things worse, Ad Blocker is holding the Internet hostage and extorting money to allow ads through to customers -- ads that have already been paid for. Why are marketers playing along with this? Where is the reaction from businesses? We propose that no less than the future of content on the Internet is at stake. An advertising victory or disaster? McDonald's is having problems executing on the "Love" campaign introduced during the Super Bowl. When they actually introduce the idea to customers, it might put them on the spot and embarrass them. Is it brilliant ? Is it the worst marketing campaign in history ? Tom proposes a solution: a "pay with hate" campaign. The resurgence of SEO -- Ad agencies report that SEO is hot again. Staffs at many companies have doubled in the past 12 months. Why? I propose this is a natural consequence of Content Shock -- brands are pouring money into content that isn't being seen. Now the cost of content marketing is increasing as brands try to figure out how to get their content to rise to the top. Tom and I debate the budgeting implications of this. Podcasting and brands -- Tom reveals new research on podcasting use, reach and ideas for brands. He points to the reasons for this growth and the implications of companies. Are you ready to dive into this? Let's go: Resources mentioned in this podcast episode: Scott Monty and article in Mother Jones about McDonalds Love campaign Lee Odden and the TopRank blog AdAge article on the resurgence of SEO Jay Baer's <a href= "http://www.amazon.com/gp/o
S3 E3 · Sat, February 07, 2015
Social Media in the Workplace
A lot of people are ga-ga over the "social enterprise," a nirvana state where every employee is a brand advocate blissfully tweeting and posting on behalf of the company each day. Obviously this is far-off dream for many organizations, and perhaps not even desirable (gasp). The issue came to the forefront again last week when the web blew up over possible legislation in the state of South Carolina banning the use of social media in the workplace. Outrageous you say? Unheard of? Dystopian? You might be surprised to know I agree with the legislation, and after Tom Webster heard my argument, he changed his mind and agreed, too. Luckily, we have the whole conversation recorded on our podcast this week. We also have a lively discussion of the best and worst Super Bowl ads ... and we have some pretty divergent views! Ready to listen to another awesome adventure with The Marketing Companion? Let's do this! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new game, analytics, and polling platforms.
S3 E2 · Fri, January 23, 2015
The world's most under-utilized social media platforms
In the latest edition of The Marketing Companion podcast , Tom Webster and I climb all over today's hottest marketing topics. Here's a sampling of our latest audio adventure: Tom amazes Mark with his knowledge of the Seven Dwarves. Cancelling Google Glass -- Is this a blip on the wearable tech radar or has Google set the industry back a step? Under-used social media platforms -- Mark tried an experiment that increased his page views by more than 10X. Would it work for you? What platform seems to be attracting more thought leaders than any other? Clever ways to use a new Soundcloud with audio content. Mark declares that they are the World's Dumbest Marketers. Tom agrees. Personal marketing priorities -- What are Mark and Tom working on to get more bang for their marketing buck? Mark's advice on the very first step you should tackle if you are starting a new marketing job. Tom embarrasses himself by momentarily forgetting he is on mute. What are most exciting digital trends? Mark and Tom weigh in the most interesting digital developments to watch. One of them could turn into a big business. SoundClown. You need to hear it to believe it. Now I know it's hard to believe we fit all of this into a 30 minute podcast. You're just going to have to hear it to believe it: Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new game, analytics, and polling platforms.
S3 E1 · Sat, January 10, 2015
Haters, trolls and malcontents
This week we scrapped plans for the podcast we had planned to address a controversy that emerged at Edison Research, Tom Webster's company. It was time for us to reflect on the great two-edged sword we all face on the Internet: the historically important opportunity to publish and be heard, and the vulnerability we face to be skewered without compassion ... or facts. Overall, the Internet is a good place. A VERY good place, in fact. But it is also a reflection of the human race and about 2 percent of the population discovers some psychological reward in being angry. Twenty years ago, a business could probably ignore those people without much damage but today there is a very real chance that strategy will make the problem worse. Big business or small, we must be aware of these risks and the appropriate responses. In this discussion, we cover ... Guidelines for responding or not responding to Internet haters The fear of toxicity ... real and imagined Learning to handle trolls When to go to the mat and when to walk away Showing your true colors in the face of hate Is 100 percent customer satisfaction possible? Ready to do this thing? Here we go: Resources mentions in this episode The Infinite Dial blog post by Larry Rosin A six-step plan to respond to negative comments on the web Research on 98 percent customer satisfaction survey Illustration: Check out the beautiful peace sign art by Laura Barbosa Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource
S2 E26 · Fri, December 26, 2014
Nothing but the funny bits
We've had a great year on The Marketing Companion podcast and Tom Webster and I thought we would end 2014 with a bit of fun. We've compiled a few of the most hilarious highlights from our podcast so you can ring in 2015 with a laugh. Nothing But the Funny Bits features some of our most popular "products" that got us laughing the hardest, including: Google Pants -- The Party in your pants! Ass Ads -- Monetizing your wearable technology Mark and Tom's first movie " Drone Wars: Rise of the Machines " starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christian Bale as Jeff Bezos. Prickstarter: When the BS is Getting Thick, Come be a Prick Mark and Tom's Darn Good Content including Daily Affirmations, Cats & Kids, and Breaking Bieber. Americans versus Europeans: Who has the best underwear? Social media booktitles you will never see Get a Room, The social media platform for lovers The Worst Apps in the World Sticker Shock, our therapy program for Facebook sticker addiction The Marketing Companion Holiday Catalog including Social Media Action Figures, Facebelt and Magic Seth Ball Thanks so much for supporting us and being part of our podcast in 2014. If you enjoyed our work, tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, and help us spread the word! We enjoy bringing you the podcast and look forward to another fun and fascinating year of marketing discussions in 2015! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new game, analytics, and polling platforms. .
S2 E25 · Sat, December 13, 2014
Our most valuable content lessons
Hosts Mark Schaefer and Tom Webster have been creating written, video, and audio content for years. In this episode, they share with you some of the lessons they have learned from the mistakes and victories they have experienced along the way.
S2 E24 · Fri, November 28, 2014
What's next in digital marketing?
New from The Marketing Companion! Your favorite social media personalities as bendable action figures. Just $12.99. Limited quantities available except for the Mark Schaefer edition. We have plenty of those. One of my favorite activities is thinking and talking about what's coming next and there is nobody more fun to have that kind of discussion with than Tom Webster as we take on what's next in digital marketing. On the latest Marketing Companion, Tom and I introduce the Marketing Companion Holiday Catalog (and our new League of Legends Action Figures!) and dive into some things we're watching for 2015: Why podcasting is having "a moment" and why agencies are behind a growing success The mega-trend that may be forging all other digital trends Billboards ... a trend? The missing link to integrated marketing Malignant complexity and its challenge to every marketer Facebook -- are businesses going to be in or out? A flight away from Facebook and how it might play out. The commoditization of Big Data and the trickle down to small businesses. And many thanks to our friend Ralph Cipolla for the Awesome Graphic today! Ready to rock? Here we go! Resources mentioned in this show Content Shock post Old Spice integrated campaign Tableau software Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of yo
S2 E23 · Sat, November 15, 2014
How Facebook influence is creeping into the real world
I always find it curious when people compare our social media presence with our REAL presence in the "real world." What makes people think that Facebook is NOT the real world? Increasingly, we are beginning to see these lines blur. We create our personality on Facebook. But Facebook is also creating our personality. Facebook changes our behavior. Seriously. Recently, Facebook demonstrated how it can alter our moods by manipulating our content. This is a company that can affect our opinions. New research shows that social proof on Facebook contributes to our view of our self-worth, quantifies the value of friends and shapes what content we share. Where will it lead, and in the near-term, what does this mean for marketers? Fascinating question, right? So fascinating in fact, Tom Webster and I devoted an entire podcast to it. This one covers a lot of territory in 30 minutes! The power of social proof in our online marketing world Content competition and the homogenization of our streams How we are being "trained" on what to post on Facebook The Facebook reward system that is creating our online personas What are the implications for brand content Could Facebook manipulate political campaigns? Is it already happening? I'm sure you are anxious to get right into this one! Let's get on with the show! Resources mentioned in this show The Goldfinch: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) by Donna Tartt Suttree by Cormac McCarthy The Counselor by Cormac McCarthy Marketing Podcasts Dotcom by Jay Baer Original Atlantic article on Facebook numbers by Benjamin Grosser Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because
S2 E22 · Fri, October 31, 2014
Is Personal Branding Effective, or A Waste of Time?
Do you nurture your online personal brand? Or is your brand simply your personality? Does your personality create your brand or does your brand create your personality? Tom Webster and I had a disagreement on this and the discussion was so compelling we decided to create some content around this in the form of a podcast. In fact, Tom characterizes personal branding as a "load of crap." What is the role of personality containment? Vulnerability? Is there a formula for a personal brand? Opportunities for power today that didn't exist 10 years ago. Creating transferable assets with a personal brand Are skills more important than "brand"? Should you be creating a personal brand in your current company? The Dark Side of personal branding Personal networking, weak links and business value We also talk about the very real crisis of addictions to Facebook stickers, also known as Sticker Shock. At this point you are probably nearly frenzied. Am I right? Let's get to the podcast! Resources mentioned in this podcast: Tom Peters: The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! Christina "CK" Kerley Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and performance of your content marketing investment. Our podcast is also brought to you by Voices Heard Media . Please check out this tremendous resource for scaling social media engagement. Take a look at building an engaged and relevant audience through innovative new game, analytics, and polling platforms.
S2 E21 · Fri, October 17, 2014
The Mobile Commerce Revolution
It seems at the end of every year, pundits predict that "this is the year of MOBILE!" And perhaps it is finally true. But as my podcasting partner in crime Tom Webster writes in his new book The Mobile Commerce Revolution: Business Success in a Wireless World (with co-author Tim Hayden), it is mobility, not just "mobile", that is changing the world. You are not going to want to miss this insightful discussion on the new Marketing Companion podcast about Tom's new book. You also do not want to miss our discussion of the world's worst mobile apps, which caused us to crack up so much we could not even speak! But we do eventually get to the meaty stuff like ... The difference between mobile technology and mobility Creating an app today is more about sociology and psychology than IT How to adjust organizationally to the commerce revolution? Why you should not be wedded to technology What does a mobile commerce team look like today? Why many large companies are failing at mobile commerce The importance of removing institutional barriers to create meaningful apps How would a small business start creating a meaningful mobile app? Personalization versus privacy A mobile strategy based on poop. Yes. It's true. Yes, we cover a lot of ground in just 30 minutes. What's that you say? You can't wait a moment longer? Well let's get to it! Please support our extraordinary sponsors. Our content is free because of their generosity. gShift’s Web Presence Analytics platform provides agencies and brands with search, social and mobile content marketing data in one place. Monitor and report on an entire web presence. Create smarter, faster content through gShift’s proprietary data. Report on the engagement and
S2 E20 · Sat, October 04, 2014
Ello and the economics of social networks
The advent of Ello has been one of the most interesting developments of the year. The new social network promises a simple, ad-free platform to connect and share. Wait. Ad-free you say? In fact, the platform's founder, Paul Budnitz, has been making the media rounds proclaiming he "doesn't care about money." While there is probably more to this network than pure virtue, Ello is undeniably HOT, signing up 30,000 new users every HOUR. Many bloggers are trumpeting this little start-up as the Facebook killer but is that realistic? Is it possible? And when the stripped-down application offers significantly less functionality than the ad-free Google+, why is this even catching on? Is this something important, or simply a reaction to failures of other networks? Tom Webster and I could not resist exploring this topic on our latest podcast which is sure to get you thinking about social media platforms in a new way. This is a jam-packed 30 minutes and just a few of the nuggets include ... The advent of Ello has been one of the most interesting developments of the year. The new social network promises a simple, ad-free platform to connect and share. Wait. Ad-free you say? In fact, the platform's founder, Paul Budnitz, has been making the media rounds proclaiming he "doesn't care about money." While there is probably more to this network than pure virtue, Ello is undeniably HOT, signing up 30,000 new users every HOUR. Many bloggers are trumpeting this little start-up as the Facebook killer but is that realistic? Is it possible? And when the stripped-down application offers significantly less functionality than the ad-free Google+, why is this even catching on? Is this something important, or simply a reaction to failures of other networks? Tom Webster and I could not resist exploring this topic on our latest podcast which is sure to get you thinking about social media platforms in a new way. This is a jam-packed 30 minutes and just a few of the nuggets include ... Social media and the advertising "bargain" Ello and the implications for brands The economics of privacy -- Why don't Americans care? The biggest problem facing Ello -- it's not what you think! Dynamics of Ello may force better content Economic models that are under-utilized on the web Opt-in advertising for brands -- the future or a privacy nightmare? Ready to roll? Here we go: Resources mentioned in this podcast Ello Scott Monty <a href
S2 E19 · Fri, September 19, 2014
Authenticity and the Human Brand
My friend Justin Levy just had brain surgery. He went into the operation not quite knowing what would be on the other side. Despite this personal nightmare, Justin's social media presence was extraordinarily brave, honest, and revealing. Through his timely and detailed posts, his friends and followers could get a daily peek into every aspect of his trial. His successful operation was finally trumpeted with a triumphant "thumbs up photo" on Facebook. Thousands of people felt relief. This very public, courageous journal of his trials made a big impact on me and my podcasting mate Tom Webster. In fact, it became the seed for our newest Marketing Companion podcast. Under the same circumstances, what would you do? And let's take the conversation a step further. What is the professional expectation of the much-discussed "authenticity?" Is anybody really authentic? Can you be strategically authentic? The result is a fascinating discussion and I think you are really going to enjoy this episode. Here are some of the topics we cover: How important is establishing your personal social media "character?" The difference between transparency and authenticity The burden, privilege, and complexities of representing your brand online The tightrope between personal and professional revelations on the web Drawing the line -- over-sharing and personal authenticity in service of the business Social Accounts: The Resume of Your Life Social media ambassadorship -- The new professional skill? Are you ready for this? Of course you are! Resources mentioned in this podcast Content Marketing World Kevin Spacey speech at CMW Tom Webster Share of Ear for podcasting presentation Justin Levy and his new Unstoppable Blog Scott Monty PEZ T top Illustration "Shadow Selfies" taken by Mark Schaefer in Wales 2014 Our podcast is brought to you by <a href= "http://ww
S2 E18 · Fri, September 05, 2014
What are the boundaries to inbound marketing?
One of the most interesting aspects about being an observer in this particular time and place in the history of marketing is watching the continuous cycle of innovation, experimentation, and maturity. The dynamics of our age are unprecedented and exciting. For example, let's say we were in the 1970s. In that entire decade, what innovation caused us to re-think marketing strategy? There was probably one in the entire ten-year-period: the emergence of cable TV. If you compare it to what we face today, it really re-defines what marketing is all about, doesn't it? We need a core competency in the ability to effectively assess the relevancy of a technological innovation and rapidly reject it or deploy it. Another advantage we have today as marketers is the wave upon wave of data coming at us to help us make these decisions. One interesting data point emerged last week that was the catalyst for a much-needed conversation -- what are the boundaries of inbound marketing? The data point was a public filing revealing that HubSpot -- which defined the term "inbound marketing" -- is still hemorrhaging money after eight years and its sales and marketing costs are arguably higher than what would be expected from a "traditional" approach. On the surface, this would seem to break the inbound promise. Or does it? The boundaries of inbound marketing Inbound marketing is a concept that certainly should be reaching some level of maturity by now. The strategy works, in most cases. But the revelation from Hubspot provokes the question ... does it work everywhere, and for how long? In our latest Marketing Companion podcast Tom Webster and I dissect this issue, starting with the fact that inbound marketing might mean different things to different companies based on industry structure and size. Let's hold this trend up to a strong light and take a look at the possible boundaries of inbound marketing. Does content marketing work in a highly-competitive space? Is content marketing as efficient as we think? Should the goal of inbound be leads, relationships, or both? Is that possible? Hubspot shows that you also need traditional sales and advertising tactics. What is the balance? What can we learn from this? Do quarterly sales goals and the financial responsibilities to shareholders inhibit the potential of content marketing? Is there an eventual diminishing return to content marketing and how do we anticipate that? Ready to learn more? Here we go: Resources mentioned in this podcast Tom's blog on the Hubspot earnings announcement <a href= "http://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/is-inbound-marketing-actually-profitable-or-just-a-slogan/" target="_blank"
S2 E17 · Sat, August 23, 2014
Coming clean on Facebook reach
Is there any greater source of emotional debate and mis-information on the web today than Facebook reach? I recently had a little debate on this subject with a person who wrote a glowing article on the promise of Facebook reach -- despite what appears to be pretty bad news in this corner of the web. I challenged him -- Why write an article that seems to be so counter to the facts? "I'm tired of so much negativity about Facebook," he said. "I wanted spin the facts in a more positive way." With so much at stake and so much mythology out there, it is certainly difficult to know who to believe or what to believe any more .... and we certainly do not need to be "spinning the facts." Part of the reason for so much confusion is that the truth is hard to come by. The real numbers are hidden behind company administrative accounts. There are only a few companies in the world with access to enough of these Facebook pages to make a meaningful statement about the true nature of Facebook reach. The truth about Facebook reach One of these rare companies is AgoraPulse , and my friend Emeric Ernoult The company's founder) was kind enough to share his raw data with Tom Webster and I to dissect on our latest episode of The Marketing Companion podcast. We were able to dive into the numbers behind 8,000 Facebook pages over the past 12 months and we found some surprising facts: More than 70 percent of all companies across 104 industry designations had a decline in organic reach of 30 percent or more in the past year. I think it is accurate to say the decline in Facebook reach has been incredibly steep and rapid. While Facebook brand pages reach an average of 6 percent of their fans, there is wide variation by company and industry. The declines ranged as low as 1 percent to as high as 65 percent Only 6 percent of the industry categories have seen Facebook organic reach grow or remain steady in the past 12 months. There is definitely a "hierarchy of conversation" among brands that leads to higher Facebook reach. Certain types of companies are just more conversational, leading to better reach. For example, nearly 550 pages consistently still have organic reach of 40 percent or more. Media companies and sports-related brands top the list. This last point was especially interesting to Tom and I and one of the things we discussed on the podcast was the concept of using the data as a predictive model -- Could you guide a Facebook strategy based on a number that indicates potential engagement level? Let's look at some of the numbers: The decline in organic reach was steeper and more rapid than I expected. No wonder marketing strategies are in turmoil if organic reach has declined 30 percent or more for some companies in such a short period of time: What's the recipe for higher organic reach? AgoraPulse gets to see more Facebook
S2 E16 · Fri, August 08, 2014
The Time for Twitter is Now
Are you using Twitter for your business? Maybe the time for Twitter is now if you consider some of the trends on this popular social media platform: Twitter has momentum. Revenue jumped 124 percent in the latest quarter, and it "beat the Street" estimates for user growth. Twitter shined during the World Cup, owning the online conversation for the planet's biggest sporting event. It appears that Twitter is preparing a "buy now" button . In our new Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I dissect the economics of Twitter for business and demonstrate why this might be the best time to integrate Twitter into your marketing plans. Some of the podcast highlights: How Twitter is giving a free advertising bonus most businesses don't know about. How to use Lead Generation Cards as a free business-building tool. Twitter has become the de facto "second screen" for television -- what does this mean to the value of Twitter for business? Although only 16 percent of adult Americans have active accounts, more than three times that number actively see tweets or watch a Twitter stream without logging in -- a "ghost audience" for businesses that does not show up in the numbers. Why analysts should not keep lumping Twitter in with Facebook and LinkedIn Businesses are overlooking powerful free research capabilities -- we provide a real example and look at the three levels of free Twitter search The meaning of Twitter for personal networking Both Tom and I agree on this one -- this is an excellent time for businesses to look at Twitter as a research, advertising, and networking platform, Ready to check out the podcast? Resources mentioned in this podcast The book The Tao of Twitter, Revised and Expanded New Edition: Changing Your Life and Business 140 Characters at a Time Songza , a curated music channel Christel Quek of Twitter Jay Baer's book <a href= "http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1591846668/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1591846668&linkCode=am2&tag=schaemarkesol-20
S2 E15 · Fri, July 25, 2014
Would you erase yourself from Google Search?
Have you tried The Marketing Companion podcast yet? People seem to love the humor and intelligence of our audio marketing adventures. If you have not listened in yet, this would be a great edition to begin with. In this show, Tom Webster and I were far too caffeinated to stick to one subject so we decided to go through a grab bag of current topics including: E rasing yourself from Google. New European Union legislation on "the right to be forgotten" allows people to remove themselves from search results. Why hasn't this been an issue in the U.S,? And what happens when you have the ability to remove yourself from history? There are also some profound implications for marketers and content creators. Buyer personas -- Tom and I open up a "mental can of worms" when we discuss the use and perhaps over-use of buyer personas and the difference between "audience" and "buyers." Are you sure you know who your buyers are? Are personas always necessary? Do personas kill great content? LinkedIn blogging -- An important source of business content or more Content Shock? Tom and I disagree on this topic. Content inspiration -- Tom and I share key tips for finding new topic ideas for our blogs. My goodness. It is a veritable cornucopia of marketing delight! No time to waste now, click here to dive in: Note August 18, 2014: Since we did this podcast, Shel Holtz added this comment for clarification which I wanted to add to the show notes: "I just listened to the latest Marketing Companion (which I enjoy tremendously). I'm sure you've heard this by now, but Google does not ask anyone to remove content based on the European Right to be Forgotten. They're sending notices to people whose content is affected, but all Google does is remove the link -- and only in Europe. The metaphor: They're not asking the library to remove any books, but they ARE removing the card from the card catalog so the book can't be found. For really good, eloquent rants on this, listen to Jeff Jarvis on recent episodes of This Week in Google."
S2 E14 · Fri, July 11, 2014
If I were the King of Facebook
Complaining about Facebook has become one of the web's favorite spectator sports. But if you were the king of Facebook, what would you do to fix it? Well, Tom Webster and I decided to do something about it. We appointed ourselves the potentate and caliph of Facebook for a day and solved all of the company's problems in 30 minutes. Impossible you say? Well, we can cover a heck of a lot of ground in just one podcast, like ... Can Facebook be a profitable company without pissing people off? How much personal information is too much? Is Facebook lacking data or insight? Why is Facebook advertising no better than TV? The dynamics that will drive Facebook's content quality down. Facebook Deluxe -- a new revenue model? The ethical house is not in order -- Why this is bad business and what to do about it. Data reserves as a strategic weapon and how Facebook can create competitive advantage by leading on the data protection issues. Why doesn't Facebook pay us for our content? Should Facebook take the comapny private? Like I said -- A lot of food for thought here. What's that you say? You can't wait another minute? Well, let's get to it! Resources mentioned in the podcast Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (Vintage) Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams Mark's post about the Facebook experiment Tom's post about the Facebook experiment Content Shock blog post <a href= "https://www.businessesgrow.com/2012/04/10/why-facebook-will-becom
S2 E13 · Fri, June 27, 2014
Using Disruption as a Business Strategy
It seems everywhere you go these days people are talking about Disruption as the next big business "thing." There are packed disruption conferences , disruption books, disruption consultants. But here is the nagging question I've had tumbling through my mind. Is it really possible to be strategic around disruption? Is it possible for disruption to be a plan ... or is disruption the explanation of what happened after the fact? I've been conflicted on this because it runs counter to what I've learned and experienced. In graduate school I had the amazing experience of classes from Peter Drucke r just as he completed his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship . In my mind this is the finest book on innovation ever written! Some of main points of the book include: Effective innovation is continuous, not disruptive Almost all innovation aimed at disruption fails. Let others fail and then pick up their pieces (Apple has been brilliant at this) The most effective entrepreneurs manage innovation in a way to minimize exposure and risk. Obviously these lessons from the master have had a big impact on me. They formed my key approach to innovation for more than a decade. This is why it has been difficult for me to jump on the disruption and Cult of Failure bandwagon. Of course disruption happens. But can you really MAKE it happen any more than you can MAKE "viral" happen? So it was timely when my friend Billy Mitchell of MLT Creative turned me on to an article in The New Yorker called The Disruption Machine by Jill Lepore. In this brilliant piece Lepore dissects the famous The Innovator's Dilemma (an argument against continuous improvement) and makes a compelling case against Disruption as a strategy. This article became the cernterpiece of the latest Marketing Compa
S2 E12 · Fri, June 13, 2014
Technologies that will disrupt marketing strategies
There are so many shifting sands on the marketing landscape that it might seem overwhelming. But there are two trends that deserve to be on your radar screen and that is the topic of the latest scintillating edition of The Marketing Companion. After Tom and I enjoy a non-traditional gift exchange for the one-year anniversary of the podcast, we dissect what we believe to be important trends to consider moving forward: 1) The use of "big data" to actually predict mega-trends and market outcomes 2) 3D Printing. The second one might seem a little strange to list as a marketing trend but if you listen to the logic on the podcast I think you'll agree that this could have a huge impact on cost and price, delivery, availability, sourcing, distribution models ... well, just about everything marketers should care about. What's that you say? You want to get to the freaking podcast and fast? Well here it is, with no further delay!
S2 E11 · Fri, May 30, 2014
The Invisible Blogger
By Mark Schaefer My friend and podcast co-host Tom Webster recently penned a really honest and thought-provoking post called " Authorship ." In the post, Tom laments that the more he guest posts and syndicates his writing, the less relevant he may become. I know that sounds counter-intuitive but he makes some good points. The web cares about CONTENT, not necessarily authors, and Tom postulates that in our frenzy to write and distibrute content, we may be creating more and more work only to become less and less visible. Are you getting lost in the ether of the blogosphere? Are we writing content that benefits others while our own authorship gets buried? It is a very different conversation from what you usually see on the web and we thought this topic would make an extraordinary podcast ... which it did. We cover a lot of ground, including: Should you find your audience, or let your audience find you? What is the benefit of syndicating your content? Statistically, it may not make sense! Is the age of the independent blogger over? Has the paradigm shifted? Where are the new voices in the field? Are there any? Can a solo blogger compete with corporate sites? What is the true ROI of "exposure?" What is the risk of over-exposure? You're probably half-crazed by now waiting to hear this podcast so let's have no further delay: Resources mentioned in this podcast: Resources mentioned in this podcast: Gini Dietrich's post on the end of the independent blogger 70 Rising Social Media Stars Blogging platform Medium Twister (analog version)
S2 E10 · Fri, May 16, 2014
Lifehacks for the Modern Marketer
How do you get it all done? If I had a nickel for every time I heard this question ... well, I wouldn't be rich (let's be honest) but I could probably treat you to lunch. It seems that people have an endless curiosity about how I get things done. Tom Webster and I thought marketing lifehacks would be a very interesting podcast topic -- and it was, because Tom and I had some pretty divergent views on tech solutions versus old-school lifehacks to manage a busy schedule. Some of the topics we covered: Multi-tasking eMail management tricks Tricks to staying disciplined and focused When to out-source tasks and what to out-source How do you handle business upsets Dealing with the tyranny of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) The "Swiss Army Knife" of marketing tools Productivity on the road Hacks for expense reports And wait ... there's more! Where else you can hear about the hottest Internet sensations FaceMat and iTwister? Nowhere but here: Companies mentioned in this podcast: Evernote Boxer email solution Microsoft Outlook Hootsuite Microsoft Excel Priority Pass Shoeboxed
S2 E9 · Fri, May 02, 2014
Where do we go next with Google+ ?
Whether you think Google+ is dead, dying, or still on the rise, one thing is certain: something has to change. This post will tell you what and why. Google+ was meant to take on Facebook. This is an economic imperative for a company built on: a) collecting personal information that can be turned into ads and b) finding ways to have you spend more time on their sites so you can see those ads. Facebook was capturing a disproportionate share of our personal information and Google had to do something. Their aim was to build a better social network and expose all of Facebook's flaws. You could argue that it did that ... so why is Google+ in turmoil? (And it is). The reason Google+ has never gone mainstream is because the world does not want a better social network, It wants a COOLER social network and Google+ is not cool with the young people who could move it into the mainstream. It's not about tech. It's about cool. Facebook is vulnerable as Millenials move into other places like Snapchat, Twitter and Kik . Google is simply not on the radar screen of the folks who are going to determine the Next Big Thing. High school kids don't give a damn about better SEO results. They want to be cool. Instead of building engineeringly-beautiful new features and integrating with other Google products (who trusts that any way?) Google should hire Bruno Mars or Katy Perry to be the Google+ spokesperson and launch a massive media campaign to attract the hearts and minds of taste-makers under the age of 19. Marketing its products has always been a problem for Google and I think we're seeing this vulnerability in full view right now. There are a lot of aspects to this discussion beyond the Google+ cool factor (or lack of it) and that is the fodder for the conversation between Tom Webster and I on the latest Marketing Companion podcast. Do we really need to fix Google Plus ? If the numbers on Google+ up, why the organizational disharmony? Is Google+ going to be another "fast fail" or a lasting part of the company's strategy? All this and more will be revealed right now:
S2 E8 · Tue, April 22, 2014
Digital Marketing: Are the Bad Guys Winning?
A few months ago, my blog was a target for a denial of service attack. What this meant was that a "bot" was set up by somebody (in this case a person in The Netherlands) to hit my site over and over so many times that readers cannot access the blog. It was a random attack and this might seem like a pretty dumb business plan, but apparently a lot of companies are obsessed with breaking into my site ... and probably yours too. The result was that I had to spend many hours and thousands of dollars to recover from the problem and guard against future attacks. My hosting company set up an app that would send me an alert when somebody tried to log into my site five times in a row, I had to turn off these notifications when they started arriving every five minutes. That's right. New attacks were occurring hundreds of times a day! That gives you some idea of the relentless barrage of bad stuff coming at our websites. More seriously, some of these bad guys are getting through. You have probably read recently about a number of bloggers turning off their comments because of the new spam attacks that are getting through to their blogs. Anecdotally, it seems in the past few weeks more people are also suffering from websites that are hacked or crash under denial of service attacks. And of course, there have been several high-profile stories about companies experiencing serious data breaches that compromise their customers. All this makes me wonder ... Are the bad guys winning? In our latest Marketing Companion Podcast, Tom Webster and I explore this topic and much more. In fact, we begin with an enlightening discussion about the diplomatic opportunities for American bacon but then also get into: Are we seeing smarter spammers or the unintended consequences of Internet complexity? Does Google actually play an indirect role in spam attacks on small businesses? What is the business cost to keeping the bad guys away? Highlights from the new book Social Media Explained A trick to get to the heart of social media strategy New thoughts on measuring social media marketing ROI A discussion on who should be leading your social media marketing effort Ready to listen to this discussion? It couldn't be easier to do
S2 E7 · Fri, April 04, 2014
New insights on digital radio, Facebook and Google+
In the newest episode of The Marketing Companion Tom Webster and I examine a brand new study from Edison that reveals some eye-popping new insights on podcasting, online radio and social media consumption. Some of the highlights of this podcast episode include: Introducing "Poodle King" Webster and Social Media Explained The explosion of online radio and the implications for content consumption Extraordinary changes in podcasting content, consumption, and audiences Mobile implications for content consumption and "digital snacks" Surprising new numbers on Google+ (is it finally a real thing?) The phenomenon of Instagram and Snapchat Where is Facebook in the mix ... declining, growing in new ways? Facebook as the "plumbing" for teens Ready for more? Of course you are!
S2 E6 · Sat, March 22, 2014
Marketing conferences: The good, the bad, the ugly
I go to a lot of marketing conferences and they are undeniably a great way to learn, network and stay up to speed on the human and technological breakthroughs that are transforming our business. But how are they changing? How important are they? Does it make sense to attend? To sponsor? This is probably a topic on a lot of minds as our personal time is compressed and travel budgets are slashed so Tom Webster and dove into this topic on our newest Marketing Companion podcast. Some of the topics we cover include: The truth and myth of SXSW The "beating heart" of great conferences and the one thing that can kill an event Conference networking strategies Large - regional - local conferences .... which are thriving, which are dying and why? The conference "glass ceiling" The minor leagues and the major leagues of marketing conferences Conferences and content strategy Are conferences becoming elitist? Does it make sense to sponsor a conference? Ready to learn more? Of course you are! Here we go! People mentioned in this podcast: Jay Baer Mitch Joel Gini Dietrich Jason Keath John Jantsch Scott Monty
S2 E5 · Sat, March 08, 2014
The influence marketing episode
As many of our channels for reaching customers are getting strangled, brands are turning to new ways to connect and communicate with customers. One natural opportunity is to align with the authentic advocacy represented by bloggers and other powerful content creators. In an information-dense world where it is more difficult to become the signal instead of the noise, blogger outreach is escalating, providing both financial opportunity and ethical dilemmas. This dynamic provides fascinating and entertaining fodder for the latest Marketing Companion podcast. Tom Webster and I dissect some of the most important issues in the field today like: Flout: The New Standard for Influence. Really. Why bloggers are trumping mainstream media A first-hand account of escalating influence marketing Why 95 percent brands are stumbling in the influence marketing field Stepping over the line -- Influencer or infomercial? How to create raving advocates the right way Hey! I'm ready to listen to this all over again! Are you ready?
S2 E4 · Fri, February 21, 2014
Where does social media fit in the marketing mix?
A number of news items coalesced recently and made me wonder ... what is the true role of social media in the marketing mix today? How has it changed? Is it really about connection? Is it still a way to engage with customers? Or, has it been so overrun by agencies and programmed content that it is little more than advertising? Maybe you have been wondering the same thing? This is such a vital topic that Tom Webster and I decided to tackle this on the latest edition of The Marketing Companion. Have you listened to our podcast yet? If not, please give it a try. We always aim to deliver entertaining and thought ideas to help you through the latest marketing trends and you might have some fun along the way, too. In this edition, we explore: The time element --- social media versus advertising Estimating the sales power of social media Weak links versus strong links and how this converts to sales The correlation between share of conversation and market share Social media at the top of the sales cycle and at the end of it Is social media more like advertising or marketing? A case study illustrating the impression power of social media How will social media platforms re-invent themselves to ignite a "wow factor?" Yes, we covered a lot of ground in just 30 minutes! Are you ready to give this a listen? Resources mentioned in this podcast : The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most Persuasive Psychological Manipulation Technique in the World Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy Content Shock: Why content marketing is not a sustainable strategy The results are in: A case study of social influence Posts
S2 E3 · Fri, February 07, 2014
Tips for leveraging public speaking in your marketing mix
Over the past decade, companies and executives have re-discovered the power of incorporating public speaking into the marketing mix. Some of the advantages include: Creating high-quality content that can be leveraged in many places Cost-effective way to reach a targeted audience with a message Good PR opportunities. Building a personal brand that also can accentuate a product and company brand (think of Richard Branson) Leveraging a position of personal thought leadership to promote a company This growing trend has impacted marketing strategies and transformed the professional speaking industry. One speaker told me that it is more difficult getting high-level paying engagements now because so many companies are willing to offer their executives as speakers for free. This opportunity is not often evaluated in terms of marketing strategy so Tom Webster and I thought it would be an ideal topic for our latest edition of The Marketing Companion podcast. We had a lot of fun on this episode and begin by rolling out a new content marketing "product" that includes "Breaking Bieber." You have to hear it to believe it! But we also roll up our sleeves and get into a discussion full of tips on how you can be more effective in adding public speaking to your marketing mix: Ideas on how to be a more effective and entertaining presenter Structuring your speech for maximum impact Overcoming nerves -- The introvert's guide to public speaking Rule the slides -- Keys to preparation Is your speech intellectual property that needs to be protected or do you want it to go viral? Leveraging speaking-related content in other marketing formats Are you ready to rumble? Of course you are! Folks mentioned in this podcast: Mitch Joel Tom Martin Tamsen Webster
S2 E2 · Fri, January 24, 2014
Leadership is not a dirty word
When I was in graduate school I took a class that examined the qualities of leadership. I have to make a confession ... the only reason I took it was because I thought it was going to be an easy blow-off class! I was completely wrong. This turned out to be one of the most interesting and inspiring classes of my career and it ignited a lifetime of study on the subject. It turned me into a leadership junky. My fascination with this subject was one of the reasons that drove me to write Return On Influence . I became obsessed with this idea -- how do you become a leader on the Internet -- a place that HATES leaders! Trying to understand those changes was a lot of fun and believe me, leadership DOES exist on the Internet, whether people want it or not. To a large extent, I think the "You're not my boss" attitude of social media has made the idea of leadership an unpopular concept. I see this anti-leadership mentality dripping from online posts and comments. And, to some extent, the attitude may have been codified when Zappos recently announced that it was eliminating titles and organizational charts. This was too good of a topic to pass up for me and I think you'll enjoy the discussion Tom Webster and I have on this topic on the newest edition of our Marketing Companion podcast. But that's just the beginning. Tom and I cover a lot of ground in this edition. As you may know, a recent post I wrote called Content Shock went crazy. Suddenly, I felt like I had become the center of attention for a large portion of the marketing dialogue. When we recorded this episode of the podcast, the personal implications of all this attention and the clubbiness of the social web were weighing on my mind. This led into a discussion of "content curation" versus "content assembly." Is curation a legitimate way to stand out today? Isn't every move Google makes HURTING the idea of curating content as a strategy? Tom does a great job in this podcast providing some tips for skillful content curation. Are you ready for some podcasting fun? Well, wait no longer.
S2 E1 · Fri, January 10, 2014
Overcoming Content Shock: Beating information density
Over the past few weeks the interweb airwaves have been humming and buzzing with data pointing to the increasing costs of getting your content seen and distributed through an over-crowded web. In a recent Advertising Age article , Facebook reports: "Content that is eligible to be shown in our news feed is increasing at a faster rate than people's ability to consume it." A study by InboundWriter shows only 10 to 20 percent of a company’s website content drives 90 percent of its online traffic. Social platforms are creating programs to highlight organic content from the brands that spend the most money on their ads. So paid ads and sponsored content will soon be driving the “organic” reach of content. Reports claim the price of social media monitoring is going up because there is so much more content to process According to a recent IZEA survey , 61 percent of marketers have paid "influencers" to mention their product and share their content. According to a LexisNexis (client) study on International Workplace Productivity , 62% of white collar workers admit that the quality of their work suffers because they can’t sort through the information they need fast enough. All of these trends support the idea of a " Content Shock " that is coming -- if it isn't here already -- for many businesses. Businesses who just pump out more content -- even "better" content -- are engaging in a strategy that is becoming increasingly difficult because the cost to succeed is going up, up, up. What are you going to do about it? That is really the dialogue that has to be happening next, right? And that is the conversation that begins here, in this new edition of the Marketing Companion podcast I created with Tom Webster. We start with a little fun, introducing a new idea called "Prickstarter" and then get into some pretty deep ideas about content and audience that includes: The advantage of "ether" in the marketplace The decline of RSS and the coming Age of the Great Algorithm Media is media. Integrating channels to present one message to your customers is a key idea. Audience is not the same as "buyer" -- Creating personas may be an out-dated str
S1 E15 · Sat, December 28, 2013
Facebook reach, a massive breach and influence marketing steps up
In our latest Marketing Companion Podcas t, Tom Webster and I examine three ripped-from-the-headlines topics critical to digital marketing: A decline in Facebook reach? -- New research from several sources indicates that Facebook algorithmic tweaks could be dramatically depressing the visibility of brand posts to their audiences. We dissect this data and discuss whether this is real or something that could actually get much worse. Are we safe? -- Our last podcast covered 2014 marketing trends and I predicted that the "malignant complexity" of Internet systems would provoke more attacks to a vulnerable system. We look at the recent Target breach -- 40 million credit card profiles were stolen -- and an analyst remark that indicates something even more sinister could be going on here. Influence marketing trends -- An influence marketing company released some eye-popping data about the number of marketers who are actively paying influencers to promote their brands. The trajectory of this trend is remarkable and strikes at the heart of some moral issues of content creators. I think this will be a profound topic for 2014 and beyond and I think you will enjoy this lively debate! Are you ready for this? Of course you are! Here is the podcast, at your service: References in this podcast: Jim Tobin article on Facebook reach Agora Pulse article on Facebook reach Scott Stratten
S1 E14 · Fri, December 13, 2013
Six mind-blowing marketing trends
This not your normal 2014 forecast post about Facebook advertising and "the year of mobile" (yawn). Tom Webster and I put our heads together to really think through some of the implications of what we're seeing out there and the six projections we developed are not exactly run of the mill social media fare. I think you are going to really enjoy our latest Marketing Companion podcast. It is going to surprise, and perhaps even startle, you. The podcast starts out with a visit from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christian Bale (you have to hear it to believe it!) and then untangles six marketing mega-trends: 1) Malignant complexity 2) Re-aggregation of audience 3) The cost of security 4) The death of "last touch" attribution and implications for search and offline marketing 5) Dis-intermediation of manufacturing (the biggest impact on marketing since the Internet?) 6) Atomization of content This podcast is guaranteed to get you thinking about our marketing future in new ways. What's that you say? You can't wait to dive into it? Well I certainly can't blame you so here it is in stunning high-definition technicolor: References in this podcast: The password management tool is Dashlane .
S1 E13 · Fri, November 29, 2013
The perils and promise of sponsored content
Sponsored content is probably the hottest -- and most controversial -- marketing trend around. Embedding advertising messages in the editorial portion of online properties is an act of desperation -- Traditional advertising is in decline as technology allows people to avoid ads The fact of the matter is that sponsored content works best when you don't know it's an ad. This raises so many questions about best practices, disclosure and regulations. On our new Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I tear this issue apart from every angle: Does sponsored content demonstrate that the advertising industry is in crisis? Sponsored content -- only effective if it's sneaky? Will the FTC regulate this trend? Is a company blog sponsored content? Where do you draw the line? Will sponsored content bolster confidence in a brand or jeopardize it? Is this trend necessary to save traditional media? Ad agencies? Radical honesty as a point of differentiation. When do guest posts become sponsored content? Could sponsored content actually be better than organic content? This is a vital and fascinating topic and by this point you are probably ready to go. Well, here it is: By the way, if you are enjoying our podcast, why not let others know by leaving a rating on the iTunes site . It’s so simple and much appreciated!
S1 E12 · Sat, November 09, 2013
How data is screwing up content marketing
An early Google Pants sighting[/caption] Companies like Forrester and Gartner -- who used to make their money providing expensive and exclusive research reports -- are finding it impossible to "contain" the data. If somebody buys just one report, it's likely to very soon be distributed widely on the web for free. As a result, there is a very subtle but important change going on in the world of research with profound implications for what we can see and believe on the social web. In our latest Marketing Companion podcast, Tom Webster and I explore some of the implications of this as we look at a case study where Forrester recently skewered Facebook with some provocative, but not necessarily accurate, claims. A company VP added fuel to the fire with an "open letter" to Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg . Facebook called the claims "irresponsible." Why would a company built on providing dispassionate data and insight make a sensational move like this? Data and research are certainly taking on an interesting new role in the field of content marketing. Some of the ideas we discuss in the podcast ... If companies can't make as much money from their research, are they using their data as a content marketing promotional tool? If businesses won't pay for research, what happens to the quality of the research? What can we really believe right now and how do we know if the claims we are looking at on the web are to be believed? Most important of all, how is Tom Webster getting rich from Google Pants and Smithfield Hams? At this point, you might be asking, "How can I listen to this gem of a podcast right now?" I'm happy to report that all you have to do is click this button: By the way, if you are enjoying our podcast, why not let others know by leaving a rating on the iTunes site . It's so simple and much appreciated!
S1 E11 · Sat, October 26, 2013
A Forecast for Podcasting: Trends, Predictions and Google Pants
Podcasting, which traces its roots back to "audioblogging" in the 1980s, has enjoyed a renaissance as smart phones have become nearly ubiquitous. But what does the future hold? The great hope for podcasting might be the emotional, immersive nature of the medium. It's a rich content relationship, not a digital "snack" and a unique opportunity to provide both entertainment and information. A podcast is a companion and the engagement level might make it ideal for business development. Now that Tom Webster and I have 10 episodes of The Marketing Companion podcast under our belts, we thought it would be a good time to take a fresh look at the state of podcasting and its future. We also debut our line of clothing and exciting wearable technology: Google Pants. You have to hear it to believe it. By the way, if you would like to be a part of the podcast, email me an audio file with your comment or question and it might make it into an upcoming show. This week's podcast covers a lot of ground, including: The latest data on podcasting popularity and usage The promise of blogging to your ears Some of the problems and promises of podcasting Surprising observations about podcasting demographics and metrics Technologies and trends that could ignite podcasting The future of podcasting -- Mark and Tom disagree. Podcasting as a source of business leads ... and much more. Ready? Set? Well then, here you go:
S1 E10 · Fri, October 11, 2013
The biggest business opportunity in marketing today
Here's the number one business opportunity in marketing today: Teach marketing leaders, social media gurus and SEO professionals how to ask the right questions about data. I'm serious. There is a golden opportunity here because many businesses leaders don't seem to know enough about basic marketing analytics to know whether their programs are growing or not. We are leading "by our gut" in a world that promises true wisdom and insight if we can understand the numbers. The implication is that we are potentially (and probably) making incorrect decisions because we're mis-interpreting the numbers ... perhaps we don't even know the right questions to ask. If you're in marketing, you MUST understand this issue! I believe that just a basic knowledge of measurement tools can go a LONG WAY in helping to propel and differentiate your business ... and so does Tom Webster, the co-host on the Marketing Companion podcast. While this may sound boring, I promise you that our latest edition of the podcast is not. In fact, as you will soon hear, it is downright magical. We explore what we consider the number one issue for most marketing leaders today: Understanding metrics to make business decisions -- -- The biggest business opportunity in marketing today -- The danger of focusing on the what instead of the why or the how -- Tom's five fundamental questions to guide a content marketing strategy -- Getting drunk on growth -- The importance of talking to people -- Content marketing at the end of the sales cycle -- Content marketing as "fishing" -- are you even in the right lake? -- Guest appearances from Gini Dietrich and Sean McGinnis -- The magic metrics for content marketing and lead conversion Are you ready for this? Can you HANDLE THE TRUTH? Here we go: Resources mentioned in this podcast : The book Good to Great by Jim Collins Our friends Gini Dietrich and Sean McGinnis <a href= "http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982463901/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0982463901&linkCode=as2&tag=schaemarkesol-20
S1 E9 · Thu, September 26, 2013
The future of Twitter
Twitter is at a crossroads. It's in the process of becoming a public company which will inevitably affect how they monetize, where they monetize, and perhaps even influence the type of content they are willing to allow on the site. A bastion for free speech, how will Twitter react when Wall Street pushes back on controversial content? As little Twitter has grown up it is now squarely in the gunsights of Facebook, which can only survive and thrive by increasing its "marketshare" of our personal information. Twitter is experiencing a youth movement, driven in part by the fact that mother (and even grandmother) is on Facebook now, directly threatening a core Facebook audience. Twitter is also in the middle of placing a bold bet on becoming the go-to " second screen " for television viewing. Twitter has changed my life so these are vitally interesting topics for me and many in the marketing field ... and an awesome topic for our next Marketing Companion podcast . And if these topics are not reason enough to tune in, you should listen to this episode just to hear Tom Webster state that he no longer has to suck on the teet of social media. It's a fun and lively debate which also covers: Why Twitter may be a better investment than Facebook Facebook's pre-IPO sneak attack The critical importance of owning the "second screen" Why a Twitter-Nielsen partnership is dynamite Twitter as a shelter for cowards and how dimwits define the conversation The IPO's possible impact on Twitter and free speech? Why Twitter needs celebrities to fuel the youth movement The three unique value propositions of Twitter The new monetization models for Twitter -- "reach" versus "targeting" At this point you are probably experiencing a Pavlovian-type response and are reaching for the "play" button. Well, here it is: Resources mentioned in this podcast : Christopher S. Penn Venture Capitalist John Frankel of ff Venture Capital The Book <a href= "http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071802193/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&cre
S1 E8 · Thu, September 12, 2013
What skills do you need to succeed in marketing?
I have a new Twitter follower who has branded herself as an "authenticity coach." This puzzled me. Is that a real business? Is "authenticity" a critical business skill so important it has become a cottage industry? And perhaps the bigger question is, exactly what DO you need to learn to succeed in a marketing career today? This is a complex question because marketing as a career discipline has evolved differently than other areas of business. If you are a finance professional or you work in accounting or economics, the fundamentals of your career success are not sliding under your feet. But if you are trying to establish a career in marketing, not only are the tools of your trade changing, the rules of engagement are changing every day. If you want to aim to land a marketing job, what should you study in college? Do you even need to go college? If you are an established marketing professional, how do you stay relevant? Are you doomed to be in a constant state of catch-up? This is a fascinating topic and that's why I think you will particularly enjoy the latest edition of The Marketing Companion, a 30-minute podcast I create with the amazing Tom Webster . We cover a lot of ground in a short period of time, including: The gap between marketing business needs and today's marketing education Real world experience versus a college education - Do you even need a degree any more? Why marketing education is different than other disciplines in the business school Is "social media" an entire degree program, one class, or an essential life skill? Community manager - The hardest job in marketing? Five critical marketing career skills you will never get in school At this point, you probably can't wait to wrap your ears around this podcast, so here it is! Other helpful resources mentioned in this podcast: Book by Tom Peters: The Brand You Book by Dr. Robert Kelly: How to Be a Star at Work: 9 Breakthro
S1 E7 · Fri, August 30, 2013
What does it take to start a blog today?
The blogging life used to be so easy. Just five years ago, a blog was still a novelty and if you started one, you would probably occupy a niche in your industry. But since then, the world has conspired to make blogging very difficult ... "Content marketing" also means "content overload," -- this is a crowded and noisy field for newcomers. The dynamic world of search engines and SEO has made it complicated for bloggers to become discovered. New entertainment alternatives and social media distractions have probably challenged blogging's role as the king of content. Even technology like smartphones has made blog consumption, sharing, and commenting more difficult. What's a blogger to do? That's the question Tom Webster and I tackle in our latest Marketing Companion Podcast. We explore the topics of: The challenge of information density The entertainment edge - Next big thing for blogging? Expertise and the content saturation index Content quality, optimization, or both? The most important blog metric ... perhaps the only one? How much time should you put into promotion versus content quality? This is a fascinating topic and we cover a lot of ground in just 30 minutes! I think you'll love the podcast and hope you'll also leave a comment below. Can't wait to listen? Of course you can't! Well here it is right now! There are several blog posts referenced in this podcast so here are some handy links if you want more depth on this subject: From Mark: How the physics of social media is killing your marketing strategy From Tom: When Content Marketing stops working From Marcus Sheridan: A discussion of Content Saturation Index
S1 E6 · Fri, August 16, 2013
Will Jeff Bezos lead the next media revolution?
Newspapers are dying. Local TV stations are struggling. Many radio stations have been in decline for more than a decade. And then, Jeff happened. This has been a fascinating couple of weeks if you're interested in newspapers and digital media. John Henry (owner of the Boston Red Sox) bought the Boston Globe and Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon) bought The Washington Post within the same week. When I first heard about the Bezos move, I thought "huh?" But the more I considered it, the more excited I became. The Post and many other traditional media outlets have been dying, primarily because they fell behind the digital revolution and have been unable to monetize fast enough. But a few years from now, we may look back and see that all that finally changed in this seminal "Jeff Moment." Jeff Bezos is a master of media distribution and has boldly led Amazon into the publishing business. If anybody can lead The Washington Post into the digital age (and beyond), wouldn't it be him? In fact, couldn't the world benefit from more digital innovators making a move into "traditional business?" Wouldn't it be great to see an executive from Amazon, eBay or Apple take over the US Postal Service, The Department of Motor Vehicles, or a major state university? This is the topic that fuels our latest Marketing Companion Podcast. Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of Wouldn't it be great to see an executive from Amazon, eBay or Apple take over the US Postal Service, The Department of Motor Vehicles, or a major state university? This is the topic that fuels our latest Marketing Companion Podcast. Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of Please listen in as the scintillating Tom Webster and I explore ... Can the Amazonification of journalism save newspapers? Will The Washington Post be the next great social media start-up? Does Bezos represent a new breed of benefactor? Will more digital leaders move into traditional business spaces? What are the possible implications of this move for advertising and marketing? If you had $250 mm to spend, would you invest it in the content business? What are the implications for personalized content delivery? Is this purchase really an offline play? ... and much, much more. Please enjoy the podcast and let us know what
S1 E5 · Fri, August 02, 2013
Google Glass: Is this the future, or does it just make you look like a dork?
Can you imagine anything that would inspire marketing creativity more than a device that allows you to view the Internet all the time, everywhere ... like a digital layer across the world? That certainly seems to be the promise of Google Glass, perhaps the boldest step forward in the trend of "wearable technology." In my mind, this will be a transformational opportunity for, well ... everything! Education. Connection. Discovery. Entertainment. Business. But my wise friend and podcast co-host Tom Webster is not so sure. In the latest edition of The Marketing Companion, Tom and I debate a wide range of topics surrounding this exciting, and to some folks, disturbing, technology. Some of the topics we tackle include: Lesson 1: Never become a meme. A lesson in how NOT to become a meme like Robert Scoble Is Google Glass a win for wearable technology or the next Segway? Do the "eyes" have it, or does wearable technology belong some place else? What business problems does Google Glass really solve? A can of worms for privacy, or just another Kodak moment? Does "cool" trump "dork?" The Devil's bargain with privacy. A practical view from Jamie the bartender. The porn indicator, and Google's interesting new investment
S1 E4 · Fri, July 19, 2013
The Content Mill: Is Quantity Killing Quality on the Web?
I think the role of "content" in the marketing mix is one of the most fasciating discussion topics around. How much is enough? How do you break through? Can you win on the back of quantity alone by overwhelming competitors? So I was delighted to have the opportunity to thrash this discussion around with the brilliant Tom Webster on our latest Marketing Companion podcast. In this latest edition, we talk about: The dirty little secret of content marketing How quantity works against quality The Hubspot Problem and the content mill Quantity and the discoverability advantage Guest posts -- Strategic advantage or content snacks when you need a meal? How is SEO adapting to new content realities and search? The most important content-related metric How content marketing is like a retail price war Why content marketing encourages plagiarism Yes, that is a lot of ground to cover in a 30 minute podcast but I think we get the job done and have some fun along the way too. Hope you enjoy the show and I would love to see your comments in the comment section below. To listen now: Hope you enjoy the show and I would love to see your comments in the comment section below. Program note: Christopher Penn weighed in with another perspective on this topic of content and SEO . Worth a read!
S1 E3 · Fri, July 05, 2013
The Failure Manifesto and Why it is Hurting Your Business
How many times have you led a business failure? Do you have to experience catastrophic failure to be successful? If I fail more than you, will I ultimately be more successful than you? These are some of the questions and topics creeping into the blogosphere over the past few years as the notion of failure seems to take on an almost romantic quality. I find this strange. As an entrepreneur, I want to do everything I can to AVOID failure. Sure, if you are trying something new, you are bound to fail. I fail in some way every single day. But I never want to fail in a way that prevents me from getting back up again. And yet, I have this feeling that if you've never been part of an entrepreneurial wipeout, you're not considered "legit" these days. There seems to be a growing acceptance of The Failure Manifesto. My podcast partner Tom Webster and I explore this interesting idea on the latest episode of The Marketing Companion. I really think you'll like this edition, as we explore: The romance of catastrophic business failure Why Seth Godin's "Just Ship It" mentality leads to problems The true source of business innovation and progress The untold side of the Apple story and survivor bias The strategy paradox --why we don't learn from failures Why you can't be Zappos Is technology an enabler or a leveler of business innovation? Do you need to be "all in" to be successful in business today? I hope you'll listen to the podcast and tell us what you think!
S1 E1 · Wed, June 19, 2013
Flouting Klout
The Marketing Companion Episode 1: Flouting Klout Klout steps into the ring as a content creator Influence at the top of the search rankings Guest appearance by Ringo Starr as a talking apple Is Klout re-defining "expert?" The search for "warmer" search Klout and corruption The emotional hook of Klout Could your Klout score become a global VIP card? Will we be seeing Klout optimization experts? What Klout does well. Tom reads his spam

The Marketing Companion

The Crisis of Imagination

Staying ahead of the learning curve

The personal brand pivot

The AI impact on SEO

We must disrupt marketing now

AI and cognitive decline

The Most Human Company Wins

Big marketing ideas for 2025

The key to success isn't having the best answers. It's having the best questions

The magic of NotebookLM

Three questions that will change your career

Protecting children in the digital world

An inside view of LinkedIn success

Burning a community to the ground

The Making of a Signature Story

Influencer product launches

The mystery of social objects

Does AI Have a Marketing Problem?

Brand Communities: State of the Nation

A search for personal peace

How curiosity fuels marketing

Beyond imposter syndrome

What business are you in? Really?

Philosophical Quandaries About AI

The future of social listening

The Human side of AI

Big ideas from the marketing retreat

When to stop and start your content projects

Unraveling the global sports industry

A backlash against "purpose" in marketing

Getting started with AI for your business

The next generation of consumers is here

A new look at loyalty

My biggest business mistakes

Breaking all the rules of eCommerce

From Paycheck to Purpose: Why I Stopped Growing My Business

The freakiest podcast ever

The creator-based commercial strategy

The business case for Personal GPTs

Six pillars of our marketing future

The beauty of messy marketing

The generosity strategy

Scaling human-powered marketing

Gen Z Exposed

The personal impact of AI

The unified theory of content success

The AI hierarchy of content

Master the Art of Business Narrative

Public speaking in the marketing mix

The greatest content marketing experiment in history

The future of loyalty

What is the gist of YOU? Relevance in the AI world

The luxury brand enigma

What the “Whole Self” Movement Means to Marketers

The new and now of social media marketing

AI and cultural impact

Cracking the Gen Z Code

Creativity and the true threat of AI

Nonprofit marketing insights

My biggest accomplishment

Marketing that heals!

The Tom Peters interview

Big marketing ideas of the year

ChatGPT changes marketing forever

Reimagining content marketing

Building relationships in a fast-moving world

Status drives marketing

New use cases for NFTs

GenZ is hiding from us

The next two years in marketing

Fresh take on the four Ps of marketing

How to do self-promotion well

Values-based marketing in transition

Marketing jobs state of the market place

The solution to crappy customer service

Web3 and the future of CRM

A case study in marketing community

Consulting best practices

A new marketing framework