March 19, 2025 • 28 mins
Welcome to this week's episode of Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew! I'm your host, Brett Deister, and we're diving into the fascinating world of customer acquisition and data-driven strategies with our special guest, Trey Robinson. With a wealth of experience in financial services, Trey has been instrumental in transforming marketing channels and growing client acquisitions for major industry players. Join us as we explore the most effective channels for acquiring new customers in today's digital landscape, the role of content marketing, and the emerging technologies that marketers need to be aware of. Plus, Trey shares invaluable insights on creating a sustainable acquisition model for long-term brand growth. Whether you're a marketing professional looking to enhance your strategies or just curious about the intricacies of customer acquisition, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways. Grab your favorite cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy the conversation!
Guest Bio:
Trey Robinson is a visionary entrepreneur dedicated to creating seamless, user-friendly solutions that address everyday problems with minimal hassle. With a customer-first mindset, Trey understands the importance of providing easy access to solutions without unnecessary steps or barriers. Recognizing that consumers value efficiency, Trey's approach focuses on reducing friction in the user experience, ensuring that customers can swiftly and effortlessly resolve their issues. Through his innovative thinking and commitment to simplicity, Trey Robinson continues to transform the way people access problem-solving resources.
Here are three fun facts from the episode:
- Trey Robinson has an all-day coffee habit, starting with a morning coffee with cream and sugar, and switching to iced cold brew in the afternoon.
- Trey once worked with Charles Schwab and was key in doubling their account growth and client acquisition, with impressive growth numbers.
- Brett Deister enjoys discussing marketing topics so much that he has similar conversations at lunch and social gatherings with friend
✅ Unlock the Secrets to Customer Acquisition!
Curious about how top marketers successfully reel in more clients? 🤔
✅ Join Brett Deister and Trey Robinson on "Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew" as they dive into strategies that bridge the gap between brand building and customer acquisition.
✅ From niche podcasting to AI-powered marketing, discover innovative tactics to fuel your brand's growth.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trey Robinson (00:00):
If you know you're 90 seconds in and they're still looking
at you like you got a third eye, youprobably still have some refinement to.
Brett (00:19):
Mm, that's good.
And welcome to a new episodeof Digital Coffee Mark.
A Getting Brew.
I'm your host, Brett Dyer.
If you could please subscribe to thispodcast and all your favorite podcasting.
Absolutely.
For Five Star Review, it reallydoes help with the rankings.
Let me know how I'm doing.
But this week we're gonna talk aboutcustomers, acquisitions, data, all the
(00:39):
things that marketers should know, butmaybe boring to some, but it's still
really important to actually know.
But with me, I have Trey Robinsonhere and he has been in the financial
services industry since 1997.
He's worked with Charles Schwab.
Acquired and he went from beingresponsible for a single marketing
channel newsletter to becoming thehead of marketing and division for
(01:00):
the startup by Charles Schwab at USAA.
He was responsible for doublingtheir account growth, client
acquisition, and grew it by morethan 850,000 within three years.
But welcome to the show, Trey.
Trey Robinson (01:13):
Thank you for having me
Brett (01:14):
ask the first question, ask all my guest is, are you a coffee or tea drinker?
Ha.
Trey Robinson (01:19):
Coffee.
Actually both but if I haveto choose coffee every time,
Brett (01:23):
any specifics that you like or you just just give it
to me 'cause it has caffeine.
Trey Robinson (01:27):
No.
In the afternoon it's icedcold brew in the morning.
It's got a little cream and sugar in it,but I'm one of those all day coffee, gas.
Brett (01:34):
It's a good thing that you don't actually, you can still go to
sleep with an all day drinking coffee.
Trey Robinson (01:38):
Yes.
Yeah, absolutely.
Brett (01:40):
Anyways, I gave a brief summary of your expertise.
Can you give our listeners alittle bit more about what you do?
Trey Robinson (01:46):
I've spent my entire career trying to find new clients for customers.
A lot of it in financial services.
And that's probably myfavorite thing to do.
And the thing I love to do most,whether it's for a brand I'm working
for directly or or a client isfigure out how to help 'em grow.
And usually that means.
Finding them new clients.
Brett (02:04):
Got you.
And so what are some more of theeffective channels for acquiring new
customers in today's digital landscape?
We got social media, we'vegot email newsletters, which
is still pretty effective.
Like what is effectivefor businesses today?
Trey Robinson (02:17):
A lot of it's driven by the client's budget, market size, right?
When I was at Schwab, we ran,we went all the way out into tv.
I don't recommend that unless you'vegot a, a relatively large budget.
If we're talking about a startup,I think Google Search is a great
place to start because it's highintent, it's relatively affordable.
There's not a lot of waste.
(02:39):
And so what we like to do at StoryAmplify, our agency is sit down and
talk to a potential client aboutwhat resources do they have, who's
the target, where do we find them,what's worked in the past, and tailor
something that's real specific to thembased on budget, geographic region.
Target audience.
But it's hard, honestly, if you'renew to marketing, to not start
(02:59):
with something like and you wannastart in a page channel, like
something like search, becauseit's, it tends to be very effective.
It's got its downside.
But if you're talking about startingout where to start, we love starting
at the, the bottom of the funnel.
Brett (03:12):
And it is like podcasting starting to become that mix.
'cause you do have very nichepodcasts that actually can.
Fit within the user orcustomer acquisition.
Financially you can find a bunchof financial pod podcasts and that
some of 'em could be cheap andsome of 'em could be expensive.
You really have to choose.
Pick and choose.
Trey Robinson (03:29):
Yeah, a absolutely.
One of the things when it comes,especially if we're talking about media,
we're talking about spending money.
One of the things that's reallyimportant for a marketer to
think about is efficiency.
How do I minimize the waste?
And so when you think about a podcast,if you are going after a specific niche
in financial services it might be,people that are close to retirement
and you've got a podcast thatfocuses on living in retirement, I.
(03:52):
Most of those people listening to itare gonna be in your target market.
And so I love that type of nichepodcast for a niche brand because
when they really align, like I said,we're not wasting a lot of media.
On the other side, I think a badmistake is when you pick a broad
media channel for a brand thatdoesn't have a broad appeal audience.
(04:14):
And the other day we werewatching baseball and I
noticed the logo on the patch.
On the shoulder of the Rangers was fora B2B energy play, and I was like, I
don't understand why a B2B advertiserthat has a relatively small market.
Wants to buy time on a major leaguebroadcast that's advertising to a
(04:37):
relatively large consumer market.
And it's that kind of thing we wanna avoidas marketers is really, where there's a
mismatch between advertising target andand the medium that, that they're at.
Brett (04:48):
Yeah, it does sound weird given that I know that you can get some sales
through it, but if nobody knows who youare, it's kinda that's a weird logo.
You might as well just spend iton LinkedIn and then B2B marketing
podcasts or B2B Energy podcasts orjust energy podcasts in general,
and probably spend way less andprobably hit more of your target.
Audience.
Trey Robinson (05:08):
Absolutely.
And I think there's a spot for in everyin every business plan for a mass media
play, but it needs to be after you'veexhausted the lower funnel stuff.
That's what we, I like tomove from the bottom up.
I there's a brand here in Austin, I thinkit's called Self, and it's a financial
services startup, and I saw them onthe court of . The Santino Spurs last
(05:29):
season, and I was like, that's awesome.
I know those guys are responsible.
I know they do a goodjob in their marketing.
I know they built it from the bottom up.
And what was impressed me was, wow,that's reaching a lot of people and that
brand is now big enough to be movinginto a mass market type brand play.
Like the Spurs to me just said alot for how that brand has grown.
Like I said, there's always a spot.
You just wanna make sure it fits with thegoals and the market size for your client.
Brett (05:54):
Could like one of the lower parts of the funnel be like your
webpage and your landing pages andlike offering something for free.
'cause that's an easy way ofgetting into your newsletter
to eventually sell to them.
It's a slower process, but it's a littlebit cheaper in a way of your own website.
Trey Robinson (06:11):
Oh, absolutely.
We love content marketing.
And I think content marketing worksbest when you've got however the
audience is getting there, whetherit's a Google search or it's a, or
it's an ad whatever the content that'son the ad that's driving them to that
landing page, let make sure that themessaging is very aligned to the problem
that the the user's trying to solve.
(06:31):
And then that downloadable pieceof content or deeper piece of
content is also very aligned.
So let's just say someone's Googling. Tools to reduce my 2023 taxes, right?
And then the ad or the blog topic is,ways to reduce your 22 3 tax taxes.
And then the downloadable on theright side says all the ticks and
tricks to reduce your tax bill.
(06:53):
We've got real alignment betweenwhat they were researching, what
they saw, what ad they saw, whatthey're finding on the landing
page, and what that downloadable is.
I think in a case like that where we'reusing content, where brands can get
themselves in trouble is they start tointroduce themselves too soon before
they've really given the research or theclient the answer they were looking for.
(07:14):
Because the last thing you want isthem to hit your landing page and
then back out 'cause they don'tsee what they were looking for.
So I think in that case, when we'replaying with content, we love content.
One of our golden rules is keepit as aligned as possible and
when you solve the user's problem,
Then you've earned the right tostart talking about yourself.
And love content for that reason.
But I do think there's some tricks andtips about when to start talking about
(07:37):
yourself versus solving their problem.
That will that can really minimizethe abandonment rate of that of
that lead if we're real consciousabout putting their needs first.
Brett (07:46):
So it's almost like keeping it as frictionless as possible.
'cause if you're like, Hey,I'm gonna solve your problem,
jump over to my website.
And I'm like I don't have a.
Where's solving my problem except for signup for this, and I'm like, okay, I don't
really, it's to some people it's I don'treally need that problem solved that much.
And so then you lose customers becauseDo you think it's the important like
(08:09):
problem or solu to the solution andI can just go to YouTube and find it
a lot more frictionless than havingto jump through all these hoops?
Trey Robinson (08:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think reducing frictionis the name of the game.
And so when we sit down with our clients.
Or I sit down if I'm in a new role,one of the first things we try to do
is really understand like what they'retrying to do, what they've done in the
past, who their target is, because thenwe can build a custom solution to them.
And to your point that, that hasmaybe the maximum pull through
(08:39):
that minimizes the friction thatdrives the most alignment with their
With their brand.
And so a lot of times it is custom.
But I think there are some tenetslike we were just talking about, that
you can carry from client to clientor campaign to campaign that, that
I would consider best practices.
Brett (08:53):
Is there any way to personalize this?
'cause everybody likes things to becustom to them for the most part.
There's a certain extent of howpersonalized you can get, but is
there any ways to personalize it, tohumanize it a little bit so people are
like, oh, you guys are thinking of me.
Even though, to be honest withyou, it's probably using ai.
We're just making you feel good?
Trey Robinson (09:12):
Yeah, I think the more you know about who you're marketing to, the
more you could improve your relevance.
And you can do that through if it's aone-to-one tactic like email, you can
do that through the some of the variabletexts and fields that you might have
in your CRM so that your dear name.
Inserting paragraphs about or imagesthat we know are relevant to that user.
(09:33):
If we get broader, like we were talking asecond ago with media but we're still in
a, like a targeted media, like a podcast.
I think customizing that read tobe about the problem or the topic
of that podcast and really tryingto be as relevant as you can.
It's obviously harder in media than it isin one-to-one communications, but anytime
you can, as we know, improve relevance, I.
(09:55):
And reprove customization.
We're gonna drive higherengagement by the user.
And then what that ultimatelytranslates to is better conversion.
Brett (10:02):
And is there some innovative ways of using social media
to do customers acquisition?
I know it's commonplace to use socialmedia and it's depending on your
generation too, because Gen Z Alphausually use TikTok, millennials, us,
sometimes use TikTok, but mostly it'sYouTube, Instagram, and everybody
else is like Instagram and Facebook.
Trey Robinson (10:23):
Yeah, to your point, knowing where your audience is key.
More and more the the, platformsare pay for play, right?
So we always, even though we puttogether organic content for our
clients, we always recommend spendingsome money to boost the content or
wrapping that with some paid ads.
But our general rule of thumb in socialis create good content, create relevant
(10:45):
pieces that solve people's problems.
Put them on your site, put them onyour blog, then spin ads to run.
Traffic to them.
And since you've already done allof that work to create the content
and the experience also included inyour social, and then depending on
budgets, spend money on social to toboost it and drive engagement to it.
(11:05):
We are a big bel believerin create once, use many.
In the marketing world because weknow how hard it is to create content
and how today, obviously AI is makingsome of that easier, we never find a
marketer that has a bunch of extra time.
And so one of the things welike to do when we're creating
a campaign is include social.
And make sure that we are creatingassets that that, that are
(11:28):
part of an integrated campaign.
But mostly for us we try to start at thecontent piece and then figure out, okay
who that now that we've got somethingthat's really robust, how do we get
it out in front of the right users?
And social usually becomes partof that, but it's never usually
our primary starting point.
It's usually an add-on to a campaign.
Brett (11:46):
Would you advise using like the LinkedIn newsletter feature or would you
like to place your news or your emailmarketing specifically on your website?
Because I know it's a difference betweenrented and paid for or bought because
you're only renting from LinkedIn.
You may, you do something wrongand all that stuff's gone.
. Trey Robinson: Yeah, I think as a marketer, the way to think about
your email list is it's an assetthat you've created for use, right?
(12:09):
And so I'm a big believerin building your own list.
I.
And keeping it really clean andkeeping it outta spam filters
and maintaining that asset.
But to your point, that takes time, right?
And so if you're a new brand andyou're starting out how can you
use a LinkedIn feature or a rentedfeature to drive people to the
site, get them maybe subscriber,a series or something like that?
(12:31):
Use your blog to have asubscription feature, right?
Things you can surroundyour marketing with.
But over time, I think the rightthing to do is to build your own.
Newsletter database, but in the beginningI think it's great to use the rented
ones or if you're launching a new productor going on FD Target and you feel like
your database you have is maybe off alittle bit, that's when I would rent.
(12:52):
But, just like I tell my kidslong-term we wanna be a house
buyer, not a house renter.
I think in the email world,we want to create that asset.
And so if we can create an emaillist that we own I'm a big fa fan
of that as a long-term strategy.
It's true.
But never buy a house in California'cause you'll just lose everything.
Trey Robinson (13:12):
Yes.
You definitely don't wanna buyanything at the top of the market,
but yes there are certain markets.
But like when we talk about rentversus buying an email, I think
it's also important as a marketer tobe thinking about rent versus buy.
I.
Across their channels.
And what and a lot of times we haveconversations with clients and they
say should I do organic search?
Or do I should paid search?
(13:33):
Should I create organiccontent or should you pay?
And I look 'em in the face andI say, do you have more time
or do you have more money?
And most of the time the answer is,it's some kind of balance, right?
Because the organic tactics.
Building a newsletter list.
Those take time, right?
The paid tactics are immediatead, but every time you use
them, it costs you money, right?
(13:54):
And so what we're a big believerof is working with our clients to
create some organic content, createa way to sign up for a newsletter
and be doing that from day one.
At the same time, we'rerunning some paid ads.
We're renting some lists, andso we're finding a blend there.
But what happens over time is theorganic content starts to rank.
We start to build ourselves a newsletter,and if we do it right, we become
(14:15):
less dependent on our paid channels.
Because we built our brand, we builtour organic search, we built our
email list, and then that allows us tohave a lower cost to acquire, right?
And ultimately, as we push our cost toacquire down and we do things to improve
. The lifetime value of those clients,we start to build a healthy business.
And so we love to come alongside ourclients and help them think about the
(14:39):
short term and the long term, the rentand the buy because when you do that, I
think from the beginning, you can look upin five years and have a very healthy mix.
And as a marketer, be very secure in yourrole because you've created a sustainable
acquisition model for your business.
Brett (14:55):
Got you.
And what are some of the commonmistakes companies make with
a cus customer acquisition?
We've been talking about emailmarketing and doing con rate content
and a little bit of frictionless too.
But is there any other commonmistakes that they are like, oh,
this is a great idea, and it's youprobably shouldn't do that yet?
Trey Robinson (15:12):
There's a couple of things that we talk about.
One I love when something goes viral.
I think it's awesome.
I think that's really hard.
And so explaining to your founders,your partners, your business partners
your CEO, that this is a time, thisthing's gonna take time, right?
That they're, that silver bulletsare great and we will look for
them, but ultimately we need to.
(15:34):
This is a re effort rewardbusiness in marketing.
And we need to be methodical and we needto build a machine that works and we
need to invest in our channels and weneed to build things right over time.
That's one thing.
I think people try to, orthey expect success too fast.
They look for silver bullets.
They're not real methodicalin their methodology.
That leads me to number two,they're not really measuring.
(15:55):
What's working and what's not working.
They don't have good dashboards.
They'll go all the waydown to revenue, right?
It's, they, like a lot ofpeople can get clicks and opens.
That comes in HubSpot, but what are,what's our conversion rate on the visitor?
How are they buying?
How much are they buying?
And so having a dashboard that allows youto really understand what's working out at
the top of your funnel based on revenue.
(16:18):
I think is a, is a mistake that peoplemake that, like I said, they don't spend
enough time building out their dashboards.
So that, that'd be number two.
I think lack of consistencyis something we see.
We, I had a client once who had changedtheir target market and honestly
change the brand almost annuallyfor five years in a row looking for.
(16:40):
A quick pop.
And when and when we stepped in, itwas, when I stepped in, it was, we
were five years in and ultimatelyif they had just been consistent for
five years, they probably went muchfarther ahead than they are now.
Were now becau, but they justdidn't really spend the time to
understand up front who they weregoing for and being consistent.
And so I think consistencyover time is a big thing.
(17:02):
And . Then lastly, I think numberfour would be would be making sure
that you're hitting a customer painpoint that they actually really have
and your messaging is really clear.
We we had a discussion the other day withthe brand and, they, I was like I don't,
there were two different startups and theywere both in the real estate world and
one of them focused on generating leadsfor real estate agents, and the other
(17:26):
one focused on engagement of homeowners.
I.
I was like, okay, I understand what itmeans to create a lead for a realtor
and why they would pay for that,but how do you monetize engagement?
And they were like if we can getthe yada y, know what I'm saying?
And so I took me a long time tobreak down that messaging to help
them under, to understand what theywere doing as a business and to
(17:48):
ultimately how what we needed to do.
As a marketing team.
And so I think number four, sometimes youcan get too close to your own messaging
and you think you're being clear, butwhen really you're not being clear, you're
not really solving a pain point, you'renot really hitting a big consumer need.
And so I think just being very diligentabout what you do, who you do it for
(18:09):
and speaking it very plainly wouldbe, a fourth mistake is you get caught
on, in your own messaging swirl.
Brett (18:14):
So let's say it's not like a company secret.
Should you give it to one of yourfriends and family member, be like,
does this make sense to you orwould you be interested in this?
Because I feel like when you sayyou're too close to it, it's true.
We get too close to our own things andwe aren't very objective after that.
We're very subjective.
Where any criticisms like, wait,whoa, what are you talking about?
But is it good to get outside helpor get someone on outside eyes
(18:37):
to actually look at it and seeif it's actually clear or not?
Trey Robinson (18:41):
100%.
There's a lot of survey tools outthere that aren't very expensive.
And so I love the, I love using those.
We use, still use SurveyMonkeyall the time with clients, right?
If it's an easy, quick way.
Especially if they have a listof prospects or a little bit more
sophisticated survey tool will.
Recruit for you.
But let's just be simple.
Like you've got friends and family, you'vegot cocktail parties you go to, you can
(19:03):
go, you can easily go to a LinkedIn, eventhough they're not my favorite thing.
Network mixer, right around a happy hourand when someone says, what do you do?
Work on your pitch, workon your messaging, right?
If they're like, oh, Iget that's really cool.
I know that like you're like,Hey, I'm getting it right.
If you know you're 90 seconds in andthey're still looking at you like
you got a third eye, you probablystill have some refinement to do.
Brett (19:25):
That is very true.
But what's the role of some brandbuilding in the long term acquisitions?
Like what are some ways of doingthose customers acquisitions and
grow growth with the brand building?
Because it feels like with startupsyou're build, building your brand,
but you're also trying to acquirecustomers and growth at the same time.
So what are some building blocksor brand building blocks to
(19:48):
actually do this in the long term?
Because everybody wantsto do it in the long term.
Trey Robinson (19:52):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So first of all I think if you're astartup, I love the idea of being clear
on who you are, what pain point you solve,how you say it, who your target market is.
I think that's step one of your brand.
And that's done around atable in your own office.
To your point, steptwo is let's test that.
And so cocktail parties, there'ssome informal researcher.
(20:12):
We have money, some formalresearch to make sure.
That our thesis and our messagingis resonating with customers.
And and when you get that done, that'sthe foundation of your brand, right?
It's who you stand for.
It's who you serve, it's whatyou do unique in the market.
You typically wrap a campaign around that.
And those campaigns forstartups need to deliver.
(20:34):
They are hardworking, low funneltried and true tactics, but.
Along the way, they're reinforcingyour company name and what you do
and the value prop that you add.
And so even though they'redirect marketing tactics, they're
not devoid of name and brandand colors and other things.
Name and logo and colors andexperience, which is your brand, right?
And so I believe that you can.
(20:57):
Once you spend the time to reallyunderstand who you are and what you
do, I think you can do direct marketingtactics that are meant to drive new
customers and wrap them in some brandelements that are building your brand.
I don't, I think that's a long wayof saying I don't think direct market
tactics and brand or mutually exclusive.
As the marketing machine matures andthe company starts to grow and you move
(21:20):
up funnel, you will, your tactics willnaturally become less direct response
oriented and start to infuse moreand more emotion tactics like video.
Tv, those have natural elements thatcan be more storytelling, that can be
a more emotive in their nature, andthen that allows the brand to express
(21:41):
its way itself in different ways.
And so I think that you wantto include those elements.
But like we were saying earlier,as you move up the funnel, as you
mature your acquisition machine,you spend more and more time in
those higher level tactics and thatwill give you more space for brand.
But I think you can buildbrand all along the way.
And I think it's how you talk,how you do your offer, who you
(22:03):
target, how you're clear, right?
Even in some of the language youuse, I think you are building brand.
And I don't think those two thedirect response and the brand
building tactics next necessarilyhave to be mutually exclusive.
I think they can work together.
. Brett (22:17):
And what are some emerging technologies or trends marketers
should be aware of for basicallycustomer acquisitions or future
customer acquisition strategies?
Trey Robinson (22:25):
I'd be remiss if we didn't talk a little bit about ai
because it's the topic of the day.
We at the agency are usingAI to help us do research.
To help us build outlinesto help us check our work.
I still, I think today's AI still needs asubject matter expert at the helm, right?
And so I believe it has part ofthe, it's part of the journey.
(22:50):
But I don't believe it'sthe full journey yet.
I think you've still got to you've stillgotta have a subject matter expert review
and use part of, be part of that cycle.
So I definitely think when we talk aboutemerging technologies we're talking
about AI in terms of content creation.
I think you still wanna includeyour blocking and tackling like
we've talked about, search andorganic search and website.
(23:10):
I think podcasts to we, as yourpoint we were making earlier
in this one are growing in.
Their ability to reach niche audiences.
And I would, even though they'vebeen around for a while, I feel like
they're finally coming into their ownin terms of a viable scaled channel.
And so I think that's part of it.
And then and then, and then lastly, you'vegotta include some social, depending
on where your social channels are.
(23:31):
So I know really, AI was the onlyemerging one I hit on, but I think, like
I said earlier, I think you gotta keepyour blocking and tackling in mind too.
Brett (23:39):
Yeah, podcasting's been around since.
2005, I think is the first official one.
So yeah, it's in technology terms it'solder because technology terms are
not as the same as human like age.
But yeah it's old, it's older,but the awareness is newer
because it wasn't really until thepandemic we were really shot off.
(24:00):
That's where it is.
I think markers.
Mismanage, the importance of downloadsinstead of actual like ROI of the, 'cause.
You could have a really small niche,but have a really engaged community
and you can get more out of thatthan a big audience, but small.
Engaged, commun, smallerengaged communities.
So I think marketers haven'tfigured out that part yet.
(24:22):
And podcasting the metricsaren't great either.
And speaking firsthand,
. Trey Robinson: But to your point, if you look at a brand like Patagonia, right?
And they started with this, thesehardcore climbers in Yosemite, which I
love this, their brand story in general.
They started with areally tight tribe, right?
And so the idea that we might havea podcast that's followed by, that's
(24:44):
got a really hardcore following, andthey all have a very a very strong
sense of each other and what theystand for and what they care about.
And if you can come along as a brandand align your values and true, you
gotta be true to yourself, your brain.
You can't just be what they wantyou to be, but if your values
align with their values and that.
If their tribe is your tribe and you canstart to support them and you can start to
(25:06):
. Get engaged with them on multiple levels.
To your point, that might be morevaluable because you're creating
a community of brand ambassadorsthan a million kind of, oh, I think
I've heard of those type people.
Because, 'cause those rabidfans will carry that message to
their, those tribes, and then I.
Ultimately what happens is groupsthat are like that, start to circle
those fans 'cause they want parts ofthat and they start to hear those.
(25:28):
And then, Patagonia is now,closed, but now they're more about
environmentalism and that thing hasjust grown into a global behemoth.
But to your point, itstarted with a really.
Passionate type group of people andand I think there's lots of good
brand stories that start there.
And so if that is your brand, Ithink a tight knit podcast like that
to me is a home run place to start.
(25:49):
Yeah.
If you get with a smaller podcaster,he actually may be, or she, he
or she may be more, I guess very.
Appreciative of you and they mightnot charge you as much 'cause you
stuck with them in the beginning.
'cause a lot of we all want markers,always want the bigger players.
But you're not always gonnaget the bigger players.
You're gonna get the smaller players.
And sometimes that relationshipin that building may actually
(26:12):
help in the long run becausepodcasting is a very long run game.
So is customer acquisitions and you gottathink in those terms of long run games.
Trey Robinson (26:22):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And to your point, they may be a userof the product yourself, and now they're
not just a podcaster, but they're a fan.
And that'll come through in howthey talk about the product.
I think a lot of benefit inthat small type of community.
And to your point it isa long term game, right?
At, whether it's investing in apodcast or a new channel, or building
your acquisition machine patience andconsistency are always gonna pay off.
Brett (26:45):
And people listen to this podcast and they're loving the information.
So where can they findyou online to learn more?
Trey Robinson (26:50):
Yeah.
So f first of all, thankyou for having having me.
As you can tell, I'm a littlebit of a marketing geek.
I love to have these conversations.
We love to have 'em with clients even.
And if, honestly, at lunch,I had one with a friend.
Our agency's called storyamplify just like it sounds.
S-T-O-R-Y-A-M-P-L-I-F y.com.
So story amplify.com.
We've got case studies on there.
We do mostly focus on financial services.
(27:13):
We do a lot of financial advisors andfintechs, regional banks because that's
deep subject matter expertise andour team knows about those products.
Not to say we don't take other clients andI'm happy to have conversations but yeah.
Story amplify.com.
Is a place to find us.
Brett (27:28):
All right.
Any final thoughts for listeners?
Trey Robinson (27:31):
No.
I appreciate you having me there.
Here I would say be consistent, right?
Start at the bottle of the funnel knowwhat you do and how you help the consumer.
And if you do those things rightand you're smart, how you make
your decisions and you're patient,you'll be successful in time.
Brett (27:45):
All right.
Thank you Trey, for joining DigitalCoffee Marketing, bringing, sharing
your knowledge on customer acquisition.
Trey Robinson (27:50):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Brett (27:52):
And thank you for listening.
As always, please subscribeto this podcast and all your
favorite podcasting apps.
We a five star review ofreligious help with the rankings.
Let me know how I'm doing and join me nextweek as I talk to another great thought
leader in the PR and marketing industry.
Alright guys, stay safe.
Get to understanding your customeracquisition, the strategies, the
merging technologies or whateveryou need to be successful in that.
(28:14):
It's you next week later.
If you know you're 90 seconds in and they're still looking
at you like you got a third eye, youprobably still have some refinement to.
Brett (00:19):
Mm, that's good.
And welcome to a new episodeof Digital Coffee Mark.
A Getting Brew.
I'm your host, Brett Dyer.
If you could please subscribe to thispodcast and all your favorite podcasting.
Absolutely.
For Five Star Review, it reallydoes help with the rankings.
Let me know how I'm doing.
But this week we're gonna talk aboutcustomers, acquisitions, data, all the
(00:39):
things that marketers should know, butmaybe boring to some, but it's still
really important to actually know.
But with me, I have Trey Robinsonhere and he has been in the financial
services industry since 1997.
He's worked with Charles Schwab.
Acquired and he went from beingresponsible for a single marketing
channel newsletter to becoming thehead of marketing and division for
(01:00):
the startup by Charles Schwab at USAA.
He was responsible for doublingtheir account growth, client
acquisition, and grew it by morethan 850,000 within three years.
But welcome to the show, Trey.
Trey Robinson (01:13):
Thank you for having me
Brett (01:14):
ask the first question, ask all my guest is, are you a coffee or tea drinker?
Ha.
Trey Robinson (01:19):
Coffee.
Actually both but if I haveto choose coffee every time,
Brett (01:23):
any specifics that you like or you just just give it
to me 'cause it has caffeine.
Trey Robinson (01:27):
No.
In the afternoon it's icedcold brew in the morning.
It's got a little cream and sugar in it,but I'm one of those all day coffee, gas.
Brett (01:34):
It's a good thing that you don't actually, you can still go to
sleep with an all day drinking coffee.
Trey Robinson (01:38):
Yes.
Yeah, absolutely.
Brett (01:40):
Anyways, I gave a brief summary of your expertise.
Can you give our listeners alittle bit more about what you do?
Trey Robinson (01:46):
I've spent my entire career trying to find new clients for customers.
A lot of it in financial services.
And that's probably myfavorite thing to do.
And the thing I love to do most,whether it's for a brand I'm working
for directly or or a client isfigure out how to help 'em grow.
And usually that means.
Finding them new clients.
Brett (02:04):
Got you.
And so what are some more of theeffective channels for acquiring new
customers in today's digital landscape?
We got social media, we'vegot email newsletters, which
is still pretty effective.
Like what is effectivefor businesses today?
Trey Robinson (02:17):
A lot of it's driven by the client's budget, market size, right?
When I was at Schwab, we ran,we went all the way out into tv.
I don't recommend that unless you'vegot a, a relatively large budget.
If we're talking about a startup,I think Google Search is a great
place to start because it's highintent, it's relatively affordable.
There's not a lot of waste.
(02:39):
And so what we like to do at StoryAmplify, our agency is sit down and
talk to a potential client aboutwhat resources do they have, who's
the target, where do we find them,what's worked in the past, and tailor
something that's real specific to thembased on budget, geographic region.
Target audience.
But it's hard, honestly, if you'renew to marketing, to not start
(02:59):
with something like and you wannastart in a page channel, like
something like search, becauseit's, it tends to be very effective.
It's got its downside.
But if you're talking about startingout where to start, we love starting
at the, the bottom of the funnel.
Brett (03:12):
And it is like podcasting starting to become that mix.
'cause you do have very nichepodcasts that actually can.
Fit within the user orcustomer acquisition.
Financially you can find a bunchof financial pod podcasts and that
some of 'em could be cheap andsome of 'em could be expensive.
You really have to choose.
Pick and choose.
Trey Robinson (03:29):
Yeah, a absolutely.
One of the things when it comes,especially if we're talking about media,
we're talking about spending money.
One of the things that's reallyimportant for a marketer to
think about is efficiency.
How do I minimize the waste?
And so when you think about a podcast,if you are going after a specific niche
in financial services it might be,people that are close to retirement
and you've got a podcast thatfocuses on living in retirement, I.
(03:52):
Most of those people listening to itare gonna be in your target market.
And so I love that type of nichepodcast for a niche brand because
when they really align, like I said,we're not wasting a lot of media.
On the other side, I think a badmistake is when you pick a broad
media channel for a brand thatdoesn't have a broad appeal audience.
(04:14):
And the other day we werewatching baseball and I
noticed the logo on the patch.
On the shoulder of the Rangers was fora B2B energy play, and I was like, I
don't understand why a B2B advertiserthat has a relatively small market.
Wants to buy time on a major leaguebroadcast that's advertising to a
(04:37):
relatively large consumer market.
And it's that kind of thing we wanna avoidas marketers is really, where there's a
mismatch between advertising target andand the medium that, that they're at.
Brett (04:48):
Yeah, it does sound weird given that I know that you can get some sales
through it, but if nobody knows who youare, it's kinda that's a weird logo.
You might as well just spend iton LinkedIn and then B2B marketing
podcasts or B2B Energy podcasts orjust energy podcasts in general,
and probably spend way less andprobably hit more of your target.
Audience.
Trey Robinson (05:08):
Absolutely.
And I think there's a spot for in everyin every business plan for a mass media
play, but it needs to be after you'veexhausted the lower funnel stuff.
That's what we, I like tomove from the bottom up.
I there's a brand here in Austin, I thinkit's called Self, and it's a financial
services startup, and I saw them onthe court of . The Santino Spurs last
(05:29):
season, and I was like, that's awesome.
I know those guys are responsible.
I know they do a goodjob in their marketing.
I know they built it from the bottom up.
And what was impressed me was, wow,that's reaching a lot of people and that
brand is now big enough to be movinginto a mass market type brand play.
Like the Spurs to me just said alot for how that brand has grown.
Like I said, there's always a spot.
You just wanna make sure it fits with thegoals and the market size for your client.
Brett (05:54):
Could like one of the lower parts of the funnel be like your
webpage and your landing pages andlike offering something for free.
'cause that's an easy way ofgetting into your newsletter
to eventually sell to them.
It's a slower process, but it's a littlebit cheaper in a way of your own website.
Trey Robinson (06:11):
Oh, absolutely.
We love content marketing.
And I think content marketing worksbest when you've got however the
audience is getting there, whetherit's a Google search or it's a, or
it's an ad whatever the content that'son the ad that's driving them to that
landing page, let make sure that themessaging is very aligned to the problem
that the the user's trying to solve.
(06:31):
And then that downloadable pieceof content or deeper piece of
content is also very aligned.
So let's just say someone's Googling. Tools to reduce my 2023 taxes, right?
And then the ad or the blog topic is,ways to reduce your 22 3 tax taxes.
And then the downloadable on theright side says all the ticks and
tricks to reduce your tax bill.
(06:53):
We've got real alignment betweenwhat they were researching, what
they saw, what ad they saw, whatthey're finding on the landing
page, and what that downloadable is.
I think in a case like that where we'reusing content, where brands can get
themselves in trouble is they start tointroduce themselves too soon before
they've really given the research or theclient the answer they were looking for.
(07:14):
Because the last thing you want isthem to hit your landing page and
then back out 'cause they don'tsee what they were looking for.
So I think in that case, when we'replaying with content, we love content.
One of our golden rules is keepit as aligned as possible and
when you solve the user's problem,
Then you've earned the right tostart talking about yourself.
And love content for that reason.
But I do think there's some tricks andtips about when to start talking about
(07:37):
yourself versus solving their problem.
That will that can really minimizethe abandonment rate of that of
that lead if we're real consciousabout putting their needs first.
Brett (07:46):
So it's almost like keeping it as frictionless as possible.
'cause if you're like, Hey,I'm gonna solve your problem,
jump over to my website.
And I'm like I don't have a.
Where's solving my problem except for signup for this, and I'm like, okay, I don't
really, it's to some people it's I don'treally need that problem solved that much.
And so then you lose customers becauseDo you think it's the important like
(08:09):
problem or solu to the solution andI can just go to YouTube and find it
a lot more frictionless than havingto jump through all these hoops?
Trey Robinson (08:16):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think reducing frictionis the name of the game.
And so when we sit down with our clients.
Or I sit down if I'm in a new role,one of the first things we try to do
is really understand like what they'retrying to do, what they've done in the
past, who their target is, because thenwe can build a custom solution to them.
And to your point that, that hasmaybe the maximum pull through
(08:39):
that minimizes the friction thatdrives the most alignment with their
With their brand.
And so a lot of times it is custom.
But I think there are some tenetslike we were just talking about, that
you can carry from client to clientor campaign to campaign that, that
I would consider best practices.
Brett (08:53):
Is there any way to personalize this?
'cause everybody likes things to becustom to them for the most part.
There's a certain extent of howpersonalized you can get, but is
there any ways to personalize it, tohumanize it a little bit so people are
like, oh, you guys are thinking of me.
Even though, to be honest withyou, it's probably using ai.
We're just making you feel good?
Trey Robinson (09:12):
Yeah, I think the more you know about who you're marketing to, the
more you could improve your relevance.
And you can do that through if it's aone-to-one tactic like email, you can
do that through the some of the variabletexts and fields that you might have
in your CRM so that your dear name.
Inserting paragraphs about or imagesthat we know are relevant to that user.
(09:33):
If we get broader, like we were talking asecond ago with media but we're still in
a, like a targeted media, like a podcast.
I think customizing that read tobe about the problem or the topic
of that podcast and really tryingto be as relevant as you can.
It's obviously harder in media than it isin one-to-one communications, but anytime
you can, as we know, improve relevance, I.
(09:55):
And reprove customization.
We're gonna drive higherengagement by the user.
And then what that ultimatelytranslates to is better conversion.
Brett (10:02):
And is there some innovative ways of using social media
to do customers acquisition?
I know it's commonplace to use socialmedia and it's depending on your
generation too, because Gen Z Alphausually use TikTok, millennials, us,
sometimes use TikTok, but mostly it'sYouTube, Instagram, and everybody
else is like Instagram and Facebook.
Trey Robinson (10:23):
Yeah, to your point, knowing where your audience is key.
More and more the the, platformsare pay for play, right?
So we always, even though we puttogether organic content for our
clients, we always recommend spendingsome money to boost the content or
wrapping that with some paid ads.
But our general rule of thumb in socialis create good content, create relevant
(10:45):
pieces that solve people's problems.
Put them on your site, put them onyour blog, then spin ads to run.
Traffic to them.
And since you've already done allof that work to create the content
and the experience also included inyour social, and then depending on
budgets, spend money on social to toboost it and drive engagement to it.
(11:05):
We are a big bel believerin create once, use many.
In the marketing world because weknow how hard it is to create content
and how today, obviously AI is makingsome of that easier, we never find a
marketer that has a bunch of extra time.
And so one of the things welike to do when we're creating
a campaign is include social.
And make sure that we are creatingassets that that, that are
(11:28):
part of an integrated campaign.
But mostly for us we try to start at thecontent piece and then figure out, okay
who that now that we've got somethingthat's really robust, how do we get
it out in front of the right users?
And social usually becomes partof that, but it's never usually
our primary starting point.
It's usually an add-on to a campaign.
Brett (11:46):
Would you advise using like the LinkedIn newsletter feature or would you
like to place your news or your emailmarketing specifically on your website?
Because I know it's a difference betweenrented and paid for or bought because
you're only renting from LinkedIn.
You may, you do something wrongand all that stuff's gone.
. Trey Robinson: Yeah, I think as a marketer, the way to think about
your email list is it's an assetthat you've created for use, right?
(12:09):
And so I'm a big believerin building your own list.
I.
And keeping it really clean andkeeping it outta spam filters
and maintaining that asset.
But to your point, that takes time, right?
And so if you're a new brand andyou're starting out how can you
use a LinkedIn feature or a rentedfeature to drive people to the
site, get them maybe subscriber,a series or something like that?
(12:31):
Use your blog to have asubscription feature, right?
Things you can surroundyour marketing with.
But over time, I think the rightthing to do is to build your own.
Newsletter database, but in the beginningI think it's great to use the rented
ones or if you're launching a new productor going on FD Target and you feel like
your database you have is maybe off alittle bit, that's when I would rent.
(12:52):
But, just like I tell my kidslong-term we wanna be a house
buyer, not a house renter.
I think in the email world,we want to create that asset.
And so if we can create an emaillist that we own I'm a big fa fan
of that as a long-term strategy.
It's true.
But never buy a house in California'cause you'll just lose everything.
Trey Robinson (13:12):
Yes.
You definitely don't wanna buyanything at the top of the market,
but yes there are certain markets.
But like when we talk about rentversus buying an email, I think
it's also important as a marketer tobe thinking about rent versus buy.
I.
Across their channels.
And what and a lot of times we haveconversations with clients and they
say should I do organic search?
Or do I should paid search?
(13:33):
Should I create organiccontent or should you pay?
And I look 'em in the face andI say, do you have more time
or do you have more money?
And most of the time the answer is,it's some kind of balance, right?
Because the organic tactics.
Building a newsletter list.
Those take time, right?
The paid tactics are immediatead, but every time you use
them, it costs you money, right?
(13:54):
And so what we're a big believerof is working with our clients to
create some organic content, createa way to sign up for a newsletter
and be doing that from day one.
At the same time, we'rerunning some paid ads.
We're renting some lists, andso we're finding a blend there.
But what happens over time is theorganic content starts to rank.
We start to build ourselves a newsletter,and if we do it right, we become
(14:15):
less dependent on our paid channels.
Because we built our brand, we builtour organic search, we built our
email list, and then that allows us tohave a lower cost to acquire, right?
And ultimately, as we push our cost toacquire down and we do things to improve
. The lifetime value of those clients,we start to build a healthy business.
And so we love to come alongside ourclients and help them think about the
(14:39):
short term and the long term, the rentand the buy because when you do that, I
think from the beginning, you can look upin five years and have a very healthy mix.
And as a marketer, be very secure in yourrole because you've created a sustainable
acquisition model for your business.
Brett (14:55):
Got you.
And what are some of the commonmistakes companies make with
a cus customer acquisition?
We've been talking about emailmarketing and doing con rate content
and a little bit of frictionless too.
But is there any other commonmistakes that they are like, oh,
this is a great idea, and it's youprobably shouldn't do that yet?
Trey Robinson (15:12):
There's a couple of things that we talk about.
One I love when something goes viral.
I think it's awesome.
I think that's really hard.
And so explaining to your founders,your partners, your business partners
your CEO, that this is a time, thisthing's gonna take time, right?
That they're, that silver bulletsare great and we will look for
them, but ultimately we need to.
(15:34):
This is a re effort rewardbusiness in marketing.
And we need to be methodical and we needto build a machine that works and we
need to invest in our channels and weneed to build things right over time.
That's one thing.
I think people try to, orthey expect success too fast.
They look for silver bullets.
They're not real methodicalin their methodology.
That leads me to number two,they're not really measuring.
(15:55):
What's working and what's not working.
They don't have good dashboards.
They'll go all the waydown to revenue, right?
It's, they, like a lot ofpeople can get clicks and opens.
That comes in HubSpot, but what are,what's our conversion rate on the visitor?
How are they buying?
How much are they buying?
And so having a dashboard that allows youto really understand what's working out at
the top of your funnel based on revenue.
(16:18):
I think is a, is a mistake that peoplemake that, like I said, they don't spend
enough time building out their dashboards.
So that, that'd be number two.
I think lack of consistencyis something we see.
We, I had a client once who had changedtheir target market and honestly
change the brand almost annuallyfor five years in a row looking for.
(16:40):
A quick pop.
And when and when we stepped in, itwas, when I stepped in, it was, we
were five years in and ultimatelyif they had just been consistent for
five years, they probably went muchfarther ahead than they are now.
Were now becau, but they justdidn't really spend the time to
understand up front who they weregoing for and being consistent.
And so I think consistencyover time is a big thing.
(17:02):
And . Then lastly, I think numberfour would be would be making sure
that you're hitting a customer painpoint that they actually really have
and your messaging is really clear.
We we had a discussion the other day withthe brand and, they, I was like I don't,
there were two different startups and theywere both in the real estate world and
one of them focused on generating leadsfor real estate agents, and the other
(17:26):
one focused on engagement of homeowners.
I.
I was like, okay, I understand what itmeans to create a lead for a realtor
and why they would pay for that,but how do you monetize engagement?
And they were like if we can getthe yada y, know what I'm saying?
And so I took me a long time tobreak down that messaging to help
them under, to understand what theywere doing as a business and to
(17:48):
ultimately how what we needed to do.
As a marketing team.
And so I think number four, sometimes youcan get too close to your own messaging
and you think you're being clear, butwhen really you're not being clear, you're
not really solving a pain point, you'renot really hitting a big consumer need.
And so I think just being very diligentabout what you do, who you do it for
(18:09):
and speaking it very plainly wouldbe, a fourth mistake is you get caught
on, in your own messaging swirl.
Brett (18:14):
So let's say it's not like a company secret.
Should you give it to one of yourfriends and family member, be like,
does this make sense to you orwould you be interested in this?
Because I feel like when you sayyou're too close to it, it's true.
We get too close to our own things andwe aren't very objective after that.
We're very subjective.
Where any criticisms like, wait,whoa, what are you talking about?
But is it good to get outside helpor get someone on outside eyes
(18:37):
to actually look at it and seeif it's actually clear or not?
Trey Robinson (18:41):
100%.
There's a lot of survey tools outthere that aren't very expensive.
And so I love the, I love using those.
We use, still use SurveyMonkeyall the time with clients, right?
If it's an easy, quick way.
Especially if they have a listof prospects or a little bit more
sophisticated survey tool will.
Recruit for you.
But let's just be simple.
Like you've got friends and family, you'vegot cocktail parties you go to, you can
(19:03):
go, you can easily go to a LinkedIn, eventhough they're not my favorite thing.
Network mixer, right around a happy hourand when someone says, what do you do?
Work on your pitch, workon your messaging, right?
If they're like, oh, Iget that's really cool.
I know that like you're like,Hey, I'm getting it right.
If you know you're 90 seconds in andthey're still looking at you like
you got a third eye, you probablystill have some refinement to do.
Brett (19:25):
That is very true.
But what's the role of some brandbuilding in the long term acquisitions?
Like what are some ways of doingthose customers acquisitions and
grow growth with the brand building?
Because it feels like with startupsyou're build, building your brand,
but you're also trying to acquirecustomers and growth at the same time.
So what are some building blocksor brand building blocks to
(19:48):
actually do this in the long term?
Because everybody wantsto do it in the long term.
Trey Robinson (19:52):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So first of all I think if you're astartup, I love the idea of being clear
on who you are, what pain point you solve,how you say it, who your target market is.
I think that's step one of your brand.
And that's done around atable in your own office.
To your point, steptwo is let's test that.
And so cocktail parties, there'ssome informal researcher.
(20:12):
We have money, some formalresearch to make sure.
That our thesis and our messagingis resonating with customers.
And and when you get that done, that'sthe foundation of your brand, right?
It's who you stand for.
It's who you serve, it's whatyou do unique in the market.
You typically wrap a campaign around that.
And those campaigns forstartups need to deliver.
(20:34):
They are hardworking, low funneltried and true tactics, but.
Along the way, they're reinforcingyour company name and what you do
and the value prop that you add.
And so even though they'redirect marketing tactics, they're
not devoid of name and brandand colors and other things.
Name and logo and colors andexperience, which is your brand, right?
And so I believe that you can.
(20:57):
Once you spend the time to reallyunderstand who you are and what you
do, I think you can do direct marketingtactics that are meant to drive new
customers and wrap them in some brandelements that are building your brand.
I don't, I think that's a long wayof saying I don't think direct market
tactics and brand or mutually exclusive.
As the marketing machine matures andthe company starts to grow and you move
(21:20):
up funnel, you will, your tactics willnaturally become less direct response
oriented and start to infuse moreand more emotion tactics like video.
Tv, those have natural elements thatcan be more storytelling, that can be
a more emotive in their nature, andthen that allows the brand to express
(21:41):
its way itself in different ways.
And so I think that you wantto include those elements.
But like we were saying earlier,as you move up the funnel, as you
mature your acquisition machine,you spend more and more time in
those higher level tactics and thatwill give you more space for brand.
But I think you can buildbrand all along the way.
And I think it's how you talk,how you do your offer, who you
(22:03):
target, how you're clear, right?
Even in some of the language youuse, I think you are building brand.
And I don't think those two thedirect response and the brand
building tactics next necessarilyhave to be mutually exclusive.
I think they can work together.
. Brett (22:17):
And what are some emerging technologies or trends marketers
should be aware of for basicallycustomer acquisitions or future
customer acquisition strategies?
Trey Robinson (22:25):
I'd be remiss if we didn't talk a little bit about ai
because it's the topic of the day.
We at the agency are usingAI to help us do research.
To help us build outlinesto help us check our work.
I still, I think today's AI still needs asubject matter expert at the helm, right?
And so I believe it has part ofthe, it's part of the journey.
(22:50):
But I don't believe it'sthe full journey yet.
I think you've still got to you've stillgotta have a subject matter expert review
and use part of, be part of that cycle.
So I definitely think when we talk aboutemerging technologies we're talking
about AI in terms of content creation.
I think you still wanna includeyour blocking and tackling like
we've talked about, search andorganic search and website.
(23:10):
I think podcasts to we, as yourpoint we were making earlier
in this one are growing in.
Their ability to reach niche audiences.
And I would, even though they'vebeen around for a while, I feel like
they're finally coming into their ownin terms of a viable scaled channel.
And so I think that's part of it.
And then and then, and then lastly, you'vegotta include some social, depending
on where your social channels are.
(23:31):
So I know really, AI was the onlyemerging one I hit on, but I think, like
I said earlier, I think you gotta keepyour blocking and tackling in mind too.
Brett (23:39):
Yeah, podcasting's been around since.
2005, I think is the first official one.
So yeah, it's in technology terms it'solder because technology terms are
not as the same as human like age.
But yeah it's old, it's older,but the awareness is newer
because it wasn't really until thepandemic we were really shot off.
(24:00):
That's where it is.
I think markers.
Mismanage, the importance of downloadsinstead of actual like ROI of the, 'cause.
You could have a really small niche,but have a really engaged community
and you can get more out of thatthan a big audience, but small.
Engaged, commun, smallerengaged communities.
So I think marketers haven'tfigured out that part yet.
(24:22):
And podcasting the metricsaren't great either.
And speaking firsthand,
. Trey Robinson: But to your point, if you look at a brand like Patagonia, right?
And they started with this, thesehardcore climbers in Yosemite, which I
love this, their brand story in general.
They started with areally tight tribe, right?
And so the idea that we might havea podcast that's followed by, that's
(24:44):
got a really hardcore following, andthey all have a very a very strong
sense of each other and what theystand for and what they care about.
And if you can come along as a brandand align your values and true, you
gotta be true to yourself, your brain.
You can't just be what they wantyou to be, but if your values
align with their values and that.
If their tribe is your tribe and you canstart to support them and you can start to
(25:06):
. Get engaged with them on multiple levels.
To your point, that might be morevaluable because you're creating
a community of brand ambassadorsthan a million kind of, oh, I think
I've heard of those type people.
Because, 'cause those rabidfans will carry that message to
their, those tribes, and then I.
Ultimately what happens is groupsthat are like that, start to circle
those fans 'cause they want parts ofthat and they start to hear those.
(25:28):
And then, Patagonia is now,closed, but now they're more about
environmentalism and that thing hasjust grown into a global behemoth.
But to your point, itstarted with a really.
Passionate type group of people andand I think there's lots of good
brand stories that start there.
And so if that is your brand, Ithink a tight knit podcast like that
to me is a home run place to start.
(25:49):
Yeah.
If you get with a smaller podcaster,he actually may be, or she, he
or she may be more, I guess very.
Appreciative of you and they mightnot charge you as much 'cause you
stuck with them in the beginning.
'cause a lot of we all want markers,always want the bigger players.
But you're not always gonnaget the bigger players.
You're gonna get the smaller players.
And sometimes that relationshipin that building may actually
(26:12):
help in the long run becausepodcasting is a very long run game.
So is customer acquisitions and you gottathink in those terms of long run games.
Trey Robinson (26:22):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And to your point, they may be a userof the product yourself, and now they're
not just a podcaster, but they're a fan.
And that'll come through in howthey talk about the product.
I think a lot of benefit inthat small type of community.
And to your point it isa long term game, right?
At, whether it's investing in apodcast or a new channel, or building
your acquisition machine patience andconsistency are always gonna pay off.
Brett (26:45):
And people listen to this podcast and they're loving the information.
So where can they findyou online to learn more?
Trey Robinson (26:50):
Yeah.
So f first of all, thankyou for having having me.
As you can tell, I'm a littlebit of a marketing geek.
I love to have these conversations.
We love to have 'em with clients even.
And if, honestly, at lunch,I had one with a friend.
Our agency's called storyamplify just like it sounds.
S-T-O-R-Y-A-M-P-L-I-F y.com.
So story amplify.com.
We've got case studies on there.
We do mostly focus on financial services.
(27:13):
We do a lot of financial advisors andfintechs, regional banks because that's
deep subject matter expertise andour team knows about those products.
Not to say we don't take other clients andI'm happy to have conversations but yeah.
Story amplify.com.
Is a place to find us.
Brett (27:28):
All right.
Any final thoughts for listeners?
Trey Robinson (27:31):
No.
I appreciate you having me there.
Here I would say be consistent, right?
Start at the bottle of the funnel knowwhat you do and how you help the consumer.
And if you do those things rightand you're smart, how you make
your decisions and you're patient,you'll be successful in time.
Brett (27:45):
All right.
Thank you Trey, for joining DigitalCoffee Marketing, bringing, sharing
your knowledge on customer acquisition.
Trey Robinson (27:50):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Brett (27:52):
And thank you for listening.
As always, please subscribeto this podcast and all your
favorite podcasting apps.
We a five star review ofreligious help with the rankings.
Let me know how I'm doing and join me nextweek as I talk to another great thought
leader in the PR and marketing industry.
Alright guys, stay safe.
Get to understanding your customeracquisition, the strategies, the
merging technologies or whateveryou need to be successful in that.
(28:14):
It's you next week later.
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