In Growth We Trust: Marketing | Growth | Startups

🔮 Digital gravity, Zero to one and AI writing w/ Cody Schneider from Swell AI

Tue Jun 27 2023

marketingvalue creationAIcontent generationautomationkeyword strategiesTwitterpodcast growthold school marketing

Marketing and Value
Background and Experience
Swell AI and Content Generation
Automation and Marketing
AI and Content Creation
AI and Branded Content
Marketing Strategies and Growth
Keyword Strategies and Content Creation
Twitter as a Distribution Channel
Twitter Growth and Marketing Strategies
Podcast Growth Strategies
Podcast Growth Success
Old School Marketing Strategies
Future Plans and Support

This episode covers various topics related to marketing, value creation, AI-powered content generation, automation in marketing, AI's impact on content creation, keyword strategies for content creation, using Twitter as a distribution channel, podcast growth strategies, and old school marketing strategies. The episode also discusses future plans for the podcast and potential monetization options. The guest expresses excitement about the podcast's growth and offers support.

Marketing and Value

00:10 - 07:14

Marketing is about value and being clear on what we want to do.
There are people who have a deep knowledge of marketing that can inspire us.

Background and Experience

06:53 - 13:24

The speaker started out in high school, learning how to sell things on the internet.
They got hired at a B2B marketing agency and dropped out of college twice to run online businesses.
After realizing they didn't know how to build brands, they went back to school.
Since 2015-2016, they have been building software, starting with small scripts.
They gained experience working for a B2B marketing agency and doing digital strategy for Fortune 500 companies.
They left that company and traveled around the US while doing consulting work remotely.
A friend invited them to help build an app for a fast-growing company called Rupa Health.
Their expertise lies in building distribution for companies that already have product-market fit.
They left Rupa Health after it scaled and started working for a crypto company before it collapsed.
Now they are working on Swell AI, an AI writer for podcasters and creators, which is growing rapidly.

Swell AI and Content Generation

12:57 - 19:15

Swelle AI is being used to power the podcast
Creators are building media brands with deep audience trust
AI enables creators to grow at a faster pace
Swelle AI's tool automates transcript creation and content generation
The tool is constantly evolving with new features
A vector database allows for indexing and searching of content
Trapped knowledge in back catalogs can be accessed and shared with audiences
The technology can be applied to other use cases beyond podcasts
AI can transform content into different formats based on platform or user preference

Automation and Marketing

18:45 - 25:09

Incumbent companies are afraid to lose market share and erode their current business model.
Startups are realizing they can build million-dollar companies with minimal funding and no employees.
Venture capitalists are starting to think about the lower requirements for funding startups.
The age of two-person companies doing $10 million ARR is emerging.
Investing in the founder rather than just the business or idea is becoming more important.
Building a distribution machine with specialized agents can automate marketing efforts.
Automation can augment human engineers and significantly increase productivity.
Human elements like sales calls will still require human involvement in automation processes.
An orchestrator who ensures all agents are performing correctly may be necessary for marketing teams.

AI and Content Creation

24:41 - 31:08

Degenerate engineers are using credit cards to run print on demand shops with low margins.
The ownership of robots and software raises questions about value creation.
The cost of higher-tier AI creates a larger gap in accessibility.
AI is augmenting and automating tasks, such as writing show notes.
AI technology feels like a base technology, similar to electricity or the internet.
There is potential for AI to replace humans entirely, but human touch is still important for the final touches.
Swells can prompt AI to do anything related to podcast content creation.
YouTube creators are using swells to transform their videos into articles.
Commodity content can be generated by any AI, while branded content requires internal information and expertise.

AI and Branded Content

30:40 - 36:44

The tool being built aims to generate branded content from various internal information sources.
Different varieties of internal information can be transformed into blog posts, LinkedIn posts, Twitter threads, etc.
Having a unique data set is crucial in an age of commodity content.
NUD is working on AI for personal finance using data to predict user behavior and make suggestions.
Companies built in the early 2010s are ripe for disruption with new technologies like AI.
Automating content generation based on what works can disrupt companies like social media scheduling apps.
AI-powered tools can analyze data and create more engaging content for brands.
Technology can simplify the process of generating content by analyzing what works and suggesting topics to focus on.
Trends in platforms like TikTok and YouTube shorts can inform content creation strategies for podcasts as well.
Marketing campaigns should run perpetually, finding marketing arbitrage and automating processes to drive growth.

Marketing Strategies and Growth

36:27 - 42:51

Finding arbitrage and automating it is key to making compound and growth curves.
Combining different strategies creates a larger system called digital gravity.
Most marketing teams do things for the sake of doing them without feedback loops on what's working.
AI advancements can automate and replace marketing teams.
Moving without direction leads to staying in the same place, always aim to move north.
Employing AI in marketing can make one person as effective as a team of ten.
Automate repetitive tasks with AI to free up time for creative work.
AI tools are not perfect, but they can do heavy lifting and improve over time.
Swell has released a B2B content creation feature based on keywords, generating blog posts quickly.
Using low keyword difficulty phrases can help rank articles within two weeks.

Keyword Strategies and Content Creation

42:30 - 49:15

Using long-tail, low-kD keywords can have a significant impact on business ROI.
Finding keywords and writing articles around them is the strategy employed.
Refreshing content only happens when it starts getting traffic.
Leveraging AI to write articles can be cost-effective for early-stage companies.
Arbitrage opportunities should be capitalized on aggressively as they may not last long.
Creating niche sites with low KD keywords can generate traffic and revenue.
Automated tools can handle content creation, SEO improvements, and data analysis.
Take advantage of the current opportunity before it disappears due to increased competition.
Twitter growth has been impressive by using a direct approach and posting multiple tweets per day.

Twitter as a Distribution Channel

48:52 - 55:15

Using Twitter as a distribution channel with low CPM
Writing and scheduling 70 tweets per week
Analyzing data to identify best-performing tweets
Building a viral loop to grow followers and impressions
Meeting new people and receiving inbound messages through Twitter
Capitalizing on marketing arbitrage on the platform
Exploring other distribution channels like video clips
Treating everything as a flywheel to spin faster and faster

Twitter Growth and Marketing Strategies

54:58 - 1:01:27

I was the only one liking the beer tweets, but now there are 40 likes per tweet.
The organic growth on LinkedIn was similar to Twitter.
LinkedIn's algorithm changes affected impressions and consistency of content.
Buying a subscription on LinkedIn doubled daily impressions.
Using Twitter as a tool for business rather than personal use.
The cost per CPM on Twitter is very low compared to other platforms.
Exploring the idea of private Twitter networks for viral posts and brand promotion.
The focus on owned media channels and advertising opportunities within them.
A case study of using podcasting as an owned media channel for ad revenue generation.
The potential for creators to build their own media channels and brands with direct distribution.
Three key factors in podcast growth: podcast SEO, Facebook ads to iOS devices, and growing through newsletters.

Podcast Growth Strategies

1:00:57 - 1:07:07

Using specific keyword phrases in the title and show notes of podcast episodes can improve search engine optimization (SEO) and drive more traffic and user acquisition.
Facebook ads can be used to supercharge podcast downloads by targeting iOS devices and linking to the Apple podcast app, resulting in more downloads.
Scraping email addresses related to the target audience and sending them a newsletter promoting the podcast can achieve high open rates, click-through rates, and help build trust with the audience.
Having a large email list of engaged listeners can benefit B2B companies by creating familiarity with potential customers, making sales calls easier, and building trust before selling.
Podcasting is like one-to-many sales, where consistent weekly episodes build trust with listeners over time.

Podcast Growth Success

1:06:42 - 1:13:05

Podcast growth can be achieved through strategies like podcast SEO, Facebook ads, and newsletters.
The speaker has taken multiple podcasts from non-existent to top 20 marketing podcasts in less than six months using these strategies.
The speaker prefers to share information for free rather than creating a paid course.
Sharing knowledge often leads to valuable insights and connections with others in the industry.
Many people receive advice but fail to take action on it, especially in marketing.
Startups should focus on one or two channels and get good at them instead of spreading themselves too thin.
Transactional marketing is important for immediate impact and revenue generation.
As a company matures, investing in SEO and organic social media becomes more relevant as a hedge against increasing user acquisition costs.
Direct mail can be an effective marketing strategy, especially when combined with digital elements like QR codes and targeted mailing lists.

Old School Marketing Strategies

1:12:40 - 1:19:11

Companies are going back to old school marketing strategies like direct mail campaigns and newsletters.
The future is building an email list, marketing through relevant channels, creating content, and doing podcasts.
In the past, companies got caught up in raising money and crazy valuations, but now they're going back to basics.
Early stage companies break the laws of physics with their fast growth, just like old school marketing does now.
To be successful in B2B or consumer markets, focus on finding your target customers and showing up in their lives every day at the lowest cost possible.
The goal of the podcast is to enjoy the process, meet interesting people, expand networks, and potentially start a fund if it goes well.

Future Plans and Support

1:18:56 - 1:21:38

The host plans to create a daily thread on Twitter where they share podcast stats, with the goal of it becoming the best podcast thread on Twitter in 6 to 12 months.
Monetization options for the podcast include paid content, sponsorships, and additional streams of potential income.
The immediate goal is to create cool merchandise for the podcast.
There may be a part two of the podcast episode in the future.
The guest expresses excitement about seeing how the podcast grows and offers support.