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The People of Digital Marketing

The People of Digital Marketing

By Kenny Soto

This podcast was created to get you promoted, help you impress your boss, and eventually give you the tools and info to become your boss. I'm here to help you become a marketing leader!
In this show marketing experts and leaders from Fortune 500 companies, agencies, and startups share their career advice, challenges they're facing, and roadmaps for how to scale your growth as a digital marketer.
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Currently playing episode

Interview with James (JD) Dillon - Defining The Role Of CMO - Episode #98

The People of Digital MarketingNov 30, 2022

00:00
36:15
🧮Everything Marketers Need To Know About CDPs with Brian Kotlyar - Episode #148

🧮Everything Marketers Need To Know About CDPs with Brian Kotlyar - Episode #148

“People notice something wrong in their business, the root cause is that something is wrong in their business but they start looking for tech as almost like a distraction…buying Martech is a silver bullet for Martech problems but, not business problems.”

Brian Kotlyar is the VP of Marketing and Growth at Hightouch.com (a CDP and data activation platform), where he leads the company’s marketing strategy and is responsible for driving growth and customer acquisition.

Prior to his role at Hightouch, Brian held the position of SVP of Marketing at New Relic, where he played a pivotal role in leading the company’s marketing efforts during a period of rapid growth and a successful IPO. He helped triple the growth rate of the company and oversaw numerous product launches and marketing initiatives.

He also served as Head of Marketing at Intercom, where he helped the company build a world-class marketing team. Throughout his career, Brian has worked extensively in building and growing multiple B2B startups successfully.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Brian’s explanation of consumption pricing and how this concept helped him in his marketing career
  • Is a better Martech stack the secret to fixing a company’s growth problems?
  • What is a CDP and why should marketers care about them? How does this type of tool affect our work?
  • Traditional vs composable CDPs
  • How to justify the purchase of a CDP?
  • What is a data warehouse and how does it differ from a CDP?
  • Why do most data and marketing teams have bad relationships with each other? How do we make these relationships better?

And more!


You can learn more about HighTouch at - https://hightouch.com

Connect with Brian via LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankotlyar/ 

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Mar 21, 202431:18
Striking Out On Your Own & Building An Agency with Laura Johns - Episode #147

Striking Out On Your Own & Building An Agency with Laura Johns - Episode #147

Laura Johns is the founder and CEO of The Business Growers, a marketing firm serving the B2B telecom, SaaS, IT, and cloud-services industries. For 18 years, Laura managed marketing efforts for companies ranging from tech startups to global, multi-billion dollar businesses. She spent nearly half her career serving as a corporate marketing executive in the telecom industry before starting The Business Growers.

Her career focus is developing marketing strategies for tech companies that lead to tangible success. Today, The Business Growers serves over 50 clients in 15 states. Laura has been honored as “Top 50 under 40” and “Top 50 Leading Women in Business” in her home state of Mississippi. Today, she is a member of the Leadership Mississippi program, an honor bestowed on a select by the Mississippi Economic Council. She is also the co-founder and host of “The Home and The Hustle” podcast for working moms and “The Know, Grow and Scale” videocast and podcast for entrepreneurs.


Questions and topics we covered Include:

  • What made Laura decide to strike out on her own
  • What Laura wishes she had known before starting her agency
  • The 3 consistent marketing priorities for a B2B tech company (regardless of company stage)
  • How to grow your business without a full-time marketing team
  • Two key ways to identify your company’s brand
  • What conditions need to be met for a business to consider outsourcing its marketing?
  • Qualities to look for when hiring new team members
  • How marketing has evolved…
  • The #1 marketing challenge The Business Growers is facing this year.

And more!

You can connect with Laura through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurapickardjohns/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Mar 14, 202437:53
A Deep Dive Into Quantitative Research with Ben Cortese - Episode #146

A Deep Dive Into Quantitative Research with Ben Cortese - Episode #146

Ben previously led the Marketing Sciences Group at KS&R, a nationally recognized strategic consultancy and marketing research firm. Through quantitative research, Ben and his team help to empower businesses to make better decisions with confidence.

With his extensive knowledge of advanced analytical methods and wide-ranging industry experience, he has become a trusted partner for clients looking to solve complex business problems. Outside of work, Ben enjoys quality time with his children in the kitchen, gardening, and playing volleyball when the weather in upstate New York permits.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • An explanation of marketing science
  • How does market research affect a business's growth in the long term? Why is it important?
  • Why message testing and optimization are vital to gaining insights
  • How to convince your boss to invest in Message Testing
  • How does a team get started with message testing?
  • At what size of an organization should a team consider message testing?
  • The ideal frequency and cadence of message testing experiments
  • Who owns market research and message testing in the marketing team?
  • What are market simulators, how are they useful, and at what size of a company should they be used?
  • The basics of conjoint analysis in market research.

And more!


You can connect with Ben through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bcortese/ 

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Feb 28, 202435:52
Communities Are A Marketing Team’s Secret Weapon with Evan Patterson - Episode #145

Communities Are A Marketing Team’s Secret Weapon with Evan Patterson - Episode #145

“[Community] sits before Demand Gen. in the funnel…[Community] doesn’t actually generate revenue. I create an environment that makes generating revenue easier.”

Evan Patterson is a B2B marketing consultant, freelancer, startup advisor, content creator, and fractional leader for forward-thinking, progressive businesses.  Outside of B2B marketing, Evan focuses on enabling minority voices in tech and fighting injustices targeted at the LGBTQ+ community.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Community as a marketing role defined 
  • Some examples of what Community is not?
  • When did this new job get created?
  • What’s the difference between B2B community marketing and B2C community marketing?
  • How to justify the investment into Community marketing?
  • Why is most of Evan’s role as a Community Marketer is spent working internally on his team
  • The similarities between a Community / Evangelism role and a PR agency (when it comes to media training)
  • How a Community role helps to reduce internal friction between marketing and sales
  • How Evan measures success with his unique role

And more!


You can connect with Evan through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanpatterson/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Feb 12, 202432:33
Trying To Get A Job In Marketing? Listen to this! with Zoë Hartsfield - Episode #144

Trying To Get A Job In Marketing? Listen to this! with Zoë Hartsfield - Episode #144

“The empathy that you have to exhibit and learn in sales on a 1-to-1 basis, that only helps you when you’re trying to go 1-to-many…”


Zoë Hartsfield is a Salesperson trapped in a Marketer's body. She spends her 9-5 running executive evangelism programs, managing influencer relationships and creating content. She spends her 5-9 running, traveling and again, creating content. Check her out at @nottoocorporate on TikTok and Instagram, or give her a follow on LinkedIn for her thoughts on sales, marketing, mental health, and career development in the tech industry.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The advice she has for anyone who wants a marketing job and is coming from sales, support, etc.
  • Her red flags to look out for when applying to a marketing jobs
  • How to leverage sales experience in a new marketing role
  • What does it mean to be an evangelist?
  • “Community” as a role in a marketing team…
  • Should a community function and a customer advisory board go hand-in-hand?
  • The most important business skill marketers should be learning today, but they’re probably ignoring…
  • How can marketers help create sales collateral that actually gets used?
  • What should marketers look for when selecting/recommending software to add to the MarTech Stack?
  • Does every marketer need a side hustle?


And more!


You can connect with Zoë through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoehart/

And you can also connect with me through LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, Margaret Kelsey, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Feb 01, 202443:20
How To Approach Product Marketing in 2024 with Eric Dodds (Head of Product Marketing at RudderStack) - Episode #143

How To Approach Product Marketing in 2024 with Eric Dodds (Head of Product Marketing at RudderStack) - Episode #143

Jan 25, 202451:20
What Marketers Need To Understand About Strategy with Margaret Kelsey (OpenView, Appcues, & InVision) - Episode #142

What Marketers Need To Understand About Strategy with Margaret Kelsey (OpenView, Appcues, & InVision) - Episode #142

Margaret has spent the last decade building scalable, effective marketing programs—and teams—for B2B SaaS companies like OpenView, Appcues, and InVision. She now advises founders on how to do the same. She also co-hosts a weekly podcast called "Don't Say Content" with Devin Bramhall. 


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Why Margaret took the plunge to become a soloprenuer? 
  • Her recommendations for where to upskill as a marketer
  • The characteristics of high-performing marketing teams? 
  • Why marketing teams need to have fun to thrive. 
  • The importance of knowing the differences between “Shared Language” and Institutional Knowledge…
  • The key questions individual contributors should be asking their bosses to get a better understanding of company strategy…
  • The skills Margaret would be learning this year if she had to start her career now…
  • Why founder-led marketing still works, regardless of company size…
  • How to think about “playbooks”…
  • What are the major pitfalls that arise within the Head of Marketing and CEO relationship?
  • Why is it important to have a focus on longer timelines as you move up the management ladder?
  • Why strategy is supposed to take into account triaging “urgent” tasks…


And more!

Connect with Margaret on Linkedin- https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-kelsey-104abba/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Here’s Margaret’s podcast if you want to get even more of her knowledge - https://www.dontsaycontent.com


Want to learn the best ways you can produce and grow an effective podcast for your business in 2024? Check out https://www.brandpodcastsummit.com


On January 24th we're hosting The Brand Podcast Summit, a free-to-attend virtual event designed exclusively for marketers and comms people to succeed in podcasting in 2024.


Speakers include Ann Handley, Rand Fishkin, podcast producers from NPR, the BBC, podcast growth pros, AI and automation experts…One attendee also has the chance to get $500's worth of podcast equipment!


Shoutout to a previous guest of the show, Harry Morton, for sharing this.


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Jan 17, 202449:08
How NOT To Become A Checkbox Marketer with George Huff - Episode 141

How NOT To Become A Checkbox Marketer with George Huff - Episode 141

“Half of marketing is marketing internally so you can get buy-in…and as the org gets bigger, that job gets harder.”


The main theme of this episode focuses on: people, tools, and processes…

George Huff, the CEO of Opal, leads a MarTech platform used by well-known brands like Target, Starbucks, Whole Foods, 3M, and SAP. Opal’s content operations platform produces exceptional results, such as enabling Target to tell their story and create 300 pieces of content every day.

George’s career began in design and technology, but his curiosity about how captivating brands create stories led to the formation of Opal. He surrounds himself with talented individuals and empowers them to find the best solutions. Under George’s leadership, Opal continually innovates to help brands drive results and create meaningful connections with their customers.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Why is brand alignment so important and the classic struggle with internal silos
  • The context that every marketer needs to have to be successful, in any team they’re in
  • What sets Opal apart from other content management products
  • How does team culture affect the success of a marketing initiative
  • Why being able to handle criticism is the best skill for a marketer to learn
  • The rituals and routines the Opal team does to help keep momentum going
  • Why your manager wants you to be good at selling ideas


And more!


Checkout Opal - https://workwithopal.com 

Connect with George on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehuff/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Past guests of The People of Digital Marketing include April Dunford, Amanda Goetz, Melissa Rosenthal, Bill Macaitis, Miruna Dragomir, Andrew Capland, Erik Newton, Andy Crestodina, Sarah Bedrick, Michael Wieder, Dan McGaw, Kathleen Booth, Foti Panagiotakopoulos, Tommy Walker, Lea Pica, Maya Grossman, Sara Pion, and more.


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Jan 08, 202443:59
A Masterclass In Product Positioning with April Dunford - Episode #140
Nov 16, 202343:17
The Basics Of Incrementality & Measurement with Michael Kaminsky - Episode #139
Nov 08, 202337:34
It’s Time To Level Up Your Job Search with Alexis R. Scott - Episode #138

It’s Time To Level Up Your Job Search with Alexis R. Scott - Episode #138

Alexis Rivera Scott is the founder of Verbatim, a digital marketing agency, as well as The Fairy Job Mom, a consultancy focused on helping professionals become Eternally Employable. She guides job seekers in their next career move, helps professionals build memorable personal brands, and introduces companies to amazing talent.

Throughout her career, Alexis has successfully navigated career change and adaptation, with a vast range of industry experiences from hospitality sales, to technology marketing, to recruiting, and partnerships.

She is passionate about empowering people to achieve their goals and grow within their careers - whatever they might be! In her free time, you can find Alexis creating content on LinkedIn, traveling across the world with her family, and thrift shopping for treasures.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Alexis’ approach to scaling her audience and engagement on LinkedIn
  • The easiest way to scale your LinkedIn following—the comments section of other influencers
  • How to handle being laid off and what to do when it happens
  • The common mistakes Alexis sees candidates make when applying for jobs (what’s the opposite of being “eternally employable?”)
  • What makes marketing resumes suck
  • How to get a marketing job with no prior experience
  • How to find the unposted / hidden jobs
  • Why are Slack communities so important

And more!


Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexisjscott/

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

Nov 01, 202345:51
She’s Mentored More Than 1,000 Marketers & Is Here To Help YOUR Career ft. Jaclyn Mullen - Episode #137
Oct 18, 202340:31
🛒A Masterclass In DTC Marketing & The Role Of CXO with Jessica Kogan - Episode #136

🛒A Masterclass In DTC Marketing & The Role Of CXO with Jessica Kogan - Episode #136

Jessica Kogan, a visionary digital brand innovator, began her illustrious career launching strategies for brands like Donna Karan, Urban Decay, and Elizabeth Arden. Over the years, she's carved digital niches for powerhouses like Prada, Giorgio Armani, and Chevron, and co-founded the digital-native business, Cameron Hughes Wine. As the force behind Vintage Wine Estates' digital transformation, she cemented its position as a leader in DTC adult beverage sales when she was their Chief Growth & Chief Experience Officer.

Now as the Founder & CDO of "The Digital Voice", Jessica along with her cofounder Jennifer Kowskie, continues to shape digital-first brand narratives.

Her expertise, recognized in Wine Business Monthly and featured in Forbes and Fox Business, makes her a sought-after voice in the industry.

Other notable clients that Jessica has done marketing for in the past includes Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Heineken, Tito’s, L'Oreal, LVMH, and Nike.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The role of Chief Experience Officer defined and how it differs from CMO
  • How has the DTC market evolved over time—from user behavior to industry trends, marketing strategy, and more?
  • How is the brick-and-mortar store going to compete in the future?
  • How does a business’s brand affects their retail strategy and how it stays consistent both in digital and physical experiences?
  • How to change a brand’s messaging over time, based on changing market dynamics?
  • How can brands identify, maintain, and capitalize on customer advocacy over time? 

And more!


You can connect with Jessica here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-kogan-43a455/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Oct 03, 202342:25
The Basics Of Marketing A Franchise Business with Jack Monson - Episode #135

The Basics Of Marketing A Franchise Business with Jack Monson - Episode #135

Jack Monson is the host of Social Geek, a Top 25 Marketing podcast on Apple and the number one podcast in Franchising. Jack is also the CEO of Brand Journalists, a Franchise Development and Marketing agency.

Jack has been working with franchise systems and enterprise brands in digital marketing for 15 years after several years working in radio and public relations in Chicago. He is a monthly columnist for several industry magazines and produces several podcasts for other CEOs and Marketers. 


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • A basic description of what a franchise business is (think McDonalds or Subway)…
  • The two sides of the coin: marketing the brand for customers vs marketing the brand for franchise owners
  • What do the business owners care about throughout their path down the marketing funnel?
  • The industries that are the best fit for the franchise business model
  • The unique buyer’s journey of franchise owners (considerations and hesitations)
  • The best practices lead gen campaigns for franchise businesses
  • Effective content distribution tactics Jack likes to use
  • How do franchise businesses maintain brand consistency in their online marketing across different locations or branches? How important is this, and how is it achieved?

And more!


Connect with Jack on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackmonson/ 

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Sep 29, 202343:15
Marketers, It’s Time To Get Off Of Your Career Ladder🪜 with Travis Scott - Episode #134

Marketers, It’s Time To Get Off Of Your Career Ladder🪜 with Travis Scott - Episode #134

Travis' career has been the definition of a 'portfolio career' with experience in sales, recruitment, and marketing. He's the Founder and Principal Consultant at RainierDigital, a marketing operations consultancy and HubSpot Gold Partner. He's also the Founder of Winding Road Careers —a place for people on a non-linear career path—and the host of a podcast of the same name.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The case for learning both sales skills and marketing skills
  • Are career ladders “dead”?
  • If someone wanted to become a consultant, what should they be doing today to prepare themselves for that transition?
  • What makes marketing resumes suck? What makes them get ignored?
  • What’s the best way to use LinkedIn to find new marketing jobs?
  • How to learn new marketing skills over time? Who to follow? Where to search and learn?

And more!


You can connect with Travis on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisscott24/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here (don’t be a stranger!) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

 

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Sep 14, 202340:20
Listen To This If You Want To Start Freelancing with Brooklin Nash - Episode #133

Listen To This If You Want To Start Freelancing with Brooklin Nash - Episode #133

“At my core I’m not a marketer, I’m a writer…”

With a decade of freelance and in-house marketing experience, Brooklin focuses on helping both clients and freelancers stand out. The memes are free.

Questions and topics we covered include:

    • Why writing as a skill became a big focus for Brooklin early in his career
    • How Brooklin started his content agency called BEAM
    • How Brooklin recruited his first set of team members
    • How to know if freelancing, working at an agency, or working internally within a marketing team is right for you
    • How to identify and deal with “nightmare clients”
    • How to time referral requests from clients
    • How to successfully execute on cold outbound pitches
    • Why are interviews a good source for content?
    • How original research and data is a differentiator when it comes to content marketing
    • Does AI content have a place in a content marketing plan?

  And more!


You can connect with Brooklin on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooklin-nash/

You can connect with Brooklin on Twitter - https://twitter.com/realBrookNash


You can connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 


Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Sep 05, 202339:47
💰How Marketers Can Have A Say Regarding Pricing with Dan Balcauski - Episode #132

💰How Marketers Can Have A Say Regarding Pricing with Dan Balcauski - Episode #132

“I ultimately believe that product marketing should own pricing…pricing is a function of your company’s positioning.”

Dan Balcauski is the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, based in Austin, TX. He focuses on helping high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new products. Over his career, he has worked in both B2C and B2B companies ranging from startups to publicly traded enterprises.

Questions and topics we covered include:

    • What do people get wrong about pricing?
    • Defining product management
    • Who should be responsible for pricing decisions in a business?
    • The business objectives that pricing affects
    • The pros and cons of freemium pricing models
    • How businesses can define their product’s value using the “value cascade” and “Jobs To Be Done”
    • How market reference prices work
    • How to measure time to value and see its impact on the end-user
    • How do you identify the most effective price metric?
    • Should a company show pricing on its website?
    • How to leverage bundling as an acquisition tactic
    • Why custom packaging only works in one scenario

And more!


You can connect with Dan via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/balcauski/ 

And check out his website -  https://www.producttranquility.com/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from www.davidcuttermusic.com

Aug 30, 202350:46
👥What You Need To Know About Buyer Personas with Jim Kraus - Episode #131

👥What You Need To Know About Buyer Personas with Jim Kraus - Episode #131

“[A buyer persona] is the understanding in detailed terms, of the attitudes, needs, concerns, decision criteria, and buyer’s journey around a specific type of buying decision…it is not a profile of an individual…”

Jim Kraus is the President of Buyer Persona Institute (BPI) and a leading authority on buyer personas and buying insights. In addition to his work at BPI, Jim is an avid blogger, author of the Buyer Persona Buzz newsletter, and is currently working on a second edition of the book Buyer Personas with BPI’s founder, Adele Revella. He also frequently speaks at events and podcasts to advance the thinking around buyer personas and buying insights more broadly.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The simplest definition of what a buyer persona actually is and what buyer personas help businesses achieve
  • The differences between customer segments & customer segmentation vs buyer personas
  • The hardest buyer insight to discover
  • How many buyer personas should a business even have?
  • Who owns the creation of buyer personas?
  • Do businesses even need buyer personas?
  • Why it’s actually harder to buy products today than in the past (sellers aren’t the only ones feeling the pain of a new marketplace)
  • What to do after the buyer personas are defined, what’s next?

And more!


You can connect with Jim via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkraus/

You can connect with me via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Music for this podcast comes from - www.davidcuttermusic.com

Aug 08, 202331:16
🎨How B2B SaaS Companies Can Scale Their Creative with Melissa Rosenthal, CCO of ClickUp - Episode #130

🎨How B2B SaaS Companies Can Scale Their Creative with Melissa Rosenthal, CCO of ClickUp - Episode #130

“Differentiate yourself by making sure that you have people in-house that have worked with the brand, understand the brand, and connect with everyone [in the team]—so you don’t just have a random team working on your account and 50 other accounts…”

Melissa Rosenthal is an award-winning marketing exec and the Chief Creative Officer at ClickUp, focused on making the world more productive through best-in-class SaaS marketing!

Previously Melissa was the CRO/EVP at Cheddar, a live video media company at the intersection of business news and culture. For her brand work, she was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30, Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative People Under 30, and as one of Digiday's "Changemakers."

Prior to Cheddar, she led BuzzFeed's Global Creative Team.

Questions and topics include:

  • The importance of establishing a brand personality from the first day of a company’s existence
  • The skills a marketer needs to lead a creative department
  • How to become a better taste-maker and editor
  • How to iterate on brand guidelines and Melissa’s thoughts on “team swipe files”
  • How to scale an internal creative team to become an “in-house agency”?
  • The balance between looking at the competition while charting your own path
  • The benefits of scouting creative talent on behalf of your boss
  • How to level up your brand’s social strategy and experiment on new platforms?
  • How to recycle old content and creative
  • Dealing with loneliness in a remote work world…

And more!

You can connect with Melissa on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarosenthal5/

You can connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

Music for this podcast by www.davidcuttermusic.com

Jul 24, 202334:15
📞B2C Marketers Need To Leverage This Key Marketing Channel With Alex Levin - Episode #129

📞B2C Marketers Need To Leverage This Key Marketing Channel With Alex Levin - Episode #129

“What we found is that if we talk to the customer…it actually drove the conversion back up…The average answer rate for a ‘branded call’ is almost 30%.”

Alex Levin is Co-Founder and CEO of Regal Voice. He leads the GTM teams. Prior to Regal Voice, Alex was a product manager at Personal and Thomson Reuters, and then joined Handy (acquired by ANGI in 2018) as an early employee. At Handy and then ANGI Alex led growth and marketing. Alex grew up in New York and received his BA from Harvard.

Questions and topics covered include:

And more!

Happy 3rd birthday to the podcast! It’s crazy to think that I’ve been hosting this podcast for 36 months now…

You can connect with Alex on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexlevin1/

You can say hello to me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Jul 17, 202337:02
🔗Link Building Done Right with Farzad Rashidi - Episode #128

🔗Link Building Done Right with Farzad Rashidi - Episode #128

“Turns out it’s a lot more difficult to get other people to talk about you, compared to you just pulling up a Google Doc and creating a piece of content…”

Farzad Rashidi is the lead innovator at Respona (https://respona.com/), the link-building outreach platform that helps businesses increase their organic traffic from Google. He previously ran the marketing efforts at Visme, where he helped the company gain over 18 million active users and pass 3.5M monthly organic traffic.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The common  challenges that the 1st marketing hire of a startup has
  • Why is it difficult to build organic traffic?
  • How can SEO marketers justify budget allocation for their work?
  • What is Respona?
  • How Farzad describes link building to someone who doesn’t work in SEO or content marketing
  • Is link building still useful?
  • What's an ideal link building strategy and what does a healthy backlink profile look like?
  • Does domain authority still matter?
  • Does guest posting still work?
  • How to maintain and sustain relationships with publishers?
  • What does the future of link building look like?

And more!

Say hi to Farzad on Twitter -  https://twitter.com/The_Farzad

Say hi to Farzad on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzadrashidi/

Check out Farzad’s GREAT newsletter - https://www.farzadrashidi.com

Connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Jul 10, 202338:28
How B2B Companies Can Build Impactful Brand Positioning with Mark Evans - Episode #127

How B2B Companies Can Build Impactful Brand Positioning with Mark Evans - Episode #127

“Brand positioning is much more than a marketing exercise…it underpins the entire organization.”


Mark Evans is the principal with Marketing Spark, which offers fractional CMO and strategic advisory services to B2B SaaS companies. Mark's areas of expertise include brand positioning, messaging, and content-driven growth plans. Mark has a podcast and recently published the second edition of his DIY marketing book, “Marketing Spark.”


Questions and topics we covered included:

  • Defining what brand positioning is for B2B SaaS companies
  • Who’s supposed to own brand positioning?
  • How to effectively execute brand positioning
  • Who should own brand governance within a company?
  • How to use internal marketing to aid in brand governance
  • Why addressing switching costs is the biggest challenge SaaS companies face when promoting their products
  • Why the commoditization of content should be a concern for all marketing teams
  • How to create useful buyer personas?


And more!


Mark’s B2B Positioning Guide (PDF): https://www.kennysoto.com/Mark-Evans-Guide-PODM-Ep-127 

Say hi to Mark via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markev/

Say hello to me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Jul 05, 202333:52
The Intersection of Marketing & Sales Leadership with Justin Mink - Episode #126

The Intersection of Marketing & Sales Leadership with Justin Mink - Episode #126

“Marketing touches every part of the business. Marketing is…equally as important to sales organizations as ‘sales’ itself.”


Justin Mink has spent a career in leadership and founder roles at companies that have grown from 0-1000s of employees, raised millions of dollars in capital, and that have been valued at over $1B. In 2007 he moved to Dallas from the Washington, D.C. area to launch the Franchise Division at digital marketing firm ReachLocal, helping take the company public while pioneering digital marketing best practices for franchise brands.

Today, as a Professional Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Implementer, he helps entrepreneurs and leadership teams solve root problems and lead more effectively through a simple set of proven, practical tools. He lives near White Rock Lake with his wife, Kate, son, Jude, and a very old and well-fed dog named Titan.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • What is the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)?
  • The difference between a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
  • What you need to know as a marketer to eventually become a CRO
  • What it takes to be an internal leader (an intraprenuer) at a company
  • The definition of a leader that nobody wants to follow and the signs that you’re working for a bad leader
  • How does a degrading company culture change performance over time?
  • What should marketing candidates be doing to impress recruiters and hiring managers?

And more!


You can connect with Justin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmink/

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

You learn more about Justin’s services here: https://www.eosworldwide.com/justin-mink


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

Jun 26, 202335:07
Your Marketing Career Will Be Transformed By AI💜 with Chelsea Castle - Episode #125

Your Marketing Career Will Be Transformed By AI💜 with Chelsea Castle - Episode #125

“Everything we do just goes back to helping, and if we just do that authentically we know that…the value will come back to us.”


Chelsea is a former journalist turned empathy-driven marketer who leads content marketing at Lavender. Her 11+ year career spans diverse industries, from agencies to publishing, branding to SaaS. She draws on her multi-faceted experience and journalistic roots in her content approach and principles, which are hyper-focused on human-centered marketing.

She was also the Director of Content Marketing at Chili Piper back in 2022.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • When is the right time to do a career pivot?
  • The competitive advantage journalists have when switching over into a marketing career.
  • Should marketers be worried about AI replacing them? (Here’s where Chelsea explains what Human centered-marketing and AI looks like)
  • The evolution of content marketing teams this year…
  • When to recruit content marketers and Chelsea’s approach to recruiting
  • How B2B organizations can dive into the world of video
  • How the Lavender team uses Lavender
  • How to scale engagement on LinkedIn when growing a personal brand?


And more!


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: ⁠www.kennysoto.com/hire⁠ 


Say hi to Chelsea on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseacastle/

Say hi to Chelsea on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChelseaCastle

Connect with me on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Check out Lavender here - https://www.lavender.ai


Jun 19, 202335:46
🚨Have You Used An AI Tool Yet? Interview with Maurice Bretzfield

🚨Have You Used An AI Tool Yet? Interview with Maurice Bretzfield

Here’s a special episode for all of you lovely marketers out there! In this interview, I chat with my mentor Maurice Bretzfield about AI and how marketers can get started using tools like ChatGPT.


Maurice is an AI and Marketing Consultant. He helps organizations increase revenue and decrease costs using the power of AI and MarTech. 

Maurice has been a digital marketer for nearly three decades and today enjoys working with organizations to integrate MarTech into their marketing strategies and operations. He is the founder of digiquation.io, a Digital Marketing Consultancy and publisher of content about MarTech. 

He is also the co-founder of digiquationHIRE, an outsourcing firm dedicated to supporting marketing teams with highly trained and affordable remote employees.


Topics we discussed include: 

  • The evolution of AI and ChatGPT technology
  • Crafting effective ChatGPT prompts: how to unlock the power of conversational AI
  • AI, ChatGPT, and image generators: transforming marketing with intelligent creativity
  • What is the role of AI in a marketer's career?
  • Utilizing remote employees to power up your marketing efforts while increasing efficiency and reducing costs

And more!


You can learn more about Maurice’s services here - digiquation.io

Connect with Maurice via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretzfield/

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, don’t forget to check out Maurice’s first appearance on the podcast here - https://www.kennysoto.com/podcast/interview-with-maurice-bretzfield-the-man-who-introduced-me-to-digital-marketing-ep-50/


Resources he mentioned on the podcast:

Jun 15, 202331:13
Setting Up Your Marketing Career For Success with Trisha Gallagher- Episode #124

Setting Up Your Marketing Career For Success with Trisha Gallagher- Episode #124

“The word ‘manager’ can take on a lot of different formats…there’s a lot of different ways to seek out leadership opportunities.” 


Trisha Gallagher is a marketing strategist and mentor with nearly 15 years of experience in planning and executing successful marketing programs. Having held various roles in marketing both in-house and agency-side, Trisha brings a unique perspective to her role as VP of Marketing at Marketri, an outsourced marketing and fractional CMO firm.


She empowers B2B companies to achieve predictable, profitable growth through data-driven marketing programs and guides her clients from brand strategy development to the execution of high-impact campaigns. In addition to her dedication to her clients, Trisha is passionate about mentoring young marketers and helping them achieve their goals.


Questions and topics we covered included:

  • Comparing where’s the best place to start your marketing career—at an agency vs in-house vs a consulting firm
  • Marketing strategy vs marketing plans
  • What is sector-based marketing? 
  • The concept of fractional marketing
  • The age-old battle of finding sales and marketing alignment
  • How to handle feedback (both providing and receiving)?
  • Differences in responsibility as you move up in leadership roles within a marketing department


And more!


You can connect with Trisha via LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishagallagher/

You can find Trisha’s content here -  https://marketri.com/author-trisha-gallagher/

Connect with me on LinkedIn -  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto

Jun 13, 202327:40
The Evolution (And Basics) of SEO with Eli Schwartz - Episode #123

The Evolution (And Basics) of SEO with Eli Schwartz - Episode #123

“66% of websites don’t need to do SEO. There’s no reason that they should bother.”


Eli Schwartz is a seasoned SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience, helping prominent B2B and B2C companies like WordPress, Shutterstock, and Zendesk drastically enhance their organic visibility. Formerly leading SEO at SurveyMonkey, he boosted organic search to become a major growth driver. 

An accomplished speaker and author of the book “Product Led SEO”, Eli’s insights regularly appear in top industry publications and events, and he serves as a judge for prestigious awards like the US Search Awards and UK Search Awards.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • February 24th, 2010—How Google’s Panda update changed Eli’s career
  • Why Eli doesn’t pay attention to Google algorithm updates (the answer is all about UX)
  • Why marketers shouldn’t focus too much on page speed
  • The common misconceptions about SEO
  • How long does SEO take to see results?
  • The basics between editorial vs programmatic SEO
  • The right method for building an SEO forecast
  • Does domain authority still matter?
  • The core skills you need to have before you start your first SEO job


And more!


Relevant  Links:

Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 


Jun 08, 202342:39
From 1st Marketing Hire to CMO, And Now Advisor with Corey Quinn - Episode #122

From 1st Marketing Hire to CMO, And Now Advisor with Corey Quinn - Episode #122

"A good well-rounded CMO is going to be someone who understands the full buyer's journey...the full marketing-sales funnel."


As a Fractional CMO and GTM Strategist, Corey brings a 25-year track record of extraordinary success as an entrepreneur, sales leader, and CMO for a $150M+ agency called Scorpion (where he was the 1st marketing hire and grew the team to 30 people before leaving). Today, he helps B2B SaaS and Agencies grow from 7 figures to 8 by doing less, not more.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • How Corey grew Scorpion from $20M ARR to $150M ARR within 6 years
  • The importance of an MBA
  • The benefits that experience in sales brings to a marketer’s career
  • How CMOs are measured by the CEO (top-line growth)
  • The qualities a CMO looks for when they’re recruiting for the marketing team
  • How does misalignment at the executive level trickle down and affect ICs and mid-level managers on the marketing team?
  • How do you go about creating predictable word of mouth for your agency?
  • Why should marketers stop saying “yes” to their clients? When is it appropriate to push back?
  • Retention…why is it such a struggle to grow this metric?
  • The transition from IC to leader to advisor


And more!


Say hello to Corey on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreyquinn/

Check out his podcast here - https://www.coreyquinn.com/podcasts/the-vertical-go-to-market-podcast

And he has a newsletter - https://www.coreyquinn.com/newsletter


You can connect with me on LinkedIn too - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

Jun 05, 202337:42
How To Think About Growth Marketing with JC (Jean-Carlos) Polonia - Episode #121

How To Think About Growth Marketing with JC (Jean-Carlos) Polonia - Episode #121

“If you can understand business, it will make you a better marketer.”


JC Polonia is the Head of Growth at LOOP, a car insurance company based out of Austin, Texas, that takes biased and discriminatory data out of the industry. He’s also the founder of Digitality, a New York-based performance and production marketing agency. From local small businesses to venture-backed companies, JC developed his chops for growth marketing from the grassroots. Data-driven and results-oriented, his efforts revolve around paid media buying and conversion rate optimization.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • How to pitch marketing services to local businesses using side hustles
  • Why the marketing agency still works as a business model
  • The benefits of working in-house instead of working at an agency
  • How JC defines what a growth team actually does (hint: it’s not just media buying)
  • Why should marketers understand both the company’s brand and the company’s business fundamentals?
  • The importance of knowing what stage your company is in
  • What does it mean to be “resourceful” as a marketer?
  • The challenges of being a people manager?
  • How to approach internal marketing with the CEO and CFO?


And more!


Say hello to JC via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcpolonia/

And say hi via Instagram (his reels are great) - https://www.instagram.com/jc.polonia/

And connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire 

May 22, 202343:48
Content Marketing Is An Investment with Tracey Wallace - Episode #120

Content Marketing Is An Investment with Tracey Wallace - Episode #120

"I need content to connect dots that I didn't know were connected before...Otherwise...I could go look all this stuff up already on my own."


Tracey Wallace is the Director of Content Strategy at Klaviyo. Prior to that, she was the head of marketing for two early stage start-ups (Eterneva and MarketerHire), and the Editor-in-Chief over at BigCommerce. She has 13 years of experience in content marketing, and began her career in Journalism. She is    also a content creator for WorkWeek, managing her own weekly newsletter called “Contentment.”


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • How brands can scale (written) content practically
  • Tracey’s favorite brands that are best-in-class when it comes to content marketing
  • The general misconceptions around content marketing
  • Why all content marketers have to figure out how to tie what they create back to revenue goals
  • The difference between direct-content revenue vs content-assisted revenue
  • The headwinds that content marketers face that performance marketers don’t have to deal with
  • Why attribution is “political at best” and why marketers need to understand attribution modeling vs mixed-media modeling
  • Why you can’t create content without researching a topic first (cough cough, this is why AI content doesn’t work as a *final* draft)
  • How to confirm what really works and how to avoid the BS marketing advice that’s regurgitated online?
  • Why internal marketing is the most underrated skill that all marketers need to learn.

And more!


Say hi to Tracey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceyrwallace/ 

Say hi to Tracey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TraceWall 

*Note you can DM Tracey BUT she’s on maternity leave at the moment, so she’ll get back to you later around the end of the summer. 

Subscribe to Tracey’s amazing newsletter if you want to become a better writer: https://workweek.com/brand/contentment/ 

Say hi to me on LinkedIn and let’s connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

May 15, 202352:32
Using CRMs The Smart Way & Practical Promotion with Ali Schwanke - Episode #119

Using CRMs The Smart Way & Practical Promotion with Ali Schwanke - Episode #119

 "When you stop selling, you stop growing...If you think that you're maxed out right now...what if you lose a client?"

Ali Schwanke is the CEO and Founder of Simple Strat, an agency of expert strategists in sales and content marketing for B2B tech companies. Ali and her team focus on growing businesses through technology and automations, specializing in the implementation of HubSpot.

Ali is a sought-after speaker and co-host of HubSpot Hacks - the popular YouTube channel with over 1M views and 15k+ subscribers.

Questions and topics we covered: 

  • Why is HubSpot the best CRM to use? It’s not just a tool for sales…
  • Are CRMs useful for all businesses?
  • Why do so many CRM adoptions fail?
  • Is Hubspot only useful for marketing teams? (Heck no!)
  • Practical ways to start using Hubspot to start growing sales.
  • The advanced tactics within Hubspot to help grow sales (i.e. progressive fields).
  • Marketing tactics to use for growing a personal brand and an agency.
  • Ali’s tips for creating video content—even if you’re shy on camera.
  • How to bleed your marketing budget and how to avoid doing this.
  • How to tie a marketing strategy to company goals.
  • Scaling growth with old content.
  • How can B2B companies create a solid audience-building strategy? 
  • And more!


Check out Ali’s HubSpot Hacks Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HubSpotHacks

Say hello to Ali via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alischwanke/

Ali's 30-day posting calendar template for LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alischwanke_linkedin-thoughtleadership-linkedinstrategy-activity-7025505800466944000-p6MD/

Connect with me on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 


Our Podcast Partner - MarketerHire

If you’re looking to hire expert freelance talent this year to scale your business (and impress your boss), check out MarketerHire. MarketerHire vets freelance talent so when you hire an SEO expert, Email Marketer, or even a Fractional CMO—you’re not wasting your money or your time. You can hire your first freelancer and get a $500 credit by visiting: www.kennysoto.com/hire

May 08, 202330:29
Creating The Right Marketing Career with Patrick Moran, Reforge Program Creator & Marketing Advisor - Episode #118

Creating The Right Marketing Career with Patrick Moran, Reforge Program Creator & Marketing Advisor - Episode #118

“If there’s not a fit between your personality and the environment that you’re in, it’s going to be difficult for you to drive impact. This is regardless of how much you know in your [marketing] domain.” 


Patrick Moran was most recently an Executive in Residence at Reforge where he led the Growth Marketing, Experimentation and Testing, and Brand Marketing programs which he also co-developed. Previously, he was the Head of Consumer Marketing at Houzz and held leadership roles at Spotify, YikYak, and was one of the earlier marketing leaders at Netflix during its transition to producing original content (starting with House of Cards).

He is currently advising early-stage B2C companies looking to profitably scale their marketing initiatives.


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The 4 components that help you control your career trajectory: your knowledge, your impact, and your network.
  • Why Patrick made the switch from being a performance marketer to a brand marketer.
  • Patrick’s advice for marketers who are getting bigger responsibilities this year (how to deal with a larger scope of work).
  • Patrick’s definition of brand marketing and the basics every marketer needs to understand. 
  • How can marketers continue to grow in their roles (experience vs online education)?


And more!


If you liked this episode, check out Patrick’s new podcast “Finding Market Fit” which is available on Acast - https://shows.acast.com/finding-market-fit

You can connect with Patrick via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pcmoran/

You can connect with me via LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

Apr 24, 202332:42
Discussing The Future CMO with Bill Macaitis, former Marketing Leader of Slack, Zendesk, & Salesforce  - Episode #117

Discussing The Future CMO with Bill Macaitis, former Marketing Leader of Slack, Zendesk, & Salesforce - Episode #117

“It doesn’t matter if you’re employed or not, it matters if you’re employable…if you learn the skills around how to grow ‘capital-efficiently’, [affecting] the growth curve in a positive way—that’s incredibly employable.”


Bill Macaitis is an advisor and board member, guiding aspiring unicorns and helping build out world class teams and innovative go-to-market strategies. Over his 20 year career Bill has achieved five successful exits and powered growth at three of the fastest-ever growing companies: Slack (CRO/CMO), Zendesk (CMO), and Salesforce (SVP of Marketing). He has also held leadership positions at Fox Interactive Media (SVP of Online Marketing) and IGN Entertainment (VP of Marketing).


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • When is the right time to transition as a marketing leader from one company to another? 
  • What does it mean to have a “marketing philosophy” as you grow in your career?
  • What does it mean to be an employable marketer?
  • The early challenges a 1st-time marketing leader faces when working at a startup.
  • How can marketing teams infuse a personality into their brand?
  • Finding the right balance between goal setting for various channels?
  • How would you define capital-efficient growth?
  • What does the future CMO look like?
  • What are some common misconceptions around brand marketing?


And more!


You can say hi to Bill via LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmacaitis/

Connect with me on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Here’s that Kahn Academy course on reading a company’s financials that I mentioned: https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/accounting-and-financial-stateme

Apr 17, 202333:16
Samir Balwani - What Every Media Buyer Needs To Hear- Episode #116

Samir Balwani - What Every Media Buyer Needs To Hear- Episode #116

“Take a look at your agency and if their tests keep losing and you’re like ‘oh our current ad keeps performing better’…you should have a real hard conversation…[You’re losing] every time they tested…” 

Samir Balwani is a marketing thought leader, out-of-the-box thinker, and an intrinsic connector. As CEO and founder of QRY (pronounced “query”), Samir has built a world-class media agency of innovative thinkers and spirited doers who help brands think strategically about e-commerce growth and scale. 

A true brand builder, Samir has over 15 years of professional experience as a marketing leader at American Express, StyleCaster, and Rogers & Cowan PMK (formerly PMK*BNC), to name a few. 

His successes range from building and managing large scale media campaigns to creating tactical acquisition marketing strategies.

Samir has lectured at Barnard College and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He’s been quoted in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Inc., and has written for Mashable. 


Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The common mistakes that hold back brands from scaling ad spend effectively.
  • Why paid media budgets MUST include an allocation for brand awareness campaigns.
  • How to approach ad testing and experimentation in a strategic way (don’t use the “shotgun” approach).
  • Why is high ROAS not always a good thing?
  • Why is cash flow management the #1 killer for most e-commerce businesses? 
  • How to incorporate unexpected events into media forecasting?
  • How marketing attribution will cause the most challenges for brands in 2023.


 And more!


You can connect with Samir here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samirbalwani/

Say hello via LinkedIn if you enjoyed listening to the podcast: www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto 

The article Samir mentioned, “THE FIVE STAGES OF DTC & E-COMMERCE ADVERTISING” - https://www.weareqry.com/insights/the-five-stages-of-e-commerce-advertising 

And my favorite multi-touch attribution tool I’ve used to date is here (not a sponsored or affiliate link): https://www.attributionapp.com

Apr 10, 202332:46
Keren Pakes - The Journey From Journalist To Marketing Leader - Episode #115
Apr 05, 202329:31
Nora Sudduth - Getting More Engagement Using Private Podcasts - Episode #114

Nora Sudduth - Getting More Engagement Using Private Podcasts - Episode #114

“Video is great, and audio is better.”


Nora Sudduth, Co-founder of Hello Audio is a leading marketing & conversion strategist who has helped businesses sell over $500M of products & services online. She’s also designed several courses, coaching, and certification programs that have generated millions more.

Nora has over 20 years of experience working with startups to Fortune 500 companies and everything in between. From market positioning and messaging, to offers and sales strategies, she’s consulted on thousands of marketing campaigns to help businesses have authentic, compelling conversations with their clients. She was also responsible for rebuilding ClickFunnel’s Certified Partner Program—consulting various businesses on over 1,000 marketing funnels.


Questions and topics we covered includes:

  • What’s the difference between a public and private podcast? 
  • How can businesses use private podcasts in their marketing?
  • How to monetize your expertise using The Flagship Formula™.
  • When is it appropriate for marketers to create a course?
  • What are some tactics and strategies Nora has used to promote her own courses?
  • Why should B2B organizations invest in certification programs as a product marketing tactic and when is the right time to launch one?


And more!


If you’d like to connect with Nora, you can find her on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/noradannersudduth/

Want to connect with me? Shoot me a connection request on Linkedin - www.LinkedIn.com/In/KennySoto 

Apr 03, 202343:31
Sydney Michuda - Building Clout As a Freelance Designer  - Episode #113

Sydney Michuda - Building Clout As a Freelance Designer - Episode #113

“When someone interacts with your brand for the first time, it’s literally a first impression.”


Sydney Michuda is the owner and creative lead behind Super Creative, a design and branding studio based in Milwaukee. With a nearly decade of design experience under her belt, most of which has been focused on branding small businesses, she's most at home when working with passionate, like-minded creative entrepreneurs.


Whether it's designing for brands large and small or educating fellow creatives, Sydney's always game to make something super. 


 Questions and topics include:

  • How Sydney got her first set of clients.
  • Sydney’s process for onboarding clients and how she’s improved it over time. 
  • How Sydney defines “brand” and brand strategy.
    • Brand heart
    • Customer personas
    • Competitive analysis
    • Brand voice 
  • The importance of maintaining consistency with your brand identity.
  • The key differences in creative work when doing a rebrand.
  • How to measure the success of your work as a creative professional.
  • Is making the transition into a freelance role the right move for marketers who’ve been laid off this year?
  • How marketers can collaborate better with their coworkers on the creative side of their departments.


And more!


Say hello to Sydney via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-michuda-5146435a/

Find Super Creative’s Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/supercreative.co/

Connect with me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/


Learn more about design and creative production from other content Sydney is featured in:

Mar 27, 202334:08
Chad Reid - The Path Of Success For The 1st Marketing Hire Of A Startup - Episode #112
Mar 20, 202332:36
Dan Sanchez - Every B2B Business Should Have A Podcast - Episode #111

Dan Sanchez - Every B2B Business Should Have A Podcast - Episode #111

“A podcast is like a Swiss army knife, it can accomplish so many objectives…”

Dan Sanchez is the Director of Audience Growth for Sweet Fish, a podcast agency for B2B brands. Equipped with his MBA and a career that has crossed design, technology, marketing, and education, Dan is ready to teach others how to grow their audience in a digital age. He contributes regularly to the B2B Growth podcast, Linkedin, and his own blog at danchez.com.

Dan's also an avid runner, yerba mate drinker, and resides in Nashville with his wife and three princesses.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • Is podcasting appropriate for all B2B businesses?
  • How podcasting is the easiest networking hack to use.
  • What do most B2B businesses get wrong when it comes to creating a podcast?
  • How should clients evaluate podcast agencies and vendors?
  • How to measure the impact generated from a podcast?
  • The key takeaways Dan shares from hosting over 200 podcast episodes.

And more!

Connect with Dan via LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digitalmarketingdan/

Connect with me via LinkedIn here: http://linkedin.com/in/kennysoto/

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Other episodes to level up your organization's podcasting game include:

Episode 88 with Harry Morton - https://open.spotify.com/episode/68Nj1p4SzK94QgWN753TRj?si=K8iatdDsQ8KKW0R2uwgxCQ

Episode 89 with Jeff Large - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ETQmqr1xsUr9Cr0NfaCNn?si=NsiSVntiQ5yHoqqXHH39Tg

Mar 13, 202334:50
Ashley N. Cline - Maximizing Your Event Marketing Success - Episode #110

Ashley N. Cline - Maximizing Your Event Marketing Success - Episode #110

“[For] some clients who have not necessarily reinvented themselves yet–the experiences that we’ve experienced in the past need a facelift…”

Ashley Cline is a Digital Marketing Consultant and Freelancing Expert. As the VP & Co-Founder at Ice Cream Social, Ashley has over 17 years of experience specializing in marketing strategy, execution, and collaborative efforts. She is a proponent of the importance of word-of-mouth marketing in today's digital age.

Across her tenure in the field, Ashley has held nearly every role in the digital marketing space, giving her unmatched expertise in customer acquisition and email, search, and content marketing.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • How Ashley’s love for video games got her into the world of digital marketing.
  • Some of the career paths available for digital marketers today (intrapreneur, entrepreneur, and solopreneur).
  • What are most event marketers doing wrong in their marketing strategies?
  • The best ad placements to consider in 2023.
  • Why all event marketers should be learning how to use SMS messaging tactics.
  • How to use your CRM platform to optimize your messaging and effectiveness across channels when promoting events.
  • Is it possible to fast-track the growth of a startup?
  • The secret to creating an “always full” sales pipeline (channel sales and partnerships).

And more!

Skip the intro: 00:04:41

You can say hello to Ashley here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashcline/

Visit her website - Ashleyncline.com

If you want to connect with me on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/kennysoto

Thinking about updating your Martech stack this year? Check out ActiveCampaign! I’ve also used them in the past and they have an amazing platform for anyone who needs to level up their email & SMS automations - https://www.activecampaign.com

Mar 06, 202330:24
Arlyn Davich - What it Takes to Become a Fractional CMO - Episode #109

Arlyn Davich - What it Takes to Become a Fractional CMO - Episode #109

Feb 27, 202328:04
Zac Litwack - A New Career Path: What Is A Venture Operator? - Episode #108

Zac Litwack - A New Career Path: What Is A Venture Operator? - Episode #108

“Assuming timing exists, you [have to have] people, process, and technology…”

Zac Litwack is a partner at Savage Ventures, a venture operator with HQ in Nashville, TN which has created $450M in enterprise value so far. He recently led marketing for Savage portfolio company OutKick, which scaled to 7 figures per month in revenue and sold to FOX less than 1 year after its launch. He is currently Chief Marketing Officer / Partner of American Songwriter, Savage Sports, Rare, and 247Health whose properties reach 100+ million people per month, and is an owner plus leads growth hacking and high tempo testing across Savage’s portfolio companies, including MyDrHank, a 7 figure D2C online pharmacy and telemedicine brand focused on the senior male market, and Savage Media, a full-service creative service and video production firm. Savage Ventures has created $450M in enterprise value and is on a path to $1,000,000,000.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • The advantages venture operators have over traditional VC firms.
  • The importance of people, process, and technology for a startup’s success.
  • Do VCs look at a startup’s marketing strategy before making an investment? How much weight do they give to marketing when committing to an investment?
  • How to build a marketing team from scratch.
  • What does it take to scale a company from $0 to $100m?
  • The most unaddressed marketing challenge all early-stage startups are facing.
  • When is it appropriate to launch an affiliate marketing program?
  • How to know if you have product market fit.
  • How Zac’s businesses are preparing for new shifts in digital privacy regulations (he’s collecting first-party data!).
  • How to find the right startups to work with as a marketer.

And more!

Say hi to Zac on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaclitwack/

Feb 21, 202330:32
Rachel B. Lee - Growing Your Personal Brand Starts With Defining What You Bring To The Table - Episode #107
Feb 14, 202336:13
Justin Watkins - The Generalist’s Approach Makes You More Competitive - Episode #106

Justin Watkins - The Generalist’s Approach Makes You More Competitive - Episode #106

“I really only have about two tips: one is read more than your peers. The other one is do side projects.”

Justin Watkins is the Founder and CEO of Native Digital, a brand and marketing firm acquiring customers where they live: online. In 2020, AdWeek ranked Native Digital as the 4th fastest growing agency in the Midwest.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • How Justin bridges the skills gap between performance and brand marketing for himself and with his team.
  • The old habits organizations have when it comes to “legacy marketing” that still hasn’t died off.
  • Why you shouldn’t focus on the competition (focus on your clients instead).
  • Why misalignment in messaging is the most common problem Justin’s clients are facing this year.
  • How to qualify potential marketing clients?
  • The traditional marketing channels that still excite Justin and that he’s using for his clients (with an example of how Casper is using traditional media).
  • Should side hustles be encouraged?

And more!

Say to hello to Justin via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwatkins/

Feb 06, 202337:30
Jan Deahl - Want A Competitive Edge As A Marketer? Understand Your Business - Episode #105

Jan Deahl - Want A Competitive Edge As A Marketer? Understand Your Business - Episode #105

“Nobody is going to manage your career for you.”

Jan Deahl is a marketing leader with over 20 years of investment industry experience who has ran international and global institutional marketing efforts at some of the world’s top asset management firms including AllianceBernstein, Janus Capital Group, American Century Investments, and the CFA Institute.

He has worked globally, including being based in New York and Hong Kong. Jan graduated from Binghamton University with a BA in English Literature. He is currently the Head of Marketing for a Global Investment Bank.

Questions:

  • What are some differences and challenges between working at large global investment organizations vs smaller FinTech firms?
  • When planning out a marketing strategy, what does Jan focus on first?
  • What are some of the specific marketing challenges within the financial services industry?
  • Why did Jan specialize in this specific industry?
  • How to define sales enablement and why do marketers need to incorporate this into their B2B marketing campaigns?
  • Is customer segmentation a one-off exercise? How often should marketers review documentation around customer segmentation?
  • What qualities and skills does Jan look for when hiring?
  • How should managers approach helping their teammates grow in their careers?
  • What benefits come from traveling the world, that translates into career growth?

And more!

You can say hi to Jan via LinkedIn, here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-deahl-00b70b2/ 

Jan 30, 202325:59
Justin Parnell - The Buyer’s Journey Has Changed & PLG Is In! - Episode #104
Jan 23, 202332:57
Julia Griffiths - Defining A Marketer’s Purpose - Episode #103

Julia Griffiths - Defining A Marketer’s Purpose - Episode #103

Jan 16, 202325:15
Joe Portsmouth - Email Marketing Will Never Die! - Episode #102

Joe Portsmouth - Email Marketing Will Never Die! - Episode #102

“Click rates don’t always correlate to revenue.”

Joe works as the Director of Retention at The Beard Club. In his spare time, he's been growing his audience of 30K+ followers on Twitter and LinkedIn by sharing daily marketing tips and content geared toward DTC marketers.

He has generated over $50mm in revenue with email marketing throughout his career and recently finished teaching his first Email Marketing 101 course on Maven.

Other brands he’s helped in the world of marketing include Hopsy, FanDuel, and PetHonesty.

Questions and topics we covered include:

  • What are the unique challenges that come from trying to grow a subscription business?
  • Why is email marketing a tactic that will never go out of style?
  • Are open rates dead?
  • What do teams do wrong when launching their email marketing campaigns?
  • How can you create cross-channel campaigns that include emails?
  • Do the same tactics that work in SMS marketing work with email?
  • What to look for when hiring the ideal email marketing specialist.
  • Joe’s favorite marketing tools.

And more!

Links to learn more from Joe:

My favorite LinkedIn posts from Joe:

Jan 09, 202324:44
Patrick Ward - Marketing Leadership Frameworks, Why Side Hustles Are A Good Thing, And More - Episode #101

Patrick Ward - Marketing Leadership Frameworks, Why Side Hustles Are A Good Thing, And More - Episode #101

Jan 02, 202358:04
What I Wish I Knew When I Began My Digital Marketing Career - Episode #100

What I Wish I Knew When I Began My Digital Marketing Career - Episode #100

“Fun translates into good performance.”

The four things every marketer should know before starting their career:

  1. Find a skill (channel) that is the most fun to do. Then specialize. Specialization brings money. Specialization solves hard problems that matter. You take this even further by also specializing in a specific industry (e.g. I specialize in marketing for fintech and insurance orgs at the moment).
  2. Understand the business you’re marketing. Do your best to think like the CEO.
  3. Find an excuse to meet other experts. Personal branding is the easiest way to grow your network of mentors.
  4. Create a swipe file. This is not a new or novel suggestion, just one that works. There’s a reason other marketing experts do this!

Key moments from marketing experts:

My “swipe file” of favorite marketing newsletters:

SEO-specific newsletters I use for work include:

Other marketing podcasts to subscribe to:

*Quick editing note: I got the acronym for SCORE incorrect! It’s actually the Service Corps of Retired Executives. I ended up clipping that audio out of this episode.

Dec 20, 202233:52