The AI Marketing Companion

Latest Episodes:

Words that inspire and the stories behind them Feb 06, 2016

Show notes

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.

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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.

Achieving the digital mindset Jan 25, 2016

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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.

The internet we need to save Jan 09, 2016

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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"

Twitter strategy, politics and authenticity gone mad Dec 26, 2015

Show notes

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.

What's next for marketing in 2016 Dec 11, 2015

Show notes

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.

Every way to monetize content Dec 01, 2015

Show notes

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.

Stats-A-Palooza Nov 13, 2015

Show notes

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.

The Rant Show Oct 30, 2015

Show notes

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.

Sales and marketing transformation in the digital world Oct 16, 2015

Show notes

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.

Competitive pressures on content marketing Oct 02, 2015

Show notes

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.

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