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Top 10 Duct Tape Marketing Podcast Episodes of 2024

Top 10 Duct Tape Marketing Podcast Episodes of 2024 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

As we wrap up 2024, I can’t help but look back at all the incredible conversations I had on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast this year. Marketing is changing faster than ever, and small businesses have been riding the wave—adapting to new trends, embracing tech, and finding fresh ways to connect with their customers. This year has been all about staying creative, staying connected, and making things happen, and I’ve had the privilege of digging into all of that with some amazing guests.

I thought it’d be fun to round up the episodes that really hit home with listeners this year. These were the top podcast episodes of 2024 that brought the most value, sparked the best ideas, and inspired action. If you missed any, now’s the perfect time to tune in!

If you enjoyed what you heard here, check out the full line-up of shows.

1. Stephan Spencer-Mastering SEO in the Age of AI

Stephan Spencer is an SEO pro, founder of Net Concepts, and host of the podcasts Get Yourself Optimized and Marketing Speak. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, Spencer and I dig into how AI is changing the game for SEO and what you can do to keep up.

Biggest takeaway:

SEO in 2024 is all about adapting to AI. Spencer shares how to use AI tools to create better content, optimize your site, and stay ahead of the competition. Whether you’re an SEO veteran or just trying to boost your online presence, his advice will help you navigate this evolving landscape and set your business up for success.

Click here to listen to the episode.

2. John Jantsch – Unlocking the Secrets to Premium Pricing in Professional Services

Pricing professional services can feel tricky—unlike products, services are intangible, and their value can vary from client to client. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I dive into the strategies that help businesses charge premium prices by focusing on solutions instead of just selling services.

Biggest takeaway:

It all starts with messaging. To charge a premium, you need to clearly communicate the problem you solve and show clients you truly understand their challenges. From there, it’s about standing out with a unique approach, building trust through personalization, and offering productized packages that make your services easy to understand and buy.

I also explore how to create long-term relationships and shift to a scalable, recurring revenue model by delivering consistent value to specific clients.

Click here to listen to the episode.

3. Seth Godin – How to Build Game-Changing Strategy by Choosing Your Customers and Competition

I had the pleasure of chatting with Marketing Hall of Famer and longtime friend of the show, Seth Godin, on this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. Godin, known for his groundbreaking ideas on marketing and entrepreneurship, joined me to dive into my favorite topic—strategy. We explored how both businesses and individuals can rethink their strategic approach for greater success, drawing from his latest book, This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans.

Biggest takeaway:

Strategy isn’t just a step-by-step plan—it’s a philosophy of becoming. Godin explains how understanding systems, intentionally choosing your customers and competitors, and approaching strategy with empathy can transform how you operate.

In our conversation, Godin challenges conventional ideas, emphasizing the role of empathy—not just kindness—in decision-making. By truly understanding your customers and the systems they navigate, you can create stronger, longer-lasting connections. He also highlights the power of intentionally choosing who you serve and compete with, helping businesses escape commoditization and focus on delivering unique value.

Click here to listen to the episode.

4. Hortense le Gentil– Unlocking Your Leadership Potential

Hortense le Gentil is an executive leadership coach, speaker, and author with over 30 years of experience helping CEOs and senior executives become more authentic and empathetic leaders. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, we explore what it takes to evolve from being a “hero” leader to a truly “human” one.

Biggest takeaway:

Great leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about leading with authenticity, empathy, and vulnerability. Hortense shares practical tips for overcoming mental blocks, connecting with your team on a deeper level, and unlocking your full leadership potential.

If you’re looking to grow as a leader and inspire those around you, this episode is packed with insights to help you thrive in today’s fast-changing world.

Click here to listen to the episode.

5. Russell Henneberry –From Subscribers to Revenue: A Tactical Guide To Mastering Newsletters

Russell Henneberry is a digital marketing pro, speaker, and founder of The Clikk newsletter. In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, Henneberry and I talk about the power of email newsletters and how they’ve made a big comeback as a must-have tool for marketers.

Biggest takeaway:

Email newsletters are more than just a way to stay in touch—they’re a goldmine for driving revenue. Henneberry shares how to create newsletters that balance valuable content with smart calls to action, keeping your audience engaged while strategically guiding them to take the next step.

We also dive into ways to monetize newsletters, from ads and consulting to info products, and why focusing on metrics like open rates and subscriber quality is key to success.

Click here to listen to the episode.

6. Jay Baer – How to Navigate the New Era of Customer Expectations

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I had a fascinating conversation with Jay Baer, a business growth expert, customer experience researcher, and 7th-generation entrepreneur. Jay, the author of seven bestselling books and founder of six multi-million dollar companies, shares insights from his latest book, The Time to Win: How to Exceed Your Customers’ Need for Speed.

Biggest takeaway:

Jay’s research reveals that two-thirds of customers now value speed as much as price. Saving your customers time is a surefire way to earn their loyalty, while wasting their time can cost you financially. In today’s fast-paced world, speed and responsiveness are essential for delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving revenue growth.

Jay breaks down the six-part “Time to Win” framework, offering actionable strategies for prioritizing speed within your organization and securing a competitive edge.

Click here to listen to the episode.

7. Ryan Deiss – Crushing the Founder’s Curse: Unlocking Business Value Beyond Yourself

Ryan Deiss, founder of DigitalMarketer.com and a serial entrepreneur, joins me on the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast to share insights from his latest book, Get Scalable: The Operating System Your Business Needs to Run and Scale Without You. In this episode, we dive into strategies for overcoming the Founder’s Curse and creating a business that thrives beyond the founder’s involvement.

Biggest takeaway:

To truly scale your business, you need to break free from being indispensable. Ryan shares practical strategies for building value engines, establishing strategic rhythms, and creating high-output teams that can drive growth without constant founder oversight. He also discusses how to map value creation flows and implement effective meeting rhythms to keep your business running smoothly and sustainably.

Click here to listen to the episode.

8. Kate Bradley Chernis – How To Produce Better Content With Collaborative AI

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with Kate Bradley Chernis, former rock and roll DJ turned founder and CEO of Lately AI. With over 20 years of experience in media and marketing, Kate shares her unique perspective on the evolution of content marketing and how AI is reshaping the industry.

Biggest takeaway:

Content marketing is evolving, and the key to success lies in blending human creativity with the power of AI. Kate shares actionable strategies for cutting through content clutter, crafting personalized social media messaging, and leveraging AI to boost engagement while navigating challenges like data privacy.

Click here to listen to the episode.

9. Amanda Holmes – Walking Billboards and QR Codes

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Amanda Holmes, CEO of Chet Holmes International. A true innovator in sales strategy, Amanda shares how she doubled her company’s sales by 1176% in her first year and dives deep into the transformative power of the Dream 100 strategy and other unconventional marketing tactics.

Biggest takeaway:

Amanda explains how the Dream 100 strategy, a proven method developed by her father while working with Charlie Munger, focuses on targeting a select group of high-value prospects to drive exponential growth. She also shares creative marketing approaches, like walking around trade shows with a four-foot billboard and strategically placed QR codes, to seamlessly blend offline and online efforts for maximum impact.

Click here to listen to the episode.

10. Andrew Guttormsen – How to Build Game-Changing Strategy by Choosing Your Customers and Competition

In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I sat down with Andrew Guttormsen, co-founder of Circle, the all-in-one platform for professional creator communities and world-class brands. With experience as the former VP of Growth at Teachable, Andrew has a wealth of knowledge in courses, memberships, and building growth marketing teams. Together, we explored what makes platinum communities thrive, from onboarding excellence to long-term member retention.

Biggest takeaway:

A thriving online community goes beyond the platform—it’s about fostering engagement, delivering value, and retaining members for the long haul. Andrew shares how platinum communities, like Oprah’s on Circle, use signature gatherings, seamless onboarding, and consistent value delivery to build lasting connections and keep members invested.

Click here to listen to the episode.

We love reviews!

Is your favorite episode on the list? If not, we’d love to hear which one you enjoyed listening to the most!

For our podcast audience, we can’t thank you enough for your support over the years! If you like the show, click on over and subscribe and if you love the show give us a review on iTunes, please!

Duct Tape Marketing’s Next Chapter: Leadership Transition Announcement

Duct Tape Marketing’s Next Chapter: Leadership Transition Announcement written by Jordan E read more at Duct Tape Marketing

At Duct Tape Marketing, we’ve always believed in the power of consistency, clarity, and continuous evolution—both in the marketing systems we create and how we grow as an organization. Today, we’re excited to share an important update about our leadership team and the future of Duct Tape Marketing.

After more than two decades as the founder and CEO of Duct Tape Marketing, John Jantsch is transitioning to the role of Chief Innovation Officer (CIO). In this role, he will focus on thought leadership, product development, and driving innovation across our programs and offerings.

Many of you know Sara Nay, who is stepping into the role of CEO. Sara has been with Duct Tape Marketing since 2010 and has been instrumental in our organization’s growth and success. From expanding the reach of our Fractional CMO methodology to leading the development of the Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network, Sara has consistently demonstrated her passion for helping small businesses and marketing consultants thrive.

Why This Transition Matters

This leadership change is an exciting next step for Duct Tape Marketing. It aligns with our mission to empower small businesses and marketing consultants with practical, effective systems. Sara brings a deep understanding of our community and our methods and a clear vision for building on the foundation we’ve created together.

Meanwhile, John’s new role as CIO will allow him to focus on what he does best: exploring innovative strategies and developing resources that help our clients and certified consultants succeed in an ever-changing marketing landscape.

What Stays the Same

While leadership roles may shift, our commitment to our mission and community remains steadfast.

The Duct Tape Marketing Consultant Network: With over 400 agencies certified in our Fractional CMO and Certified Marketing Manager programs, the network will continue to be at the heart of our work. We remain committed to supporting and growing this incredible group of marketing professionals.
Practical Marketing Systems: Our proven, effective, and actionable marketing strategies will continue to drive results for the small businesses with which our agency has the good fortune to work.
Ongoing Innovation: Under John’s guidance as CIO, we’ll keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, ensuring we remain a leader in small business marketing.

Looking Ahead

As Sara takes the reins as CEO, her focus will be on maintaining the consistency and clarity you’ve come to expect from Duct Tape Marketing while driving growth and creating new opportunities to serve our community. With John’s continued involvement as Chief Innovation Officer, we’re excited to see how the next chapter unfolds.

This transition isn’t just about change—it’s about evolution. It’s about ensuring that Duct Tape Marketing remains as strong, innovative, and impactful as ever.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us. We’re grateful for your trust, support, and partnership and are excited to continue helping small businesses and marketing professionals succeed.

Here’s to the bright future ahead,

The Duct Tape Marketing Team

For inquires please send us a note here.

How To Stop Losing Customers To Your Competition

How To Stop Losing Customers To Your Competition written by Shawna Salinger read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Generating leads can be challenging, especially if you are a small business owner. There is A LOT that goes into obtaining just one lead, let alone ten or 100 leads. But what’s worse? Creating a plan, paying for a successful advertising campaign, driving traffic to your website, generating leads…and then losing those sales because you don’t have the proper communication and lead nurturing systems in place.

Most businesses are moving away from the fragmented lead nurturing world and adopting an integrated digital lead nurturing and communication strategy. However, this can be harder for small businesses that maybe don’t have the resources or time to put some of these systems together.

Fortunately, technology has given us multiple possibilities, and now there is a lot we can do about it.

For small business owners, I’ll show you the program I created to help you communicate and nurture your leads and how to make it a success.

Find out more about how you can optimize your lead nurture system

Apply for a free 1:1 session

But first, let’s look at the three main trends making it hard for small businesses, imparticular, to create a unified lead nurture system.

Here’s a quick overview of the three problem trends and actions you can take to resolve them.

Top trends Robbing Small Businesses of Leads

Speed to Lead

The first trend is Speed to Lead, which is the time a business takes to reply to a prospect from the moment they become a lead.

People today expect instant contact, but research indicates they’re not getting it. And this is really hurting businesses that don’t address it.

According to Velocify, responding to leads within the first-minute increases conversions by 391%. Other related research from Harvard Business Review reveals that contacting a lead within the first hour makes you seven times more likely to qualify that prospect.

But who has time to do that? Especially when you must reply quickly during working hours, at night, and over the weekends.

Of course, it doesn’t mean you have to sit all day long responding immediately to everything, but people expect at least a reply.

Do they want to know if you received their message? If someone is going to get back to them? What’s going to happen next?

Is speed to lead making a difference in sales?

Companies that acknowledge the importance of speed to lead have a huge advantage. According to E-marketer, 51% of leads will work with the organization that contacts them first.

Think about yourself as a buyer. If I had a new project to repair my home, for example, I might contact three companies and, without much concern for the price, the first one that replies will probably get the work. We are at the point where speed has become more influential in certain circumstances than price.

You could even make the case that if you responded faster, you could charge more. The most profitable companies today have made speed to lead one of their highest priorities, and they are raising their prices because of it. What if your speed to lead was your differentiator?

Now think about all the different channels people can get ahold of you to request a quote or a consultation. Or how many places are you not paying attention to because you can’t or don’t have the time to monitor them?

Google Business chat, for example, is one of the functionalities that Google added recently. Instead of calling you, getting directions to your business, or going to your website, customers can just send you a message and ask you a question or get a quote.

But you have also phone, voicemail, emails, website forms, website chat, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, SMS, and the list goes on. Do you monitor and respond to all of them?

Now companies have to reply almost immediately, despite the fact that nobody has the time to monitor a ton of different apps and places.

As a business owner you need to think strategically about how you are going to utlize all the tools available to generate leads for your business while also being realistic about what you can manege.

Apply for a free consulting session

SMS Overtaking Email

SMS has become a real choice for a lot of the people we do business with. In fact, 48% of the people said that SMS is their preferred channel for receiving updates from a brand. More than two-to-one SMS over email.

I assume there may be generational gaps in these statistics, and certainly, specific industries are more prevalent than others, but this trend is real.

Mobile is now overtaking desktop in terms of website visits. In the same survey, E-Marketer found that mobile devices today are driving 45% of web leads. And if people are using a mobile device, it is a whole lot easier to just send a text message to start the conversation.

Businesses need to not only be able to monitor and reply quickly but probably need to move a portion of those replies to text.

analytics showing the increase of leads coming from mobile devices

For example, the graph above is website traffic data from a home service business. 54% of their traffic comes from a mobile device, which really explains the convenience of moving part of the marketing strategy to text messages.

Of course, I am not talking about the spammy text messages that we all get. I am encouraging you to use SMS to create a better experience for people that are already on the customer journey and close to becoming a client. Or even build marketing campaigns to reengage past customers that have gone cold. People that already know you, but just haven’t heard from you for a while.

Personalized Website Journey

The bar has been raised. No longer can your website be a brochure that just describes what you do and how you do it. Today people expect to have personalized content experiences and real conversations within your site.

They want to engage in content that is highly relevant to them as fast as possible. Most of us serve multiple markets and multiple segments, which means you have to help people find what’s suitable for them. And that is where the customer journey starts, many people get a referral, Google your business, and then end up at your website.

Ask yourself: Is your site designed perfectly to engage everyone who visits or do you need help from them?

Technology is getting smarter every day. Our website chat is an example of a simple personalized website journey. And it begins with a straightforward message, “Welcome back, John Jantsch, How can we help you today?”

duct tape marketing website chat showing an example of a personalized website journey as a lead nurturing option

It knows who I am, and that type of personalization has become expected because technology makes it so easy. We can now lead our prospects directly to the most relevant content for them based on an answer they just typed.

A unified lead nurturing system

Let’s face it, if you have to reply immediately in a bunch of places, you need some automation. You need some technology that can help you do that.

Lead Spark, is a way to unify your messages, automate follow-ups (even on weekends), immediately get Google reviews to build social proof, reactivate one-time customers, turn website visits to chat conversations, run activation campaigns, capture more leads, and more.

screenshoot of a message showing how a unified lead nurturing system works for small businesses

For example, an automated follow-up that acknowledges a lead message and starts a conversation to explain what is going to happen next in the customer journey. Turning inquiries into text chats.

If you’re spending money on ads, if you’re spending money on SEO and then you’re wasting some of that money because you’re not responding quickly to some of the leads that are coming in, then to me that’s worse than not figuring out how to get leads in the first place.

Learn how to automate your lead nurturing

Click here to get started

4 Steps To Create A Perfect Marketing Strategy

4 Steps To Create A Perfect Marketing Strategy written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

The 4-step marketing strategy – How to stand out from your competition in the minds of your ideal customer

With the current obsession around marketing tactics, it has become increasingly harder to figure out the best marketing strategy for your business.

From hacks and quick fixes to the next big idea and new trending platforms. It is harder than ever to decide the right direction for your marketing.

In order to help alleviate some of the marketing confusion, I’ve created a definitive outline for you in this post, 4 concrete steps to the perfect marketing strategy. You can use this article to help you create a clear marketing message, direction, and plan.

The 4 steps needed to create a perfect marketing strategy in 2022;

Want to get all the worksheets you need to complete your perfect strategy?

Order Your Workbook Now!

Customer Focus

First, you need to narrow your focus to somewhere around the top 20% of your clients. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you chuck the other 80%, but experience tells me that if you are working with customers and clients today, some percentage of them are not profitable for your business.

The majority of your customers are actually detractors from your business because they didn’t have the right problem or they didn’t have the right business situation for your product to solve.

Think about your client base today and rank them into groups by profitability with your most profitable customers at the top. You want to think in terms of profitability because profitability is linked to an ideal client fit.

Typically a client is a profitable client because they received value, they had a great experience, their problem was solved, and they referred your product to others. If you understand who your profitable clients are you can start to do two things;

First, you can generate more business from that top 20% of customers because that top 20% want to do more business with you. It is far easier and less costly to continue to do business with people who already trust you vs trying to gain a new person’s trust. If you focus your efforts on creating an amazing experience for those clients who already trust, get value, and are referring you to others. You could actually build our business around serving and attracting them and no one else.

Second, if you know who they are and what brought them to you, you can begin to build the ideal customer persona for your business based on historical data and profitability. Then you can design your marketing around that customer persona and attract more of the ideal customer, more of the top 20%.

When building your customer persona you want to organize your customer base into three customer groups; must-have, nice-to-have, and ideal.

For example, a remodeling contractor must-have customers who own a home that they want to remodel. Imagine that same remodeling contractor works with his wife who is an interior designer. Now customers who are looking to remodel and redesign their home go in their nice-to-have bucket. Next, that husband and wife decide they want to focus the business on high-quality materials and modern home design. Now their ideal customer owns a home they want to remodel and redesign with a modern theme and is in the top 10% income bracket.

Ask yourself, what are those ideal customers for you? Who are your must-haves, nice-to-have, and ideal customers? My ideal customer workbook contains the same tools and worksheets Duct Tape Marketing uses to create our ideal customers.

Ideal Customer Behavior worksheet from “How To Create The Ultimate Marketing Strategy” workbook

Solve the problem

Now that you know who your ideal customer is, the next step in creating the perfect marketing strategy is to figure out what problem you are actually solving for your customers.

The truth is, nobody wants what you sell. They just want their problem solved. So instead of just selling a product, communicate to them that you understand and that you get their problem. Help them see that your product or service is the solution to their problem. That is when they will start to listen to you and begin to trust you.

So how do you do this?

– You create a core message that promises to solve that problem.

For example, public universities have a problem. In many cases, their funding is dictated by their graduation rates. How many students graduate is directly correlated to the funding that universities receive and therefore what they must charge for tuition. They are constantly looking for ways to curb tuition rates. So we have a client that provides scheduling software for universities. We went and talked to the universities that used this company’s software. They confirmed that the software worked well, but what they really loved was the great data and analytics the software provided. It allowed for more efficient scheduling and ultimately made tuition more affordable. We discovered that this software company makes great software, but they also make tuition more affordable. Tuition cost was the differentiator, the problem that they were solving.

Now, you are probably asking yourself, how do I do this for my company? How do I know the problem I am solving? What you need to do is get on the phone or in-person and talk to your ideal clients and ask them; how did you find us in the first place, what made you hire us, why did you stick with us?

Those are some questions you can start with, but be sure to go deeper in your line of questioning. Have your customers go into detail with their answers. Don’t just ask, “Were you happy with my service?” Instead ask, “Can you tell me a specific time when we provided good service and what we did to make it such a positive experience?”

After enough of these informational interviews, you are going to start hearing themes that are addressing the real problems that you solve.

Another great resource is Google reviews. But instead of just paying attention to five-star reviews, read the actual reviews line by line. When people voluntarily turn to a third party like Google and leave a glowing review it is an indicator that they have been thoroughly impressed. You have exceeded their expectations. You have solved their problem.

What is the real problem that you are solving? That is what you need to uncover. And once you know it needs to be what you lead with for all of your messaging, it is your core message.

Order Your Workbook Now!

Create an end-to-end customer journey

A lot of people talk about the customer journey like it’s a funnel. As if we create demand through this funnel. We shove them through this funnel process, they pop them out the other side, and voila that’s the end of the journey. Well, that is not at all true, at least not anymore.

In just the last five years, marketing has undergone many changes. The thing that has changed the most about marketing is how people choose to become customers. That marketing funnel and that linear path no longer exist. The customer journey today is holistic and nonlinear. You no longer see an advertisement for a product, visit the store, and purchase that product. The steps between awareness and purchase are diverse and varied and oftentimes intertwined. People make decisions about the products and the services that they buy out of our direct control. Marketing today is less about demand and more about organizing behavior.

This obsession with funnels and funnel hacking and tactics is really driving a lot of challenges for small businesses. First and foremost, we have to understand how to guide people on the journey that they want to go on.

I know it is hard to keep up when it seems like there’s some new thing that we have to do as marketers every single week. There is so much we have to do across so many platforms just to stay relevant, look at the data.

61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact the local business if they have a mobile-friendly website. So we’ve gotta really look at our websites and all these different devices.

87% of potential customers won’t consider a business with low ratings. Now there are all these sites where people are able to go and leave reviews about our brand. And we have no control over that narrative.

64% of consumers say watching a video on Facebook has influenced a purchase decision. So not only do we have to be on all of these channels. Now we have to mold all of our content to the exact same way or to the specifications and algorithms of the platform of the month.

92% of consumers will visit a brand’s website for the first time, for reasons other than making a purchase. Our website is not there to just take orders. It provides a service as well.

So I get the obsession with tactics and channels, but with this constantly changing landscape how can you possibly stay up to date? The answer lies in rethinking the customer journey.

86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience and 83% of business owners claim their main source of new business is referrals. These stats prove that the customer journey does not end at the point of sale. There is profitability in focusing on what happens after somebody becomes a customer.

This leads me to the third and linchpin element of the perfect marketing strategy; the marketing hourglass.

If you think about the hourglass shape the top of the hourglass borrows from the traditional sales funnel idea. After all, you have to get some percentage of the market out there to know about you and an even smaller percentage to realize that they are an ideal client for your business.

For so many businesses, that’s where it stops right at the throat of the hourglass. But with the marketing hourglass, the excitement really needs to happen again, after the sale.

The marketing hourglass consists of seven stages or behaviors. The seven stages are; know, like, trust, try, buy, repeat and refer.

The Marketing Hourglass – Know, Like, Trust, Try, Buy, Repeat, Refer

The first three stages are where you create the relationship. By guiding people through these stages, showing up, educating them, and building trust. That’s how you attract your ideal customer and show people why they should pay a premium to do business with you.

Know

If we have a problem we want to know who’s out there. What are the answers? What are the solutions?

We run advertising and we show up. When somebody goes out and searches we have our content out there. We are participating in social media and building communities.

And then once we land on somebody, what do we do? We immediately go to their website and investigate. We assess if the site looks out of date or tacky. It might load really slowly or the forms might not work. All of those small moments contribute to our larger assessment of whether we like the company or not. And we ask ourselves, is this a company that can solve my problem? Do I think they have the answer? All of these are things we take into account when moving people past that first impression threshold.

Trust

Next comes trust. We start looking for visual cues. We start asking ourselves, who else trusts them? Who else have they delivered results to? We start to look for familiar logos and referrals from companies we know. Do I see people who are really smart and reputable? Do I see the company being featured in publications? Is there social proof? Are there reviews? Are they working with people that I know? And most importantly, are they working with people like me, people that have the same problem as me?

The next two stages, try and buy, build the bridge for long-term success. Scaling and growing a business with your ideal customers does not happen after you get the customer, it happens at these two stages.

Try

The try stage does not just include a 30-day free trial offer. It is much bigger than that. Every time a potential customer picks up the phone and calls your business they are given a trial run of what it might be like to work with you. So what does this stage look like for your business? What is your inbound caller process and what trials do you offer? Do you offer a free quote, free evaluation, or introduction call? Do you provide forms or worksheets for them to try? What are you giving them that allows them to try before they buy? If you can offer value in your free or low-cost options people will be more likely to invest their money in you because they have seen what you can deliver already.

Buy

Next is buy or how the transaction happens. Most of us have been let down at some point when we’ve bought. Buyer’s remorse is a real thing. We want the buying experience to be just as great as all the other experiences leading up to it.

So you have to think about how you deliver your product? Do you have onboarding? Do you have an orientation? Can you communicate how you’re going to communicate? What is the actual content?

Content is not just created to get an order or customer. In fact, one of the best uses of content is after the sale to teach people what they purchased, show them how to get more value, show them what else you sell.

The final two stages of the marketing hourglass lead to scalability. Learn to scale with your clients, as opposed to constantly relying on going out and getting more clients.

Retention

What does your retention process look like? Are you continuing to educate? Do you have special offers for existing clients? Are you cross-promoting? If you focus on discovering what else they need and consistently delivering value even after the sale those customers will stick with you.

Refer

Texas Tech just surveyed 2,000 consumers and 86% of them said they had a business they loved so much that they would happily refer. But only 29% said that they actually made that referral. So maybe there’s some money in closing that over 50% gap of those customers of ours that love us, but never tell anybody about us.

What are you doing to stay top of mind with your clients? What are you doing to nurture those champion clients? There is a huge amount of business in co-marketing and developing strategic partners outside of your client base.

These all have to be intentional processes that you build into your overall marketing plan. Marketing doesn’t stop after running a couple of Facebook ads and delivering some free content. It is the entire process. It is the entire end-to-end customer journey. If you really want to build momentum, if you really wanna scale your business, then marketing doesn’t end until someone else is telling other people about your business.

Content

The last stage in creating the perfect marketing strategy for your business is content. Are you tired of constantly creating and delivering new content? What if I told you that you did not have to.

So many people, like myself, stood up on stages 10 years ago and said, content is king and everybody believed it. The content was like air, you needed it to survive. You could not play in the marketing game without a fair amount of content or a real focus on content.

People started to try to create so much content, so quickly that there was just a content dump without any real strategic goals. Content is not a tactic. It is the voice of strategy.

Content is not just blog posts. Your emails, videos, case studies, referral events, what you do and say when networking; it is all content. And content needs to be focused on guiding people through each of the stages of your marketing hourglass. Content is a tremendous lever to help you guide people through the stages.

Landing pages, blog posts, core web pages, free tools. These are the types of content that people are going to consume when they’re doing initial research and getting to know your business.

Next, when they go to your website what happens? Are there tip sheets or how-to videos? With this type of content, they will decide if they like you and if you know what you are talking about.

Then in the trust category, the content is a little more segmented. Your customer is starting to ask themselves if you understand what their needs are? The content strategy here is case studies, webinars, comparison guides, and engagement.

The next question they will ask is, is there something I can try? Do you offer communities to join, free assessments, or samples as part of your content strategy?

At the buying stage do you have content created for demos, audits, FAQs?

When it comes to producing content for the repeat stage, how do you go about it? What do your social media content, cross-promotion, and user roadmaps look like?

Last but not least, your referral content includes reviews, referral training, strategic partnerships, and co-marketing among others. Ask yourselves where are you leading your customers after they purchase?

Each one of these stages has a need for a specific type of content. As a marketer, you need to consider every piece of your content that you’re thinking about producing and make sure it focuses on a stage of your end-to-end customer journey. Your content will become the voice of your strategy. Your content will be useful instead of just another tactic.

Duct Tape Marketing is a big part of my firm’s success! First it was the books, then an assessment and then a long-term coaching relationship. I would not be where I am today without their insights and focused counsel. Most importantly they are just a pleasure to work with and I wouldn’t hesitate engaging them.

Jack McGuinness

Relationship Imapct

“Working with Sara and the Duct Tape Marketing team has been beyond what I could have hoped for! As a doctor who is very busy dealing with patients and trying to run a business, I can’t say how much I appreciate how organized, efficient, and goal-specific they are. I truly had NO idea what went into building a brand, a website, and marketing a business.

Dr. Elizabeth Turner

Fox Point Dental

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Small Business Marketing Trends for 2022

Small Business Marketing Trends for 2022 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Yep, it’s that time of year once again. Time for lots of folks like me to wax on about what we see out there on the horizon so that folks like you can perhaps be a little more prepared to respond to the coming shifts in marketing.

In a lot of ways, I think the real service posts like this perform is to put a name on things that people are already starting to feel. I don’t claim to have special knowledge about the future, I view things through a lens informed by the thousands of conversations I have with business owners and influencers alike.

Of course, what I should do is look back at last year’s post and give myself a score, so let’s do that briefly.

Here’s what I predicted for 2021

· Paying attention becomes a survival mechanism – This is hard to quantify, but I think that companies that relooked at most of the stages of their customer journey are winning.

· Everything gets smaller – More personal, maybe, not sure smaller.

· AI gets practical – nailed this one – you can’t produce an app these days without AI baked in.

· Talent investment is back in style – I don’t know, the great resignation caused so much scrambling that I’m not sure investment is the right term

· Video gets personal again – Sure video, including 1 to 1 video, is hot, but I don’t think I saw the audio explosion as a personal medium.

· UX and SEO get attached at the hip – yep, another one that Google made real.

· Coaching ranks swell – This is still coming in my view, but I’m still bullish as heck on the change in how people, including marketing agencies, position their work.

With that bit of housekeeping done, let’s move on to what I view as the top small business trends of 2022.

Brand Purpose takes the place of authenticity.

Authenticity is a decade-old buzzword that most people struggle to define, let alone deliver. One thing the great shake-up entering year 3 has done is force people to search for meaning in their work and certainly is what their brand stands for, promises, and delivers.

I expect this idea to become a significant differentiator for brands. People will make choices based much more on connection with a brand. Who knows how long this will last but for right now, make sure you help people connect with what you stand for.

Events are still virtual.

It seemed like this trend if you want to call it that was about to end in the fall of 2021, but alas, it will carry forward into 2022 and continue to influence the habits of business travel and education habits.

I look for many significant events to get better at hybrid offerings. I also think that forming cohorts of 8-10 to go through an experience together will take the place of the typical course or membership program.

Co-marketing is no longer a big biz play.

I’ve always loved co-marketing. When you think of this you might immediately think Red Bull and GoPro, but any business can do this.

Since it’s become pretty much impossible to cold call or even network that well, why not look to other businesses to help you get in front of prospects.

Co-marketing is essentially a twist on referral, but its passive nature can create great exposure and I think the idea will really catch on in 2022 for proactive small businesses.

Small business learns to outsource content.

Let’s start with two facts – Content is air, and creating helpful content is hard work. Most large organizations create the storm of content they need for every customer journey stage by building content teams and outsourcing a great deal of content production to freelancers and agencies.

With the advent of AI in the realm of content creation, many small businesses will be able to compete in the content game by employing inexpensive content partners armed with AI tools.

NFTs already

In case you haven’t been online, of late, NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which of course, means little. Go read up on this idea if you need to understand all things crypto fully.

NFTs made a giant splash in 2020 and 2021, mainly in the world of collectible digital art. See, that’s the non-fungible part – unlike bitcoin that you exchange for another token or bitcoin and essentially have the same thing you started with an NFT is usually an original of some sort, but because it’s built on blockchain (usually Ethereum), it’s a bit of a contract.

There will be copies, but you can prove you have the original. And the artist can enhance or continue your connection, and that’s where this will get interesting.

Think about buying a concert ticket that comes with special bonuses based on your ticket price or number. Then, think about how content creators will start creating their community tokens.

Okay, all of this is already happening and way past mainstream, but now it is time for small businesses to start paying attention – not to Gary V, but to folks like Joe Pulizzi and Brian Clark.

So, we’ll see how I did in a year or so.

6 Simple Ways to Get Your Customers Talking

6 Simple Ways to Get Your Customers Talking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is considered by many to be the most desired form of marketing. The trust, referrals, and overall brand-building buzz that’s garnered by customers spreading the good word to prospects are worth its weight in gold. Some products, services, and experiences naturally produce chatter, but there are certain things that any company can do to stimulate word of mouth and cash in on the buzz.

Here are six ways to get your customers talking about you and your organization:

1) Ask them – The best word of mouth starts with “word of listen.” Call your customers up and ask them why they buy, why they stick around, and why they tell their friends about you. You might be a bit surprised by their answers. Hint: it’s usually not the stuff you have in your new marketing brochure. You stand a far greater chance of attracting the right customers and the right buzz if you really understand what your current customers value about doing business with you. This goes for online and social media listening as well – what are they saying in Slack channels, blog comments, on LinkedIn, or Twitter?

2) Teach them – Sometimes great word of mouth just happens, but sometimes you’ve got to help it along. One way to do this is to make sure you are teaching your customers how to spot an ideal client, what a prospect in need might say when looking for your products, and how to properly and concisely describe how your company is different. Of course, in today’s hyper-social media world you should also be teaching your happiest customers how to write reviews on Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook Ratings and Reviews, Insider Pages, and CitySearch-type rating sites.

3) Star them – Letting a customer testimonial or success story go uncaptured or untold is downright criminal in WOM circles. Today you can easily record customer testimonials on an iPhone or Android or you can start doing video interviews over Zoom to record their success stories. These “real life” bits of content are gold and turn your featured customers into talking referral billboards for your brand. Want to take this idea up a notch? Hold a customer party and film a dozen or so at one time in a great atmosphere – this alone will get your customers talking.

4) Include them – People like to be asked what they think, it’s just human nature, but it’s also a great way to get some sound advice. Create a round table discussion group made up of select customers and charge them with advising you once a quarter or so on new marketing and business initiatives. (Reward them for this in some way as well.) This can include advising on everything from a product extension to the look and feel of your website redesign. Members of your marketing round table will become natural ambassadors for the brand. (You can do this with simple video chat meetings – Zoom or GoogleMeet)

5) Video them – People are more likely to respond t0 a personalized video over a generic one any day. People’s email inboxes and newsfeeds are flooded with businesses trying to sell to them so much so that it’s hard to stand out in all of the noise today. One-to-one video is a highly effective way to stand out in the crowd. You can use a tool like Loom to send a prospect a quick personalized message about something you saw on their website, invite a lead to sign up for an event you’re having that you think would be valuable to them, or follow up with a potential client with a personalized video instead of an email.

6) Surprise them – I like to think I saved the best for last – few things get people talking faster than surprising them. This can include doing something that was out of the blue and much appreciated to just giving them more than they bargained for. I remember a PR firm that was pitching me some business and the account rep showed up to meet with an apple pie (I’m still talking about it.) I once worked with a financial planner that hired a mobile auto detail firm to detail his customer’s cars during their annual review – that created some buzz.

The bottom line of course is that you’ve got to do good work, do something that somebody appreciates, and create an experience worth talking about, but then, prime the pump and leverage all that greatness.

No one can tell you how to feel right now.

No one can tell you how to feel right now. written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Well, the last few months have thrown us all for a loop; that’s for sure.

And now this, another chapter, one of unrest, undoubtedly related to the fear, hopelessness, and divisiveness brought on by heightened overwhelm of a pandemic.

Yes, riots and protests, sparked by another senseless death of a black man at the hands of a white police officer, are the logical boiling reaction to so many pent-up feelings and emotions.

And now, once again, as has been the case over the last few months, everyone wants to tell us how we should feel.

You can log on to Facebook and jump on one of the countless live broadcasts telling you how to feel. You can microdose on the news telling you how to feel, or you can overdose on the headlines and amplify those feelings beyond rational capacity.

So, what are you feeling?

Maybe it’s anger or frustration. Perhaps it’s fear and uncertainty. Maybe it’s turned to guilt because, you know, you’ve stayed silent for too long.

Don’t worry if you’re confused; people will tell you how to feel.

People will tell you to rise up, people will tell you to chill out, people will tell you that whatever you do, whatever you are thinking, it’s not enough.

But here’s the thing – only you can find and understand your truth.

I don’t know what you’re dealing with because:

See, I had two loving parents who provided me with a fantastic childhood – maybe you didn’t
I never wondered once where my next meal was coming from – maybe you did
I never had to work so my parents could keep the lights on – maybe you had to
I always felt incredibly safe in my home and my neighborhood – maybe you didn’t
I assumed I could go to any school I wanted – maybe you couldn’t
I can’t ever remember feeling unwelcome somewhere – maybe you can
I’ve never been pulled over by a police officer to see if I had a gun in the car – perhaps you have

The point is that our feelings are our feelings, our actions are our actions, and we must deal with them – we must own them and act accordingly.

The only thing we cannot do is feel nothing at all.

We are all in a big fat storm in an untamed sea, granted we are in many different boats in that storm, but navigate with our entire being we must.