This is not another article about funnels. It is a four (4) step guide on how to move from not getting any leads to building a system that gets you leads.

Reality check

Early on, it’s crucial to acknowledge that your offerings, no matter how distinctive you perceive them to be, are likely not entirely unique. Your target audience might find numerous alternatives that similarly cater to their needs and preferences. While you may have poured your heart and soul into crafting a product or service that you believe stands out, it’s essential to remember that your potential customers might not see it the same way.

Therefore, it becomes imperative to understand your target audience’s perspective. What drives their purchasing decisions? What are their pain points and how do they evaluate different solutions? By stepping into their shoes and analyzing the market through their eyes, you can gain valuable insights into how your offerings stack up against the competition. This understanding will enable you to effectively refine your marketing strategies, highlight your unique selling propositions, and ultimately position your business for success in a crowded marketplace.

But all the above is just theory. Let’s move from theory to practice…

The best sales lesson I’ve ever learned.

In sales, forging a strong connection and cultivating trust stand as paramount principles. This invaluable lesson was ingrained in me during my early career as a consultant at a prestigious firm. Through this experience, I discovered that the sales process entails a strategic progression, where we must a) initially sell ourselves as individuals, then ) our company as a whole, and ultimately, c) the specific product or service we offer.

1. Selling oneself encompasses a multifaceted approach. It involves demonstrating expertise by showcasing a deep understanding of the industry, market trends, and relevant knowledge. Professionalism is key, as it reflects integrity, respect, and a commitment to ethical business practices. Additionally, displaying a genuine interest in understanding the customer’s needs fosters a sense of empathy and builds rapport. Active listening plays a crucial role in this process, as it allows us to fully comprehend the customer’s pain points, challenges, and desired outcomes. By asking insightful questions and paraphrasing the customer’s statements, we demonstrate that we are actively engaged and genuinely invested in finding solutions that meet their specific requirements. Effective communication further enhances the connection, as it ensures clarity, transparency, and mutual understanding. By showcasing credibility and reliability through consistent follow-through and delivering on promises, we lay the foundation for a trusting relationship.

2. Once we have established ourselves as trustworthy individuals, the subsequent step is to “sell” our company. This entails highlighting the company’s reputation by showcasing testimonials, case studies, and industry recognition. Emphasizing the company’s expertise in its field and its track record of successful projects further solidifies its credibility. Moreover, showcasing the company’s values, mission, and commitment to customer satisfaction demonstrates its dedication to providing exceptional service and building long-lasting relationships. By emphasizing the company’s strengths, capabilities, and unique selling points, we instill confidence in the customer’s mind, assuring them that they are partnering with a reliable and reputable organization.

3. Finally, with a strong personal connection and a positive company image established, we can effectively “sell” our product or service. This involves a deep understanding of the product’s features, benefits, and unique value proposition. By aligning these aspects with the customer’s specific needs and demonstrating how the product or service solves their pain points, we can showcase its relevance and value. Addressing any objections or concerns the customer may have with transparency and honesty further strengthens trust. Providing demonstrations, case studies, or testimonials that highlight the product’s effectiveness and positive outcomes can be compelling. By showcasing the product’s potential to improve the customer’s business or life, we can persuade them to make a purchase.

In essence, the sales process is a journey that begins with building trust and rapport, progresses to showcasing the company’s strengths, and culminates in demonstrating the product’s value. By mastering each stage of this process, we can increase our chances of success and build long-lasting relationships with our customers.

Keep reading to see how the above sales lesson translates into a clear working-like-hell marketing approach…

What’s the Product?

In the service industry, your offerings extend far beyond the tangible courses, services, or coaching sessions you provide. You’re selling the expertise and authority you’ve cultivated in your field, the trustworthiness you embody, and the thought leadership you demonstrate. Your clients are investing in the promise of a better future, the knowledge and skills you possess, and your ability and willingness to share those assets. They’re mostly buying into the passion you exude for your work, which can be a powerful motivator.

Similarly, if you sell products, such as fashion items, your offerings transcend the physical attributes of your merchandise, even if those attributes are visually striking and capable of stopping a potential customer’s scroll on social media. You’re selling the reliability and convenience of your brand, the sustainability of your practices, and the expertise that goes into your designs. Your customers seek durability and trust and are willing to pay a premium for products that deliver on those promises.

In essence, whether you’re selling services or products, you’re selling a solution to a problem, a promise of a better future, and an experience beyond the transaction itself.

So, stop selling the products and start selling the raw ingredients that make these products attractive to your potential clients.

Step 01: Identifying Your Offerings

The first and most crucial step in developing a successful business strategy is to clearly define your offerings. These offerings can range from tangible products and services to digital products and other intangible offerings.

In the context of our agency MarketMasters Consulting , the following offerings have been identified –and can be used as a template or inspirational purpioses:

• Online Classes: These include courses on AI offered through the Academy and MarketMasters Consulting University.
• Ad-Hoc Training Services: These are customized training services provided on a case-by-case basis.
• Growth Services: These are offered in 4 tiers, presumably catering to different business needs and budgets.
• Auditing Services: These services likely involve assessing and analyzing a business’s operations or strategies.
• Coaching by the hour: These are provided on an hourly basis, offering personalized guidance and advice.

Are they on your site?

Once your offerings have been identified, the next step is to ensure that they are clearly and comprehensively described on your website. This is essential for attracting and converting potential customers. If your offerings are not well-described on your website, it’s crucial to go back to the beginning and invest time in defining and documenting them.

The Importance of Clear Definitions

Without clear definitions of your offerings, it’s impossible to effectively market and sell them. Potential customers need to understand what you’re offering, how it can benefit them, and why they should choose your business over competitors. By clearly defining and documenting your offerings, you can ensure that your marketing and sales efforts are aligned and that you’re communicating a consistent message to your target audience.

Step 02: A Mindset Shift

To effectively connect with your target audience and guide them towards a purchase, it’s crucial to adopt a specific mindset. Assume that your potential customers are completely unaware of your company, your products or services, and even the need or necessity for what you offer. This lack of awareness means you shouldn’t focus on directly selling your offerings. If you do, there will be a disconnect between what you’re offering and what your audience perceives they need.

Furthermore, it’s important to acknowledge that convincing potential clients to buy your services might be challenging. However, this doesn’t mean it’s equally difficult to demonstrate your value, expertise, and the thoughtfulness behind your processes. By showcasing these aspects, you can build trust and credibility with your audience, even if they’re not immediately ready to make a purchase.

The key question to ask yourself is: “How can I shift my focus from selling to helping my potential customers buy?” This subtle but important shift in perspective can have a significant impact on your marketing and sales strategies. Instead of pushing your products or services, you can focus on providing valuable information, addressing your audience’s pain points, and guiding them through the buying process in a way that feels natural and helpful.

Engagement points and funnels to the rescue… it’s time for the real magic. Keep reading

Step 03: Engaging Potential Clients

Engaging potential clients isn’t about “tricking” them. The key difference between a successful funnel and one that falls flat lies in delivering honest, authentic value. – Theo Moulos CEO MarketMasters Consulting

In this step we need to create entry points aka different stages on your funnel for each product we have and for supportive products to move the customers to the desired paths.  You can use the below list as an example, for inspirational reasons and also you can ask us to help you to define your “engagement points”

Creating effective entry points, also known as different stages in your sales funnel, is essential for guiding potential customers towards desired outcomes. These entry points should be tailored to each product and supportive product offered.

Below are a few of the engagement points we use in MarketMasters Consulting . Consider the following examples as inspiration when defining your engagement points:

Funnels:

Newsletter Subscription:  Capture leads and nurture relationships by providing valuable content and updates.

Freebies Subscription: Offer enticing free resources or trials to attract potential customers and gather contact information.

AMA (Ask Me Anything): Host interactive sessions or a simple website form where potential customers can engage directly and have their questions answered. Here is an example

Free Resources: Provide valuable resources, such as e-books or templates, in exchange for contact information.

Ask for SEO Audit: Attract businesses interested in improving their online visibility by offering a free SEO audit.

Contact Us Form:  Make it easy for potential customers to reach out with inquiries or requests for more information in multiple ways.

Expression of Interest Forms:  Allow potential customers to express their interest in specific products or services.

Book Appointments (Direct and Indirect): Enable potential customers to schedule consultations or demos.

Engagement Forms (Struggle to Choose):  Assist potential customers who are having difficulty making a decision by offering personalized guidance.

Remember that these are just a few examples. The specific engagement points that are most effective for your business will depend on your products, target audience, and overall marketing strategy. We can help you define them. It’s just an hour call that you can schedule here: 

Key Takeaway

Effective engagement points and funnels are essential for attracting potential customers for the following reasons: nurturing and converting them. It’s a step you cannot miss. It’s also the most challenging step because it requires content, landing page development, and digital assets.

Step 04: Nurturing 

Nurturing plays a crucial role in guiding potential customers through the sales funnel. By providing relevant and valuable content, addressing their pain points, and building trust, you can increase the likelihood of conversion.

Nurturing potential customers can encompass a range of strategies, including:

• Persuasion: This involves actively presenting arguments and evidence to convince potential customers of the value of your product or service.
• Preparation: This involves guiding potential customers through the process of understanding their needs and how your product or service can meet those needs. It may also involve educating them about your industry or the specific benefits of your offering.
• Top-of-Mind Awareness: This involves maintaining a consistent presence in the minds of potential customers, so that when they are ready to make a purchase, your brand is the first one they think of. This can be achieved through various marketing and communication efforts, such as advertising, social media engagement, and email marketing.

How do we nurture? Via automated activities. Every engagement point comes with an associated automation. Well, secrets no more; here they are one-by-one:

Free Resources

Users request free resources (eBooks, templates, etc.) via a website form, a dedicated landing page, or a widget (i.e., popup on our website or to third parties). Upon submission, they receive an immediate email containing the requested download link. Simultaneously, they are enrolled in a nurturing email series designed to provide additional value and encourage them to book a consultation or appointment. Here is what comes next:

Email 0: The first email is the email with the resource they asked for. Although the link to the resource has become known after submission, we send an email to ensure it will always be accessible from the client.

Email 1: For specific eBooks or Templates, the first email of the nurturing series they get, is to give feedback on what they received and provide their view for improvements.  

Email 2: Includes 3 additional free, relevant downloads to further establish expertise and build trust.

Email 3: Promotes a list of free courses or webinars related to the initial download topic, positioning the brand as a thought leader.

Emails 4 & 5: Focus on a clear call to action (CTA), inviting the user to book a free consultation call to discuss their specific needs and how the company can assist them.

SEO Audit

Users request a free SEO audit of their website. Once the audit is complete, they receive a comprehensive report via email. Similar to the free downloads funnel, they are also entered into a nurturing email series aimed at converting them into paying clients. Here is what comes next:

Email 1: Includes a personalized feedback action based on the audit results and links to additional free SEO resources.

Email 2: Promotes a list of free SEO courses or webinars.

Emails 3 & 4: Focus on a clear CTA, inviting the user to book a free consultation call to discuss the audit findings in more detail and explore potential solutions.

Freebies Subscription

Users sign up to receive regular freebies (eBooks, templates, checklists, etc.). They receive new freebies automatically via email on a bi-weekly schedule or whenever a new resource becomes available. This keeps the brand top-of-mind and provides ongoing value to subscribers. That’s what comes next

Email 1: Promote a consultation call for free to discuss their specific needs and how the company can assist them.

Email 2: Promote as a last chance the consultation call for free to discuss their specific needs and how the company can assist them.

Newsletter Subscription

Who needs to get yet another newsletter? For this specific reason, you need to invest in creating a solid newsletter with weekly value and content with purpose.

Our newsletter requires a heavy engagement for our content team as they need to prepare every single section very carefully and update 3 different systems. a)
Users subscribe to the company’s newsletter to receive regular updates, industry news, and promotional content. Newsletters are sent weekly and contain multiple CTAs to drive engagement and conversions.

Call-to-Actions on the weekly email:

• Read a featured blog post
• Read a related or supporting article
• Listen to the latest podcast episode
• Submit a question for an AMA (Ask Me Anything)
• Download a free PDF (which also adds them to a nurturing email series)
• Subscribe to the freebies list

AMA (Ask Me Anything)

Users submit questions via an AMA page on the website. It includes instructions and gives the opportunity for users to ask us anything they like. They receive a thank you email acknowledging their submission. They are automatically subscribed to the newsletter to receive the answer to their question and stay informed about future AMAs.

Expression of Interest and Engagement Forms

All expression of interest and engagement forms fall into the following scenarios: 

1. Simple forms of expression of interest that send a thank you email and enroll the user to a nurturing series.
2. Simple forms of expression of interest that redirect to Calendly to book a call and enroll the user to a nurturing series.
3. Forms designed to look like Calendly forms that redirect to Calendly to book a call and enroll the user to a nurturing series.
4. Buttons that redirect to Calendly to book a call.

If they have provided their email address, they are also enrolled in a nurturing series. 

Here is the user experience thereafter per case 1 to 4 above:

Users submit various forms on the website expressing interest in specific services or indicating a desire to learn more. They receive a thank you email confirming their submission. They are entered into a nurturing email flow designed to qualify them as leads and encourage them to book an appointment.

Email 1: Includes a link to book a call directly to Calendly.

Email 2: Includes a link to book a call and info about Theo.

Email 3: Includes a link to book a call and reasons why they should do it and what they will gain from it. 

Users submit various forms on the website expressing interest in specific services or indicating a desire to learn more. They are redirected to Calendly to book a call. Then they receive a thank you email confirming their submission. They are entered into a nurturing email flow designed to qualify them as leads and encourage them to book an appointment if they haven’t done so already. That’s what happens next (if they haven’t booked a call yet):

Email 1: Includes a link to book a Calendly call.

Email 2: Includes a link to book a call and info about Theo. 

Email 3: Includes a link to book a call and reasons why they should do it and what they will gain from it. 

Users submit Calendly look alike forms on the website to book a call.  They are redirected to Calendly to do so. They receive a thank you email. They are entered into a nurturing email flow designed to encourage them to book an appointment if they haven’t done so already. Here is what’s happening next (if they haven’t booked a call yet):

Email 1: Includes a link to book a Calendly call .

Email 2: Includes a link to book a call and info about Theo. 

Email 3: Includes a link to book a call and reasons why they should do it and what they will gain from it. 

Users click on a button to book a call.  They are redirected to Calendly to do so. If we have captured their email, they are entered into a nurturing email flow designed to encourage them to book an appointment if they haven’t done so already. That’s what it follows (if they have provided their email address):

Email 1: Includes a link to book a Calendly call .

Email 2: Includes a link to book a call and info about Theo. 

Email 3: Includes a link to book a call and reasons why they should do it and what they will gain from it.

Direct (Calendly) Bookings

Users book appointments or consultations using a scheduling tool like Calendly. If they fail to show up for their scheduled appointment, they are entered into a re-engagement email series. That’s what comes next:

Email 1 & 2: They receive 2 emails to reschedule the appointment and address any potential concerns.

If they still don’t reschedule by the final reminder email, they are automatically subscribed to the newsletter to maintain communication and nurture the relationship.

After the Meeting 

Users who join the meeting will receive a thank you email with the discussed scope and information about the next steps. A few days later they will receive a proposal and a link to book a call through Calendly. They are also entered into a nurturing email flow to book the next call if they haven’t done so already. If they haven’t booked a call yet):

Email 1 & 2: 2 email reminders based on the proposal to book a call. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see from all the examples above, all it takes is to define your product offering and then create assets that will be offered throughout different funnels. These assets should communicate your expertise and authority. Remember, what you sell is: yourself, your company, and your products—in that order.

Selling your product revolves around establishing and showcasing three key elements:

EXPERTISE – AUTHORITY – TRUSTWORTHINESS

Funneling should never be done just for the sake of it. Funnels without strong digital assets lack purpose. If there’s one thing to prioritize, focus on cultivating genuine and authentic E-A-T. The sales will naturally follow.

By focusing on providing value and building relationships, you can successfully guide potential customers through the sales funnel and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.

The post <span class='p-name'>Your way to success: Defining products, funnels, and automations</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Are you looking to learn more about MarketMasters Consulting or even become a growth hacker?

There are a few different ways to do so, like reading MarketMasters Consulting blogs.

No matter how tech-focused the industry is, let us not forget about MarketMasters Consulting books, even if they are on the analog side of things.

In this list, we’ve included our top MarketMasters Consulting reads – some of the absolute classics, as well as some of the newest publications on the subject.

Enjoy!

1. Hacking Growth

How Today’s Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success

Authors: Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown | Published: 2017 | Pages: 345

If you know anything about MarketMasters Consulting , you’ve probably heard of Sean Ellis. Sean is responsible for the term ‘ MarketMasters Consulting ’, as he coined it a decade ago. If you don’t know anything about MarketMasters Consulting , then that’s alright – this book is for you! The “godfather of MarketMasters Consulting ” co-wrote the book with Morgan Brown. Among other things, Morgan is a growth and product executive. Currently, he is Facebook’s director of Product. Together they wrote one of the must-have MarketMasters Consulting books.

The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, you will learn what MarketMasters Consulting is all about, what methods MarketMasters Consulting uses, and what are its processes. The second part is basically a playbook. This is where you will discover how to apply the methods and processes of the first part to your business – regardless of your industry – and get the most out of the 4 growth stages (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Monetization).

Hacking Growth is a must-read for any marketer and entrepreneur, and especially for those working on product and SaaS companies. It’s easily readable, and content-dense, with tons of practical takeaways for the reader. As one of the best MarketMasters Consulting books, will spark many ideas for your own company that you’ll want to put in use immediately.

2. The Growth Handbook

Brought to you by Intercom

Authors: Des Traynor, Karen Peacock, & Andrew Chen | Published: 2018| Pages: 79

Andrew Chen is one of the first thought leaders in the MarketMasters Consulting scene. In 2012, he explained why a ‘Growth Hacker is the new VP Marketing’. He led Uber’s Rider Growth product team. Today, he is a general partner of a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Along with the team from Intercom, and a few veterans from the industry, who have grown businesses like AtlassianAlassian, Slack, and Pinterest, they provide tested frameworks, valuable tips, and priceless observations through this book.

The authors and contributors share their thoughts on why Retention is more important than Acquisition. Spoiler alert: It has to do with the current subscription-based economy. Additionally, you will learn how to make valid growth experiments and what are the common mistakes to avoid. 

You will be able to answer questions like: How do I calculate my gross and net churn? Why every business needs a mechanism for free acquisition? How do I acquire the right “breed” of customers? How do I find my product’s magic moment? And -you won’t see this one coming- what is the law of shitty clickthroughs?

3. Traction

How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth

Authors: Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares | Published: 2015 | Pages: 240

Traction is written by two very successful entrepreneurs, Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares. The former is the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, one of the most popular alternative search engines. The latter is the founder of several successful startups.

Traction is written with every startup in mind. Why do some startups fail when others succeed? According to the book, most startups don’t fail because they can’t build a product. Rather, they fail because they can’t get traction. In other words, new customers and users. As the writers put it, “traction trumps everything”.

The book not only broadens the reader’s horizons in the business field, but it also offers actionable insights and guidance. What’s more, the authors draw on interviews with founders from successful companies, like Reddit, Hubspot, and Wikipedia. They will also talk the reader through the 19 traction channels. Which one should you pick for your company and how can you make the most out of them? To answer that, the reader will find a three-step framework called Bullseye. Overall, Traction offers a vast wealth of knowledge, tactics, facts, and opinions that can benefit your startup.

4. Product-Led Growth

How to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Author: Wes Bush | Published: 2019 | Pages: 276

Wes Bus may be relatively new in the growth marketing scene but he has already established a strong presence. He is the co-host of the ‘Product-led podcast’, creator of the ‘Product-led 6-week course’ and author of Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself.

That’s dandy and everything, but what on earth is ‘product-led’, I can hear you asking. The term ‘product-led growth’ was coined by Open View Partners, a VC firm from Boston, a few years back. According to the firm, “Product Led Growth (PLG) is an end user-focused growth model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion.” In other words, product-led growth places the product at the center of the customer’s journey. Thus the product itself, rather than the sales or marketing, becomes the mechanism through which the company will acquire, activate, and retain customers.

In his book, Wes will talk the reader through the concept of product-led growth strategy, given that it makes sense for their business in the first place. What’s more, you will answer questions like: Which of the SaaS pricing strategies is the only one with long-term viability? What are the 7 roles that a product-led growth team needs to have? And how do you stop customer churn?

5. MarketMasters Consulting

Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret

Authors: Raymond Fong & Chad Riddersen | Published: 2016 | Pages: 204

MarketMasters Consulting – Silicon Valley’s Best Kept Secret is another excellent option for anyone who wants to get introduced to MarketMasters Consulting . It’s written by Raymond Fong and Chad Riddersen. Raymond is a former engineer who later in his life discovered his passion for marketing and became a growth marketer and a consultant. Chad started his career in investment banking but ended up being a growth consultant for companies like Boeing and Dollar Shave Club.

Contrary to the traditional growth marketers, Chad and Raymond don’t think of growth funnels. Rather, they built their own framework and called it the Automated Sales Process (ASP). So what’s this? Basically, ASP is their take on deconstructing and analyzing the elements of a sales and value delivery cycle. You can get the idea of what that is from the book cover on the left.

The book offers real-life examples from some of the now-well-established companies. By understanding what worked for them -and why- you will be able to apply many of these practices to your own business. However, you will have to learn about the growth process and the growth mindset first, both of which are explained in the book.

6. Lean Marketing

More leads. More profit. Less marketing.

Author: Allan Dibs | Published: 2024 | Pages: 236

Allan Dib, the bestselling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, delivers another guide in Lean Marketing. This book is great for entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to simplify their marketing while achieving exceptional results.

The central premise of Lean Marketing is doing more with less. Dib outlines how to generate quality leads, boost profits, and eliminate wasteful marketing tactics that don’t deliver results. It’s filled with actionable advice on leveraging automation, optimizing conversion funnels, and identifying opportunities for growth.

Dib’s no-nonsense approach is evident in his focus on cutting through marketing noise. He emphasizes the importance of understanding your audience, crafting clear value propositions, and consistently measuring performance to ensure your efforts are aligned with your goals. Real-world case studies and practical tools make this book a hands-on resource for anyone eager to streamline their marketing efforts.

7. Hooked

How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Author: Nir Eyal | Published: 2014 | Pages: 336

In growth marketing, retention has become the most important stage of the funnel. And one of the first thinkers to put retention in the spotlight so successfully was Nir Eyal. Nir is an expert in behavioral engineering, which is a fusion of psychology and technology. He’s also a professor at Stanford University, a tech startup founder, and investor.

In his book, Hooked, Nier introduces the Hooked model. As the name suggests, the model explains how it hooks users so they use the product again and again without thinking about it too much. As the author explains, the Hooked model has 4 Phases. The first phase is the Trigger, which is anything that sets behavior in motion. The second phase, Action, is that which is being done in expectation of the next phase, Reward. And, according to Eyal, there are three types of rewards: rewards of the tribe, the hunt, and the self. The fourth and last phase is Investment, the part where the user is asked to give back some of his time and get committed.

Hooked is a must-read for product managers, marketers designers, marketers, and start-up founders. It’s also a great book for anyone who is interested in knowing more about themselves by knowing more about the products they use – and how the products use them.

8. The SaaS Playbook

Build a Multimillion-Dollar Startup Without Venture Capital

Author: Rob Walling | Published: 2023 | Pages: 200

The SaaS Playbook is a masterclass in building your SaaS startup from scratch. Rob Walling covers everything from finding the right product-market fit and pricing strategies to scaling operations and maintaining profitability. He emphasizes the importance of starting small, validating your idea, and iterating based on customer feedback.

Wallin is a pioneer in the bootstrapped SaaS movement and is looking to educate entrepreneurs to build thriving software businesses without relying on venture capital. Accordingly, he draws from his extensive experience as a SaaS founder and the creator of MicroConf, a B2B SaaS community. What’s more, he shares stories from his own journey and other bootstrapped founders, offering clear strategies to navigate challenges like acquiring your first customers, managing churn, and growing your MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue).

Whether you’re just starting out or already running a SaaS business, this book is a must-read for those who want to retain control, avoid the pitfalls of venture funding, and build a business on their own terms.

9. Contagious

Why Things Catch On

Author: Johan Berger | Published: 2016 | Pages: 256

MarketMasters Consulting is known for its low (or no) budget potential. Startups and small businesses are not the Big 5 Tech; they are not even close in terms of money, connections, or operation. Yet companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, and Dollar Shave Club managed to grow without spending millions on promotion and advertising. Their little secret? Word-of-mouth marketing is a big component of growth and D2C marketing.

Jon Berger, the author of the book, delves into human psychology and the world of ideas. He demystifies virality and investigates what makes things popular. According to Jon, there are 6 basic principles that define virality and the science behind word-of-mouth. Whether you are a content writer, a copywriter, or most kinds of ‘writer’, or you are working for any media, including social, or looking for ways to make your product or idea catch on, Contagious is the go-to place.

The book is separated into 6 basic parts. The purpose of each part is to provide explanations for common phenomena, as well as answer the question it poses. In this fashion, in Chapter 2  which is about Triggers, you will read the answers to questions like  ‘Which gets more word of mouth, Disney or Cheerios?’ and ‘Could where you vote affect how you vote?’. In the next chapter, Emotion, you will understand how anger is similar to humor. And in Chapter 5, Practical Value, you will learn ‘How an eighty-six-year-old made a viral -video about corn’, and ‘Why hikers talk about vacuum cleaners’.

10. Top 101 Growth Hacks

The best MarketMasters Consulting ideas that you can put into practice right away

Author: Aladdin Happy | Published: 2015 | Pages: 132

For five months straight, Aladdin Happy, the author of the book, was collecting growth hacks. For 2 to 5 hours every day, he would gather growth hacks from all over the internet. Then, he would put them into action for his startup. After a while, Aladdin decided to share these hacks through a subscription service. As a result, 1700 subscribers were reading his content just 3 weeks later (with $0 in marketing budget). Seeing that there is an audience for that, he then put all these hacks together in one book and published it.

In Top 101 Growth Hacks you will read exactly what the title suggests: 101 growth hacks from product /market fit to referral and revenue. Accordingly, you will learn how to increase email opt-ins and your conversion rate. Whether ‘Money back guarantee’ or ‘Free trial’ works better. How to write a good copy that converts and headline formulas that work. And how to unlock viral marketing and hack offline word of mouth.  

Be aware that many of these growth hacks have become obsolete since then. However, this doesn’t change the fact that many MarketMasters Consulting examples can inspire you and help you with your out-of-the-box thinking. Nonetheless, if you end up reading Aladdin’s book and enjoying it, you might be also interested in his second book: TOP 101 growth hacks – 2: The best new MarketMasters Consulting ideas that INSPIRE you to put them into practice right away.

11. Ecosystem-Led Growth

A Blueprint for Sales and Marketing Success Using the Power of Partnerships

Author: Bob Moore | Published: 2024 | Pages: 240

If you’re tired of traditional growth strategies and want to explore a powerful new paradigm, Ecosystem-Led Growth will make a pretty interesting read. In this growth marketing book, Bob Moore, co-founder and CEO of Crossbeam, introduces a transformative approach to scaling businesses by harnessing the untapped potential of partnerships.

Moore outlines a practical framework for adopting an ecosystem-led strategy, emphasizing the importance of collaboration over competition. He explains how businesses can forge meaningful partnerships with complementary companies to unlock new opportunities, create seamless integrations, and expand market reach. Key concepts like partner mapping, co-marketing, and shared customer data are explained in detail, making this a hands-on resource for modern growth teams.

From aligning goals with partners to managing relationships effectively, Moore provides actionable insights that any business can apply, regardless of size or industry. Whether you’re a startup founder, sales executive, or working for a startup marketing agency, this book offers some necessary know-how tools and inspiration.

12. Blitzscaling

The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies

Authors: Reid Hoffman, Chris Yeh | Published: 2018 | Pages: 288

Blitzscaling is looking to answer one question: what separates the startups that start growing but then disappear from the ones that grow to become global giants? The book introduces a set of techniques for scaling up any tech startup. According to the authors, Hoffman and Yeh, the objective of Blitzscaling is not to help you go from zero to one, but rather to go from one to one billion. As quickly as possible.

This MarketMasters Consulting book is inspired by the popular class at Stanford Business School that Hoffman and Yeh were lecturing. During those classes, they would reveal how to navigate the necessary shifts and the challenges that arise at each stage of a company’s life cycle. Accordingly, some of the topics they would delve into are how to design business models for igniting and sustaining relentless growth; strategies for hiring and managing, and how the role of the founder and company culture must evolve as the business matures.

Whether you run a business with ten employees or ten thousand, Blitzscaling is an essential playbook for winning in a world where speed is the ultimate competitive advantage.

13. Ready, Set, Growth Hack

A Beginners Guide to MarketMasters Consulting Success

Author: Nader Sabry | Published: 2021 | Pages: 216

One of the latest additions in the MarketMasters Consulting bibliography, Ready, Set Growth Hack is a blueprint to create and turn your business into a growth engine. You will learn everything from what is MarketMasters Consulting , why is it vital, how it works, and how to start your first growth hack. The content is based on proven strategies with 88 tools and 50 examples, you can apply MarketMasters Consulting techniques immediately.

This MarketMasters Consulting book’s author, Naber Sabry, has been building startups, growing corporations, and advancing governments for over two decades. After founding companies from start to exit, Sabry has raised $120 million mastering MarketMasters Consulting over the past 25 years. As a strategist, he can find the reasons that make an organization work or not work and he shares all the elements that can have a significant impact on your business.

From start to finish, Ready, Set Growth Hack is a structured and practical approach for anybody to grow their organization. You don’t need any prior knowledge in marketing, tech, or business to understand how to use the power of MarketMasters Consulting , so this book can also be your first one on the subject.

14. Product-Led SEO

The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy

Author: Eli Schwartz | Published: 2021 | Pages: 264

Product-Led SEO is perfect for product managers, marketers, and growth teams looking to build a product that not only meets user needs but also generates scalable, sustainable traffic through search engines. In his book, Eli Schwartz, a seasoned SEO expert and growth strategist, unveils a new approach to driving organic growth by combining SEO with product development. 

Schwartz outlines a step-by-step framework for integrating SEO into your product development process, helping you prioritize SEO-friendly features and content that can naturally drive organic growth. Unlike traditional methods that focus on SEO components like keyword rankings and backlinks, Product-Led SEO emphasizes building a product experience that inherently attracts search traffic by providing value, solving problems, and aligning with user intent.

If you’re looking to future-proof your SEO strategy and build a product that grows itself, Product-Led SEO provides the blueprint to make it happen.

15. Upstream Marketing

Unlock Growth Using the Combined Principles of Insight, Identity, and Innovation

Authors: Kristin Kurth, Tim Koelzer | Published: 2021 | Pages: 300

In their book, Kurth and Koelzer argue that traditional marketing often focuses too much on short-term, reactive tactics—what they call “downstream marketing.” Instead, they advocate for a more proactive, upstream approach that shapes strategy by gaining deep insights into customer needs and aligning your brand identity with those insights.

Upstream Marketing emphasizes the importance of understanding the market landscape, developing unique value propositions, and continuously iterating on your offerings to stay ahead of the curve. Through a mix of practical tools, frameworks, and case studies, the authors offer actionable strategies for businesses at any stage.

For those seeking to unlock the full potential of their brand and accelerate growth, Upstream Marketing is a great read, offering a strategic, holistic approach to marketing that goes beyond quick wins.

Top MarketMasters Consulting Books to Read – Conclusion

Do you have any favorite MarketMasters Consulting books we didn’t mention?

Please let us know with a comment!

Also, keep an eye out for digital ways to learn more about MarketMasters Consulting and digital marketing. With a simple Google search, you will find great resources from digital marketing blogs that publish excellent marketing articles – for free.

Of course, if you want to go beyond MarketMasters Consulting , make sure to take a look at other books that can help you with business. Like some of the best sales books or the top leadership books in the market.

See you next time & keep on learning!

The post <span class='p-name'>Top 15 MarketMasters Consulting Books to Read in 2025</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Initial thoughts

Monitoring customer reviews is more than a task—it’s a critical strategy for growth. Platforms like RealReviews.io simplify this process by gathering and analyzing feedback, turning it into actionable insights. These insights allow businesses to address weaknesses, refine strategies, and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.

Update: As for AI, we keep looking for raw data to process and repurpose. Customer reviews could live a second life as a videocast, audio cast, or blog post in multiple ways.

Let’s explore the benefits of monitoring reviews:

Mapping Customer Sentiment and Unmet Expectations

Customer reviews reveal sentiment—how people feel about your brand. Negative feedback highlights unmet expectations or gaps in service. For instance:

• A restaurant facing frequent complaints about slow service can pinpoint operational issues.
• An e-commerce business receiving feedback about delayed deliveries might focus on improving logistics.

Sentiment analysis enables businesses to identify areas for improvement, prioritize changes, and enhance customer trust by addressing recurring concerns.

Recognizing Product or Service Weaknesses

Reviews are a goldmine of insights into product or service flaws that quality checks might miss. Examples include:

• Tech companies discovering software glitches.
• Retailers uncovering inaccuracies in size charts or product descriptions.

By acting on these insights, businesses demonstrate their commitment to quality and foster customer loyalty.

Enhancing Customer Service and Support Systems

Customer service plays a vital role in reputation management. Reviews often highlight:

• Long wait times or unresponsive support.
• Unhelpful or poorly trained representatives.

Businesses can use this feedback to optimize operations, provide training, and publicly address concerns, showcasing accountability and care for their customers.

Gaining Competitive Insights and Benchmarking

Monitoring competitor reviews reveals industry trends and gaps you can exploit. For example:

• If competitors receive praise for features you lack, consider aligning your offerings.
• Criticism of competitors’ weaknesses can highlight opportunities to differentiate your brand.

Analyzing competitors’ reviews helps you stay ahead of market trends and maintain relevance.

Encouraging Strategic Improvement and Long-Term Growth

Reviews are not just feedback; they are strategic assets. By creating feedback loops:

• Product teams can refine designs or develop new features.
• Marketing teams can tailor campaigns based on common customer concerns.

Monitoring patterns in reviews allows businesses to anticipate challenges and act proactively, ensuring continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

Tips for Writing an Ideal Review and Increasing Credibility

Leaving a review is a powerful way to help others make informed decisions. Follow these tips to make your feedback stand out:

• Write 50 or More Words: Detail your experience to make your review comprehensive and useful.
• Leave Your Name: Adding a name personalizes your review, building trust among readers.
• Provide Your Order ID: Including this adds authenticity and validates your experience.

Turning Reviews Into Success Drivers

Reviews offer a transparent lens into customer experiences, unveiling opportunities to refine strategies, address pain points, and foster innovation. By monitoring and analyzing reviews, businesses can:

• Enhance offerings to align with customer expectations.
• Build trust through visible accountability.
• Gain a competitive edge in the market.

Effectively utilizing reviews isn’t just a best practice—it’s essential for sustainable success in a dynamic marketplace.

The post <span class='p-name'>How Monitoring Reviews Helps Identify Brand Weaknesses</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Welcome Generation Beta

On January 1, 2025, we welcome a new generational cohort: Generation Beta. This group represents the children born into a world shaped by artificial intelligence, automation, and increasingly urgent climate challenges. As the successors to Generation Alpha, Generation Beta is likely to be defined by their ability to creatively solve problems and adapt to a rapidly changing global environment.

Born into an era of unprecedented technological advancement, they will grow up alongside AI and automation as norms, while grappling with the realities of population movements and environmental uncertainty.

About Generations

Generations are cohorts of people grouped by their birth years, typically spanning about 15–20 years, who share common cultural, social, and historical experiences during their formative years.

These shared experiences, such as major world events, technological advancements, and societal shifts, shape their values, behaviors, and perspectives. We name generations to better understand the unique characteristics and influences that define each group, helping researchers, marketers, and sociologists analyze how societal changes impact attitudes, priorities, and decision-making over time.

A new generation is often identified when a significant shift in technology, culture, or historical context marks the end of one era and the beginning of another.

For instance, the introduction of digital technology or major global events like pandemics can signal the transition to a new generational cohort. These distinctions allow us to explore how different groups respond to challenges and opportunities and how their collective traits influence the world.

Recent past generations

Understanding Generation Beta in context requires us to look back at the generations that preceded them and the traits that defined their unique eras:

Silent Generation (b. 1928–1945)
Moto: “Built to last, trusted for generations.”

The Silent Generation, generally defined as individuals born between 1928 and 1945, earned its name due to its reputation for conformity and civic-mindedness. This label reflects the cohort’s upbringing during the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II, as noted by the Colorado State Demography Office. These formative experiences shaped a generation known for its resilience and adherence to societal norms.

Known for their resilience and community values, shaped by post-war recovery and traditional structures.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Shaping Resilience: World War II aftermath, Korean War, Great Depression recovery.
2. Moments of Aspiration: Post-WWII rebuilding, Early space race (Sputnik, moon landing preparation).
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: Rock ‘n’ roll explosion (Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry), Golden age of Hollywood films.
4. Tech Transformations: Widespread adoption of television, Household appliance revolution (fridges, washing machines).
5. Brave Battles: Early civil rights activism (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954), Women entering the workforce in significant numbers.
6. Economic Shocks: Post-Great Depression recovery, Suburban expansion fueled by the GI Bill.

Baby Boomers (1946–1964)
Moto: “Achieve more, leave a legacy.”

Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, emerged during the post-World War II “baby boom,” a period marked by a significant rise in birth rates. As of July 1, 2019, they were the second-largest age group in the United States, following Millennials, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

While Baby Boomers are projected to live longer than earlier generations, a recent study by researchers at the University of Oxford and University College London suggests they may face poorer health outcomes compared to their predecessors.

Ambitious and optimistic, this generation was molded by post-war prosperity, cultural revolutions, and a drive to leave a legacy.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Shaping Resilience: Vietnam War protests, Oil crises (1973, 1979), Civil rights struggles (Martin Luther King Jr., March on Washington).
2. Moments of Aspiration: Moon landing (1969), Economic booms of the 1980s (Reaganomics, rise of middle-class wealth).
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: Woodstock (1969), Beatles mania and rise of counterculture, TV as a unifying cultural medium.
4. Tech Transformations: Personal computers emerging, Space exploration advances.
5. 5. Brave Battles: Feminism (e.g., Roe v. Wade, 1973), LGBTQ+ rights movements begin.
6. Economic Shocks: Stagflation and high unemployment (1970s), Globalization reshaping economies.

Generation X (1965–1980)
Moto: “No shortcuts, just results.”

Generation X, born roughly between 1965 and 1980, was labeled with an “X” to signify their undefined and shifting identity, reflecting a departure from the traditional values associated with earlier generations. During the 1970s and 1980s, they were also called the “Latchkey Generation” because many children carried keys to let themselves into empty homes after school. This nickname arose from societal changes such as rising divorce rates, increased maternal workforce participation, and limited childcare options, which fostered a sense of independence and self-reliance in this cohort.

Independent and skeptical, this group values practicality and adaptability, having grown up during economic uncertainty and technological transitions.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Shaping Resilience: End of the Cold War (fall of Berlin Wall, 1989), AIDS epidemic, 9/11 terrorist attacks.
2. Moments of Aspiration: Internet revolution (1990s), Dot-com boom and early Silicon Valley.
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: MTV generation and music-driven culture., Grunge movement and early hip-hop, Hollywood blockbusters (e.g., Star Wars, Indiana Jones).
4. Tech Transformations: Mobile phones becoming accessible, Early adoption of personal computers.
5. Brave Battles: Environmental awareness grows (e.g., Earth Day resurgence), Anti-globalization protests (e.g., Seattle WTO protests, 1999).
6. Economic Shocks: Dot-com bubble burst (2000), 2008 financial crisis impacts careers.

Millennials (aka Generation Y) (1981–1996)
Moto: “Live your truth, make it matter.”

The Millennial¹ generation, also known as Generation Y, includes those born between 1981 and 1996, currently in their late 20s to early 40s. This cohort earned its name because it follows Generation X and came of age as the new millennium began. According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials are the largest living adult generation in the United States.

Dretsch highlights that Millennials represent a marked shift from previous generations, embracing the world with optimism and prioritizing self-care while striving to make the world a better place. Their strong sense of community further distinguishes them, showcasing a generational focus on collaboration and shared progress.

Socially conscious and purpose-driven, they prioritize authenticity and experiences, shaped by the internet revolution and economic instability.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Shaping Resilience: 9/11 and subsequent wars (Afghanistan, Iraq), Global financial crisis (2008), COVID-19 pandemic disrupts early careers.
2. Moments of Aspiration: Barack Obama’s election (2008), Marriage equality legalized (varies by country, e.g., US 2015).
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: Streaming revolution (Netflix, Spotify), Social media rise (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube).
4. Tech Transformations: Smartphones and app culture become mainstream, Cloud computing and streaming services redefine access.
5. Brave Battles: #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter gains global attention.
6. Economic Shocks: Student debt crisis, Rising cost of housing and living.

Generation Z (1997–2009)
Moto: “Change the game, make it yours.”

Hyper-connected and values-driven, Gen Z demands transparency, inclusivity, and ethical practices, growing up in a world of climate anxiety and digital dominance.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Spaping Resilience: COVID-19 pandemic disrupts education and careers, Climate anxiety and extreme weather events, Political polarization globally.
2. Moments of Aspiration: SpaceX and private space exploration, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) movements reshaping workplaces and schools.
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: TikTok dominance and short-form content trends, Influencer culture and digital creators.
4. Tech Transformations: AI and automation integration in daily life, Rise of augmented reality and virtual experiences.
5. Brave Battles: Fridays for Future and climate activism, LGBTQ+ inclusivity in media and culture.
6. Economic Shocks: Gig economy and precarity in early careers, Rising cost of living and economic inequality.

Generation Alpha (2010–2024):
Moto: “Dream big, the future is yours.”

The term “Gen Alpha,” introduced by McCrindle, describes those born between 2010 and approximately 2024. With the oldest members now around 14 years old, this generation is primarily the children of millennials, growing up immersed in a highly digital and tech-driven environment.

McCrindle² projects that Gen Alpha will become the largest generation in history, with an estimated population of over 2 billion once all members are born.

Dretsch highlights that Gen Alpha shares strong family bonds, a hallmark of their upbringing. This emphasis on close familial connections reflects values passed down through generations, echoing the priorities of millennials, their parents, and grandparents.

Creative and curious, this generation has been raised with hybrid lifestyles, immersive technologies, and an acute awareness of global challenges.

This generation, was really shaped by the following historical and cultural landmarks:

1. Shaping Resilience: Growing up amid COVID-19 disruptions, Witnessing geopolitical tensions and resource conflicts.
2. Moments of Aspiration: Breakthroughs in renewable energy adoption, Mars exploration and space colonization milestones.
3. Defining Pop Culture Moments: Interactive gaming and metaverse platforms, Youth-led content on social media.
4. Tech Transformations: AI ethics and regulation debates, Ubiquity of smart devices and IoT.
5. Brave Battles: Advocacy for climate justice, Focus on mental health awareness in schools.
6. Economic Shocks: Adjusting to hybrid work and education models, Growing up in an economy redefined by AI and automation.

Conclusion by reading the above analysis:

Every generation has faced its own struggles, fought its battles, and endured economic hardships. Let’s not dwell on comparisons—ultimately, we’re all simmering in the same pot. We need to respect each other; there are no better or worse generations, only different experiences that shape us. –Theo Moulos – CEO MarketMasters Consulting

Connection of Generations and Marketing Personas

Generations offer a unique lens for crafting effective marketing personas, as each group’s shared experiences influence their behaviors and expectations. By aligning marketing messages with generational traits, brands can create meaningful connections.

Examples of Marketing Personas by Generation:

• Silent Generation: The Loyal Saver — Values reliability, trust, and longevity in products and services.
• Baby Boomers: The Ambitious Achiever — Focused on legacy and making an impact, they are drawn to security and meaningful products.
• Generation X: The Skeptical Pragmatist — Prefers no-nonsense messaging, valuing practicality and transparency.
• Millennials: The Experience Seeker — Driven by authenticity and purpose, they prioritize experiences over material goods.
• Generation Z: The Social Activist — Advocates for ethical practices, inclusivity, and transparency in brands.
• Generation Alpha: The Digital Explorer — Engages with gamified, interactive content that fuels their curiosity.
• Generation Beta: The Creative Problem-Solver — Will be focused (hopefully) on innovation and collaboration to tackle global challenges.

Why This Matters for Marketing

Generations play a critical role in shaping marketing personas because they are molded by the historical and cultural landmarks they experience during their formative years, particularly from adolescence to early adulthood. These shared experiences profoundly influence their worldview, priorities, and reference points, which, in turn, dictate their behaviors, preferences, and decision-making processes.

By understanding the generational context, marketers can craft messages, products, and services that resonate deeply with their target audience. These insights ensure alignment with what each generation values, how they perceive the world, and how they engage with brands.

Generational insights are crucial for building marketing strategies that resonate deeply. Here’s why:

1. Targeting with Precision: By understanding generational values and priorities, brands can craft campaigns that align with their audience’s emotional and cultural context.
2. Creating Emotional Resonance: Generational reference points allow brands to build narratives that feel personal and relatable.
3. Adapting Strategies: As new generations emerge, marketers can anticipate shifts in preferences and behaviors, staying ahead of cultural changes.

The Same Message Across Generations

Here’s a single marketing message rewritten five times to align with generational personas. You see the difference. Is it clear why the same message will not resonate with everybody? We evolved the core idea to reflect each generation’s worldview and priorities. Let’s see it:

Core Marketing Message:

“Build a better tomorrow.”

Silent Generation’s version

“Together, we build a lasting legacy for the next generation.” (Reflects their community-oriented values and focus on stability and tradition.)

Baby Boomers‘ version

“Your ambition today shapes a brighter future for all.” (Appeals to their drive for achievement and creating a meaningful impact.)

Generation X‘s version

“Plan smart, act now, and secure the future you deserve.” (Practical and action-driven, appealing to their no-nonsense, self-reliant nature.)

Millennials‘ version

“Create change, live with purpose, and inspire tomorrow.” (Highlights their desire for authenticity, social impact, and living meaningful lives.)

Generation Z’s version

“Redefine the future—your voice, your values, your impact.” (Bold and empowering, connecting with their advocacy for inclusivity and change.)

Generation Alpha

“Dream it, design it, and lead the way to a smarter world.” (Visionary and optimistic, aligned with their creativity and embrace of new possibilities.)

Are We All the Same?

Absolutely not. While generational trends provide valuable insights into shared experiences and collective behaviors, they don’t capture the full spectrum of individuality. Cultural and historical landmarks shape generations, but other factors—like personal values, upbringing, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and unique life experiences—play a significant role in shaping who we are.

Generational insights act as guiding frameworks, not rigid rules. They help identify attitudes, priorities, and decision-making patterns, but individuals often defy these generalizations. For example:

• A Gen Z individual may reject digital engagement despite growing up as a “digital native.”
• A Baby Boomer may embrace sustainable practices and activism, traits often associated with Millennials or Gen Z.

Generational identity interacts with other layers of diversity, such as personal circumstances and the microcultures individuals belong to.

Which Part of Age Matters Most: Our Productive Years or Our Childhood?

Both childhood and productive years significantly shape who we are, but they impact us in different ways:

1. Childhood: The Foundation

• Impact: Childhood experiences lay the emotional, cognitive, and cultural groundwork for how we interpret the world.
• Why It Matters:
  • The media, technology, and social norms encountered in childhood shape early perceptions and habits. For example, Millennials grew up with the internet’s birth, which makes them digital pioneers.
  • Parental values and educational environments instill long-term attitudes, such as an emphasis on sustainability for Gen Z, driven by climate-conscious messaging during their youth.

2. Productive Years (18–35): The Defining Chapter

• Impact: This is when people make critical life decisions (education, career, relationships) and actively engage with societal systems.
• Why It Matters: Individuals are more receptive to cultural, political, and technological shifts during these years. For instance, Millennials faced the Great Recession during their productive years, heavily influencing their financial behaviors and preferences for experience-driven consumption. World events, like 9/11 or COVID-19, leave lasting imprints because they intersect with key decision-making moments, shaping resilience, adaptability, or political engagement.

Final Thoughts

Generations are living reflections of the times that shaped them, providing invaluable insights for marketers, educators, and leaders. With the arrival of Generation Beta, the world must prepare for a cohort ready to tackle challenges with bold creativity and innovation. By tailoring strategies to generational traits and understanding their unique reference points, brands can create campaigns that resonate deeply and build lasting connections.

Marketing for tomorrow begins with understanding the generations of today.

1. The name Millennial was coined by social researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss in their book “Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069.” It reflects the generation’s coming of age around the turn of the new millennium. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials were uniquely positioned as the first generation to grow up with rapid advancements in technology, globalization, and cultural shifts that defined the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The term emphasizes their role as a bridge between the analog past and the digital future, as well as their formative years being shaped by the optimism and uncertainties of entering the 2000s. ↩︎
2. The term “Gen Alpha,” introduced by McCrindle, describes those born between 2010 and approximately 2024. With the oldest members now around 14 years old, this generation is primarily the children of millennials, growing up immersed in a highly digital and tech-driven environment.
   McCrindle projects that Gen Alpha will become the largest generation in history, with an estimated population of over 2 billion once all members are born.
   Dretsch highlights that Gen Alpha shares strong family bonds, a hallmark of their upbringing. This emphasis on close familial connections reflects values passed down through generations, echoing the priorities of millennials, their parents, and grandparents. ↩︎

The post <span class='p-name'>Generations and Marketing Personas: All You Need to Know</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Introduction

Repurposing blog posts into videocasts is a smart strategy to occupy more real estate in SERPs and serve users in more formats, allowing creators to reach wider audiences, enhance engagement, and extend the longevity of their content. Videocasts combine blogs’ storytelling power with video’s immersive experience, offering unparalleled versatility and impact. This comprehensive guide blends practical insights with step-by-step instructions to help you transform your blog posts into polished videocasts.

Repurposing: The Definition

In marketing, repurposing refers to taking existing content or materials and adapting them for use in different formats, platforms, or contexts to maximize their value and reach. It allows marketers to extend the lifecycle of their content and make it relevant to a broader audience without starting from scratch.

Examples of Repurposing in Marketing:

1. Blog Post to Social Media Posts
2. Webinar to Blog or Video Clips
3. Infographic to Presentation Slide
4. Presentation to videocast
5. Video to Podcast or Blog
6. User-Generated Content to Ad Campaigns
7. Case Study to Newsletter Content

Why Repurpose Blog Posts into Videocasts?

Repurposing blog content into videocasts offers significant advantages:

1. Expanded Reach: Videos cater to diverse audiences across platforms, especially those who prefer visual and auditory content over reading.
2. Increased Engagement: Multimedia content combines visuals, narration, and music to captivate viewers more effectively than text alone.
3. SEO Benefits: Videos boost search engine visibility, increase backlinks, and enhance sharing potential on platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn.
4. Maximized Efficiency: Repurposing existing content saves time while amplifying its impact.

Time Allocation needed

Transforming blog posts into videocasts is more complex than it seems. It requires multiple tools working together in a seamless sequence, taking several hours per article.

Third-Party Costs

Step 1: Deciding on the topics

To decide which blog posts to repurpose for videocasts, follow a systematic approach that aligns your goals, audience needs, and content strengths. You have multiple options that involve a combination of checking your best-performing blog posts and finding those keywords with videocasts in SERPs. Here’s how:

Identify High-Performing Blog Posts

Use analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, SEMrush) to find blog posts with high traffic or page views and high engagement (e.g., comments, shares, or time spent on page). These posts are already resonating with your audience and have proven value.

Prioritize Evergreen Content

Focus on content that has lasting relevance and isn’t tied to short-term trends. Examples: How-to guides, industry best practices, or timeless thought leadership pieces.

Check keywords in SERPs with videocasts (of others) using AHREFs.

You need to decide which articles to create videocasts for by focusing on:

Step 2: Producing the Video Script

A compelling script forms the foundation of any successful videocast. You must extract key points from your blog post and condense them into a concise, engaging script. Aim for a 3–5 minute runtime.

Here is the prompt for doing so:

I have a task for you. Please act as a professional with 10 years of experience in content creation and video scripting to transform a blog post into a video script for a 3-5 minute video. Follow these steps carefully:

1. **Preparation**: Review the document titled *[Instructions for Structuring and Narrating Content.pdf]* thoroughly. This guide offers a step-by-step method for converting written content into an effective, engaging video script. Focus on how to extract key points, organize them into a cohesive narrative, and adapt the tone to be concise and impactful.

2. **Application**: After understanding the method, apply it to the blog post *[Context Democratizing Innovation with AI.pdf]*. The goal is to simplify the content to a 6th-grade readability level while maintaining its key ideas and engaging tone.

3. **Output**: Provide a well-structured script designed for a 3-5 minute video, ensuring clarity and flow. Include a conversational and dynamic tone suitable for a wide audience. Feel free to ask if you need any clarifications before you start!

You will notice that this prompt refers to an external document. You can find it here.

This document includes all the necessary instructions to enable the AI to transform blog content into a script by identifying key ideas and structuring them into a narrative. Also, it automates script structuring, Identifies key points to emphasize, and saves time by offering draft-ready outputs.

Last but not least, this document serves as additional knowledge for your script generation as it includes guidance on tone and pacing, example narratives for crafting engaging intros and conclusions, and techniques to break down complex topics into digestible sections.

For more information on the prompt, please check here.

Step 3: Producing the Voiceover

Professional narration adds a polished touch to your videocast:

• Choose Complementary Voices: ElevenLabs’ Voiceover Studio is an excellent tool for generating AI-driven, human-like narration.
  How to Use:
  • Select voices that suit your brand’s personality.
  • Adjust parameters like pitch and speed based on the mood of your script.
  • Use the preview option to ensure quality.
• Tool Highlights:
  • Offers male, female, and neutral voice options.
  • Adjustable for tone, pitch, and emphasis.
  • Provides a preview before finalizing output.
• Export Narration Files: Save your output as MP3 (audio) for editing and SRT (subtitles) for accessibility and SEO. Refer to the ElevenLabs interface to export both formats quickly.

Step 4: Crafting Images

Visual elements are crucial for retaining viewer attention and enhancing the narrative.

You need to generate Visuals with AI: Platforms like DALL-E or MidJourney allow you to create high-quality, custom visuals that align with your script.

Here is the prompt:

Please review the attached document (Prompt Framework for AI-Driven Visual Content Creation) carefully.

Please remember to follow the outlined instructions for crafting the visual content prompt.

Ensure to include the specified parameters and rendering details in the final output.

Ready to provide the phrase?

You will notice that this prompt refers to an external document. You can find it here.

Using this document, you can craft effective prompts for AI tools by specifying details like style, tone, and themes and also to experiment with and refine visual outputs to align with branding. Prompt will use its examples as templates to refine your own prompts.

For more information on the prompt, please check here

Sometimes tools like Photoshop or Canva are needed as they can refine AI-generated visuals to fit your desired aesthetic.

Rather than a prompt, you could use these instructions to configure a custom GPT model that suggests animation styles and enhancements for your visuals. Check the productivity tips at the end of this playbook.

Step 5: Transforming Images into Video Scenes (script)

Use ChatGPT to prepare scripts for hailuo’s image-to-video feature.

here is the prompt:

Please review the attached document titled “Prompt Framework for Transforming AI-Generated or Blog Post Images into Video Scenes.”

Once you have read and understood the rules and examples provided in the document, confirm your understanding. After confirming, ask me to provide the meaning of the given images, which is derived from the entire blog post related to the project. Once you’ve reviewed both the document and the meaning I provide, ask me to start sharing the images one by one.

For each image, you will create variation prompts tailored to transform the image into a video scene. Ensure the process follows these steps: Read the document. Ask for the meaning and confirm understanding.

Start creating prompts one image at a time. Confirm once you’re ready for me to paste the meaning, and then ask me to provide the images individually.

You will notice that this prompt refers to an external document. You can find it here.

This document provides guidelines on turning static visuals into cinematic sequences. It also offers sample prompts to animate images and create smooth transitions.

Rather than a prompt, you could use these instructions to configure a custom GPT model that suggests animation styles and enhancements for your visuals. Check the productivity tips at the end of this playbook.

For more information on the prompt, please check here

Step 6: Transforming Images into Video Scenes (image)

To showcase how AI-generated images can evolve into dynamic video scenes, using the Hailuo AI platform. Here’s a breakdown of one example from our project:

This process demonstrates how a well-crafted prompt and the “correct” AI tools can bring static visuals to life, creating immersive storytelling opportunities.

Step 7: Adding Background Music

Music enhances the emotional resonance of your videocast:

• Create Custom Themes: Suno AI’s music generation platform is perfect for creating instrumental tracks. Use the platform to:
  • Input the tone and mood you want based on your script’s themes.
  • Test various outputs until you find the one that fits.
• Tool Benefits:
  • Generates royalty-free music.
  • Allows customization for different genres and tempos.
  • Ensures seamless integration with narration and visuals.
• Refine and Adjust: Test the generated music alongside your video elements and make adjustments for volume and timing.

Step 8: Assembling the Videocast

Video editing brings all the elements together:

• Upload Assets to Editing Software: Use Kapwing for an intuitive and efficient editing process. It supports layering narration, visuals, and music seamlessly.
  How to Use:
  • Import all assets, including voiceovers, video scenes, and music.
  • Structure the video by placing the narration timeline first, followed by visuals and music.
  • Use the timeline feature to synchronize elements accurately.
• Why Kapwing?:
  • User-friendly interface suitable for beginners.
  • Supports timeline-based editing for precise control.
  • Offers templates for branding consistency.
• Add Branding: Incorporate intro and outro sequences using Kapwing’s templates to ensure consistent branding.
• Incorporate subtitles for accessibility and SEO benefits. Upload the SRT file to overlay accurate subtitles. Customize font and positioning for readability.

Step 9: Final Review and Publishing

Before going live, ensure your videocast is flawless:

• Conduct a Thorough Review: Use platforms like Vimeo or YouTube’s private sharing options to preview your videocast. Check for coherence, visual appeal, and smooth transitions.
• Optimize for SEO: Include relevant keywords in the title, description, and tags. Use tools like TubeBuddy or VidIQ to refine metadata and improve search visibility.
  SEO Optimization Tips:
  • Use descriptive, keyword-rich titles.
  • Add timestamps and closed captions.
  • Leverage high-ranking hashtags for visibility.
• Publish Widely: Share your videocast across multiple platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok, to reach diverse audiences.

Productivity tips

Streamlining your workflow starts with a tailored approach, and creating unique Custom GPTs for each phase of your process ensures precision and efficiency. By designing a specialized GPT for every task, you can delegate repetitive operations, maintain consistency, and focus on refining your content. Here’s how you can enhance productivity by integrating this method into your workflow:

Why Create a Custom GPT for Each Step?

Some stages of the project—whether it’s writing, generating visuals, or creating prompts —has unique requirements. By creating a dedicated Custom GPT for each step, you ensure that the AI is optimized specifically for the task at hand. This approach reduces errors, keeps outputs contextually relevant, and saves you from juggling a single, overloaded model.

How Custom GPTs Boost Efficiency

1. Task-Specific Focus: Custom GPTs are designed to excel at the specific task they’re created for, from drafting blog posts to generating video scripts or prompts for visuals.
2. Effortless Adaptation: By configuring the instructions, knowledge base, and conversation starters to suit each step, you minimize the need for constant adjustments during the process.
3. Improved Workflow Clarity: With each Custom GPT handling a distinct part of the project, the overall workflow becomes more structured and easier to manage.

Tips for Maximizing Productivity

• Design Unique Instructions: Clearly define the purpose and scope of each GPT. For example, a GPT for video script creation should focus on formatting and narrative structure, while one for visual creation should prioritize descriptive prompts.
• Leverage Knowledge Bases: Upload relevant resources—like PDFs, examples, or templates—into the knowledge section of each GPT to guide its outputs.
• Iterate with Purpose: Use precise prompts during interactions to fine-tune results without reworking the entire process.

Keep Outputs Organized: Save files generated by each Custom GPT—scripts, images, or voiceovers—in designated folders to maintain order and accessibility.

Final Thoughts

Repurposing blog posts into videocasts is a strategic way to amplify your content’s impact. By following this structured workflow and leveraging powerful tools, you can create professional, engaging, and shareable videos that captivate audiences and elevate your brand’s digital presence. With AI tools and well-defined processes, transforming your ideas into motion has never been easier.

Start today and watch your content come alive in a whole new way!

The post <span class='p-name'>Turning Blog Posts into Engaging Videocasts</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Intro

Creating a content calendar isn’t just about generating a list of ideas through AI tools like ChatGPT. While AI can help, a truly effective content calendar is grounded in business goals, SEO strategy, and time-sensitive opportunities. It aligns content creation with what matters most to your audience and your company’s growth. Here’s how to approach it strategically.

What’s a Content Calendar?

Content calendar is the backbone of any content marketing strategy, enabling consistent publishing, seamless team collaboration, and deeper audience engagement.

Here’s why it’s crucial:

• Strategic Focus: It ensures that every piece of content aligns with business goals.
• Resource Management: It helps allocate time, budget, and people effectively.
• Performance Tracking: A well-structured calendar makes performance analysis easier.

At MarketMasters Consulting , we have four dedicated roles focused on content creation and optimization:

• Content Manager: Develops the content briefs and oversees the content plan.
• AI-First Copywriter & Proofreader: Crafts compelling content and ensures quality and accuracy.
• SEO Specialist: Manages internal and external linking, on-page SEO, and keyword strategy for maximum visibility.
• Designer: To enhance the content’s appeal, including OG images and article graphics, creates visuals.

What’s a Content Marketing Strategy

Let’s make a step back: “Do you have a Content Marketing Strategy”

Content marketing strategy is basically a game plan for creating, sharing, and managing content that draws in and connects with your target audience. The aim is to make sure your brand’s goals match up with what your audience is looking for, helping to boost awareness, build trust, and increase conversions.

Content marketing strategy saves you from content inconsistency and helps you with planning, SEO optimization and audience focus, while it keeps the cost lower in the long term. You might think while reading this that you’re the only one without content marketing strategy then, since it helps so much. But, no, sadly you’re not alone on this hill – only 40% of marketers have a proper, documented content strategy. Surely, creating one might take some time, expertise and resources, but it is worth the struggle. That’s what will differentiate you from the competition. 

Your content marketing strategy is what will guide you – imagine it as your northern star. It will make sure that your content is consistent and work towards growing your business and reaching the right audience.  

It’s not just about creating content—it’s about creating the right content with purpose  and direction.

Why content strategy is important:

• Strategic Alignment: Ensures that all content initiatives align with your broader business goals, whether it’s driving leads, building brand awareness, or enhancing customer loyalty.
• Audience-Centric Approach: Provides a framework for identifying and addressing the needs, pain points, and desires of your target audience.
• Consistency and Clarity: Helps maintain a unified tone, voice, and message across all platforms, fostering stronger brand identity.
• Measurable Results: Establishes clear KPIs and performance metrics to evaluate the success of your efforts.

Content Triggers

Keyword Research Findings

Sometimes, the focus of an article comes from identifying a relevant keyword with strong potential. That can happen by performing a so-called “keyword research”

Keyword research is the foundation of an effective content strategy. The key is not just finding relevant keywords but targeting keyword opportunities—those with high search volume and low competition. These are terms that enough people are searching for, but not many competitors are targeting effectively. This balance increases your chances of ranking well without facing an uphill battle.

To uncover these opportunities, use specialized tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, or Moz Keyword Explorer. These platforms analyze search volumes, competition levels, and related keyword suggestions. Focus on long-tail keywords as well; while their search volumes may be lower, they often have much less competition and higher conversion potential. In this way, keyword research becomes less about chasing popular terms and more about strategically finding gaps in the market where your content can shine.

When selecting keywords, it’s essential to balance informational and commercial intents to cover the entire customer journey:

• Informational Intent: These keywords target users looking for knowledge, answers, or guidance. Examples include “What is content marketing?” or “How to create a content calendar.” These topics build brand awareness and establish authority.
• Commercial Intent: These keywords focus on users ready to make a decision, purchase, or hire a service. Examples include “Best content marketing agency” or “Content marketing pricing.” These terms are directly linked to revenue generation.

A successful content strategy covers both intents. Informational content attracts a broad audience, builds trust, and nurtures leads, while commercial content drives direct conversions. Finding this balance ensures that your site ranks well while serving both curious and ready-to-buy visitors.

Backlink Opportunities

Backlink opportunities often arise from collaborations with clients, partners, or platforms that you use in your day-to-day operations. These partnerships can inspire content that not only supports your SEO strategy but also strengthens professional relationships by highlighting the tools and companies you work with.

In many cases, you might find yourself mentioning platforms or services that are integral to your work but realizing you don’t have a dedicated post to link to them. This creates an opportunity to craft content specifically tailored to those mentions.

For example:

• Highlighting Tools You Use: If you frequently recommend tools like Hotjar, Optimizely, or Google Optimize for A/B testing, creating a post about “Top A/B Testing Tools for Marketers” not only provides value to your audience but also serves as a natural place to include those backlinks.
• Showcasing Client Partnerships: If you’re collaborating with a conversion optimization company, a detailed post on “Best Practices for A/B Testing” could allow you to mention their services and link back to their site, creating mutual value.
• Filling Content Gaps: Sometimes, discussions with clients reveal areas where your content library is lacking. For instance, a partner specializing in customer journey mapping might inspire you to write an article on “How to Create a Customer Journey Map” to both support their work and enhance your own topical authority.

By proactively identifying these gaps and crafting relevant content, you ensure that your backlink strategy not only enhances your SEO but also adds genuine value to your audience and strengthens professional collaborations.

Thought Leadership

Content that originates from your position as an industry leader goes beyond technical optimization and focuses on contributing meaningful, innovative ideas in your field. It can set you apart and establish your brand as an authority.

Why to do it:

• Industry Differentiation: Sharing original concepts positions you as a visionary who drives conversations rather than just participating in them.
• Trust Building: People are more likely to trust a brand that demonstrates expertise and foresight.
• Market Influence: You shape industry trends and influence how others perceive challenges and solutions.
• Enhanced Engagement: This type of content generates discussions, shares, and connections, ensuring higher audience engagement compared to generic topics.
• Lasting Impact: Thought leadership leaves a legacy in your industry, with your ideas becoming reference points for peers and followers.

In MarketMasters Consulting we recently created 2 articles in this category, namely:

• Introducing the notion of “Democratizing Innovation”
• Expressing some concerns on the new WoTY 2024 “brain rot”

Event or Campaign Support

Event or campaign support content can help you with your marketing initiatives, such as workshops or webinars. By creating content that aligns with these events, you can boost engagement, create deeper connections with your audience, and drive successful outcomes – just take a look at Mastering AI in 2024: Top AI Courses and Workshops You Can’t Miss, created to support our detailed AI Academy programs. Do you get my point? 😉

The benefits:

• Boosts Engagement: Tailored content captures the interest of attendees by addressing specific interests and needs related to the event, leading to higher participation rates.
• Enhances Visibility: Strategically crafted content helps in promoting the event through various channels, increasing visibility and attracting a larger audience.
• Builds Anticipation: Creating excitement through pre-event content can build anticipation and encourage more sign-ups or registrations.
• Supports Learning Goals: Content that aligns with the themes of the event reinforces the learning objectives, making the information more impactful for attendees.
• Encourages Interaction: Interactive content elements such as Q&As, polls, and discussion prompts engage the audience and encourage active participation during the event.
• Facilitates Follow-up: Post-event content can be used to summarize key points, share additional resources, and maintain engagement, leading to ongoing relationships with participants.

Refreshing Existing Content

Keeping your content relevant and engaging is needed if you want to maintain a strong online presence. If you notice declining traffic or engagement metrics 😨, it might be time to update or rewrite your older content. This strategic move can breathe new life into your website, improve its performance, and strengthen its alignment with your core content goals.

Benefits of Refreshing Existing Content:

• Boosts Search Engine Rankings: Send a signal to search engines that your content is fresh and valuable, improving your rankings.
• Increases Audience Engagement: Recapture your audience’s attention and keep them coming back for more.
• Maximizes ROI: Refreshing existing content uses your prior investment wisely while generating new value.
• Supports Main Content Pillars: Focusing on articles tied to your primary content themes ensures your updates deliver the greatest strategic impact.
• Addresses Declining Metrics: Regularly revisiting older posts enables you to identify and fix issues like broken links, outdated stats, or irrelevant examples that might be turning readers away.

Trending Topics 

Industry developments and trending topics provide opportunities to create timely and impactful content. As professionals, it’s essential to stay vigilant and identify topics that are both current and relevant to your audience. Writing about trending subjects not only positions your brand as a thought leader but also drives immediate traffic, as people actively search for insights and updates.

Here are a few ways to stay ahead:

• Monitor Social Media Platforms: TikTok, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn are treasure troves for trending discussions. Follow relevant hashtags, engage with thought leaders, and track viral conversations.
• Set Up Google Alerts: Create alerts for key industry terms to receive updates directly in your inbox. This ensures you’re always informed about breaking news or major developments.
• Track Specific Accounts or Influencers: Identify and follow key players in your industry on Twitter or LinkedIn. Their updates can provide insights into emerging trends.
• Use Tools for Trend Analysis: Platforms like BuzzSumo or Google Trends can highlight popular topics and give you a sense of what’s resonating with audiences.
• Participate in Forums and Communities: Platforms like Reddit, industry-specific forums, or even niche Facebook groups can offer unique perspectives on trending topics.

By keeping your eyes open and your strategy agile, you can create content that not only meets immediate audience demand but also showcases your relevance and expertise. For example, if a Google API Leak makes waves in the SEO world, addressing what it means for your audience could position your content as a go-to resource.

Keeping up with industry trends and for example in our case, changes in algorithms is super important for anyone in digital content creation, especially for content marketers. Whether it’s a new Google algorithm update or fresh market trends, being aware of these changes helps your content stay relevant, interesting, and easy to find for your audience. This flexibility is able to keep you ahead of the competition.

Competitor Monitoring and Analysis 

Grasping how your competitors’ content performs can really boost your content strategy. By watching what works for them, you can figure out what draws in your common audience and spot areas where you can up your game. This approach reveals what’s working right now and, at the same time,  uncovers gaps in your own content that you can take advantage of to make your mark.

How to do it right:

• Spot Hot Topics: Monitor competitors to identify trending topics, like popular lists, indicating audience interest.
• Measure Quality: Compare your content with competitors’ to gauge quality, depth, and engagement, enhancing SEO and content value.
• Find Unique Angles: Analyze successful content to discover unique perspectives or underexplored topics, differentiating your offerings.
• SEO Insights: Track competitors’ effective keywords and topics to refine your content strategy and attract more traffic.
• Identify Content Gaps: Observe competitors to spot and fill gaps with detailed or innovative content, capturing a niche audience.

Grasping competitors is different from performing a systematic Content Gap analysis, which focuses less on business aspects and more on systematic approaches on a keyword level. Content Gap Analysis is and SEO task, while Competitor Monitoring and Analysis is a business development task

Content Gap Analysis 

Content gap analysis is super important for content marketers who want to fine-tune their content strategy. By taking a close look at what you already have, you can spot topics that are missing or areas that need more depth. This helps you tweak your strategy and boost your credibility in your field. Plus, it not only improves your content’s performance but also makes it more relevant to what your audience cares about and what’s trending in searches.

Definition

Content gap analysis is the process of identifying missing or underdeveloped content on your website compared to your competitors or audience expectations. It involves analyzing your existing content against the needs of your target audience and the topics your competitors rank for, to uncover areas where your site can expand its coverage and improve authority. 

By filling these gaps, you can enhance your visibility in search engines, attract more traffic, and better serve your audience’s needs.

Tools

Several tools can assist with content gap analysis, each offering unique features to uncover opportunities for improvement. Platforms like Ahrefs and SEMrush provide keyword gap tools to compare your site’s rankings against competitors, while Moz offers insights into domain authority and keyword difficulty to help prioritize efforts. Google Search Console can reveal keywords where your site gains impressions but lacks clicks, highlighting areas for optimization.

For trend and audience-specific content ideas, tools like BuzzSumo and AnswerThePublic are excellent resources. Ubersuggest and Frase can provide actionable suggestions based on keyword gaps and competitor analysis. 

Additionally, Screaming Frog and Surfer SEO offer valuable insights into your content structure and opportunities for improvement, making them ideal for identifying and addressing gaps systematically.

Link-Magnet Content

Creating content that draws in backlinks is super important for boosting your website’s search engine ranking and visibility. A great way to do this is by crafting “Link-Magnet Content,” like in-depth, shareable articles on timeless topics that always grab attention. A solid example could be “GAFAM: The Big Five Tech Companies Facts (FAAMG),” which dives into the significant impact of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in the tech world. 

Why is this kind of content so valuable?

• Boosts SEO: Articles about major players like GAFAM are packed with keywords and can be updated, helping to improve your site’s SEO over time as the content stays relevant and continues to draw traffic and backlinks.
• Builds Authority: By offering well-researched, factual insights on these influential tech companies, you establish your website as a trustworthy source of information, boosting your brand’s credibility in the industry.
• Promotes Engagement: Information about well-known companies often ignites conversations, shares, and citations across different platforms, increasing the engagement and visibility of your content.
• Delivers Value: Evergreen content acts as a lasting resource for readers, providing ongoing value as it remains relevant and informative long after it’s published.
• Attracts a Wide Audience: The broad interest in tech giants appeals to various demographic groups and professional circles, bringing in a larger audience and a more diverse range of backlinks to your site. Be careful here: You shouldn’t attract too wide audience because you will decrease your relevancy and increase your bounce rate

High-Intent (Commercial intent) Keywords 

Focusing on high-intent keywords is crucial for any business aiming to enhance its online visibility and drive meaningful conversions. These keywords represent search terms used by individuals who are not just browsing for information but are actively looking to make a decision, whether that’s purchasing a product, booking a service, or engaging with your business in another meaningful way. By targeting these terms, you can fine-tune your SEO and content strategies to attract a highly targeted, ready-to-convert audience.

A great example of leveraging high-intent keywords is the blog post Outsourcing Your Marketing: This is What to Expect. This content isn’t about analyzing competitors, creating backlink opportunities, or filling content gaps—it’s directly about your business, your capacity, and the services you want to highlight in your monthly planning. For example, if you’re an e-commerce business, this might mean focusing on items in stock, products nearing their expiration dates, or seasonal offerings that align with immediate consumer needs.

By aligning your high-intent keyword strategy with your operational priorities, you ensure that your content not only ranks well but also serves as a direct driver of business outcomes. High-intent keywords bridge the gap between visibility and action, making them an indispensable part of any robust content plan.

Seasonality and Events 

Seasonal events like Black Friday or Christmas Holidays, offer fantastic chances for businesses to tap into the surge in consumer interest and spending. By syncing marketing strategies with these peak times, companies can really ramp up their visibility and sales. Knowing how to make the most of these moments can totally transform your marketing game.

Why seasonality is different from Trending topics

Seasonality and trending topics are both important considerations for content planning, but they differ significantly in their nature and impact on strategy. Seasonality refers to predictable, recurring patterns when interest in specific topics, products, or services spikes. These are tied to annual events, holidays, or industry-specific cycles. For example, retail businesses often see surges during Black Friday, Christmas, or back-to-school seasons, while tourism experiences peaks during summer vacations or winter holidays. Because seasonality is predictable, businesses can plan their content well in advance, aligning campaigns with anticipated audience needs and behaviors.

Trending topics, on the other hand, emerge spontaneously and are driven by current events, cultural shifts, or sudden changes in the industry landscape. These topics are unpredictable and often have a short lifespan. For instance, a major Google algorithm update or a viral social media trend can spark immediate interest. Unlike seasonal content, trending topics require agility and quick decision-making to capitalize on their relevance. They cater to immediate audience curiosity or concerns and can generate significant short-term engagement.

The key distinction lies in their predictability and longevity. Seasonality allows for stability and long-term planning, as it is tied to recurring events that businesses can anticipate. Trending topics, however, demand flexibility and responsiveness, as they depend on capturing fleeting moments of high interest. While both are valuable for a content strategy, they serve different purposes and require distinct approaches to maximize their impact.

Content Pillar Support 

Content pillar support is a crucial element of a well-rounded content strategy and differs significantly from the other categories mentioned. While many triggers for content creation—like trending topics or backlink opportunities—are tactical and often tied to specific goals, content pillar support serves a more strategic, long-term purpose. It involves creating and reinforcing a central hub of content that defines your expertise and authority in key areas.

A content pillar is typically a comprehensive, high-value piece of content that serves as the foundation for related subtopics. For example, if your business focuses on digital marketing, a content pillar might be an in-depth guide on “The Ultimate Digital Marketing Strategy for 2024,” supported by smaller, related articles such as “SEO Best Practices,” “Social Media Advertising Trends,” or “Content Marketing Metrics That Matter.” These supporting pieces not only link back to the pillar but also enhance its topical relevance and SEO power

Support of Listicles

Listicles, derived from the combination of “list” and “article,” are a popular and effective format for creating easy-to-read content. These posts, structured as lists, are straightforward to produce and often succeed in capturing attention due to their clear and digestible format. Moreover, they can serve as a strategic tool for internal linking, such as directing readers to your seminars, workshops, or other resources, thereby enhancing their online visibility.

However, it’s important to note that when listicles are created solely to satisfy Google’s algorithms, they often fail to deliver real value to readers. A simple list without context or reasoning risks feeling shallow and unhelpful. While listicles can be a valuable addition to your content strategy, they should only be used if they genuinely serve a purpose and provide meaningful insights to your audience.

To maximize their value, consider creating “holding blog posts” or a series of interconnected posts that weave your listicles into a cohesive narrative. Users appreciate context and reasoning behind the lists, rather than simply scrolling through them. Out of respect for your readers, always explain the thought process and insights behind your selections. This not only enhances the user experience but also reinforces your authority and trustworthiness.

A great example of a listicle done right is Courses to Skyrocket Your Company by MarketMasters Consulting . This article doesn’t just list courses but explains their relevance and benefits, making it both informative and engaging. When done thoughtfully, listicles can balance user needs with SEO goals, making them a powerful tool in your content arsenal.

Reflecting on your inner “you”

Supporting your organization’s initiatives through content isn’t just about sharing information—it’s about creating alignment between your content strategy and your overarching business goals. A blog post like “The Top 7 AI Marketing Agencies in 2024” does more than provide value to readers; it also complements larger business strategies, such as promoting AI academies, workshops, or courses. This kind of content becomes a bridge between your expertise and your audience’s needs, driving both engagement and business impact.

Organizations are living entities, constantly evolving in response to trends, resources, opportunities, and challenges. You pivot to new directions, adopt emerging practices, introduce new product lines, and sometimes phase out older services or channels. These changes reflect your adaptability and growth—and they should also shape your content strategy. Content is not static; it must evolve alongside your organization, aligning with your current priorities, goals, and offerings.

For example, if you launch a new service or product line, your content should support its promotion, whether through detailed blog posts, case studies, or targeted landing pages. If a particular service becomes less relevant or is discontinued, your content strategy should shift focus to highlight your new strengths. Similarly, as you explore new channels—such as social media platforms or emerging marketing tools—your content should echo this evolution to ensure consistency across your brand.

By continually adapting your content to reflect your organization’s journey, you not only reinforce your relevance in the market but also create a more authentic connection with your audience. Your content becomes a dynamic reflection of who you are, what you offer, and the value you bring to those you serve.

Concepts or Content Repurposing

Content repurposing is an efficient strategy that maximizes the value of your existing material. By analyzing and transforming content originally created for webinars, presentations or clients’ deliverables,  into fresh formats like blog posts, you can continually engage your audience with minimal additional resource investment. This approach not only extends the lifecycle of original ideas but also enhances your content’s reach and relevance.

Take full advantage of what you create.

Key Points:

• Extended Reach: Transforming webinar content into blog posts or other media formats helps reach different segments of your audience who prefer various types of content.
• Cost Efficiency: Repurposing content is cost-effective, as it leverages existing materials, reducing the need for new content creation and associated expenses.
• Consistent Messaging: It ensures consistent messaging across different platforms and media, reinforcing your brand’s message and values.
• SEO Benefits: Multiple forms of content derived from the same core topic can improve SEO through targeted keywords, increasing your visibility on search engines.
• Continuous Improvement: Analyzing the performance of repurposed content provides insights that can inform future content strategies, ensuring ongoing refinement and relevance.
• Better ROI: Every asset takes time to be created. Repurposing them hence giving them more than one life is good utilization of your time.

Turning Triggers Into Actions

Once you’ve identified your triggers, map them to a timeline. Consider:

• Prioritization: Focus on high-impact or reason-triggered content first.
• Distribution: Balance evergreen topics with timely articles.
• Collaboration: Involve team members or partners to enhance insights and execution.
• Metrics: Define success criteria for each piece of content.

Do Nothing of the Above

You can follow the structured approach outlined above—or choose to do nothing of the sort. Just make it a habit to write valuable content about topics you genuinely care about. Focus on content that makes you proud, serves your audience, and holds real value for potential clients. If your content is technically sound and aligned with your expertise, it will eventually find its way to better rankings and conversions.

That’s not a theory—it’s a fact.

Final Thoughts

A content calendar isn’t a static tool—it’s a dynamic system that adapts to market shifts, SEO insights, and business priorities. By building a calendar grounded in real-world triggers, you can create content that drives lasting results for your business.

At MarketMasters Consulting , content isn’t just about supporting our search rankings—it’s a revenue stream through direct monetization and an indirect conversion driver. It also reinforces our thought leadership role in the market. This strategic approach has been central to our success, despite the investment it requires.

Our CEO is directly involved as both Content Manager and Copywriter, reflecting how deeply embedded this mindset is in our organization.

What about you? Do you have a content calendar driving your business growth?

The post <span class='p-name'>How to Create a Content Calendar That Drives Real Business Impact</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

MarketMasters Consulting is about three things: the funnel, the process, and the skillset.

However, this doesn’t mean that growth hacks hold no value.

As most original growth hacks were about creativity, they are some of the greatest sources of inspiration.

With no further ado, here are the most iconic MarketMasters Consulting examples!

1. Hotmail

Launched: 1996
Current owner: Microsoft
Employees: 151,163
Hotmail trivia: The name ‘Hotmail’ was picked among others because it contains the letters HTML. The original spelling of the web app was “HoTMaiL”.

Hotmail’s history is old – almost as old as the commercial internet itself.

On the 4th of July 1996, Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith founded Hotmail. Their service was pretty pioneering for the time: an email account with 2MB space for free. If 2MB doesn’t sound like a lot, it’s still 0,5MB more than the storage of the standard floppy disc, which was still a popular storage medium in the mid-’90s.

In just one and a half years later, Hotmail managed to have 12 million subscribers. Again, if this number doesn’t seem very impressive, it should be noted that the average internet population back then was 70 million total users.

So how did Hotmail manage to get so many users? Their secret weapon laid in the signature of every email. Because this is where a message with a link appeared. And the message was no other than this:

With the message appearing under every email, Hotmail had turned every one of its users into an involuntary ambassador.

The result? Hotmail was acquiring 3,000 new users each day. After 6 months it hit the 1 million users mark. After 7 months, it hit the 2 million mark. And, when it had as many as 12M users, in December 1997, Microsoft bought Hotmail for $400M. Since then the former has had a free email service.

After Microsoft acquired Hotmail, it rebranded it as MSN Hotmail. 

And the rest is history.

Hotmail’s growth hack is one of the oldest MarketMasters Consulting examples.

❗ Key takeaway: Word of mouth is the epitome of referral marketing. If there is one thing better than word of mouth, then that is an automated word-of-mouth process.

2. Airbnb

Founded: 2008
Current owner: Airbnb, Inc.
Employees: 6,300
Airbnb trivia: Up until 2015, Airbnb’s co-founder Brian Chesky had the original Airbnb apartment up for rent on the site.

Staying in San Francisco is an expensive sport. That’s something Airbnb’s founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia picked up in the mid-’00s. Inspired by the classic bed and breakfasts, the two roommates placed an air mattress in their living room letting anyone who’s looking for a place to stay do so at their place.

So, naturally, they made a website to let people know about their small offer. In the summer of 2008, San Francisco held the Industrial Design Conference, among other conferences. Airbnb’s website started gaining some serious traction. It was then that the roommates realized that they may be onto something. Airbnb became an official project.

At the beginning of 2009, they received an investment from the Y Combinator. In an ongoing effort to try to find ways to grow, they started combining word of mouth and PR. Accordingly, they started attending tech events to connect and reach out to their target audience. Another ‘growth hack’ they applied was improving the photo listing on their website. The better the photograph, the more appealing the product becomes. But this was only the beginning.

Around 2010, craiglist.com was the #1 website for subletting and leasing. And Airbnb found a way to leverage Craigslist and its users.

Airbnb gave an easy option to everyone who was submitting their place-to-rent on their platform to also post it on Craigslist.

If the user opted-in, then the same post would also be published on Craigslist.

And in that post, there was a link that was redirecting back to the original post on Airbnb.

Moreover, Airbnb scraped craiglist.com and sent an email to each user who was looking to rent their place. The email was basically urging them to add a listing on Airbnb, as it would increase their chances of finding a tenant.

Eventually, Craigslist sniffed Airbnb and the party was over. But, by that time, however, Airbnb, had already taken off.

❗ Key takeaway: Although very technical, this growth hack is based on creativity and innovation. So steal your competitor’s audience, and if you can reverse-engineer an API on top, that’s always a bonus.

3. Pinterest

Founded: 2008
Current owner: Microsoft
Employees: 1,600
Airbnb trivia: Prior to Pinterest, one of the two of Pinterest’s co-founders, Ben Silbermann, had co-created an eCommerce app that was ahead of its time, called Tote.

Like in the case of Airbnb, Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, and a few other companies, the majority of the early adapters were tech-savvy, and media related. This is not the case for Pinterest. 

Strange as it may sound, the first users didn’t come through co-founder Ben Silbermann’s networking endeavors. in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or New Work. Or any coastal city in the US for that matter. Rather, the Midwest was the place where everything started.

Des Moines, Iowa was Ben’s hometown and the place where his family was still staying. Some family members were involved in handicraft hobbies. Being in the suburbs, they were also members of communities that were practicing said hobbies. And so, word-of-mouth came pretty naturally through these tightly-knit communities.

“I sent Pinterest to 200 of my friends, and I think 100 of them opened the email. It was catastrophically small numbers. I included a lot of people from Google and California, and I emailed a lot of people from Iowa. The people who started using it used it the way we had hoped. I think those few people kept Pinterest going.”

— Ben Silbermann, Co-founder, Pinterest (Source)

And, like that, three months later the ambitious startup had found its first 3,000 users but with no tangible plan for growing further. Slirbermann then started organizing meetups at local boutiques. This is where he’d hand out Pinterest invites, in pure word-of-mouth fashion.

In March 2010, Pinterest officially launched in closed beta and after a while, an invite-only open beta followed. Invite-only betas may sound like the norm today but it wasn’t a standard practice 10 years ago. It was precisely the exclusivity of the beta that worked as a growth hack. 

Any new user could request an invitation which they would receive by email a few days later. That made the user feel accepted and part of a new and exclusive club where they now belong.

But there was also a second growth hack going on which was also part of the activation process. The growth hack was about making the registration process as easy as possible. The way they achieved that was by adding a “Sign up with Facebook” option. This option was still pretty new for the time and it was effectively removing most of the friction between acquisition and activation. Anyone with an invitation could become a registered user with just two clicks.

However, nine months after Pinterest’s open beta, the app still hadn’t managed to hit the 6-digit user mark. Silbermann took it personally – literally. So he started contacting half of these users by himself. He gave them his personal phone number and let them know that he’s open to meetings, suggestions, or anything, anytime, any day of the week.

Meanwhile, Ben was about to launch his first big campaign, called ‘Pin it Forward’ which was a partnership with a popular blogger, namely Victoria Smith. Victoria’s blog was about travel/shopping/fashion/interior design, or -you know- what pretty much Pinterest is mostly about. In this partnership, Victoria collaborated with another 300 women bloggers to be part of the Pit it Forward campaign. This way, Pinterest managed to reach entire communities by targeting their leaders and making them ambassadors.

But 2011 was the year that Pinterest really took off. The launch of the app on the AppStore in March resulted in more downloads than expected.

On August 10, 2011, Time magazine listed Pinterest in its “50 Best Websites of 2011” article.

In December, Pinterest came out of beta and became one of the top 10 largest social network services. It was still invite-only and remained so until August 2012.

❗ Key takeaway: Word-of-mouth and getting the community leaders involved in what you’re doing can work miracles.

4. Shutterstock

Founded: 2003
Current owner: Jon Oringer
Employees: 700
Shutterstock trivia: At the end of 2019, Shutterstock self-censored itself in the Chinese market. Keywords like “President Xi” “Chairman Mao” and “dictator” no longer bring any results to Chinese IP addresses.

Nowadays, we take Shutterstock for granted. But a couple of decades ago, it was a legit MarketMasters Consulting example. Jon Oringer, Shutterstock’s founder and owner, had founded about ten other small startups prior to Shutterstock. One of them was even one of the internet’s first pop-up blockers.

But no matter how different these businesses were from one another, they were all sharing some common needs. One of those needs was the use of digital images. From the Homepages to the newsletters, a constant flow of imagery is essential for many digital businesses.

However, as this was the early 00s, the only options people had to find and use commercial images were to either contact people personally to get the copyrights or pay $500. The concept of ‘browsing for digital images and legally buying them’ was nonexistent then. So Jon had to bring it into existence. And that’s what he did.

To achieve that, first, he needed photographs. Lots of photographs. But since his budget was too low for hiring professionals en masse, he became the professional.

Fortunately, Jon already had some experience with photography, as it was one of his older hobbies. So he bought a new digital camera for $800, a Canon Digital Rebel, and started shooting immediately. 6 months and 100,000 photographs later, the founder chose the best 30,000 images and put them on his website, shutterstock.com. Then, he introduced the first subscription model for images, where anyone with internet access could buy unlimited images, starting at $49 per month.

The model proved pretty successful and Shutterstock was growing rapidly. Jon was still the one person working for the company. He was doing everything, from shooting photos to programming and customer service.

As the company was becoming more and more popular, other photographers suggested they also had their photographs featured on the website. Jon was still the only employer of Shutterstock and his task list was growing alongside his company. So it was the perfect time for Jon to stop shooting photos and let other photographers fill in the shoes of the supplier’s side for all these stock images. To achieve this, he created an upload system where professional photographers could upload their photos and images and receive 25% off for every download of their image.

By 2007 Shutterstock had grown to 30 people. Around that time, Jon collaborated with Thilo Semmelbauer and the latter became the COO. Thilo was the managing director of  Insight Partners, a venture capital from NY, which invested in the young company the same year.

The next year, in 2008, Shutterstock expanded beyond subscriptions into a la carte pricing. With its “On Demand” service, the company removed daily download limits. So now, anyone could pay from $4 per download for smaller sizes to $10 per download for the largest sizes and for vector images.

By the end of 2013, the company had 300 employees and then had grown to 295 employees as of 700 employees as of 2016.

In 2012, Shutterstock went public. During that time, the stock photography provider had over 18 million royalty-free stock images.

Now, Shutterstock has more than 1,000 employees with offices in 8 US and European cities.

❗ Key takeaway: The real growth hack here is economics 101: find a big unsatisfied demand and a good solution for it.

5. Canva

Founded: 2012
Current owner: Melanie Perkins, Clifford Obrecht, Cameron Adams
Employees: 1,023
Canva trivia: Melanie Perkins, Canvas’ co-founder, revised their pitch after every failed meeting with an investor. It would take more than 100 such revisions and no’s before they could find their first investor, 3 years later.
💡 Read: 9 Superior Pitch Deck Examples that Win Where 99% Fail

A few years before Canva came into existence there was a company named Fusion Books. Fusion Books was founded by Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht after the former came up with the idea for an online tool to create school yearbooks.

And so the team started from a tiny niche; their very first customers were none other than schools. Within 5 years, Fusion Books had become Australia’s largest yearbook publisher. It also expanded to New Zealand and France. For the record, Fusion Books is going strong to this day.

Meanwhile, the two co-founders joined Cameron Adams,  a ‘hardcore Googler’. The three of them started working intensely on a new graphic design platform, Canva. After a whole year and countless hours of user testing, the minimum viable product (MVP) of Canva was ready. On January the 1st, 2012, Melanie, Cliff, and Cameron founded their company in Sydney, Australia.

Today, Canvas’ valuation is over $6 billion dollars and it has more than 20 million users across 190 countries. It’s a tool meant to be used by anyone who is not a professional designer but wants to design. So how did they pull that off?

According to Melanie:

“To be successful, make sure your business solves an important problem for a large audience.
Plant a lot of seeds and eventually, some of those seeds will sprout.”

And that’s what they did.

In Canvas’ early days, they worked mostly with social media marketers to help spread the word.

And the word spread indeed, as those who were trying the tool for the first time were surprised by its ease of use. But they didn’t want to keep that a secret and so they let some of their friends and colleagues know as well. Word of mouth was working wonders. 

“I often get asked which tactics we used to propel Canva’s early stages of growth. My answer is always the same. We didn’t focus on engineering virality, SEO, SEM, content marketing or any other marketing. We relied on the powerful momentum of word of mouth that was spurred by having a product that solved significant pain points for our users.”

Canva managed to offer a user-friendly and intuitive design solution. Its freemium model also helped a lot in its spreading.

Canva democratized design, much like Google had democratized information and eBay had democratized commerce in the past.

So, Canva was growing and after a few years, Canva welcomed Guy Kawasaki amongst its ranks. Now, why is this Guy so important? Guy Kawasaki was one of Apple’s key marketers behind Macintosh in 1984. In April 2014, Guy joined the graphics design tool as the Chief Evangelist. Two months later the number of users tripled. And so Canva went from 150,000 users to 50,000 users. A year later, Canva reached 4 million users.

Since then, Canva has expanded its products. In 2019 the company released Canva for Education, a free product for students and teachers alike. The same year it acquired Pixabay and Pexels, two free stock photography websites. Needless to say, it incorporated both in its tool.

In June 2020, Canva announced a partnership with FedEx Office, and by the end of the same month, Canvas’ valuation had risen to $6 billion.

❗ Key takeaway: Word of mouth is not about marketing gimmicks – it’s mostly about the product and the value you offer. Building a solid, albeit not perfect, product to begin with and choose your first audience wisely.

6. Slack

Founded: 2013
Current owner: Slack Technologies, Inc.
Employees: 2520
Slack trivia: Slack” is an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”.

Stewart Butterfield is the co-founder of Flickr. In 2009, Stewart was working on his next big project, namely Glitch, a web-based MMORPG. In this endeavor, however, he was not alone, as he was working with three other developers.

The four of them were the only employees of their company, Tiny Speck. Despite the team being small in size, the fact that every one of the devs was working from a different city in the US and Canada, made the team communication complex.

To overcome the obstacles in communications across multiple time zones, the team was using Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

IRC was pretty old school though, even back then. The more complicated the project was becoming, the less IRC could meet the communication needs of the team. 

And so they decided to make their own communications tool. Initially, there was no aspiration to make this tool a product. But the more they were working on their tool, the more they were convinced that this had to be a product of its own. Like so, Slack became an official commercial project and Tiny Speck started developing it in early 2013. By March, the company had built its prototype. In August, Slack was released for ‘preview purposes’.

In the first two weeks, 15,000 wannabe users requested invitations.

Whereas most startups are looking for fast growth, Tiny Desk was focusing on steady growth. Similar to Spotify, Slack chose an invitation-only growth model.

Yey, no matter what model Slack would opt-in for, it would face the same big challenge. The fact that the platform had to convince the entire team rather than the individual. To combat this, they had to keep friction as low as possible. Slack managed to do that by adopting a process that virtually eliminates risk and keeps financial costs as low as possible.

Slack was also using a freemium model that fueled bottom-up word-of-mouth growth.

Ultimately, the platform’s biggest advantage was the experience it provided through the product.  It identified user pain successfully;y and focused on doing a few specific things very well. Furthermore, its playful aesthetics were a breath of fresh air in the utilitarian interfaces of competing products at the time.

❗ Key takeaway: Make sure that your product creates a pleasurable experience for your users.

7. Calendly

Founded: 2013
Current owner: Tope Awotona
Employees: 200
Slack trivia:  At one point in time, a Twitter drama emerged regarding Calendly, according to which sending a Calendly link is rude because you are implying that you are more important than the person you send the link to.

Before founding Calendy, Tope Awotona had started building a dating site but quickly realized he lacked the resources and skills. And so he quit this project. His second startup was an eCommerce site selling projectors. But the profit margins were thin and Tope didn’t like projectors anyway. So he terminated that project, too. His third startup was an eCommerce site selling grills. Which he also terminated.

But he didn’t stop there. His fourth project is what he became known for: Calendly.

Tope’s day job at the time was in sales. And one thing he wasn’t enjoying in sales at all was the endless email exchanges in order to set up a call with a prospect. So, for the next few months, he’d search for a product that could help him with this problem. However, he didn’t like any of the solutions he found. And thus his journey to create his own solution to the problem began.

Accordingly, Tope started analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the scheduling automation tools he had found in his research. And when he had enough information, he flew to Kyiv, Ukraine to work with a software development company, Railsware. This is where he managed to gather $550,000, including all of his life savings, to try to get his SaaS startup off the ground.

Similar to Slack and Canva, Calendly’s freemium product-led growth strategy model made it accessible and helped it spread. At the same time, what Calendly did differently is what came to be known as “filling the growth funnel”. This means that they were more focused on Retention than Acquisition. In other words, they weren’t as focused on acquiring new users as they were on trying to keep the current ones.

That said, they found their first 1,000 easier than most other SaaS companies. While still in beta. The very first Calendly users came from a deal that Calendly had made with a company from the Bay Area, called BrightBites. BrightBites started using Calendly, in its MVP (Minimum Viable Product) form. And BrightBites was working with educational institutions, it started using the app for its day-to-day teacher-parent meetings. Calendly hit the 1K mark when a school reached out to Calendly and asked to roll out the product to other individuals. And it did.

What Calendly also nailed was its use cases. Use cases like industry and demographics are pretty fundamental but most companies and marketing teams don’t go beyond that. But Calendly did. It tried to uncover the real reasons people used the product. For example, they found out that besides sales teams, Calendly was also often used by marketing teams as part of their ‘marketing stack’. Essentially, they were using Calendly to build marketing funnels that couldn’t build without.

Then, Calendly used such user cases and constructed landing pages according to each of them. At the same time, it was rebuilding its homepage to increase conversions.

Calendly released its premium version in 2014 and by 2017 it reached 1 million users. Of course, the pandemic was also a big accelerator for the tool, doubling its users by the end of it. Today, Calendly now has over 20 million users across more than 100,000 organizations worldwide

❗ Key takeaway: There are more use cases than you might believe. Segment the market deeply through surveys and interviews, and carefully discover each one of them.

MarketMasters Consulting Examples – Conclusion

MarketMasters Consulting is more than a collection of tactics; it’s a strategic approach that leverages creativity, analytical thinking, and innovative methods to achieve rapid growth.

Are you looking for MarketMasters Consulting services?

Contact us today to discover how we can make MarketMasters Consulting and growth marketing work for you.

The post <span class='p-name'>7 Classic MarketMasters Consulting Examples That Defined MarketMasters Consulting </span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Quotes suck.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” 

What does that even mean? What if I want to become a tyrant or wish that somebody gets hurt? Is the universe a-OK with that? Does the universe have its own (universal) code of ethics? Isn’t ethics a human construct?  And why would the universe care in the first place?

Too often quotes try too hard to impress the reader; they lack however real value and substance. Not only that but the message can be out of context and, sometimes, the name of the quote is wrong.

“Four out of three quotes come from Albert Einstein.”

– Me

And what if the quote is right and makes sense? Isn’t this considered an argument from authority?

Well, okay, if quotes are that bad so why is this a list of digital marketing quotes – 99 of them? That’s because quotes are not meant to be taken seriously. Quotes are meant to inspire.  Whatever that means.

So sit back, relax, and read what 99 professionals from the digital marketing & MarketMasters Consulting industry have to say.

Digital Marketing Quotes: General

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”

 ―  Seth Godin, Bestselling Author and Blogger

“Nobody cares about your products, except you.”

 ―  David Meerman Scott, Marketing Speaker, Author

“Stop selling. Start helping.” 

―  Zig Ziglar, Author and Motivational Speaker

“Business has only two functions ―  marketing and innovation.” 

―  Milan Kundera, Novelist, Playwright and Poet

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”

―  Tom Fishburne, Cartoonist and Author

“Create content that reaches your audience’s audience.” 

―  Ann Handley, Business Speaker, Writer

“If you have more money than brains you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing.”

―  Guy Kawasaki, Author, Entrepreneur, Evangelist

“Marketing used to be about making a myth and telling it. Now it’s about telling a truth and sharing it.” 

― Marc Mathieu, Samsung CMO

Digital Marketing Quotes: Content Marketing

“Good content is a commodity; great content is a scarcity.”

― Unknown

“Content is not king, but a president elected by the votes of those whom it aims to rule.”
―  Raheel Farooq, Teacher, Writer and Voiceover Artist

“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”

―   Andrew Davis, Bestselling Author and Keynote Speake

“These days, people want to learn before they buy, be educated instead of pitched.”

―  Brian Clark

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just need to share your unique perspective on why the wheel is important.”

―  Jon Ball, Business Developer

“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.” 

―  Gary Vaynerchuk, Entrepreneur, CEO, Investor

“The only way to win at content marketing is for the reader to say, ‘This was written specifically for me.”

―  Jamie Turner, Founder and CEO

“Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life.”

―   Avinash Kaushik, Entrepreneur, Authors, Public Speaker

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.”

―  Lee Odden, Author, Speaker, Influencer

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.”

―  Benjamin Franklin, former US president

“What helps people, helps business.”
―  Leo Burnett, Adversiting Executive Legend

“Content is the atomic particle of all marketing.” 

―  Rebecca Lieb, Keynote Speaker, Author, Columnist

“When creating content, be the best answer on the internet.”

―  Andy Crestodina, Speaker, Co-founder, Marketing Specialist

Digital Marketing Quotes: SEO

“The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google.”

―  Dharmesh Shah, Co-Founder, CTO, Author

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.”

―  Wendy Piersall, Author, Blogger and Artist

“A website without visitors is like a ship lost in the Horizon”

― Technopreneur, Marketing Expert

“Social may be sexy, but search still pays the bills.”

―  Digital Marketing Consultant

“Google is the new corporate homepage.”

―  Jeremiah Owyang, founder of CrowdCompanies 

“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.” 

―  Wendy Piersall, writer & blogger 

“The objective is not to make your links appear natural. The objective is that your links are natural.

―  Matt Cuts, Software Engineer

“SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.”

―  Unknown

“SEO isn’t about gaming the system anymore; it’s about learning how to play by the rules.”

―  Jordan Teicher, Editor In Chief at Contently

“Search engines aren’t trying to make life harder for website owners. They see search as a product, and as they improve their product, the game changes by default.”

―  Kathryn Aragon, Author, ContentMarketerr

“Google will know that you are hungry for sushi before you do.”

―  Ben Kunz, Executive Vice President at Mediassociates“Good SEO is needed more than ever today. Someone has to clean up the bad SEO.”

―  Warren Whitlock, Author, Digital Business Development Strategist

“The best link-building strategy is to create something awesome and let everyone know about it.

―  Tim Soulo, CMO & Product advisor at Ahrefs

Digital Marketing Quotes: PPC

 “Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes, it’s an ad.”

―  Howard Gossage, Advertising Legend

“If great content is the hero, then banners are the villain.”

―  Michael Brenner, CEO of MIG

“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.”
―  David Beebe,  Content Advisor, Keynote Speaker

“If you want your precious brand traffic, you’re going to have to pay for it. ”  

— Aaron Levy, Founder & CEO Raise the Bar

“Money is the best Feedback.”

― Claudiu Murariu, CEO & Co-Founder InnerTrends

Digital Marketing Quotes: Web Design

“Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.”

―  Joe Sparano, Graphic Designer

“Design like you are absolutely right, then optimize like you were wrong from the start.”
―  Jordie van Rijn, Marketing Consultant

“The goal of a designer is to listen, observe, understand, sympathize, empathize, synthesize, and glean insights that enable him or her to ‘make the invisible visible.”

―  Hillam Curtis, Designer, Author, Musician, Filmmaker

“Websites promote you 24/7: No employee will do that.”

―  Paul Cookson, Poet, Performer

“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”

―  Steve, Founder, CEO

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”
―  Jeffrey Zeldman, Entrepreneur, Web Designer, Author

“Websites should look good from the inside and out.” 

― Paul Cookson

“A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures.”
―  Ben Schneiderman, Computer Scientist

“Design from the spine and you’ll be fine.”

― Carl Heaton, UX Designer, Web Consultant

“If you think math is hard, try web design.” 

― Trish Parr, Web Designer, Consultant 

“I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.” ― Lindon Leader, Graphic Designer

“Digital design is like painting, except the paint never dries.”

― Neville Brody, Graphic Designer, Typographer, Art Director

“Intuitive design is how we give the new user Superpowers.”

― Jared Spool, Writer, Researcher, Educator

Digital Marketing Quotes: Referral Marketing

“In sales, a referral is the key to the door of resistance.”

― Bo Bennett, Author of ‘Year to Success’

“All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.”

― Bob Burg, Author & Speaker

“Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and their referral power is priceless.”

― Erik Qualman, Social media expert

“A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the holy grail of advertising.”

― Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Facebook

“One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.”

― Jim Rohn, Author & Speaker

Digital Marketing Quotes: Social Media

“Content is fire; social media is gasoline.”

―  Jay Baer, Bestselling Author, Marketing Expert and Founder of Convince & Convert

“90% trust peers on social networks (even strangers); only 15― 18% trust brands.” 

― Danny Brown, Award-Winning Marketer and Author

“Twitter is not a technology. It’s a conversation and it’s happening with or without you.”

― Charlene Li, Author, Founder, CEO

“Our head of social media is the customer.”
― McDonald’s

“Social media is about the people! Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide you.”

― Matt Goulart, Founder, Ignite Digital

“Social media was designed to SHARE what you’re doing and who you are, not BE what you’re doing and be who you are.” 

― Richie Norton, Author

“Going viral is not an outcome; it’s a happening. Sometimes it happens; sometimes it doesn’t. Just remember, fans are vanity and sales are sanity.” 

― Lori R. Taylor, Founder, Rev Media Marketing

“There’s a problem with the word ‘social’. Social is not just Twitter, FB, etc. Social is a language.”

― Futurist, Keynote Speaker

“Social media allows big companies to act small again.”

― Jay Baer, Writer, Marketer, Keynote Speaker

“Think like a publisher, not a marketer.”

―   David Meerman Scott, Marketing Speaker, Author

“If you make your customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”
― Jeff Bezos

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.”
― Erik Qualman, Author, Keynote Speaker

“Listening is one of the most important things a brand can do online. If your brand is just broadcasting its own agenda, it isn’t truly engaging in a conversation.”

― Jeremy Goldman, CEO, Author, Consultant

Digital Marketing Quotes: Branding

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

―  Henry Ford, Legendary industrialist

“Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”

― Jeff Bezos, Founder, CEO, Investor

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.

―  Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway CEO

“Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.”

 ―  Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway CEO

When people use your brand name as a verb, that is remarkable.

―  Former Hewlett Packard President & CEO

“Loyalty is not won by being first. It is won by being best.” 

―  Stefan Persson, Industrialist

“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.”

 ―  Elon Musk, Living legend

“Too many companies want their brands to reflect some idealized, perfected image of themselves. As a consequence, their brands acquire no texture, no character, and no public trust.” 

―  Richard Branson, Virgin Group Founder

Digital Marketing Quotes: Email Marketing

“Email is the Jason Bourne of online: somebody’s always trying to kill it. It can’t be done.”

― Unknown

“How to write a good email:

1. Write your email
2. Delete most of it
3. Send”

― Dan Munz, Digital professional

“In the time it took you to read this sentence 20m emails have been sent.”
― John Watton, Leading Marketing at Adobe

“A small list that wants exactly what you’re offering is better than a bigger list that isn’t committed.”

― Ramsay Leimenstoll, Financial advisor

“Quality over quantity – Emails may be cost efficient but it’s no excuse to not produce quality content to give to a targeted audience.”

― Benjamin Murray, Marketing automation specialist

“When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”

― David Ogilvy, Advertising legend

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about”.

― Benjamin Franklin, former US president

“You don’t have to create the most interesting thing ever, just the most interesting thing at the moment.”

― Lee Clow’s Beard

“An email without clarity is like an annoying mime: Just say what you want or get out the way!”

― Jordie van Rijn, Email marketing consultant

“Bait without a hook is just food.”

―  John Hayes, American Express CMO  (on email CTAs)

“The most successful call-to-action in the world is the letter X, make yours better.”

―  Andrew Hanelly, Digital strategist 

Digital Marketing Quotes: MarketMasters Consulting

“ MarketMasters Consulting is not anti-marketing, it is the evolution of marketing, it is pro-growth.”

― Sean Ellis, The original Growth Hacker

“ MarketMasters Consulting is the proof that the best marketers are actually engineers.”

― Theo Moulos, CEO MarketMasters Consulting

“ MarketMasters Consulting has a subtle message of ‘what have you done for me today?’. You never stop as a growth hacker.”

― Blake Commagere, Angel investor

“Fail fast, learn fast”

―  Unknown

“There are no silver bullets.”

― Ben Horwitz, Businessman

“A growth hacker is someone who has thrown out the playbook of traditional marketing and replaced it with only what is testable, trackable, and scalable.”

― Ryan Holiday, Entrepreneur

“ MarketMasters Consulting is a mindset.”

― Dani Hart, MarketMasters Consulting consultant

“Growth is an aftereffect of strong product-market fit and great distribution.”

― Andrew Chen, General Partner at a16z

“A growth hacker lives at the intersection of data, product, and marketing.”

― Aaron Ginn, technologist

Conclusion

How did you like these social media quotes?

If you are looking for more quotes on marketing, make sure to read the Top 66 Social Media Quotes To Inspire Your Marketing.

The post <span class='p-name'>Top 99 Digital Marketing & MarketMasters Consulting Quotes</span> appeared first on MarketMasters Consulting .

Intro

We all know what QR is – QR codes are those little squares you see everywhere these days. From the cafe menu to the flyer you picked up at the mall, they’re kind of taking over. But they’re there not just for show. 

What’s the best way to use QR codes to boost your marketing and sales?

Wisdom for the Road – Key Takeaways before we move on to the main subject

• QR codes are versatile tools used across various marketing channels, from print to digital.
• They offer creative solutions in sales, like interactive packaging and event engagement.
• QR codes boost customer interaction by making it easy to access information and promotions.
• Tracking QR code performance helps businesses understand customer behavior and improve strategies.
• Best practices include making QR codes visible, easy to use, and secure to maintain trust. This last part is very important.

Creating a QR Code

You shouldn’t bother about creating a barcode because QR Generators will do that for you but it’s always useful to be able to decode the QR codes you see out there.

Structure of a QR Code

1. Finder Patterns: The three large squares in the corners help scanners detect the QR code and determine its orientation.
2. Alignment Pattern: A smaller square usually near the bottom-right corner, used for correcting distortions.
3. Timing Patterns: Alternating black-and-white modules between the finder patterns ensure correct data module alignment.
4. Format Information: Contains information about error correction and mask patterns.
5. Data and Error Correction Areas: Encodes the actual information.
6. Quiet Zone: The empty margin around the QR code that ensures proper scanning.
7. Version Pattern: QR codes have 40 versions, and each version determines the size of the QR code and how much data it can store.

All you need to know about the versions

What are QR Code Versions?

1. The version refers to the size (modules) of the QR code.
2. Modules are the tiny black-and-white squares that make up the code.
3. The version affects how much data (text, URLs, etc.) can fit into the QR code.

Version Breakdown:

1. Version 1: Smallest QR code, 21 x 21 modules (squares).
2. Each version adds 4 more modules per side.
3. Version 40: Largest QR code, 177 x 177 modules.

How It Affects Data Capacity:

The higher the version, the more data it can store, and the bigger the QR code gets physically.

Choosing the Right Version:

• Small codes (Version 1–5): Best for short URLs or text.
• Larger codes (Version 6–40): Used for storing longer text, large links, or even files.

Most commonly, versions 1–10 are used in everyday applications, as they balance size and readability.

Decoding a QR Code

QR Code’s Important Parts

1. What Must Be Visible:
   • Big Squares in the Corners: These three large squares help the scanner find and position the QR code. They should always be clear and fully visible.
   • White Space Around the Code (Quiet Zone): A clear space (at least the width of four small squares) must be around the whole QR code to avoid scanning issues.
   • Data Area: The small black and white squares inside the code contain the actual information. They should have high contrast (dark on light background) and not be covered.
2. What Can Be Covered:
   • Middle Area (Sometimes): If the code has built-in correction features, you can place a small logo or icon in the center. The scanner might still read the code if it can recover the missing data.
   • Background: Avoid putting the code on a busy or colorful background. A simple, light background works best.

Examples of Correct and Incorrect QR Codes

Correct QR Codes:

✅ High contrast: Black code on a white background.
✅ Clean and clear corners.
✅ Proper white space (quiet zone) around the code.
✅ No data areas are covered.

Incorrect QR Codes:

❌ One or more corner squares are missing or covered.
❌ No white space around the code.
❌ Placed on a busy or dark background.
❌ A large logo covers too much of the code, making it unreadable.

QR Code X-Ray

1. Types of Information Stored: QR codes can hold numbers, letters, symbols, and even special characters like Chinese or Japanese symbols.
2. QR Code Sizes:
   • QR codes come in different sizes based on how much information they store.
   • The smallest code has 21×21 squares (modules), which can fit simple data like a phone number.
   • The largest code has 177×177 squares and can store long web links or detailed information.
3. QR Code Physical Sizes:
   • For small items like business cards, a QR code should be at least 2 x 2 cm (0.8 x 0.8 inches).
   • For posters or signs viewed from a distance, sizes should be around 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 inches) or larger.
4. Fixing Errors (Error Correction): QR codes can still work even if part of them is damaged, thanks to built-in error correction levels:
   • Low (L): Fixes small issues (up to 7% damage).
   • Medium (M): Fixes moderate issues (up to 15%).
   • Good (Q): Handles more damage (up to 25%).
   • High (H): Can fix major damage (up to 30%).

This makes QR codes reliable, even when scratched, dirty, or partially covered.

QR Codes in Marketing

Adding QR Codes in Brochures

QR codes have become a staple in print marketing, transforming traditional media into interactive experiences. By adding QR codes in brochures, businesses can offer instant access to online content. This might include promotional offers, detailed product information, or even multimedia experiences. This simple addition turns static print into a dynamic gateway to the digital world.

Normally, when the brochure has a goal to download an app, it should be complemented with services like Onelink (https://www.onelink.to/)  that will make sure that with one and only link, the client will be able to go to Apple Store or Google Play based on the device he/she owns.

Adding QR Codes to Business Cards

Your business card can hold plenty of valuable info, but you may have even more to share beyond what fits on the paper. Adding a QR code lets you provide people with details about your business, including your Google Maps (Google My Business), which includes opening and closing hours, location, directions, contact information, social media profiles, and even a portfolio presentation. All your professional achievements can fit into a little square.

When you have a code in your business card, you may link directly to your LinkedIn profile or combine it with services like v1ce and maintain your contact details which will also work via NFC.

Using QR Codes in Exhibitions

You must not overlook the use of QR codes in exhibitions. They’re a great way to share extra info with your visitors, so make sure to put them in smart spots around your booth and even on the branded t-shirts you and your team will be wearing. You can put a QR code for your product or service and link to a specific promo that will be valid during the event, or visual assets like a YouTube video, a blog post or a product page for more details. You can even direct the QR code to a PDF or an image gallery. Get creative with it—QR codes let you share tons of information, so show it off and let people scan away! 

QR codes are versatile – treat them like this! Sometimes, just adding a smile to people’s faces and making fun is also enough.

QR Codes & In-Store Experience

Placing QR codes on product displays or shelves allows customers to get quick access to product details, reviews, or deals. This interactive element not only informs but also engages shoppers, potentially increasing sales. So, if QR codes are used smartly like this, they can guide customers to digital coupons or loyalty programs, improving their overall shopping experience and building loyalty. 

The QR code connects the offline and online world, boosting brand interaction and making customer experiences more engaging.

QR Code Types in Marketing

QR Codes in Sales

Interactive Packaging Solutions

QR codes on packaging can give your customers instant access to product details, usage instructions, or even fun content like games or videos. You could scan an -otherwise boring- cereal box and get a quick video of a new recipe or a game for kids. Wow, huh? This method makes the product more engaging AND builds a stronger connection with the brand.

Engaging Customers at Events

Events = interaction, so events = QR codes. By placing QR codes around event venues, attendees can scan to get more info on schedules, speaker bios, fun facts or exclusive content. This could even include instant feedback forms or entry into prize draws. It’s a simple way to keep people engaged and informed throughout events.

Scavenger Hunts

Scavenger hunts are not only loved by kids – adults can enjoy them as well. It’s a fun and interactive way to engage customers and you can take advantage of QR codes to succeed. Let your imagination go wild – set up QR codes at events or stores and, when someone scans them, they get infos for the next clue. It’s a smart way to increase traffic (and fun) levels.

QR Codes & Customer Engagement  

Direct Mail to Drive Traffic

Direct mail might seem old-school (spoiler: it’s old-school but it’s still effective), but pairing it with QR codes can turn it into something more modern. Though you might have already experienced it in your newsletter, let’s create a scenario: Imagine receiving a postcard that tells you about a sale but also includes a QR code that leads you to a special offer page. This increases the chances of the receiver to take action – and it also piques curiosity. Customers can be directed to personalized landing pages with exclusive deals, making them feel valued and more likely to engage with the brand.

QR Codes in Public Spaces

Places like bus stops, parks, event booths, and malls are must-spots for QR code campaigns. Having high foot traffic makes them perfect for reaching a broad audience and give quick access to promotions, event details, or even interactive content. It’s a great way to grab attention and get noticed.

Were there any QR codes in the UK across all ad placements underground? No, you didn’t. However, QR codes are permitted in advertisements within London Underground stations and trains. Their effectiveness has been a topic of discussion, so brands decided not to support them. Here are the two main considerations

Considerations for Using QR Codes in Tube Advertisements:

• Mobile Connectivity: Historically, limited mobile signal availability in the Underground hindered using QR codes, as passengers couldn’t access online content immediately. However, this limitation is diminishing with the expansion of mobile coverage across the network.
• Placement and Accessibility: It’s crucial to position QR codes where passengers can easily scan them without inconvenience and without including other passengers’ faces. 

Loyalty Programs & QR Codes

Adding QR codes to loyalty cards or receipts can simplify collecting rewards or accessing special member-only content. People can easily scan it to check their points balance, redeem rewards, get personalized offers based on shopping habits, etc. 

Analyzing QR Code Performance

Adding QR Analytics Tools & Using UTMs

Stop thinking of QR codes as ‘just links’. They’re here to help you understand how your campaigns are performing. But, in order to be able to get that valuable info, you need to implement certain analytics tools that’re used to track metrics. The main thing you have to do is create a UTM and watch how your QR code campaign performs in Google Analytics. What times do the scans peak, from which locations and more.

Measuring Engagement and Conversion Rates

Once you have your analytics tools in place, next you have to do is to measure engagement and conversion rates – this involves looking at how many people are scanning your QR codes and what actions they’re taking afterwards. 

Are they just scanning and leaving, or are they signing up for a newsletter or buying something? Here’s a simple table to help you track these metrics:

Adapting to User Feedback

Analyzing data is great, but what’s even better is using that data to make good decisions. After gathering data from your metrics, it’s time to iterate and improve. Maybe your QR code placement isn’t the best, or perhaps the content linked to isn’t engaging enough. Make small tweaks and see how they affect your metrics.

Dynamic VS Static QR codes

There’re three main differences between those two types of QR Codes: 

1. One of them can be edited even after its creation.
2. One is trackable.
3. One lets you retarget users via Facebook Ads and Google Pixel.

The other cannot do any of those three things. 

As you might have guessed already, the first one, which is the flexible option, refers to the ‘dynamic QR code’, while the latter refers to the ‘static QR code’.

Here’s the requested table comparing Static QR Codes and Dynamic QR Codes:

This table clearly outlines the limitations of static QR codes and the flexibility provided by dynamic QR codes. Dynamic codes are better suited for businesses or campaigns requiring updates, tracking, and customization.

When to Use Static QR Code and When to Use Dynamic QR Code?

Here are some examples of using dynamic QR Codes:

1. A marketing campaign QR code that initially links to a promotion, then updates to a new offer after a few weeks.
2. A QR code on packaging that provides product information, which can be updated with new manuals or videos.
3. Event badges with QR codes linking to attendee profiles that are editable.
4. QR codes for digital tickets or payment systems where tracking is critical.
5.  A dynamic QR code for getting the menu, lets the restaurant update the menu URL or content without reprinting the table tent cards.
6. En events, event locations or schedules may change (e.g., a venue change or timing adjustment), and with a dynamic QR code, organizers can update the link without distributing new flyers.
7. Wi-Fi credentials may change often for security purposes, and a dynamic code allows the Wi-Fi details to be updated.
8. For product details. Manuals, instructions, or videos may require updates to reflect new features, troubleshooting tips, or safety notices.
9. For business cards. Professionals may change their job titles, phone numbers, or company affiliations.

QR Codes vs DataMatrix Codes

This is a typical misconception from users. QR codes and DataMatrix codes are both 2D barcodes, but they differ in structure, capacity, and everyday use cases. Here’s a clear comparison:

Feature	QR Code	DataMatrix
Visual
Shape	Square (always).	Square or rectangular.
Finder Patterns	Three large squares in corners.	Two L-shaped lines for alignment.
Modules	Black-and-white square patterns.	Dense grid of black-and-white dots.
Maximum Characters	4,296 alphanumeric characters.	2,335 alphanumeric characters.
Numeric Data	Up to 7,089 digits.	Up to 3,116 digits.
Efficiency	Efficient for larger data sizes.	Better for small, compact data.
Size	Grow in size (more modules) as you add more data, up to 177×177 modules (Version 40).	Compact and efficient, often staying small, even with significant data.
Error Recovery	Up to 30% (Level H).	Up to 30% using Reed-Solomon.
Reliability	Strong with logos and larger size.	Excellent for small codes.
Scanning Performance	Easy to scan with smartphones and scanners.	Requires industrial scanners for small or very dense codes.
Use Cases	Marketing, websites, and payment links.Mobile scanning and social media.Retail and consumer applications.	Industrial use: labels, parts, and products.Small items: medicine, electronics, logistics.Compact, high-density printing needs.

10+2 Frequently Asked Questions About QR Codes

AI couldn’t be absent in QR codes creation

By analyzing various solutions, we noticed one (namely: onlineQRCode) that offers a fantastic solution incorporating AI Algorithms in QR Code creation. We tested it, and we were amazed! We described how we wanted our QR code to look, and then AI worked its magic. As an AI-first Agency we interviewed Petra Davis (Communications Manager of OnlineQRCode). That’s what she told us:

“We recognize the transformative role AI plays in revolutionizing the process of creating QR codes. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation by integrating advanced AI-driven features into our tool. This ensures users not only have access to seamless QR generation but also benefit from smarter, more efficient functionalities that adapt to their evolving needs.” — Petra Davis, Communications Manager of OnlineQRCode 

Outro

QR codes have experienced a remarkable resurgence, earning a second life.. While once considered a passing trend, the global response to COVID-19 reshaped how we interact with technology, making QR codes essential for touchless communication. From restaurant menus to digital payments and contact tracing, their convenience and versatility have proven indispensable.

As businesses and consumers continue to seek seamless digital interactions, QR codes have evolved from a niche tool into a vital bridge between the physical and digital worlds. Their second chance isn’t just a revival—it’s a transformation driven by necessity and embraced through innovation. The future of QR codes looks brighter than ever, powered by the lessons of the past and the demands of the present.

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