More details and transcript on:
https://chaosmap.com/podcast-media-and-marketing/
(A bit of audio was cut off due to a mic problem).
Thanks to David Vogelpohl and the entire www.wpengine.com team for providing such great technology and business leadership!
--- Hi David & Welcome! Please introduce yourself: Awesome, thanks Jon.
I’m the VP of Web Strategy at WP Engine and my role is in leading teams supporting WP Engine’s contributions to WordPress Core, supporting technology partners in the WordPress ecosystem, and I am also the StudioPress brand lead within the WP Engine business.
I’ve been in digital since 1996 and have worked both in-house and owned my own WordPress digital agency.
I have experience leading teams building and optimizing digital revenue strategies across a wide variety of industries.
I’m a regular speaker at technology and digital marketing events where I leverage my technical business background to bring marketing insights to nerds and nerd insights to marketers.
--- What are you working on now, and what are some exciting new things in "digital"?
One of the most exciting things I’m working on now are updates to the Genesis framework and StudioPress themes to help make building WordPress sites easier than ever.
Genesis 2.8 (released in January) includes a demo content auto-loader that turns hours or days of setup time loading demo content into minutes.
Using themes built with Genesis 2.8, users can quickly load in demo Gutenberg blocks and requisite plugins for the kind of site they’re building. The Gutenberg blocks are also re-usable, which makes it easier to use elements again and again as site owners continue to evolve.
I’m excited about Genesis 2.8 and the demo content auto-loader as it helps solve “the most annoying problem on the internet”... “My theme doesn’t look anything like the demo!!!”
On digital trends: One of the more interesting and effective things to emerge in the last few years is account based marketing (ABM) or using retargeting and ad networks to get the right ad to the right person or group of people.
Having the power to put ads in market in this way gives marketers the ability to tailor messages and funnels like never before. Additionally, sales teams and marketers are also more tightly connected than ever.
Through ABM, marketing teams can literally help close the deal with direct and exact knowledge of the stage of the deal and perhaps the right information to present.
Of course with the power of ABM comes great responsibility to make sure you’re getting the right level of consent and being on top of your data retention strategies (in various forms depending on geography) in order to drop the pixels to place targeted ads; however, once you master navigating the waters of consent, ABM can be a powerful arrow in your quiver.
--- In your professional journey, David - what are some BIG learned lessons along the way?
Every one of us is on a non-stop mission to spin plates. We spin plates at home keeping things clean or paying our bills. We spin plates at work keeping our inbox clear, or as leaders.. keeping our teams moving in the right direction.
Early in my career as a leader as I moved from team to team spinning my leadership plate I would spend a lot of time teaching people how to spin the plate “perfectly”, rather than working with my teams to figure out the best way to spin the plate.
The result of this approach was that when I returned to the plate later, things had gotten worse. The plates were wobbling and weren’t spinning in the “perfect” way I left them.
The instructions had gotten lost, processes broke down, and the structure I had left experienced entropy as structures tend to do.
After experiencing degraded plate spinning, I got some advice from a few smart friends and changed my approach.
Instead of focusing on how the plates where spinning, I started focusing on how to support my teams at being better plate spinners. What strategies could they come up with to spin the plates in the perfect way?
The result of this approach was that when I came back to the plates, they had actually gotten better! Now there were 3 plates spinning and laser beams keeping the plates from wobbling.
It was incredible. The lesson I learned was that by focusing on helping your teams evolve their strategic thinking and operational execution abilities, you can scale your leadership impact exponentially and help create the next generation of leaders to help push your business forward.
--- Biggest insight, distinction or takeaway?
Focus on performance as a product.
How your visitors experience your brand is key to you getting them to open up their wallets, click on your ads, or fill out your lead form.
Just remember that in a world of questions, the fastest answer wins.
Read more about the initiatives David supports at www.wpengine.com/blog and www.studiopress.com/blog
Follow David on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wpdavidv