Don’t be afraid to test channels – Andrew Kling

Today’s guest is an energetic and passionate marketer and leader — with decades of experience on the cutting edge of marketing.

Andrew Kling is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Cognition Financial. Andrew explains the keys to optimizing your funnel, why you need an open mind when exploring channels, and how to collect more accurate data to base your decisions.

Takeaways:

1. While it’s easy to get focused on front-end metrics like CPL (Cost Per Lead), it’s crucial to look at your entire funnel from a data perspective to test, learn, and optimize so you can reach your long-term goal.
2. Because of data privacy concerns, there is a shift in marketing from generating leads to building relationships. Those relationships are built on keeping people engaged and nudging them through your funnel.
3. Don’t fall into the trap of testing a channel once and moving on from it. Most channels deserve more exploration, even if they might have higher a CPL.
4. Marketers need a source of truth that they can constantly refer to. This means having useful, accurate data to look at on a consistent basis to understand what numbers are coming in and what they mean.
5. Set up UTM parameters in your CRM for each channel and make sure each piece of creative is individually tagged. This makes it easier to measure, understand, and communicate valuable information from the data you receive.
6. Set aside 10-20% of your marketing budget for testing different channels. If your first attempt doesn’t succeed, consider other approaches to find success in that channel, especially if you know your target audience is there.
7. If you are using mass marketing channels such as TV or radio, look at your indirect data, such as site traffic or lead forms, for signs of the campaign’s impact. This can inform your decision on whether or not that channel should remain in your media mix.

Quote of the show:

“I like to think of it as not necessarily channel exploration, but budget exploration” – Andrew Kling

Links:

• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkling/
• Twitter:https://twitter.com/andrewkling
• Cognition Financial website:https://cognitionfinancial.com/
• Union Federal website: ​​https://unionfederalstudentloans.com/
• Custom Choice Student Loans website:https://www.customchoice.com/

Shout Outs:

• Fumbling The Futureby Douglas K Smith and Robert C. Alexander
• Dealers of Lightningby Michael Hiltzik

Ways to Tune In:

• Amazon Music:https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5f9c8c1a-fbf5-43c7-b7eb-958674860156/3-minute-marketing-with-chris-mechanic
• Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-minute-marketing-with-chris-mechanic/id1444680950
• Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1OCuYchAG8TlGv82YARRhy?si=c4050290cbb54c65
• Google Podcast:https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9tb3JlbWFya2V0aW5nLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz
• Listen Notes:https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/3-minute-marketing-with-chris-mechanic-rdU1oESluqs/
• YouTube:https://youtu.be/3MXM8M8aIhk

Featuring:

Andrew KlingSenior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Cognition Financial

Chris MechanicCEO & Co-Founder

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