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 whet…

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 …

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 con…

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 …

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…

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, …

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…

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 outlet…

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) …

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.…

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? The…

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 ho…

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 f…

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 engagemen…

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.

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 …

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!…

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 you…

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 h…

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 Cap…

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 abou…

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: Klaviyo MailChimp Constant Contact Sumo Email Capture Email …

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 Impo…

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…

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.

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.

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 Screami…

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.…

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.…

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.

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…

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.…

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…

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.

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 S…

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!

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…

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…

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 C…

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…

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 …

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!

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