On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Erik Huberman, Founder & CEO of Hawke Media, a LA-based full-service marketing consultancy. The company has serviced over 2000 brands of all sizes, ranging from startups to household names like Red Bull, Verizon, and Alibaba.

Businesses traditionally make annual plans for functions like Finance, HR and Marketing. Marketing, like everything else, is measured month-on-month. But this traditional way of planning and reporting could very well be holding you back. With access to tons of real time data and tools to analyse this data, the game has changed. If you aren’t taking an iterative approach to your marketing plans then you risk getting left behind.

In this episode, Kunle and Erik talk about leveraging marketing data to create an iterative marketing strategy. You will get to hear about the 3 pillars of the Hawke Method, fallout of privacy-driven changes, best channels for raising brand awareness and nurturing your audience, and what could be in store for us in Q4. This is a great episode for marketers and business owners.

Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • Many companies with existing CMOs also leverage fractional CMOs
  • Awareness, Nurturing, Trust are the 3 pillars of Marketing
  • Purchase cycle/Consideration period is the most overlooked metrics
  • Apple is not really concerned about privacy, they just want a piece of the advertising pie
  • The iOS update has not caused a spike in CPC, but has reduced conversion rates
  • Companies that needed detailed targeting are struggling due to privacy-driven changes
  • Tiktok is the only interesting organic growth platform for 2022

Covered Topics:

On today’s interview Kunle and Erik discuss,

• Genesis of Hawke Media
• Hawke Method Case Study
• Planning to be Iterative
• Does Pre Selling still work?
• Reaction to Privacy-driven Changes
• Building Awareness
• Best Channels for Nurturing
• Establishing Trust
• Predictions for Q4
• Data Platform Recommendations

Timestamp:

• 09:40 – Meet Erik:
  • Hawke Media is now 8 years old
  • Sold a couple of DTC brands
  • Mission was “Accessibility to Great Marketing”
  • RedBull was one of their first clients
• 12:40 – Hawke Media Org Structure:
  • The business development team takes a consultative approach
  • Companies use consultants as Fractional CMOs
  • Team of 20 CMOs share data and trends constantly
• 16:35 – Using the Hawke Method:
  • “Any type of marketing strategy needs to be iterative.”
  • Break down marketing into 3 principles: Awareness, Nurturing, Trust
  • Purchase cycle/Consideration period is the most overlooked metrics
• 21:30 – Planning to be Iterative:
  • “If you’re looking for marketing returns on month-to-month basis, then you’re doing it wrong”
• 23:10 – Does Pre Selling still work?
  • It is always boom or bust
  • Better to build up “properly”
• 26:35 – Reaction to Privacy-driven Changes:
  • 80% people don’t really care
  • It has become political
  • Apple is mainly trying to get into advertising rather than promoting privacy
  • CPC is not rising, but conversion is dropping
  • Companies that needed detailed targeting are struggling
• 30:20 – Raising Awareness of your brand:
  • Later stage businesses are not too concerned with CAC or ROI, they want to be top-of-mind
  • Early stage companies are more focused on performance and ROI
  • TV and Radio are still big, Google and Facebook rule digital
  • Tiktok is growing fast
  • Tiktok is the only interesting organic growth platform
• 34:00 – Best Channels for Nurturing:
  • SMS is 10x effective as email
  • But using both SMS and email is best
  • Creating content is a great nurturing tool as well
• 36:20 – Establishing Trust:
  • “Repetition creates Trust”
  • Consistency is the only way to maintain trust
• 39:00 – Predictions for Q4:
  • Supply Chain issues are real and it’s not looking good
  • We could have a supply-driven recession in Q4
• 41:20 – Advice for Businesses:
  • Have a framework
  • “Be disciplined about being iterative”
  • Leverage your data correctly
• 42:20 – Data Platforms:
  • Chord
  • GA
  • Glew
  • Redna AI

Takeaways:

• Marketing ROI is linked to Purchasing cycles and shouldn’t be measured month-on-month
• SMS is 10x as effective as email, but works best in conjunction with email
• We could see a supply-driven recession in Q4 due to supply chain issues

Links & Resources

• Erik’s Book: The Hawke Method

Tweetable Quotes:

“If you’re looking for marketing returns on month-to-month basis, then you’re doing it wrong.”

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