321 - How to Think Long Term in Marketing with Andrew LeRay, Director of Brand Marketing at NWSL

Today's episode was recorded last year but is still relevant today. Are you making these deadly sins in your marketing strategy? In this episode of the Marketing Millennials, Daniel sits down with Sam Dunning to discuss some of the biggest mistakes marketers make and how to avoid them. From hiding pricing to designing for ego, Sam shares his insights on what not to do in your marketing efforts. Tune in to learn why transparency and social proof are crucial, how to optimize your website for speed, and why research is the key to success in marketing. Plus, discover Sam's tips for creating a frictionless customer experience and driving more inbound leads. Don't miss out on this valuable conversation with one of marketing's coolest operators. 00:00:07 - Avoid the Ego in Website Design 00:01:25 - From Retail to Marketing Guru: Deadly Sins of Website SEO 00:02:48 - Avoid the Deadly Sin of Website Design 00:05:06 - Building a Rock Solid Website 00:07:23 - Tailor Your Homepage for Success 00:10:29 - Fix Your Slow Website Speed 00:13:18 - The Importance of Transparent Pricing 00:16:54 - The Deadly Sins of Pricing 00:19:11 - Why You Should Offer Free Demos 00:22:23 - Don't Neglect Organic Search Traffic 00:28:04 - The Power of Social Proof 00:30:21 - Drive Sales Leads with Clear Call to Actions 00:32:58 - Marketing's Coolest Operators Share Insights Follow Sam:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samdunning/ Follow Daniel: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing/ Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter:  www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

There are three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and people forgetting about your campaign. How can you make your marketing and comms efforts memorable?  Tamara mentions that most marketing fails to stick when marketers focus too much on the product features and not the emotional connection between the brand and the customer. People remember what problem the product can solve more than its fancy features or capabilities.  Daniel also brings up the Made to Make It Stick framework: the most successful marketing gets remembered, shared, and repeated. How can something so silly, like the Duolingo Owl, get people on board?  If you’re looking to make your brand and product STICK in people’s minds, hearts, and wallets, this is the episode for YOU…and it’s short and sweet. ⌛ Follow Tamara: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaragrominsky/ Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

What should you NOT do in marketing? There’s lots, but Daniel and Jay are breaking it down in seven parts.  First, when you market to everybody, you’re actually marketing to nobody. You’re gonna be more successful with a specific customer set in mind. Plus, narrowing it down makes positioning and messaging way easier.  Also, are “best practices” actually outdated? Jay thinks so. Every time you hear about a best practice, it’s best to test it out for yourself.  And, Daniel reminds us that skipping strategy and going straight to tactics is a NO-no. Who are you running ads to? What’s the offer? When, why, what, and how? These are questions that you need to start off with, not answer along the way.  This short ‘n sweet Bathroom Break is all about avoiding what you can and doing better. 🚽 Follow Jay: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/ Podcast: Do This, Not That Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

Have you noticed more and more people are watching women’s sports?  This episode’s guest, Andrew LeRay of the National Women’s Soccer League, is on a mission to grow the league through brand, product, and more. How do you sell tickets and merchandise to people who may not know the league exists? Andrew suggests that education and brand awareness are the two concepts driving people to think about the NWSL.  What are some ways Andrew has changed targeting strategies for the brand? Since coming into the role about two years ago, Andrew talks about how strategies back then were about retention and how the focus is now on creating messaging to welcome new viewers.   Plus, the NWSL has ties with US Soccer and other national teams. How do you leverage the popularity of more famous players in the league when they’re away from their national teams? With the retirements of Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, there’s a new set of players to be on the lookout for. Women’s soccer doesn’t just happen at the World Cup or the Olympics, so the league is THE place to watch it while you wait for the next tournament.  If you’re a marketer who wants to learn more about growing or reshaping a brand, this is the episode for you.  Follow Andrew: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewleray/ Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

Small brands are up against bigger ones all the time. So, how can you be small but mighty? It’s easy to get swept up in competition and copy what other brands are doing, like using similar words and taglines. BUT, if you do this, you risk being a cookie-cutter product. The best brands don’t try to copy. They try to be unique. Enter: contrast marketing.  It’s more than just about listing features and fancy words…What storyline does your product tell? Tamara and Daniel recall the Justin Long PC commercials.   If you’re looking to make a statement and do something different compared to other brands in your field, this is the episode for YOU…and it’s short and sweet. ⌛ Follow Tamara: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaragrominsky/ Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

Reposting vs Remixing: What’s better? In this special 50th episode of Bathroom Breaks, Daniel Murray is joined by the birthday boy, Jay Schwedelson, to discuss how to properly repost across different social channels.  And why reposting without context could be killing your reach on LinkedIn and how to remix instead. If you’re a marketer who wants to grow your audience through smart content curation and remixing, this is the episode for you. Follow Jay: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/ Podcast: Do This, Not That Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

Is your landing page quietly killing your conversions? If you’re spending money to send people to your landing page and they’re not converting, then you’re pouring water into a bucket filled with holes.  This week, we go solo and dig into six high-impact landing page tweaks that don’t require a redesign, a dev sprint, or a full-blown overhaul. Just smart, simple changes you can make right now. Plus, the “5-second rule” and how to instantly clarify what you offer and who it’s for before users bounce. If you’re a marketer who wants to learn how to optimize landing pages and boost conversions, this is the episode for you. Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

A lot of marketers think launch starts on launch day…and they’re very wrong.  In this new miniseries called Go To Market Plays, Daniel and Tamara break down go to market strategies in ten minutes or less. Tamara insists the best launches start months in advance, not just when you hit publish.  Plus, Daniel and Tamara talk about launch seeding. People put too much pressure on launch day when it should really include moments before and after, so you’re not relying on just one day. Tamara gives an example from the Notion AI launch, too.  And, how does being an early adopter of a product lead to brand loyalty? It’s all about how your product makes people feel.  If you’re looking to launch something soon and need to clean up the strategy for it, this is the episode for YOU…and it’s short and sweet. ⌛ Follow Tamara: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaragrominsky/ Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

How do you get people to actually open emails AND engage with you?  Daniel and Jay have some tips for you to take. First, you have to treat every email like it’s the receiver’s first email ever. Unlike social, you can’t just phone it in, so you HAVE to make it good right off the bat.  Should you kick the non-engaged people off? Jay says that you should, because having a highly engaged list is better than a bigger one who doesn’t really interact with your content.  And, Daniel suggests putting read times in your pre-headers could be the secret sauce to enticing readers. Can you test read times, emojis, and other creative things in pre-headers? Absolutely.  This short ‘n sweet Bathroom Break is all about doing a little more with emails and seeing more impact. 🚽 Follow Jay: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/ Podcast: Do This, Not That Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

AI isn’t just a search engine and it isn’t just for research. It can be your secret weapon.  Daniel’s sharing five prompts that can help YOU with generative AI. It’s more than just typing in a request and waiting for it to spit something out. Start building on your original request with questions like, “What emotional triggers are popping up?” or, “Why should people buy my product?” This gives you an opportunity to dig deeper and be more unique.  Plus, how can ChatGPT help you with positioning? It’s a great way to reveal cracks and potential misfires in your already-existing strategy.   And, it’s time to get your ICP in their feelings. What does ChatGPT suggest for emotional tactics? If you’re looking to make AI a better tool for you and your brand, this is the episode. 📲 Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com