Presenting At The California Self Storage Association

Recently, I enjoyed the honor of presenting at the California Self Storage Association conference in Redondo Beach, California. My good friend, Ryan Barnhart from G5, and I co-presented 2.5+ hours of digital marketing tips for self storage owners. This was a really fun time, especially after having the honor of presenting at the Self Storage Association Spring Conference in New Orleans earlier this year. Today, I want to share my top takeaways and insights from this experience.

Long-Format Presentations Are Fun: Ryan and I co-presented for 2.5+ hours. This presentation reminded me of my two Stanford Graduate School of Business Workshops from a few years back. There is only so much value one can pack into a shorter presentation. When you can secure a few hours and turn your presentation into a workshop, it’s possible to truly empower the audience. I feel like Ryan and I did exactly that!
Co-Presenting Is The Best: It’s so much more fun to co-present than solo-present, especially when both presenters have unique styles. If you have a big presentation coming up or a big public speaking opportunity, consider approaching the opportunity as a team with a valued colleague. It’s easier to prepare that way, and the audience will get more value from two opinions on the same topic. And, it’s my belief that it’s easier to secure great speaking opportunities because you’re bringing double the value.
Your Network Is Everything: I have been blessed with an incredible network, and I take so much pride in turning business partnerships into personal friendships. (If you check out my Digital Marketing and Business Quotes, you’ll see that quote 3 reads, "It’s all about the people. Turn business partnerships into friendships.") This CSSA speaking opportunity was a really special one, and we didn’t even need to apply! Those organizing the event knew of our prior interest and skill level. They knew we would be a great fit, and brought forth the opportunity. There is nothing better than world class opportunities coming your way because of those that trust and value you. It was a true honor to be selected, and totally underscored the value of building world-class friendships.
Smaller Businesses Are the Best: We had some smaller businesses in the audience (and larger ones too). We had the joy of sharing marketing strategies that actually place smaller operators at a competitive advantage over larger companies (with more money). Sometimes, your very perceived weakness can be your greatest strength. Don’t be afraid to fight above your weight class!
Pre-Presentation Preparation Is Key: Ryan and I have two very different pre-presentation strategies, and I truly love that fact. While I tend to turn inwards and get "in the zone" during my Presentation Warm-up, Ryan takes the different approach of meeting and greeting each audience member as they walk through the door. How neat to see how we approach things differently, and complement each other as presenters.
It’s Totally Worth It: I am actively mentoring a few people, and I consistently push them to seek public speaking opportunities. It’s a ton of work, but it’s always worth it. If you’re on the fence as to whether you should go for it, please do it!

I just got selected for another big upcoming presentation, and am so blessed that these opportunities are coming my way. I’ll definitely update everyone here after my next big public speaking event!

Image of Ian Lopuch and Ryan Barnhart © PPCIan.com

The Day of Your Big Presentation: How To Prepare

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 31 0

I just had the honor of presenting a session titled Expert Marketing With A Lean Team at the Self Storage Association Spring conference in New Orleans. Christine Munther from G5 and I co-presented, and I believe we hit the ball out of the park, driving substantial value and motivation for the audience. I could tell based on the huge attendance (packed room with standing room only) and the incredibly engaged audience (wonderful questions). Today, I want to share the tips that I personally leveraged to put myself in a state of peak performance for our presentation. I hope that you can gain value from these warm up strategies so your next large-audience presentation is your personal best.

Tip 1: Focus On Your Mindstate

The Empty SSA Auditorium Before Our Big Presentation

When I woke up the day of my presentation, I was actually quite tired. It had been a long flight the day before and I didn’t get a ton of sleep due to the time change. That being said, I was able to quickly turn my mindstate into peak performance zone by leveraging my Five Minute Journal. (If you have not checked out my Five Minute Journal Review yet, I highly recommend doing so, as this tool is a game-changer.) The interesting part here is I actually forgot to bring my physical journal, but I was able to recreate The Five Minute Journal (minus the motivational quote) on a piece of blank paper.

Importantly, I set forth three goals for the day, only one related to my presentation. The others involved exercising at the gym and successfully completing an investment project I had been working on. I think this point is key: Don’t just focus on your presentation. Focus on you. Make the day exciting beyond your presentation so you don’t get overly focused and anxious about your public speaking. Your best presentations happen when you are relaxed.

Tip 2: Go To The Gym

I’m a big fan of the healthy lifestyle. I try to do something that benefits my health each and every day. I have learned that the mind and body are closely connected. I have also learned the working out can release positive endorphins and put you in a state of peak performance. In the morning, I did some moderate cardio and also some heavy weights (but not for too long). I didn’t want to exhaust myself for my big presentation, but I wanted to do something for me. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed a relaxed state before getting on stage.

Tip 3: Practice Early

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Self Storage Association (SSA) Conference

Ian Lopuch & Christine Munther Presenting at SSA

Christine and I met early and practiced our presentation in the same auditorium of our actual event. I think the location element here is key. Get familiar with your auditorium, if you’re able to get access. Get used to the environment.

When we practiced, we purposefully made it more of an informal conversation. We did not go over every single point. We did not use our full voices. It’s important to conserve your energy and leave room for improvisation during the actual event. Save your personal best for the real deal, and go easy and light during the practice run.

As a practical matter, we also answered some important questions during our practice run. Would we stand on stage or roam the floor? Would we use the microphone at the podium or use lav mics? It’s great to develop your personal answers to these questions and more during the practice run.

Tip 4: Leave Time To Think

Before our big event, I took it relatively easy. I enjoyed the expo hall and some friendly conversations. I had a nice lunch and met some new faces. I left time to just sit and think (mostly thinking through speaking points in my mind). You can go about your day at more of a normal pace after the presentation. Before, it’s important to take it a little light and conserve your energy (especially mental energy). Always remember when going to a conference: You came there to get a job done. All focus needs to be placed towards that goal until it’s successfully accomplished.

Tip 5: Conserve Your Voice

This tip is an extension of the last one. I often find at these conferences that I lose my voice from so much networking. It’s loud and we all tend to speak in loud voices and with more frequency than normal. Make sure this doesn’t happen on the day of your big presentation. Conserve your voice. You can always power network right after (which is exactly what I did).

Tip 6: Don’t Worry About Your Slides

Public speaking is all about connecting with the audience. It’s all about improvising and telling a personal story. While slides can be helpful, I personally recommend speaking as if there are no slides at all. The point here: Your slides don’t really matter (as much as you think). By the time you have arrived at your conference, no additional changes to your slides are going to help. You’ve already done all you can do on that front. Now is the time to really get in that zone so you can speak from the heart and connect with the audience. The slides are just there to support you.

Tip 7: Don’t Eat Too Much

This is a funny one, but I have always found that it’s best to go light and very healthy on days of presentations. You don’t want to have a full stomach when you are about to present. I have found that the body is in peak performance for speaking with a moderate/low amount of food. In fact, I approach this in a similar fashion to sports. I don’t eat a ton of food before an 8-mile run. Rather, I eat that big meal right after. Treat your public speaking like a sporting event.

Tip 8: Talk To A Friend Or Two For Motivation

Your inner circle is key. I’m talking about your family and your very close friends. Ask them to wish you good luck. Leverage their words of encouragement to get excited about your event. Be careful here to not involve anyone who could potentially bring any negativity to the matter.

Tip 9: Start Getting Pumped Up

Right before your event is to start (about 15 minutes before), start moving from a state of calm to a state of controlled excitement. Now, the sports event is about to start. You’ll want to have all of your energy. You want to be a dynamic speaker that is happy and excited to be there. Don’t go too crazy, but walk around and maybe even do a few pushups.

Tip 10: Leverage Positive Images

Right before we went on stage (1-2 minutes before), I viewed photos of my amazing family. These photos brought a smile to my face and reminded me that family is more important than anything. These positive photos put my mind at ease and allowed me to transition into one of my personal best presentations.

In Summary

There is so much work that goes into preparing for a great presentation. In order to prepare for our hour-long presentation, we spent countless days building slides and handouts. That work is so important, as it’s the foundation of one’s presentation. At the same time, I believe that the tips mentioned above are the true game-changers. It all comes down to the single moment of one’s presentation and you have to be in the right state. It’s game day and you have to treat it as such.

As a bonus tip, I highly recommend a strategy of gratitude as well. There are many wonderful speakers out there with incredible stories to tell. Securing a large public speaking event is a big deal. Once your presentation is over, make sure to thank the conference organizers – verbally, via email, and also with a small gift. Your honor of presenting is due to some really special people who deserve thanks. And, of course, thank the audience too. Their time is incredibly valuable and you should strive to add lasting value in their lives.

I hope these tips help and wish you all the best in your next public speaking event.

Images in this post © PPCIan.com

Speaking At The Self Storage Association (SSA) Spring, 2017 Conference

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Mar 20 0

Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Self Storage Association (SSA) Spring, 2017 conference in beautiful New Orleans, Louisiana. Christine Munther from G5, my friend and business partner, and I co-presented on the topic of Expert Marketing With A Lean Team: Get Bigger Results With Fewer Resources. Today, I want to share my experience speaking at this conference and some of my big takeaways.

Two Years In Planning

Ian Lopuch & Christine Munther Presenting at SSA

I view life as a series of seasons. During the different seasons, there are different areas of focus. Almost two years ago, I shifted careers from an Internet technology company to a commercial real estate development company. As someone who was previously speaking on a routine basis, I went somewhat silent at my new role. It was not the season for me to speak. It was the season for me to have my head down, learn, innovate, and build something new. Even if you love public speaking, it’s ok to have times in your life where you just focus on the work. In fact, I did this intentionally and used the reward of public speaking as a motivator. I told myself: "Ian, it’s time to focus and build a truly unique and amazing marketing machine. Once that is done, you will have the most wonderful topic for public speaking at SSA." Last week, I had the opportunity to share my story from the last two years. It was time for my season to change and focus outward again.

Submit Your Pitch Early

Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian) Having Fun In New Orleans

When I had this idea to present on marketing with a lean team, I immediately reached out to one of my most strategic business partners, G5. I knew that one plus one would equal three (or more) in this case. After all, G5 is the platform that powers our websites and so much more. Leveraging the G5 Marketing Cloud platform and partnership to achieve great scale, G5 and I shoulder my marketing program as a team.

In order to submit our pitch to SSA, we needed to get a really early start. In fact, we submitted our pitch in October of 2016 (almost six months in advance of the conference). As a reminder to myself and everyone reading: If you have a great idea for a conference, make sure to start planning and submit your plan early!

Marketing Your Presentation

Even before we arrived at the conference, we created a fun trailer for our session on YouTube. We shared this trailer with the Self Storage Association and also on our personal social media profiles. As two marketing professionals speaking about marketing, we just had to market our own presentation, right? We had a lot of fun doing this, and wanted to share the strategy for any of you speaking at a conference in the future. Get out there and help drive even more people to your presentation!

Day of The Event

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Public Speaking Self Storage Association

Ian Lopuch and Christine Munther Sharing Knowledge About Digital Marketing at SSA

Christine and I hit the ball out of the park. All of the seats were filled in our auditorium and many folks were standing. Moreover, I did not see anyone leave during our presentation. Those in the audience asked incredible questions and were truly engaged (self storage professionals, you all are the best!).

Christine and I had so much fun because we were speaking about a topic of great personal interest and passion. Having the opportunity to co-present was so much fun. I always enjoy co-presenting vs. solo-presenting because of the teamwork, the conversational style of the presentation, and the fact the audience gets multiple perspectives. At the end of the day, the only purpose of these presentations is driving lasting value to the audience, and that’s exactly what we attempted to achieve.

I really believe that this presentation was one of my personal best, and it all came down to preparation, focus, and "game day" strategy. In fact, on the plane flight home, I wrote a nearly 1,500-word blog post featuring my game day presentation strategy. Stay tuned, it shall be the next blog post here on PPC Ian and features some really neat insights that took me years of speaking to fully master.

First Time To New Orleans

Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian) Enjoying Fun Times in Jackson Square, New Orleans

I love leveraging conferences and speaking opportunities to explore the world. I was so happy that our presentation was accepted for the Fall 2017 Self Storage Conference because this conference was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. Having never visited New Orleans before, I was thrilled to learn that this event was right in the center of it all: The New Orleans Marriott just steps from Jackson Square and the French Quarter.

Before our presentation, my complete focus was on getting my job done. I came to this conference to do a great job speaking and add value to the audience. Once I completed my job, I also enjoyed some personal time exploring the city. I have to say that sitting on the park bench at Jackson Square and listening to the beautiful Southern Jazz music was a personal highlight. With temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s, a nice breeze, and the best sights/music ever, I really had a time to remember. And, the incredibly delicious food did not hurt either. Even though I’m truly focused on health these days, I broke my rules to enjoy some authentic New Orleans beignets and they were so delicious.

Ian Lopuch Jeffrey Shouse Colliers International Team

Jeffrey Shouse, Ian Lopuch, and the Colliers International Team at SSA 2017

The Conference

Aside from my personal speaking experience and enjoying New Orleans, I also had the pleasure of attending the SSA conference. Having been to another SSA conference in Las Vegas, I knew what to expect: A world-class experience. Some of my highlights:

Running into familiar faces and power networking. Whether it was celebrating with G5 after our successful presentation, my dinner with Elizabeth from RealtyMogul, spending hours with my good friend Pedro from Self Storage Management Company, fun times with Jeffrey Shouse and the Colliers International Team, or running into a host of other friends, this is a conference where it was all about networking. I packed weeks/months worth of networking value into just a few days.
Running into new faces. It has been said that your network is your net worth, and I really believe in that quote. More than that, I just like people and making new friends. I had the opportunity to meet some true leaders at this conference and went home with a stack of business cards. And, I plan on following up with all of them.
New technologies. With my background in Silicon Valley technology, I always have an eye for bringing the latest and greatest innovations to our company. At this SSA conference, I was more impressed than ever before. With a host of new technologies to try, SSA made my 2017 technology roadmap even more robust.
The right mix. I’ve been to conferences before where it seems like there is either too much or too little. I’m talking about the overall level of content and intensity. I would say that the professionals at SSA got the mix perfectly right: They have this down to a science.
Notes. You probably know by now that I’m really strong at typing. After all, I wouldn’t have all these lengthy articles on PPC Ian without my fast typing skills. Just as you would expect, I left SSA with pages of notes. I was typing down self storage industry insights as quickly as possible

I’m grateful for so much in life, including beautiful music and the inspired musicians who change our world one song at a time.

Gratitude

In the world of public speaking, it is all about the audience. The sole job of the speaker is to empower, motivate, educate, and leave lasting value for the audience. That’s a big responsibility! Of course, public speaking is also advantageous for the presenter because it’s a big deal and an honor. I wanted to share my extreme gratitude with Ginny and the entire Self Storage Association team. You had many pitches to choose from and you trusted Christine and myself. We sincerely hope that we exceeded your expectations and truly thank you for the honor of presenting at this world-class conference. We also look forward to future opportunities as well.

We want to thank each and every person in the audience. We hope we made great use of your hour and left actionable insights for immediate implementation in your marketing programs. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you were at the conference and have any questions for Christine or myself.

More Fun Photos

All images in this post © PPCIan.com

Dreamforce 16: My Big Insights

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Oct 13 1

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending Dreamforce 16 with my amazing wife. This was truly an epic conference, with many takeaways for marketers, salespeople, and businesspeople. Today’s post summarizes my big insights, and I’m hoping these provide actionable fuel for growing your own business. Before jumping into my blog post, I encourage you to watch my Dreamforce 16 video, taken live from the conference. And, when you’re done reading, don’t forget to check out the slides at the end of the post.

Insight One: Let Machine Learning Do Your Data Science

ian-lopuch-welcome-to-dreamforce Dreamforce 16 was very much about the new Salesforce Einstein algorithm. Einstein is machine learning at its finest, an algorithm that learns over time and suggests tips to marketers and salespeople on how they can be more effective at their campaigns and jobs. Think of it this way: Einstein is like having a full time data scientist on your team, always looking for new optimizations and opportunities. Rather than being a real person, Einstein lives within Salesforce. How cool!

I’ve long been a fan of smart automation within digital marketing, and even wrote a whitepaper on the topic. Automation continues to evolve over the years and now spans departments. As you implement automation at your company think about how it can seamlessly tie together sales, marketing, customer care, product management, executive management, and others. Also, consider testing automation that learns over time, taking some of the heavy lifting (data analysis) off your shoulders.

Insight Two: Salesforce Is Now A Big Player In Marketing

ppc-ian-dreamforce-16 Salesforce demonstrated their marketing cloud technology, a highlight of the conference for me. As a marketing executive, I am the biggest fan of marketing platforms around. If your company already leverages Salesforce for CRM/sales, the case for auditioning their marketing cloud is quite compelling, especially if you are a B2B marketing organization. Salesforce is making it easy to leverage a unified technology stack that spans multiple departments.

With so many options to choose from when it comes to marketing and sales technology, where do you even start? A few quick tips:

Audit your existing technology stack, if you have one. How would the new platform(s) fit into your existing mix? Would they replace existing platform(s) or complement?
Understand your primary short-term objective. Do you need a platform that does it all, or do you want to start scrappy and address one opportunity at a time? Think about the long-term so the actions you are taking are scalable as your business grows.
Consider the size of your business. Some platforms are better for different lifecycle stages.
Understand your platform budget. Do you have millions per year to invest in technology or do you have a more limited budget?
Go with the best! There are great platforms to fit all companies and budgets. When evaluating platforms, see how long they have been around and understand their reputation in the marketplace.

Insight Three: Salesforce Announces Intent To Acquire Krux DMP

dreamforce-16-cloud-expo Most marketers and salespeople agree that data is incredibly powerful. Data is the hub of any great business strategy. The challenge is data lives in so many different places. That’s why I suggest bringing a DMP (data management platform) into your company’s technology stack. Think of your DMP as the central repository of all your consumer data anonymized (both prospective and actual). Each of the solutions in your stack (and your CRM too) can tap into this DMP to gain insights and provide a better, more customized user experience.

Practical use case: You sell autos. Someone visited a landing page for your lineup of SUVs. They leave the site. In real time, your DMP creates a record for this new prospect and also adds an attribute (they like SUVs). Next time, when the same consumer comes back to your site (maybe they just type in your homepage URL), the site taps into the DMP to personalize content. Of course, you choose a homepage image of SUVs, tailored to their interests.

This is a very simple example, but you can start seeing the power of a great DMP. Make your DMP the hub of all of your marketing, sales, customer care, and website personalization. DMPs allow marketers and salespeople to connect 1-on-1 with prospective consumers.

Insight Four: Salespeople Spend Two Thirds of Their Time NOT Selling

I really could not believe this statistic! How crazy is that? Salespeople spend the vast majority of their time engaging in activities that are misaligned with their primary role. I imagine this is quite frustrating for salespeople, and that they would rather be selling than working on administrative work. Of course, the charter of Salesforce is improving this situation and empowering salespeople to perform the work they love so much, automating and improving the manual work and administrative tasks that can consume valuable time.

At a meta level, I imagine this statistic is not too far off for other professions. My insight and takeaway here is to always remember my primary goals and focus, focus, focus. There are so many distractions out there. There are so many administrative tasks. How can we all get better at focusing on the activities that produce great value, finding alternate ways to get the manual work done?

Insight Five: Run Your Business From Your Phone

I thought this was really neat: Salesforce allows you to run your business from your phone. With the married marketing and sales clouds, you can do so much on the go. I’m a big fan of the mobile lifestyle, and find so much inspiration when I’m working from all different kinds of places. In fact, I personally get more done when I’m not in the same environment every single day.

My big insight here is that we should all challenge ourselves to be more mobile. What can we do from our phones? How can we all visit different places and get really creative with our work?

Insight Six: Charity Should Be a Primary Objective

When it comes to charity, Salesforce is a company I admire incredibly. They take charity so seriously, and invented the 1-1-1 integrated philanthropy strategy. Under this model, Salesforce (and other companies that choose to participate), donate technology, time, and money to great causes.

At Dreamforce, I had the honor of learning about Musicians On Call, a charity that brings happy moments (via live music) to those sick and stuck in the hospital. I’m a big believer in the power of music, and have been actively looking for charities in the space. We’re already donating to the Fender Music Foundation, a charity that provides musical instruments to schools and students that cannot afford them. Now, we have started giving to Musicians On Call as well.

I recently wrote a blog about focusing on activities that will drive value 50 or even 100 years form now. Charity is one activity that cannot be underscored enough. My big insight here is that we should all find ways to give back. Giving back should not be a secondary objective, it should be a primary objective in our lives and businesses. Let’s all get out there and add value that will live on forever.

Insight Seven: Account-Based Marketing Is Gaining In Popularity

Running concurrently with Dreamforce, we also attended a nearby event called Open Lounge by InsideView. I especially enjoyed watching the EverString presentation. My big takeaway from this event is the growing popularity of Account-Based Marketing. Many marketing teams have focused on "generating leads" from a lowest CPA (cost per acquisition) standpoint. Leads come in and then they go to the salespeople. However, salespeople have historically approached things differently. They look at the universe of potential customers and cherry pick the most important ones. They double down on the accounts that matter the most.

Account-Based Marketing aligns marketing with the sales worldview. It enables 1-to-1 marketing. When an account has been identified, sales and marketing work together to acquire that specific customer. This involves a lot of collaboration and technology, and naturally makes sense to me. In fact, I have been practicing account-based marketing for a number of years, before this new term was coined. The insight: Find ways to collaborate and support your sales team. While inbound leads are great, don’t lose sight of the big picture customers.

So there you have it, a few of my favorite insights from the conference. If you attended Dreamforce, please feel free to share your insights in the comments!

Slides From Dreamforce 16

salesforce-einstein-marketing

salesforce-einstein-insights

salesforce-marketing-cloud

salesforce-krux

salespersons-time-dreamforce

run-your-business-from-your-phone-dreamforce

musicians-on-call-dreamforce

everstrings-account-based-marketing-stack

Insights From The 3Q Digital Growth Summit

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Oct 4 1

I’m a huge fan of digital marketing conferences, and just attended the incomparable 3Q Digital Growth Summit last week. There are two main benefits of conferences: The amazing networking (covered in my last post) and actionable insights. Today, I’m thrilled to share my extensive notes, insights, and takeaways from the conference. I took a good 9-pages of notes at the conference, and am including the top highlights below. When you’re done reading, don’t forget to head on over to 3Q Digital, and make sure to check out the 3Q Blog.

Opening with David Rodnitzky (CEO of 3Q Digital)

Attendees:
- Average Market Cap $59 Billion
- 14 Public Companies
- Total Market Cap $823 Billion
- 18 Private Companies
- Average Funding $135 Million
- Total Funding 2.4 Billion
- 9 No data available
“World class people on our team, but we also have world class clients.”
Themes:
- Going beyond SEM, social, etc.
- Understand your data
- Use your 1st party data
- Expand beyond SEM
- Consider offline
- Take a holistic approach
- Get on the mobile bandwagon

Welcome From Top Sponsor, Ryan Gibson at Google

Customer Match announcement, truly a game changer
Use first party data to influence advertising on YouTube and Gmail

Evolution of Agencies and What Clients Should Expect

Scott Rayden (CMO at 3Q Digital), Mason Garrity (VP of Strategy at 3Q Digital), Ron Fusco (Director of Strategy and Analytics at 3Q Digital), and Marcy Strauss Axelrod (Consultant)

How has marketing changed?
- Behavior and expectations – devices, data, technology
- Consumer expectations of what digital (the Internet) can do for you has changed
- Average mobile user checks phone 1,500 times per week
- Look at Facebook as a data company, not just a social platform
- Speed and complexity has outpaced the advertising industry, and most marketers, and quite frankly many agencies
What does all of this mean for agencies?
- We have to change our mindset
- We have to get away from this channel fist mindset
- Customers come first, channels come second
- Marketing strategy and innovation needs to be at the core of sustained growth
- Growth is coming from areas outside of direct channels – technology, attribution
- Can’t just go with mindset that “we growth this channel”
- Marketers need to identify and solve the complexities that inhibit growth
3Q Digital is evolving as an agency
- 3Q Digital Strategy and Innovation Group
- 3Q Strategic Growth Assessment
- We are so much more than a campaign management shop, we are so much more than media buyers
- Future of performance agencies relies on these things
- Adding a ton of resources in these areas: strategy, mobile, creative, analytics, testing teams being built out
- 3Q has a proprietary framework, Digital Strategic Growth Assessment
3Q Built a diagnostic tool
- Rolled out to beta clients, being rolled out to more
- Fill out self-assessment
- Series of interviews
- Have our team assess you
- Output: Set of recommendations and prioritized roadmap
- 1. Customer journey – what process they go through
- 2. User experience across devices – creative, how we’re measuring
- Break them down: Strategy, execution, foundation
- Process takes about a month start-to-finish
Why do clients need this type of consultative work in our space?
- Everyone so focused on execution, partner with that external focus is essential
- Domain expertise, multiple clients, multiple industries and business models – we can share that knowledge
- Foundational work – enables clients and companies to keep growing
Strategy, Execution, Foundation framework – on surface seems like there might be an execution issue, however foundation is really often the issue (foundation is tough for marketers)
Parent company: Harte Hanks
- 3Q historically does not like holding companies
- Harte Hanks was so different – they were so strategic what they want out of 3Q
- Still operating independently, have autonomy
- Really helped with strategy work
How much will this strategic work cost?
- Some cases where it might be free
- Other cases where they might have to charge
- They look at it as a responsibility we have for our clients

Fine-Tune Your LPO (Landing Page Optimization)

Joe Kerschbaum (Account Director at 3Q Digital), Sean McEntee (Account Lead at 3Q Digital), Adrienne Abrams (Sr. Director of Creative at 3Q Digital), and Hudson Arnold (Strategy Consultant at Optimizely)

Curiosity Stream – Client at 3Q
- Nexflix for documentaries
- Lots of exclusives and originals
- Launched by John Hendricks (Discovery Channel)
- Plans start at $2.99 (great price for unlimited documentaries)
- $5.99 for HD
- Goal: Drive free trial sign-ups
Curiosity Stream Landing Page Testing:
- Test 1: Total redesign, didn’t want to do iterative from old page; Results: 31% CVR lift in first test; Accidental clicks on sign-in dropped; Background is less busy; Topic areas help explain the product
- Test 2: Including familiar publications will increase trust; 2.7% CVR lift
- Test 3: Copy and price; Didn’t work
- Test 4: Video; 6.4% CVR lift; Users who entered sign-in process decreased, but those that entered converted better; Video helped educate
- Test 5: Well-performing search copy; 21.8% CVR lift; Matching successful marketing copy across touch points
- They use Optimizely for the testing
- Pluto: temporary, event-based marketing
- Unexpected outcomes: Price – when they first listed $2.99, didn’t work, then when they did video and explained what you get for $2.99, it did work
LPO Tips From Optimizely:
- Segmenting prospects vs. remarketing – going to show general content for prospects, more specific content for remarketing
- MTV: tested thru entire live broadcast – adjusting content on the fly with Optimizely
- Trend that Optimizely is seeing: Adjusting experience based on how far along you are in the lead qualification process
- Start small, make a long plan; have a really good hypothesis; don’t be afraid of tests that fail
- Present test in a form of the game – force audience to say which one won and why – great way to present tests

Increase Revenue with 1st-Party Data

David Rodnitzky (CEO of 3Q Digital), Brad O’Brien (Director of Social at 3Q Digital), Joe Stephens (Director of Native Advertising Strategy at Yahoo), and Russell Sprunger (Advanced Data Strategy Lead at Google)

What is 1st party data? Any information your company exclusively owns or intrinsically owns; CRM and website behaviors
Facebook Custom Audiences: Upload list; Website custom audiences; Lookalikes of custom audiences
Social Media: Interest and intent are not always aligned – 1st party data so much better than relying on actions someone takes on Facebook
Just launched Yahoo!’s version of custom audiences in Gemini; Just launched this week, in beta for some time now; Can target your customers on Yahoo! Homepage in the news feed; Next up will be lookalikes based on custom audiences
Google Customer Match – RSLA, YouTube, Gmail – Can Target Your Customers; Customer match does not integrate with Google for work accounts; Also, AdWords now offers ability to integrate with DMPs
Privacy Customer Match: Google requires advertisers who use this feature the ability for customer to link to the opt out page
RFM – recency, frequency, monetary – send different messages to different quintiles
Top Tips: Segment first party data; Just do it; Have a very clear objective in mind
Flurry acquisition; Flurry SDK; Yahoo! is starting to use this more; Yahoo! also starting to use data from Tumblr too

Attribution and the Channel/Device Diversity Riddle

Ron Fusco (Director of Strategy and Analytics at 3Q Digital), Ramy Mora (VP of eCommerce Marketing at HP), David Perez (Acquisition Marketing Specialist at Convertro), and Ada Pally (Sr. Director of Client Services at 3Q Digital)

Convertro:
- Acquired by Verizon, part of Verizon technology stack
- Work computer vs. home computer – multiple desktops
- Three aspects of attribution: 1) measurement, 2) how much credit, 3) activating upon that
- Email address is often the common denominator
- Convertro offers private co-op
HP:
- HP: Store influence score
- There are a segment of consumers that will only buy from OEM
- There are a large percentage of consumers that come to you as a destination site, but then buy from partners (such as Best Buy)
- Someone coming to site to learn, this has value, need to place a value on it
- Warby Parker – Highest sales per square foot of any retailer today, very successful story; Started online, now went brick and mortar
- If you don’t have your own physical stores, you should have partnerships with physical stores
- Consumers want to shop the way they want to shop, you need to offer all the options
- HP has physical stores in Brazil and India; In the US, HP partners with BestBuy

Fireside Segment – Stay Ahead of the Mobile Curve

Craig Weinberg (VP of Mobile Strategy at 3Q Digital), Wilson Kriegel (CBDO at PicsArt)

PicsArt: 250 MM users, largest photo app in the world
Suite of creative tools
Merge software and community into a single app
Company is 3 years old
Half billion creative assets per month
Over 10 billion views of assets
Profitable
PicsArt 70% Android, 70% international, 20 age group, 60% female
25% in Asia not counting China, 25% Europe, 20% Europe, 15% Latin America
Mostly advertising/sponsorship (70% of revenues) and in-app purchasing
Auto push content into Tumblr and track thru full lifecycle in Tumblr
Every week, hackathons; Bi-monthly releases
2nd highest rated app in the world
Facebook has been very successful for acquisition
Organically seeing huge velocity in a region, double down with paid media

Client Panel

Neal Ungerleider (Fast Company), Erica Yoon (Sr. Director of Marketing at Sungevity), Slaton Carter (Director of Digital Marketing at The Real Real), Matt O’Day (Digital Marketing Lead at Square)

Android has been very successful for Square
Same lifetime value for Android vs. iOS
However, less competitive on Android

Client Spotlight – SurveyMonkey

David Rodnitzky (CEO of 3Q Digital) and Ada Chen Rekhi (VP of Marketing at SurveyMonkey)

There are 1.6B smartphone users
Growing 24% YoY
Growth is not coming from here in the US
52% of smartphone share is with Android
84% of smartphone adoption is Android
SurveyMonkey: 6 years ago, 14 employees; Now 600 employees
85% English (5 years ago)
55% English (today)
17 languages, 28 currencies
How did we do this:
- 1) Speak in their language; Leverage platform called Smart Link that translates text, sits between user and site (on the fly)
- 2) Transact in their currency; Germany – bank transfers (not credit cards); Japan – invoices
- 3) Be visible and compelling; Search Ads; Diversifying Media; Landing page optimization
Start Planning International Now:
- Structural pre-planning for international – content, currency, time zones
- Keep testing – this is a scalable way to test and learn
- Partner to go international – leverage partners to scale to international

Slides From 3Q Digital Growth Summit

Image of PPC Ian 3Q Digital Lanyward © PPC Ian and 3Q Digital

3Q Digital Growth Summit and My Amazing Experience

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Sep 30 0

Yesterday, I had the great fortune to attend one of the best digital marketing conferences of my life, 3Q Digital Growth Summit at Levi’s Stadium.

Ian Lopuch David Rodnitzky Donald Landwirth

Ian Lopuch, David Rodnitzky, and Donald Landwirth

This conference was so good that I’m going to recap my experience in two posts. Today’s goes through the experience side of things: the people, the networking, the place, the wonderful day. My next post will go through the knowledge side of things: the lessons, the insights, the speakers, and the takeaways. The best conferences marry the experience and the knowledge, and this is exactly what 3Q Digital did at their landmark conference.

To the right, is a picture of yours truly, David Rodnitzky (CEO of 3Q Digital), and my good friend Donald Landwirth. Spending time with some of the top thought leaders and executives in the technology space is what 3Q Digital Growth Summit 2015 was all about!

It’s All About Your Friends

Ian Lopuch and Donald Landwirth

Conferences are great places to network and make new friends. They are also great opportunities to reconnect with old friends. If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a long time, you have heard me reiterate this point time and time again. Business is not about vendors and business partners. It’s about friends. Turn business partners into friends. (And, don’t even think about using the word "vendors". It’s just so impersonal and drives me nuts.) Life is too short and we could all use more friends, leverage your profession to make new ones.

To the right is a picture of PPC Ian and Donald Landwirth. Don is a good friend of mine, a serial entrepreneur and C-level executive. I had the honor of working with Don at Inflection, one of the hottest Silicon Valley Startups.

Prior to the conference, Don emailed and asked if I was going. He kindly offered to carpool. PPC Ian couldn’t pass up the opportunity to connect with an old friend. (Don, next time I’m driving!)

The Best Venue Around: Levi’s Stadium

Mason Garrity (VP, Strategy) and PPC Ian

3Q Digital is growing quickly (and has been for many years). After all, they are the digital agency of choice in Silicon Valley. They are known for helping companies grow into unicorns. When it comes to digital marketing, 3Q Digital is an agency that I personally recommend to friends time and time again. Why? They know what they are doing, and have some of the most amazing leaders and employees I have had the honor of knowing. They manage digital marketing the way I personally manage digital marketing.

Being such an amazing company, I expected nothing but the best at their Growth Summit. 3Q Digital did not disappoint. They chose to host their conference at brand new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, home of the 49ers and upcoming Superbowl 50. Levi’s Stadium, especially the BNY Mellon Club West conference center where they hosted the event, is among the nicest venues I have visited for a digital marketing conference. 3Q and their amazing sponsors (Google, Yahoo!, and Optimizely) went all out. They truly care about their clients, partners, and friends, and wanted to show them a truly valuable and fun day!

My Day At 3Q Digital Growth Summit

So, I mentioned above that Don and I carpooled to the event. What happened after we arrived? Here’s how my day went:

PPC Ian On The Field

Parking was incredibly easy. We basically parked right next to the front door, walked right in, and were greeted by the friendly 3Q Digital team. Upon getting our badges, we walked into the BNY Mellon Club West.
3Q Digital had an amazing breakfast ready to go. All types of food, drinks, and coffee made my day. This was a day to definitely bring your appetite.
We got there a bit early, so I took this time to just walk around and take in the venue. I got a ton of pictures, some of which are featured throughout this post. Make sure to check out the pictures below.
The venue had some glass doors which open right on the field, so I took the opportunity to walk out there for some fresh air. The friendly Levi’s Stadium crew took some pictures of yours truly on the field (thanks, guys!).
Very quickly, the event became packed. Nobody wanted to miss this great event, and I ran into so many great friends. Also, I made a ton of new ones! I was really happy that Don and I were able to snap a quick photo with David Rodnitzky, CEO of 3Q Digital, right before the conference (featured at the top of this post).
Next, we grabbed front row seats for the event. David kicked the event off with some incredible insights about the attendees. All of the speakers were top-notch. Not going to go into the content in this post, since I’m going to write another full post with the takeaways (stay tuned for my next post)!
After a few speakers, lunch time showed up before I even knew it! The venue had a kitchen right there, with expert chefs preparing delicious cuisine right in front of our eyes. Lunch was just great! Also worth mentioning, 3Q Digital provided great snacks and drinks throughout the day. They made sure their guests felt at home and fully nourished. I really enjoyed lunch (and the breaks) because I met so many new people, the networking was simply incredible.
After lunch, we had a few more speakers, and then my favorite: Round table discussions. I personally went to the mobile roundtable and power networked with the top mobile marketers in the industry. The future is all about mobile and it was so incredible to make these connections.
After a few more speakers, it was time for our stadium tour. I truly enjoyed the stadium tour, and have a few pictures to share below.
Closing out the day, 3Q Digital provided an open bar and amazing hors d’oeuvres. While the last speaker was presenting, they started cooking sliders. The smell of the cooking made everyone so ready for the sliders, and we were not disappointed. During happy hour, it was again a time of power networking.

I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank David Rodnitzky, Hillary Read, and 3Q Digital for the amazing summit. It was an event to remember, one of the best I have attended. As a side note, I also wanted to encourage you to visit the 3Q Digital Blog. I guest post on the 3Q Digital Blog from time-to-time and it’s such a super resource.

Make sure to check out my next post, covering all of my notes and insights from the esteemed speakers at the conference.

More Pictures From 3Q Digital Summit

Acquisio Summit: Don’t Miss Out

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Jul 12 0

In the world of digital marketing and business overall, I’m a tremendous fan of conferences. Conferences provide the ideal opportunity to network, meet new people, see new places, and learn new things. There happens to be an amazing conference just around the corner, the coolest of the summer: Acquisio Summit 2015.

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know that I’m a tremendous fan of Acquisio. Their co-founder and CEO, Marc Poirier, is one of the kindest and smartest people in the digital marketing industry. Acquisio offers an incredibly high-powered performance marketing solution, one that automates around 90 percent of the work so you have time to focus on the real strategy. In short, they are amazing, and a platform you absolutely must audition.

At the beautiful Hyatt Regency in Montreal, conference attendees have access to preferred room rates. With Acquisio Summit spanning Wednesday July 29 – Friday July 30, it ends just in time for you to enjoy a weekend of music at the world-famous Montreal Osheaga Music Festival.

Getting down to business, what can you expect to learn at Acquisio Summit?

The mobile and local PPC environment
Automated campaign management at scale
Bid and budget optimization
Acquisio’s open platform and partner ecosystem
New features and releases

Want to share the conference with your boss, and get approval to attend? Upon navigating the conference website, I was really impressed to see that Acquisio shares a helpful tutorial on How To Justify The Conference To Your Boss. Just remember to move quickly because the conference is just a few weeks away!

Need even more justification? It is my great pleasure to announce that Acquisio is extending a special 10% discount to PPC Ian readers. Simply enter the code "PPCIAN" and you will get 10% off your Acquisio Summit pass.

Presenting At Digital Marketing Conferences: My Guide

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Nov 10 0

I’m a tremendous fan of presenting at digital marketing conferences. In fact, I Recently Spoke at SMX East. Public speaking is such an adrenaline rush, and am amazing way to give back to the digital marketing community.

Public Speaking

When my good friends at 3Q Digital extended the opportunity to write a guest post for their incredible blog, I just couldn’t resist one about public speaking. (Especially because their very own Jay Stampfl was on the panel about Advanced Bidding Strategies with me at SMX East.) Make sure to head on over to the 3Q Digital to read my Guide To Presenting At Digital Marketing Conferences.

I put a lot of work into this guide and cover all sorts of cool stuff:

Why Present? I give all the pros of presenting (there are many of them).
How To Score Your Speaking Opportunity. These are not easy to get, but a little hard work (and a savvy strategy) will get you there in no time.
How To Prepare. The best presentations come from attention to detail in the preparation phase.

Thinking about speaking at a digital marketing conference? Don’t know where to start? I hope my guide helps, and hope to see you speaking at the next big industry event!

Fun Times Speaking At SMX East New York

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Oct 4 0

This past week, I spoke about Advanced PPC Bidding Strategies at SMX East, New York. It was so much fun. Today, I wanted to share my experience and some cool pictures.

My Speaking Opportunity: It’s All About Great Friendships

PPC Ian and Leo Polanowski (Head of Client Services, Americas – Yahoo!)

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you probably know that I’m a huge fan of public speaking. Earlier this year, for example, I enjoyed being the Keynote Speaker At A Big YPO Event. When this SMX East opportunity presented itself, I just had to make it happen! It’s all about networking with the best and brightest in the industry. It’s all about giving back and Associating With Great People. Network in the right way (build real friendships and help others), and these great opportunities have a way of presenting themselves! I’m truly thankful for my friends in the industry who made this opportunity a reality.

My Experience Attending and Speaking At SMX East

PPC Ian and Jay Stampfl Speaking At SMX East

The highlight of my trip to New York was speaking at SMX East. When it comes to public speaking, it’s all about preparation. I actually prepared my presentation a few months ago. To commemorate my 10-plus years in the industry, I decided to present 10 lessons learned on advanced PPC bidding strategies (actually there was an 11th tip too, a bonus one). While my presentation was prepared months ago, it’s all about adding value far above-and-beyond the words printed on the slides. As such, I spent a good amount of time the days leading up to my presentation practicing, writing down notes, and finalizing my presentation. I found that this last minute prep work truly adds value and makes for a stellar presentation.

And, it went flawlessly. I was part of an exciting panel with two other leaders in digital marketing: Jay Stampfl from 3Q Digital and Lauryan Feijen from iProspect. Our panel was moderated by Brad Geddes, another leader in digital marketing. I really enjoy panels because they offer the presenter the opportunity to collaborate and form great friendships. Also, they offer the audience a variety of different viewpoints on the same topic, which is always cool. All three of our presentations were really great, and the questions from the audience kept coming. Really fun times!

Aside from the speaking, the overall SMX East conference and New York experience was amazing. I stayed at the Sheraton New York Times Square. They treated me like a king. Times Square itself was really cool. I enjoyed meeting up with several friends during my trip, including Leo Polanowski (Head of Clients Services, Americas at Yahoo!) and Robby (one of my old friends, a veteran in our indsutry). I found the food in New York truly delicious, especially the the pizza. The weather was stellar (70s), and the week couldn’t have gone better. I left energized and excited about our industry! I also left feeling truly thankful that I have a boss and employer who supported me through the entire process. Thanks, SMX East, for the great opportunity and fun times!

Pictures From SMX East 2014 and My Trip To New York

SMX East Javits Center

Sheraton New York

New York Times Square

Sheraton New York View

New York Pizza

AdWords Performance Forum (APF) 2014 Ruled

By PPC Ian Leave a Comment Apr 27 2

Digital marketing is the career path that never gets boring. This past week, I had the honor and pleasure of attending Google’s exclusive AdWords Performance Forum (APF) 2014. For those who have been reading PPC Ian for a while, you may remember that I blogged about AdWords Performance Forum 2013 last year. Last year’s APF was truly amazing, at the W Hotel in San Francisco. This year, in my opinion, Google outdid themselves. They pulled out all stops and delivered a conference that was the best I have experienced in my career. Today, I’m thrilled to share my personal experience at APF 2014. I’m also thrilled to share many photos throughout this post taken at the event!

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay: An Incomparable Setting

It all starts with the setting. This year Google decided to host the event at the incomparable Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. As someone based out of the Silicon Valley, I have experienced the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay before, and it’s one of my favorite hotels. This time, however, I experienced it like never before. Google placed me in an ocean front suite, provided amazing food and beverages, set up some of the coolest networking events ever, and made it a true pleasure. I especially appreciated the fact that I could walk right outside of my hotel room and go for a morning jog along the beautiful beach. (Side note: 2014 is the year that PPC Ian truly integrates exercise into his daily routine, no matter what!) Google truly appreciates their largest advertisers, and the choice in venue made that incredibly apparent. It was so easy for me since the drive to/from the Ritz was beautiful and scenic, especially with my convertible top down. This is the good life.

Google Self-Driving Car

AdWords Performance Forum: Google Pulled Out All Stops

Have you ever been to a conference where 20+ new Google products are released? Have you ever been to a conference where the seating is so comfortable that you never get tired of the event? (I could not believe the comfort. Google had us sitting in leather chairs/sofas that each had their own little swiveling table with power cords to any device you’d want to charge.) Have you ever been to a conference where everyone who attends gets a free Android tablet, and not the cheap one either, the 32 GB model? Have you ever been to an event where the networking feels like the "who’s who" of digital marketing? I could go on and on, Google pulled out all stops. I literally could not stop sharing my business card and writing notes the entire time. When you look at the networking benefits, the planning/roadmap benefits, and the simple fact that I went away energized and motivated, you really cannot beat this opportunity.

AdWords Performance Forum 2014 Tablet

My Personal Highlight: PPC Ian is Featured at APF 2014

I’m not going to get in to the specifics of my particular lessons at this event. A lot of it was NDA-only so I’m unfortunately not able to share. That said, if you have a Google Account Management team, make sure to stay in close contact. Ask them about the AdWords Performance Forum. See if they’re able to share the roadmap and product announcements. Google has always been such an amazing partner who "gets it". Ask and you very well may receive! Even if you don’t have a dedicated team, follow the Google blogs closely. There is some truly amazing stuff on the way.

PPC Ian AdWords Performance Forum

Now, one thing I am able to share is the fact that PPC Ian got featured! I really couldn’t believe this. My team and I had worked with Google on a really cool case study, all about the brand impact of Display Advertising. In one of their sessions about Display, Google featured our case. Additionally, they had a screenshot of PPC Ian on the big screen and even gave me a shout out. I was humbled and in a state of disbelief. How cool is that? PPC Ian has really made the big time now. Google actually used my blog to make a point. The very man who has branded himself as PPC Ian (PPC stands for "pay per click") is now an incredible fan of Display Advertising, so much of a fan that he’s doing case studies with Google. This makes a point or two about the current state of Display Advertising on Google and how amazing it is. It’s Brad Bender (Director, Product Management at Google) that put me on the big screen, and I truly thank you Brad!

Matt Lawson: The Industry Leader and Guru Behind The Event

Matt Lawson and Ian Lopuch

Who’s been reading PPC Ian for 4+ years? For those long time supporters, you may recall that I did an interview with Matt Lawson a few years back. Matt is now the Director, Search Ads Marketing at Google and was responsible for AdWords Performance Forum 2014.

I had the true pleasure of spending time with my old friend and witnessing first hand his masterpiece: Strategizing and executing upon the best digital marketing event I have ever attended. Matt is a true leader in our industry and I wanted to take this opportunity to personally say "thank you". It was my honor to attend. It was my honor to do the case study with your team. I look forward to many more future events like this one, and am always here to help in any way I can. Google has hired the best-of-the-best with industry veteran and leader, Matt Lawson.

I’m Officially Energized and Motivated Thanks To Google

Do you get a rush from public speaking? AdWords Performance Forum certainly provided that opportunity with the ability to ask questions to Product Managers and leaders at Google, in front of an audience of hundreds. I got a few fun questions in there. Combining this amazing opportunity with everything discussed above, I left the conference energized and more motivated than ever before. Our industry is going places, and Google is leading the way. Thanks, Google, for an amazing experience and I hope to see you again at AdWords Performance Forum 2015!

Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay