A list of digital hacks and tools for full-stack marketers

Research and Development

• BuiltWith - Web technology information profiler tool. Find out what a website is built with. 
• SpyFu - Search for any competitor. Download their keywords. It's that simple. Learn competitors' PPC and SEO tricks and avoid their mistakes.
• Wappalyzer - A cross-platform utility that uncovers the technologies used on websites.
• Can Snippet CE - A content element to render code snippet of various programming languages. Hover over features you like and copy the code directly.
• What Runs - A free browser extension that helps you identify technologies used on any website at the click of a button.

Design and Development

• CSS Peeper - Get access to the useful styles with our Chrome extension. Our mission is to let Designers focus on design, and spend as little time as possible digging in a code.
• Window Resizer - Resize the browser window to emulate various screen resolutions. This extension re-sizes the browser's window in order to emulate various resolutions
• Colorzilla - ColorZilla includes a Color Picker, Eye Dropper, Gradient Generator and many additional advanced color tools
• EffinAmazing A/B Testing Calculator - This extension allows you to calculate the statistical significance and conversion rate of your A/B tests.

Photo and Video

• Loom - Easy and free screen recorder for Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks. Record your camera and screen with audio directly from your Chrome browser
• Social Blade - The best of Social Blade Stats right on YouTube, TwitchTV, Twitter and Instagram. 
• Cloud App - CloudApp screen recorder software for Mac and PC. Record video, webcam, GIFs, capture your screen and share it instantly to the cloud, all in one and easy-to-use.
• Search by Image - This extension allows you to initiate a Google search using any image on the web.
• Crello - The simplest online image editor. Create your own designs — posts, covers, graphics, and posters using the best software on the web.
• TubeBuddy - TubeBuddy is The Premier YouTube Channel Management and Video Optimization Toolkit

Public Relations

• #JournoRequest #PRRequest - Both #journorequest and #prrequest allow for Journalists and PRs to interact with each other productively.
• Awario - Track mentions of your brand and competitors across the web, discover your niche influencers, engage with customers, and find new sales leads on social
• PressHunt - Press Hunt is a searchable database of 500,000 journalists categorized by what they're statistically most likely to write about.
• Exposure Cards - Exposure Cards is the place to explore underrated and interesting content from all over the Internet, and submit your own to get free exposure, starting at 50 clicks.
• Get Tech Press - Get access to 3000+ tech journalists, Growth Hacks, Submit sites, Facebook groups and more.
• MissingLettr - Clever social campaigns, analytics and engagement tools for companies that blog. Missinglettr turns each of your blog posts into a 12-month social campaign, which is then dripped out to your social channels. Each campaign is designed to engage with your audience and drive traffic back to your site.

SEO and Competitor Analysis

• SEOQuake - Get all the details behind both the internal and external links on any webpage, including URLs, anchor texts and link types.
• KeywordsEverywhere - A FREE browser add-on for Chrome and Firefox that shows search volume, CPC and competition on websites used by Internet Marketers
• Check my links - A link checker that crawls through your web page and looks for broken links.
• SimilarWeb - See website traffic and key metrics for any website, including engagement rate, traffic ranking, keyword ranking and traffic source.
• Effin Amazing UTM - Easy to use UTM tracking code builder/generator.
• Majestic Backlink Analyzer - Get instant link counts and see who is linking to the page you are browsing without having to go to a separate link analysis tool
• SERP Timizer - SEO tool for link building, website audit and keyword monitoring.
• Snippet Optimizer - Allow webmasters and content publishers to strategically construct page titles and meta description tags that will result in aesthetically-pleasing or eye-catching listings in Google's organic search results

Lead generation and Conversion

• Crystal - By analyzing public data and text, Crystal can generate personality reports for your contacts and anyone in our database.
• Hunter.io - Hunter lets you find the people behind a website and their email addresses
• GoPinLeads - GOOGLE MAPS data extractor tool to create actionable lists of leads
• Dux Soup - Clever Browser add-on for LinkedIn simplifying Lead Generation and Business Development.
• LinkedIn Contacts Export - Export your LinkedIn contacts
• Contact Out - Linkedin profiles: You'll see phone numbers, email addresses, and links to social media profiles
• LeadCandy - Lead Generation and Sales Intelligence solution for
• B2B Sales and Marketing teams
• ThreadRadar - Jump into the conversation when your product or a topic you care about is mentioned on Reddit, Hacker News, Indie Hackers, or Product Hunt.
• ProveSRC - Boosts your credibility, conversions and sales by showing off who has enjoyed your website in real time.
• MixMax - Send engaging emails with instant scheduling, free unlimited email tracking, polls, and surveys right in Gmail.
• Share email as a link - Create a shareable link for one of your emails. You can then reference it in any chat conversation like Skype, WhatsApp, Slack, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Github, etc.

Social Media

• Tweepi - Get more twitter followers fast with Tweepi's Twitter tools. Use our unfollow app and followers app to get followers on Twitter daily. 
• FB Pixel Helper - The Facebook Pixel Helper is a troubleshooting tool that helps you validate your pixel implementation.
• RiteTag - Get instant hashtag suggestions for images and text, anywhere on the web and mobile. A must-have for Instagram and Pinterest.
• CrewwCoins - Reward your employees with coins for social media posts. Creww creates a distribution channel for your content via social networks of your team members.
• Tag Predict - Online hashtags predictions and live statistics. Good for all social media site and all non-social media sites, even your own website. 
• RiteForge - Schedule remarkable posts with instant hashtags, emojis, GIFs and CTAs
• RiteBoost - Improve the ROI of your posts with one click, right in your favorite scheduling tool. Enhance your posts with hashtags, emoji, GIFs and CTAs on links in a single click.

Content and Productivity

• Cite This For Me: Web Citer - Automatically create website citations in the APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard referencing styles at the click of a button. Simply browse to the page you wish to cite and click the button to generate a correctly formatted citation.
• BlockSite - Stay focused and improve productivity. Easily block any distracting or harmful website. Stop procrastination once and for all!
• Marinara Pomodoro Timer - Pomodoro time management assistant.
• OneTab - Save up to 95% memory and reduce tab clutter
• Ahrefs - Content explorer tool. Content Explorer is a great content research tool for copywriters and content marketers. Find the most shared content on any topic.

Me & Ryan J Gerardi are back for another monthly installment of opinions and analysis (But, mostly opinions) of key conversations and developments in the auto and tech industries.

The conversation was recorded July 5th, the bulk of which is about video marketing and auto dealers. 

This episode was inspired by a post I wrote for The Next Up last year titled 

"You Shouldn’t Be Using Video in Your Marketing Strategy"

We talk at length about what it really takes for dealers to be effective with video in their marketing strategy.

As usual, we also get into other topics such Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Tesla production (or lack thereof), the future of road systems, and more.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Getting your hands dirty in the details of marketing Is not for everyone and there are a lot of headaches sometimes that's for sure. Spending time figuring out why something isn't working can take time and patience. 

For those of us who like Roll Our Own when it comes to certain types of marketing it can be very rewarding though to see results come in that are directly driven from your efforts. 

Over the new few months, I'm going to be publishing a semi-frequent series focused solely on how you can do things with Facebook and Instagram ads like create your own product catalogs, custom event audience and lead ads that sync with your CRM. 

If there is something that you just can't seem to figure out. Post it in the comments and me or another awesome DS'r will do our best to help you out. 

The Way it Used to Be

During the Dark Age before Facebook Lead Ads, people had to manually fill each field with their data: email, name, telephone number and so on.

End result? ZERO leads. Or at least less leads

Out with the old, In with the new

Facebook Lead Ads automatically pre-fills the ad form fields with the users' personal info, as soon as they click on it. Reducing friction for customers who are interested in a vehicle. 

** Ok this seems too good to be true. What’s the catch? 

Well, here is the catch. To insert the new leads to your CRM , you need to constantly export or import the CSV files. Or manually add them to your CRM. But, aint nobody got time for that.

Luckily, LeadsBridge came up with LeadsBridge Lead Ads sync tool that allows you to sync the leads you generate in real-time with your CRM. 

I currently use the heck out of Leadsbridge and have included some screenshots below from some of the actual #Bridges I have built in my acct.

Not only does it just pass on customer info, but it can pass information that you have built in a product catalog ad like VIN number. 

You can also create "Bridges" that include information you might want to pass yourself. For example stock numbers.

And the best part? No complex manual work is needed. 

I am not sure of any other company out there that has these types of direct integrations with automotive CRM's. When you look at their integration page they have just about every automotive CRM listed in there. 

If you know of any company out there doing something this in-depth please share in the comments. 

We work in an industry that can come with many opportunities to earn certifications.

Programs like DealerRater's certification can help a salesperson gain more exposure on their dealerships inventory on cars.com and DealerRater. Your CRM most likely has a certification program as well. 

Google offers free certifications, you just have to put the work in and study cause it isn't easy.

The long and short of it is this. Certifications help you in more ways than you know. Certifications are great when asking your boss for money. Plus, they also look great on the wall. 

10 Reasons Why You Need More Certifications in Your Life. 

1. Certification demonstrates commitment to your profession. Receiving a certification shows your peers, supervisors, and, in turn, the general public how committed you are to your chosen career, along with how well you perform to set standards. Certification sets you apart as a leader in your field
    
2. Certification enhances the profession's image. Association certification programs seek to grow, promote, and develop certified professionals who can stand "out in front" as examples of excellence in your field.
    
3. Certification reflects achievement. A certified professional has displayed excellence in their field or industry and fulfilled set standards and requirements.
    
4. Certification builds self-esteem. Association certification programs create a standard for a particular profession, complete with performance standards, ethics, and career paths. You'll see yourself as a certified professional who can control his or her own professional destiny and find a deep sense of personal satisfaction.
    
5. Certification establishes professional credentials. Since it recognizes your individual accomplishments, certification stands above your resume, serving as an impartial, third-party endorsement of your knowledge and expertise. 
    
6. Certification improves career opportunities and advancement. Certification gives you the "edge" when being considered for a promotion or other career opportunities. Certification clearly identifies you as an employee who can adapt to changes in work, technology, business practices, and innovation.
    
7. Certification prepares you for greater on-the-job responsibilities. Certified professionals are aware of the constantly changing environment their profession faces, and they possess the tools needed to anticipate and respond to that change.
    
8. Certification provides for greater earnings potential. As a certified professional, you can expect many benefits, but in today's downsized, right-sized, topsy-turvy working world, pay increases speak for themselves.
    
9. Certification improves skills and knowledge. Achieving certification highlights your individual competence by confirming proficiency, knowledge, and career commitment.
   .
10. Certification offers greater professional recognition from peers. Hear that applause? It's all for you! As a certified professional, you can expect increased recognition from your peers for taking that extra step in your professional development.

What is a Knowledge Worker?

I often describe myself as a knowledge worker or as the Internet defines it so eloquently,

someone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using knowledge.

For example, a knowledge worker might be someone who works at any of the tasks of planning, acquiring, searching, analyzing, organizing, storing, programming, distributing, marketing, or otherwise contributing to the transformation and commerce of information and those (often the same people) who work at using the knowledge so produced.

"We are the people who think about thinking about thinking."

We are the folks who find ways to help others be more successful. As thankless as it often is, we do this kind of work because we can't help but see things that a lot of others do not. It's a great way to become better at teaching, coaching and growing your own credibility.

We are the folks who voluntarily go through the Google or Facebook certification programs in our free time because... Well, we can't help ourselves.

Knowledge workers are the type of folks who built the Driving Sales HCM platform.  They seem to understand that in order to be successful we all need to decide and discuss what success looks like.

If you are reading this post I would bet that you are most likely a knowledge worker. For the simple fact that you have taken it upon yourself to better understand your job through the shared wisdom of others in this community.

If You Don't Care Why Should Your People? 

• When we don't have career paths we tell our people we don't think they are worth or can do more than whatever it is they are doing now.

• When we don't have proper training we tell our people we don't think they can learn how to be better at what they are doing.

• When we don't have certification programs we look like we don't care about the positions we ask people to fill for us. 

We Need to Start Building Now!

Google and Facebook along with many other companies have realized that by building a certification program they are developing more loyal customers (like us) who will spend more money and time using their platforms because we've grown expertise. 

We need to start building the frameworks to make sure we are making each day as productive or more productive than the previous. We need to grow the expertise and skills of the people that we choose to fill the roles we believe are important to our success.

Reducing turnover and increasing employee loyalty are all great stats to show for sure. 

But the better story is the one where we show our people that they are worth investing in. 

How are you showing your people that they are worth investing in? 

The biggest jump Pew saw in usage was on Instagram, with 35 percent of respondents now using the site compared to the 28 percent who reported using it two years ago.

Social media use among younger crowds

When looking at usage numbers by age group, Pew Research reports 88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are using some form of social media. The report broke down the social media usage for this age group into categories: 18- to 24-year-olds and 24- to 29-year-olds. Here is what they found:

Social Media Usage Among 18- to 24-Year-Olds

• 80 percent are on Facebook
• 78 percent are on Snapchat
• 71 percent are on Instagram
• 45 percent are on Twitter
• 94 percent use YouTube

This age group represents the largest share of Snapchat users of the various age groups. Among the 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds using Snapchat, 82 percent say they open the app daily, and 71 percent say they use it multiple times per day.

Instagram is getting slightly less use by this group. Of the 71 percent on Instagram, 81 percent say they visit the site daily and just over half (55 percent) are going several times a day.

Social Media Usage Among 25- to 29-Year-Olds

• 80 percent are on Facebook
• 54 percent are on Snapchat
• 54 percent are on Instagram
• 30 percent are on Twitter
• 80 percent use YouTube

This slightly older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds have similar usage patterns for Facebook and YouTube when compared to the 18- to 24-year old crowd.

The numbers differ more widely between the two age groups when looking at Snapchat and Instagram, with this older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds less likely to use either of the two platforms.

Where ‘the Olds’ go on social

Per the report, 84 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old age group is visiting YouTube, and 80 percent are on Facebook.

Social media usage numbers for the 30- to 49-year-old age group drops significantly for Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter — with 40 percent of this population active on Instagram, and less than 30 percent on Snapchat or Twitter.

For the 50+ age group, usage numbers are even lower across the board: 56 percent on YouTube and 55 percent on Facebook. These numbers take a nosedive from there, with 16 percent on Instagram, 14 percent on Twitter and only seven percent on Snapchat.

Whats the most surprising fact you see in here? 

When you come across something in feed that inspires you — like a post from a friend raising money for a cause or a photo of a new design from your favorite brand — you can now quickly share that post as a sticker to your story for your friends and followers to see.

How to share feed posts to Instagram Stories

To share feed posts to stories:

1. Tap the paper airplane button below the post (like you would to send a direct message)
2. You’ll then see an option on the following menu to “Create a story with this post”
3. Tap it to see the feed post as a sticker with a customized background ready to share to your story. You can move, resize or rotate the photo or video. You can also use drawing tools or add text and stickers.

Any post shared to a story will include a link back to the original post and include the original poster’s username.

Only posts from public Instagram accounts can be shared to stories. If you have a public account and would like to opt-out from letting people share your posts to stories, you can do so within Instagram’s settings.

I am starting to use the heck out of this new feature. Let me know what you guys think. 

I love podcasts and today in my feed came the new Planet Money show which is all about how local dealer ads started. Really interesting to hear about the history of car sales people. 

Listen to the show here

You know those local car ads? The ones with a dude standing in a parking lot, offering a bunch of special deals, shouting that he's "craaazy?" Well, there's actually a specific person who created this form of on-air hysteria, an originator of the bonkers used car ad.

Today on the show, we collaborate with Gimlet's Every Little Thing, and go in search of the patient zero of annoying car commercials. We find out who started this advertising model, how it spread, and why there may actually be a method to this madness. It sells cars and we figure out why.

How do all the algorithms around us learn to do their jobs? Well, apparently, nobody actually knows. Not the bots themselves, and not the people that create them. In fact, it's such a complicated subject that it's not even worth talking about. Which is why we don't recommend listening to this podcast if you're tired of hearing about Artificial Intelligence. However, you don't want to miss this episode. 

*Included in this episode are brief excerpts from the video "How Machines Learn" by CGP Grey.

“The more pessimistic your explanatory style, the easier it is to slip into learned helplessness.” ― David McRaney, You Are Not So Smart"

As an industry, we’ve stripped all accountability and responsibility from the people in our profit centers and in turn, have handed it over to a department that at its core, is a cost center. And we wonder why we can’t find good people.
 

Everyone is Passing the Buck

The automotive industry has become really good at passing responsibility to someone else — anyone else. As many unfamiliar processes and platforms crept into consideration, nobody wanted to be responsible for managing the unfamiliar. One, because they didn't know how to, and two, if your salespeople are doing work that isn’t sales-related (in their mind) then it wasn’t worth doing. But as with everything, times have changed. And the distinction of a customer being an “internet customer” or not, is gone.

The internet, smartphones, and social media; these technologies are ubiquitous now. So the idea that we need to have different departments handling different things is an idea that needs to be retired. These “new” things are just part of the job — consider them necessary skills of the trade.

In the past, it became easier to pay a smaller group of people to do a larger amount of work. The problem with that model is that at a certain point you hit diminishing returns and the only way to grow is to either hire more people in your cost centers or invest in the people that make up your profit center.

BDCs rarely have the mindset that they are each a special, unique snowflake, doing work that only a specially-trained assassin can do. The job of answering phones and replying to emails is not exactly rocket science. It’s rarely strategic if I am being honest. In reality, BDC staff have been doing the jobs that no one else has wanted to do.

Everything that a BDC department accomplishes is not ‘untrainable.’ Assassins aren’t born assassins. That being said, you can’t be an assassin without going ‘assassin college’ first. And they aren’t magicians either. (Magicians get to wear way cooler hats.)
 

Dealers are Wising Up

They’ve allowed the majority of their workforce to fall victim to learned helplessness and the only way to change this pattern is to adjust the way that they run their business.

We could start to see more dealers empower the people who really want to do a good job and begin to break down the wall that silos the BDC from the sales department because in reality, customer service is customer service.

The sales department of tomorrow doesn’t exist in silos. RIP Business Development Center.

Long live the Business Development dealership.