Benji Hyam

I agree with Gene Marks CPA, but not just for small businesses, Notebook’s a really powerful tool for small(ish) teams as well. It was originally designed by Google for academic folks, but I hear clients in the #electroniccomponents industry using NotebookLM for all kinds of collaboration. Here’s my top 3 features for marketing teams: 1. Easily sets up folders for campaign planning to gather and share research, past campaign stats, budgets, ideas, and then interrogating all of that. 2. I love the audio overview tool for making podcasts from blogs, white papers etc. but the best part about this feature is it only uses what’s in the original content, no external sources. And that means marketers have a much easier job getting approvals before releasing. 3. And that same audio overview feature is such a time saver for giving audio summaries, especially as the shared folders get bigger. I’m curious to see where Google takes this next… Thanks Gene.

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I love sprint testing. It's so powerful to test problem messages in $30 increments to understand exactly what your customers want right now. Seriously feeling pumped! #paidmedia #whitelabel #mediabuying #productmarketfit

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How we help clients improve lead quality by 20% in 30 days Here are the 3 simple steps we used: Optimize your thank you page → Don't just say "thanks" → Tell them what happens next → Share your USPs → Get them excited for the call Add validation to your forms → Stop fake phone numbers → Prevent invalid emails → Use OTP validation for serious leads → Train your algorithm right Improve follow-up messaging → Send both email and SMS → Share your caller ID in the text → Add value with guides in emails → Repeat office hours Result? → Better contact rates → Fewer fake leads → Higher ROI → Sales team time saved Want more info or advice? Let me know in the comments below Thanks for reading

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Petco Email Overhaul A counterintuitive approach. A few key changes: ➤  Key Header Change Yes, we didn’t lead with an offer here. We led with a statement that everyone in the target audience can agree with. → Makes them naturally want to read on → Open Loop → Highlight product quality While this email has a value-led approach, we still add a CTA above the fold for eager shoppers. ➤ Create An Angle An interesting angle that empowers dogs, setting context for the product spotlight section. → Compares dog DNA to wolf DNA → Creates intrigue in terms of ‘so, what does that mean?’ → Sets context for wild pacific stream smoked salmon ‘Wild Stream Smoked Salmon’ is contextualized more since modern science claims dogs share the same DNA as wolves. ➤ Product Spotlights With Reviews A clear product showcase with benefit-driven copy and review highlights. → Builds confidence through social approval → Makes product tangible → Builds on the context from previous section The value here is using the contextual story of dogs having wolf DNA, and showcasing products in light of this new perception. ➤ Conditional Product Spotlight Next, we highlight a product alternative. → Gives an alternative option → Based on customer research → Show clear customer understanding The main point here is to use your zero party data to decode what your audience considers highly relevant. ➤ Offer-Stack Reminder We put the offer at the end here. Criminal, right? Not when you’re taking a value-based approach. → Builds trust through reading first → Keeps the email relevant to profile → The goal is to offer value first Being a brand that gives value first is the ultimate differentiator. ------ I’m a big fan of value-led marketing. In a world where we see 10,000 ads in a day, leading with value in your marketing will help you stand out. It trains your audience to actually read your emails and receive some form of dopamine from new information. Providing value before an offer will add more longevity in your customer base. There’s definitely a time and place for leading with offers, but I do think the landscape is changing. Thoughts?

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Life’s too short to introduce shit AI products into your company so you can scale. So often questions are posed on here such as ‘have you considered how AI can influence eVeRyThInG?’ but barely reference a very specific action = outcome. ‼️ Indy agencies & marketers & seed stage founders: got an online demo webinar feat. Upflowy founder Guillaume Ang tmrw, you’re invited to see what good AI looks like. As a marketer, the main constraint often is time. Time to execute. Content doesn’t just *snap fingers, happens* It requires hands, for the most menial and mundane of tasks to do ‘marketing ops’ which to be frank, is a painful and highly bang-head-against-the-wall task for a marketer who is asked to ‘fill the funnel, make it go viral!’ Within marketing agencies who have clients they need to serve with campaigns, but are constrained by being able to provide the actual assets they require to deploy said game-changing campaign. Within seed+ tech companies who have lean marketing teams with marketing operators only able to do so much with the limited time they have in a day while they do 20 other jobs. Within service providers who seek to have an online bespoke presence in geographies and specific positioning Within consumer goods providers who want to ship a landing page for every SKU and inventory item they could possibly think of I am running this demo gathering tomorrow noon (AEDT) with Guillaume, as he showcases ‘Psyke’ - Upflowy’s next play in market; a neuroscience+AI platform helping marketing ship campaign creation at scale, in hours not days/weeks. I cannot reiterate how much Psyke is NOT SHIT. It is a magical beast, and it has been awesome getting involved in this team who are creating something that will redefine marketing ops, and show how every keyword you hold dear, can be turned into something that is on-brand, on-site, shipped, and *doing the SEO thing you need it to do* I barely run events anymore. This one, as we showcase and invite any and all feedback, will be something I believe will be a huge mental unlock for people thinking about how they can scale in 2025 onwards, but just need the top-of-the-funnel aiding tool to get them there. Tagging marketers and founders (most from Tractor days) I think would get a kick out of this- tell someone who gives a shit about knowing what 2025 should look like in growing their challenger brand. And DM me if interested. Don’t love selling, and since this is demo phase, I’m not. But I do love telling a fucking great story, and this is a good one. (*presses post at 2.37*) Adam Grocke, Adrian Edwards, Alexandria Garlan, Ally Watson OAM, Ami Bateman, ⍙ Amy Springer, Annie Liao 🇦🇺, Anthony Curtin, Ash Kirvan, axel sukianto, Ben Colley, Carolyn Stebbing, Chanel Clark, Cherie Clonan, Christopher Bartlett 🔸, Chris Hoffmann, Chris Nasr, Claire B., 🌞 Dan Brockwell, Daniel Lyas, Dan Siepen, Daniel Kagan, Daniel Ouliaris, Daniele Tanner, Danny Phillips, Dave King, David Tu-Hoa cont.

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I’ve seen so many companies get excited about implementing HubSpot (and rightfully so!) but then hit a wall when it comes to actually using it effectively. Here’s the truth: the magic isn’t totally in the setup—it’s in the adoption. A few key reminders I share with clients: 1️⃣ Clean data, clear insights. Don’t skip the database cleanup—it’s the foundation for everything. 2️⃣ Processes matter. HubSpot is only as good as the processes you build around it. 3️⃣ Empower your team. Consistent training and showing off user-friendly features make all the difference. If you’re feeling stuck after implementation, you’re not alone! Let’s chat about getting your team to love HubSpot as much as I do.

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A high performing SEO agency that’s worth their weight in gold will do the following during a sales call: 1) Ask you what your quarterly/annual revenue goals are 2) Ask about what your internal, organizational bandwidth is to execute strategies 3) Ask about buy in from devs and executives 4) Ask about what executive focus is, as that will impact strategy 5) Ask about tracking, and KPIs your organization focuses on (bonus points for mentioning MQLs vs. SQLs if you’re a b2b fintech company) 6) Ask what strategies you’ve tried in the past, or what your experience has been with other agencies/freelancers/employees (this directly impacts how they should be communicating with you) You’ll notice a distinct lack of anything involving keywords, rankings, link building, or page speed. There’s a reason for that. https://buff.ly/3HNNoao #SEO #Finance #Fintech

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Tim Davidson - I won't play the "assess the current tech stack and team" card -- but I'll play the need to assess the current state of the GTM and uncover why the ACV is only 30K and how we can increase the deal size. Before investing in tech, we need to see if we need to change.... How the business thinks about the business. How we communicate the value prop How sales, marketing and customer success teams engage with buyers How the teams work together to land and expand deals We need to see where problems lie, where buyers are leaving the buyer's journey and/or customer lifecycle and how we need to change interactions and the account experience. The tech I'd invest in would support the "changed" GTM strategy and the desired account experience. Even in a hypothetical situation like the one you propose -- we can't just pick the sales and marketing tech and have the tech stack drive the strategy. We'd just be placing band-aids on the "cuts" in the business vs. fixing the real issues. To my #LinkedIn network, how would you answer Tim's question in the post below?

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Decks are the biggest waste of time in Marketing.   I’d bet on an inverse correlation btw “pretty decks” and “client outcomes.”   The prettier the deck, the more fluff—the more being hidden.   We’ve won several clients b/c we didn’t send a deck…   Instead, we sent actionable recs in a Doc with a Loom.   We add screen caps where necessary.   But no “About Us,” “Why We’re Different,” etc.   Just clear actions to take to scale ads profitably.   No saying, all doing.   Whether you do it with us, yourself, or with someone else.   - Takes less time - Offers way more value - Differentiates us   A win-win-win.

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Sale Ends Tonight! Don't miss your chance to jumpstart your marketing with Ernie's hands-on, 4-hour Generative AI workshop in Salt Lake City (SLC)! Join me and a handful of other small business marketers for an engaging in-person session where you'll master the art of Generative AI and learn how to supercharge your marketing strategies. This is your opportunity to dive deep into AI technologies that are transforming the industry—all in just half a day! Why You Should Attend: Hands-On Experience: Work directly with cutting-edge AI tools. Expert Guidance: Learn from industry professionals. Immediate Impact: Apply new skills to your marketing efforts right away. Networking Opportunities: Connect with like-minded professionals in SLC. But hurry—the sale ends at midnight! Secure your spot now and take the first step towards revolutionizing your marketing approach. Let me know if you'd like a link to register.

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Who can relate? 👀 The same applies to us marketing folks...and many other teams. It's 2024, but even the "no-code" tools often require 20 pages of instructions, and ultimately...access to your website's source code. P.S.S. If you're looking for a no-code solution to free your product, marketing, UX and CSM teams from the shackles of your engineering teams 'I'm busy' (and - on a more serious note - free up your expensive $$$ engineering time to work on things that really matter, like your core product, not on Google Tag Manager tags...) - then hit us up - we have free trial too. 😎 P.S.S. Team Userpilot got talent, don't they? 😁

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This is best tech POV of the year. Here's why. It’s for “pay once” software (formerly known as plain old software.) While the idea of owning, instead of subscribing to, software isn’t new, what Jason Fried at 37signals has done here is some perfectly timed business genius. Because it makes a 60-year-old category sound like a revolution. On the heels of B2B SaaS bloat and growing customer frustration over the last 5 years—and a downturn in the economy—Fried came in and proposed a new way: Why pay subscription fees forever when you can pay once and own your software instead? Here’s a bit from their pitch-perfect POV: “For nearly two decades, the SaaS model benefitted landlords handsomely. With routine prayers — and payers — to the Church of Recurring Revenue, valuations shot to the moon on the backs of businesses subscribed at luxury prices for commodity services they had little control over. Add up your SaaS subscriptions last year. You should own that shit by now.” Their first “pay once” product is Campfire, a Slack competitor. Dozens of Slack competitors have failed over the years. Why? Because, once established, it’s almost impossible to overtake a category leader. So 37 Signals competed with Slack by being something Slack could never be. That’s the definition of great strategy. Zig when they zag. Be strong where they're weak. Another smart thing 37 Signals did. They used what I call the three levers of differentiation: - Business model - Product - Marketing By differentiating in all three dimensions, the customer is way more likely to consider their pitch. Here’s how they differentiated in each area: Business Model ↳ Pay once instead of forever. Product ↳ Campfire: simple, no-BS business messaging. Like Slack without all the feature creep (and you own it). Marketing ↳ Direct, honest, founder-led marketing. Because they have these three levers working together, it gives way more credibility to the idea that Campfire is categorically different than Slack. That 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 is what makes customers pay attention to their pitch. It doesn’t hurt that some Slack customers could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by switching to Campfire. That’s a pretty good pitch. Still, a small software company competing with Salesforce and Microsoft usually ends badly. Do you think they’ll succeed? I do. #ceo #cmo #strategy

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There's a critical distinction between positioning early-stage and growth-stage B2B tech products that I worry people don't understand. In the early days, positioning a product on capabilities alone is enough. You align your product to what buyers want, dig in, and get your business off the ground. But once you hit scale, the rules change. Having differentiated capabilities is great, but capabilities alone rarely lift a company to the top of its category. Here's what I think does: -Differentiated product capabilities ...plus a combination of some or all of these: -Differentiated credibility -Differentiated convenience -Differentiated cost A product that is easier to trust, easier to buy, and delivers more value for the dollar is far better positioned than a product that only has differentiated capabilities. Category leaders know this. It's how they build formidable moats. But I absolutely think challengers can win this way, too. I witness it daily.

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Looking for Marketo training? Do any of these statements sound like you... ✨You want ready access to tried-and-tested reference materials at all levels to learn at your own pace ✨You want become a Marketo Certified expert in the shortest time frame possible ✨You want to become a Marketo Engage specialist or administrator ✨Your team needs to use Marketo, but you’ve no resources to train them ✨You’re looking/interviewing for a job and need to get the lingo under wraps If so - check out our complete training library: https://okt.to/RJgYZ0

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Does your HubSpot portal feel like a haunted house with spooky things popping up around every corner? I get it. It's easy to end up in that situation. Let HIVE Hub help untangle the mess and get your portal back on track. https://hubs.ly/Q02xDdZh0

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Misaligned teams don’t deliver results. One team focuses on PPC. Another on web development. Neither aligned on shared goals. My advice? Unify them. Clear communication, shared KPIs, and accountability drive alignment. When teams work together, strategies click, websites perform, and business grows. Helping businesses bridge these gaps is one of the most rewarding parts of my work. Who else is tackling these challenges head-on? #FractionalCMO #Collaboration #AlignedTeams

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Question for: previous Marketo die-hards now using Hubspot (and liking it) What do you like about Hubspot and what changed your perception? I still hear the old perception that Hubspot is the SMB tool you grow out of. Personally, I believe the old persecption is incorrect (this coming from someone who was a Marketo diehard myself). These days, at CS2, a good chunk of our clients (who are complex, scale-up B2B tech companies) are on Hubspot and have no need to move off it. Our POV is that Hubspot has been killing it when it comes to product development and they are neck and neck with Marketo. So, I am curious about what convinced others that Hubspot has caught up. #marketo #hubspot #gtmoperations #marketingoperations #revenueoperations  

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