Media Captain Digital Marketing Podcast

US Consumers spent $8.9 billion online on Black Friday, down from the record $9 billion in 2020, the forest ever year-over-year decline for eCommerce sales [source]. Traffic at retail stores on Black Friday dropped 28.3% compared with 2019 levels [source]. I ran a poll asking whether people shopped at a physical retailer after Thanksgiving and whether people made a purchase online after Thanksgiving.  It was the fifth Black Friday sales for our in-house eCommerce company, DermWarehouse! Go behind the scenes!  $2.9 billion. That’s the total sales of Shopify Merchants on Black Friday. That’s up 21% from 2020 and more than double their sales from 2019 [view source]. The skin care line my family developed, Park Perfection, is ranking in the top five positions on Google for the coveted search query, “Instant Eye Lift.” How'd we accomplish this?  If you own an eCommerce store, it’s important to optimize your product pages. I wrote a blog on how to optimize your eCommerce product page. What differentiates our eCommerce marketing and development versus other agencies? You'll find out in this podcast! I recorded a podcast on Facebook and Instagram best practices for eCommerce brands [listen here]. Make sure you check out episode 59!  One of the biggest eCommerce misconceptions of the holiday season is that it’s a great time to acquire new customers. Did you know that Amazon took 19% of total spend during Black Friday weekend last year? [source]. They expect to do even more sales in 2021!

In Episode 59, Jason Parks of The Media Captain talks about the Facebook eCommerce Retargeting Strategy he set-up for DermWarehouse. This includes how to structure your retargeting based on purchasers and non purchases plus lead generation campaigns being integrated into Klaviyo. If you are an eCommerce store owner looking to improve your Facebook advertising, this podcast should help! 

Below are the 11 marketing items we cover in episode 58:  Google is changing the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile. In order to understand SEO, you need to understand what Google likes and dislikes. Broad Match Keyword Bidding can lower your cost per click and drive higher quality traffic to your site.  If you have low quality content (duplicate and thin content) on your site, this can cause more harm than good.  We do a deep dive into Klaviyo and combining email and text message flows  The best things in life don't have to be the most expensive. Nike's swoosh was created in 1971 for $35.  We discuss our love of SEMRush and where their stock price is as of this recording.  We discuss Park Perfection, the skincare line we acquired and developed and the importance of branding.  Jason reveals his two favorite podcasts (Outside of The Media Captain podcast, of course). Should you be bidding on your competitors keywords?  Internal linking experiment that worked for someone else that makes complete sense. 

Below are the 11 marketing items of the week that Jason covers in detail. You can read the entire email blast for the week HERE.  Saks Fifth Avenue spun off their rapidly growing eCommerce division. In doing so, the company tripled its valuation at nearly $6 billion. Will this prompt a spinoff for Macy's? Activist investors are hoping the answer is yes.  Spanx was acquired this past week for a reported $1.2 billion. Jason Parks talks about the amazing gesture the Founder, Sara Blakely, did for employees after the announcement.  Mutts & Co. is a client of The Media Captain. Learn how TMC helped this eCommerce brand increase revenue by 143%.  Snapchat’s stock fell nearly 25% after the company warned of slowing growth due to the recent changes in Apple’s iOS. Jason talks about the negative impact Apple's iOS 14 update is having on technology stocks.  Interbrand revealed the Top 100 Most Valuable Brands. Jason walks through the 10 most valuable.  There are rumors that Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name. Jason discusses whether or not this is a good idea.  I love looking at websites from the past to see how far the digital world has progressed. Jason does an analysis of the NHL's website from 1998 and how it compares to sites nowadays.  Getting mentioned in the right media publications can increase your brand’s credibility and visibility. Jason discusses the importance of strong PR for your brand.  From DermWarehouse's 1-year anniversary of purchasing warehouse space to speaking to Ohio State's Business School, Jason walks you through what happened over the past week.  Media Captain recently got a positive review and Jason walks through this and talks about the importance of positive reinforcement.  Text-to-Speech plugins are something you should consider implementing on your site, especially if you have a blog or article rich content.

What are heading tags and why are they so important for SEO?  Google announced that mobile users will now have continuous scroll in search results.  We're proud of the new moss wall art we had installed in our conference room! When it comes to your social media strategy, stories add a great personal touch.  If you’re looking to garner more reviews for your local business, I recommend looking into GatherUp. We dive into the key local SEO ranking factors that move the needle with your GMB page.  What is Google My Business keyword stuffing and why is it against Google's guidelines?  Holiday retail sales and eCommerce sales are expected to surge in 2021 vs. 2020. How much money did Joe Montana make off GitLab's recent IPO?  Which YouTube star rented a $43,000 mansion in Los Angeles to record video content?  What are internal links and why are they so important for SEO? 

Do you know the most popular search query on Bing? It’s “Google” [source]. In June 2021, online search engine Bing accounted for 5.56 percent of the global search market, while market leader Google had a market share of 87.76 percent [source]. Despite Google being the dominant search engine, Bing can still perform very well.  1) TikTok, 2) YouTube, 3) Instagram, 4) Snapchat, 5) Facebook are the top 5 apps on the Apple App Store as of this podcast recording.  New layout for Google My Business detected  DermWarehouse, our in-house eCommerce brand, is rolling out an early Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion this week. The New York Times wrote a fantastic article on TikTik titled, “Will TikTok Make You Buy It?” The majority of our team here at TMC uses Grammarly to make our emails and internal and external communication more professional. We love the tool and encourage you to check it out! Want to improve your website and sales process simultaneously? Build a success stories section. Internal links play a key role in developing a successful SEO campaign. I wrote a blog post on the importance of internal linking, which you can read HERE. When it comes to your pay-per-click advertisements, you can lower your cost per click by achieving a high quality score. HERE is a list of the 20 fastest growing DTC (direct to consumer) brands. This week, Rihanna Fenty and the Kardashian sisters own four of the 20 positions. This list is courtesy of Web Smith, Founder of 2PM.

Toast had its initial public offering this week that could value the restaurant-tech company at more than $16 billion [source]. Toast is a point of sale software for restaurants.  Aftership is a software company we recently started utilizing for DermWarehouse. This helps us track and gather information between when we ship products and when they are delivered.  DermWarehouse is starting a subscription box. A subscription box is going to help get more new products into customers hands, which should increase our profitability.  I’m a big hockey fan. The NHL recently had their media day in Chicago. This is where the biggest stars from each team come to Chicago for two days for media promotion [see photos]. Learn how this event got me thinking about content creation.  If you want to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, I wrote a blog on the 40 Top SEO’s to follow on Twitter.  I love this tweet from Christine Johnson on the importance of following up.  Changing your title tags and meta descriptions across your website is low hanging fruit that can lead to a nice uptick in SEO rankings. I'll tell you how the Negro League Baseball Museum changed my perspective on storytelling.  The Media Captain drastically improved its process for proposal creation. We use a great software called Proposify.

Amazon is likely the front-runner for NFL Sunday Ticket [source]. The NFL may ask for up to $2.5 billion per year for the package, a source said. I expect to see more of the major technology/digital companies (Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter and Netflix) snag the rights to major sporting leagues. It’ll be tough for traditional media outlets to compete with the deep pockets of technology. Do you have duplicate content on your website? If you have similar content on multiple pages or content that’s eerily similar from elsewhere on the web, this can negatively impact your site rankings on Google. I wrote a blog on the complete guide to duplicate content. Facebook recently announced Facebook glasses, in conjunction with Ray-Ban [learn more]. The glasses can take photos, record video, answer phone calls and play podcasts. Google failed with smart glasses so it’ll be interesting to see if Facebook can succeed. I did love THIS TWEET which mocked Facebook for choosing Mark Zuckerberg to be the model to introduce these glasses. As a marketer, I love good cringe worthy, good old fashion local television advertisements. I was in Kansas City this past weekend and came across this gem of a commercial for a local personal injury lawyer, Tarzan the Lawman [view commercial]. While some may balk at the ads, they are memorable and must work. I saw billboards all over the city for this firm and they were spending major dollars on television ads. As for their website, well I think I know someone who can help spruce things up :) The other week in my email blast, I talked about how BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) is exploding. Square announced it had acquired AfterPay. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Amazon and Affirm entered a partnership. Well, the stock is up another 25% after reporting 71% revenue growth and strong guidance [read CNBC Story]. eCommerce accounted for 65% of William-Sonoma's total revenue [source]. Prior to the pandemic, eCommerce accounted for less than 30% of sales in the furniture category. William-Sonoma's stock has more than tripled since the pandemic lows [view here]. Do you want to drive more traffic to your site from qualified prospects? I have a tip for you [watch my video]. Jot down the 10 most popular questions you get asked by your customers. Write a 750-100 word blog post answering each of these questions. Post each blog onto your site. Start using this blog as sales collateral when your customers call again asking these questions. The beauty of this strategy is you’ll likely get new customers from people who search for these exact questions on Google.  When we build a new website or optimize a site for SEO, the first thing we look at is the URL Structure. Think of a URL Structure similar to house. Both need a strong foundation to avoid future issues and set you up for future success. I wrote THIS BLOG on creating the optimal URL Structure for SEO.

Google announced it will be killing expanded text ads, starting June 30, 2022 [learn more]. They will only serve responsive search ads moving forward. According to Google, responsive search ads see a 7% higher conversion rate than standard search ads. We’ve moved a lot of our clients towards responsive search. Intuit (parent company of QuickBooks) is in talks to buy MailChimp for an estimated $10 billion [learn more]. We love MailChimp and QuickBooks here at The Media Captain. We do a deep dive into the potential merger.  Learn more about the critical thinking needed to decide where to allocate your advertising dollars towards.  Heading into Labor Day weekend, Zoom shares were down more than 15%. Their stock wiped out More Than $15 Billion in market value after earnings revealed pandemic growth is waning. We dive into what we're seeing inside our organizations in terms of video communication.  I spoke with Nano Swetman, the owner of a small eCommerce business in Columbus called Nano Macs Boutique. They have nearly 50,000 Instagram followers [view account]. I asked Nano about her key to social media success. I loved her answer. Authenticity and persistence. I do a deeper dive into her response in the podcast.  With the massive uptick in QR code usage, we decided to create a postcard inside of our eCommerce box promoting Park Perfection, the skincare line we developed. This QR code on the postcard resulted in a 32% increase in Park Perfection orders on the DermWarehouse website! A piece of advice I would give to business owners and marketers is not to overthink your TikTok strategy. Like Nano Swetman said, authenticity wins at the end of the day. Your videos don’t need to be scripted or professional. During the podcast, I explain how TikTok videos can work for your business, even if you're B2B.  If you are acquiring another business, do your due diligence with the digital assets you'll be obtaining. 

Stefanie and Jason discuss DermWarehouse moving into their new warehouse space. This is the perfect podcast for any aspiring business owner or entrepreneur looking to move offices. They discuss every step of the move process, which includes the purchase of the property, renovations, and the big move. 

Jason and Stefanie talk about they take an idea and turn it into an actual business. For The Media Captain, DermWarehouse and Park Perfection, before being an established business with a solid customer base, they were just ideas. How did Jason and Stef take their ideas and make the necessary implementations to start a business and then grow it? They will do a deep dive in episode 50 on this very subject. What's exciting about this episode is  so many entrepreneurs have great ideas yet aren't able to execute. Before executing, it's important  to make sure you have a viable game plan and are selling the right product or service so you don't go down a rabbit hole of spending time and money on something where there's not consumer demand. Jason offers an interesting perspective on this subject because in addition to starting multiple businesses, on the Agency side, he also deals with many entrepreneurs who have ideas that completely flop. He goes into detail on why this happens and how to avoid this. This podcast episode is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners wanting to start another business and many others. We hope you enjoy! 

Stefanie takes on episode 49 solo and goes into detail on what happens on Black Friday/Cyber Monday for DermWarehouse. How does an eCommerce company prepare for the busiest time of the year? Stef goes into detail on marketing preparation. From choosing a discount to planning out email marketing and text messaging campaigns. Stef also talks about how inventory is managed. Many people outside of the eCommerce world don't realize how much inventory must be purchased in September and October leading up to Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Stef also talks about how the sales results from Black Friday/Cyber Monday sets the narrative for the following year. We hope you like episode 49!  

Jason and Stefanie started The Media Captain together in 2010. They were partners and growing the business for approximately three years. Then came the date when Stef realized agency life wasn't for her. In podcast episode 48, Stefanie reveals what led to this decision to leave The Media Captain and how because of this decision, DermWarehouse was formed. For anyone in a small, family run business, this podcast will be great for you. This episode also teaches important business lessons pertaining to doubling down on your strengths, working on what you love to do, family run businesses, diversification in business and openness and communication when working with a business partner. We hope you enjoy! 

Jason Parks talks about the importance of writing when it comes to digital marketing. During episode 47, Jason hits on the following areas where writing can help improve your online presence.  Improve SEO with better written content throughout your site  Drive more long tail search queries through well written blogs  Garner more social media engagement by writing compelling copy and content  We are fortunate to live in a time where anyone can distribute their content on a blog. It's time to get started! 

Jason discusses what goes through his mind during his first call with a prospective client. From gathering preliminary information to devising a strategy, this is a conversation in coming up with a plan of action.  

Tom Walters is the President/Co-Founder of Noxgear, an eCommerce company that creates obsessively engineered active-lifestyle products for runner's, cyclists, and those with pets to keep them safer and enhance their experience. Jason and Stefanie run daily. It' s a part of their morning routine. They recently purchased Noxgear and came to love the product. Jason and Stef reached out to Tom to get him on the podcast and he obliged. On episode 45, Tom talks about how the company was started by himself and a co-worker in Buffalo back in 2008 when they were working a full-time engineering job. He discussed how the idea for the product was brought to life based on a real-life issue pertaining to Frisbee golf. Tom dives into what brought him back to Columbus, how he acquires customers for his eCommerce company, the importance of customer service, his Facebook and social ad strategy and much more!  We hope you enjoy episode 45 as much as we enjoyed the interview. 

Prior to episode 44, Jason and Stefanie wrote down 5 questions each they wanted to ask each other pertaining to The Media Captain and DermWarehouse. Neither Jason nor Stefanie saw the questions prior to them being asked. Hear what the brother and sister due had to say about business, routine, digital marketing, work ethic, hiring and much more! 

In episode 43, Jason and Stefanie hit on everything and anything Google Shopping.  What differentiates Google Shopping from PPC and other marketing channels. The value of Search Terms within Google Shopping How DermWarehouse leverages Google Shopping  How ParkPerfection leverages Google Shopping  Understanding your Google Shopping Feed  Cleaning up your Google Shopping Feed  Critical thinking needed for high-level strategy for Shopping  Importance of mobile bid adjustments  Different types of bidding (Manual CPC, Max Clicks, Target ROAS, etc) 

Aaron Rubin, the Founder and CEO at ShipHero is our guest for episode 42. ShipHero offers Flexible fulfillment & software built for ecommerce. They work with eCommerce companies like DressBarn and the Dallas Mavericks. During episode 42, Aaron talked about how he got into the eCommerce space with his martial arts company, Zengu. He also discusses how the idea for ShipHero came about, the future of eCommerce, his move into a 150,000 square foot warehouse and much more!

In episode 40, we talked about driving traffic to your website. A lot of what we hit on was paid ads (Google/Bing and FB/Instagram). In Podcast Episode 41, we’re going to talk about how to make sure your advertising copy is great. Jason and Stefanie discuss how important advertising copy is and how it's helped both of their companies, The Media Captain and DermWarehouse. We first dive into the foundation of a Google PPC advertisement so you understand the structure:  What does a Google advertisement look like? 3 headlines (30 characters each) 2 descriptions (90 characters each) Sitelink Callout Location Extension Call Extensions  Deal Extensions  We then dive into understanding keyword relevance:  You bid on keywords. Keywords trigger advertisements  There needs to be a correlation between your keywords and your advertisements  When you have good keywords that align with good ad copy, you improve your relevance score. A high relevance score will ultimately drop your average cost per click.  We discuss the importance of understanding your business and its customers:  Understand and create great unique selling propositions  Avoid fluff. You need to make your ad copy hard hitting Deals & Promotions: They Work Facebook/Instagram Ads vs. PPC  There is correlating media (photo/images) associated with Facebook and Instagram ads. In many instances, the media is equally as important  than the ad copy. This is a key difference between social advertisements versus PPC advertisements. PPC ads rely strictly on verbiage.