Media Captain Digital Marketing Podcast

Google's Spam Update Is Done - Here's What Your Business Needs to Do

The Media Captain — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:23:13 GMT

Google's March 2026 spam algorithm update rolled out in under 24 hours, the fastest in history, and the local pack is changing in ways that could affect how customers find your business. Jason and Stefanie Parks break down what it all means and share 11 real marketing insights from working with 100+ businesses.

In this episode: how PPC data can sharpen your SEO strategy, why review velocity matters more than review count, the quiet death of the call button on Google Maps, and how AI automation is saving their agency 20 hours a month. Plus, a smarter way to screen job applicants that cuts through AI-generated answers.

Nano Banana, YouTube Thumbnail Testing, Conversion Tracking & More.

The Media Captain — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:06:19 GMT

We run a digital marketing agency working with hundreds of businesses across the country, and every two weeks we share what we are actually seeing in the trenches. In this episode, we break down 11 marketing items that are top of mind right now, and honestly some of these surprised even us.

Google Ads showing up inside AI Overviews are up 394%. Live chat on your website is becoming a thing of the past. One of our attorney clients was burning $60K a month on ads with conversion tracking so broken it was optimizing for basically nothing. And we have a landscaping client who had 15 separate websites that were all quietly working against each other.

We also get into the AI tools our team is using every day, how to get your business showing up in AI search results, and why Claude just hitting $19 billion in revenue feels a little personal to us since we have been using it since basically day one.

If you are spending money on ads, trying to figure out where AI fits into your marketing, or just want to know what is actually working right now, pull this one up.

Why Direct Mail Isn't Dead & Guest Will Crall of On3 (Leading College Sports Media Publication)

The Media Captain — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:26:40 GMT

In this episode, Jason and Stephanie Parks sit down with Will Crall, President of On3 Sports, one of the fastest-growing college sports media brands in the country.

Will shares how On3 built its empire through passionate fan communities, elite newsbreakers, and a dominant social media strategy, including their acquisition of Rivals from Yahoo in 2025.

The episode also covers the latest digital marketing trends, agency insights on AI automation, why direct mail is making a comeback, and what Jason and Stephanie are personally excited about right now.

Whether you're a college sports fan, business owner, or digital marketer, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

6 - Black Friday/Cyber Monday Edition

The Media Captain — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 12:36:46 GMT

Learn the art of running promotions over Black Friday/Cyber Monday utilizing email marketing, Facebook and other digital channels.

5: When to hire your first employee and how Google can help you get there

The Media Captain — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 23:14:12 GMT

Utilize Google as your sales rep to grow your business. You’ll learn how SEO can help you accomplish this.

49: Black Friday/Cyber Monday (Behind the Scenes w/Stef)

The Media Captain — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 11:55:00 GMT

Stefanie takes on episode 49 solo and goes into detail on what happens on Black Friday/Cyber Monday for DermWarehouse. How does an eCommerce company prepare for the busiest time of the year? Stef goes into detail on marketing preparation. From choosing a discount to planning out email marketing and text messaging campaigns. Stef also talks about how inventory is managed. Many people outside of the eCommerce world don't realize how much inventory must be purchased in September and October leading up to Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Stef also talks about how the sales results from Black Friday/Cyber Monday sets the narrative for the following year. We hope you like episode 49!

Episode 52: Google Responsive Search, Intuit and MailChimp, Zoom Shares Dropping, Social Media Keys to Success, QR Codes, TikTok Marketing for B2B and Due Diligence when Acquiring a Business.

The Media Captain — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 18:10:46 GMT

Google announced it will be killing expanded text ads, starting June 30, 2022 [learn more]. They will only serve responsive search ads moving forward. According to Google, responsive search ads see a 7% higher conversion rate than standard search ads. We’ve moved a lot of our clients towards responsive search.
Intuit (parent company of QuickBooks) is in talks to buy MailChimp for an estimated $10 billion [learn more]. We love MailChimp and QuickBooks here at The Media Captain. We do a deep dive into the potential merger.
Learn more about the critical thinking needed to decide where to allocate your advertising dollars towards.
Heading into Labor Day weekend, Zoom shares were down more than 15%. Their stock wiped out More Than $15 Billion in market value after earnings revealed pandemic growth is waning. We dive into what we're seeing inside our organizations in terms of video communication.
I spoke with Nano Swetman, the owner of a small eCommerce business in Columbus called Nano Macs Boutique. They have nearly 50,000 Instagram followers [view account]. I asked Nano about her key to social media success. I loved her answer. Authenticity and persistence. I do a deeper dive into her response in the podcast.
With the massive uptick in QR code usage, we decided to create a postcard inside of our eCommerce box promoting Park Perfection, the skincare line we developed. This QR code on the postcard resulted in a 32% increase in Park Perfection orders on the DermWarehouse website!
A piece of advice I would give to business owners and marketers is not to overthink your TikTok strategy. Like Nano Swetman said, authenticity wins at the end of the day. Your videos don’t need to be scripted or professional. During the podcast, I explain how TikTok videos can work for your business, even if you're B2B.
If you are acquiring another business, do your due diligence with the digital assets you'll be obtaining.

51: Moving Into a Warehouse Space for eCommerce

The Media Captain — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 15:00:10 GMT

Stefanie and Jason discuss DermWarehouse moving into their new warehouse space. This is the perfect podcast for any aspiring business owner or entrepreneur looking to move offices. They discuss every step of the move process, which includes the purchase of the property, renovations, and the big move.

43: Google Shopping Gold

The Media Captain — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 23:44:27 GMT

In episode 43, Jason and Stefanie hit on everything and anything Google Shopping.

What differentiates Google Shopping from PPC and other marketing channels.
The value of Search Terms within Google Shopping
How DermWarehouse leverages Google Shopping
How ParkPerfection leverages Google Shopping
Understanding your Google Shopping Feed
Cleaning up your Google Shopping Feed
Critical thinking needed for high-level strategy for Shopping
Importance of mobile bid adjustments
Different types of bidding (Manual CPC, Max Clicks, Target ROAS, etc)

18: Google PPC vs. SEO

The Media Captain — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 23:12:29 GMT

Stefanie and Jason dive into the big difference between Google PPC vs. SEO. Does PPC actually work? Where should I invest my time and when? We answer these questions and discuss how we've grown our businesses (Media Captain and DermWarehouse) using the beast that is Google!

15: Search Terms on Google are VERY IMPORTANT

The Media Captain — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 17:55:50 GMT

We dive into one of the most important topics yet - Search Terms within Google Ads. If your business is investing money into Google PPC, you need to be aware of the search terms coming through, which is what people are actually typing into Google to see your ads. Search terms are the first component we look at for new client accounts at The Media Captain. It's such a strong indicator of the success of a campaign so make sure you are constantly monitoring this and adding negative keywords based on the search terms! There is also a lot you can do to improve your SEO with search terms, which we explain in the podcast! Enjoy.

14 - What is Retargeting?

The Media Captain — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 14:20:34 GMT

In episode 14, Stefanie and Jason talk about retargeting and how this form of advertising (where ads follow you) can have one of the best return on investments for your business. If you've been to a retailer's website and then go to Facebook and see the same pair of jeans following you around it's not magic, there is a science behind it and we dive into that in episode 14!

13: Social Media Lead Generation Campaign on Facebook & Instagram

The Media Captain — Sun, 16 Dec 2018 15:36:26 GMT

Jason dives into lead generation campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. There is a common mistake Jason sees amongst business owners when it comes to their social media marketing strategy and that is impatience. Jason will discuss how introducing people to your brand via lead generation campaign and getting prospects into your email marketing funnel can help you generate a long term ROI.

12 - Digital Wallet for eCommerce

The Media Captain — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 23:54:12 GMT

Learn what a digital wallet is and why it is crucial for your eCommerce business. A digital wallet can lead to a major uptick in your eCommerce conversion rate!

11: New Google Ads is LEGIT

The Media Captain — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 23:43:58 GMT

We dive into the best features of the new Google Ads interface and the most overrated feature of Google Ads right now.

4: Online Reviews - They are Damn Important!

The Media Captain — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 23:12:07 GMT

Being proactive with your online review strategy is necessary for any business.

2: Deploying the proper digital strategy.

The Media Captain — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 02:03:54 GMT

Every business will have a different digital marketing strategy. Learn how to deploy the right online marketing campaign for your business!

1: Utilizing SEO for your business.

The Media Captain — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 12:29:52 GMT

This podcast goes will help you better understand SEO and provide you with the crucial first steps on how to deploy an SEO strategy for your business.

25: What is E-A-T? Important for SEO!

The Media Captain — Sun, 18 Aug 2019 13:45:12 GMT

Jason Parks of The Media Captain discusses E-A-T and the importance this plays in the SEO space. E-A-T in SEO stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. If you are unfamiliar with E-A-T, this podcast will get you thinking differently about how you write content for your site and the importance of linking up with other sites.

22: Thick Skin Needed When Owning a Biz

The Media Captain — Sun, 19 May 2019 13:40:30 GMT

In Episode 22, Jason and Stefanie talk about needing to have thick skin when owning a business or working in marketing. Business is fast paced and clients and customers want results instantly. Jason and Stef discuss how they deal with rejection and defeat on a daily basis and how you can strengthen your business by learning from your mistakes.

19: Venting About Entrepreneurship

The Media Captain — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 00:00:46 GMT

In this podcast, Stefanie and Jason vent about entrepreneurship. While the photos on Instagram may glorify entrepreneurship, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the non-business owner isn't aware of. From working long hours to constantly thinking about the business, there is a lot to juggle between your business and life. Jason and Stef dive into this more in-depth in Episode 19.

3: How to Sell Your First 100 Products on Amazon

The Media Captain — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 02:20:05 GMT

What's holding you back from selling your first 100 products on Amazon? Follow this blueprint to get the ball rolling on Amazon sales.

Episode 59: Facebook eCommerce Retargeting

The Media Captain — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 17:50:01 GMT

In Episode 59, Jason Parks of The Media Captain talks about the Facebook eCommerce Retargeting Strategy he set-up for DermWarehouse. This includes how to structure your retargeting based on purchasers and non purchases plus lead generation campaigns being integrated into Klaviyo. If you are an eCommerce store owner looking to improve your Facebook advertising, this podcast should help!

42: Interview w/ ShipHero CEO Aaron Rubin

The Media Captain — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 10:53:18 GMT

Aaron Rubin, the Founder and CEO at ShipHero is our guest for episode 42. ShipHero offers Flexible fulfillment & software built for ecommerce. They work with eCommerce companies like DressBarn and the Dallas Mavericks. During episode 42, Aaron talked about how he got into the eCommerce space with his martial arts company, Zengu. He also discusses how the idea for ShipHero came about, the future of eCommerce, his move into a 150,000 square foot warehouse and much more!

Episode 54: Starting a Subscription Box Service & Toast's IPO

The Media Captain — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 13:23:04 GMT

Toast had its initial public offering this week that could value the restaurant-tech company at more than $16 billion [source]. Toast is a point of sale software for restaurants.
Aftership is a software company we recently started utilizing for DermWarehouse. This helps us track and gather information between when we ship products and when they are delivered.
DermWarehouse is starting a subscription box. A subscription box is going to help get more new products into customers hands, which should increase our profitability.
I’m a big hockey fan. The NHL recently had their media day in Chicago. This is where the biggest stars from each team come to Chicago for two days for media promotion [see photos]. Learn how this event got me thinking about content creation.
If you want to learn more about Search Engine Optimization, I wrote a blog on the 40 Top SEO’s to follow on Twitter.
I love this tweet from Christine Johnson on the importance of following up.
Changing your title tags and meta descriptions across your website is low hanging fruit that can lead to a nice uptick in SEO rankings.
I'll tell you how the Negro League Baseball Museum changed my perspective on storytelling.
The Media Captain drastically improved its process for proposal creation. We use a great software called Proposify.

Google vs Meta: The $172 Billion Ad Revenue Battle (Plus Our Agency's Latest AI Breakthrough)

The Media Captain — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:00:01 GMT

Google and Meta just released their Q4 earnings, and the numbers are staggering. Google pulled in $113B in revenue while Meta hit $60B, but the profit margins tell a different story. We break down what these earnings mean for advertisers, plus why Google's algorithm is causing chaos right now.

In this episode, we also reveal how we're using AI to transform e-commerce SEO (one client went from 8% to 30% visibility), why iPhone videos are outperforming professional content on Meta, and the project management tool that completely changed our agency.

Week of Jan 19: Google Hits $4T, AI Commerce Agents & CallRail Conversion Tracking

The Media Captain — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 22:02:57 GMT

After a 6-year hiatus, sibling co-founders Stefanie and Jason Parks are back with their marketing podcast. They own Media Captain (a marketing agency serving 100+ clients since 2010) and DermWarehouse (an e-commerce company with 200,000+ customers selling 60+ skincare brands). Each 30-minute episode covers marketing news, agency insights, and personal updates.

Marketing News & Trends:

Google's dominance continues - Alphabet's market cap surpassed $4 trillion, overtaking Apple for the first time since 2019. Only Nvidia is larger.
AI hasn't killed search - Despite ChatGPT predictions, Google remains critical. The agency emphasizes you can't have an AI strategy without SEO, as AI tools still rely heavily on Google's infrastructure.
Vibe coding disrupts software stocks - New AI coding assistants allow people to write software using plain English instead of manual coding. This trend has hammered software stocks: Salesforce down 25%, HubSpot down 51%, monday.com down 44% year-over-year as Wall Street predicts increased competition and DIY software development.
Google's AI commerce revolution - Google is launching AI agents that can handle entire purchasing processes automatically, finding products, comparing prices, and completing purchases without customers visiting websites. Major retailers (Walmart, Target, Shopify) and payment processors (Visa, Stripe) have joined Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. McKinsey estimates this represents a $3-5 trillion opportunity by 2030. Stef and Jason share their thoughts on this.

Agency Insights & Best Practices:

Authentic storytelling is critical - In an era of AI-generated content, brands showcasing genuine personality and stories stand out.
LinkedIn personal vs. business accounts - Business owners posting from personal accounts get 10x more engagement than company pages. Personal accounts reach more targeted audiences like CMOs and decision-makers when properly cultivated.
Multi-channel content strategy - Create high-quality content once and deploy it everywhere. Example: Client video content appears as social posts, paid advertisements, email campaigns, and website embeds for maximum ROI.
CallRail integration transforms tracking - This $100/month tool provides comprehensive phone call and contact form tracking across all marketing channels.
Case study: Allergist client success - Created personality-driven content including educational videos about ILIT (a replacement for traditional allergy shots) and an MTV Cribs-style office tour. Content distributed across social media, paid ads, email sequences, and website for multi-channel impact.

Key Takeaways:

Authenticity beats AI-generated content in building customer connections
Personal LinkedIn accounts dramatically outperform business pages
Robust tracking tools like CallRail enable smarter budget decisions
Create content once, deploy everywhere for maximum efficiency
Google's ecosystem continues expanding despite AI disruption predictions

Personal Highlights:

The hosts shared their experience hosting a Blue Jackets luxury suite event for clients, including riding the Zamboni as an example of "unreasonable hospitality" that creates unforgettable customer experiences.

48: The Breakup from Media Captain & Formation of DermWarehouse

The Media Captain — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 11:32:11 GMT

Jason and Stefanie started The Media Captain together in 2010. They were partners and growing the business for approximately three years. Then came the date when Stef realized agency life wasn't for her. In podcast episode 48, Stefanie reveals what led to this decision to leave The Media Captain and how because of this decision, DermWarehouse was formed. For anyone in a small, family run business, this podcast will be great for you. This episode also teaches important business lessons pertaining to doubling down on your strengths, working on what you love to do, family run businesses, diversification in business and openness and communication when working with a business partner. We hope you enjoy!

29: Perfecting Your Blog Stratgy

The Media Captain — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 21:12:28 GMT

Jason and Stefanie discuss how you can perfect a blog strategy for your business. In the outline below, we've included links to all blogs and resources referenced in Podcast #29.

Create a 12-month calendar
Determine whether you’re a national or local player (even if local, you can get backlinks if you rank at national level)
To find topics, you can look in Google Ads Keyword Planner (free tool) and look at Moz Keyword explorer and Google related search terms
Examples of The Media Captain: Opening Up a Second Location on GMB & Video Verification for Google My Business
Examples of DermWarehouse: Is TNS Essential Serum worth the price?

Stats Courtesy of GetCodeless.com.

The average blog post takes 3 hours 16 minutes to write
On average, companies with blogs produce 67% more leads per month than those without

10: The Power of LiveChat

The Media Captain — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 21:56:07 GMT

LiveChat can be a game changer for your business. You can close more sales and completely change the perception of your business from a customer service perspective. Jason Parks of Media Captain and Stefanie Parks of DermWarehouse talk about how they each utilize LiveChat for their businesses.

26: Recurring Revenue For Your Business

The Media Captain — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 21:55:00 GMT

Jason and Stefanie discuss how each of their businesses (Media Captain and DermWarehouse) benefit from a recurring revenue model. This episode will get you thinking about how to grow revenue for your business by tapping into your existing customer base.

7 - Email Marketing - The Best ROI For Your Business

The Media Captain — Thu, 17 May 2018 10:19:48 GMT

Email marketing is cheap yet can yield one of the best ROI's for your business. Learn how we've utilized email marketing on the B2B side for The Media Captain and the B2C side for DermWarehouse. We also dive into the best platforms to use for email marketing and discuss strategies and tactics to acquire email addresses for your email marketing database.

36: Staying Positive During Tough Times in Digital

The Media Captain — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 23:57:34 GMT

In episode 36, Jason Parks of The Media Captain talks about remaining optimistic and positive during tough times. If you look at the bigger picture, there's a lot of upside on the digital marketing side for businesses and Jason discusses this in Episode 36.

46: Jason walks through 1st call w/prospective Client

The Media Captain — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 13:13:37 GMT

Jason discusses what goes through his mind during his first call with a prospective client. From gathering preliminary information to devising a strategy, this is a conversation in coming up with a plan of action.

39: Email Automation & Shopping Cart Abandonment for eCommerce

The Media Captain — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:16:44 GMT

In episode 39, Stefanie and Jason discuss the importance of capturing email addresses and why it's critical for eCommerce companies. Below is an outline that we used for our Podcast on email automation and shopping cart abandonment for eCommerce.

Important Resources referenced in podcast:

Importance of Collecting Email Addresses:

Being able to capture email addresses on eCommerce site (or any site) is very important
With eCommerce, you’re often paying money to get people to your site (Google Ads, Facebook ads, etc). So, you want to get their email so that even if they don’t convert you can try to convert them later.
We used SUMO for the past 5 years which is awesome, but recently switched when we switched our email marketing company, since they also had a solution for this.

Starting Out:

Have been using MailChimp for DW since we launched in 2016
Strategy has always been to send a limited amount of emails (around 2 per month).
When we started out, Stef would spend hours putting together emails but we quickly realized that we got the best results when keeping them simple.
So, we started sending out about 2 emails per month with a 20% off sale and the results were amazing.
We were lucky that we were able to send out sales, as these did extremely well for us. Any other content that we tried (blogs, etc), didn’t yield great results.

Money Left on the Table:

As we continued growing, we realized that there was a lot of money left on the table from customers that we weren’t capturing, but we never found a great solution to do what we wanted to do.
We tried several different plugins for shopping cart abandonment, purchase reminder emails, but none of them functioned properly or looked good.
Recently we switched to Klaviyo, which is much more advanced than something like MailChimp.

Our Automations:

Shopping Cart Abandonment
Browse Abandonment → When someone is looking at a product on your site but they never actually make it to the checkout page, can email them about the product they were looking at
Anniversary emails → gift for 1 year anniversary with DW
Birthday emails → Send gift card on customer birthdays
Loyalty Program emails → Letting people know they have points they can use so they make purchases
Replenishment Reminders → If someone hasn’t shopped in 3 months, remind them they may be running out of their products
Subscription Automations → If someone has shopped for an item multiple times but never signed up for a subscription, you can suggest they sign up

28 - Spy on Your Competitors

The Media Captain — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Jason and Stefanie discuss how to spy on your competitors for Google SEO, Google PPC, and Social Media. These tactics can help improve your organic ranking, PPC visibility, and social performance.

Episode 57: 11 Marketing Items

The Media Captain — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 00:13:59 GMT

Below are the 11 marketing items of the week that Jason covers in detail. You can read the entire email blast for the week HERE.

Saks Fifth Avenue spun off their rapidly growing eCommerce division. In doing so, the company tripled its valuation at nearly $6 billion. Will this prompt a spinoff for Macy's? Activist investors are hoping the answer is yes.
Spanx was acquired this past week for a reported $1.2 billion. Jason Parks talks about the amazing gesture the Founder, Sara Blakely, did for employees after the announcement.
Mutts & Co. is a client of The Media Captain. Learn how TMC helped this eCommerce brand increase revenue by 143%.
Snapchat’s stock fell nearly 25% after the company warned of slowing growth due to the recent changes in Apple’s iOS. Jason talks about the negative impact Apple's iOS 14 update is having on technology stocks.
Interbrand revealed the Top 100 Most Valuable Brands. Jason walks through the 10 most valuable.
There are rumors that Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name. Jason discusses whether or not this is a good idea.
I love looking at websites from the past to see how far the digital world has progressed. Jason does an analysis of the NHL's website from 1998 and how it compares to sites nowadays.
Getting mentioned in the right media publications can increase your brand’s credibility and visibility. Jason discusses the importance of strong PR for your brand.
From DermWarehouse's 1-year anniversary of purchasing warehouse space to speaking to Ohio State's Business School, Jason walks you through what happened over the past week.
Media Captain recently got a positive review and Jason walks through this and talks about the importance of positive reinforcement.
Text-to-Speech plugins are something you should consider implementing on your site, especially if you have a blog or article rich content.

37: State of our Businesses 4 Months Into COVID-19

The Media Captain — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 02:03:04 GMT

We've been on a hiatus since the start of COVID-19 but we're back and better than ever for episode 37!

Stefanie and Jason do a deep dive into the state of our two businesses, The Media Captain and DermWarehouse. We've seen crazy growth on the eCommerce side with business doubling. Topics covered on the eCommerce side include the following:

How'd we scale?
What'd we do from a staffing perspective?
Why'd we at first scale back on advertising only later to pivot our positioning?
What are our plans for the future if there's a second wave?

Topics on the agency side include the following:

Scary first 14-days at the beginning of COVID-19
Resilience were seeing from business owners
Importance of technology for a marketing agency
How we're rebounding and planning for a second wave

Episode 55: Google's Continued Dominance over Bing

The Media Captain — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 00:17:27 GMT

Do you know the most popular search query on Bing? It’s “Google” [source]. In June 2021, online search engine Bing accounted for 5.56 percent of the global search market, while market leader Google had a market share of 87.76 percent [source].
Despite Google being the dominant search engine, Bing can still perform very well.
1) TikTok, 2) YouTube, 3) Instagram, 4) Snapchat, 5) Facebook are the top 5 apps on the Apple App Store as of this podcast recording.
New layout for Google My Business detected
DermWarehouse, our in-house eCommerce brand, is rolling out an early Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion this week.
The New York Times wrote a fantastic article on TikTik titled, “Will TikTok Make You Buy It?”
The majority of our team here at TMC uses Grammarly to make our emails and internal and external communication more professional. We love the tool and encourage you to check it out!
Want to improve your website and sales process simultaneously? Build a success stories section.
Internal links play a key role in developing a successful SEO campaign. I wrote a blog post on the importance of internal linking, which you can read HERE.
When it comes to your pay-per-click advertisements, you can lower your cost per click by achieving a high quality score.
HERE is a list of the 20 fastest growing DTC (direct to consumer) brands. This week, Rihanna Fenty and the Kardashian sisters own four of the 20 positions. This list is courtesy of Web Smith, Founder of 2PM.

50: How to Turn an Idea Into a Business

The Media Captain — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 13:00:00 GMT

Jason and Stefanie talk about they take an idea and turn it into an actual business.

For The Media Captain, DermWarehouse and Park Perfection, before being an established business with a solid customer base, they were just ideas. How did Jason and Stef take their ideas and make the necessary implementations to start a business and then grow it? They will do a deep dive in episode 50 on this very subject.

What's exciting about this episode is so many entrepreneurs have great ideas yet aren't able to execute. Before executing, it's important to make sure you have a viable game plan and are selling the right product or service so you don't go down a rabbit hole of spending time and money on something where there's not consumer demand.

Jason offers an interesting perspective on this subject because in addition to starting multiple businesses, on the Agency side, he also deals with many entrepreneurs who have ideas that completely flop. He goes into detail on why this happens and how to avoid this.

This podcast episode is perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners wanting to start another business and many others. We hope you enjoy!

47: Importance of Writing for Digital Marketing

The Media Captain — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 01:31:34 GMT

Jason Parks talks about the importance of writing when it comes to digital marketing. During episode 47, Jason hits on the following areas where writing can help improve your online presence.

Improve SEO with better written content throughout your site
Drive more long tail search queries through well written blogs
Garner more social media engagement by writing compelling copy and content

We are fortunate to live in a time where anyone can distribute their content on a blog. It's time to get started!

40: Driving Traffic To Your Site

The Media Captain — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 01:47:44 GMT

Driving traffic to your site is one of the most critical components if you are looking grow your business.

The Media Captain helps brands come up with strategies to drive qualified traffic from the right channels. This is how DermWarehouse has grown from 0 customers to nearly 100,000 in less than 5-years.

In episode 40, Jason and Stefanie talk about traffic driving tactics to help out your business. We hone in on SEO, PPC, Shopping and Social. We then discuss ways to convert your site visitors after they leave your site without purchasing (email marketing, shopping cart abandonment, retargeting).

Enjoy Episode 40!

35: Tough Times Ahead (Coronavirus Special)

The Media Captain — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 00:16:16 GMT

There are going to be challenging times ahead of us with the impact Coronavirus is having on our economy. How is your business going to adapt? What are marketing tactics you can take if you have to cut advertising budget? Jason Parks goes over all of this in episode 35.

33: How to Formulate an Advertising Strategy

The Media Captain — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 17:01:02 GMT

In episode 33, Jason and Stefanie discuss how you should formulate an advertising strategy for your business. From how much money you invest to selecting the right channels. Jason and Stefanie cover how they went about advertising for their eCommerce company, DermWarehouse, along with the tactics they use for the clients they represent on the agency side.

32: 15 Tools for Your Biz

The Media Captain — Sat, 14 Dec 2019 12:00:00 GMT

In episode 32, Jason and Stefanie talk about the 15 most important tools used to run their businesses. From accounting to project management to analytics, the brother and sister duo cover it all. Below is their list:

Monday.com
SEMRush
Google Sheets/Google Docs
QuickBooks
Calendly
DocuSign
ShipStation
Finale
MailChimp
Mozeo
Google Analytics
Screaming Frog
HubSpot
Sumo
LiveChat

31: Biz Owner Mindset

The Media Captain — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 12:39:34 GMT

In Episode 31, Jason and Stefanie talk about the mindset needed when starting a business. You should not be thinking about making a quick buck in the first couple of months. A long term mindset is needed for optimal results for your business. Jason and Stefanie share their experiences through The Media Captain and DermWarehouse.

30: How I (Jason) Got Into SEO Industry

The Media Captain — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 10:49:00 GMT

In Episode 30, Jason talks about how he got into the SEO industry. He's been in the industry for nearly a decade now but he was thrown into the fire at a young age. He talks about this experience.

27 - How to Build a Brand from Scratch

The Media Captain — Sun, 01 Sep 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Jason and Stefanie talk about how they built up their three brands. More recently, they started Park Perfection, their own private-label skin care line. The brother-sister duo do a deep-dive into all the steps needed to start a brand.

34: Behind the Scenes of an eCommerce Operation

The Media Captain — Sun, 05 Jan 2020 15:01:46 GMT

In episode 34, Stefanie and Jason talk about what goes on behind the scenes of an eCommerce operation. Stefanie leads the way in discussing how DermWarehouse grew from an operation with 0 customers upon launch in 2016 to over 50,000 customers by the end of 2019.

If you are looking to launch an eCommerce operation or take your eCommerce shop to the next level, this will be a great episode for you! Below is the outline we tried to follow during the podcast!

Packing and shipping

Timeliness
Schedule
Eliminating errors

Customer service

Open mindedness on returns
Striving for perfection
Getting back quickly
TrustPilot

Inventory management

Christmas two years ago
prepping for busy times
nerve-wrecking with amount of money putting up

Ultimate Goals

Repeat customers
Referral business
Inventory in stock

60: 11 Marketing Items [eCommerce Edition]

The Media Captain — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 23:55:11 GMT

US Consumers spent $8.9 billion online on Black Friday, down from the record $9 billion in 2020, the forest ever year-over-year decline for eCommerce sales [source].
Traffic at retail stores on Black Friday dropped 28.3% compared with 2019 levels [source].
I ran a poll asking whether people shopped at a physical retailer after Thanksgiving and whether people made a purchase online after Thanksgiving.
It was the fifth Black Friday sales for our in-house eCommerce company, DermWarehouse! Go behind the scenes!
$2.9 billion. That’s the total sales of Shopify Merchants on Black Friday. That’s up 21% from 2020 and more than double their sales from 2019 [view source].
The skin care line my family developed, Park Perfection, is ranking in the top five positions on Google for the coveted search query, “Instant Eye Lift.” How'd we accomplish this?
If you own an eCommerce store, it’s important to optimize your product pages. I wrote a blog on how to optimize your eCommerce product page.
What differentiates our eCommerce marketing and development versus other agencies? You'll find out in this podcast!
I recorded a podcast on Facebook and Instagram best practices for eCommerce brands [listen here]. Make sure you check out episode 59!
One of the biggest eCommerce misconceptions of the holiday season is that it’s a great time to acquire new customers.
Did you know that Amazon took 19% of total spend during Black Friday weekend last year? [source]. They expect to do even more sales in 2021!

Episode 58: 11 Marketing Items (11.14.21)

The Media Captain — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 14:00:40 GMT

Below are the 11 marketing items we cover in episode 58:

Google is changing the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile.
In order to understand SEO, you need to understand what Google likes and dislikes.
Broad Match Keyword Bidding can lower your cost per click and drive higher quality traffic to your site.
If you have low quality content (duplicate and thin content) on your site, this can cause more harm than good.
We do a deep dive into Klaviyo and combining email and text message flows
The best things in life don't have to be the most expensive. Nike's swoosh was created in 1971 for $35.
We discuss our love of SEMRush and where their stock price is as of this recording.
We discuss Park Perfection, the skincare line we acquired and developed and the importance of branding.
Jason reveals his two favorite podcasts (Outside of The Media Captain podcast, of course).
Should you be bidding on your competitors keywords?
Internal linking experiment that worked for someone else that makes complete sense.

Episode 53: Amazon/NFL Sunday Ticket, Duplicate SEO Content, Facebook Glasses, Local TV Ads, Buy Now Pay Later, William Sonoma eCommerce & URL Structures.

The Media Captain — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 16:41:35 GMT

Amazon is likely the front-runner for NFL Sunday Ticket [source]. The NFL may ask for up to $2.5 billion per year for the package, a source said. I expect to see more of the major technology/digital companies (Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter and Netflix) snag the rights to major sporting leagues. It’ll be tough for traditional media outlets to compete with the deep pockets of technology.

Do you have duplicate content on your website? If you have similar content on multiple pages or content that’s eerily similar from elsewhere on the web, this can negatively impact your site rankings on Google. I wrote a blog on the complete guide to duplicate content.

Facebook recently announced Facebook glasses, in conjunction with Ray-Ban [learn more]. The glasses can take photos, record video, answer phone calls and play podcasts. Google failed with smart glasses so it’ll be interesting to see if Facebook can succeed. I did love THIS TWEET which mocked Facebook for choosing Mark Zuckerberg to be the model to introduce these glasses. As a marketer, I love good cringe worthy, good old fashion local television advertisements.

I was in Kansas City this past weekend and came across this gem of a commercial for a local personal injury lawyer, Tarzan the Lawman [view commercial]. While some may balk at the ads, they are memorable and must work. I saw billboards all over the city for this firm and they were spending major dollars on television ads. As for their website, well I think I know someone who can help spruce things up :)

The other week in my email blast, I talked about how BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) is exploding. Square announced it had acquired AfterPay. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Amazon and Affirm entered a partnership. Well, the stock is up another 25% after reporting 71% revenue growth and strong guidance [read CNBC Story].

eCommerce accounted for 65% of William-Sonoma's total revenue [source]. Prior to the pandemic, eCommerce accounted for less than 30% of sales in the furniture category. William-Sonoma's stock has more than tripled since the pandemic lows [view here].

Do you want to drive more traffic to your site from qualified prospects? I have a tip for you [watch my video]. Jot down the 10 most popular questions you get asked by your customers. Write a 750-100 word blog post answering each of these questions. Post each blog onto your site. Start using this blog as sales collateral when your customers call again asking these questions. The beauty of this strategy is you’ll likely get new customers from people who search for these exact questions on Google.

When we build a new website or optimize a site for SEO, the first thing we look at is the URL Structure. Think of a URL Structure similar to house. Both need a strong foundation to avoid future issues and set you up for future success. I wrote THIS BLOG on creating the optimal URL Structure for SEO.

45: Interview w/Noxgear Co-Founder Tom Walters

The Media Captain — Sun, 27 Sep 2020 16:42:37 GMT

Tom Walters is the President/Co-Founder of Noxgear, an eCommerce company that creates obsessively engineered active-lifestyle products for runner's, cyclists, and those with pets to keep them safer and enhance their experience.

Jason and Stefanie run daily. It' s a part of their morning routine. They recently purchased Noxgear and came to love the product.

Jason and Stef reached out to Tom to get him on the podcast and he obliged.

On episode 45, Tom talks about how the company was started by himself and a co-worker in Buffalo back in 2008 when they were working a full-time engineering job. He discussed how the idea for the product was brought to life based on a real-life issue pertaining to Frisbee golf. Tom dives into what brought him back to Columbus, how he acquires customers for his eCommerce company, the importance of customer service, his Facebook and social ad strategy and much more!

We hope you enjoy episode 45 as much as we enjoyed the interview.

44: 10 Rapid Fire Questions

The Media Captain — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 11:26:06 GMT

Prior to episode 44, Jason and Stefanie wrote down 5 questions each they wanted to ask each other pertaining to The Media Captain and DermWarehouse. Neither Jason nor Stefanie saw the questions prior to them being asked.

Hear what the brother and sister due had to say about business, routine, digital marketing, work ethic, hiring and much more!

41: Great PPC Advertising Copy

The Media Captain — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 12:01:46 GMT

In episode 40, we talked about driving traffic to your website. A lot of what we hit on was paid ads (Google/Bing and FB/Instagram). In Podcast Episode 41, we’re going to talk about how to make sure your advertising copy is great.

Jason and Stefanie discuss how important advertising copy is and how it's helped both of their companies, The Media Captain and DermWarehouse.

We first dive into the foundation of a Google PPC advertisement so you understand the structure:

What does a Google advertisement look like?
- 3 headlines (30 characters each)
- 2 descriptions (90 characters each)
- Sitelink
- Callout
- Location Extension
- Call Extensions
- Deal Extensions

We then dive into understanding keyword relevance:

You bid on keywords. Keywords trigger advertisements
There needs to be a correlation between your keywords and your advertisements
When you have good keywords that align with good ad copy, you improve your relevance score. A high relevance score will ultimately drop your average cost per click.

We discuss the importance of understanding your business and its customers:

Understand and create great unique selling propositions
Avoid fluff. You need to make your ad copy hard hitting
Deals & Promotions: They Work

Facebook/Instagram Ads vs. PPC

There is correlating media (photo/images) associated with Facebook and Instagram ads. In many instances, the media is equally as important than the ad copy. This is a key difference between social advertisements versus PPC advertisements. PPC ads rely strictly on verbiage.

38: Your Blog - Laying the Right Foundation

The Media Captain — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 00:48:10 GMT

Your blog can be a key element to your websites overall online marketing success, The issue is that most businesses don't fully understand how to utilize their blog. In episode 38, Jason and Stefanie share best practices for laying the proper foundation along with coming up with a successful blogging strategy for your business.

Why Blogging is Important:

Will bring new traffic to your website and can help generate new business
If you provide great content, other authoritative sources can start linking to you, helping you build up SEO
Great place for internal and external linking
Can be helpful resource to answer employee or customer questions

Tips to follow for blogging:

Make sure all old blogs on your site are still relevant
Make sure to continuously go back and update content on your blogs
Make sure you have an authoritative author with a bio that explains who they are
Make sure the content isn't thin (over 750 words)
Make sure to have good internal and external links and continuously check these and go back and fix any broken or irrelevant links in old blogs
Make sure content is evergreen (meaning it makes sense anytime someone is reading it - i.e., don’t say “now that it’s summer!”)

How to Choose a Great Blog Topic:

Long-Tail topics do best - explain why
Use Google to find “related searches” to important keywords for your business
Keep notes about questions that customers or clients ask that would make good topics

In Closing:

Blogging is really important for many reasons and if you have a blog and are not following best practices, it can actually be harmful to you in the eyes of Google.
Writing really good content up front is the best way to succeed with your blog
The purpose of your blog is to be a resource for visitors - it’s not about quantity of blog posts, it’s about the quality of them.

56: More Page 1 Ranking for Businesses?

The Media Captain — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 15:05:32 GMT

What are heading tags and why are they so important for SEO?
Google announced that mobile users will now have continuous scroll in search results.
We're proud of the new moss wall art we had installed in our conference room!
When it comes to your social media strategy, stories add a great personal touch.
If you’re looking to garner more reviews for your local business, I recommend looking into GatherUp.
We dive into the key local SEO ranking factors that move the needle with your GMB page.
What is Google My Business keyword stuffing and why is it against Google's guidelines?
Holiday retail sales and eCommerce sales are expected to surge in 2021 vs. 2020.
How much money did Joe Montana make off GitLab's recent IPO?
Which YouTube star rented a $43,000 mansion in Los Angeles to record video content?
What are internal links and why are they so important for SEO?

24: eCommerce Strategy

The Media Captain — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 23:40:45 GMT

Jason talks about how to pick the right channels for your eCommerce strategy. You should be able to determine if Facebook, Instagram, Google or YouTube work best for your business. He also dives into the importance of a good site and tracking all data.

23: Google My Business & Local Directories

The Media Captain — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 22:40:24 GMT

Jason Parks discusses the importance of Google My Business and local directories. With the advancement of mobile search and an uptick in "near me" searches, it's more important than ever to populate prominently in the maps on Google. Jason walks you through the important first steps of getting listed on Google My Business and what's next after that.

21: Bidding for Profitability

The Media Captain — Sun, 12 May 2019 20:47:34 GMT

We discuss the importance of bidding on profitable keywords for your services and products. We primarily cover profitable bidding on the Google PPC and Google Shopping side of things. We also dive into the importance of proper bidding on Facebook and Google SEO. The key takeaway from this podcast is to make sure your profitable services or products are getting the attention they deserve with your digital marketing strategy.

20: Time Management for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

The Media Captain — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 18:06:29 GMT

Jason and Stefanie discuss the importance of time management when running a business. They go over the hours they work each week and how to improve processes to get better use of time.

17: Proper Tracking for Paid Advertising

The Media Captain — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 18:52:04 GMT

In Episode 17, Stefanie Parks and Jason Parks dive into the topic of properly tracking your conversions from your paid ad campaigns. Whether you have an eCommerce, B2B or B2C business, Jason and Stef will walk you through the first steps you have to take to ensure you are tracking properly. Without the right tracking in place, it'll be hard to make proper adjustments needed to get your best results.

16: Importance of Up Front Strategy

The Media Captain — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 12:10:53 GMT

Do you have the right up front strategy for your businesses digital marketing? If your foundation is not set-up well, you can be wasting time and money, which will set your business back. In episode 16, Jason Parks of The Media Captain gives examples of how the wrong foundation can cost you big time. He dives into Facebook versus Google Advertising along with PPC and web design mistakes.

9: Importance of PPC For Your Business

The Media Captain — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 15:15:55 GMT

Pay Per Click Advertising can be instrumental in growing your business. Jason and Stefanie will help you determine whether your business would be a good fit for PPC along with the best practices on getting started.

8: In-House vs. Agency

The Media Captain — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 21:58:27 GMT

Many people debate whether to hire a marketing agency or bring a team -house. There is no right or wrong answer. Stefanie and Jason dive into the pros and cons of utilizing an agency versus building a team from within.