Why You Should Slow Down and Market Intentionally to Make an Impact (with Ann Handley)

Dave [0:00:01]: You're listening to The Dave Gerhardt Show.

Dave [0:00:17]: Really excited about our next guest.

Dave [0:00:18]: She's one of the most respected voices in marketing a Wall Street Journal best bestselling author in the world's first chief content officer.

Dave [0:00:26]: She's a partner in marketing props, entrepreneur and the author of everybody rights.

Dave [0:00:30]: A best selling guy to creating marketing and business communications people want to pay attention to.

Dave [0:00:35]: Ibm named one of seven people shaping the future of marketing.

Dave [0:00:38]: She's built two multi million dollar companies inspires more than a million followers across social, and writes a popular news newsletter are read by over fifty thousand subscribers.

Dave [0:00:47]: Just found out she is a staunch advocate of the M dash.

Dave [0:00:52]: Right?

Dave [0:00:53]: This is these are your people.

Dave [0:00:55]: She lives in Boston loves dogs collects vintage type writers and is the author of a forthcoming fourth book out in twenty twenty seven that, I'm sure after seeing her speak you'll be rushing to go get, please bring the energy up.

Dave [0:01:08]: Give me a warm welcome for Ann Handley.

Dave [0:01:13]: Not fun.

Ann [0:01:14]: Thank much.

Ann [0:01:16]: Hi.

Ann [0:01:16]: How are you doing?

Ann [0:01:18]: Who was the vendor who has this M dash forever?

Ann [0:01:22]: I don't know who that was, but we gonna talk.

Ann [0:01:27]: I am so delighted to be here at this event.

Ann [0:01:33]: And it occurs me that for the past few days, we've been talking about, you know, what is this event actually about.

Ann [0:01:41]: It's about driving the business forward.

Ann [0:01:43]: It's about sales.

Ann [0:01:44]: It's about marketing.

Ann [0:01:45]: It's about figuring out how to make an impact.

Ann [0:01:48]: But I'm wanna gonna start today with a simpler question, I guess, which is what is marketing for.

Ann [0:01:56]: Now, a lot of people here.

Ann [0:01:58]: A lot of us believe that marketing is all about driving growth, right, about driving leads and Nc and all the things that can contribute to a business moving forward and growing and all of that stuff that we love.

Ann [0:02:14]: But that's not with good marketing.

Ann [0:02:17]: Actually does.

Ann [0:02:19]: Good marketing is actually how ideas travel.

Ann [0:02:23]: It's how people decide what to believe in and who to believe.

Ann [0:02:28]: And most importantly who to trust That's actually what good marketing is, and it's joyful work.

Ann [0:02:37]: It is important work.

Ann [0:02:38]: But lately, it's felt overshadowed by a kind of tension.

Ann [0:02:43]: And instead of feeling like joyful work.

Ann [0:02:48]: It's almost felt like a battle.

Ann [0:02:51]: It's felt in fact, like an epic battle that see into everything that we do.

Ann [0:02:58]: It's a battle of craft against efficiency.

Ann [0:03:03]: It's a battle of speed about taking our time.

Ann [0:03:07]: Now I know you know what battle I'm referring to.

Ann [0:03:11]: Right?

Ann [0:03:13]: That's right.

Ann [0:03:15]: I'm referring to the epic battle at the heart of episode eight of Mighty Mouse, the new adventures, which premiered thirty nine years ago in the fall of nineteen eighty seven.

Ann [0:03:27]: Now I know most of you here are familiar with episode eight of Mighty mouse, the new adventures, which premiered thirty nine years ago in nineteen eighty seven.

Ann [0:03:39]: Just like a quick show of hands.

Ann [0:03:41]: Is there anyone here who is not who is not familiar with episode eight of Mighty mouse of…

Ann [0:03:48]: Okay.

Ann [0:03:49]: So it looks like two or three of you.

Ann [0:03:52]: Tossed.

Ann [0:03:54]: So let me give you a quick refresh on the story.

Ann [0:03:58]: Mighty mouse and his staff.

Ann [0:04:00]: They call themselves the league of Super.

Ann [0:04:02]: They're is sitting around in their secret lair.

Ann [0:04:06]: They appear to be in front.

Ann [0:04:09]: Of a statue.

Ann [0:04:10]: Now remember that statue for later.

Ann [0:04:12]: Mighty mouse is complaining to all of his colleagues of the league of Super about how terrible business has been lately There hasn't been a single Jay walker.

Ann [0:04:24]: They haven't been able to respond to anything.

Ann [0:04:26]: We all have special and unique talents.

Ann [0:04:29]: He says.

Ann [0:04:30]: We all have artistic capabilities if only we had an opportunity to use them.

Ann [0:04:36]: If only we can use them in a productive way he says, if only, if only what?

Question [0:04:42]: Suddenly powered criminal genius would hu a challenge at us.

Ann [0:04:52]: Just see it's the cow.

Ann [0:04:53]: None other use n super we and don't even try to run.

Ann [0:05:00]: Don't even try to run.

Ann [0:05:01]: The cow is a super villain.

Ann [0:05:03]: I didn't write this.

Ann [0:05:08]: What's more?

Ann [0:05:10]: The cow is a male cow, which is wonderfully inclusive for nineteen eighty seven.

Ann [0:05:16]: Isn't it?

Ann [0:05:17]: Because he's got the otter.

Ann [0:05:18]: Because he's a male cow.

Ann [0:05:21]: You know, who don't normally have.

Ann [0:05:23]: You know how you you're not supposed to explain a joke.

Ann [0:05:26]: But I felt like it just didn't really land.

Ann [0:05:29]: So I explain the joke.

Ann [0:05:31]: The cow then dare the entire league of super To fight him one by one.

Ann [0:05:37]: Mighty mouse sits this one out because he is the worst kind of CMO.

Ann [0:05:43]: I mean, he's the worst kind of boss.

Ann [0:05:46]: The super Fly into battle.

Ann [0:05:48]: First comes to the gas stove.

Ann [0:05:49]: He has little gas bags.

Ann [0:05:51]: Next is the Scam hamster.

Ann [0:05:54]: Guess what his super superpower is.

Ann [0:05:56]: Scam.

Ann [0:05:57]: That's like endorsing a marketer on Linkedin for, like Slack.

Ann [0:06:03]: Skills, just ridiculous.

Ann [0:06:06]: No one can defeat him, but wait, remember what I told you, this statue appears to still be very much in the scene.

Ann [0:06:16]: This is when we realize that the statue is actually the check offs gun of this entire episode.

Ann [0:06:23]: After Russian play anton check off, who said that if you show a gun in one scene, you have to be sure to fire it in the next.

Ann [0:06:32]: So remember the statue and remember Chuck ops gun now too.

Ann [0:06:36]: The cow puts all of the super mutants in the hospital looks what's still there though.

Ann [0:06:42]: And remember what I told you because pretty soon, look what's getting closer.

Ann [0:06:46]: Look at the sm look on that cow face, And closer, it's not a statue.

Ann [0:06:52]: In fact, it's alive.

Ann [0:06:54]: It's in a live sloth.

Ann [0:06:56]: And it's not just any sloth.

Ann [0:06:59]: It's a superhero sloth.

Ann [0:07:01]: And as the cow is p around.

Ann [0:07:04]: There it goes, that's the gun.

Ann [0:07:12]: Straight to jazz.

Ann [0:07:15]: So who is the sloth?

Ann [0:07:18]: Ram sloth.

Ann [0:07:19]: He seems to his soup a slow slam may take a while but when it gets in, the

Ann [0:07:27]: shore.

Ann [0:07:27]: Sure.

Ann [0:07:29]: Pretend that you are a child in nineteen eighty seven.

Ann [0:07:36]: And you're on the floor of your family's family room and you're watching this show on Tv.

Ann [0:07:41]: On the one hand, we have the super villain cow.

Ann [0:07:45]: Right?

Ann [0:07:46]: He's fast.

Ann [0:07:47]: He's efficient.

Ann [0:07:48]: He dispense with everybody at lightning speed.

Ann [0:07:50]: Any job in front of him, whether it's somebody scam around him or whether it's a gas go or he's got it.

Ann [0:07:56]: On the other side, we have the league of super.

Ann [0:08:00]: These are the earnest and the specialized artists that are fighting the super villain, but more than that, they are fighting for the soul of their lair themselves.

Ann [0:08:10]: They are fighting for the soul of the city.

Ann [0:08:13]: And then we have the superhero sloth, the ramp slot who comes in and just by taking his time slowly and carefully winds up and packs a Let's try that again.

Ann [0:08:29]: Okay.

Ann [0:08:33]: Slowly and carefully winds up in packs a.

Ann [0:08:37]: Yes.

Ann [0:08:38]: So good.

Ann [0:08:39]: Now even a child without media training in nineteen eighty seven can see the obvious moral of this story.

Ann [0:08:45]: Right?

Ann [0:08:46]: The story is that the cow is bad, sloth is good.

Ann [0:08:51]: And as humans we agree, the cow is a jerk, He's a bully.

Ann [0:08:57]: But in marketing, we've kind of flipped the script.

Ann [0:09:01]: In marketing, we celebrate cow mode.

Ann [0:09:04]: The efficiency, the power, the speed at which we can wait for this because I'm really proud of it.

Ann [0:09:10]: Milk ROI.

Ann [0:09:11]: This is a fake Linkedin file.

Ann [0:09:17]: I don't know if you guys can tell.

Ann [0:09:19]: Thought this was really funny when I made it.

Ann [0:09:22]: Thank you.

Ann [0:09:25]: I'm so desperate for someone to acknowledge that how funny that was.

Ann [0:09:29]: Alright.

Ann [0:09:29]: Milk a ROI.

Ann [0:09:31]: Meanwhile, we actively avoid sloth mode.

Ann [0:09:34]: Right?

Ann [0:09:35]: We avoid all of these slower approaches that over time might pack a wallet.

Ann [0:09:40]: And we avoid them not because we don't want to move slowly, but because in marketing a slower approach very much sounds like we are falling behind.

Ann [0:09:52]: And so the sloth rarely gets a chance to wall up.

Ann [0:09:57]: He never gets a chance to use that slow motion slam.

Ann [0:10:01]: So what is that though?

Ann [0:10:03]: Like why is an industry that is built on creativity and connection, why do we operate at cow mode all the time.

Ann [0:10:13]: So I've been thinking about this.

Ann [0:10:16]: And I think there are a number of reasons.

Ann [0:10:18]: I wanna talk about four of them now just quickly First is that marketing is unusually visible.

Ann [0:10:23]: Right?

Ann [0:10:23]: Everything that we do shows up on a dashboard.

Ann [0:10:25]: We work in various short cycles.

Ann [0:10:28]: We have weekly reporting, daily metrics.

Ann [0:10:31]: We refresh refresh we're looking for opportunities all the time to show that we're connecting with the people we seek to connect with.

Ann [0:10:37]: We also sit very, very close to revenue pressure.

Ann [0:10:41]: And when pipeline vip, we're gonna hear about it.

Ann [0:10:44]: And what's more digital tools have trained us to optimize for volume, how big a program is getting not necessarily for value.

Ann [0:10:54]: And I know Dave mentioned this to you already, but we gotta just talk about this for a second?

Ann [0:10:59]: Because this is not an Ai tell.

Ann [0:11:02]: Okay?

Ann [0:11:03]: And I know because there are four of them in this slide, and I wrote this slide.

Ann [0:11:09]: It's not an Ai tell.

Ann [0:11:11]: This keeps us what Locked in in what I call a performance paradigm.

Ann [0:11:15]: Stocks.

Ann [0:11:15]: Right?

Ann [0:11:16]: Which is says that what's easiest to measure often matters least, while what truly matters is harder to see.

Ann [0:11:24]: We'd chase what we can chart, and it makes sense because we wanna show the value.

Ann [0:11:30]: But it keeps us locked in cow mode.

Ann [0:11:33]: And I know this seems like a joke.

Ann [0:11:36]: But this is actually my marketing manager walking into the office last week.

Ann [0:11:40]: And I'm like, That seems right.

Ann [0:11:43]: In a fast culture speed very much reads as confidence.

Ann [0:11:48]: Right?

Ann [0:11:48]: Even when it's not progress, even when it's not pushing us in the direction that we wanna move in.

Ann [0:11:54]: And now on top of it, we have added Ai.

Ann [0:11:57]: We've added all of it.

Ann [0:12:00]: Right?

Ann [0:12:01]: Which has poured gasoline on this sort of cow energy that has already existed in marketing.

Ann [0:12:06]: The thing is, I think it's time for us to stop the madness.

Ann [0:12:11]: We need to invite the sloth into our marketing directly because the sloth is not going to show up on its own.

Ann [0:12:18]: Marketing already has plenty of cow energy.

Ann [0:12:22]: I think we need to invite the sloth in when we need the slow rampage because we need to recognize how the sloth can actually benefit our programs, but more than that, how it can help us differentiate each of us ourselves as well as what we're selling and as well as how we're selling it.

Ann [0:12:42]: Oh, sup.

Ann [0:12:43]: I forgot about

Ann [0:12:44]: him.

Ann [0:12:47]: The truth is and that it doesn't have to be about…

Ann [0:12:49]: The truth is that it doesn't have to be out versus sloth, I think the two can very much work together.

Ann [0:12:56]: I think that the future of marketing is knowing when to cow, when to move fast, when you just go as quickly as you can and get things done and when to not do that.

Ann [0:13:07]: Right?

Ann [0:13:08]: When to sloth.

Ann [0:13:09]: Okay?

Ann [0:13:10]: Are you with me?

Ann [0:13:11]: Alright.

Ann [0:13:12]: Good.

Ann [0:13:12]: I also would say that I think because Ai has tossed that rocket fuel onto the cow, it's actually requiring us to sloth.

Ann [0:13:21]: I actually think we don't really have a choice.

Ann [0:13:24]: Because as we've seen in marketing, when you just layer Ai on top of everything when you just layer that lose cow energy on top of anything, It just it doesn't work out so well.

Ann [0:13:36]: And there are two reasons why.

Ann [0:13:38]: I think we need to think about inviting this sloth in.

Ann [0:13:40]: First and you all know this more than almost anybody else.

Ann [0:13:43]: Ai has totally changed the job.

Ann [0:13:45]: The old job was to create reach and familiarity and be visible, be as visible as we could.

Ann [0:13:52]: The goal was very much to be seen to let people know about us, to build that top of funnel.

Ann [0:14:00]: But now the job has shifted.

Ann [0:14:02]: And the job is is harder, I think.

Ann [0:14:04]: It's not just about being seen.

Ann [0:14:06]: Now it's about being chosen.

Ann [0:14:09]: We need to be understood.

Ann [0:14:11]: People need to understand what our programs are all about.

Ann [0:14:13]: Which means that they need to trust us.

Ann [0:14:16]: They need to see us, but they also need to know that they can trust when we say that we are who we are.

Ann [0:14:21]: And ultimately, we need to also be unforgettable, which is a really hard job.

Ann [0:14:26]: But it's about being chosen?

Ann [0:14:29]: I think that the new job is to think about before choice is on the table for any of our customers for any of our prospects, Do they trust us?

Ann [0:14:38]: Do they remember us and do they love what we're all about?

Ann [0:14:42]: So the second reason why I think we need to rethink cow energy and invite the sloth in is because loose cow energy is literally everywhere.

Ann [0:14:53]: If you've been on Linkedin, you see it.

Ann [0:14:57]: It's everywhere, and it's actually not even just in marketing.

Ann [0:15:02]: It's in everything that we do.

Ann [0:15:04]: Like for example, this news article, at the very end of it.

Ann [0:15:08]: Oh, my I know.

Ann [0:15:10]: The gas.

Ann [0:15:11]: The gas.

Ann [0:15:13]: So real.

Ann [0:15:15]: By the way, you see that M dash?

Ann [0:15:18]: This is why we have trouble.

Ann [0:15:20]: Guess who wrote it?

Ann [0:15:22]: Just take a guess.

Ann [0:15:24]: This guy, try to be a real cute.

Ann [0:15:28]: Brand new research from our friend, Andy K, actually it's so new.

Ann [0:15:33]: It just came out today.

Ann [0:15:34]: I saw that he announced it.

Ann [0:15:35]: It points to a a sort of disturbing trend of loose cows in marketing.

Ann [0:15:40]: What Andy did and what you're looking at here is part of a bigger study that he did on the effectiveness of marketing and, sorry content in marketing in twenty twenty six.

Ann [0:15:50]: But what you're looking at here is a chart that shows how nine different content practices that he's been tracking over the past thirteen years correlate with results.

Ann [0:16:01]: And that sort of gaping maw in the middle is telling you the story.

Ann [0:16:06]: What's down by thirty percent over all of that time is all the things that ultimately gives us more success in our marketing program.

Ann [0:16:15]: So things like craft, paying attention to writing, paying attention to how we're telling stories.

Ann [0:16:20]: Research and editing an analysis and collaboration that we do either with outside influencers or internal influencers or with other brands.

Ann [0:16:30]: All of this stuff is sort of disappearing and results are syncing.

Ann [0:16:34]: Now, Ai did not create Lu cow energy, in fact, it's sort of always been part of marketing.

Ann [0:16:41]: We've always loved the sort of shortcut.

Ann [0:16:44]: Always looking for the ability to do things faster and quicker.

Ann [0:16:48]: And I asked my designer for help with.

Ann [0:16:50]: I said, I wanna make it really clear.

Ann [0:16:52]: So in all caps, can you say that Ai didn't create loose cow energy, and she said absolutely.

Ann [0:16:59]: I honestly thought that would be a bigger laugh line.

Ann [0:17:03]: So there we go.

Ann [0:17:07]: It's an all cap.

Ann [0:17:08]: So it didn't create it, But I think it did scale it.

Ann [0:17:10]: The truth is that we in marketing.

Ann [0:17:12]: Have always had a bit of a crush on shortcuts.

Ann [0:17:15]: Anything that promises, like more and faster and easier where They come mama.

Ann [0:17:21]: Like we want that.

Ann [0:17:22]: For example, let's look at Justin who emailed me with his subject line.

Ann [0:17:28]: The only Dave in marketing apparently, Dave Linkedin is the subject line.

Ann [0:17:33]: Dave Linkedin post.

Ann [0:17:34]: And he says, hey, your interest in Dave Gerhardt post tells me.

Ann [0:17:39]: Okay?

Ann [0:17:40]: Is he the one Dave in marketing?

Ann [0:17:42]: And then, no, there he is.

Ann [0:17:44]: I guess he is.

Ann [0:17:45]: The one Dave in marketing?

Ann [0:17:47]: Then he followed up, Justin a few days later.

Ann [0:17:51]: Hey Anne, just bringing this back up in case it get buried, and then a few days after that, and did I lose you?

Ann [0:17:56]: We've all been through these sort of, you know, this cold email outreach.

Ann [0:18:01]: But the thing like, in this case, I just feel like did I lose you and…

Ann [0:18:05]: No.

Ann [0:18:06]: You never had me.

Ann [0:18:07]: Because, you know who does?

Ann [0:18:08]: Yeah.

Ann [0:18:08]: Like, let me have my little crush on Dave in private and don't make it into, like, some sort of demand gen trigger.

Ann [0:18:17]: You know what I mean?

Ann [0:18:19]: It's just then a month later.

Ann [0:18:25]: It's like we never met.

Ann [0:18:26]: You know?

Ann [0:18:28]: I day by faith.

Ann [0:18:31]: Give it up breath.

Ann [0:18:33]: But my favorite part of that, this this email though, Dave is his content is great.

Ann [0:18:42]: I love it.

Ann [0:18:45]: So good.

Ann [0:18:46]: So, yeah, we've always had a crush on these sort of efficiencies in marketing, but, of course, efficiency isn't at the super villain.

Ann [0:18:54]: Right?

Ann [0:18:54]: We all have used these sort of outreach.

Ann [0:18:56]: I'm not saying that that by itself is terrible.

Ann [0:18:59]: I'm saying the actual villain is when we have speed, but without judgment.

Ann [0:19:04]: When we over rely on automation and personalization and frequency and inefficiency, that's when we get into trouble.

Ann [0:19:10]: We have spent years in marketing, asking, How can we make more faster.

Ann [0:19:16]: But now I think the conversation has shifted?

Ann [0:19:19]: I think the better question today and the critical question today is what deserves more of us?

Ann [0:19:26]: What deserves more of that ram sloth?

Ann [0:19:30]: What needs less cow energy?

Ann [0:19:33]: Oh, Forgot Heads up.

Ann [0:19:35]: The thing is reach and frequency speed?

Ann [0:19:39]: Like we've always been about how do we move somebody from attention to action as soon as possible.

Ann [0:19:44]: And, like, that's a perfectly fine way to operate for it was until the environment that we find ourselves in now.

Ann [0:19:52]: Because now, if the job is shifted, if the job is no longer just about attention, but it's about trust and memory and making people love us just a little bit.

Ann [0:20:03]: Those are the moments that deserve more of us.

Ann [0:20:06]: Then I think the idea has shifted.

Ann [0:20:08]: I think we need a new kind of Asap from as soon as possible to as slow as possible when the stakes call for it when it matters most, when the stakes are high enough.

Ann [0:20:23]: I think the trick, of course, is knowing when d cow and when to lock.

Ann [0:20:29]: When do we move fast?

Ann [0:20:30]: When is fast the better way and when do we not to?

Ann [0:20:34]: When do we not?

Ann [0:20:35]: We have a choice.

Ann [0:20:36]: When do we wanna slow down and give it more of ourselves?

Ann [0:20:40]: So let's map this out together.

Ann [0:20:42]: I've created what I call the Asap matrix that as slow as possible matrix.

Ann [0:20:47]: And this is what helps us decide when do we slow down and when do we speed out?

Ann [0:20:53]: So on one app access, we're measuring impact.

Ann [0:20:56]: The impact over time.

Ann [0:20:58]: How lasting is the effect of program, how lasting is the effect of something that we wanna learn.

Ann [0:21:05]: Does this matter beyond this moment?

Ann [0:21:07]: Does it have lasting impact?

Ann [0:21:09]: On the other axis we have the growth potential.

Ann [0:21:12]: How much growth is there in this for the business for the programs, but also for us?

Ann [0:21:20]: And when you put these two things together, these two axes together, you get four quadrant four very different ways of throwing up showing up in the world or throwing up, like, I guessing there is fine.

Ann [0:21:34]: So down here bottom left.

Ann [0:21:37]: When the impact is fleeting and when the growth potential is low.

Ann [0:21:41]: This is the autopilot mode.

Ann [0:21:43]: Right?

Ann [0:21:43]: This is low growth, fleeting impact.

Ann [0:21:45]: It's the everyday stuff you do.

Ann [0:21:48]: The boxes is to check the things you can move through quick, get some assistance whatever you need to do.

Ann [0:21:54]: Traveling now to the top left.

Ann [0:21:56]: This is what I call the flash zone.

Ann [0:21:58]: Right?

Ann [0:21:58]: This is sort of the dopamine quadrant.

Ann [0:21:59]: This is the area where you, you know, you hit publish and maybe you get a flurry of responses.

Ann [0:22:05]: Maybe you get a spike of intention or a spike of enthusiasm about what you're doing, but the impact is fleeting.

Ann [0:22:12]: It's growth but with shallow roots.

Ann [0:22:14]: You know, It's kinda like a sugar high.

Ann [0:22:15]: So sugar is fine, like it's fine every once in a while.

Ann [0:22:19]: But this is where a lot of our marketing lives right now.

Ann [0:22:22]: It's the short term view instead of taking a longer term view.

Ann [0:22:26]: It's fine for energy, but terrible for endurance.

Ann [0:22:30]: And then bottom right here.

Ann [0:22:33]: We have impact.

Ann [0:22:33]: Right?

Ann [0:22:34]: The imperfect leap.

Ann [0:22:35]: The decision that we make with the best information that we can at the moment.

Ann [0:22:40]: It may not catapult you forward, but it sustain you.

Ann [0:22:43]: It's a little bit of a gamble because you don't know exactly what's gonna happen.

Ann [0:22:48]: You don't know that it's gonna work, but my fizz might not, but it's an area where I think we take something away from it?

Ann [0:22:55]: I can teach us something.

Ann [0:22:56]: And then finally, up right, it's high growth and lasting impact.

Ann [0:23:00]: This is where the ramp sloth the rhymes, That's where slowing down can actually create the advantage for us, for our businesses and for our skills internally as well.

Ann [0:23:12]: The As matrix helps you decide.

Ann [0:23:16]: It ask you to consider these questions?

Ann [0:23:19]: When do we move fast?

Ann [0:23:21]: When do we slow down and when does something deserve more of each of us?

Ann [0:23:25]: It invites us by asking these two questions.

Ann [0:23:29]: Does this grow who we are or just what we ship Does this matter to us long term?

Ann [0:23:36]: And does this build something lasting, like trust or memo ability are people gonna remember who we are?

Ann [0:23:42]: I think it'll love us a little bit or does it just by a moment?

Ann [0:23:46]: Two very practical questions that can change the way you think about your marketing.

Ann [0:23:52]: Now I have a lot to say about this.

Ann [0:23:55]: So I'm just gonna ask the clock to reset for I don't, like, four hours.

Ann [0:24:00]: You good?

Ann [0:24:01]: Dave, it's good.

Ann [0:24:03]: Yeah.

Ann [0:24:04]: Whatever I want.

Ann [0:24:05]: He says great.

Ann [0:24:05]: I haven't technically announced this book yet.

Ann [0:24:08]: A lot of people know about it.

Ann [0:24:09]: So I say, I kind of secret new book.

Ann [0:24:11]: Doesn't have a cover.

Ann [0:24:12]: Source of anxiety for me at this moment, but it's coming in February twenty twenty seven.

Ann [0:24:16]: So for now, I wanna share with you two ways where I think we can bring a little sloth and energy into a very fast B2B marketing world.

Ann [0:24:26]: Right?

Ann [0:24:26]: The first is tactical.

Ann [0:24:27]: Number one is to make meaning measurable.

Ann [0:24:30]: We need a way to identify the sloth wall before the sale actually, it shows up.

Ann [0:24:37]: I was really worried about having to say sloth wall.

Ann [0:24:41]: It's a lot harder than it seems.

Ann [0:24:44]: Okay?

Ann [0:24:44]: Before the sale shows up.

Ann [0:24:46]: One reason why I think we default to speed in B2B marketing is because it's incredibly easy to measure, right it's an easy thing to measure.

Ann [0:24:55]: Output is easy to count, but the value created by the slower work of a wallet is trickier to measure.

Ann [0:25:05]: So I've been thinking a lot about this, and I developed what I call the Wall tracker.

Ann [0:25:09]: It helps us recognize when or where we are building trust and where we are creating residents and lasting value for our customers and for our prospects.

Ann [0:25:20]: You know, And I could've called it something else, but I kinda like Wall tracker, You know?

Ann [0:25:25]: It's just like a fun name?

Ann [0:25:27]: No?

Ann [0:25:27]: Yeah.

Ann [0:25:28]: Alright.

Ann [0:25:29]: Alright.

Ann [0:25:30]: So the Walt tracker has three components.

Ann [0:25:32]: Right?

Ann [0:25:33]: Three actual values, three ways that we can capture signals.

Ann [0:25:36]: And the first is stay, did they choose to spend time with you?

Ann [0:25:39]: Second is at.

Ann [0:25:41]: Did they take a next step?

Ann [0:25:42]: And third is echo.

Ann [0:25:44]: Did it stay with them.

Ann [0:25:46]: So let me just walk you through this really quickly.

Ann [0:25:47]: Stay is not, you know, did they click?

Ann [0:25:50]: Did they download?

Ann [0:25:51]: It's actually did they spend time with you?

Ann [0:25:54]: You can see it show up in things like this like in read time or return visits to your asset to your website.

Ann [0:26:01]: Watch time on something, the scroll depth say on a website or an email, email newsletter or any kind of email.

Ann [0:26:08]: Secondly is at?

Ann [0:26:10]: Did they take the next step?

Ann [0:26:13]: Did they do something?

Ann [0:26:14]: Again, not did they purchase yet, but did they actually do something?

Ann [0:26:18]: Did they share it?

Ann [0:26:19]: Did they comment on it?

Ann [0:26:20]: Did they reply to you Did they go looking for you afterward in a situation like this?

Ann [0:26:26]: Was there any sort of interaction?

Ann [0:26:29]: And my favorite, by the way, for email is what I call Over or the open to write back rate?

Ann [0:26:34]: Which some email programs were less creatively call reply rate, but I'm like Over because it's like, it is what it is.

Ann [0:26:42]: It says what it is.

Ann [0:26:43]: My other favorite one is a res subscribe rate.

Ann [0:26:46]: Does somebody reach out to you and tell you that they changed the jobs or they have a new place that they wanna get your email or, email newsletter, and they're res subscribing with that email now.

Ann [0:26:56]: How do you know this?

Ann [0:26:57]: Because you've built a relationship with them based on the reply rate.

Ann [0:27:01]: I track this obsessively with my own email newsletter?

Ann [0:27:05]: I track the uber and I track the res subscribe rate.

Ann [0:27:08]: What are people telling me?

Ann [0:27:09]: Are they carrying me with them?

Ann [0:27:11]: So are they acting in a way that's ultimately going to benefit me?

Ann [0:27:15]: And the third is echo, were they moved in some way?

Ann [0:27:19]: Can you tell that there's some evidence of an emotional shift about how people feel about you?

Ann [0:27:25]: Not just what they're clicking on and how they're acting, but do they actually feel differently about you?

Ann [0:27:31]: And can you find it in places like this like in comments or email replies to your email newsletter are or your regular newsletter through social media conversations, for example, we're direct messages or any of these things?

Ann [0:27:44]: I look for words like this.

Ann [0:27:46]: Like, I feel seen.

Ann [0:27:47]: I feel like you understand me one hundred hundred percent.

Ann [0:27:50]: I feel clear or reassured or inspired or surprised or connected all of these signals to me.

Ann [0:27:57]: Mean that I'm forming an emotional connection with somebody, finding those moments that really echo with the person you seek to connect with.

Ann [0:28:05]: So not just did someone convert, what's the conversion rate, But also do they trust us?

Ann [0:28:12]: Do they remember us?

Ann [0:28:13]: Do they choose us?

Ann [0:28:14]: And what do you do with this?

Ann [0:28:16]: You can use the wallet tracker to make better bets.

Ann [0:28:19]: So for example, keep what compounds, If something actually feels like it's starting to resonate, you can keep that compound work on it over time.

Ann [0:28:28]: Improve what gets attention, but isn't quite building that echo just yet, you can ditch what keeps you busy but is ultimately forget.

Ann [0:28:37]: Or you can invest where customers show you that the work matters.

Ann [0:28:41]: So I think of it with these four…

Ann [0:28:43]: Like it helps me figure out all of these things.

Ann [0:28:46]: The second thing that the slow rampage can do us, the second way to rampage responsibly is to consider that measurement alone isn't actually enough.

Ann [0:28:57]: Because the thing is the sloth is not motionless.

Ann [0:29:01]: Even though it seemed like he was motionless, he actually was winding up.

Ann [0:29:06]: The power of that slow motion slam ultimately is in the wind up.

Ann [0:29:12]: It's in the moment that happens before any kind of impact.

Ann [0:29:17]: The wind up, in marketing right now is where judgment gets built.

Ann [0:29:22]: Right?

Ann [0:29:22]: It's where we have patience.

Ann [0:29:24]: We notice patterns.

Ann [0:29:26]: We look at where we're building resonance with our audience and relationships.

Ann [0:29:31]: And we're resisting that urge to scale something just because it got a little spike.

Ann [0:29:35]: It's asking you to look a little deeper.

Ann [0:29:38]: So let's put these two things together.

Ann [0:29:41]: The wall up and the wind up in action.

Ann [0:29:44]: And I wanna end today with just a story It's not a story about a brand that is very obvious, and it does not have a massive budget.

Ann [0:29:53]: It's not a super bowl ad, but I think it's a very special look at how you can see this sort of slow motion slam in action.

Ann [0:30:03]: So here's the story.

Ann [0:30:05]: This is the Northeast Ohio regional sewer district.

Ann [0:30:09]: These…

Ann [0:30:10]: Yeah.

Ann [0:30:10]: Are you from the Northeast Ohio regional Sewer district I would literally die if you were.

Ann [0:30:16]: Or just Northeast Ohio?

Ann [0:30:19]: Yeah.

Ann [0:30:20]: Ohio.

Ann [0:30:20]: These guys, the kings of Twitter when it was Twitter.

Ann [0:30:26]: So good.

Ann [0:30:28]: For example, fondly remember, all the hours you scrolled Twitter in the bathroom, sewers were there for you first.

Ann [0:30:36]: We'll be there for you last.

Ann [0:30:39]: This is the day Elon Musk.

Ann [0:30:41]: Took over Twitter.

Ann [0:30:42]: There's just a po moment of just unity.

Ann [0:30:46]: Or this one, it's poetry really.

Ann [0:30:50]: In the warm sun at the Easter wastewater plant in Northeast Ohio.

Ann [0:30:55]: A brick faced tower casts a long shadow over the asphalt.

Ann [0:30:59]: Trucks come and they go.

Ann [0:31:01]: They're hauling land, c full of remnants of things we flush away, just think vas seed.

Ann [0:31:08]: The seed that grew this tomato plant.

Ann [0:31:13]: Must have been yours.

Ann [0:31:16]: Like so gross, but so so rich.

Ann [0:31:25]: You know?

Ann [0:31:26]: No.

Ann [0:31:28]: This seems so random, but there's actually a content strategy and a marketing strategy behind the Northeast Ohio regional sewer district on Twitter.

Ann [0:31:37]: There are three goals that they have with all of their marketing on Twitter and more broadly as well.

Ann [0:31:42]: Number one is a better understanding of municipal infrastructure.

Ann [0:31:46]: A thing that we never think about until we do.

Ann [0:31:50]: Right?

Ann [0:31:51]: Until something goes wrong until something is awful.

Ann [0:31:53]: And then you're aware of municipal infrastructure.

Ann [0:31:56]: So number one is a better understanding.

Ann [0:31:58]: Secondly, is visibility for people who work there.

Ann [0:32:01]: They're celebrating the people who are working at the Northeast Ohio regional sewer district.

Ann [0:32:05]: This matters mostly because of recruitment.

Ann [0:32:08]: They wanna show how people are valued there.

Ann [0:32:11]: And the third point here is because flush wipes are not flush.

Ann [0:32:17]: If you take nothing else from this presentation today, just remember this.

Ann [0:32:24]: It's in the name, it is a lie.

Ann [0:32:25]: It is a lie people.

Ann [0:32:27]: They have the data to show you.

Ann [0:32:30]: Now, these guys, as I said are just the kings of Twitter.

Ann [0:32:34]: And they are far outperforming any other rachel.

Ann [0:32:38]: Like, look at it.

Ann [0:32:39]: That's the regional Stewart district on this far left here, San Antonio and Philly in Houston.

Ann [0:32:44]: They're just like nothing compared to these guys.

Ann [0:32:46]: They have more Twitter followers or x followers per customer than almost any other utility in the country.

Ann [0:32:53]: It's years of showing up consistently slowly building that relationship with their audience and in a fun way that relies on craft with that always ladders up to the broader strategy that they have.

Ann [0:33:07]: And this isn't just on Twitter.

Ann [0:33:09]: This is not just on social.

Ann [0:33:11]: This is not just a social story.

Ann [0:33:12]: In fact, they're also really great at breaking news.

Ann [0:33:15]: For example, you know, I'm a swift.

Ann [0:33:18]: And so are they because look, like, Taylor and Travis just bought this huge house.

Ann [0:33:25]: Yeah.

Ann [0:33:26]: I mean, look at, hey, look, new customers.

Ann [0:33:28]: Just imagine.

Ann [0:33:30]: So that's breaking news for some of us.

Ann [0:33:35]: That's big.

Ann [0:33:36]: Or for example, this is their newsletter.

Ann [0:33:39]: They have a subs that I subscribe to, I should mention by the way, that I live in Boston.

Ann [0:33:43]: I do not live in Ohio.

Ann [0:33:46]: I don't care about me municipal infrastructure all that much, but these guys, I'm, like whatever they do, I subscribe.

Ann [0:33:53]: This is their newsletter, and just look at them writing.

Ann [0:33:55]: They're on a tour of the pipes underneath the city.

Ann [0:33:58]: This Fat toronto narrated our journey like a Netflix documentary.

Ann [0:34:02]: It says, and so visceral.

Ann [0:34:05]: Right?

Ann [0:34:06]: It's like we're sludge is inc and energy generated every step has a sound like a as our boots a tread, upon…

Ann [0:34:16]: Like, come on.

Ann [0:34:16]: That is just such beautiful writing.

Ann [0:34:18]: You can hear it.

Ann [0:34:19]: You read it, but you can also hear it.

Ann [0:34:22]: It's just it's so great.

Ann [0:34:23]: I'm like, right there with Vince, just who's wearing that plaid shirt.

Ann [0:34:26]: I'm just like, all in it with him.

Ann [0:34:27]: So I was a massive massive fan of the Northeast of high regional sewer district is basically based on their content.

Ann [0:34:34]: And when I saw this, I thought this has to be like a big agency.

Ann [0:34:38]: Right?

Ann [0:34:38]: This has to be.

Ann [0:34:39]: Somebody who really knows what they're doing.

Ann [0:34:42]: Is it's gotta be this big expensive agency that somehow they had the budget for.

Ann [0:34:46]: Well, it turns out.

Ann [0:34:49]: It's one guy named John Gonzalez.

Ann [0:34:52]: He is…

Ann [0:34:54]: And he's not even like the head of marketing.

Ann [0:34:56]: He's like a manager there.

Ann [0:34:58]: He's the human face for all of this.

Ann [0:35:02]: Ash is a funny story, but I was in Ohio at an event at a content event.

Ann [0:35:06]: And I was on the, like, the show floor, and I saw John gonzalez, who would only known through his Linkedin picture.

Ann [0:35:14]: I saw him like across the hallway, and I said to my colleague Like, my god was Junk Gonzalez.

Ann [0:35:22]: As she goes.

Ann [0:35:22]: Who?

Ann [0:35:24]: And I was like, that's John Gonzalez.

Ann [0:35:25]: I was, Gotta go say hi to him.

Ann [0:35:27]: And she's like, okay.

Ann [0:35:29]: So we go over to John Gonzales.

Ann [0:35:30]: I'm like John.

Ann [0:35:31]: Oh my god.

Ann [0:35:32]: I'm like, so delighted to meet you.

Ann [0:35:33]: I was just like, hi.

Ann [0:35:34]: And he like, he's he's standing here.

Ann [0:35:37]: He takes a giant step back.

Ann [0:35:38]: He's like, And then he reaches in his tote bag, and I think he's been, like, pull out a taser.

Ann [0:35:45]: You know?

Ann [0:35:46]: He's, like, get this crazy person away from me.

Ann [0:35:48]: And he pulls out a sheet of stickers.

Ann [0:35:50]: That had from the Northeast Ohio Regional sewer district and it said the stickers on top it said, thank you for being an influence sewer.

Ann [0:35:59]: I mean, I don't know what we're doing in marketing.

Ann [0:36:05]: Next to this guy.

Ann [0:36:08]: Damn.

Ann [0:36:10]: When I talk to him though, I realized something that is so important.

Ann [0:36:16]: It's just like he was so like, he's una assuming because Ohio.

Ann [0:36:21]: Right?

Ann [0:36:22]: But also like, he was very humble and just laid button…

Ann [0:36:26]: And, like, he just was not that interested in celebrating all that he'd done.

Ann [0:36:31]: And it occurred to me just how much he pushed himself.

Ann [0:36:35]: Like, pushed himself completely out of his comfort zone to be the face of this infrastructure out of this municipal infrastructure company.

Ann [0:36:44]: Like, for example, here's what…

Ann [0:36:46]: Here's what he did on Tiktok.

Question [0:36:50]: Then once was a man who had to go the name of the man billy spa.

Question [0:36:54]: The man stood it up.

Question [0:36:56]: And grab some whites.

Question [0:36:57]: Oh, no.

Question [0:36:58]: My billy Boy home.

Question [0:36:59]: Soon.

Question [0:37:01]: The swimming comes to call our pipe they run.

Question [0:37:05]: One name when the clock is down will take ar and go.

Question [0:37:09]: Fortnite night senses is un flush deed, Billy boy decided when he went to feed.

Question [0:37:14]: Washed his kitchen greased down the drain.

Question [0:37:17]: Well, no, my billy Bueno h.

Question [0:37:19]: Soon and maine spoon and comes call our pipe sore thursday.

Question [0:37:23]: One may when the cla is stella can you call even go?

Ann [0:37:29]: So good.

Ann [0:37:30]: Is what great?

Ann [0:37:31]: I don't know if you noticed the either it, but my favorite part of this Lyrics by intern Kevin.

Ann [0:37:37]: Like, yeah.

Ann [0:37:40]: I don't know who Kevin is.

Ann [0:37:41]: That's not Kevin.

Ann [0:37:42]: I don't know who that got.

Ann [0:37:42]: This is like some influencer on Tiktok and he just is anyway, just intern Kevin.

Ann [0:37:48]: I hope he's doing well.

Ann [0:37:50]: So I was already like, super impressed with John gonzalez, then I noticed that right before the holidays, he put out this message on social across every one of their social channels.

Ann [0:38:02]: In fact, I have something to say with a phone number.

Ann [0:38:05]: Now I don't know if any of you, Like, sometimes you see, like, on packaging that, like, it'll be like a pasta or a salads brand, and there'll be a phone number.

Ann [0:38:15]: No.

Ann [0:38:15]: Do you ever see that?

Ann [0:38:16]: Like, tell us how we're doing.

Ann [0:38:18]: Do you ever call it?

Ann [0:38:19]: I do.

Ann [0:38:21]: And half the time, you really get, like a recorded message or, like, one time, I called and I got a fax machine.

Ann [0:38:29]: Like, in twenty twenty six, Come on.

Ann [0:38:32]: But this is Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer district.

Ann [0:38:36]: This is John Gonzales.

Ann [0:38:38]: He would never do that to us.

Ann [0:38:40]: So here's what happens.

Ann [0:38:42]: You call that phone number and you get a two minute recording.

Ann [0:38:46]: It's John Gonzales voice.

Ann [0:38:48]: Now remember, this is right before the holidays.

Ann [0:38:50]: Okay?

Ann [0:38:51]: And here's what the recording says in part.

Ann [0:38:53]: I'm not gonna play the whole thing, but just in part.

Question [0:38:56]: But your son was something that no one else knows was about.

Question [0:38:58]: Maybe you're just come to make entities between payday, maybe you're lost something there's no close to you and you don't really know how they do look like about holiday hectic?

Question [0:39:08]: And the year how they particular really a folks families go through an help anywhere know that just still times.

Question [0:39:16]: Me you now not alone.

Question [0:39:19]: As you show shape that people people what kind of connection.

Question [0:39:25]: I think to can see here aim crude.

Question [0:39:28]: And I would say that there is some humans sign with perspective that how are they that uncertainty anxiety.

Question [0:39:37]: It's not expert, and isolation.

Question [0:39:39]: There is a very real heavy, but honestly still condition against all of us.

Question [0:39:45]: And I'm grateful for that.

Ann [0:39:48]: So it's this two minute message.

Ann [0:39:49]: And then at the end of the message, he invites you to leave a message for either him or somebody on his team, anybody at the Northeast Sahara Regional they district.

Ann [0:39:59]: So let's listen to a few of the messages he got.

Question [0:40:04]: Two would ever seen that a stewart district would bring so much joy laugh.

Question [0:40:09]: And emotions really angie so much for all you do, everybody there.

Ann [0:40:19]: So one more.

Ann [0:40:20]: Wow.

Ann [0:40:20]: I'll wrap you all after and celebrate good good you're with right ninety eight joel old, it's not there.

Ann [0:40:26]: That's never affiliate here.

Ann [0:40:28]: It off.

Ann [0:40:29]: That's nothing from the ohio.

Ann [0:40:31]: We were this we're bringing tears.

Ann [0:40:33]: That bless you all.

Ann [0:40:38]: You guys are dia.

Ann [0:40:39]: So laughing forget that.

Ann [0:40:41]: Ninety eight year old mother.

Ann [0:40:44]: What mean?

Ann [0:40:45]: She's sobbing.

Ann [0:40:46]: Right?

Ann [0:40:47]: So I called up, John, and I said…

Ann [0:40:51]: You got a lot of calls.

Ann [0:40:52]: And he said, yeah.

Ann [0:40:53]: And I said, how many?

Ann [0:40:55]: He said, thirty two hundred calls.

Ann [0:40:58]: They left ulta collectively, that's four hours of voice.

Ann [0:41:02]: And John Gonzalez is just like such an angel of a man.

Ann [0:41:08]: I said, did you listen to all of them?

Ann [0:41:10]: And he said, of course, I did.

Ann [0:41:11]: And I said, what were are you doing while you're listening to them.

Ann [0:41:13]: I'm just looking for a little color, John, you know, give me anything.

Ann [0:41:16]: And he goes, I was at my desk.

Ann [0:41:18]: What are you doing with that?

Ann [0:41:22]: John?

Ann [0:41:22]: Just like, tell me a story about it?

Ann [0:41:26]: You know?

Ann [0:41:26]: Anything?

Ann [0:41:26]: Nothing.

Ann [0:41:27]: These calls came from all over the world, like not just Ohio.

Ann [0:41:32]: Like you heard Boston, which is not me by the way.

Ann [0:41:34]: Thought that one.

Ann [0:41:35]: So it wasn't me.

Ann [0:41:35]: A from Boston from all over the Us, but also like from Canada from New Zealand from Australia, like all over the place.

Ann [0:41:43]: But I think this one is my favorite.

Ann [0:41:46]: The last one.

Question [0:41:47]: Could I think that the advantage that I would be getting great therapy from a store district in Ohio at the remnant of Boston, Massachusetts.

Question [0:41:55]: I did not.

Question [0:41:57]: But this is so wonderful, and I wanted to leave a message to say, if you put some tears in my eyes, and I hope that the folks that work with you who may be having a hard time, the time of year like me missing my dad.

Question [0:42:20]: I just wanna send a message to particular Who, people that you work with who may also be missing someone.

Question [0:42:31]: Know.

Question [0:42:32]: That they're not along.

Question [0:42:34]: Seasoned isn't.

Question [0:42:35]: That they're always something to look forward into.

Question [0:42:39]: And there is always my opportunity to think of the people that you miss and how that be abundant and alarm connection with them.

Question [0:42:51]: Oh, I just wanna thank you with get this chance yes.

Question [0:42:56]: Happy holidays.

Question [0:42:57]: Bye.

Ann [0:43:00]: Like, the way she can barely eat out, that last why.

Ann [0:43:02]: I don't know Something about that just touches has been So John Gonzalez is just the epitome of somebody who just make sure that the Northeast Ohio Regional sewer district matters so much.

Ann [0:43:16]: So it's not about moving a ar as the loose cow would do.

Ann [0:43:20]: Right?

Ann [0:43:21]: It's about matter more.

Ann [0:43:22]: How do we figure out how to matter more to the people who matter to us?

Ann [0:43:27]: It's not just about how work is performing, but I think more than that how it is compounding?

Ann [0:43:33]: How you are building those relationships over time?

Ann [0:43:35]: How are you building trust and preference.

Ann [0:43:37]: And what's more than that?

Ann [0:43:39]: Like, how do you become unforgettable?

Ann [0:43:42]: Because here's the actual true.

Ann [0:43:44]: As much as we're here to learn about marketing as much of we've been talking about marketing, I don't think that the ramp sloth is just about business.

Ann [0:43:51]: Actually, it's about you and it's about me and Dave.

Ann [0:43:56]: It's about all of us together.

Ann [0:43:59]: The truth is that the cow and the sloth live inside marketing inside of our programs, but they also live inside each of us inside our standards that we show up with inside your attention and where you focused in and where you don't inside your patience and what you're building and what you're not.

Ann [0:44:17]: And inside what you decide is good enough when tools can be an easy solution, but yet when you can say, no.

Ann [0:44:25]: Right?

Ann [0:44:26]: And when you can use them more effectively.

Ann [0:44:28]: Because the thing is, in twenty twenty six, speed is cheap, it's easy and speed is abundant, but it's not what's gonna get you there.

Ann [0:44:38]: When speed is cheap, it's judgment that carries a premium.

Ann [0:44:43]: I know she's still thrilled me.

Ann [0:44:44]: If they're all caps too.

Ann [0:44:46]: So thank you so much.

Ann [0:44:48]: I think that what we all have taken away from these past few days and together is definitely the relationships that we've built, but I hope that you will also carry with you some judgment and some taste.

Ann [0:45:00]: And more importantly, just like the joy in marketing.

Ann [0:45:04]: Right?

Ann [0:45:05]: It just is such a joyful place.

Ann [0:45:07]: So thank you so much for your time.

Ann [0:45:09]: That's my dog.

Ann [0:45:10]: I promised you a picture of him.

Ann [0:45:12]: I know.

Ann [0:45:13]: That's all.

Ann [0:45:13]: Him so much.

Ann [0:45:14]: Seth fought his dog.

Ann [0:45:15]: I didn't know that was an option.

Ann [0:45:16]: So again, thank you so much for your time today.

Ann [0:45:20]: Been a love to do again.

Dave [0:45:26]: Hey.

Dave [0:45:26]: Thanks for listening to this podcast.

Dave [0:45:27]: If you like this episode.

Dave [0:45:29]: You know what?

Dave [0:45:29]: I'm not even gonna ask you to subscribe and leave a review because I don't really care about that.

Dave [0:45:34]: I have something better for you.

Dave [0:45:35]: So We've built the number one private community for B2B marketers at Exit Five, and you can go and check that out instead of leaving a rating a review, go check it out right now on our website exitfive.com.

Dave [0:45:47]: Our mission at Exit Five is to help you grow your career in B2b marketing, and there's no better a place to do that than with us at Exit Five.

Dave [0:45:54]: There's nearly five thousand members now in our community.

Dave [0:45:57]: People are in their posting every day asking questions about things like marketing planning, ideas, inspiration, asking questions and getting feedback from your peers building your own network of marketers who are doing the same thing you are so you can have a peer group or maybe just venting about your boss when you need to get in there and get something off your chest.

Dave [0:46:15]: It's a hundred percent free to join for seven days so you can go and check it out risk free, and then there's a small annual fee to pay if you wanna become a member for the year.

Dave [0:46:24]: Go check it out, learn more, exitfive.com, and I will see you over there in the community.