Episode 563 All About Digital Marketing Success Plan With Corry Morris

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Show Summary

A podcast interview with Corey Morris, author of “The Digital Marketing Success Plan,” hosted by Rob Carns of Stunning Digital Marketing. The discussion centers on Morris’s five-step “START” framework for digital marketing success, emphasizing strategy, tactics, application, review, and transformation. Both speakers also explore the impact of AI on digital marketing practices, the importance of website security and maintenance, and the need for businesses to adapt their marketing efforts in a constantly evolving digital landscape. The conversation underscores the value of ethical practices and strategic thinking over simply spending money on marketing, highlighting that not every client or tactic is a good fit.

Show Notes

Cory’s Journey into Digital Marketing

Cory shares his 20-year career journey, which began “by accident.” Originally on a path to be an account person in a traditional ad agency, he joined a small creative shop in Kansas City. Back then, digital marketing wasn’t even called “digital”; it was “internet” or “online marketing.” As a project manager, pre-WordPress and open-source, he worked closely with developers, designers, and clients, picking up HTML along the way. This led him to SEO, where he found his passion and truly took off. Rob notes the irony of his own journey, having once sworn off marketing after a challenging college professor.

The Impact of AI on Digital Marketing

The conversation shifts to AI, a hot topic in the industry. Cory is a strong advocate for testing everything and encourages clients, friends, and colleagues to experiment with AI tools. As a “tech geek,” he’s prone to spending excessive time exploring new platforms and has to set limits to avoid falling down the “rabbit hole.” He pushes those who haven’t touched AI to schedule dedicated time for testing.

Cory has experimented with numerous AI platforms, from LLMs to leading software, but remains heavily invested in ChatGPT. His rationale is the significant time he’s spent training it for specific voice, tone, and efficiencies, using it as a virtual and research assistant. While he’s testing other platforms, they haven’t received the same level of training, making a fair comparison difficult.

Rob shares his own AI experiments, including using ChatGPT for image replacement (e.g., putting himself in The Voice chair instead of John Legend). He primarily uses Gemini due to his integration within the Google ecosystem (Pixel phone, Google products). Both agree on the importance of setting timers to avoid losing hours playing with new AI tools.

AI has largely streamlined Cory’s work, especially for tasks he dislikes or lacks time for. It’s a valuable tool when he’s stuck or facing deadlines, often turning to it after struggling for a few days. Rob highlights a cool use case: creating a series of books from podcast episodes, using Gemini and NotebookLM to build chapters, saving immense transcription time. Cory adds that AI helps step away from one’s own content, offering fresh perspectives and insights.

The Genesis of The Digital Marketing Success Plan

Cory sought to create a “cornerstone piece of content” that would be genuinely helpful and a consistent topic for industry discussions. After attending workshops on claiming authority and confidence, he found himself repeatedly explaining the evolution of SEO amidst the rise of AI. He realized there would always be a need for brands to be found by their target audience.

Initially, his working title was “Be Found,” but he realized it was too abstract. He then shifted to focusing on his agency’s consistent initial strategy and marketing planning process. This process, articulated in five steps and an acronym, “START PLANNING,” became the core of his book. He was willing to share this framework openly, even creating a separate business entity for it, ensuring it wasn’t just a “Trojan horse” for agency services. The goal was to provide a helpful resource for individuals and businesses to implement, even if it’s just a slice to fill a gap. Having a documented plan is crucial given the constant distractions from AI, privacy concerns, and other industry shifts.

Rob and Cory discuss the prevailing sentiment in the online world of giving away “secret sauce.” Rob believes that when clients understand the complexities of digital marketing, they will hire experts anyway. Cory embraces this, advocating for being “relentlessly helpful.” This approach takes pressure off the sales process, ensuring a better fit from the start and fostering deeper, more productive client relationships.

Selling Yourself Out of a Deal: Client Fit

Cory emphasizes the importance of selling yourself out of a deal that isn’t the right fit. Not every client is a good match, and continuing with a mismatched client can be costly in terms of time, stress, and even employee turnover. He notes that “bad clients” are rarely bad people or companies; it’s simply a matter of the wrong fit, which can even change over time as businesses evolve. Recognizing these soft costs is crucial for agencies and service-based businesses.

The START Planning Framework

Cory outlines the five parts of his “START” success plan:

1. S – Strategy: This is paramount. Tactics should never be the sole strategy. The strategy phase involves:
   1. Team Alignment: Ensuring everyone, even long-tenured employees, defines terms and goals consistently.
   1. Auditing: Understanding current standing to avoid discarding positive elements.
   1. ROI-Driven Goals: Articulating a monetary goal that connects marketing KPIs to business outcomes (revenue, profitability, lifetime value). This bridges the common gap where businesses don’t see the true impact of marketing, viewing it as an expense rather than an investment.
2. T – Tactics: Once the strategy is clear, all possible tactics can be considered. With a defined lens (e.g., 50 qualified leads per month), businesses can use research tools to identify appropriate platforms and channels, optimizing customer journey funnels.
3. A – Application: This step focuses on the assets needed and how the strategy will be applied. It involves planning display ads, text ads, programmatic campaigns, and aligning content strategy and production schedules with identified channels. Crucially, it involves assessing the website – the biggest asset – to ensure it’s ready to convert visitors before driving traffic.
4. R – Review: Broader than just “reporting,” this involves connecting marketing data to CRM or ERP systems to track progress all the way through to ROI. It’s about ensuring data isn’t just vanity metrics but provides a clear picture for leadership and sales teams, bridging the “leads suck” versus “leads are great” debate. This also highlights the need to configure analytics tools like GA4 properly.
5. T – Transformation: The final step is about bringing everything together into a documented plan. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy paper document but needs to exist somewhere. Documentation prevents loss of knowledge when a marketing person leaves and makes the strategy objective rather than personal. It also ensures resources are aligned to implement the plan, preventing delays (e.g., web development team being booked). Cory shares real-world examples from his experience, changing company names to illustrate successes and challenges.

Challenges in Digital Marketing

Rob and Cory discuss the difficulties in transitioning traditional, “old-school” companies (like Fortune 500s) into the digital world. The digital game’s rules constantly change, particularly with PPC (Pay-Per-Click) marketing. Both lament the frequent rule changes by platforms like Facebook and Google.

Cory criticizes Google’s partner program metric of increasing client spend, calling it a conflict of interest. He prioritizes ethical practices, refusing to push clients to spend more if it’s not genuinely beneficial. Rob agrees, noting that ethical agency owners understand that client success directly impacts their own reputation.

Another challenge is convincing clients that a “pretty” website isn’t enough; it must generate leads and conversions. Cory’s agency intertwines search marketing and website development, ensuring SEO and UX considerations are built into every site, even if the client only seeks a website. He prioritizes functionality and revenue generation over purely artistic design, acknowledging he’s lost projects because his portfolio emphasizes functional, revenue-generating sites over “never-before-seen” designs.

Website Security and Maintenance

The conversation pivots to website security and maintenance. Both agree that security is paramount, with Cory highlighting the comfort of seeing nightly reports of blocked attacks on client sites. Security is often an afterthought, but it’s crucial to have an active process for hosting, maintenance, and ongoing risk assessment (e.g., WordPress core and plugin updates). It’s “not if, but when” a site will face a security incident if proper measures aren’t in place. Rob points out that most business owners aren’t aware of daily vulnerabilities or upcoming security fixes for platforms like WordPress, underscoring the need for expert assistance. They agree that businesses should focus on their core income-generating activities rather than DIY security.

Cory’s agency primarily focuses on WordPress, valuing its versatility for e-commerce, custom features, and widespread support. They build custom themes that maintain core compatibility, avoiding issues with security updates or child themes. They also educate clients on not giving every person admin access to their WordPress site, building in protections for brand standards and accessibility (ADA compliance in the US). Rob emphasizes the importance of accessibility, even for email marketing, citing his experience with a public entity in Canada.

Quick Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Cory offers three key takeaways for small business owners:

1. Understand Your Marketing’s Impact: If you question whether your marketing is working, it’s a sign you lack full visibility of its revenue impact. Don’t simply “turn it off” without understanding the data, especially in economic uncertainty. Leverage online attribution capabilities to know your marketing’s true contribution.
2. Strategy Over Tactics: Challenge why you’re doing certain marketing activities (e.g., creating a fixed number of blog posts or posting on every social media platform). Understand the conviction behind your content production. Content creation takes time and resources; ensure you’re getting a return. Refine efforts and repurpose content effectively.
3. Know Your Audience’s Evolving Consumption: Don’t rely solely on personas or static audience assumptions. With constant disruption (e.g., new search platforms), actively monitor where your audience consumes content and how that evolves. Be agile and scrappy, understanding where people are seeking answers and how you can be found.

Rob closes by emphasizing that economic uncertainty is a prime opportunity to thrive and build, not to retreat, citing Amazon’s growth during downturns. Challengers can seize market share when larger competitors pull back.