WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.010 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Hey folks, and welcome back to 00:00:07.050 --> 00:00:08.980 the Small Tech Podcast by EC. 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:11.430 Today, we've got another amazing guest. 00:00:11.750 --> 00:00:16.740 She is a graduate of Stonehill College, a TEDx speaker, and has been named a 40 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:21.619 Under 40 honoree by CAPE and Plymouth Business Media, recognized as Best Social 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:26.780 Media Specialist by Boston Business Women, board member for a variety of places. 00:00:26.830 --> 00:00:30.299 Meet Ashley Mason, the brain behind Dash of Social. 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:31.200 Hi, Ashley. 00:00:31.340 --> 00:00:31.941 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Hi, Raph. 00:00:31.971 --> 00:00:33.150 Thank you so much for having me. 00:00:33.150 --> 00:00:34.950 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: I'm so excited to have you on. 00:00:35.001 --> 00:00:37.731 So let's talk a little bit about your background. 00:00:37.760 --> 00:00:39.950 What brought you to where you are at the moment? 00:00:39.997 --> 00:00:40.717 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Absolutely. 00:00:41.057 --> 00:00:45.297 So as you mentioned, my company is Dash of Social, which is a content 00:00:45.307 --> 00:00:47.677 marketing agency based in Massachusetts. 00:00:48.037 --> 00:00:52.196 We focus a lot on social media management, email marketing, and 00:00:52.196 --> 00:00:54.177 blog content for tech startups. 00:00:54.747 --> 00:00:58.787 I got into marketing actually back in 2012 when I had started 00:00:58.787 --> 00:00:59.647 a fashion and lifestyle blog. 00:01:00.717 --> 00:01:04.887 And long story short, use social media to become a micro influencer. 00:01:05.227 --> 00:01:09.847 My use of social media to grow my own brand made me realize how much of an 00:01:09.857 --> 00:01:14.806 impact it can make for very little cost, with different brands and organizations, 00:01:14.827 --> 00:01:18.347 with building their online presence and reaching the right audiences and 00:01:18.347 --> 00:01:21.567 it made me realize how much I really enjoyed marketing and being able to 00:01:21.567 --> 00:01:24.026 support organizations in this capacity. 00:01:24.306 --> 00:01:25.676 So that sparked an interest. 00:01:25.697 --> 00:01:29.616 I dabbled in freelancing here and there, starting in probably 2014, 00:01:30.297 --> 00:01:34.897 before I eventually started Dash of Social in 2016, and now here I am. 00:01:34.897 --> 00:01:35.277 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Nice. 00:01:35.316 --> 00:01:40.417 And so what was that transition like between sort of the freelancing 00:01:40.427 --> 00:01:41.687 and what you've created now? 00:01:41.998 --> 00:01:43.358 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, that's a great question. 00:01:43.368 --> 00:01:46.978 So I think what ended up happening was when I was freelancing, it was 00:01:46.978 --> 00:01:51.157 obviously just me, but it got to the point where, which is a good problem to 00:01:51.388 --> 00:01:55.288 have, I had a lot of clients that were kind of coming on and it got to the 00:01:55.288 --> 00:01:58.527 point where I realized that I physically had reached a ceiling in my business. 00:01:58.547 --> 00:02:02.458 I could not dedicate any more time to work with all these clients 00:02:02.458 --> 00:02:04.108 if it was just going to be me. 00:02:04.338 --> 00:02:08.238 And so that made me realize that it was a good opportunity to transition 00:02:08.238 --> 00:02:12.198 from just being a freelancer, to starting my agency and being able to 00:02:12.208 --> 00:02:16.218 bring on a really talented, capable, and dependable team to support our 00:02:16.218 --> 00:02:20.408 clients with a variety of different marketing strategies and executions. 00:02:20.408 --> 00:02:21.848 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: I feel like a lot of the people who are 00:02:21.848 --> 00:02:26.008 going to be listening to this also are going to hit that ceiling at one point. 00:02:26.018 --> 00:02:30.408 You build a small thing, you get really excited about it, hopefully it grows, 00:02:30.438 --> 00:02:33.688 and eventually you have to figure out how to move into that next step. 00:02:34.258 --> 00:02:38.248 I'm kind of curious to hear more about, like, the types of projects that 00:02:38.248 --> 00:02:41.428 you've worked on, like, what's your favorite kind of project to work on? 00:02:41.649 --> 00:02:43.129 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, I really love 00:02:43.409 --> 00:02:45.139 social media management. 00:02:45.169 --> 00:02:47.019 I mean, especially with tech companies. 00:02:47.309 --> 00:02:51.229 Within the tech space, there's so much that's happening so quickly. 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:55.019 And I think that being able to have someone on your team who can help you to 00:02:55.019 --> 00:02:59.689 support, uh, being able to post in your social media profiles, and share and 00:02:59.689 --> 00:03:01.569 communicate everything that you're up to. 00:03:01.799 --> 00:03:04.939 With potential clients, potential customers, potential investors, 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:06.539 potential board members. 00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:09.819 I mean, there's so many audiences that you can reach and speak 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:11.009 to through social media. 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:15.149 And I think it's crucial to ensure that consistency as you're building 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:16.809 your startup or building your brand. 00:03:17.109 --> 00:03:20.179 So we support companies who are in stealth mode. 00:03:20.289 --> 00:03:22.519 So perhaps they're not even really public yet. 00:03:22.769 --> 00:03:24.199 They're working on building up a presence. 00:03:24.694 --> 00:03:28.214 So when they do launch, they kind of have an audience that's already been built. 00:03:28.474 --> 00:03:32.204 And we also support companies who kind of, once they get that funding, they're like, 00:03:32.454 --> 00:03:35.634 marketing is one of the first things that we're going to invest this money into. 00:03:35.654 --> 00:03:39.684 So it's really great to be able to work with companies in all these different 00:03:39.684 --> 00:03:41.194 stages and just help them grow. 00:03:41.194 --> 00:03:43.334 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, as you're talking about those 00:03:43.334 --> 00:03:47.974 different sort of stages and different channels and audiences, I was thinking so 00:03:47.974 --> 00:03:52.164 many people that I know, including myself will just get stuck in like building a 00:03:52.164 --> 00:03:54.614 thing and just forget to talk about it. 00:03:54.675 --> 00:03:55.095 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah. 00:03:55.334 --> 00:03:57.514 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Um, so it sounds great to have 00:03:57.514 --> 00:03:58.803 someone to be like, no, no, no. 00:03:59.214 --> 00:04:00.124 You got to talk about it. 00:04:00.124 --> 00:04:03.354 You got to get it out there, even perhaps before you've built it. 00:04:03.720 --> 00:04:04.510 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Exactly. 00:04:04.510 --> 00:04:05.400 That's a great point. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:09.400 And I mean, one thing that I always remind my clients is no one's going 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.580 to know what you sell if you don't tell them what you're selling. 00:04:11.590 --> 00:04:16.260 And so it's just like a great reminder to be consistent and be 00:04:16.310 --> 00:04:18.390 active on your social media profiles. 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:21.710 So that way your audience knows what you're doing and what you're up to. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.820 And I also like to say, which is really important, One of my favorite quotes 00:04:24.820 --> 00:04:28.740 that I can relate to personally, which is the shoe cobbler's son has no shoes. 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:32.950 So you're usually so focused on developing and executing something that you're 00:04:32.950 --> 00:04:34.490 kind of neglecting your own thing. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:38.900 And so it's kind of tough to just remember to not only work on your 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:40.700 business, but work in your business. 00:04:40.700 --> 00:04:43.660 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: So the things that we tend to talk about 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:47.433 tend to be a digital product and in your case correct me if I'm wrong, you're 00:04:47.433 --> 00:04:49.523 doing digital marketing only, right? 00:04:49.543 --> 00:04:51.663 Or is that, or do you, any kind of marketing? 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:53.259 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Digital marketing primarily. 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:53.759 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Okay. 00:04:54.029 --> 00:04:58.129 So this intersection of like the digital space digital products and communications 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:02.899 do you have any thoughts about connecting your communications, your marketing 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:05.349 strategies into your digital tools. 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:07.250 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, so, I mean, there's a 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:08.250 variety of different tools. 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:10.100 I think it's important to find one that works. 00:05:11.175 --> 00:05:14.195 I mean, if we're talking about social media specifically, a 00:05:14.195 --> 00:05:18.585 handful of social media platforms have built in tools within them. 00:05:18.605 --> 00:05:23.665 So, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Meta, they all have built in analytics. 00:05:23.665 --> 00:05:26.395 They all have built in social media schedulers, so that way 00:05:26.435 --> 00:05:27.795 you can schedule your posts. 00:05:27.805 --> 00:05:32.075 I think it's really important to kind of rely on, What's given to you for free 00:05:32.075 --> 00:05:35.895 or at a low cost just to start and then once you end up building and scaling, 00:05:35.895 --> 00:05:40.255 then you can start to pursue paid tools or tools that might have further 00:05:40.265 --> 00:05:43.875 capabilities depending on what you're looking for, but definitely don't hesitate 00:05:43.875 --> 00:05:47.855 to start small and then kind of see what you would need and what features all 00:05:47.855 --> 00:05:49.555 these different platforms might offer. 00:05:49.555 --> 00:05:52.205 But I mean, there's so much right at your hands that you can kind of 00:05:52.205 --> 00:05:55.525 dive into and help you to automate, which I think is so important. 00:05:55.835 --> 00:05:59.605 Automate your marketing, and kind of have it on autopilot, so that way it's just 00:05:59.635 --> 00:06:02.995 out of sight, out of mind, but you know that your stuff is getting taken care of. 00:06:02.995 --> 00:06:04.595 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 00:06:04.635 --> 00:06:08.225 I think specifically from like a digital product builders perspective, 00:06:08.275 --> 00:06:12.995 we talk so much about automation, but often we talk about it in the 00:06:12.995 --> 00:06:17.765 context of our code and running builds and deployments and stuff like that. 00:06:18.170 --> 00:06:22.280 For our products, uh, but we completely lose track of all of the 00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:23.900 other things that can be automated. 00:06:25.070 --> 00:06:26.410 Yeah, like your marketing. 00:06:26.410 --> 00:06:30.280 So, yeah, if you can dig a little bit deeper into that, like, what can you 00:06:30.770 --> 00:06:32.200 automate in your marketing strategy? 00:06:32.336 --> 00:06:34.796 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: So of course there's scheduling. 00:06:34.806 --> 00:06:38.406 So I always recommend for anyone who's handling their marketing 00:06:38.426 --> 00:06:42.676 in house to whenever possible, batch create their content. 00:06:42.686 --> 00:06:47.956 So that might involve dedicating one day per week or maybe a few days per month to 00:06:47.956 --> 00:06:49.536 creating all of your marketing content. 00:06:49.546 --> 00:06:53.546 So whether it's writing your social media posts, scheduling your newsletters, 00:06:53.856 --> 00:06:57.246 creating blog posts, you're able to then schedule those in advance. 00:06:57.406 --> 00:07:01.886 So that way you don't have to worry about posting in the moment or remembering that 00:07:01.886 --> 00:07:05.316 you have a post scheduled and, Oh, I got to make sure to now post this manually 00:07:05.346 --> 00:07:07.106 because chances are you just won't do it. 00:07:07.396 --> 00:07:11.156 So I always recommend automating the scheduling process so that way you 00:07:11.176 --> 00:07:14.686 know your stuff is getting posted and you're staying consistent. 00:07:15.026 --> 00:07:19.186 But there's also a lot of automation within, um, analytics, of course, like 00:07:19.346 --> 00:07:22.826 you don't have to manually go through and comb through your social media 00:07:22.826 --> 00:07:27.691 profiles or your website analytics to see how your content is performing. 00:07:27.691 --> 00:07:29.811 You're able to use tools that automatically pull 00:07:29.811 --> 00:07:31.291 that information for you. 00:07:31.661 --> 00:07:35.161 So between those, between the scheduling, between the analytics, I think it's 00:07:35.161 --> 00:07:38.991 huge to be able to find things that can kind of do the heavy lifting for you. 00:07:38.991 --> 00:07:41.481 So that way you're not so much in the weeds with doing it yourself. 00:07:41.491 --> 00:07:44.591 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: I'm going to go down a little path that 00:07:44.611 --> 00:07:50.481 I think is a little awkward in some ways, which is AI and large language 00:07:50.491 --> 00:07:52.361 models and all of these things. 00:07:52.381 --> 00:07:55.571 I feel like that is, that fits into this automation conversation. 00:07:55.581 --> 00:07:58.051 But, I feel like there's a lot of tough conversations to 00:07:58.051 --> 00:08:00.331 have around that specifically. 00:08:00.371 --> 00:08:02.651 So Yeah, what are your thoughts on AI? 00:08:03.032 --> 00:08:04.582 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Honestly, this is a, one of my favorite 00:08:04.602 --> 00:08:08.442 things to talk about because I think there is a lot of opportunity for good with AI. 00:08:08.442 --> 00:08:13.112 I mean, I think if you're using AI to just straight up write your content 00:08:13.122 --> 00:08:17.292 and you're not editing or anything like that, from someone else's perspective, 00:08:17.392 --> 00:08:21.682 or at least me personally, I instantly know when someone has used Chat GPT 00:08:21.682 --> 00:08:23.422 to write a social media caption. 00:08:23.802 --> 00:08:28.382 I think it's really important, if you are going to use it, to heavily edit it. 00:08:28.872 --> 00:08:32.732 100 percent you need to fact check because it doesn't necessarily mean, necessarily 00:08:32.732 --> 00:08:34.652 mean that the information is correct. 00:08:34.962 --> 00:08:36.902 So I think if you're going to use it for writing, you definitely 00:08:36.902 --> 00:08:38.592 need to make it in your own voice. 00:08:38.682 --> 00:08:42.002 But I think that AI is huge for idea generation. 00:08:42.002 --> 00:08:45.892 I mean, a lot of times we all hit that creative burnout where we need to write 00:08:45.892 --> 00:08:49.572 a blog post or we need to write a social media post and we're like, Oh, I don't 00:08:49.572 --> 00:08:54.282 even know what topic to write about, so if you go to Chat GPT and type in 00:08:54.282 --> 00:08:57.922 a prompt that will just help you come up with ideas, that will spark so much 00:08:57.922 --> 00:09:02.182 creativity and inspiration, and now you can go write the content on your own. 00:09:02.452 --> 00:09:05.802 So I think it's huge for just being able to help you think of topics and 00:09:06.052 --> 00:09:09.902 get some creativity into your day to day, but to actually do the work for 00:09:09.902 --> 00:09:11.392 you, I think that's a little bit iffy. 00:09:11.442 --> 00:09:12.382 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: How about images? 00:09:12.392 --> 00:09:13.462 How do you feel about those? 00:09:13.683 --> 00:09:15.163 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Images, I mean, I also think 00:09:15.173 --> 00:09:18.303 that's really, um, obvious when someone's using it. 00:09:18.303 --> 00:09:22.123 I mean, the Kate Middleton image that happened a month or two months 00:09:22.123 --> 00:09:24.873 ago, whenever that was, I mean, the internet blew up when they 00:09:24.873 --> 00:09:27.393 saw her disjointed body parts. 00:09:27.703 --> 00:09:31.663 So, I think it's really you really need to pay close attention. 00:09:31.663 --> 00:09:34.633 I mean, we've all kind of noticed stock images as well, where people that are 00:09:34.633 --> 00:09:38.893 generated by AI and people kind of have like six fingers on one hand. 00:09:39.133 --> 00:09:42.293 And so it's not always generated accurately. 00:09:42.583 --> 00:09:46.003 So I think being able to just make sure that you're on the pulse with that and 00:09:46.093 --> 00:09:49.763 triple checking everything before it gets published or before you share it 00:09:49.763 --> 00:09:52.083 publicly is really, really important. 00:09:52.083 --> 00:09:53.663 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yep so all of this content that 00:09:53.663 --> 00:09:57.053 we're generating, putting together, scheduling, like how, how do 00:09:57.053 --> 00:09:58.353 we deliver all of these things? 00:09:58.363 --> 00:10:01.963 You sent me a little something about, the content marketing trifecta. 00:10:02.083 --> 00:10:03.293 Do you want to dig into that a little bit. 00:10:03.343 --> 00:10:04.183 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Absolutely. 00:10:04.479 --> 00:10:08.099 So when people think of digital marketing, I think they instantly 00:10:08.109 --> 00:10:11.822 think of social media, and a lot of people are really tempted to just go 00:10:11.822 --> 00:10:15.582 all in in social media and honestly kind of forget that other things exist. 00:10:15.982 --> 00:10:19.152 I am always feeling like I'm saying to my clients, Don't put 00:10:19.152 --> 00:10:20.592 all of your eggs in one basket. 00:10:20.842 --> 00:10:22.892 Don't focus only on social media. 00:10:22.922 --> 00:10:26.582 There are so many other avenues and outlets that you can use to 00:10:26.582 --> 00:10:29.582 reach your audience and help to establish that thought leadership. 00:10:29.852 --> 00:10:33.472 So by being able to diversify your marketing strategy into social 00:10:33.472 --> 00:10:38.252 media, into blog content, into email marketing, now you have three well 00:10:38.252 --> 00:10:40.402 rounded tactics that you can execute. 00:10:40.872 --> 00:10:45.212 So in order to do that seamlessly and help you to break down further 00:10:45.212 --> 00:10:49.342 content, I always recommend starting with producing long form content. 00:10:49.612 --> 00:10:55.332 So whether it's a podcast recording like this or a blog post or a video, being able 00:10:55.332 --> 00:10:59.322 to create content that might be a little bit longer in length and then actually 00:10:59.342 --> 00:11:01.582 take that content into and condense it. 00:11:01.707 --> 00:11:06.197 So you can take that blog post, so to say, and perhaps pull three to five social 00:11:06.207 --> 00:11:09.917 media posts from just that one blog and the information that you wrote in it. 00:11:09.927 --> 00:11:13.427 So you're ultimately repurposing it, and you're doing less work but 00:11:13.427 --> 00:11:18.297 getting more output from it, and you're able to therefore save time but 00:11:18.297 --> 00:11:19.897 still provide value to your audience. 00:11:19.897 --> 00:11:22.642 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yep and so repurposing content, 00:11:22.702 --> 00:11:26.702 reusing things across channels in different ways, is there, are there 00:11:27.002 --> 00:11:30.822 ways that you would recommend sort of moving people between these different 00:11:30.822 --> 00:11:33.212 channels and yeah how does that work. 00:11:33.492 --> 00:11:36.392 How do you see what's working, what's not, and how they intersect. 00:11:36.442 --> 00:11:37.822 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, oh, great question. 00:11:37.842 --> 00:11:40.902 So to see what's working and what isn't, you can always look, for social 00:11:40.902 --> 00:11:45.242 media specifically, at the analytics that are available within the platform. 00:11:45.242 --> 00:11:48.962 So you can see how many likes you get on a post, how many followers came from a 00:11:48.962 --> 00:11:53.792 post, how many comments, shares, saves, all that information is right there for 00:11:53.832 --> 00:11:57.562 you, which is super helpful to reference when creating a post future content. 00:11:57.852 --> 00:12:01.462 From driving people from one outlet to another, I mean, you can really 00:12:01.482 --> 00:12:04.922 kind of create some type of circle or cycle where you can post in your 00:12:04.922 --> 00:12:08.862 social media, a call to action for people to sign up for your email list. 00:12:08.862 --> 00:12:12.642 Whether you have a lead magnet that you offer them in exchange for their email 00:12:12.642 --> 00:12:17.192 address or you just have a straight up, sign up form, you can use social media 00:12:17.192 --> 00:12:21.282 to promote the opportunity for people to join your email list and explain the 00:12:21.282 --> 00:12:23.462 benefits that they'll get from doing so. 00:12:23.772 --> 00:12:26.402 You can do the same with promoting a blog post. 00:12:26.412 --> 00:12:29.872 So if you write a social media post to promote a new blog post that you 00:12:29.872 --> 00:12:33.532 just wrote and published, now you can direct people, the people who 00:12:33.532 --> 00:12:37.242 follow you on social media, to now go to your blog and read that blog. 00:12:37.512 --> 00:12:40.992 You can also drive people from your blog to your social media. 00:12:40.992 --> 00:12:44.152 So, of course, we should all have a website in 2024. 00:12:44.422 --> 00:12:47.422 So if you're using a website and including, Links to your social 00:12:47.422 --> 00:12:51.442 media profiles at the bottom of it or within your blog post itself. 00:12:51.492 --> 00:12:54.402 Now you get website visitors who become social media followers. 00:12:54.412 --> 00:12:57.982 So it's really great to kind of think about how ultimately this ecosystem, 00:12:57.982 --> 00:13:01.402 which is what it really is with marketing, how this ecosystem connects 00:13:01.432 --> 00:13:04.922 and you're driving people from seeing you on one corner of the internet 00:13:05.122 --> 00:13:06.752 to now seeing you in another corner. 00:13:06.752 --> 00:13:07.862 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, there's something that I 00:13:07.872 --> 00:13:13.092 find difficult to conceptualize or like how should I be moving people 00:13:13.092 --> 00:13:16.182 through a funnel like that and what should be my top of funnel? 00:13:16.212 --> 00:13:18.672 How do I lead them to the right places? 00:13:19.002 --> 00:13:22.482 I think that sort of like the movement within the ecosystem and 00:13:22.487 --> 00:13:26.942 figuring out where the correct sort of end target is, is something 00:13:27.032 --> 00:13:28.522 that I find a little hard to think. 00:13:28.522 --> 00:13:28.962 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah. 00:13:28.992 --> 00:13:30.368 Oh, I love that you asked that. 00:13:30.378 --> 00:13:33.728 So I would say you want to, the really top of the funnel is awareness. 00:13:33.728 --> 00:13:37.998 You just want people to find out who you are and to find out what you offer. 00:13:38.008 --> 00:13:42.258 So I think awareness comes the easiest through social media, because 00:13:42.258 --> 00:13:46.058 it's so easy to reach such a wide amount of people with little effort. 00:13:46.478 --> 00:13:49.958 So when people discover you on social media, you want to bring them to the next 00:13:49.958 --> 00:13:52.123 point in the funnel Which is interest. 00:13:52.163 --> 00:13:54.443 Now that they know who you are, now they're coming 00:13:54.453 --> 00:13:55.953 interested in what you offer. 00:13:56.183 --> 00:13:59.383 When they're interested in what you offer, that leads them to your website. 00:13:59.613 --> 00:14:03.353 So you're taking them from social media to your website where they can learn who 00:14:03.353 --> 00:14:05.713 you are, what you do, and how you help. 00:14:06.013 --> 00:14:08.863 Once they're on your website, they're probably poking around, they're 00:14:08.863 --> 00:14:12.003 maybe reading blog posts that you've published, maybe they're checking 00:14:12.003 --> 00:14:15.133 out the product that you're building and finding interest in that. 00:14:15.423 --> 00:14:17.673 Now they really want to learn more about that product. 00:14:17.683 --> 00:14:19.493 And how can they learn more about that product? 00:14:19.543 --> 00:14:20.963 By getting on your email list. 00:14:20.973 --> 00:14:22.083 That's the third step. 00:14:22.123 --> 00:14:26.423 So now you've brought that awareness, you've brought the interest, and 00:14:26.423 --> 00:14:29.613 now you're bringing the nurturing by getting them on your email list and 00:14:29.613 --> 00:14:33.233 they can receive those consistent newsletters to find out about product 00:14:33.233 --> 00:14:37.303 updates, launch timelines, exciting news that are happening within the 00:14:37.803 --> 00:14:41.163 tech startup, and really being able to peak their interest from there. 00:14:41.163 --> 00:14:42.603 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Thinking about like that top of funnel 00:14:42.603 --> 00:14:45.113 and social, what about advertising? 00:14:45.123 --> 00:14:46.913 Where does advertising fit into all of that? 00:14:47.013 --> 00:14:47.993 I hate LinkedIn. 00:14:48.883 --> 00:14:53.123 I feel like they always charge so much for such terrible results, but 00:14:53.123 --> 00:14:55.183 yeah, beyond that, what else is there? 00:14:55.344 --> 00:14:57.134 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, I mean, advertising is always 00:14:57.134 --> 00:15:01.174 a good idea, but I say, it's, you should always make sure that you have a 00:15:01.174 --> 00:15:05.654 consistent organic presence tied to it if you're going to spend money on paid ads. 00:15:05.654 --> 00:15:08.704 Because if you're running paid ads but you haven't posted to your social media 00:15:08.704 --> 00:15:12.484 profiles in three months, people might go from your ad to your profile and be 00:15:12.484 --> 00:15:14.774 like, hmm, why isn't this company posting? 00:15:14.774 --> 00:15:17.624 Like, it might give them almost some hesitancy and kind 00:15:17.624 --> 00:15:19.144 of question your legitimacy. 00:15:19.444 --> 00:15:21.684 So I think paid ads are a good idea. 00:15:21.854 --> 00:15:27.264 I also am a huge fan of partnership marketing, so being able to collaborate 00:15:27.264 --> 00:15:31.854 with another company or another individual and create content together. 00:15:32.124 --> 00:15:33.684 So that might be what we're doing. 00:15:33.684 --> 00:15:35.304 We're hosting a podcast together. 00:15:35.564 --> 00:15:37.269 That might be hosting a webinar with someone. 00:15:38.089 --> 00:15:40.469 You can also joint write blog posts together. 00:15:40.479 --> 00:15:42.019 You can host an in person event. 00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:46.119 I mean, there's so many opportunities to partner with someone who shares a 00:15:46.119 --> 00:15:51.199 similar audience and is building a product complementary to yours and be able to 00:15:51.199 --> 00:15:53.819 provide value to your audience itself. 00:15:54.029 --> 00:15:57.209 Now you're getting seen in front of their followers, in front of their connections, 00:15:57.209 --> 00:16:00.649 through the joint marketing promoting that you're doing, and it makes such a 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:04.839 big impact for, such a little amount of effort and time, which is really amazing. 00:16:04.839 --> 00:16:05.149 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yep. 00:16:05.219 --> 00:16:08.019 I'm curious what you think of, okay. 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:10.799 So if we're thinking specifically about like digital products, 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:15.269 marketing presumably doesn't end once they get in the product. 00:16:15.659 --> 00:16:19.739 How do you think about keeping people engaged and how your marketing ties 00:16:19.739 --> 00:16:21.609 into driving retention and that sort of 00:16:21.750 --> 00:16:23.280 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, that's such a good point. 00:16:23.290 --> 00:16:26.290 I always say it's so much more important to retain your customers 00:16:26.290 --> 00:16:27.900 than it is to acquire new ones. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:33.050 So, I think with so many new products being built all the time and tech 00:16:33.050 --> 00:16:36.380 startups getting some competitors, you want to remind your customers 00:16:36.380 --> 00:16:38.000 why they've chosen your product. 00:16:38.290 --> 00:16:42.705 So, I think this is especially helpful with webinars, if you do like a product 00:16:43.415 --> 00:16:46.815 roadmap and show what new features are coming up in the next few months, in 00:16:46.815 --> 00:16:50.955 the next quarter, in the next year, that keeps your current customers excited 00:16:50.955 --> 00:16:52.745 about what they can expect to receive. 00:16:53.055 --> 00:16:56.425 I think sharing that same messaging within newsletters, whether you send 00:16:56.425 --> 00:17:00.575 like a monthly newsletter or a quarterly newsletter that says, Hey, here's what's 00:17:00.575 --> 00:17:04.855 happening within our organization that you can expect to see is really important. 00:17:05.125 --> 00:17:08.675 I also think this isn't necessarily marketing, but I guess a part of, 00:17:08.915 --> 00:17:12.355 um, sales and customer service, which does integrate with marketing, 00:17:12.585 --> 00:17:16.625 but that's being able to set up, um, customer satisfaction surveys. 00:17:16.635 --> 00:17:20.905 So having customer service reps just have a candid conversation with their 00:17:20.975 --> 00:17:23.045 customers and say, what do you like? 00:17:23.075 --> 00:17:24.085 What do you not like? 00:17:24.255 --> 00:17:25.455 What could you do without? 00:17:25.615 --> 00:17:28.295 What would you like to see that we're not currently offering? 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:31.400 Those conversations give you so much insight that you can 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:33.200 then use to create content. 00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:36.080 I mean, if you're hearing pain points, if you're hearing questions 00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:39.460 that your customers are asking you, you can take that information that, 00:17:39.570 --> 00:17:43.250 that they're sharing, and you can actually write social media posts 00:17:43.250 --> 00:17:47.880 addressing the topic, or create an FAQ page on your website that addresses 00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:51.390 those questions, and now you have so much content to use moving forward. 00:17:51.390 --> 00:17:51.930 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: I love it. 00:17:51.930 --> 00:17:54.960 Yeah, that's like crowdsourcing your content from, from the 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:55.940 people you're trying to sell 00:17:55.966 --> 00:17:56.816 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yes, 00:17:57.376 --> 00:17:58.166 exactly. 00:17:58.210 --> 00:17:59.290 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, super cool. 00:17:59.343 --> 00:18:02.103 Do you want to talk a little bit about specifically your 00:18:02.103 --> 00:18:04.033 context in Massachusetts? 00:18:04.033 --> 00:18:05.683 Is there something else that you'd like to poke around at? 00:18:06.389 --> 00:18:08.949 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, I mean, I would say, um, I think 00:18:08.949 --> 00:18:14.099 a huge point about focusing on marketing for, um, a company that's building a tech 00:18:14.109 --> 00:18:19.239 product is that you want to also focus on the executives within that company. 00:18:19.239 --> 00:18:23.184 So I think oftentimes people often think about, you know, The corporate itself 00:18:23.554 --> 00:18:27.744 focusing on their marketing, but there's a huge untapped potential when you're 00:18:27.744 --> 00:18:32.704 leveraging your CEO's LinkedIn profile or other executives LinkedIn profiles 00:18:32.924 --> 00:18:37.194 that can help to bolster the credibility within the organization and help to 00:18:37.194 --> 00:18:39.294 get seen in front of their connections. 00:18:39.544 --> 00:18:42.644 And again, that's kind of a form of partnership marketing, but you're 00:18:42.644 --> 00:18:46.044 now using their personal brands to drive your mission forward. 00:18:46.064 --> 00:18:49.684 Yeah. 00:18:49.873 --> 00:18:54.293 thing that I, so I've been doing a bit of that where we'll put together some 00:18:54.293 --> 00:18:59.353 content and post it on my profile and then cross post it and back and forth. 00:18:59.793 --> 00:19:04.998 but when you're talking to someone at a company and you're telling the 00:19:04.998 --> 00:19:06.798 executives that you need to do this. 00:19:07.088 --> 00:19:09.178 I felt very hesitant at first with this. 00:19:09.388 --> 00:19:12.118 like, this is my, my personal profile. 00:19:12.148 --> 00:19:14.878 I kind of want to disconnect it, but then I realized that 00:19:14.878 --> 00:19:16.328 there is a lot of value there. 00:19:16.458 --> 00:19:21.138 Um, and that I can bring in my sort of personal stories and that can still be 00:19:21.138 --> 00:19:23.038 part of the sort of company message. 00:19:23.278 --> 00:19:26.288 So how do you communicate that with executives at a company? 00:19:26.354 --> 00:19:29.274 Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people kind of go through, 00:19:29.274 --> 00:19:31.104 is they have that hesitancy. 00:19:31.474 --> 00:19:35.414 I always say that in the several years that you've been in your industry, you've 00:19:35.424 --> 00:19:39.774 built up quite a few contacts of people who should know what you're doing and 00:19:39.774 --> 00:19:43.714 what you're up to, and the chances are that these executives themselves simply 00:19:43.714 --> 00:19:45.114 just don't have the time to do it. 00:19:45.124 --> 00:19:48.424 They know that they need to focus on their own LinkedIn profile, But it 00:19:48.424 --> 00:19:52.014 all comes down to just not having the time or resources to help them do it. 00:19:52.344 --> 00:19:56.314 So, knowing that you can kind of use the people that you've had in your network. 00:19:56.604 --> 00:20:00.404 To, to your advantage, ultimately, by sharing what you're up to and what 00:20:00.404 --> 00:20:04.204 you're building, I think that can kind of pique, pique some interest from people. 00:20:04.364 --> 00:20:06.954 And there might be people who see that post who come out and who might 00:20:06.954 --> 00:20:11.324 be now interested in investing in it, or interested in becoming a customer. 00:20:11.514 --> 00:20:13.574 And so you just never know what could happen. 00:20:13.844 --> 00:20:18.474 I also think it's a lot easier to have someone else manage your profile. 00:20:18.474 --> 00:20:22.054 I mean, in addition to what I mentioned with time, a lot of people just kind 00:20:22.054 --> 00:20:23.804 of struggle to write about themselves. 00:20:24.139 --> 00:20:27.469 So when you have someone else who's actually writing the content and creating 00:20:27.469 --> 00:20:31.319 it, it makes it so much easier because we all sit there and if we have to 00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:35.039 write our own bio, we're like, I don't even know what to say about myself. 00:20:35.269 --> 00:20:39.049 But having someone else who's kind of taking on that content writing role, 00:20:39.069 --> 00:20:41.979 it makes it so much easier for you because now you're removed from it and 00:20:41.979 --> 00:20:45.759 it makes it actually ensure that you're having stuff posted to your profile. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.199 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yep, that makes a lot of sense. 00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:50.299 Um, and yeah, writing your own bio. 00:20:50.299 --> 00:20:51.649 I feel like it's always such a 00:20:51.860 --> 00:20:52.640 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Exactly. 00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:54.330 It's awkward to write about yourself. 00:20:54.330 --> 00:20:56.230 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yep, you mentioned something there, which was 00:20:56.250 --> 00:21:01.940 investors, and I guess a lot of the people who will be listening to this podcast will 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:07.380 have either to raise money at some point whether it is from venture capital, angel 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:11.040 investors, or maybe it's foundations, it's grants, it's that sort of thing, but 00:21:11.040 --> 00:21:15.630 they still need to build a relationship with the people in those organizations. 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:18.990 How does your work, how does digital marketing fit into 00:21:19.260 --> 00:21:20.860 those types of communications? 00:21:21.271 --> 00:21:23.921 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: so I have, uh, some clients previously 00:21:23.921 --> 00:21:28.331 who have actually had an email list segment on their email list 00:21:28.331 --> 00:21:30.071 who was just actually investors. 00:21:30.081 --> 00:21:34.271 So it was people who worked at VC firms and anytime we had an exciting 00:21:34.271 --> 00:21:38.331 announcement or a partnership, we sent a newsletter to that list just 00:21:38.351 --> 00:21:40.261 kind of explaining what happened. 00:21:40.271 --> 00:21:41.761 We shared a link to the press release. 00:21:41.811 --> 00:21:43.761 We shared a video that went along with it. 00:21:43.921 --> 00:21:47.721 It was an easy way to communicate with 100 plus people about this big thing that 00:21:47.721 --> 00:21:49.511 was happening within the organization. 00:21:49.916 --> 00:21:54.166 I also think social media is social proof, so people want to know that 00:21:54.166 --> 00:21:57.956 something's working before they end up giving their money to it. 00:21:57.966 --> 00:22:02.996 So when you use social media to showcase happy customers through testimonials, or 00:22:02.996 --> 00:22:07.426 showcase the new and innovative features that you have coming up, Investors can 00:22:07.426 --> 00:22:10.926 go and see your content that you're posting and they'll say, Hey, this, this 00:22:10.926 --> 00:22:12.776 company is moving and shaking over here. 00:22:12.976 --> 00:22:17.386 They're really making an impact and I think it might make them feel more secure 00:22:17.396 --> 00:22:20.586 and more confident in their investment that they may want to make in the future. 00:22:20.636 --> 00:22:20.956 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Cool. 00:22:20.996 --> 00:22:22.626 Well, thank you so much, Ashley. 00:22:22.626 --> 00:22:24.696 This is a lot of amazing stuff. 00:22:24.796 --> 00:22:29.506 So we're on the small tech podcast and what small tech product do 00:22:29.506 --> 00:22:31.186 you want to wrap this up with? 00:22:31.197 --> 00:22:33.027 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Yeah, I love Descript. 00:22:33.257 --> 00:22:34.927 I am also a podcast host. 00:22:34.927 --> 00:22:37.997 I feature, business owners and professionals in Massachusetts, and 00:22:37.997 --> 00:22:42.027 so I've used Descript for probably the past two and a half years to pull 00:22:42.027 --> 00:22:44.347 transcripts from my podcast episodes. 00:22:44.587 --> 00:22:48.717 I use it to create videos, um, be able to edit them, and includes closed captioning. 00:22:50.157 --> 00:22:54.647 And I just really love how easy it is to take a video and make something really 00:22:54.777 --> 00:22:58.487 pretty and really aesthetic, since I don't consider myself to be a video 00:22:58.537 --> 00:23:02.837 editor, and I think just the features that they offer at such a great price 00:23:03.147 --> 00:23:06.967 is really important for someone who's kind of creating their own content and 00:23:06.967 --> 00:23:08.977 looking to have a professional feel to it. 00:23:08.977 --> 00:23:09.877 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, that's awesome. 00:23:09.927 --> 00:23:11.727 I love Descript so much. 00:23:11.727 --> 00:23:17.254 We've been using it now for a couple years and it's such a game changer when it comes 00:23:17.254 --> 00:23:19.834 to doing videos, doing podcasts, audio. 00:23:20.459 --> 00:23:22.269 It's yeah, I don't know. 00:23:22.289 --> 00:23:24.119 What are what are your favorite features? 00:23:25.080 --> 00:23:27.220 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: So I would say I love the transcript 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.240 part because I share a transcript for every podcast episode. 00:23:30.520 --> 00:23:34.330 And I mean, when I had a podcast years ago, I actually hand wrote my 00:23:34.330 --> 00:23:37.750 transcripts and I cringe thinking about that because it took me so much time 00:23:37.750 --> 00:23:39.440 and I can't imagine doing that now. 00:23:39.820 --> 00:23:43.420 But it's so important for accessibility, so I love that 00:23:43.420 --> 00:23:45.200 Descript automates that for me. 00:23:45.600 --> 00:23:49.700 I also love that I'm able to use it because I create a lot of short videos. 00:23:49.820 --> 00:23:52.710 I love that I'm able to use it to quickly edit my videos. 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:55.910 If I say a filler word like, um, or if I mess something up, 00:23:56.090 --> 00:23:57.500 all I need to do is delete that. 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:01.980 The text of where I said that mistake and it automatically updates the video 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:03.740 itself, which I think is amazing. 00:24:04.060 --> 00:24:08.870 And I also love that I can easily brand it and include my logo, include my brand 00:24:08.870 --> 00:24:10.610 colors within the closed captioning. 00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:14.420 I mean, I think it just makes it really easy and really feasible to 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:18.380 create really great and engaging videos in such a short amount of time. 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:19.330 rapha-l--he-him-_1_04-30-2024_083445: Yeah, for sure. 00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:22.530 That is that is exactly what we love about it, too. 00:24:22.580 --> 00:24:27.380 It's so good This episode is not sponsored by Descript, but if 00:24:27.380 --> 00:24:30.453 they do want to sponsor cool. 00:24:30.463 --> 00:24:32.253 Well, thank you so much. 00:24:32.263 --> 00:24:36.773 She is Ashley Mason, and her company is Dash of Social, and this 00:24:36.773 --> 00:24:38.803 has been the small tech podcast. 00:24:38.973 --> 00:24:39.973 Ashley, thanks. 00:24:40.344 --> 00:24:41.074 ashley-mason--she-her-_1_04-30-2024_113445: Thank you, Raph. 00:24:41.074 --> 00:24:43.444 Thronmax MDrill One Pro & USB Video: And that was my interview with 00:24:43.474 --> 00:24:46.324 Ashley Mason, have a dash of social. 00:24:46.387 --> 00:24:49.037 You can go find her at dashofsocial.com. 00:24:49.057 --> 00:24:53.747 You can find the podcast at smalltechpodcast.com. 00:24:54.077 --> 00:24:59.351 We're on YouTube, on Spotify, where everywhere you can find podcasts. 00:24:59.351 --> 00:25:00.551 Remember to subscribe. 00:25:00.581 --> 00:25:01.361 It helps us out. 00:25:01.368 --> 00:25:04.198 Remember to rate and review, if you enjoyed the episode. 00:25:04.198 --> 00:25:07.498 And if you'd like to be a guest, we'd love to have you on reach out. 00:25:07.498 --> 00:25:11.518 And we'll talk about all things, tech and product building and everything around it. 00:25:11.518 --> 00:25:16.838 You can also find us at ephemerecreative.ca or goec.io. 00:25:16.908 --> 00:25:18.268 That's probably easier. 00:25:18.268 --> 00:25:19.888 And I will see you in the next one. 00:25:19.938 --> 00:25:21.528 We all want to do something good in the world. 00:25:21.528 --> 00:25:24.018 So go out there and build something good folks. 00:25:24.138 --> 00:25:24.518 See ya!