Marketing School | Digital Marketing | Online Marketing

In Episode #368, Eric and Neil discuss why you should pay attention to Facebook groups. Tune in to learn the pros of joining Facebook groups, starting your own for your company, and how to extract and give value to these online communities. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Why You Should Pay Attention To Facebook Groups 00:39 – Eric gets a lot of value from Facebook groups 00:43 – Eric follows Badass Marketers and Founders Facebook group run by Josh Fechter 00:50 – There’s a ton of marketing information he gains from the group 00:56 – Another group to follow: Young Entrepreneurs Council 01:00 – There’s a high level of engagement in these groups and people share them with others 01:18 – Facebook just launched a summit for Facebook groups 01:54 – You can search for terms in groups that are related to your niche 02:08 – Answer questions in groups—this will lead people to your website and build traffic 02:15 – When you build our own Facebook group, it builds a community with that wi

In Episode #367, Eric and Neil discuss whether blog commenting is dead. Tune in to learn why blog commenting is NOT dead in Eric and Neil’s opinion. They’ll list the reasons why they still do it and explain the benefits you can gain from interacting with your audience. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Is Blog Commenting Dead? 01:05 – Nowadays, blog commenting still drives traffic, but not as much as it did before 01:13 – For niche blogs, blog commenting will still work 01:17 – What works is that people come to your blog and you build a rapport with them—because of this relationship, they are more likely to convert 01:45 – Some big publications have shut off their blog comments 02:00 – For Neil’s blog, which has educational value, people leave productive comments and build a relationship with him 02:15 – Neil has dedicated time to respond to the comments 02:42 – Even if there’s only one person who leaves a comment, you still have to respond 03:00 – Marketing School is giving away a

In Episode #366, Eric and Neil discuss how growth is getting harder and what you can do about it. In terms of marketing, it seems that everything repeats itself. Now, more than ever, is the time to get CREATIVE in order to stand out. Tune in to learn how you can deal with the fast-paced, competitive market out there and the importance of keeping it fresh and original.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Growth Is Getting Harder (And What You Can Do About It) 00:36 – Today’s episode is inspired by Uber’s Andrew Chen who is well known in the growth network 00:55 – CPCs and the rise of ad blockers are getting higher 01:18 – “As growth gets harder, you have no choice but to get more creative” 01:24 – The main way to grow is to think outside the box and go after different channels 01:43 – Facebook has a saturation point and the ad prices are higher 01:57 – Aside from the sending people to landing pages from your Facebook ads, take your people to educational/press type articles 02:15 – It

In Episode #365, Eric and Neil discuss 3 creative ways to mine for leads. Sifting through your inbox for relevant leads is a real time-killer. Eric can get anywhere from 2K to 25K emails a month for his agency and, therefore, knows why it’s important to have a system in place to find those relevant leads. Tune-in to hear how Eric and Neil cut through the thousands of emails to find those key potential emails. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 3 Creative Ways to Mine For Leads 00:37 – Eric gets 2K to 25K emails a month for the agency 00:54 – Eric used to use Drip to get through their emails 01:04 – Now they use Clearbit Enrichment API and have plugged it into Slack 01:10 – When a big company comes in, the data will automatically be pushed into Slack, then to Salesforce, so people can jump on it and reach out 01:36 – Neil goes to their email list to check who’s there 01:45 – They’ll check the emails against their LinkedIn to see which connections are ones relevant 01:55 – They then s

In Episode #364, Eric and Neil discuss 7 apps that marketers should install on their phone. The ideas don’t stop flowing even though you’re on the move, so that’s why it’s good to have the right apps on mobile so you don’t miss a beat. Tune-in to know why these 7 apps are MUST-HAVES and how they can make your life as a marketer more convenient. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Apps That Marketers Should Install On Their Phone 00:35 – Hype Type app allows you to enhance your Instagram story 00:49 – It will make it look more engaging and professional 01:06 – Google Analytics app lets you see your website performance 01:23 – Facebook ads and AdWords apps let you manage your ads through your phone 01:41 – Adhawk helps you manage your AdWords and it has a better interface than Google AdWords 02:09 – The better interface makes it easier to use on mobile 02:14 – Fifth app is Buffer 02:22 – If you’re reading an article on mobile, there’s a Buffer button that allows you to share t

In Episode #363, Eric and Neil discuss how to get more traffic from Google News. Eric is currently going through the process of what it takes to be featured on Google News. He breaks down the requirements of Google News as well as the BENEFITS for your company to be featured by this incredible source. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Traffic From Google News 00:37 – Google News is an incredible place where you can be featured 01:00 – Being featured as a company will drive more traffic 01:10 – You have to pass certain requirements in order to be featured 01:23 – You need unique URLS 01:33 – You need HTML articles 01:43 – They don’t accept audio files 01:46 – Create a Google news site map 01:54 – Eric is currently in the process of going through the Google News’ requirements 02:00 – They use Yoast plugin 02:18 – For Google News, you need to write content that is broad in scope 02:25 – If you do an article about Google, your traffic will boost 02:40 – The more br

In Episode #362, Eric and Neil discuss how marketing can help your sales team. These two teams have the tendency to be at odds with each other when there is so much opportunity to benefit from one another. In fact, when marketers are successful at their job, it is easier for sales to close a deal as that brand awareness is already top of mind. Tune-in to learn how marketing helps your sales teams and why teamwork is always the way to success. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How Marketing Can Help Your Sales Team 00:43 – The more people that see your brand, the more your sales team can close a deal 00:58 – Neil does marketing case studies that focus on content marketing and press 01:28 – When Eric hears “I see your stuff everywhere,” that’s when he knows the marketing is working 01:46 – People can get to know you more on an intimate level from videos or podcasts 02:48 – A sales team isn’t as data driven as is the marketing team 02:59 – Marketing teams should use tools that will help th

In Episode #361, Eric and Neil discuss how to create engaging Instagram story ads. Instagram is an effective tool that can be leveraged for your marketing strategy, but you need to know how to use it right. Tune in to learn how you construct an effective Instagram story and why Instagram is more beneficial for increasing brand awareness than it is for ROI. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Create Engaging Instagram Story Ads 00:55 – Instagram story ads are the ads that pop up in between Instagram stories 01:04 – Instagram story ads are similar to Snapchat story ads 01:15 – The only time that Eric watched an Instagram story ad was when it was from Brendon Buchard 01:21 – Brendon made his story ad look like the usual Instagram story 01:38 – It was a selfie video where Brendon was teaching 01:58 – Target who you need and want 02:33 – Your conversion will go up if you’re targeting the right profiles 02:40 – Most ads aren’t relevant to a person’s profile 02:58 – It is more ad

In Episode #360, Eric and Neil discuss 7 growth hacking examples you can learn from. Tune in to be inspired by how these companies skyrocketed their branding and acquired more customers using a few tactical strategies. If you want to grow your company effectively, it doesn’t hurt to look to the best! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Growth Hacking Examples You Can Learn From 00:37 – First is Dropbox 00:40 – Dropbox used pay-per-click to acquire more users 00:51 – Dropbox was making $60 in revenue per customer 01:23 – Second is Airbnb’s growth story 01:29 – Airbnb got people to post on Craigslist 02:08 – Third is SEMrush 02:16 – SEMrush started with a free usage model with the option to upgrade 02:56 – Fourth is Hotmail 03:05 – Hotmail added “sent from Hotmail” at the end of their email to generate signups 03:38 – Fifth is Hubspot 03:43 – Hubspot is a content marketing machine which drives a lot of signups 04:00 – Hubspot also decided to create free tools 04:10 – H

In Episode #359, Eric and Neil discuss 5 tools that’ll help you track your search engine rankings. Tune in to know the benefits of SEO tracking, why it’s good to see how your competitors are doing and how tracking can help you see what you need to tweak with your SEO. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 5 Tools That'll Help You Track Your Search Engine Rankings 00:36 – Search engine rankings are important if SEO rankings are important to you 00:46 – First is Google Search Console 00:58 – It’s not the best, but it’s a good starting point 01:04 – Second tool is Ahrefs 01:18 – You can compare your performance and your competitors’ performance as well 01:29 – Third is Authority Labs 01:38 – It is geared towards ranking 01:47 – You can see if your SEO efforts are paying off 02:01 – A Now Provided report shows you keyword opportunities 02:05 – Fourth is SerpBook which tracks your ranking accurately 02:31 – Fifth tool is SEMrush 02:41 – It is growing and updating quite fast 03

In Episode #358, Eric and Neil discuss whether a focus group is still worth the investment for market research. Tune in to learn more about focus groups and how technology has played a major role in how we conduct market research today! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Are Focus Groups Still Worth the Investment for Market Research? 00:38 – A focus group is when a group of people that are your ideal customers come to discuss a certain product that you may be launching 00:56 – Neil did a focus group that was paid by Yahoo 01:09 – The people discussed Yahoo and its competitors 01:50 – Focus groups were very effective before, but it won’t be as effective now 01:58 – Technology has changed the face of market research, people can find their answers online and surveys to collect information are done online as well 02:32 – Eric doesn’t see the need for an in-person focus group 03:02 – Mileage may still vary 03:12 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription to Olark which

In Episode #357, Eric and Neil discuss 3 creative ways to attract your ideal customer. Tune in to learn how you can draw the most curated customers to your website without coming off as spam. They’ll also discuss the benefits of hosting an event with a curated guest list of your liking. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 3 Creative Ways to Attract Your Ideal Customer 00:40 – Eric usually throws a dinner with marketing directors 00:59 – People like doing business with people 01:36 – Emailing potential customers is another way 01:53 – Neil puts remarketing pixels in the email 02:04 – Eventually, people will click the links 02:20 – Eric uses Dux-Soup which enables you to scan profiles on LinkedIn 02:38 – You can set the search parameters 03:05 – Dux-Soup is $15 a month 03:15 – Caffeine can keep your screen on 03:40 – Marketing School is giving away a free 1 year subscription of Olark which is a chat tool that you add to your site 03:54 – Subscribe, rate and review Marketing Sc

In Episode #356, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 metrics you ought to monitor in Google Analytics. Tune in to learn how you can use these metrics in Google Analytics to drive more traffic to your site and increase your ROI.  Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Metrics You Ought to Monitor in Google Analytics 00:37 – First metric is the bounce rate 00:54 – You can check which pages are causing the bounce and do necessary adjustments 00:59 – Second metric is the search traffic 01:01 – You can monitor it daily and make weekly comparisons to see the trends 01:21 – Neil started adding different languages on their website 01:56 – Third metric is the conversion 02:02 – You should be looking at where your conversions are coming from and if you’re hitting your goals 02:22 – Fourth metric is the time on site 02:42 – Check your time on site alongside your bounce rate 02:53 – Fifth metric is the site speed 03:00 – Site speed is a ranking and experience factor 03:20 – Sixth metric i

In Episode #355, Eric and Neil discuss how to retain your customers. Customer experience has the largest impact when it comes to loyalty. When you treat your customers well—acknowledging their value as client and friend—they will stay true to you, refer you to others, and contribute to the long-term success of your company. Tune-in to find how you can keep your customers for the long haul. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Retain Your Customers 00:40 – People like dealing with people so visit your customers and build a relationship when you can 00:48 – It can be difficult at times, but you have to establish that relationship 01:17 – Add as much value as you can to your customers 01:24 – Your job is to make them look like a superstar so they’ll remember you forever 01:31 – Become their friend 01:44 – The onboarding experience affects retention more than anything else 01:50 – Look at the metrics for your onboarding 02:17 – For service-based businesses, Conversion Rate Exper

In Episode #354, Eric and Neil discuss how to build DA 70+ links. Tune in to learn how you can effectively build your DA links and the importance of having the BEST content in your respective field before approaching high DA sites you want to link back to you. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Build DA 70+ Links 00:34 – DA stands for domain authority with a scale of 1-100, 100 being the strongest 00:43 – The higher the domain authority is, the easier it is for you to boost your content 01:08 – Large publications usually have 60-90+ DA 01:24 – Marketing School’s Episode about writing for large publications 01:32 – Go to your competition, take their URL and put into Ahrefs 01:40 – You’ll see their backlinks, who’s linking to them and the articles they're pointing to 01:47 – Create better articles, hit those sites up, and ask for a link 01:53 – Neil finds this to be the most effective way 01:57 – Check Brian Dean’s skyscraper technique 02:00 – Check out Dean’s article on

In Episode #353, Eric and Neil discuss whether or not you should use a pop-up. Tune in to hear Eric and Neil’s experience with pop-ups, why they still work, and how you can recoup your spending by using this tool. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: Should You Use Pop-ups? 00:55 – Whether people like or hate pop-ups, they still use them because they work 01:04 – You should use pop-ups 01:13 – Use pop-ups when your visitor is about to leave your website 01:23 – Eric read a study that assessed whether a visitor left the website after seeing a pop-up 01:42 – The metrics stayed the same 01:56 – People still convert at the end of the day 02:16 – Hello Bar can be used for pop-ups 02:35 – You can recoup your spending through pop-ups 03:04 – There’s nothing wrong with pop-ups 03:10 – When your pop-up is great and people get value from it, they won’t hate you 03:27 – As Mark Cuban says “when you try to please everyone, you please no one” 03:30 – That’s it for today’s episode! 3 Key Poin

In Episode #352, Eric and Neil discuss the 7 advanced segments you should be setting up in Google Analytics. Tune in to know how evaluating segmented data can improve your customers' user experience, provide you a picture of your search traffic per geographic region, and see who is actually spending on your website. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Advanced Segments You Ought to Set Up in Google Analytics 00:40 – Google analytics show you data 00:48 – With advanced segments, you can specify data and ‘slice and dice’ Google reports to look at the data based on the segments 01:10 – First, look at the regions where you generate most of your business from 01:12 – Create advanced segments around those countries 01:16 – Neil targets Brazil and other Spanish speaking countries with some European and US countries 01:26 – Neil can track the traffic from those regions 01:43 – Second is the people who have viewed 3 or more pages 02:00 – Third is the search traffic per country 02:09 – You

In Episode #351, Eric and Neil discuss 7 chrome extensions that every marketer ought to use. Tune in to learn how these chrome extensions can make your work as a marketer easier so that you’re using your time in a way that maximizes productivity! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: 7 Chrome Extensions Every Marketer Ought to Use 00:34 – First extension is Zest—it has tons of marketing articles 00:54 – Keyword Everywhere is an extension that when you search anything, it pops in data on the search volume from Google 01:15 – It is useful for marketers because they can do keyword research through the Google browser 01:26 – Ghostery shows you the technology a website has 01:53 – Fourth is Save to Pocket 02:08 – Allows you to save anything for future reference 02:20 – Fifth is Buffer for social media sharing 02:37 – Sixth is Email Hunter 02:46 – It can figure out the email address of the profile you’re viewing 02:58 – Neil used Rapportive but LinkedIn discontinued it 03:14 –

In Episode #350, Eric and Neil discuss how to get press like Richard Branson. Tune in to hear about Richard Branson’s unreal PR stunts that put Virgin company on the map! You’ll also find out why standing out and being bold is just what you need to do to make yourself memorable! Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Get Press Like Richard Branson 00:40 – Neil learned about how Richard Branson created Virgin during his speaking engagement at VTEX as an opening speaker for Richard Branson 01:28 – Richard did a crazy PR stunt when Virgin was just starting and didn’t have enough capital 01:44 – Richard used hot air balloons with their name on it so people would be exposed to the brand 01:56 – When the London Eye couldn’t be lifted from the ground, Richard had a blimp that flew over London Eye with the message “BA Can’t Get It Up” 02:28 – Richard went overboard for his company to grow at a rapid pace 02:38 – Richard lives his life how he wants it 03:06 – You have to do something remar

In Episode #349, Eric and Neil discuss how to rank #1 in Google. Tune in to learn how you can work your way up to the TOP of the Google search results and why being consistent and thorough with your content can skyrocket your ranking. Time Stamped Show Notes: 00:27 – Today’s topic: How to Rank #1 in Google 00:40 – The two main factors that affect ranking are your content and links 00:51 – Building backlinks becomes difficult over time 01:09 – Neil was at the SMX Conference and everyone was talking about links 01:20 – Neil found out over the years that Google values content more than they do links 01:27 – You want to get to Top 10 in the search result for any keyword you want to rank for 01:35 – You can use the Keyword Density Tool by SEObook 01:40 – Make sure your content is VERY thorough to get more search traffic in the long run 02:00 – Wikipedia is always the top search result for “Abraham Lincoln” 02:05 – The content is consistently growing 02:24 – Guest posting can also help your rank