Jay Baer is a business consultant and New York Times best-selling author of five books, including Youtility and Hug Your Haters. The founder of Convince and Convert, a strategy consulting firm, Baer is a 24-year veteran in the digital marketing field.
Using the DM feature in Instagram, I contacted Jay about doing an interview, and was thrilled to receive a prompt reply. A serial entrepreneur, Jay Baer started five multi-million dollar businesses from scratch and has advised major organizations, such as Nike, the United Nations, Caterpillar, and 32 of the Fortune 500 companies. Baer is a man who is frequently on the move, speaking approximately 65 times a year in locations around the globe. A social media influencer with a wide following, Jay Baer is the world’s most retweeted person by digital marketers and the world’s second most retweeted person in the B2B marketing space.
For the few readers who don't know, please tell them a little bit about Jay Baer and what it is that you do.
I am an author of five books on marketing and customer service. I am the founder of Convince & Convert, a consultancy that works with many of the world’s most interesting brands to help them gain and keep their customers. I’m also a keynote speaker and emcee, podcaster, and blogger. Recently, I was inducted into the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame.
How did you get started in marketing and business consulting?
Through politics. I started out as a political consultant, managing campaigns for Congress and Governor. I moved from politics to more traditional offline marketing, and from there to online marketing way back in 1993.
You're regarded as one of the premier experts on digital marketing today. What are some actionable tips you would suggest to a business trying to establish an online presence and attract an engaged following?
A lot of businesses don’t really understand what they are trying to achieve with digital, or how. They’re just doing stuff to be doing it, because they think they should. Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD. The most successful companies online are those that have a laser focus on a handful of sharp initiatives and keep improving until those programs break through to the market.
What are some key metrics or data points to pay attention to in order to know if your marketing efforts are working?
Ultimately, there are only two things that matter: Are you making money or are you saving money, or both? There are MANY ways to determine that -- some of them indirect and some of them requiring some work to calculate their effectiveness, but let me say it this way: You can’t pay your mortgage with retweets.
You coined the term, "Youtility," referring to a business becoming a trusted resource of information for people. Are you ever concerned that sharing trade secrets and helpful advice for free will assist competitors or discourage people from purchasing your goods or services?
Not at all. Youtilty is marketing that is so useful, people would pay you for it. If what you’re putting out there is that beneficial, your competitors won’t be able to touch it. But it’s very common for businesses to worry about being comprehensive or transparent, because then their competition will know their “secret sauce.” Here’s the truth: you have no secret sauce. Your process is the same as the other guy’s process. Your customers know it and your employees know it. And the other key thing to remember is this: If you give away a bunch of great information and a customer decides not to hire you because you gave them some blog posts, videos, etc. that is NOT a customer you wanted anyway.
Email etiquette is still something many young (and not so young) professionals find confusing. What are some of the most common email fopaux and blunders you've seen that can hurt someone professionally?
The one I hate the most right now is fairly new. It’s the “perhaps you didn’t see my previous email. I know you’re busy….” That’s annoying. I saw your email and I deleted it. And I’ll delete the next one too. I also REALLY dislike it when you unsubscribe and you get an email asking you why. Umm, you just answered your own question.
The landscape of digital is ever-changing. Even for professionals in the field, it can be difficult to keep track of all the latest updates such as new features on Instagram or UI changes on LinkedIn. Consumer attention and behavior is constantly shifting and there is fierce competition among attention platforms and devices.
What do you see as the future of digital marketing and how can businesses keep up?
It’s harder than ever to keep up. I’m lucky to have a whole team that works with me at Convince & Convert. We collectively try to keep our antennae up for changes that impact our clients and our own organization. But if you don’t like reading and it bothers you when you have to change how you do things, the current state of digital will drive you INSANE.
What's next for Jay Baer? Any exciting projects or books in the works?
Always. Next big thing is a brand-new online course called the Content Marketing Strategy Masterclass, where I’m going to personally teach 100 marketers (a few slots still available) exactly how my team and I do content marketing strategy for big brands. I’m super excited about this 10-week course. And there are more courses coming as well. Later this year, I’ll start working on a new book.