074 - Robert Sofia: What Your Brand Should Say on Social Media
In this episode, Emily and Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken, talk about how to have a unique voice on social media and what that really means.
What does it really mean to be authentic on social media? For financial advisors and for any company brand, this is a common piece of advice but it’s not always clear how to walk the walk.
Robert Sofia is the Founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken and has over 20 years of digital marketing experience. Among marketing automation programs for financial advisors, Snappy Kraken is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction and is also the fastest growing according to the 2020 T3/Morningstar Advisor Technology Survey.
Robert and Emily Binder discussed what it takes to make your brand stand out on social media.
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Emily asked Robert what it sounds like when an advisor has a unique voice on social media and how this can carry over to other marketing like email.
Robert also revealed some surprising advice on email marketing based on his firm's analysis of over one million emails. The episode wraps up with some key tips that financial advisors and all businesses need to know about the kind of brand personality that makes marketing successful. Get some valuable advice about marketing your business on social media and share this episode with a colleague or friend who could benefit.
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“He’s not intimidating. He’s fun, so is our culture. We’re snappy, we make things happen quickly.” - Robert Sofia on the character and brand design of Snappy Kraken.
Topics and timestamps:
01:24: Meet Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken. How did Robert get started in marketing, and what was the inspiration for Snappy Kraken? Robert entered the financial industry in 2004 and noticed a marketing vacuum. He was inspired to shake things up and provide marketing guidance for financial advisors.
02:59: There is a lot of "copy and paste" marketing advice in the financial industry since the early 2000s. Why is that a problem? It creates a flat playing field where no individual can possibly stand out.
04:32: Competing factors for the psychology behind marketing decisions in the financial landscape: lack of creativity, social pressure from social media, and trusted brands serving as a “safeway”.
06:30:
What does it mean to be authentic on social media?
We are often afraid to be our true selves because it’s vulnerable, but this is the most effective way to present your brand on social media because you’ll attract the right people. Click here to skip to this part of the video.
07:56: Should you customize your brand's voices, tones, or content based on the platform you're using How can you analyze when you're mastering one channel over another?
"It depends so much on context, and what works in one context or maybe even one period of time, may be different in another context or another period of time. It could even be on a different channel; it will completely flop, where it thrived on one." - Robert Sofia
09:49: Snappy Kraken's most recent study analyzed over 5 million data points to test the different design and strategic components of email marketing. They were able to translate that data to other platforms and optimize their social channels and landing pages and improve their strategic decision making.
"When there's true uniqueness and creativity combined with solid data, that's when marketing magic happens." - Robert Sofia
10:55: The secrets to optimizing your email marketing templates: buttons or no buttons, CTAs, and more.
12:05: Robert answers the question once and for all: Is email still an effective marketing channel? Yes.
"When we look at every single marketing channel, and we analyze the performance and response rates, invariably, the highest ROI is coming from building and nurturing an email list over time, and the actual highest response rates and click rates are coming through email." - Robert Sofia
14:29: Spam gives email marketing a bad name, but if you focus on the value and advice you're providing your audience, you will be able to keep and grow that audience. Make sure there is a valuable service, solution, or advice in every email you send.
Snappy Kraken uses the data it collected in their own data analysis to continuously improve their landing pages, social media, and more.
16:00: What does it mean to create a unique brand, and how can you make yourself stand out? Let's face it; it's hard to cut through the noise. Managing your marketing tactics can leave little time to dedicate to your strategy.
23:00: So, why the name "Snappy Kraken"? How did Robert find the symbol for his brand? What are some examples of other companies that haven't taken their branding so literally in the financial world? Lighthouse, anchor, and tree logos no more!
"We built the brand; we built a character that was different, but still had a story." - Robert Sofia
Books and Apps Robert Recommends:
Book: Principles by Ray Dalio
Podcast: The BeanCast (hear Emily’s latest appearance on Bob Knorpp’s top marketing and advertising podcast in Beancast episode 593: The Quibi Dilemma and hear more BeanCasts with Emily Binder here)
Robert Sofia, Founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken, has over 20 years of digital marketing experience and listens to book summaries on Blinkist in his free time.
Connect with Robert Sofia:
Twitter: @robertsofia
Connect with Snappy Kraken:
Twitter: @SnappyKraken
Follow @beetlemoment on Instagram
073 - Mikal Abdullah: Problem Solving With a Jiu Jitsu Master
Mikal Abdullah is an entrepreneur, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu coach, and competitor, founder of Aces Jiu-Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter. Mikal’s diverse background makes for some very interesting conversation in this latest episode. Emily and Mikal talked about an array of topics including: entrepreneurship, problem-solving, branding, the military mindset, leadership, and more.
How does the philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu apply to solving other problems? Mikal Abdullah is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach, competitor, founder of Aces Jiu-Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter. Mikal’s diverse background makes for some fascinating conversation about an array of topics, including: entrepreneurship, problem-solving from a martial arts approach, branding, the military mindset, leadership, and more.
After honorably serving in the U.S. Army, Mikal started training Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. He has competed and won in competitions around the world. Mikal now owns an industry-leading group of companies, including facilities, gear companies, and now an online training academy. Mikal also enjoys helping other business owners and entrepreneurs to reach their goals.
Topics:
Mikal Abdullah is an entrepreneur, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach and competitor, founder of Aces Jiu Jitsu Club, U.S. Army Veteran, and professional fighter.
02:00: Meet Mikal Abdullah, BJJ master
03:13: What is the purpose and thought behind Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ)? Why do people practice it?
04:40: Overcoming obstacles: you have to be in a clear frame of mind on the mat and in life.
07:09: What can people’s actions and tactics on the Jiu-Jitsu mat tell you about how they handle problems in real life?
“We call it a Jiu-Jitsu handshake...when you start to roll with each other, how they handle obstacles is how they handle obstacles. If they shy and wilt under pressure, then that is how they handle things.” - Mikal Abdullah
07:53: What do 360 reviews and rolling on the mat have in common?
“One of the greatest superpowers you can ever have is the ability to see yourself as others see you. The other is to see yourself the way you truly are.” - Mikal Abdullah
09:24: While perception can be a weakness, it’s also very important to be aware of in business, relationships, and Jiu-Jitsu.
10:39: Middle of funnel, top of funnel marketing, and Mikal’s company, Aces Jiu Jitsu Club International.
“When it comes to middle of funnel marketing, I think that community is a big deal. Conversations are king.” - Mikal Abdullah
13:00: Some aspects of the military can be incorporated into your marketing strategy. AARs or After Action Reviews allow for you to sort mission aspects for review and posterity. This inspired Mikal’s strategy of tagging conversations for review in defining the customer journey and their marketing/selling process.
Mikel’s marketing background is focused on top of funnel and middle of funnel strategy. “Branding is always adjusting or evolving.” - Mikel Abdullah
15:20: Branding: much more than just logo design
“As humans, when we use a compass to find a bearing and identify where we want to go and where we want to be, we often start walking, and we start moving in a curve or a zig-zag. It’s important to do a repeated check-in on where we are. For us, our branding is always adjusting or evolving.” - Mikal Abdullah
19:04: How do you form a subconscious or unconscious connection to your target audience? The ultimate success is connecting with your customer on this level.
20:26: Netflix, subscription businesses, DTC and virtual offerings. How did Mikal’s company Aces Jiu Jitsu pivot at the onset of the pandemic?
24:30: Harness the power to scale your business. Sometimes entrepreneurs aren’t thinking big enough at the beginning of their business journey.
26:17: The worst interview question: where do you see yourself in five years? Sometimes that can be a limiting approach to conversation and goal setting.
30:10: Words and language matter.
“We are attempting to communicate so many ideas in just a few words, and it’s so important to be effective and efficient so that you don’t have to go backward and correct things, or correct them as little as possible.” - Mikal Abdullah
34:00: Mikal‘s book recommendations
069 - Steve Pratt: Podcasts - Your Brand's Unfair Advantage (VIDEO)
What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. They also discuss emerging opportunities with audio content and voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
Why do Facebook, Dell Technologies, Mozilla, Slack, Red Hat, NYT T Brand Studio, BMW, CBS, Charles Schwab, and more top brands come to Pacific Content when they want to create a branded podcast?
Steve Pratt is the Vice President and co-founder of Pacific Content, a company of 30 passionate podcast nerds that focuses exclusively on creating original podcasts with brands.
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Pacific Content joined Rogers Media in May 2019 and is one of Entrepreneur's 100 Brilliant Companies. Their shows have won Webby Awards, Digiday Branded Content Awards, MarCom Awards, and Shorty Awards.
What makes a good podcast? How about a great podcast? In this episode, Emily and Steve discuss the best ways to create a valuable message to grow your podcast audience as well as how companies should be approaching podcasting as a new form of content marketing. They also discuss emerging opportunities with audio content and voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
2:20: How Steve started working on branded content and more details on his background.
3:00: Sirius XM and the first podcast ever.
4:19: Getting bitten by the "podcast bug." Opportunities to generate exposure for new bands in Canada emerged through licensing agreements for podcasts.
4:35: The new wave of podcasting hits and with it the need for podcasters to think and act like media companies
5:37: Companies begin realizing a new medium to generate content to increase exposure, without overtly tying it to their brand. It doesn't sound like an ad.
Choiceology with Katy Milkman is an original podcast from Charles Schwab. It explores irrational decision making. The show was created by Pacific Content.
"They all understand that you have to put the audience first, and you have to have a lot of empathy for the people that you're creating this for. Anytime anybody makes a piece of content that is about themselves, it's an infomercial." - Steve Pratt
"If we make something that's about us, maybe people will listen once, and then they'll never come back." - Steve Pratt
7:22: Traditional advertising is becoming less and less effective due to the economic and global impacts of coronavirus. Advertising isn't always about showing off your brand and product; sometimes it's about just about creating something that adds value to the user's experience.
"This is a time for brands to serve instead of sell" - Steve Pratt
Loyalty and ROI
9:00: How do you play to the unique strengths of audio, and how do you measure your success in harnessing it?
11:10: Podcasting can reach people when screens aren't available
Podcasting hit a watershed moment in 2019 when, for the first time ever, over 50% of the U.S. adult population had listened to a podcast.
13:39: Everyone has a podcast, and the market is increasingly growing. Discovery and promotion can be a podcaster's biggest hurdle.
14:48: The same tips for growing your podcast can be applied as you're building a voice experience on Alexa or Google Assistant.
"This is all part of the concert of the marketing instruments; they play together." - Emily Binder
17:58: Word of mouth can grow ambassadors for your podcast or voice experience.
"You can't buy listens in podcasts, you have to earn them." - Steve Pratt
18:30: Goodpods is a platform for users to discover new podcasts and can help podcasters capitalize on the "word of mouth" marketing in a digital form. Goodpods is founded by JJ Ramberg, see our conversation with her here.
19:56: Establish patterns and comfort with users, and it will make them more drawn to new mediums. This will reduce friction to new technology and drive adoption.
"When we first had smartphones, you had to teach someone how to download an app and close an app...now, it has become second nature, and we can't live without it." - Emily Binder
23:05: This is the time to experiment with technology
24:53: Smart speakers are the training wheels of voice, but voice assistant is on so many more devices than just a smart speaker
"We had a 70% YOY increase in global shipments of smart speakers in 2019 over 2018. And voice in the car is actually the fastest growing and number 1 use case of voice." - Emily Binder
27:17: What has Google been doing in the podcast space?
Books and Podcasts Steve recommends:
Connect with Steve and Pacific Content:
Steve Pratt is Vice President and Co-Founder of Pacific Content, an award winning podcast studio
Follow @beetlemoment on Instagram:
054 - Will You Use One Voice Assistant or Many? Dave Kemp and Katherine Prescott
Listen anywhere:
Topics:
Whether should brands create their own mini voice assistants like Beeb - which kind of brands should consider this? Katherine explains
The newly announced Interoperability Initiative will strive to ensure that voice activated devices will work with multiple digital assistants like Alexa and Siri at the same time.
The two camps regarding what the voice-first future holds:
A) People will mainly interact with just one assistant (see Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri Inc.)
B) We will all use multiple voice assistants
C) A middle ground of master and mini assistants - Dave explains how Alexa could launch Beeb (BBC's assistant) or Spot (Spotify's assistant) - and Beeb would be the master of that smaller domain / use case, making a better overall experience
Alexa eventually functioning as an App Store - but for voice
Plus, how devices like Echo Buds and Echo Frames fit in to a world of mini voice assistants
What is the potential of Echo Buds to allow us to access web content we have never thought of as audio enabled?
Echo Frames could be quite powerful to usher us into a world where the input is pure voice but the output/response is multimodal (visual and audio) - Katherine makes a great point here
Get in touch with Dave and Katherine:
Dave Kemp, Business Development Manager at Oaktree Products, Inc.
Katherine Prescott, Founder & Editor at VoiceBrew