In Growth We Trust: Marketing | Growth | Startups
🔮 First 1,000 downloads, Grey hat tactics and Dopamine hits
Tue Jul 04 2023Description
The episode covers various topics related to podcast growth strategies, grey hat and black hat marketing, using LinkedIn for organic growth, LinkedIn content trends and emotional impact, AI and technology's influence on marketing, learning from competitors' advertising strategies, and the impact of creative tactics and content creation. The hosts discuss reaching milestones in podcast downloads, utilizing multiple channels for promotion, launching a newsletter, and pursuing growth strategies. They also delve into the concept of grey hat and black hat marketing, emphasizing the importance of attracting users by any means necessary. The power of LinkedIn for organic growth is explored, along with the increasing volume of content on the platform. The hosts highlight the emotional impact of target achievement or failure and the challenges of separating work from personal emotions. The influence of AI and technology on marketing is discussed, including the use of human psychology and the ability to learn from competitors' strategies. The impact of creative tactics and content creation, such as street activism and brand activities, is also explored.
Insights
Podcast Growth Strategies
The hosts have successfully reached milestones in podcast downloads and are considering setting higher targets for future months. They utilize multiple channels for promotion, including TikTok and LinkedIn, and have achieved top search results through effective podcast SEO. The launch of a newsletter provides additional insights and links related to growth and marketing, with potential for exclusive guest content in the future.
Grey Hat and Black Hat Marketing
The hosts discuss the concept of grey hat and black hat marketing, highlighting their past experiences with questionable techniques in affiliate marketing. They emphasize the need for startups to openly discuss these strategies instead of solely focusing on growth hacking. The tactic of Demailing, which involves targeted emails to accelerate distribution, is mentioned as a growth strategy.
Using LinkedIn for Organic Growth
LinkedIn company pages are identified as a powerful tool for organic growth. The hosts recommend finding a niche, talking about it daily in a fun way, and using it to promote businesses or brands. Automating the process of posting on LinkedIn is crucial due to the platform's increased volume of content.
LinkedIn Content Trends and Emotional Impact
The increasing volume of content on LinkedIn, including AI-generated content, is discussed as a trend. The hosts highlight that creating original content doesn't always yield the best results, with simple memes sometimes generating more engagement. They also explore the emotional impact of target achievement or failure, comparing it to the highs and lows experienced in sports.
AI and Technology's Influence on Marketing
The hosts discuss how social media platforms trigger dopamine hits through gamification and notifications. They emphasize that technology and AI have significant control over us, using human psychology to sell or manipulate. Marketers can now access Google Ads library to spy on competitors and gain inspiration, while charities can find areas of opportunity by studying competitors' strategies.
Learning from Competitors' Advertising Strategies
The hosts highlight the value of studying competitors' strategies through platforms like the Google Ad library and TikTok ad library. They recommend marketing teams spend more time on ad libraries to save time and learn from others' successes. The importance of brand-focused ads and the potential decline of big brand ads due to AI-generated content are discussed.
The Impact of Creative Tactics and Content Creation
Street activism and creative tactics are identified as having a significant impact online, particularly for small startups. The hosts emphasize that the world is made up of creators and consumers, and creating content for platforms like TikTok and Twitter can be freeing and rewarding. They also discuss the positive dopamine hits and meaning that creating content adds to life.
Chapters
- Podcast Growth Strategies
- Grey Hat and Black Hat Marketing
- Using LinkedIn for Organic Growth
- LinkedIn Content Trends and Emotional Impact
- AI and Technology's Influence on Marketing
- Learning from Competitors' Advertising Strategies
- The Impact of Creative Tactics and Content Creation
Podcast Growth Strategies
00:10 - 09:11
- Reached 1000 downloads on the podcast
- Achieved 10x the target for month one
- Considering setting a target of 2000 downloads for month two
- Influx of listeners from the US and Australia
- Using multiple channels to promote content, including TikTok and LinkedIn
- Podcast SEO is working well, showing up as number one in search results for keywords like growth, startups, and marketing
- Eating noises during recording could be turned into ASMR content to rank for ASMR keyword
- Launching a newsletter with each episode, providing extra insights and links related to growth and marketing
- Newsletter may include exclusive content from guests in the future
- Pursuing three growth strategies: SEO, paid ads (currently running at low cost), and newsletter launch
Grey Hat and Black Hat Marketing
08:53 - 16:42
- The podcast discusses the concept of grey hat and black hat marketing, which are practices that fall between legitimate and shady techniques.
- Grey hat marketing refers to tactics that are slightly shady but not illegal, while black hat marketing involves practices that may be against GDPR and data privacy laws.
- The hosts mention their past experiences with gaming the system through affiliate marketing using questionable techniques, but they no longer engage in such activities.
- Many online forums and courses promote shady practices for making money, such as creating fake review sites and using affiliate links.
- Startups often engage in shady tactics to gain users or steal them from competitors, including scraping email addresses from LinkedIn.
- The hosts believe that more startups should openly discuss these grey hat strategies instead of just focusing on growth hacking.
- They mention a growth tactic called Demailing, which involves sending targeted emails with podcast episode links to relevant individuals in order to accelerate distribution and attract listeners.
- The hosts emphasize the importance of attracting users by any means necessary when starting a business, citing examples like Airbnb founders knocking on doors to sign people up.
Using LinkedIn for Organic Growth
16:14 - 24:09
- Growth is about doing anything to get users in the door
- Company pages on LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for organic growth
- These pages echo content that is already working and prioritize potential viral pieces
- The formula involves finding a niche, talking about it daily in a fun way, and using it to promote your business or brand
- Automating the process of posting on LinkedIn is key
- LinkedIn has become a platform where everyone tries to be an expert and generate content
- The volume of content uploaded to LinkedIn has increased significantly over the years
LinkedIn Content Trends and Emotional Impact
23:40 - 31:29
- The volume of content uploaded to LinkedIn has significantly increased over the years.
- AI-generated content is becoming more prevalent on LinkedIn, which can be seen as a negative trend.
- Creating original content doesn't always yield the best results on LinkedIn; sometimes a simple meme can generate more engagement.
- Some creators on LinkedIn consistently achieve high numbers of likes, comments, and shares with their posts.
- Reaching half a million people on LinkedIn can have a significant impact on personal branding.
- A successful post can lead to an increase in followers, resulting in dopamine hits for those working in growth or marketing roles.
- Failing to meet targets and experiencing consecutive bad days can lead to feelings of depression and disappointment.
- The physical and emotional impact of hitting or missing targets is similar to the highs and lows experienced in sports.
- It is challenging to separate work from personal emotions when dopamine hits are involved.
- Finding work-life balance and switching off from work-related stress is not always effective in dealing with the emotional impact of target achievement or failure.
AI and Technology's Influence on Marketing
31:03 - 38:29
- Social media platforms trigger dopamine hits through gamification and notifications
- We are being controlled by technology and AI, which has unimaginable processing power
- AI developers use human psychology to sell or manipulate us
- Marketers can now access Google Ads library to spy on competitors and get inspiration
- Visibility into competitors' strategies helps charities find areas of opportunity
- Copying successful strategies saves time and testing for small players
Learning from Competitors' Advertising Strategies
38:11 - 45:47
- If you go to a sneaker pre-release page or the Google Ad library, you can learn from big competitors and bypass testing.
- The TikTok ad library is valuable for studying retention rates and engagement on ads.
- Marketing teams should spend more time on ad libraries to save time and learn from others' successes.
- Brand-focused ads are more creative than direct response ads.
- There may be a decline in big brand ads due to AI-generated content, but big brands like Pepsi will continue with creative campaigns.
- For small businesses, there's a limit to spending on brand advertising. Performance-driven digital channels are more cost-effective.
- Some budget should still be allocated to brand advertising for smaller businesses.
- Certain creative tactics, like street marketing, will never be replaced by AI.
The Impact of Creative Tactics and Content Creation
45:22 - 53:00
- Street activism and creative tactics have a significant impact online.
- Small startups can use brand activities to get off the ground.
- The world is made up of creators and consumers.
- Creating content for platforms like TikTok and Twitter can be freeing and rewarding.
- Putting thoughts out there may feel exposed, but it becomes easier over time.
- Creating content provides positive dopamine hits and adds meaning to life.
- The podcast has reached a thousand downloads with a growing listener base.
- New guests are coming, and the podcast is improving every week.