Tracy Montour – The Power of Linkedln
In the second episode of Season 1, Lee interviews Tracy Montour, a Director of Product Marketing who discusses all things Linkedln and podcasting. They discuss the power of marketing strategy and leadership. Tracy brings a wealth of knowledge over her time working in product marketing, plus her experience with her own Linkedln show called Nailed it/Failed it.
Have a guest recommendation, a question or just want to connect? Go here: https://www.harvardmurray.com/explori...
Connect with Tracy Montour - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-willis/
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:20:13
Lee Murray
Welcome back to Exploring Growth. Today, I'm privileged to have Director of Product Marketing Tracy Montour on the show. We talk about her LinkedIn show, nailed it or failed it, and how it helped her become a better marketing leader. Let's get into it. All right. So to the discussion that we're going to get into to today, I want to just kind of give a lead up.
00:00:20:18 - 00:00:47:02
Lee Murray
Before I introduce my guest, it's been my experience that the more you connect, the more that I've connected and engaged on LinkedIn, the more genuinely nice people that I meet that are actively pursuing growth for their personal brand or their company brand. And what I've found is that these likes and shares and comments turn into conversations that actually ultimately turn into real conversations off the platform.
00:00:47:14 - 00:01:00:00
Lee Murray
And this is exactly what's happened with me and my guest today. I'm excited to have product marketing and strategy leader Tracy Montour on to share her story with the exploring growth audience. So welcome to the podcast, Tracy.
00:01:00:16 - 00:01:03:15
Tracy Montour
Thank you for having me and it was such a nice introduction.
00:01:05:03 - 00:01:25:03
Lee Murray
Oh, thank you. I'm just trying to give my audience as much value as possible, you know, and I got to grab their attention and let them know, like, hey, we're about to dove deep here, and it's very, very valuable information. So pay attention. For for context, though, Tracy, would you please give our audience just a short introduction to who you are and what you're currently doing?
00:01:25:23 - 00:01:51:10
Tracy Montour
Yeah. So I'm Tracy Mentor. Right now I'm the director of product marketing hired SCOR, which is a technology startup in the h.r tech space, really specializing in AI and machine learning to help drive better hiring decisions. I have a lot of experience in different types of marketing, not only product marketing, but marketing, leadership, marketing strategy and really everything.
00:01:52:03 - 00:02:16:13
Tracy Montour
I just find marketing interesting. So I like to dove in and get experience in different aspects of it, different on stage companies and different types of industries. So I connected with Lee on LinkedIn when I hosted my own podcast in the past, and I've just been on LinkedIn. I'm trying to learn and grow from others and and get different perspectives and input.
00:02:16:13 - 00:02:20:20
Tracy Montour
So I'm excited to talk about what we're going to talk about today.
00:02:21:13 - 00:02:43:03
Lee Murray
Yeah, definitely. And it really comes through to shows that you have a love for marketing. And and I think that's sort of what drew me to your content on LinkedIn, too, because I love connecting with people that actually love the craft. You know, it's not just a job for them. So to kind of set the premise for this discussion, was it back in 2020 that you started your show?
00:02:43:17 - 00:03:04:23
Tracy Montour
Yeah. So it was like as soon as the pandemic hit, I was feeling kind of like stuck and isolated, I'm sure, like everyone else in the world. And I just decided like not really getting out there, meeting anybody new or hearing any new ideas and the content that I was seeing on LinkedIn was kind of like, you know, sometimes LinkedIn can be like an echo chamber.
00:03:04:23 - 00:03:20:17
Tracy Montour
It's like you keep seeing the same topics over again. It just repeated. So I was like, I want to get out and just learn about different people, maybe people who don't speak as much on LinkedIn or maybe are more listeners. I want to hear from them, so I just decided to go for it.
00:03:21:16 - 00:03:56:04
Lee Murray
Yeah, definitely. So you started what we're talking about here, sort of a podcast or LinkedIn shows. It was specifically for LinkedIn called Nailed It, failed it, nailed it or failed it. And from my perspective, the way I looked at it was like, you're bringing on various professionals asking about one success, one failure that they had. And and I thought that was really cool because in it's kind of like sort of similar to the approach I'm taking with mine that like you said, I want to bring on people that are sort of, you know, behind the curtain and aren't naturally going to put themselves out there.
00:03:57:00 - 00:04:14:08
Lee Murray
But once they do, they kind of see the value to doing that. So when you when you launched it, I was honored to be on the on the show. And I thought it was a great effort to connect and learn from other people. And by the way, I'll put a link to that to one of those episodes from your initial maybe season or what.
00:04:14:10 - 00:04:31:04
Lee Murray
I'm not sure if you call it season one, back down in description. So if people want that as a point of reference, because I know you're starting again, but since we haven't talked at length about what the show did for you and I basically that's that's the reason I want to have you on. I just bring you on.
00:04:31:04 - 00:04:52:08
Lee Murray
Let's talk more in depth about like why did you start it? What did it take to produce it each week, you know, that kind of thing. I think marketing leaders and CEOs can learn why they should be active on LinkedIn and how a show concept like yours can create growth for them personally and for their company. I mean, again, like, I don't know, that's why I'm having you on.
00:04:52:08 - 00:04:59:12
Lee Murray
Like, I want to I want to hear the story, but I just have this sneaky suspicion that it did really, really good things for you. So let's jump into it.
00:04:59:23 - 00:05:00:07
Tracy Montour
Sure.
00:05:00:16 - 00:05:11:22
Lee Murray
So before you launched the show, where were you in your career, in your role? Like, you know, what company were you working with and what did that look like?
00:05:12:15 - 00:05:37:00
Tracy Montour
So during that time, I was director of marketing at a small startup here in Buffalo called KAB. I created Productivity Solutions for financial services industry, mainly dark cloud option and you know, when the pandemic hit, it's a great company, but I just was like everyone else in the world analyzing like, what am I doing with my life? Am I really passionate about this?
00:05:37:00 - 00:06:00:13
Tracy Montour
You know, I loved my coworkers and my clients, but I was in a space where I just wanted to explore and see what other people were doing and really reevaluate my priorities. And so really, I got more active on LinkedIn and I mean, I was pretty active on LinkedIn already, maybe for a year or so, but just wanting to connect with people, which was super hard.
00:06:00:13 - 00:06:29:05
Tracy Montour
Like I said, during the beginning of the pandemic, we were all at home, really. Nobody was going out to anything. It wasn't safe to do so. So I thought connecting with people and having a reason to do so by talking about, you know, targeted topics and and helping other people get access to that information would be helpful. For me, it wasn't even so much about building my brand rather than just me learning from people, which I can say is maybe part of my brand.
00:06:29:20 - 00:06:58:10
Tracy Montour
As much as I'm a marketer and I love building brands and creating like clarity for the companies I work for, like, I don't really care that much about my personal brand or so, just trying to grow and learn and connect with people that I think are smart and interesting. So really that was just that this this like how can I meet people that I see on LinkedIn doing cool things or that I think will be interesting to speak with?
00:06:58:10 - 00:07:03:06
Tracy Montour
And how can I also share that knowledge with my network?
00:07:04:11 - 00:07:21:19
Lee Murray
Definitely. And you know what's funny is just recently after we're kind of looking back at your profile, I saw that you have a featured your only thing that you have featured on your profile because you can feature things on there. If you don't know, you can do that, which I think it was kind of interesting. You only have one thing there.
00:07:21:19 - 00:07:40:22
Lee Murray
I actually like that. Right? Like it's like this is it. Like this is what I want you to see. And it's your operating guide. Like when people you know where to work with you or connect with you or communicate with you. It shows like your Enneagram and your Myers-Briggs because I think and couple of different things and I love that by the way, but I noticed on there that it was.
00:07:40:22 - 00:07:44:08
Lee Murray
You were an introvert, right? Wasn't I asked. T.J..
00:07:44:23 - 00:07:47:03
Tracy Montour
I'm like, it is up to you, which is.
00:07:47:03 - 00:07:47:11
Lee Murray
Okay.
00:07:47:16 - 00:07:48:12
Tracy Montour
August one.
00:07:48:23 - 00:08:10:02
Lee Murray
Yeah, well, it depends on who you're talking to. I am an AI and Chef J, so I'm I'm close. I have an extroverted side of me that I can bring out when needed, but I've definitely become more introverted over time, so I'm very much in my head, right? I mean, it's a good thing. That's why I'm a consultant.
00:08:10:02 - 00:08:33:15
Lee Murray
But it's also a bad thing because I ponder over things and overthink things. So to that point, though, I think it's interesting that, you know, someone with your personality type, especially being introverted, we would want to start a show on LinkedIn, you know. So walk me through that. Like, what was that thinking like? Because I have to imagine that emotionally you're kind of like, Oh, okay, am I really going to do this?
00:08:33:21 - 00:08:52:16
Tracy Montour
Yeah. I mean, I think there's a sense of like imposter syndrome, like a musical genius. But at the end of the day, kind of my thought process is like, who cares if nobody wants to? Like, at least I get value out of it. And if people do watch it and they don't like it, well, don't forget about it.
00:08:52:16 - 00:09:20:03
Tracy Montour
And that's fine. But I so me being an introvert, I would say like I, I mean, obviously if you're an introvert, you have times where you can be extroverted, but you need time to recover. I think it's easier for me to do virtual conversations, podcasts and things like that because I have a lot of time to prepare, like just information after and really just have a framework around the conversation that we're going to have.
00:09:20:07 - 00:09:21:04
Lee Murray
Yeah, that's a good point.
00:09:21:12 - 00:09:45:04
Tracy Montour
So that's easy for me. And then I really just find that interesting to talk with people. So I, you know, as much as it's kind of taxing, like sometimes before recording the podcast, I'm like, I really do not feel like doing that. Yeah. I mean, then I just kind of push myself and get through it and I really think like, everybody has something valuable to say.
00:09:45:04 - 00:10:02:13
Tracy Montour
Everyone has unique experiences. So if you're feeling like anybody watching and you're feeling like you're introverted and it's hard for you to communicate, it's all about the preparation and figuring out what you want to say. And if you don't want to say anything at all, just do it. I did an interview on other people.
00:10:02:18 - 00:10:26:00
Lee Murray
That's right. That's right. Yeah. Keep it simple. You know, it's funny, I think that we all as marketers, we're always trying to push content out there and get seen, you know, for for the brands we're growing. And so the 24 hour news cycle can be just a grind because you're always trying to stay in front of people. But in this way, it's almost like you find comfort in that 24 hour cycle because if it's bad or people don't want to see it, it's going to go away.
00:10:26:00 - 00:10:50:17
Lee Murray
And pretty much 24 hours or 48 hours and people complain. It's like trying to trying to be found on the second page of Google, you know, so there's a little bit of comfort, I think there. And and I think you're kind of making a case for for introverts. And, you know, because I think I don't know, my my original thinking was like, there's this big social thing that's happening and it's almost like this big social event you have to walk into.
00:10:51:08 - 00:11:13:08
Lee Murray
But, you know, being on LinkedIn, you control how how much you engage. And if you're doing something like this, I mean, to your point, like it's one it's one person that you're having a conversation with. It's not, you know, part of a big group of people. So it's actually this kind of platform or, you know, concept plays to the introvert.
00:11:14:00 - 00:11:34:05
Tracy Montour
Absolutely. Yeah. Like you said, what? I'm walking to a conference or something. I love it because there's so many different people and you can look around. But after a while it's like overstimulating. And there's too many people when you schedule a conversation or you have a podcast or you're just reaching out on LinkedIn, connecting even like, you know, on the spot.
00:11:34:06 - 00:11:51:04
Tracy Montour
I think it's really nice to have that time in that space and even that boundary of like not being in the same place. So I think it is like kind of a unifier. LinkedIn for extroverts and introverts alike, I'm sure that extroverts can't wait to get back and be in person.
00:11:51:04 - 00:11:51:19
Lee Murray
Yeah, right.
00:11:52:03 - 00:11:55:09
Tracy Montour
I can wait a little longer.
00:11:55:09 - 00:12:24:16
Lee Murray
Well, so, you know, for me, when I'm looking at launching this podcast and, you know, putting this out there, the way I'm thinking about it is there's a couple layers sort of strategically that I'm thinking about what this is going to do for me. And one is that it puts me in front of prospects, right? Because they get to see me demonstrate what I know about marketing and get to know me before they really meet me or know me.
00:12:24:16 - 00:12:45:00
Lee Murray
But it also puts me in front of strategic partners that could refer me to people, influencers. And I think also there's an advantage to me, like you've been mentioning, I get to learn from other guests that, come on, I'm curious, when you started your show, like, what was the thought process about what you wanted to see come out of it?
00:12:45:21 - 00:12:53:09
Lee Murray
Was it I mean, were you did you have a singular thing or were you just kind of like I mean, I just want to meet people and network.
00:12:54:12 - 00:13:17:06
Tracy Montour
Yeah. I mean, for me, really, it was about not working. Yeah. The nice thing is a lot of people that I had on my podcast end up getting good results from it without that being the intention sign up. Since on my show they have had clients reach out to the prospects. Reach out to them and build relationships. Ah, that's quite a bonus for me to be able to help people.
00:13:17:18 - 00:13:41:08
Tracy Montour
I think in terms of like how I build my brand, like I've always been kind of wary of this concept of a personal brand because like I feel like, I don't know, it's just an internal struggle I have. Like I don't want to like commodify myself or like, like have any reductive statements about who I am. And I really think just having a podcast with the intention of learning does help support.
00:13:41:08 - 00:14:12:03
Tracy Montour
But my brand is and who I am as a person, like I'm very naturally curious person. I want to learn, I want to explore. I don't want to be the person talking all the time, right? I don't think right. And also like the the main thesis of the the nailed it or felt the concept was to focus around we don't we don't always learn from six answers we always learn from failures and writers and people in the professional environments don't openly talk about their failures.
00:14:12:03 - 00:14:45:21
Tracy Montour
And I think that's a problem. And we need to have a more open dialog around failures and normalizing those conversation and being willing to admit and share that. So that was really like my thought process of just getting those conversations out there. Of course, like it's nice to get exposure for who you are with issues and any opportunities, but you know, as a person who's not actively seeking a new job like I think it's important to see how you can connect with people that brings value to you.
00:14:45:21 - 00:15:00:13
Tracy Montour
Without that, maybe even needing to get new prospects or needing to look for a new role or anything like there's value you can get from connecting with people, even if you want to keep everything in your life the same. So. Right, yeah. That's yeah.
00:15:00:15 - 00:15:30:02
Lee Murray
Yeah. Right. And you know, I mean, you are a marketing professional and so, you know, I don't want that to be missed either for any other marketing professionals are listening this. There's so many marketing people out there in so many industries at different levels. Right. And if they're listening to this, I think what I'm hearing from you is that this is a great way, even just engaging with people on LinkedIn in their comment section heard the term thrown away, thrown around that comments are content.
00:15:30:02 - 00:15:58:20
Lee Murray
Right which I believe like you're you're putting out a little post and every little comment you make but but going to the next level and say, okay, well, what do you want to do with your career? Maybe maybe you do want this to be a leverage point to help grow the brand of the company that you're at. And, you know, had Emily Brady on from Sweet Fish and we talked about employee evangelist programs where, you know, a lot of the employees get involved.
00:15:58:20 - 00:16:32:16
Lee Murray
And that's definitely something that could grow into that. Maybe you could lead, right? But maybe not. Maybe it's just an inflection point where you put yourself out there like you did and you build your network of more robust networking you learn along the way. I think what's great about podcasts these days and YouTube, for that matter, is that it's sort of like continuing education, post schooling, you know, especially for marketers, you don't have a lot of post-graduate studies that you can do.
00:16:32:16 - 00:16:51:09
Lee Murray
It's not like we're getting recertified or something. I mean, there are obviously marketing software, automation platforms that do that kind of thing. But other than the technical side of it, you know, you have to go out there and form our own perspective on where things are at or where things are going. So these kind of shows are great for that.
00:16:52:20 - 00:17:28:09
Tracy Montour
Yeah. And I'll say that going into the second season or whatever we want to call it on my podcast, I do have a more strategic goal. So okay, kind of all my efforts around posting on LinkedIn right now are trying to get people that want to engage with me because they align with my perspectives and then ultimately like when I'm hiring as I'm hiring right now, like is being easily able to attract people who want to work with me because of my perspective right?
00:17:28:09 - 00:17:52:06
Tracy Montour
My strategy of marketing and product marketing and even just business strategy like they are already on board with my approach and they want to work with me because they like what I have to say as a leader and everything like that. So for me, since hiring so hard right now, that's my long term goal in terms of my personal brand or my LinkedIn content or the podcast is just getting people to understand like what?
00:17:52:08 - 00:18:05:13
Tracy Montour
What do I value? How do I function as a leader and a thought leader in this product marketing, marketing strategy, industry, right? What do they do? They agree with me enough. So like come work with me.
00:18:05:23 - 00:18:29:23
Lee Murray
I think that's such a great point. I appreciate you bringing that up because, you know, I have advised clients in the past that are of a certain size to create a podcast, even internally for their their culture. And what it does. It helps to build out the thinking internally because people can, at their own time listen to the conversations that are happening about the company in a certain way.
00:18:30:04 - 00:18:56:20
Lee Murray
But on the hiring side, to your point, you know, if you bring someone in and they're in the later stages of of hiring or even in the first stages, is giving them access to that podcast and letting them listen to five or ten episodes and then say, what do you think? You know, I mean, they're going to have a lot a lot better perspective on the company culture and if they fit, you know, so it could be a really good like what you're doing is I think, a great effort now.
00:18:56:22 - 00:19:17:09
Tracy Montour
And I think like when you're looking for a new role, especially now with the current job market, like your manager or your direct manager and the leadership of the company in general, such an important part of making that decision. So how do you think like we as leaders can put out there to show like this is what we're about, these are our values, is kind of what we find important, right?
00:19:18:03 - 00:19:32:07
Tracy Montour
That I think that is really critical for helping people make the decision whether they want to work at your company or not. And the more contacts you can give them, the easier it is to make that decision. Decision just like in marketing with, you know, lead generation.
00:19:32:07 - 00:19:52:11
Lee Murray
So agreed. So we talked a lot about like the why of how you got into it and all and all of that. Let's talk about the how. So, you know, when you actually started to create it and, you know, put that first episode out there, what did it take to get started and then what did it take to keep it going?
00:19:53:05 - 00:20:04:12
Tracy Montour
Yeah. So I made this kind of foolish decision, like, but without even thinking about any of the logistics, like, do a daily podcast. This was reasonable. I don't know.
00:20:04:12 - 00:20:06:22
Lee Murray
Yeah, sure.
00:20:06:22 - 00:20:32:07
Tracy Montour
But I made the decision that posted it on LinkedIn, so there was no turning back. I'm lucky enough where my husband is able to edit videos. He's very talented musician, so he wrote me a little theme song, so I was really lucky to have that free resource, but the person freelancers out there are, you know, agencies or all types of people who are willing to help.
00:20:32:07 - 00:20:53:20
Tracy Montour
If you don't have someone that lives in your house that's willing to do that, or if you can't do that, well, you're really stuck. So I reached out to a bunch of people I thought were interesting and just said, Hey, I'm thinking about doing this podcast like it's 10 minutes and under just three questions. What's one success and what's one failure and what's one tip you want to share with the rest of them?
00:20:53:21 - 00:21:19:11
Tracy Montour
And to my surprise, people said yes pretty easily. So I just booked Zoom meetings and I recorded on Zoom, sent the files to my husband to edit, and then he included like, you know, Trip Trim, put a bumper in with the theme song music, make them look professional. And then I just posted on LinkedIn and I wasn't really sure what was going to happen and they kept it up.
00:21:19:11 - 00:21:48:07
Tracy Montour
I think there is over 40 episodes, so I did a daily Monday through Friday, daily for over a month, and it was definitely a really big learning experience. Throughout the process, I had people reaching out to me asking, How did you make the videos look so professional? I can't take any credit for that. But I think, you know what we did internally, the whole process from start to finish between me and my husband was less than, let's say, less than 30 minutes per episode.
00:21:48:07 - 00:22:10:08
Tracy Montour
Oh, wow, that's great. Yeah, because that would record time. It would be like a 15 minute conversation. I would send the file to him and then he would edit it right away. And we just had like a template of the video bumpers, how we would put the titles and credits and the bumper. So it was really quick and efficient process.
00:22:11:09 - 00:22:17:06
Tracy Montour
And yeah, I think if you work with an agency like they can definitely do something similar or a freelancer.
00:22:18:00 - 00:22:20:10
Lee Murray
So how many episodes did you do in total?
00:22:22:01 - 00:22:33:05
Tracy Montour
I don't remember. I'm like really unorganized about this for some reason, but I think it was over 40. I just I just I had reset my computer, so I actually lost all the files. Oh, my.
00:22:33:05 - 00:22:33:17
Lee Murray
Gosh.
00:22:34:09 - 00:23:02:07
Tracy Montour
I have them on LinkedIn, which is good, I guess, but I will definitely be more organized going forward for the next season. I already have like 20 guys confirmed or something. That's all I need for interviews, so I definitely want to do more long term this time around. Yeah. Yeah. So it was definitely a learning experience. And that being said, like if you're thinking about recording a podcast, you don't have to commit to it for like a year or six months.
00:23:02:07 - 00:23:07:06
Tracy Montour
That's right. Do it two episodes if you want to. That's right. It's going to rare that you didn't continue.
00:23:07:16 - 00:23:26:05
Lee Murray
Yeah. I mean, the worst case scenario is either no one's going to watch it or listen to it, which is probably not going to happen if you have anything interesting to say, you know. And then the other side would be that, you know, people actually do watch it and then they reach out to you and say, we need to see more, you know, so then you have to get your stuff together to keep doing it.
00:23:27:01 - 00:23:48:04
Tracy Montour
Actually, that's what happened to me. I did want to continue doing it. I had started a new role and like, you know, onboarding a new job at a startup is very time intensive and mentally exhausting. So I didn't have the capacity to do it, but people kept messaging me saying they really liked the series and they were wondering if I was going to bring it back.
00:23:48:04 - 00:24:09:10
Tracy Montour
And I was just like, Yeah, it was free time. So I can I can bring it back. I have the capacity and the willingness to do so. So even if you're not like I'm not a celebrity on LinkedIn, I'm not one of the top boys, not as a normal person like me. People do want to still see your content and they will miss it when it's gone.
00:24:09:12 - 00:24:21:02
Tracy Montour
They find value in it so suddenly. Interesting to see how anybody can really have something that quote unquote goes viral on LinkedIn for sure.
00:24:21:10 - 00:24:39:20
Lee Murray
So what I think that people probably really want to know is what what came of it or like what were the results, right? So did you. And maybe this is not the case, but did your new role kind of sort of come from the fact that you did all of this? Or like what was the progression that you saw?
00:24:39:20 - 00:24:49:08
Lee Murray
Because I know you built your network, right? And you made a bunch of new connections and all that. But what really came of it from from all that effort?
00:24:49:08 - 00:25:22:14
Tracy Montour
Yeah. I mean, I think the main thing that I got out of it was that I was a lot smarter than okay beginning. So that's, that's the number one thing for me that's learned a lot. I connected with people actually just to see and like see the person on video that you see their little circle on LinkedIn of their picture and get to know them a little bit more was really amazing and a lot of just site conversations and referrals and, you know, sharing ideas within those personal contacts came from it.
00:25:22:14 - 00:25:37:17
Tracy Montour
And then I don't know if it like got me noticed for my new job that I'm in, but I did talk with my friend Tyler, who was on the hiring committee, and he was like, Oh, it's either video series when, you know, I was interviewing you and I thought that was really cool. And like, so I'm sure definitely help.
00:25:37:18 - 00:26:02:12
Tracy Montour
Definitely. Yeah. So I think it's just getting yourself out there more helping people who are if you have a goal for your podcast, I would definitely measure it. I just I'm probably coming up as like the worst marketer ever, but my goal personally was to learn and I did achieve that. And now I feel like I'm always connecting back with the people who are on my show.
00:26:02:12 - 00:26:24:19
Tracy Montour
For sure I have a question and or if I know someone, if they're hiring and I can refer them or if they know someone when I'm hiring and they can do that. Or if I have a challenge like finding help on pricing or packaging or something that I can reach out to my network, which is excellent. Yeah. So I think it's all if you do have a go in with a goal in mind that's really important to match with.
00:26:24:22 - 00:26:50:07
Tracy Montour
And fortunately for this podcast, I was a little bit more loose about my goals. But I mean, it's all about brand awareness as well. So I plan to be more transparent with the views and engagements on the next round of the podcast. Help people understand that. But I mean, I had the expectation of like ten people would watch and I got thousands of views, 40,000 views on some of the videos.
00:26:50:07 - 00:27:08:10
Lee Murray
So yeah, that's awesome. So as you plan for this coming season that you're recording now, are you can you share like kind of how you're thinking about it from tracking measuring standpoint? Are there certain tools, are you using or how are you approaching that? And do you have any other like new systems that you're putting in place?
00:27:09:22 - 00:27:28:23
Tracy Montour
I don't have any new systems. I really like to keep it like authentic and just easy there. There are platforms out there where you can have a higher production value that's I don't know. It's not important to me in terms of my personal brand, and I'm sure it's very important to others. So I just keep it easy as possible.
00:27:29:04 - 00:27:51:11
Tracy Montour
And I tell people when they come on my show, I don't worry about messing up or anything, like it's just linked and we can worry about that. And actually gotten feedback from my followers or people have connected with that. They really like that about me. That just kind of myself. I might try to be not myself and be more polished and that never is larger.
00:27:51:11 - 00:28:15:01
Tracy Montour
Be I am who I am. But in terms of measurement, yes, I do want to be more structured because if I'm investing my limited personal time in something, I want to make sure that I'm getting something out of it and supporting my long term goals. So I will be utilizing, I think, just like the LinkedIn and science I don't have I'm not doing like any lead tracking or anything like that, okay?
00:28:15:09 - 00:28:37:07
Tracy Montour
There's no like attribution tracking or anything like that. Just like how many views am I getting? How many engagements am I getting, who's, you know, looking at my contacts? Am I reaching you know, new audiences? Or is it always the same people who are commenting on my posts and my reaching the right types of audiences? So like I'm in product marketing right now.
00:28:37:16 - 00:28:56:00
Tracy Montour
Maybe I want to focus on more of my content around marketing, product marketing to get that audience in. For one, I do have roles open, so it's I think it'll be like an iteration process as, as my goals change and things like that. But I think that's another great point is like don't be tied to one goal that you set out with.
00:28:56:02 - 00:29:14:18
Tracy Montour
Like if you start out for, oh, I just want to connect with people and your finding you're getting leads from your podcast or your content like change your goals, change your strategy, change your measurement, yeah. And try some. Try to do it. What is on the next horizon? What's your North Star right now? And you can always change.
00:29:15:01 - 00:29:38:14
Lee Murray
I like that a lot. You know, we've talked about a lot about LinkedIn only primarily because that's where your show was. But I also think if people are listening to this, you're their audience. If they're thinking about doing this for their company or for the personal brand, may not be LinkedIn specific. Right. So just to just to have it be said, you know, more overtly, I think that this type of concept can play on on any platform.
00:29:38:22 - 00:30:02:18
Lee Murray
You know, if you're on Facebook or on Instagram and even on email, I think just having some kind of, you know, quasi consistent voice that you're putting out there and getting feedback, that's the first step, I think, to really understanding where it's going to go. I love the idea of keeping it open and open, mind getting started, because if you're not, you don't feel it's easier to get out of the gate, right?
00:30:03:00 - 00:30:15:17
Lee Murray
Because you don't feel like, oh, if I don't if this doesn't happen, then it's going to be a complete failure, you know, and then I'll end up on a crazy show and it failed. And I've talk about my failure and it's all going to go bad.
00:30:15:17 - 00:30:40:21
Tracy Montour
Yeah, I think having an open mind is really important. And exactly what you said, being consistent is important. I think that's the most important quality anyone can have. Yes. In any facet of life, but especially in the professional world. And building your brand, really just trying and trying and trying and having those successes and failures and really doing and focusing on what's important to you.
00:30:41:15 - 00:31:02:17
Tracy Montour
I think it's really important in the workplace. Consistency and momentum are the words that I typically use the most when I'm looking for the right person, not for my team or for when I think of what could be improved. It's always a lack of like when I do see failures in the workplace, like it's either because there's a loss of momentum or a lack of consistency.
00:31:03:16 - 00:31:05:16
Tracy Montour
So I think that those are two really good points.
00:31:05:16 - 00:31:25:08
Lee Murray
Yeah, definitely. And you know, just one of the thing that comes to mind is this idea of inspiration. I think that we discount how inspiring we can be to other people because we're always looking up to people who are inspiring us, thinking, who could we inspire? Right. And it may not be to the level that we get inspired.
00:31:25:08 - 00:31:49:05
Lee Murray
Maybe it's on a, you know, diminished level or different playing field or, you know, we never know how people are coming to our our content or even like offline coming to the conversations we have with people. We don't we don't know where they are and what could influence them. So, you know, I think that I think that there probably was a were a lot of people who were inspired by what you did.
00:31:49:05 - 00:32:03:21
Lee Murray
And even if they didn't start a LinkedIn show, maybe they took a step in their life, in work or outside of work because they saw what you did and said, hey, you know, I can do something like that, too. And I've been thinking about doing this thing for so long and now I'm going to actually do it.
00:32:05:09 - 00:32:27:19
Tracy Montour
Yeah. And exactly to that point, there have been people that have reached out to me, whether for feedback on their career or they need to understand how to make a podcast or things like that. I always talk with them no matter what, like especially with someone young in their career, even friends who are having a transition. And I would just say if you're out there on LinkedIn, you definitely are inspiring someone.
00:32:28:00 - 00:32:52:18
Tracy Montour
There's people all walks of life who are looking up to you, even if you're at an entry level role like that's a position they like. Or maybe you have a mindset that that inspires them. Like be sure to connect with people when they're opened up to about like wanting to learn from you. I think that's the most important thing because I see a lot of people on LinkedIn that are talking like at LinkedIn, but I'm not sure if they're open to connecting on a personal level.
00:32:52:18 - 00:33:15:01
Tracy Montour
And I think that's what it's all about, is like helping people grow and sharing knowledge and sharing opportunity because like I know just based on my life experience, I never thought I would be where I am now. And like, if I can help somebody else accelerate their career or just understand like that, you can change your career, your career trajectory.
00:33:15:01 - 00:33:27:23
Tracy Montour
Or maybe there's something you never even considered like that. I'm more than happy to do that, and I think that that's for me, the purpose of like dead. So yeah, I just encourage you like always help when people ask you for help.
00:33:28:16 - 00:33:48:03
Lee Murray
100%. So as we wrap up, I want to I want to ask you a couple of questions I ask all my guests. And the first one is about resources. So what resources do you go to? Books, podcasts, articles that you found helpful for that you would recommend for marketing leaders and CEOs of small growing companies?
00:33:49:12 - 00:34:16:14
Tracy Montour
I would say. I mean, we're so lucky in the marketing industry that we have so many resources and books and podcasts. I would definitely recommend for anyone who is in product marketing to get involved with the Product Marketing Alliance. I've taken several of their course. There's amazing content out there and community you can learn from. I find that sometimes the marketing content that's out there is kind of what I was saying earlier.
00:34:16:14 - 00:34:47:14
Tracy Montour
It's like an echo chamber. It's just the same ideas recycle. And so I like to get outside of sometimes some marketing content and look at more business strategy books. So I can recommend a few. I mean, the first of which which I cover here is playing to win. This is like my favorite book, actually. I keep all my favorite books on my desk and then I have this obviously awesome book, which is by April Dunford, which is around positioning and messaging.
00:34:47:14 - 00:35:18:04
Tracy Montour
Okay. I'm sure a lot of read that, which I think is super helpful. Additionally, I think it's important to not read business or marketing stuff solely like as a marketer. It's really important to be a story builder and a storyteller. So just reading fiction as well and really identifying like what? How to write, how to tell a story, how to connect, how to, you know, really dove and dove deep into copywriting.
00:35:18:04 - 00:35:33:11
Tracy Montour
Like if you like, the way a writer writes such and how they write, practice writing and their style and things like that. So I think it's important to kind of zoom out and then you can be more effective in marketing or whatever you're doing, whether it's I.
00:35:33:22 - 00:36:10:17
Lee Murray
I couldn't agree more as 100% and I, I think it's so important that last point about copywriting because that's, that's a really big piece, sort of the pointy end of the spear when it comes to marketing. And I've noticed that personally too in reading all kinds of things. But when and I would even say even outside of reading or listening, but like, you know, going to art shows or, you know, things that are you're taking in the world and you're sort of filtering it through the lens of a marketer, you know, yourself, the marketer.
00:36:11:07 - 00:36:47:18
Lee Murray
And when I do that, I find so many unique ways to approach marketing and approach copywriting, approach, you know, video creation and all the things that we're doing in a strategy. And I don't really have anything off top my head. I wish I could draw on that. But I want to really emphasize what you're saying, because I know for for personal experience, when I'm aware, when I'm making myself that I'm taking in these things from the world and I'm looking at them through the lens of a marketer, they really do impact how I approach things.
00:36:47:18 - 00:37:10:11
Lee Murray
And I think the only thing I could think of out of my head would be like an email, right? So if you're sending a nurture email to a warm list and you know, obviously subject line, but when you start that email, if it's really heavy story driven and it is impactful in a way that you were impacted when you read I don't know, Lord of the Rings, right.
00:37:11:06 - 00:37:31:18
Lee Murray
I mean, it doesn't have to be dramatic, but if it's impactful in it, it will grab people's attention in a way that they're not used to seeing on email. And if you can tie that to the purpose of and the value you're bringing in the body of that email, you're now at a different level when it comes to marketing, right?
00:37:31:18 - 00:37:42:07
Lee Murray
So, so I love that fact that you're bringing all these different things into your life and not being in that, you know, in the echo chamber of marketing speak or marketing terms.
00:37:43:13 - 00:38:01:11
Tracy Montour
Yeah. And I think not to go too philosophical, but like when you like you said, why do you go to an art gallery or listen to music or you're watching a movie? It's like the point of all of those channels is to tell a story and connect with you as an audience. And that's the exact same thing, not just a marketing, but as a business.
00:38:01:12 - 00:38:26:18
Tracy Montour
Like we're trying to solve pain points and challenges and it is a lot more emotional than you think, especially when you're in B2B. I think that's changing. But people used to have this perception that it was little bit more sterile. It's a very emotional decision. People are emotional about their work. It frustrates them. They spend most of their time thinking about it, and I think it's just connecting all of that.
00:38:26:18 - 00:38:55:14
Tracy Montour
And yeah, this is where I say and maybe I know what your next question is, but I got when people say, Oh, it's just marketing, I really think that's detrimental to the business. And of course, like marketing success overall. But marketing is an extension of every other part of your your company, your product, your brand, your customer success all connects together.
00:38:55:14 - 00:39:08:19
Tracy Montour
And marketing has to be a reflection of that. And if you're reducing something to just marketing, you're really reducing everything we just talked about, which is that emotional part, connecting to the customer, having a focus.
00:39:09:08 - 00:39:35:17
Lee Murray
So it's like a mini masterclass on how to do great marketing in 2022. This is where we're at right now in this moment, because I'm thinking about this as you know, how you do great marketing is through being human and being authentic to your brand or to your story or narrative. And I think how you actually do that is by communicating translate, knowing how something has actually impacted you.
00:39:35:23 - 00:40:06:09
Lee Murray
So if you're standing in front of a piece of art work at a gallery, or if you're reading something that's been really well written, that's fiction, whatever it may be, and you're taking that in personally and it's impacting you in a certain way. Translating that feeling, translating those ideas in a different context is great marketing. I think that's where we're at and I think that's what you're saying is you're taking all this stuff in and you're thinking about it.
00:40:06:09 - 00:40:26:23
Lee Murray
You're to the to the processing side of the Myers-Briggs back to that. Like we're processing all of this and how it affects us. And then we're releasing it to the world in a different context, in the context of a product that's B is part of a brand, you know. But there are people behind the product, there are people behind the brand and the way that they are being impacted.
00:40:26:23 - 00:40:53:11
Lee Murray
I think those are the if we look at the marketing campaigns that really have impacted consumers, you think, oh, wow, that like they really get me, right. It's because they're I think there was a marketer or maybe two or maybe their creative person or two on the team that were allowed to really translate and communicate how they were impacted personally in a certain way.
00:40:53:21 - 00:41:15:15
Lee Murray
Right. And even more so, I'd say if they were impacted in the right context and it just made sense they could translate it directly through to the consumer. And the consumer is like, Yeah, I feel that exact same thing. That's where I think great marketing comes from. It comes from a human being being impacted and then translating that.
00:41:16:12 - 00:41:31:11
Lee Murray
So I love that. I love that advice of getting outside of your your world, your echo chamber and, you know, the current voices and being impacted by what's out there in the world, world around us.
00:41:31:11 - 00:41:31:18
Tracy Montour
Yeah.
00:41:32:19 - 00:41:42:19
Lee Murray
And then the last question is if you could wave a wand. I know you were kind of alluding to this earlier and change the mind of a CEO. What how would you change their thinking?
00:41:44:04 - 00:42:22:04
Tracy Montour
Yeah. So I've been lucky to work with great CEOs who understand marketing and find value. And then I know there are a lot of CEOs out there that misunderstand marketing or kind of reduce it to just perhaps a generation or a revenue impact. Impact. I think it's about zooming out and understanding the message that you want to convey in the market and the importance of that across all of the business and really seeing marketing as a strategic role and just kind of the mouth of the company agreed.
00:42:22:16 - 00:42:46:01
Lee Murray
100% that's charge forward with that changing the minds of CEOs and marketers everywhere now. Tracey, thanks so much for being on. I very much enjoyed this conversation as I knew I would and I'm really excited for you. And your show started soaring back up again. If people want to reach out and watch the show or get connected with you personally, how can they do that?
00:42:47:10 - 00:42:58:23
Tracy Montour
Just look me up on LinkedIn. I'm Tracey mantra or reach out to me Tracey mantra at gmail.com if you have any questions or if you just want to talk. I am always here.
00:42:59:06 - 00:43:04:00
Lee Murray
It's awesome. Thanks, Tracey. Enjoyed it and hey be well.
00:43:05:02 - 00:43:06:19
Tracy Montour
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
00:43:07:06 - 00:43:28:15
Lee Murray
Hey, I really appreciate you tuning into this episode of Explore and Growth. I'm trying to get this in the hands of as many growing businesses as possible so they can take this practical wisdom in deployed in their companies or with their teams. If you're getting some value out of this show and know someone who should listen as well, would you consider sharing with them or leave a positive review on the platform in which you're listening or watching YouTube?
00:43:28:15 - 00:43:36:23
Lee Murray
Audience Leave a comment below something you liked or your perspective on what we discussed. I'm grateful for everyone that tunes in every week. Let's keep exploring.