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The Smart Marketer Podcast

Smart Marketer

Join hosts Molly Pittman, Ezra Firestone, and John Grimshaw as they share their proven paths to success (for your business, brand, and personal life). These Veteran marketers and educators have taught thousands of business owners how to build, manage, and scale successful companies (while growing their own multi-million dollar brands). This weekly podcast will blend tactical marketing tips and strategies with helpful insight and personal stories. This podcast will help you 'Serve the world unselfishly and profit.'

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  • 26 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 42 min
  • English

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  • Wednesday · 1 hr 22 min

    Episode 294: Q4 Planning Workshop: Smarter Offers, Stronger Margins, Better Timing

    Episode Description Q4 can be one of the biggest revenue opportunities of the year, but only if you know when your customers are most likely to buy, how much you can afford to spend to acquire them, and which offers actually protect your profit. In this Mentor Table workshop, Smart Marketer CMO John Grimshaw walks through a practical Q4 planning framework built from real client data. He breaks down what changed from last year, what still works, and where ecommerce brands should be adjusting their strategy going into the holiday season. A big part of the conversation is learning how to identify your brand's demand curve so you know when to push budget harder, when to pull back, and how to avoid spending aggressively in the wrong window. John also challenges one of the most common Q4 habits: "Discounting is not your strongest lever [...] Your strongest lever is how do we boost the value of the cart." From lead generation and acquisition timing to gifting, product depth, margin, and offer structure, this episode gives you a clear way to think about Q4 as a full-season strategy, not just a Black Friday promotion. You Will Learn How to identify whether your brand is gift-led, occasion-led, or self-purchase-led Why your biggest demand window should influence where you allocate budget What changed in Black Friday and Cyber Monday traffic strategy Why dedicated holiday sales pages may not always be the best destination for cold traffic How early lead generation can increase the value of your Q4 audience Why launching a completely new product during Black Friday can work against you How to think about vertical vs. horizontal product depth Why repeat purchase opportunities matter when planning your product mix How to calculate an acquisition ceiling based on margin Why more aggressive discounting can reduce profitability How gift-with-purchase offers can increase perceived value without sacrificing as much margin Why post-holiday demand can be a major opportunity for many brands Links & Resources Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Smart Marketer Live 2026: https://smartmarketer.com/sml-2026/ Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart Time Stamps 00:22 – John introduces the Q4 planning workshop 01:03 – Mapping customer demand across the season 01:20 – Setting acquisition ceilings for Q4 01:39 – Rethinking discounting and protecting margin 03:05 – What John learned from analyzing client Q4 data 05:09 – Creative graduation and building a stronger ad bench 07:28 – Discounting dead zones and where brands give away margin 09:17 – What changed with Black Friday sales pages 11:18 – Why deeper site exploration can sometimes produce better results 15:21 – The overlooked opportunity after the holidays 16:47 – When leads are most valuable before Black Friday 18:48 – When to launch new products before Q4 20:26 – The three Q4 demand curves 22:06 – How traffic costs interact with demand 23:21 – How door busters can drive additional traffic and cart value 28:17 – How to identify your brand's demand shape 33:01 – Vertical vs. horizontal product depth 40:45 – When to debut new products 44:18 – Why margin has to be part of your Q4 planning 46:37 – Calculating your first-order acquisition ceiling 51:14 – Looking at profit by phase instead of just revenue 56:13 – Why discounting is not your strongest lever 57:53 – Using gifts to increase cart value without giving away as much margin 01:03:36 – How to use the Q4 planning project with your own data 01:05:25 – Q&A: gift-with-purchase tiers and accessories 01:08:39 – Q&A: how many offers to run during Black Friday 01:10:14 – Q&A: when to start early Black Friday promotions 01:13:01 – Turning your own business data into Q4 recommendations 01:15:44 – Why your own business is often your best source of marketing advice 01:17:31 – Final Q4 planning takeaways Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for listening to the Smart Marketer Podcast! If this episode helped you think more strategically about Q4, share it with another ecommerce marketer or business owner who is planning for the season. If you're sharing on social, tag @SmartMarketerIG and use #WeOutHere. Have questions or feedback? Reach us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • September 16 · 1 hr 4 min

    Episode 293: Why AI Is Becoming the Operating System for Ecommerce

    Episode Description AI is moving beyond writing copy, generating images, and helping marketers complete isolated tasks. The bigger shift is what happens when AI becomes part of the operating system of the business itself. In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Devyn Merklin to talk about the evolution of Growth OS powered by Gary, the agentic system they're building and already using across real ecommerce businesses. Devyn shares how his experience growing ecommerce brands eventually led him into agentic AI, and why the real opportunity is not simply having better technology. It's connecting your brand knowledge, historical performance, strategy, team communication, and execution into one ecosystem. As Devyn puts it: "It's less about the tech [...] it's more about the ecosystem we created that raises everybody up over time." Molly and Devyn also walk through how they're already using Growth OS to analyze years of campaign data, build and improve websites, manage projects, execute marketing tasks, and surface strategic recommendations that would previously have taken teams days or weeks to uncover. If you're trying to understand what agentic AI could actually look like inside an ecommerce company, this conversation gives you a look at where the technology is headed and how businesses are beginning to operate differently because of it. You Will Learn How Devyn went from building ecommerce brands to developing agentic AI systems Why AI is evolving from a collection of tools into an operational layer How Growth OS combines brand knowledge, Smart Marketer IP, business data, and broader AI intelligence Why strategy, not just execution, may be the biggest opportunity with AI How Molly is using Growth OS to analyze years of Black Friday performance in minutes Why existing AI agents and systems do not necessarily need to be rebuilt from scratch How agents can work inside tools like Slack alongside human teams Why project management becomes more powerful when the system understands the actual marketing context How ecommerce businesses can use agents to identify and execute everyday operational tasks Why Devyn believes the long-term advantage is the ecosystem around the technology, not simply the technology itself How a network of businesses can make the underlying system smarter over time while keeping proprietary data separate Links & Resources Growth OS powered by Gary: https://smartmarketer.com/growthos/ Smart Marketer Live 2026: https://smartmarketer.com/sml-2026/ Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart Time Stamps 00:16 – Anthony introduces the episode 01:18 – A quick message from Omnisend 01:36 – Molly welcomes Devyn Merklin 04:10 – Devyn's beginnings in ecommerce and marketing 08:53 – Discovering Smart Marketer and learning direct response marketing 10:38 – Growing a business from early stage to eight figures 12:51 – Leaving to become an entrepreneur 17:52 – Learning through apprenticeship and experience 19:47 – The moment Devyn realized agentic AI could change ecommerce operations 22:16 – Molly's first look at Devyn's agent system 22:55 – Why Smart Marketer's accumulated IP became the missing piece 26:15 – What Growth OS actually does 28:24 – Combining brand intelligence, ecommerce strategy, and AI 31:39 – Rebuilding the Longer Together website with Growth OS 34:34 – Why Molly is more excited about AI strategy than AI execution 35:45 – Analyzing years of Black Friday data in minutes 38:53 – Why the ecosystem matters more than the technology 41:01 – How the Growth OS ecosystem becomes smarter over time 42:37 – Solving the problem of disconnected AI tools and agents 44:56 – Bringing AI into project management and team operations 47:19 – Moving from project management systems to true operating systems 48:58 – Devyn's real-world example of an agent fixing an ecommerce problem 50:34 – The mindset shift required to work with agentic systems 52:31 – Where Growth OS fits for businesses at different stages 56:51 – Giving AI agents a brand personality 59:18 – Why ecommerce experience matters when building these systems 01:01:34 – What competitors can replicate and what they can't 01:02:50 – Growth OS, Smart Marketer Live, and closing thoughts Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for listening to the Smart Marketer Podcast! If this episode helped you think differently about how AI could operate inside your business, share it with another ecommerce entrepreneur or marketer who needs to hear it. If you're sharing on social, tag @SmartMarketerIG and use #WeOutHere. Have questions or feedback? Reach us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • September 9 · 48 min

    Episode 292: Why Effort Makes Marketing More Valuable

    Episode Description Why do some marketing experiences stick with us while others disappear almost immediately? In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Phill Agnew, host of Nudge, to explore the psychology behind how people judge value, remember experiences, and respond to marketing. Phill breaks down the peak-end effect, why the final moments of a customer experience can shape how the whole experience is remembered, and how even small touches like a handwritten thank-you note can influence loyalty and repeat purchases. One of the biggest ideas in the conversation is simple: "We use effort as a proxy for quality." - Phill Agnew From personalized outreach and costly signaling to AI-generated messages and social proof, Phill explains why visible effort can make marketing feel more valuable, credible, and human. The conversation also goes beyond marketing tactics into learning, creativity, and business growth, including Phill's 95/5 approach to protecting time for exploration and his practice of making 50 small bets to increase the odds of finding an outsized opportunity. You Will Learn What the peak-end effect is and why it matters for customer experience Why the end of an experience can influence how people remember the whole thing How personalized touches can increase perceived value Why people use effort as a proxy for quality How time and cost can act as signals of quality and importance Why overly automated or formulaic outreach can be easy to recognize How to show instead of tell when using social proof Why visible effort can make online marketing more persuasive How Phill uses a 95/5 approach to make room for learning and exploration Why making 50 small bets can create outsized opportunities How behavioral science can help marketers better understand human decision-making Links & Resources Nudge Podcast: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/ Nudge Podcast Reading List: https://nudge.kit.com/readinglist Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart Time Stamps 00:15 – Anthony introduces the episode 01:03 – A quick message from Omnisend 01:22 – Molly welcomes Phill Agnew 03:03 – Phill's path from studying marketing to behavioral science 07:02 – The peak-end effect and why endings matter 13:00 – Applying the peak-end effect to ecommerce 14:41 – Why handwritten thank-you notes can increase repeat purchases 18:08 – The peak versus the end of a customer experience 23:05 – Why effort matters in an age of AI and automation 24:51 – Why we use effort as a proxy for quality 25:45 – Costly signaling and how expense affects perception 29:29 – How Phill makes effort visible online 30:42 – Testing handwritten outreach against a standard email 31:32 – Why AI-generated outreach is easy to recognize 33:00 – Showing instead of telling with social proof 37:20 – Making space for learning and thinking 38:44 – The 95/5 approach to time and energy 40:37 – Phill's "50 Small Bets" framework 43:57 – Why businesses operate in a power-law world 45:40 – Small bets, big outcomes, and Phill's recommended reading list 46:47 – Molly wraps the conversation Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for listening to the Smart Marketer Podcast! If this episode gave you a new way to think about your marketing, share it with another marketer or business owner who would find it useful. If you're sharing on social, tag @SmartMarketerIG and use #WeOutHere. Have questions or feedback? Reach us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • #291
    September 2 · 23 min

    Episode 291: Building an Ecom Brand From Scratch: Inside Our First 60 Days

    Episode 291: Building an Ecom Brand From Scratch: Inside Our First 60 Days Episode Description What does building a new ecommerce brand actually look like before you know whether it's going to work? In this episode, Smart Marketer Agency CEO Pep Hufen takes us inside the first 60 days of Longer Together, the pet supplement brand Smart Marketer launched with partners Michelle and Tyler from Living Well with Dr. Michelle. Pep explains why the partnership made sense, the competitive advantages they had going in, and the three phases the team is using to build the business: validation, infrastructure, and scale. From a one-page website and a handful of Meta ads to $75,000 in early revenue, subscriptions, Amazon, reviews, and returning customers, Pep shares the real numbers and decisions behind the launch. He also gets into what surprised him, including an unscripted video outperforming their polished creative and the tradeoff they discovered when sending cold traffic directly into a subscription offer. And one of the biggest lessons from the validation phase is an important distinction for ecommerce founders: "You can have an amazing business, real product-market fit, people love it, and not be able to profitably sell with Meta ads." – Pep Hufen This isn't a case study with a perfectly packaged ending. Pep is documenting Longer Together while the team is still building it, testing assumptions, and waiting for the data that will determine what comes next. You Will Learn Why Smart Marketer decided to build a new ecommerce brand from scratch How the Longer Together partnership came together The competitive advantages the team wanted before launching Pep's three phases for building the business: validation, infrastructure, and scale The two questions the team needed to answer during validation Why an unscripted video became their best-performing creative How the team generated roughly $75,000 in its first 60 days What happened when Pep tested subscriptions with cold traffic Why subscription LTV and 90-day break-even data will help determine when they can scale How reviews, email, Amazon, Google, and subscriptions are becoming part of the infrastructure Why Pep is deliberately waiting for the data before going "pedal to the metal" on acquisition Links & Resources Longer Together: https://longertogetherpet.com/ Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart Time Stamps 00:04:41 – Pep introduces Longer Together and the first 60 days 00:05:49 – The three phases: validation, infrastructure, and scale 00:06:30 – Why Smart Marketer started the brand and chose its partners 00:07:14 – The competitive advantages they had before launching 00:08:23 – Validating product-market fit and Meta acquisition 00:09:09 – Launching lean with a one-page website 00:09:40 – The first creatives and an unexpected winning ad 00:10:28 – Marketing a preventative product 00:12:04 – Early Meta performance and validating acquisition 00:13:53 – $75K in early revenue and keeping the operation lean 00:15:11 – Phase two: building the business infrastructure 00:15:34 – Subscriptions and the early LTV question 00:16:43 – Testing subscription offers with cold traffic 00:17:52 – The ROAS tradeoff between subscriptions and one-time purchases 00:19:01 – Why the first 90 days of LTV data matter 00:20:12 – Building reviews and social proof 00:21:06 – Amazon and the spillover from paid acquisition 00:22:28 – The plan for navigating the uncertain middle 00:23:21 – Recapping validation, infrastructure, and the path to scale 00:24:44 – Where Longer Together stands after its first 60 days Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for listening to the Smart Marketer Podcast! If this episode gave you something useful for building or scaling your own business, share it with another ecommerce founder or marketer who could use it. And if you're sharing on social, tag @SmartMarketerIG and use #WeOutHere. Have questions or feedback? Reach us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • #290
    August 26 · 17 min

    Episode 290: Basket Builders: How to Increase AOV With More Products

    Episode Description What if increasing your average order value starts with something simpler than a new ad strategy or funnel? In this episode, we're giving you a look inside Mentor Table, Smart Marketer's private mastermind and coaching community for established ecommerce founders and their teams. Smart Marketer Founder Ezra Firestone uses Overtone and his other brands to show how expanding your product lineup creates more opportunities to increase the value of every customer. He breaks down basket builders, bundles, cross-sells, buy-more-save-more offers, and the merchandising strategies he's using across ecommerce and retail. "You gotta be launching product. You gotta be upselling and cross selling, and you gotta be launching products that are relevant to your current lineup." – Ezra Firestone Ezra also gets into the details of product-page merchandising, including why your image carousel matters so much, how badges and infographics can help communicate an offer, and how simple product recommendation quizzes can move shoppers closer to a purchase. If you have a product that's already working and you're wondering where the next layer of growth comes from, this episode gives you plenty of ideas to test. You Will Learn What Ezra means by a "basket builder" Why expanding your product lineup can create new growth opportunities How smaller, high-margin products can increase basket size How bundles and buy-more-save-more offers can increase AOV Why Ezra uses cross-sells and frequently-bought-together offers How Overtone approaches packaging and merchandising for retail Why product-page carousels deserve more attention How to use badges, infographics, and sales videos on your PDP Why Ezra thinks ecommerce brands should learn from Amazon product pages How short product recommendation quizzes can create micro-commitments and move shoppers toward checkout Links & Resources Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for listening to the Smart Marketer Podcast! If this episode gave you an idea you can put to work in your business, share it with another ecommerce founder or marketer who could use it. And if you're sharing on social, tag @SmartMarketerIG and use #WeOutHere. Have questions or feedback? Reach us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • August 19 · 41 min

    Episode 289: Scaling Meta Ads: Campaign Structure, Creative Testing & Attribution

    Episode Description What actually matters when you're trying to scale a Meta ad account today, and what are media buyers still overcomplicating? In this behind-the-scenes episode, Smart Marketer CEO Molly Pittman shares a real strategy call with the Cuddle Clones team and Marianne White from Smart Marketer's paid performance team. They work through an account that has recently undergone major offer, landing page, and campaign changes, with the goal of finding more volume without sacrificing performance. Marianne breaks down how she thinks about campaign structure, Max Value versus Max Volume, attribution settings, audience overlap, budget scaling, full-funnel creative, and why she prefers launching creative into an environment where Meta can decide what deserves spend. "There is no kind of secret setup for Meta. [...] It really all depends on the creative you have." – Marianne White If you're managing Meta ads and wondering how much control you actually need, this is a practical look inside how experienced media buyers are approaching campaign structure and creative testing right now. You Will Learn Why there is no single "secret" campaign structure for Meta How Marianne structures campaigns around different products Why 10–20 ads can work together as a full-funnel creative mix How hook rate and new visitor percentage can help diagnose creative When Max Value, Max Volume, and Target ROAS make sense How Marianne thinks about standard versus incremental attribution Why separate campaigns do not necessarily mean you are competing against yourself How to scale budgets by 20% when performance supports it Why Marianne adds new creative directly to established campaigns Why a lower-ROAS ad can still be a winner when it brings in new customers How to launch batches of creative without letting one winning ad hide everything else Links & Resources Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartmarketerig Omnisend: https://omnisend.com/smart These links follow the established resource set from recent Smart Marketer show notes, with the sponsor destination updated to the URL Molly's supplied intro gives for this episode. Time Stamps 00:00:16 – Molly Introduces the Cuddle Clones Strategy Call 00:01:52 – Sponsor Message: Omnisend 00:02:11 – Inside the Cuddle Clones Meta Ads Account 00:03:11 – Target ROAS, Cost Caps & Scaling Spend 00:04:49 – Understanding Cuddle Clones' Three Core Products 00:07:12 – Why There's No Secret Setup for Meta 00:09:07 – Building a Full-Funnel Campaign with 10–20 Ads 00:10:29 – Hook Rate & Middle-of-Funnel Creative 00:12:43 – Using New Visitor Percentage to Understand the Funnel 00:13:25 – Choosing a Bid Strategy for More Volume 00:14:20 – Max Value, Attribution & Letting Meta Learn 00:17:06 – When Incremental Attribution Makes Sense 00:20:25 – Why Marianne Uses Meta's AI Enhancements 00:21:33 – Scaling with Max Value 00:23:21 – How Meta Treats Your Budget Across the Week 00:25:15 – Running Target ROAS and Max Value Together 00:26:23 – When Poor Performance Is Really a Creative Problem 00:27:14 – Starting Budgets & Scaling by 20% 00:28:35 – Why Audience Overlap Matters Less Than It Used To 00:30:51 – Max Value vs. Max Volume 00:32:07 – Preparing High-Spend Campaigns for Q4 00:34:17 – How Marianne Tests New Creative 00:36:17 – Why Not Every Winning Ad Needs Great ROAS 00:37:30 – Launching 10–20 New Creatives as a Full-Funnel Batch 00:38:31 – How to Find More Winners from the Same Creative Batch 00:40:08 – Bid Constraints, Max Value & Final Recommendations 00:41:01 – Closing CTA: Subscribe and Support the Show Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing practical marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes conversations, and real-world lessons from the people doing this work every day. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-smart-marketer-podcast/id1522629407 Share this episode with a media buyer, ecommerce owner, or marketer trying to navigate Meta's latest changes. Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • August 12 · 13 min

    Episode 288: The Case for Doing Hard Things

    Episode 288: The Case for Doing Hard Things Episode Description What happens when you remove social media from your phone for two weeks? And what can deliberately choosing the harder path teach you about what you're capable of? In this episode, we're giving you an inside peek at a real Smart Marketer team call. Smart Marketer CEO Molly Pittman shares two personal takeaways from a recent trip to Telluride, Colorado: becoming more intentional about her relationship with social media and finding opportunities to do hard things outside of work. After deleting social media from her phone, Molly noticed how instinctively she reached for those apps, but she also began experiencing some unexpected benefits. She found herself with more time, a calmer internal dialogue, and more space for her own thoughts. Now, instead of returning to her old habits, she's finding ways to keep social media contained rather than letting it interrupt her day. She also shares how a 50-hour round-trip drive and a difficult hike challenged the idea that easier is always better and gave her a renewed sense of what she's capable of. "We're very much in a convenience culture where everything's about easy [...] but hard things are a lot of the experiences that lead us to growth." – Molly Pittman This episode is a reminder to pay attention to what's consuming your attention and to occasionally choose the harder route, not because everything needs to be difficult, but because some of our most meaningful growth happens when we challenge ourselves. You Will Learn What Molly noticed after deleting social media from her phone for two weeks Why the first few days without social media were surprisingly difficult How social media can influence your internal dialogue without you realizing it Molly's new approach to keeping social media contained and intentional Why convenience isn't always the same thing as better How doing difficult things outside of work can build confidence What a 50-hour road trip taught Molly about her own capabilities Why deliberately choosing the harder route can sometimes make an experience more meaningful Links & Resources Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: smartmarketer.com/free-resources Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com Molly Pittman: mollypittman.com Smart Marketer on Instagram: @smartmarketerig Molly Pittman on Instagram: @mollypittmandigital Omnisend Sponsor Offer: smartmarketer.com/omnisend Time Stamps 00:00:16 – An Inside Peek at a Smart Marketer Team Call 00:01:04 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:01:35 – Molly's Two Takeaways From Her Trip to Telluride 00:02:35 – Deleting Social Media for Two Weeks 00:03:44 – Getting Back More of Your Own Thoughts 00:04:54 – A More Intentional Approach to Social Media 00:06:53 – Convenience Culture and the Value of Doing Hard Things 00:08:04 – Choosing the 50-Hour Road Trip 00:08:39 – How Hard Experiences Can Reset What Feels Possible 00:09:34 – Completing a Hike Molly Couldn't Finish Before 00:11:11 – Why Choosing the Hard Route Made the Trip More Impactful 00:11:44 – The Team Reacts to Molly's Social Media Experiment 00:11:53 – What Molly Realized When She Finally Logged Back On Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing practical marketing insights, behind-the-scenes conversations, and real lessons from the people who make up the Smart Marketer team. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode with someone who could use a little less scrolling and a few more hard things in their life. Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • August 5 · 42 min

    Episode 287: More Meaningful Ads at Scale: Building Thumbstop with AI

    Episode Description AI can help marketers create more ads faster, but volume means nothing if the creative lacks strategy. In this episode, Smart Marketer CEO Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer Agency CEO Pep Hufen for a behind-the-scenes look at Thumbstop, the AI creative tool built to help direct-response marketers produce meaningful image and video ads without prompting every frame from scratch. Pep shares where the idea came from, what the team learned while building the first version, and how Thumbstop uses brand information, product data, customer reviews, proven ad concepts, and customer avatars to create strategic creative variation. You'll also hear why customer avatars matter more than ever in Meta's Andromeda era, the four variables marketers can use to build a diverse creative portfolio, and how Smart Marketer is balancing AI-generated assets with human creativity as it launches its new pet wellness brand, Longer Together. "If you use AI the right way, you can have meaningful shots at goal, at volume." – Pep Hufen If your team needs more creative without sacrificing direct-response strategy, this episode will show you how AI can help you move faster, test smarter, and give Meta better inputs. You Will Learn: • Why Smart Marketer built an AI creative platform specifically for direct-response advertising. • How Thumbstop studies a brand's website, products, reviews, visuals, and customer avatars. • Why customer avatars became one of the platform's most important features. • How different avatars can use the same product for completely different outcomes. • The four creative variables that help Meta match ads with the right users. • Why meaningful variation involves formats, concepts, environments, people, and emotions, not minor color changes. • How marketers can generate hundreds of strategic ad variations without replacing their creative teams. • Why AI should free creative professionals to focus on strategy instead of repetitive prompting. • How Smart Marketer is using Thumbstop alongside native creative to launch Longer Together. Links & Resources: Thumbstop: usethumbstop.ai Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com Omnisend Sponsor Offer: omnisend.com/smart TIME STAMPS: 00:00:16 – Introduction: Building Better Direct-Response Creative With AI 00:01:20 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:01:50 – Molly Welcomes Pep Hufen Back to the Podcast 00:02:09 – Inside Smart Marketer's New Software Project, Thumbstop 00:04:16 – Where the Idea for Thumbstop Came From 00:05:13 – Why Existing AI Tools Were Not Built for Direct Response 00:06:26 – Lessons From an Earlier Software Project 00:07:11 – How Pep Found the Right AI Development Partner 00:09:05 – From Initial Idea to a Working Software Product 00:10:01 – Testing the MVP Inside Smart Marketer and the Agency 00:10:51 – Building Creative Around Customer Transformation 00:11:42 – Early Beta Results From Smart Marketer Members 00:12:55 – How Different Businesses Are Using Thumbstop 00:14:35 – How Thumbstop Learns Your Brand, Products, and Visual Identity 00:15:30 – Automatically Building Customer Avatars From Reviews 00:16:26 – The Moccasins Canada Customer Avatar Case Study 00:17:54 – Using AI Creative for Authors, Artists, and Service Businesses 00:19:20 – Why Customer Avatars Became a Core Part of Thumbstop 00:20:25 – How Different Avatars Use the Same Product Differently 00:21:28 – Why Customer Avatars Help Businesses Scale 00:22:25 – The Four Variables in a Diverse Creative Portfolio 00:23:27 – How Winning Agency Concepts Become Thumbstop Features 00:24:03 – Why Changing Colors Is Not Meaningful Creative Variation 00:24:45 – Using AI Without Creating "AI Slop" 00:25:36 – How Environments Can Change the Context of an Avatar 00:27:15 – Using Formats, Concepts, People, Environments, and Emotions 00:28:31 – Comparing AI Production With Traditional Creative Production 00:29:40 – Creating Hundreds of Meaningful Ads in Under an Hour 00:30:49 – Why Thumbstop Should Not Replace Your Creative Team 00:31:03 – Training Smart Marketer's Creative Team to Use AI 00:32:33 – Using AI to Scale Concepts That Already Work 00:33:18 – Turning Winning Images Into Videos and New Variations 00:33:50 – Teaching AI to Understand Product Dimensions 00:34:27 – How Thumbstop Is Supporting the Longer Together Launch 00:35:25 – Building Customer Avatars for Daily Dental Defense 00:36:48 – Balancing Native Creative With AI-Generated Ads 00:38:31 – How to Try Thumbstop and Save 50% 00:38:45 – Thumbstop Pricing and the Cost of AI Generations 00:39:53 – How AI Changes the Economics of Creative Testing 00:40:59 – Creating More Meaningful Shots at Goal 00:41:28 – What's Next for Thumbstop and Longer Together 00:42:22 – Closing CTA: Subscribe and Support the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing practical marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes business lessons, and real-world insights from the tools and brands we are building. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click HereShare this episode with a creative strategist, media buyer, or business owner exploring AI-powered advertising. Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • July 29 · 48 min

    Episode 286: How to Build a Scalable UGC System: Creative Operations with Melvin Cotton III

    Episode Description Finding great creators is only half the battle. The real advantage comes from building a creative system that consistently turns creator content into high-performing ads. In this episode, Smart Marketer CEO Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer's Creative Operations Manager, Melvin Cotton III, to unpack the behind-the-scenes processes that power hundreds of creative assets every week. From sourcing UGC creators and structuring contracts to organizing raw footage and creating feedback loops, Melvin shares the operational systems that allow creative teams to scale without sacrificing quality. You'll also hear why Smart Marketer thinks about creator rosters like investment portfolios, how they evaluate different creator tiers, and why performance feedback, not opinions, should drive every creative decision. "The biggest piece [is your] performance feedback, taking all the information that we learn from the content that we've created and the data that we're gathering, and then using that to inform our next decision." – Melvin Cotton III If you're producing UGC, managing creative, or trying to build a repeatable paid ads system, this episode offers a practical framework you can put to work immediately. You Will Learn: • Why creative operations are the foundation of scalable paid advertising. • How to build and manage a high-performing roster of UGC creators. • Where Smart Marketer sources creators and why nano creators often outperform larger influencers. • What every creator outreach email and contract should include. • Why owning raw creative assets creates more long-term value. • How to organize creative production with a "creative menu" framework. • Why creator relationships improve when expectations and processes are clearly defined. • How performance feedback should influence every future creative decision. • Why operational systems—not just creative ideas—help winning ad teams scale. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Smart Marketer Podcast: https://smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Omnisend Sponsor Offer: https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend TIME STAMPS: 00:00:22 – Introduction: Why Creative Operations Matter 00:01:24 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:01:57 – Molly Welcomes Melvin Cotton III 00:02:21 – "Smile" and "Think Big": The Mindset Behind Melvin's Leadership 00:06:10 – What a Creative Operations Manager Actually Does 00:08:57 – From Alabama to Smart Marketer: Melvin's Journey 00:11:37 – The House of Mels, Filmmaking & Creating Meaningful Content 00:17:23 – Why UGC Is Still Critical for Paid Advertising 00:19:35 – Building a Scalable Creative Operations System 00:20:43 – The Performance Feedback Loop That Drives Better Creative 00:21:45 – The "Creative Menu" Framework 00:24:44 – Where to Find Great UGC Creators 00:26:47 – Direct Outreach vs. Creator Platforms 00:29:40 – How to Reach Out to Creators Professionally 00:31:16 – Pricing UGC Creators & Structuring Offers 00:33:07 – Why Every Creator Needs a Contract 00:36:11 – Why Nano Creators Often Deliver the Best Results 00:39:32 – Licensing Rights, Raw Assets & Long-Term Creative Value 00:42:26 – Why Great Systems Lead to Better Creator Relationships 00:43:05 – Why Smart Marketer Uses Four-Year Licensing Agreements 00:45:56 – Final Takeaways & What's Next for Creative Operations 00:47:46 – Closing CTA: Subscribe, Review & Share the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing real-world marketing systems, behind-the-scenes agency insights, and practical strategies you can apply to grow your business. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode with a marketer, creative strategist, or ecommerce founder building a UGC program. Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • July 22 · 55 min

    Episode 285: How to Work With Meta's AI: Paid Ads Strategies That Are Working Now

    Episode Description The Meta ads landscape has changed, and trying to control every variable may now be doing more harm than good. In this episode, Smart Marketer CEO Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer Agency Senior Paid Performance Specialist Maryanne White, who manages some of the agency's largest Meta ad accounts. Maryanne shares what she's seeing inside those accounts, why performance has become more volatile, and how media buyers can work with Meta's increasingly AI-driven system instead of fighting it. You'll hear why creative and offer quality matter more than rigid campaign structures, how evergreen giveaway funnels can generate both leads and purchases, why catalog ads continue to perform, and what brands should be doing now to prepare for Q4. "Our job right now is really not to control the machine, but to work with it and to understand it and to give it what it needs." - Maryanne White If Meta performance has felt unpredictable, this conversation will help you stop chasing outdated tactics, give the algorithm better inputs, and build a paid traffic strategy designed for the way the platform works today. You Will Learn: • How to work with Meta's AI-driven system instead of trying to control every variable. • Why creative quality and strong offers now matter more than rigid campaign structures or targeting tactics. • How evergreen giveaway funnels can drive both qualified leads and immediate purchases when optimized correctly. • How AI can support research and strategy, while human intuition remains critical for performance. • What brands should focus on now to prepare their creative, offers, and campaigns for Q4. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com Mentor Table: smartmarketer.com/mentor-table Omnisend Sponsor Offer: smartmarketer.com/omnisend TIME STAMPS: 00:00:16 - Introduction: What's Changing in Meta Ads 00:01:17 - Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:01:38 - Molly Welcomes Maryanne White 00:02:58 - From Journalism and Hospitality to Digital Marketing 00:06:55 - How Maryanne Discovered Ecommerce and Facebook Ads 00:07:47 - Why Meta Performance Feels More Volatile in 2026 00:09:27 - Stop Trying to Control the Machine 00:13:06 - Where Meta's Learning Really Happens 00:16:05 - What Successful Ad Accounts Have in Common 00:17:21 - The Offer Styles Working Right Now 00:17:40 - How to Build an Evergreen Giveaway Funnel 00:19:50 - The Thank-You-Page Offer That Drives Purchases 00:20:56 - Why Giveaway Campaigns Also Work for Retargeting 00:22:55 - A Day in the Life of a Senior Paid Performance Specialist 00:25:49 - Using AI for Account Research and Creative Strategy 00:28:28 - Why Strong Operational Support Improves Paid Performance 00:32:32 - Letting Go of Outdated Meta Ads Tactics 00:34:43 - Why Trust Matters Between Brands and Agencies 00:35:27 - The Risk of Using Generic AI Advice 00:38:15 - The Global Opportunity of Remote Digital Marketing 00:41:34 - How Gardening Helps Maryanne Stay Grounded 00:43:46 - Preparing Your Meta Ads Strategy for Q4 00:44:32 - Why You Need 10 to 20 Distinct Creatives for a Promotion 00:46:38 - Less Control Can Lead to Better Results 00:47:46 - Two Ways to Run Catalog Ads 00:49:18 - Using AI Enhancements With Dynamic Product Ads 00:49:47 - How Maryanne Approaches a New Ecommerce Ad Account 00:52:24 - Build Supporting Creative Instead of Repeating One Winner 00:53:31 - Final Takeaways and Closing Thoughts 00:54:44 - Closing CTA: Subscribe and Support the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing practical paid traffic strategies, honest conversations, and real lessons from the marketers managing ecommerce growth every day. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click HereShare this episode with a media buyer or ecommerce owner navigating Meta's latest changes Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • July 15 · 44 min

    Episode 284: Website Accessibility Lawsuits: What Every Ecommerce Store Owner Needs to Know

    Episode Description Could your ecommerce store face a website accessibility lawsuit without you realizing there's a problem? In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Carl and Brooke Wood of Antler Rings to discuss the web accessibility lawsuit their business is currently navigating. They share how the situation began with a settlement demand, what happened when they were formally served, and the website issues they discovered while working with legal counsel. From image-specific descriptions and accessible popups to third-party apps, compliance scans, and WCAG guidelines, this conversation highlights an often-overlooked area of ecommerce risk. More importantly, it gives store owners practical steps they can take now to make their websites easier for everyone to use. "Something that business owners could do is [...] a quick compliance scan that would scan and at least highlight some information that they might need to change." – Brooke Wood This episode shares the guests' experiences and general educational information. It is not legal advice. You Will Learn: • How Antler Rings went from receiving a settlement demand to being formally served with a lawsuit. • Why website accessibility needs to be part of every ecommerce owner's compliance checklist. • How image-specific descriptions help screen-reader users understand product photography. • What to review when evaluating popups, navigation, scrolling, and close buttons. • Why an accessibility statement and dedicated support contact can improve the customer experience. • How third-party Shopify apps can introduce accessibility issues you may not immediately notice. • Why a quick website compliance scan can help identify areas that need attention. • What WCAG 2.2 is and why store owners should become familiar with current accessibility guidelines. • Why receiving a legal notice requires prompt attention and qualified legal counsel. • How ecommerce owners can share information and help raise awareness around website accessibility. Links & Resources: Antler Rings: antlerrings.com Contact Brooke Wood: brooke@antlerrings.com Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com Omnisend Sponsor Offer: smartmarketer.com/omnisend WCAG 2.2 Guidelines from the W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines U.S. Department of Justice: Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA TIME STAMPS: 00:00:14 – Introduction: A Website Accessibility Warning for Ecommerce Owners 00:01:12 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:01:32 – Molly Welcomes Carl and Brooke from Antler Rings 00:04:02 – The Settlement Letter That Started Everything 00:05:33 – What Happened When Antler Rings Was Formally Served 00:07:07 – The Website Issues Identified in the Lawsuit 00:09:16 – Why Ecommerce Stores Are Being Targeted 00:11:24 – Accessibility Is Important—But the Process Matters 00:13:13 – The Immediate Changes Antler Rings Made 00:15:02 – Making Popups Easier to Close and Navigate 00:16:29 – Why Every Product Image Needs a Specific Description 00:19:18 – Legal Strategy and the Risk of Being Sued Again 00:21:58 – The Broader Pattern Behind Accessibility Lawsuits 00:24:29 – The Challenge of Navigating Ecommerce Compliance 00:25:34 – Accessibility Statements, Images, Popups, and Customer Support 00:26:44 – Who Is Responsible for Third-Party App Accessibility? 00:28:45 – Why Carl and Brooke Believe the Claim Was Targeted 00:30:31 – The Settlement Demands That Never Become Public 00:33:08 – A Possible Solution: Give Businesses Time to Correct Issues 00:35:26 – Practical Accessibility Action Items for Store Owners 00:36:15 – Understanding WCAG 2.2 00:37:50 – Using a Quick Compliance Scan to Find Potential Problems 00:38:18 – What Antler Rings Plans to Do Next 00:41:31 – How Other Business Owners Can Connect with Carl and Brooke 00:43:25 – Why Ecommerce Owners Need to Pay Attention Now 00:44:18 – Closing CTA: Subscribe and Support the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue sharing honest business conversations, actionable marketing strategies, and important lessons from the entrepreneurs navigating these challenges in real time. If you found this episode valuable: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click HereShare this episode with an ecommerce business owner who needs to hear it Post it on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • July 8 · 53 min

    Episode 283: Building a Local Brand, Marriage, and Mission with Molly Pittman & Casey Maupin

    What happens when two childhood friends reconnect, build a life together, and end up creating businesses rooted in community, purpose, food, and rescue dogs? In this heartfelt episode, Molly sits down with her husband, Casey, to talk about their reconnection story, building Morley's Backyard in Danville, Kentucky, navigating entrepreneurship as a couple, honoring Molly's dad, and growing Fields of Freedom Dog Rescue. "We're not working for tomorrow. We're working for what three years down the road looks like." – Casey Moppin You Will Learn • How Molly and Casey reconnected after growing up together in Kentucky. • Why community can become one of the strongest business advantages. • What made Morley's Backyard a standout local opportunity. • How Casey approaches farm-to-table, Kentucky Proud food, and local partnerships. • Why boundaries matter when both partners are entrepreneurs. • How hands-on work, service, and rescue dogs bring deeper fulfillment. • The role Smart Marketer, Morley's, and Fields of Freedom play in one shared ecosystem. Links & Resources • Smart Marketer • Molly Pittman • Fields of Freedom Dog Rescue • Morley's Backyard • Smart Marketer Live 2026 Timestamps 00:00 – Meet Casey Moppin: Molly's husband and today's special guest 01:39 – Casey's perspective on reconnecting with Molly 03:32 – Molly's move back to Kentucky and how everything changed 06:56 – Opposites attract: how Molly and Casey balance each other 08:33 – Remembering Molly's dad and honoring him at Morley's 11:30 – Why Danville, Kentucky feels like home again 14:02 – The businesses, rescue, and life Molly and Casey manage together 16:47 – How Morley's Backyard started as a tire center and food truck idea 20:40 – The business "green flags" Molly saw in Morley's 23:57 – From food truck to full kitchen and business partnership 26:04 – Expanding Morley's hours, brunch, and food truck partnerships 29:24 – Why Kentucky Proud and local sourcing matter 31:38 – Building a business through real community relationships 33:28 – Advice for entrepreneurial couples 37:23 – Thinking long-term while still living in the grind 39:45 – Why hands-on work creates fulfillment 41:49 – Creating boundaries with phones, apps, and work stress 43:24 – Starting Fields of Freedom Dog Rescue together 47:01 – How Smart Marketer, Morley's, and the rescue support each other 48:01 – Life with six dogs 49:12 – Smart Marketer Live and bringing online community into real life 51:22 – Closing thoughts from Molly and Casey

  • July 1 · 45 min

    Episode 282: Meta Ads Performance & Profitability: What's Really Happening in 2026

    Episode Description Meta ads are still one of the most powerful growth channels for ecommerce brands, but 2026 has been anything but predictable. In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer Agency CEO Pep Hufen to unpack what they're seeing across client accounts right now, why Q1 felt strong for many brands, why Q2 has been more volatile, and what business owners should focus on when performance starts to feel inconsistent. Molly and Pep talk through platform volatility, declining conversion rates, changes in Meta's algorithm, the rise of AI-generated creative and landing pages, and why profitability, not ego-driven top-line growth, needs to guide your decisions during uncertain seasons. "An amazing product positioned well will beat any platform volatility." - Pep Hufen If Meta has felt unpredictable lately, this episode will help you zoom out, protect profitability, and focus on the fundamentals that actually move a business forward. You Will Learn: • What Smart Marketer is seeing across Meta ad accounts in 2026. • Why Q1 was strong for many brands, while Q2 has felt more challenging. • How conversion rates and cost per click have shifted across the industry. • Why Audience Network traffic may be hurting performance in some accounts. • How Meta's newer, more consolidated approach is affecting traffic quality. • Why profitability matters more than chasing last year's revenue numbers. • What winning brands are doing differently during platform volatility. • Why product development, positioning, and customer understanding still beat platform hacks. • How organic content and brand-building can improve paid media performance. • Why businesses need to think about becoming AI-native, not just AI-enabled. • How mindset affects your ability to navigate change, volatility, and growth. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com OmniSend Sponsor Offer: smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. Molly Pittman: mollypittman.com Instagram: @smartmarketer Instagram: @mollypittmandigital Contact Pep: pep@smartmarketer.com TIME STAMPS: 00:00:16 – Welcome: What's Happening with Meta Ads in 2026 00:01:00 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:04 – Molly Welcomes Pep Hufen Back to the Podcast 00:02:18 – Why Pep Has a Unique View Across the Industry 00:03:22 – Meta Ads in 2026: Less "What's Working Now," More "What Is Going On?" 00:04:20 – Q1 Results Across Smart Marketer Agency Clients 00:05:14 – Why Every Brand Experiences Platform Volatility Differently 00:07:02 – Why Struggling Brands Look for Validation Online 00:07:55 – Q2 Performance: Conversion Rates, CPCs, and Industry Benchmarks 00:08:37 – Why Landing Page Conversion Rate Is Often the First Problem Area 00:09:50 – Audience Network Traffic and Lower-Quality Clicks 00:10:29 – Why Conversion Rates Are Dropping Across Accounts 00:11:37 – Possible Causes: Economy, Meta Outages, Geopolitics, and Algorithm Changes 00:12:26 – Andromeda, Consolidation, and Trusting Meta's Algorithm 00:13:30 – Why a Hybrid Campaign Structure May Be Best Right Now 00:14:29 – How Traffic Quality and Page Indexing May Be Affecting Conversion Rates 00:16:22 – Meta's AI Creative Changes and Automatic Ad Enhancements 00:17:21 – Optimizing for Lifetime Value Instead of First Purchase 00:18:21 – AI-Generated Pages, AI Slop, and Landing Page Quality 00:20:08 – Q2 Revenue and Profitability Trends 00:21:24 – Why a 20% Swing from Q1 to Q2 Feels So Significant 00:21:53 – How Profitability Is Being Impacted by Ad Spend and Revenue Shifts 00:22:34 – What Pep Expects for Q3 and Q4 00:23:40 – Why Meta Still Needs Advertisers to Win 00:24:34 – How Mindset Shapes Performance During Volatile Seasons 00:26:35 – What Winning Brands Are Doing Right Now 00:27:06 – Protecting Profitability Instead of Chasing Ego Metrics 00:27:54 – Why Founders Should Stay Focused on Product and Market Understanding 00:30:31 – Channel Diversification and Where Leaders Should Spend Their Time 00:31:17 – Why Summer Is a Good Time to Reorganize and Refocus 00:32:59 – Pep's Core Takeaway: Great Products Beat Platform Volatility 00:33:48 – Organic Content, Brand Building, and Understanding Your Audience 00:34:55 – How AI Is Affecting Assets, Workflows, and Data Interpretation 00:35:28 – Moving from AI-Enabled to AI-Native Businesses 00:36:57 – Smart Marketer's Upcoming Agentic Business System 00:38:04 – Why Your Mindset Will Dictate Your Success 00:40:05 – Why AI May Be Bigger Than the Internet 00:41:08 – Molly's Balanced Take on AI, Change, and Humanity 00:44:03 – Navigating Business Transitions with the Right Outlook 00:45:06 – Smart Marketer Agency Services and How to Work with the Team 00:45:32 – What's Coming Next: Smart Marketer's Agentic Operating System 00:46:27 – Final CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us keep bringing you real-world marketing insights, honest conversations, and practical strategies from inside the businesses we're building every day. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • June 24 · 46 min

    Episode 281: Leading Media Buyers, Winning on TikTok Shop & the New Creative Playbook

    Episode Description TikTok Shop is creating a totally different kind of opportunity for ecommerce brands, but it is not just another paid ads platform. In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer's Manager of Advertising, Dilyana Doychinova, for a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to lead paid performance teams, support media buyers, and stay ahead as Meta, TikTok Shop, Google, and AI continue to evolve. Dilyana shares how Smart Marketer builds a culture where media buyers can ask for help without feeling like they're failing, why strong SOPs need to teach the "why" behind the strategy, and what brands need to understand before jumping into TikTok Shop. You'll hear why TikTok Shop requires a completely different mindset than Meta, how affiliates and samples shape the platform, and why the creative learnings from TikTok can become valuable across your entire paid media strategy. "TikTok has nothing to do with Meta, honestly. TikTok is closer to Netflix than it's to Meta." – Dilyana Doychinova If you manage a paid traffic team, work with media buyers, or are trying to figure out whether TikTok Shop belongs in your growth strategy, this episode is packed with real-world insight from inside the Smart Marketer Agency. You Will Learn: • How Dilyana went from almost missing the Smart Marketer opportunity to leading the paid performance team. • Why media buyers need both accountability and psychological safety to do their best work. • How Smart Marketer onboards new media buyers without throwing them into the deep end. • Why SOPs should teach decision-making, not just checklists. • How the Smart Marketer team stays current as Meta, AI, and ad platforms change. • Why TikTok Shop requires a completely different mindset than Meta advertising. • What kinds of products tend to work best on TikTok Shop. • Why affiliates, samples, and creator momentum are key to winning on TikTok Shop. • How TikTok creative can become a growth engine for Meta and other paid media channels. • How Dilyana uses AI tools like Claude to analyze performance, halo effect, and platform impact. • Why the human side of media buying still matters in an increasingly AI-powered world. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com Mentor Table: smartmarketer.com/mentor-table OmniSend Sponsor Offer: smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. Note for podcast listeners: Dilyana's Mentor Table Nashville talk on TikTok Shop and the Cleanies case study will be embedded in the show notes on the Smart Marketer website. Visit smartmarketer.com/podcast to watch it there. TIME STAMPS: 00:00:16 – Welcome: Paid Traffic, AI, Creative Systems & TikTok Shop 00:01:33 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:36 – Molly Introduces Dilyana Doychinova 00:04:03 – Why Dilyana Joined the Podcast 00:05:17 – Dilyana's Smart Marketer Origin Story 00:08:15 – Turning a Missed Opportunity Into a Career-Defining Role 00:11:05 – Dilyana's Current Role Leading Paid Performance & TikTok Shop 00:12:30 – How to Lead and Support Media Buyers 00:14:08 – Building Trust So Team Members Can Ask for Help 00:16:53 – Creating a Healthy Culture Inside a Paid Performance Team 00:18:37 – Smart Marketer's Media Buyer Onboarding Process 00:21:08 – How New Hires Transition Into Client Accounts 00:24:13 – Why SOPs Need to Explain the "Why" Behind the Process 00:26:39 – How Meta Changes Are Shifting Campaign Structure 00:27:32 – Staying Current with Platform Updates, AI, and Team Masterminds 00:29:00 – How the Media Buying Team Shares What's Working 00:29:55 – The Difference Between TikTok Shop and Paid Ads 00:30:54 – Why TikTok Shop Requires a Different Way of Thinking 00:31:06 – What Makes TikTok Creative So Hard to Win 00:32:01 – What Products Work Best on TikTok Shop 00:32:55 – Why High-AOV Products Can Work, But Require More Investment 00:33:17 – The Affiliate and Sample Strategy Behind TikTok Shop 00:35:47 – Using TikTok Shop as a Creative Testing Platform 00:37:37 – Finding the First Winning TikTok Video 00:38:51 – Turning TikTok Creative Into Meta Creative 00:39:49 – Why TikTok Is a Hub for Cross-Platform Creative Assets 00:40:22 – How Dilyana Uses AI to Analyze TikTok's Halo Effect on Amazon 00:42:07 – The Future of Media Buying in an AI-Powered World 00:43:34 – How AI Is Helping Dilyana Move Faster 00:44:45 – Mentor Table TikTok Shop Talk & Cleanies Case Study 00:45:50 – Final CTA: Subscribe and Support the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us keep bringing you practical marketing strategy, behind-the-scenes lessons, and real conversations with the people building what's next. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit! 🚀

  • June 17 · 38 min

    Episode 280: AI Creative Strategy: How to Analyze Ads, Find What's Working, and Build Smarter Creative Systems with Ben Bennett

    Episode Description Everybody can generate AI creative now. The real advantage is knowing what to make next. In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with Smart Marketer's Director of Creative, Ben Bennett, to unpack the AI-powered creative strategy workflow he's building inside the Smart Marketer creative department. Instead of using AI only to pump out more ads, Ben explains how to use it to analyze creative, identify hidden performance patterns, build a "creative DNA" system, and turn ad data into smarter decisions. From creative metadata and hook analysis to Claude skills, Gemini video analysis, and the future of AI-powered ad briefs, this episode is a deep dive into how modern marketers can use AI for strategy, not just production. "Everybody gets it now, basically, how we can produce something from AI. The differentiator is going to be the strategy." – Ben Bennett You Will Learn: • Why AI-generated creative is no longer the biggest advantage — strategy is. • How Ben uses AI to analyze ads like a human creative strategist. • What "creative metadata" is and why it matters in the Andromeda era. • How to build a Creative DNA sheet for hooks, imagery, content type, awareness level, style, emotional motivators, and more. • Why separating creative intake from creative analysis makes your AI workflow more useful over time. • How AI can uncover surprising insights, like when scarcity hooks do not work at the bottom of the funnel. • Why the best AI systems still need subject matter experts behind them. • How Gemini, Claude, and Claude Code can support deeper creative strategy. • Why creative volume alone is not the goal — smarter, more strategic creative is. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Agency: smartmarketeragency.com The Smart Marketer Podcast: smartmarketer.com/smart-marketer-show Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: smartmarketer.com/free-resources Instagram: @smartmarketerig OmniSend Sponsor: smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. TIME STAMPS: 00:00:01 – Introduction: AI for Creative Strategy, Not Just Production 00:00:58 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses OmniSend 00:02:02 – Molly Welcomes Ben Bennett Back to the Podcast 00:02:58 – Ben's Journey from Distillery Marketing to Director of Creative 00:04:26 – How Ben "AI-ified" the Smart Marketer Creative Department 00:05:47 – Why AI Creative Strategy Is the Real Opportunity 00:06:17 – Everybody Can Produce with AI, But Strategy Is the Differentiator 00:08:08 – Teaching AI to See Ads Like a Human Creative Strategist 00:10:28 – Creative Metadata and How Meta Indexes Ads 00:12:20 – Why Manual Creative Analysis Does Not Scale 00:13:24 – Building the Creative DNA Sheet 00:14:23 – Separating Creative Intake from Creative Analysis 00:15:25 – Tracking Hook Type, Imagery, Content Type, and Awareness Level 00:16:09 – When Scarcity Hooks Do Not Work at the Bottom of the Funnel 00:17:39 – Style, Emotional Motivators, and Story Frameworks 00:20:26 – Combining Creative Metadata with Performance Data 00:21:14 – Building a Smart Marketer Claude Skill for Creative Analysis 00:22:34 – Finding Hidden Patterns Beyond Obvious Winning Ads 00:24:18 – Why AI Systems Get More Valuable Over Time 00:25:40 – Turning Analysis into New Ad Briefs 00:26:47 – How Creative Insights Can Shape Products, Markets, and Brand Messaging 00:27:15 – Shipping AI Work Before It's Perfect 00:29:16 – Why the Best AI Systems Need Subject Matter Experts 00:32:32 – The Next Step: Closing the Loop and Producing Finished Creatives 00:33:59 – Why Volume for Volume's Sake Is Not the Goal 00:35:03 – Ben's Tip: Learn Claude Code 00:36:03 – How to Start Using AI to Analyze Creative Qualitatively 00:37:32 – Work with Smart Marketer Agency 00:38:25 – Final CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, creative strategists, and ecommerce operators. Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • June 10 · 41 min

    Episode 279: Smart Marketer's 2026 Growth Playbook: What We're Building, Testing & Doubling Down On

    Episode 279: Smart Marketer's 2026 Growth Playbook: What We're Building, Testing & Doubling Down On Episode Description What does growth look like when AI is changing every week, paid traffic is evolving, and your business has to keep adapting in real time? In this behind-the-scenes episode, Molly Pittman and John Grimshaw pull back the curtain on what Smart Marketer has been building, testing, and improving in 2026. From Axon/AppLovin and TikTok Shop to AEO, AI-powered creative, new software, and launching an ecommerce brand from scratch, this episode is a candid look at how Smart Marketer is thinking about the future. You'll hear why partnerships are becoming one of the biggest growth levers, why founder visibility matters more in the AI era, and why not every experiment needs to work in order for your business to keep moving forward. "Not everything has to work. If everything is successful, you're probably not doing enough." – Molly Pittman You Will Learn: • Why Smart Marketer is expanding beyond courses, agency services, and masterminds. • How Axon/AppLovin is creating new paid traffic opportunities for DTC brands. • Why TikTok Shop requires a different approach than traditional paid media. • What AEO is and why AI search may become a major growth channel. • How Smart Marketer is using AI to create more direct-response ad creative. • Why partnerships can unlock faster business growth and new opportunities. • What Molly and John are learning from launching an ecommerce brand from scratch. • Why the info product space is not dead, but it is evolving. • How to decide what to scale, what to cut, and where to focus next. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Podcast: https://smartmarketer.com/podcast Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ Thumbstop: https://usethumbstop.ai/ OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. TIME STAMPS: 00:00:22 – Welcome: What's Changing Across Marketing Right Now 00:01:10 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:14 – Molly Welcomes John Grimshaw to the Podcast 00:03:28 – Behind the Scenes: What's Been Happening at Smart Marketer 00:04:34 – How Smart Marketer Has Evolved Beyond Courses 00:06:29 – Why Business Leaders Must Keep Innovating 00:07:34 – Launching the Axon/AppLovin Masterclass 00:09:30 – The Power of Partnerships in Business Growth 00:11:51 – Testing TikTok Shop as a New Growth Channel 00:15:19 – AEO, AI Search, and Optimizing for Answer Engines 00:17:27 – Why Founder Visibility Matters in the AI Era 00:19:13 – Introducing Thumbstop: AI-Powered Ad Creative 00:23:51 – Smart Marketer's First New Software Tool in Years 00:24:49 – Launching a New Ecommerce Brand From Scratch 00:28:59 – Why Partnerships Are Central to Smart Marketer's Next Chapter 00:31:00 – Building Agentic AI Systems for Ecommerce Brands 00:33:01 – Why Courses and Info Products Are Not Dead 00:35:49 – The Reality of Testing New Ideas 00:37:59 – How Smart Marketer Is Refocusing for the Rest of 2026 00:38:29 – Molly's Reminder: Not Everything Has to Work 00:40:38 – Final Thoughts and a Bandit Cameo 00:41:15 – Closing CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners who want to stay ahead of what's coming next. Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere Have feedback? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • June 3 · 50 min

    Episode 278: Answer Engine Optimization: How Brands Can Win in the Age of AI Search with Kasim Aslam

    Episode Description AI tools are changing how people research, compare, and make buying decisions, and the brands that show up in those answers are going to have a massive advantage. In this episode, Molly Pittman sits down with entrepreneur and AEO expert Kasim Aslam to unpack what Answer Engine Optimization really is, how it differs from traditional SEO, and why founder-led content, real expertise, strong reviews, and authentic authority are becoming non-negotiable for brands that want to stay visible. You'll also hear early results from Smart Marketer's first AEO client cohort, including wins from brands like BabyRX, Winona, and Outdoor Vitals, plus why AEO may be one of the biggest organic opportunities since the early days of SEO. "If you believe in your product, if you're truly a thought leader, if you have the information and if other people really like what you have to say, AEO is great." – Kasim Aslam You Will Learn: • What AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, is and why it matters right now. • How AI-driven traffic differs from traditional SEO and paid traffic. • Why founder-led brands and expert-driven content are winning in AI search. • The role schema markup plays in helping AI tools understand your website. • Why reviews, reputation, and real authority are becoming major ranking signals. • How to think about attribution when AEO cannot be tracked like Meta or Google Ads. • Why "being for someone" is one of the most important marketing advantages in the AI era. • Early AEO case studies from BabyRX, Winona, and Outdoor Vitals. • Why brands that lack a clear point of view may struggle as answer engines become more influential. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ AEO: https://aeo.co/ OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. TIME STAMPS: 00:00:16 – Introduction: Why AEO Matters for Modern Brands 00:01:16 – Sponsor Message: Ezra Firestone on OmniSend 00:02:20 – Molly Welcomes Kasim Aslam to the Podcast 00:04:11 – The Power of Long-Term Relationships in Business 00:06:34 – How Molly and Kasim's AEO Partnership Began 00:11:09 – Why AEO Is the Future of Marketing 00:13:14 – What Is AEO and How Is It Different from SEO? 00:15:42 – How Kasim Started Studying Answer Engine Optimization 00:16:44 – Why Understanding the Machine Matters 00:18:01 – Why AEO Strategy Must Be Vertical-Specific 00:19:16 – Why AEO Is Harder to Game Than Traditional SEO 00:20:08 – Why Reputation, Reviews, and Real Authority Matter 00:22:34 – Why Context Changes Every AI Search Result 00:24:48 – Why Direct Response Marketers May Struggle with AEO 00:26:14 – How to Measure AEO When Traditional Attribution Breaks 00:28:47 – Bot Traffic, Citations, and Secondary Success Signals 00:30:22 – The Return of "How Did You Hear About Us?" 00:32:54 – Early AEO Results from the First Client Cohort 00:34:33 – BabyRX Case Study: From Zero Visibility to AI Citations 00:35:31 – Why Schema Markup Is Critical for AI Visibility 00:37:32 – How Content Repurposing Helps AI Validate Authority 00:39:47 – Winona Case Study: Growing Share of Voice in Google AI Mode 00:40:46 – Outdoor Vitals Case Study: From Invisible to 34% AI Visibility 00:42:12 – Content Atomization and Founder-Led Authority 00:43:23 – How to Apply for the Next AEO Test Cohort 00:45:03 – Why Answer Engines Trust People More Than Brands 00:47:41 – Why Brands Need a Real Point of View 00:48:09 – Final Thoughts: Why AEO Rewards Businesses That Truly Serve Their Market 00:49:47 – Closing CTA: Subscribe, Review, and Share the Show YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and business owners who want to stay ahead of what's coming next. Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: Click Here Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere Have feedback? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • May 27 · 31 min

    Episode 277: How to Build an AI-Native Team with Rytis Lauris of Omnisend

    Episode Description AI can help your team move faster, work smarter, and free up hours of repetitive work… but only if you build the habits, systems, and ownership to actually use it. In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Rytis Lauris, co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, shares the six practical lessons his company learned while transforming a 200+ person organization into a more AI-native team. From monthly AI Days and simple point-solution agents to the mindset shift required to "manage" AI assistants, this episode is packed with real-world examples you can bring back to your own business. "AI can really help us to be way more productive and to be better employees, to be better specialists, to be better humans." – Rytis Lauris If you've been wondering how to get your team to move beyond "playing around with ChatGPT" and start using AI to save time, improve processes, and scale smarter, this one is for you. You Will Learn: • Why AI adoption has to be intentional and led from the top down. • How Omnisend uses monthly "AI Days" to help employees build real AI habits. • Why simple point solutions often work better than complex AI agents. • How a sales team built an AI follow-up tool without engineers. • How Omnisend reduced influencer review time from 90 hours to 20 hours per month. • Why AI tools should be treated like products, not one-time projects. • The importance of assigning a human "manager" to each AI agent. • Why AI works best when it improves existing processes instead of creating new work. • How AI can support email, SMS, segmentation, forms, support, and sales workflows. • Why the future belongs to humans who learn how to scale themselves with AI. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table Omnisend Smart Marketer (sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. Time Stamps: 00:00:15 – Welcome: Moving Beyond AI Marketing Tasks 00:01:13 – Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:02:39 – John Introduces Omnisend and Rytis Lauris 00:04:16 – Why Becoming AI-Native Isn't as Simple as Buying Tools 00:06:14 – Lesson 1: AI Does Not Adopt Itself 00:07:18 – How Omnisend Uses Monthly AI Days Across the Company 00:08:19 – The Sales Follow-Up AI Agent That Saves Time After Calls 00:09:30 – Reducing Influencer Review Time from 90 Hours to 20 Hours 00:10:31 – Lesson 2: Complexity Is a Trap 00:12:21 – Why Point Solutions Beat Over-Engineered AI Agents 00:13:24 – Lesson 3: Switch from a Project Mindset to a Product Mindset 00:15:24 – Lesson 4: Iteration Isn't Sexy, But It's Inevitable 00:16:24 – Why Every AI Agent Needs a Human Owner 00:17:23 – The AI Voice SDR Example: Smart, Useful, and Still Imperfect 00:19:13 – How Omnisend's AI Support Agent Resolves 40% of Support Conversations 00:21:19 – Lesson 5: Build on Existing Processes, Don't Create New Work 00:22:13 – Rytis' LinkedIn AI Agent Story and Why AI Won't Create Habits for You 00:23:55 – Omnisend's Most-Used AI Features: Subject Lines and Preheaders 00:24:47 – AI for Email Copywriting and Segment Building 00:25:58 – AI Form Generation and Giving Customers Control 00:26:48 – Lesson 6: AI Is an Assistant, Not the Enemy 00:28:00 – How Point Solutions Can Free Up 30–40% of Your Time 00:28:45 – Recap: The Six Lessons for Becoming AI-Native 00:30:11 – Special Omnisend Offer for Smart Marketer Listeners 00:30:39 – Closing Thoughts Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for tuning in to the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue bringing you practical marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes systems, and real-world business insights from operators who are doing the work. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Share this episode on social media, tag @smartmarketer, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • May 20 · 45 min

    Episode 276: How to Get Your Brand Recommended by AI: AEO with Julian Lopez

    Episode Description AI is changing how customers discover, research, and choose brands. If your business isn't showing up in AI-generated answers, you may be missing the next major wave of organic visibility. In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Julian Lopez from the Smart Marketer team breaks down AEO, Answer Engine Optimization, and what brands need to do now to become the recommended choice inside AI tools, AI overviews, and answer engines. From schema markup and indexability to brand authority and bottom-of-funnel search intent, Julian shares the early signals Smart Marketer is seeing after analyzing thousands of AI-driven commercial searches. "Your brand is not what you say, it is what AI is able to pull out of the answer." – Julian Lopez You Will Learn: • What AEO is and why it matters for brands that want to stay visible in the AI era. • Why SEO isn't dead, but the game has changed. • How AI tools research, compare, and recommend brands behind the scenes. • Why your website is becoming less of a destination and more of a data source. • The difference between informational traffic and bottom-of-funnel commercial intent. • How schema markup helps AI understand your products, people, and brand. • Why third-party sources, reviews, Reddit, directories, and social proof impact AI recommendations. • How to structure your content so AI can retrieve, understand, and cite it faster. • Why brand authority now depends on what AI can verify across the web. • What agentic shopping may mean for the future of ecommerce. Links & Resources: Smart Marketer: smartmarketer.com Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. Time Stamps: 00:00:20: Welcome: AI, Paid Traffic, Creative and Organic Visibility 00:01:11: Sponsor Message: Why Ezra Firestone Uses Omnisend 00:02:14: Molly Introduces Julian Lopez and the Importance of AEO 00:03:47: How to Get Your Brand Recommended by AI 00:05:00: Create Relevance, Not Awareness 00:06:03: Why AEO Is Still an Emerging Discipline 00:07:09: What Changed: AI Enters the Search Experience 00:08:16: Search Is Becoming Delegated Research 00:09:39: Is SEO Dead? What's Actually Changing 00:10:41: What Commercial Search Results Look Like Now 00:12:11: The Future of Walled Gardens, Wearables and AI Everywhere 00:14:11: GEO, LMO, AEO: What Should We Call It? 00:15:10: The Goal: Become the AI-Recommended Brand 00:16:19: What Smart Marketer Found After Thousands of AI Queries 00:17:22: Why Your Website Is Now a Data Source 00:18:28: The Challenge: AI Platforms Are Black Boxes 00:19:28: SEO Still Matters, But Rankings Aren't the Whole Story 00:21:29: How AI Answers Actually Work 00:22:38: Why Bottom-of-Funnel Questions Are the New Opportunity 00:23:21: The Site Is Not the Destination, It's the Data Source 00:24:29: The Answer Budget Theory: How AI Chooses Brands 00:26:43: Why AI Looks Beyond Your Website Before Recommending You 00:28:10: Your Brand Is Built on the Sources 00:29:10: The AEO Action Plan: Indexability, Content Readiness and Authority 00:32:11: Why You Need to Let the Right Bots Access Your Site 00:33:06: Schema Markup: Helping AI Understand Your Business 00:36:38: How to Make Product Pages More Specific for AI 00:38:44: IDs, Entities and Connecting Your Website's Information 00:39:45: Optimizing Product Data, Ratings and Rich Results 00:40:44: Content Structure: Make Your Pages Easier for AI to Retrieve 00:42:12: Cover Topics, Not Just Keywords 00:43:12: Brand Representation and Authority in the AI Era 00:44:23: Agentic Shopping: What's Coming Next 00:45:13: Wrap-Up and Final Applause Your Engagement Matters! Thank you for tuning in! Your support keeps this podcast thriving. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, review, and share it with fellow entrepreneurs, marketers, and ecommerce operators. Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Share this episode on social media, tag us, and use #WeOutHere. Have feedback or questions? Email us at support@smartmarketer.com. Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

  • May 13 · 54 min

    Episode 275: The Paid Ads Machine: Creative Systems That Scale in the Age of AI

    Episode 275: The Paid Ads Machine: Creative Systems That Scale in the Age of AI Episode Description What if your ad creative system could think more like Meta's algorithm? In this live session from Mentor Table Nashville, Smart Marketer's Director of Creative Ben Bennett and Creative Operations Manager Melvin Cotton III break down the exact system they use to plan, produce, analyze, and scale paid social creative in the age of AI and Andromeda. From diagnosing what's actually working inside your ad account to building scalable creator systems and using AI to uncover hidden performance insights, this episode is a masterclass in modern paid creative strategy. "Our overall goal is to establish a strong system that provides us good creative and strong feedback." – Melvin Cotton III If you're tired of guessing what makes ads work and want a smarter process for creating winning creative, this episode is for you. You Will Learn: Why marketers are overcomplicating "Andromeda" and what actually matters The difference between what Meta sees in your ads vs. what it knows about users How to use AI to analyze creative at scale The creative variables Smart Marketer tracks across every ad Why "creative volume" alone isn't enough anymore How to identify gaps in your messaging and creative strategy The framework for building a scalable creative production system Different ways to source UGC and creator content effectively Why operational systems are critical for creative scale How feedback loops improve ad performance over time LINKS & RESOURCES: Smart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.com/ Smart Marketer Free Trainings & Resources: https://smartmarketer.com/free-resources/ Smart Marketer Agency: https://smartmarketeragency.com/ Mentor Table: https://smartmarketer.com/mentor-table/ OmniSend (Sponsor): https://smartmarketer.com/omnisend Use code SMART for 50% off your first three months. TIME STAMPS: 00:00:17 – Introduction: The Paid Ads Machine 00:01:19 – Ezra Firestone on Why He Uses OmniSend 00:02:41 – Live from Mentor Table Nashville 00:03:55 – How Ben Bennett Joined Smart Marketer 00:06:18 – Creative Planning in the Age of Andromeda 00:08:18 – Why AI & Andromeda Feel Like a "Black Box" 00:12:55 – Using AI to Analyze Creative at Scale 00:17:08 – Building an AI-Powered Creative Data Lab 00:22:34 – Closed Variables vs Open Variables in Creative Analysis 00:25:55 – Applying Marketing Frameworks to Ad Creative 00:29:20 – Turning Creative Data Into Actionable Insights 00:33:32 – What AI Reveals About Winning Creative Patterns 00:36:07 – Why Beginner-Focused Ads Outperformed Problem-Aware Messaging 00:40:56 – Transitioning from Analysis to Production Systems 00:42:01 – Building a Creative Menu for Your Team 00:45:16 – Different Systems for Sourcing UGC & Creator Content 00:48:20 – Creator Compensation & Contracts 00:49:59 – Managing Creative Operations & Tracking Systems 00:51:48 – Identifying Where You Are on the Creative Spectrum 00:52:23 – Final Thoughts & Downloadable Resources YOUR ENGAGEMENT MATTERS! Thank you for tuning into the Smart Marketer Podcast! Your support helps us continue bringing you actionable marketing strategies, behind-the-scenes systems, and real-world business insights. If you enjoyed this episode: Leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts Share this episode on social media and tag @smartmarketer Send feedback or questions to support@smartmarketer.com Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit!

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