A funnel is a way to visualize your prospects’ journey through the marketing and sales process. Figure out where in the funnel they are at - from the unaware to the purchase stage. So, it’s time to put fun back into that funnel!

Today, we’re talking to Emma Tupa, CoSchedule’s marketing automation strategist. She shares how to create personas, find a voice, breakdown funnel stages, and change communication tactics. 

Some of the highlights of the show include: 

• Marketers, do you know who you’re talking to?
• Create buyer personas - collection of prospect characteristics based on research
• Ways to create buyer personas depending on the stage of your business
• Research and information lets you pinpoint your ideal customers and target them with specific messaging
• Find your tone and voice to input personality into copy and effectively communicate in the customers’ language
• Top of the Funnel or TOFU: Prospects in unaware or pain aware stage; use interesting and informational, but not intense content, to soft sell
• Middle of Funnel or MOFU: Prospects in the solution aware to product aware stages; content connects dots between the pain and the best solution for it
• Bottom of the Funnel or BOFU: Prospect are potentially purchase ready and in the most aware stage; content is geared to converting through calls to action  
• Marketing is a science; involves reacting and re-engaging with prospects to get them down the funnel
• Differences between marketing and sales materials, including emails

Links: 

• G2 Crowd
• How to Map Content to the Marketing Funnel
• Autopilot
• Why Your Customer Is The Key To Skyrocketing Conversion Rates with Talia Wolf from Get UpLift
• Joanna Wiebe
• Kathryn Nyhus

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As a marketer, there’s so much to think about and focus on - SEO, content, direct marketing, emails, inbound strategy…but where on that list does word-of-mouth marketing rank as a priority? Maybe it’s not high enough. How do you get your customers to talk about you? What are the steps to create a word-of-mouth strategy for your business?

Today, we’re talking to Daniel Lemin, head of consulting at Convince and Convert and co-author of Talk Triggers. He shares how “same is lame” because consumers like different experiences and ignore average, as well as how talk triggers can turn customers into volunteer marketers and brand evangelists. 

Some of the highlights of the show include: 

• Talk Triggers focuses on customer-driven conversation; as the client or brand, become the content and give a story to tell
• Talk Trigger Example: The Cheesecake Factory’s over-sized menu gets ⅓ of its customers to talk about it - usually, in jest
• Another Example: DoubleTree hotel’s fresh, warm cookies; customers talk about the uniqueness and difference they offer - tangible part of experience
• Talk Trigger Criteria: Remarkable, relevant, reasonable, repeatable
• Get out from behind your desk to connect with customers and listen to them to uncover gaps in the customer journey
• Talk triggers often live between what a customer wants and what they really want
• Avoid surveys - don’t ask the customer what they want
• Talk triggers could be characters or animals that become an integral part of branding and familiarity with your product (i.e. Freddie from Mailchimp)

Links: 

• Daniel Lemin
• Daniel Lemin on Twitter
• Convince and Convert
• Talk Triggers
• Jay Baer
• Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd
• Write and send a review to receive a CoSchedule care package

What does marketing look like today? Well, it’s a blend of art and science. It brings together creative visuals and copy with marketing research and analytics. Marketers are now creative creators dressed in lab coats. And, conversion rate optimization (CRO) - a system that increases the percentage of visitors to a Website that are converted into customers - is a perfect example. 

Today, we’re talking to Talia Wolf of GetUplift, which offers businesses and entrepreneurs training on how to increase conversions. Talia tells the truth and dispels myths about CRO. She also explains why CRO needs to be more customer centric and what it’s like when done right. 

Some of the highlights of the show include: 

• CRO is not just about changing elements on a page and hoping for the best; it’s about solving people’s problems and improving the customer’s journey
• Talia gets into people’s heads because they buy on emotion and then rationalize with different reasons; she focuses on people behind the screen rather than data
• Emotional Targeting Process: Identifying emotions and getting to know customers better
• Utilize customer surveys/interviews and competitor analysis; talk to people, ask the right questions, and analyze answers
• Conversion Psychology: You’re not buying a product, but higher self-esteem and better versions of yourself
• People browse and search for solutions via Google, then hit Command and open a bunch of tabs; 3 seconds to grab their attention and understand their pain
• Do groundwork and run meaningful tests on strategies, concepts, or hypothesis
• Color Psychology: People are influenced by colors in different ways due to their culture, emotions, experience, and more factors

Links: 

• GetUplift
• GetUplift Blog
• Joanna Wiebe
• Claire Suellentrop
• Tiffany daSilva
• Color Psychology in Marketing

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Do you love podcasts? Of course, you do. And you’re not alone. About 48 million people listen to them each year - up 6 million from last year. One-third of Americans (ages 25-54) listen to podcasts monthly, so they’re not just for nerds anymore. It's not too late to jump in the game. The time is now. Want to start a podcast? How do you it? How much does it cost? What equipment and technology will I need? How do I land the best guests?

If you don't even know where to begin, fear not. Nathan Ellering and Jordan Loftis of CoSchedule are here to talk about the early days of the Actionable Marketing Podcast (AMP) and lessons they learned along the way.  

Some of the highlights of the show include: 

• AMP podcast was created as a supplement to CoSchedule’s blog and reach new audiences
• Smart people use CoSchedule as a tool, so the podcast gave the company an opportunity to build relationships with them
• Finding guests can be intimidating; start with those around you,then feature customers and their stories and experience using your product and services
• AMP was initially focused on content marketing; but people who do content marketing, do it as one part of marketing - that's not all they do
• AMP gives you helpful information, and expect you to act upon it
• If you want a podcast, start simple with just a microphone, room, and people to talk to; that's all you need - don’t over-complicate it and learn as you go
• Listening to and looking at yourself at first is weird; may sound like a 12-year-old chipmunk and look like Harry Potter in flannel
• Ultimately, when it comes to podcasts, it's about the content - whether it gets shared and how it connects with people
• High-priced and high-tech mics and other equipment are not necessary; keep the cost low when starting a podcast - look around to see what you already have
• Necessities: Mic, filter for that mic, Internet connection, call recorder, and quiet room; use Libsyn or some other podcast hosting option
• Interviewing: Can be kind of a nerve-wracking experience - do it to learn it; #1 thing when interviewing is to be the listener's advocate or sit in the listener's seat
• Build credibility to snag big-name guests; but don’t try to just name-grab, invite people who you think highly of and offer incredible value

Links: 

• Andy Crestodina
• Gini Dietrich
• CoSchedule’s Blog
• Libsyn
• Neil Patel
• Michael Brenner
• Rand Fishkin
• Pat Flynn
• Noah Kagan
• Amy Porterfield
• Content Marketing World
• Write and send a review to receive a CoSchedule care package

Do you work remotely? A recent Gallup study shows that more than 40% of the American workforce works remotely, at least some of the time.

Today, we’re talking to Sandra Lewis, founder and CEO of Worldwide101. It’s a premium subscription staffing company with virtual assists, expert marketers, and others across the world. Sandra shares six keys you need when working with a remote team to amplify their abilities and make them successful. 

Some of the highlights of the show include: 

• Key 1 - Hire for passion: You want them to be interested, passionate, and obsessive in your service and product
• Key 2 - Analyze skill sets and strengths: Worldwide101 has two pillars that categorize someone's strength - structured or creative
• Key 3 - Amplify those strengths: Amplifying a strength is having someone do what they do best; also look at what can complement a core strength (soft skills)
• Key 4 - Provide ongoing learning opportunities: Keep people engaged and provide a path and cross training for them to grow their strengths
• Key 5 - Provide great tools: Try new tools and build a tool stack that helps workers be more efficient and productive
• Key 6 - Over communicate: Have face-to-face meetings, acknowledge every email, set check-in times to build trust and get to know someone remotely
• To lead a successful remote team, keep it personal; do little things that make working remotely less isolated; love the people you work with and celebrate them

Links: 

• Worldwide101
• Upwork
• Slack
• Constant Contact
• Write and send a review to receive a CoSchedule care package