Listen up! No, really. Pop on your headphones or connect to your car’s Bluetooth during your next drive because you don’t want to miss what Wayne Stanley had to say about marketing on the FNF Unplugged podcast. 

The Fidelity National Financial Family of Companies’ Unplugged podcast was created to spark conversations with professionals across the country – exploring business topics and empowering personal growth in real estate, financial services and the title industry. In May, our Owner and Chief Inspiration Officer joined FNF’s marketing guru, Linda Grahovec, on the podcast for a two-part marketing series. Wayne has spent over 15 years in the marketing space. While his prior job experience and connections have helped Bowe Digital carve a niche in the land title industry, we work with small businesses ranging from mom-and-pop flower shops and small accounting firms to storage facilities, little bodegas, car washes and everything in between. 

PART 1

In part one of the two-part series, Linda and Wayne discuss the importance of setting SMART marketing goals and explain how they help to shape your overall marketing strategy and guide your marketing plan (emphasis on guide because it should be flexible). Don’t worry…Wayne starts by defining what each is and what factors to consider. For example, who can give you more business this year? Versus who can give you any business at all this year? It’s okay to think big as long as you start small and uncover which individuals or groups you should focus on.

Sounds good, right? But if you don’t have a dedicated sales or marketing team, you’re probably wondering who this responsibility falls to. The two marketing experts go over the biggest obstacles in marketing and share ideas on how to get through them. Wayne touches on topics from your team’s role in market research, the budget-friendly tools and solutions available to you, how to take action on your ideas and the importance of testing messages, using the analogy “your marketing isn’t a gumball machine.” You can’t put a quarter in and expect to get the flavor you want on the first try. Marketing takes time, and your audience’s flavor preferences are constantly changing, so being able to pivot is key.

Listen to the full podcast here. 

PART 2

It's time to start thinking beyond your website and focus on visuals in other mediums. In part two of the marketing series, Wayne talks about what’s working in today’s market and what’s not. He states that the four biggest marketing wins he’s seeing right now are marketing emails, LinkedIn posts, videos and public relations. But what kind of content works for each? And how often should you be sending them to your customers? Wayne shares the answers to these questions as well as the tools making content creation and design more accessible for non-marketing professionals. Those tools include Chat GPT (use with caution), Canva, Pixabay and his personal favorite, Gratisography.

Linda also sparks a conversation about how a business decides to hire someone internally versus hiring a company like Bowe Digital. While there’s no clear formula, it all ties back to your marketing goals and what you want to accomplish. Think about your work culture. Will an internal marketing person get pulled in different directions and put marketing on the back burner? Are you going to edit the “happy” to “glad” to get things just right? If so, is an external company willing to work shoulder-to-shoulder with you? What will the working relationship look like? Asking and answering these questions can help you make the right decision for your business. However, in most cases, an outside agency will probably be more cost-effective.  

Listen to the full podcast here. 

Also, here's a quick bonus read: https://bit.ly/3N8q7Cr!
Wayne Stanley and the rest of our Bowe Digital team are passionate about marketing, and we don’t believe in gatekeeping. Whether you work with our team or not, we’re always happy to discuss your business goals, talk about what’s happening in the market and help you brainstorm ideas. Contact Bradley Erb on our team at bradley@bowedigital.com and start putting your big ideas into action! Learn more about our services at bowedigital.com.