How CEOs Can Be Great Marketers Rand Fishkin | @randfish | Linklove 2013, London http://bit.ly/ceomarketers
May 08, 2015
How CEOs Can Be
Great Marketers
Rand Fishkin | @randfish | Linklove 2013, London
http://bit.ly/ceomarketers
Let’s Talk About the CEO’s Job.
Set the Mission, Vision & Strategy
Where are we going? How are we going to get there? Why will this set us apart?
Live, Breathe, & Spread the Core Values
You can probably tell that one of Moz’s core values is Fun.
Hire & Manage the Executive Team
Holiday party shenanigans with 4/5 of Moz’s exec team members.
Ensure the Business is Properly Capitalized
Reaction from Will & Richard after I announced our $18mm funding in April 2012: http://goo.gl/BTUhX
Allocate the Company’s Resources
At Moz, we spend ~$750K/month on servers and ~$700/month on cupcakes. Both are critical to operations.
Be the Brand’s Chief Evangelist
When evangelizing in the UK, I strongly suggest embracing their moustaches and bumbershoots.
Why Should the CEO Do
Marketing Themselves?
No One Else Will Ever Know the Business As Well
Via Mindjet & Jess3: http://goo.gl/elqw1
No One Else Has the CEO’s Reach or Coverage
Via Fresh Web Explorer: http://goo.gl/rJTgx
No One Else Has the CEO’s Authority
Google’s Larry Page shut down numerous internal businesses w/ $10mm+ in revenue & high growth to focus resources
Much of What Makes Leaders Great Also Makes Them Great Marketers
Via the White House Flickr Feed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/8191317327/ - Inbound marketing in action!
The 3 Kinds of Great CEO Marketers
The Richard Branson
Branson markets through celebrity, intelligent use of press, and a willingness to adopt new media (blog, Twitter, etc).
Ben Huh on not fearing the press: http://benhuh.org/don-t-fear-the-press And my reply: http://bit.ly/I7DX3z
Ben Huh helps Cheezburger
earn massive amounts of
press & brand awareness.
The Danielle Morrill
Danielle is CEO/Founder of Referly, and an active blogger/social user: http://www.daniellemorrill.com/
HN Comment from Ray Grieselhuber of Ginza Metrics: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5236837
Smart. Authentic. Adds value.
Good marketing, too.
The Jeremy Stoppelman
Jeremy is personally passionate about SEO. Some notes on Yelp’s SEO success: http://goo.gl/NnJ3h
Chris Lindland of http://betabrand.com is quiet on the blog/social front, but knows exactly how to make inbound marketing work
together, e.g. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/profiting-hoodiegate-140898
Betabrand rocks e-commerce marketing, from
naming conventions to SEO, to some of the
best product detail pages on the web.
What If I Can’t Be That CEO?(or can’t convince my CEO to adopt these recommendations?)
Option #1: Delegate to an Internal Marketing Leader
Hilary Mason of Bit.ly: http://www.hilarymason.com/about/
Option #2: Rely on Your Product,
Your Persona, and/or Your Paid
Marketing to Take You Viral.
Priceline hasn’t (historically) invested in strategic inbound marketing, yet benefits from great viral reach.
Option #3: Accept that Inbound Marketing (SEO, social,
content, etc) Won’t Be a Competitive Advantage
It’s OK to intentionally make inbound a weakness. It’s not OK to pretend it’s a strength if it’s not.
10 Tactical Tips for CEOs
Engaging in Inbound Marketing*
* I would strongly urge CEOs not to engage in any other kind of marketing, mostly because these others
do not scale as well, nor do they leverage the unique advantages CEOs possess.
#1: Understand & Evangelize How Your Funnel Works
This dynamic funnel is visible to everyone at Moz via a dynamic web interface.
#2: Be a Proactive Industry Contributor
Matt Blumberg of http://returnpath.com sits on the DMA’s board, & contributes to industry publications.
#3: Leverage the Press Wisely
Create press-worthy news: http://www.fullcontact.com/2012/07/10/paid-paid-vacation/ then be accessible.
#4: Empower Your Marketing Team w/ Devs
Moz has an “inbound engineering” team that focuses exclusively on marketing-related development
Casey Devin Jake
#5: Get Good at One or More Forms of Content
Delegating most of these is fine. But you have to find at least one that fits your strengths.
#6: Recognize Marketing Accomplishments the Way You
Do Product, Engineering, and Financial Milestones
Recognition is an incredibly powerful way CEOs drive action & show what matters to the culture.
#7: Optimize Your Online Bio (& Update It, Too)
Your bio gives you full control over links & anchor text. Keep it useful & updated, and provide it to whomever needs
it (events, charities, interviewers, etc).
#8: CEOs Amass Favors. Ask for Links & Shares!!
100s of people I connect with ask me how/if they can “repay the favor.” Other CEOs get this, too.
#9: Leverage Your Contacts to Amplify Messages
You can/should do
this manually
through email, but
Wonk makes it easy
to export & search
your followers for
those who can help.
#10: Embrace Authenticity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEtAfAa67TY
Download the slides:http://bit.ly/ceomarketers
Rand Fishkin | @randfish | Linklove 2013, London