Episode #4 – Ryan Holota On Why Your Marketing Strategy Needs To Be Risky

Episode 4 of The Marketing Revolution Podcast Featuring Ryan Holota <–Click here

I met Ryan Holota roughly three years ago on Twitter.  Since then we regularly go for coffee or a lunch sharing ideas on how we’re using social media.  He’s very smart.  I have a lot of respect for Ryan and his thoughts on social media are bang on.  If you’re looking for an expert on writing and social media in Regina look no further, Ryan’s the best, I’d definitely hire him.

Visit Ryan Holota on Twitter and his website here.

• Ryan talks about the beginning of his writing and marketing career
• On writing: “Don’t expect to have a masterpiece every time you sit down to write.  Just like the marathon runner gets up every morning and stretches before they run, you must practice your writing like a professional for a long time to see results.”
• Books on writing “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, “Accidental Genius“ by Mark Levy
• Ryan predicts 2012 “the year of mobile” for the third year in a row and adds that next year will probably be “the year of mobile” as well.
• Social Media isn’t new, people have shared media throughout time.  It’s just easier now.  Communication doesn’t wait for a story to be printed in the weekend paper, we share media in real time.
• He talks about how companies could use social media platforms much more effectively.
• At the core of your marketing strategy, Ryan says there’s one great way to tell if you’re effective, increased sales.
• We talk about how agency’s are going to withstand the new social/digital marketing convergence and if having an agency manage your social media strategy implementation.
• How do you ensure your company or marketing department is still relevant in the next three years?  “Don’t be safe”. Experiment, take risks, test things out, never assume your marketing is flawless.
• We talk about how Christopher Penn experiments on his blog and Twitter account with extreme transparency and he shares the results of what he finds.
• We talk about the infamous “Kenneth Cole Tweet” that created an uproar early last year.
• Near the end I ask Ryan “does sex sell?”  based on a blog post he wrote on the topic.
• He also shares how he works, the life of a writer and what his days are usually like.

We also talk about these three articles:

6 Potentially Wildly Inaccurate Observations about Tostitos and Social Sentiment – How do you know your message is resonating with the right demographic?  Is “everyone” your target market?

Direct From Google: How To Build A Quality Website In 2012 – What do companies need to be looking at in a website this year?  Ryan shares some ideas on improving your website strategy, if you’re building a new website this year, this conversation will definitely help you in the planning.

How People Watch TV Online And Off – Contrary to what you’d think, the US is watching more TV than ever, but they’re also watching it with another screen in there hand more than ever.  An interesting discussion follows.