Marketers In Motion

With brands and marketers increasingly taking up the torch of storytelling, partnering with publishers on native ads and leveraging content across their own properties, there are plenty of tips, tricks and approaches to be learned from the world of journalism. In this podcast we discuss the five most important journalistic best practices taught in journalism-school classrooms and used in newsrooms across the country, allowing brand marketers and content strategists to make high-quality and authentic content that abides by the best practices that make journalistic content compelling, effective and trustworthy. Key Topics -How to add trust to the content you create -How to set your content apart in a world of content-sameness -How to ensure your content is relatable and creates an emotional connection with your audience Melanie Deziel is the founder of StoryFuel, which consults with brands looking to create, expand or optimize their branded content teams, processes and practices. As a speaker, Melanie travels

It's 2019, but ineffective, outdated and unhelpful websites still hamstring the majority of marketers. New technology and experiences continue to push the web forward every day, but often, sites go untouched for years. Your websites should be the cornerstone of your marketing efforts, not something you work around. Today we’ll discuss what you should be focusing on in 2019, how to start triaging what you have, and how to evolve from establishing a stable baseline to a sustainable practice of continuous iteration. We'll also cover how to tell if your site should be iterated, refreshed, or rebuilt based on your unique situation. Key topics -Discovery -Mobile's Effect -SEO -Content Strategy -Design -Future Proofing Josh Stauffer An optimistic believer in digital’s transformative power on the landscape of B2B marketing, Josh brings over a decade of agency experience to his role as CEO and president of Blue Flame Thinking. He has the hands-on experience of a former programmer mixed with the sharp instincts of a

It is easier than ever to create and maintain a website. However, there are many pitfalls and potential liabilities that quietly exist in cyberspace. Anyone publishing content online through a website should be aware of certain legal requirements, and some best practices, so problems aren’t inadvertently created. Key Topics -Keeping Your Website Legal -Using 3rd Party Content -Privacy Policies -Protection & Security -Regulatory Rules (GDPR & CCPA) -Intellectual Property -Terms of Use This podcast follows the outline of an Grand Rapids Business Journal Blog written by Jennifer in March, 2019. ***This podcast is to assist in a general understanding of the legal issues involved, and is not intended as legal advice.  Persons with particular questions should seek the advice of counsel.*** Jennifer Puplava Jennifer A. Puplava is an attorney at Mika Meyers in Grand Rapids. She practices primarily in the areas of intellectual property law and technology law. She helps clients protect their trade secrets, tradema

EP 10 Why is differentiation important? Why should companies care? It’s easy to follow the crowd. It’s easy to blend in. It seems smart to do what other brands are doing. It feels safe. But it’s not. Successful brands stick out. They are different. They are unusual. Be proud of what your brand does and what it doesn’t do. Be proud of your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t apologize for your flaws and don’t try to fix them. Instead, exploit your brand’s imperfections. Key Topics -Customer Experience -Embracing your Uniqueness -Differientiation -Flaunting your Flaws -Being Weird (Micro-weirding) -Being Flawsome Stan Phelps Stan Phelps is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator. He believes that today’s organizations must focus on meaningful differentiation to win the hearts of both employees and customers. He is the founder of PurpleGoldfish.com – a think tank of customer experience and employee engagement experts that offers keynotes and workshops that drive loyalty and s

EP 09 With the constant changing Marketing Technology (aka martech) landscape, there are more options than ever available to businesses of all sizes for lead generation and engagement strategies. But with all these wonderful technologies available, there are strategies for selecting the right platform and understanding how these systems fit within your overall business technology systems. Today we discuss the concept of pace layering which provides a framework for businesses to organize and align martech systems with your business strategies. Understanding the concept of Pace Layering will help your company make timely and strategic business decisions with selecting martech systems. We’ll discuss key components of Pace Layering, how to apply it to your business and examples of how other businesses have utilized this concept. Detailed show notes, links and resources can be found at: www.amawestmichigan.org/EP9

EP 08 Today, staying agile and keeping an entrepreneurial mindset—regardless of business size, age or industry—is proving to be essential. As competition tightens, and industries continue to evolve and change, its questions like these that are keeping us up at night: How do you market a new business with little or no budget? What strategies, tools and tactics do you use and why? When should you hire out marketing, versus what can (and should) you, and your team do in-house? How much should you invest in marketing and how do you know when and where to invest your budget? This was the topic of a recent panel discussion held with four West Michigan Entrepreneurs. During the panel we discuss how these entrepreneurs launched their businesses, while providing lessons learned, insights and tools that all marketers can use on-the-job today. Since the panel was held in an Q&A format with a moderator we thought it best to record the panel discussion for rebroadcasting on today’s podcast. Panel Moderator Reb

EP 07 The silos between sales and marketing are legendary. If you’ve ever worked for an organization where the two departments live together in peace and harmony; consider your company a unicorn! It’s more common to hear how marketing folks think sales is comprised of a bunch of lazy divas and how sales folks think marketing is a bunch of creatives who make branded coffee cups and T-shirts (and don’t generate any real value). The evolution of marketing- the digital transformation of marketing – makes it possible to qualify and quantify marketing’s value and enforce the rules by which sales engages with potential customers. But only if you put the right processes and systems in place. Today we’ll be sharing insights on how the emerging field of marketing operations and the transition to “self-educating buyers” has changed the sales and marketing dynamic to one of the interwoven dependencies, with marketing coming first. From inbound strategies to a demand generation waterfall, to the necessary elements in a

EP 06 How do we create emails that people love? We can all agree that email marketing is one of, if not the most effective digital marketing tactics. The problem is that most marketers and organizations have abused the channel; leading to depressed open, clickthrough, and post-conversion metrics, as well as a love/hate relationship with all emails. To solve this problem, we need to rethink how we connect with people via their inboxes, radically reduce the propensity of sending campaigns simply because our organizations have something to announce, and expand the KPIs that dictate success. Key Topics Design Best Practices Creating An Experience on Mobile Platforms Creating Relative & Personalized Content Building Trust with Subscibers Metrics That Matter SPF, Authentication & Demark Policies Michael Barber of Godfrey Michael Barber SVP, Chief Creative Officer Godfrey @michaeljbarber anywhere online Recently named one of Marketo’s 50 Fearless Marketers Detailed show notes, links and resources can be found a

Influencer's Perspectives On Partnering With Brands EP 05 Influencer marketing. A popular buzzword and a top marketing trend but really, what does it mean? We know marketing pros across industries are looking for ways to integrate influencer marketing into their strategy, but doing so in a smart and authentic way remains a challenge. This was the topic of a recent panel discussion held with three of West Michigan’s brightest influencers on how you can harness influencer marketing in a way that makes sense for your business and brand. The panel discussed how you can approach, interact and work with influencers to help drive your marketing efforts. Key Topics -Influencer Marketing -Audiences & Follower Counts -Authenticity & Causes -Costs & Numbers Show notes available at http://www.amawestmichigan.org/EP5 Meet The Panelists Liz Della Croce The Lemon Bowl Liz Della Croce is the creator and author of The Lemon Bowl®, a healthy food and travel blog. Since 2010, Liz has grown a loyal following of health-consc

MarTech Decisions Begin With Knowing Your Audience and Your Business EP 05 With “Baby boomers” continuing to exit the workforce at a rapid rate, relationships between buyers and sellers are changing more rapidly than ever. Learn how to design winning processes and use technologies to help your business cultivate new relationships and secure existing relationships in the digital age.  Key Topics -CRM (Business Automation) -Social Media -Marketing Automation Show notes available at http://www.amawestmichigan.org/EP4 Dan McGraw of DPT Solutions Dan McGraw, CEO and Senior Business Strategist from DPT Solutions, a local business process strategy and automation company in Grand Rapids, MI. Dan has spent the last 20 years connecting people, process, and technology to drive business performance. He is a technology innovator and leader that is passionate about leveraging technology to help improve business outcomes through digital transformation and industry disruption. Outside of business, he is an avid cyclist

EP 03 Boxed Water is a present-day David vs Goliath story of a small sustainable water company taking on the $60 billion plastic bottled water industry. How do you build a brand on a small budget when you’re up against multi-billion dollar competitors? How do you reach consumers with a complex message? Boxed Water has been able to build a brand by becoming a conduit between consumers and their growing desire to help the planet…elevating its proposition to be more than a water brand. It has empowered fans to plant over 790,000 trees in our national forests and on path to cleaning up 3,000 miles of beaches. In this podcast we talk about how companies need to build partnerships in order to differentiate themselves in today’s business environment- and why it’s more important than ever to listen to consumers (and not necessarily the trade). We discuss the challenges and learnings that Boxed Water has faced in its first decade and how to you can apply them to your organization. Key topics -Cause Marketing i

EP 02 The social media landscape today bears little resemblance to the one many marketers are still operating in. Organic reach is dead, but in its place we have the best tools for targeting and attribution ever devised (and growing smarter every day). Free yourself from worrying about “frequency” and “best times to post,” and learn where you should be spending your energy. To extract the full measure of benefit from social media today, legacy “owned” channels like one’s website and email marketing have renewed importance as valuable datapoints to feed the self-optimizing machines of PPC advertising. Key Topics: -How the business application (B2B and B2C) of social media has changed in the last five years -Trends on the horizon and how to prepare for them -What makes for meaningful KPIs -How social media makes every other part of your marketing strategy more important Podcast Guest: Derek DeVries is a digital strategist at Lambert & Co. (previously known as Lambert, Edwards & Associates (LE&A)). His areas

EP 01 The new Marketers In Motion Podcast is powered by the West Michigan Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Marketing is our passion, and as a Chapter we hope to inspire dialogue, fuel creativity, and create a community for marketers everywhere. Our first podcast focuses on the AMA's mission, goals and benefits of membership. We also discuss the new Marketers In Motion Podcast and introduce our first round of podcasts which include.... -Social Media's Next Era: The Death of Social Media Engagement -Cause Marketing Is Marketing, Not A Subcategory -Marketing & Sales: Why Marketing Comes First -Marketing Tech Talk: Integrating Marketing Technology Into Your Organization Marketers In Motion Podcast Host: Josh Janowiak Director of Communications Sandy Pines Recreational Community Podcast Guests and future MIM Co-Hosts: Meahgan Pear AMA President / National Senior Marketer at BDO USA Rebecca Dutcher AMA President-Elect & President and Founder of Red 66 Marketing Marci Palmer AMA VP of Members