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PODCAST

Poetry In Marketing

Marketing coach Erik Wolf reads you one of his original marketing poems every episode and teaching common sense marketing strategy and management techniques along the way. Poetry topics include branding, budgeting, planning, dealing with agencies, SEO, poor performance, and more.

business marketing

All Episodes

00:03:19

Building a great brand / Takes more than just...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/12/30

This week on Poetry in Marketing, I’m digging into one of the biggest misconceptions in branding, with a poem that gets right to the point:Building a great brandTakes more than just designingA cool new logo.Your brand isn’t your logo. It’s not your color palette or your new font. Your brand is your company’s skin: the interface between you and the outside world. It’s everything your customers see, hear, touch, and experience. In this episode, I talk about why rebranding is about far more than visual

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00:04:26

Inertia works great / When you want to get things...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/12/23

In this episode of Poetry in Marketing, we’re talking about that sneaky force that helps you get things done… but might be holding you back:Inertia works greatWhen you want to get things doneBut comes at a cost.Inertia can be a gift: it smooths out workflows, makes marketing predictable, and keeps things moving. But it can also be a creativity killer. In this episode, I share how sticking to what’s familiar — just because it’s familiar — can box us in, dilute innovation, and keep us from asking the

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00:02:39

Your firm’s marketing / Is supposed to make money /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/12/16

Today’s Poetry in Marketing episode might be stating the obvious, but too many companies still get this wrong:Your firm’s marketingIs supposed to make moneyAnd not just spend it.In this episode, I dig into one of the biggest mindset problems in marketing: treating it like a cost center instead of an investment. Office supplies are expenses. Marketing is supposed to deliver a return. But that only happens if you plan it that way—by connecting your budget to your business goals and backing it with the

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00:02:48

Say you want tactics, / And tactics are all you’ll...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/12/11

In today’s episode of Poetry in Marketing, we tackle a classic trap with this haiku:Say you want tactics,And tactics are all you’ll get,Not a strategy.In this episode, I unpack one of the most common mistakes I’ve seen in 25 years of marketing: asking for tactics when what you really want is results. You think you need SEO, a trade show booth, or a shiny new website... But what you actually need is more revenue, better retention, or higher-quality leads.If you skip the strategy and dive straight

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00:03:03

If marketing is / A haiku, then sales is a / Dirty...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/12/04

Today on Poetry In Marketing, I'm having a little fun:If marketing is A haiku, then sales is aDirty limerick.Now before the salespeople come for me, no: I’m not taking a shot at the profession. What I am doing is challenging the outdated belief that sales has to feel slick, manipulative, or greasy to be effective. It doesn’t. Great sales, like great marketing, is about creating value for your customer. Period.In this episode, I explore why we all need to let go of the “used car salesman”

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00:06:10

Great service firms know / Strong customer retention...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/11/25

Hey, it’s Erik Wolf and I’m coming to you from vacation in Sedona, Arizona, with a Thanksgiving-themed haiku (while actively lost on a hiking trail looking for a vortex):Great service firms knowStrong customer retentionRuns on gratitude.In this episode of Poetry in Marketing, I reflect on why every business — no matter what you do — is ultimately a service business. And the most successful ones? They thrive because they understand the power of gratitude, especially in customer relationships.I share

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00:03:16

Don’t undervalue / How qualitative data / Can help...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/11/19

Today’s edition of Poetry in Marketing is a reminder that not all data comes with a neat little number:Don’t undervalueHow qualitative dataCan help you succeed.In this episode, I explore the difference between metrics that measure and insights that guide. Quantitative data is great for benchmarks and trendlines... But when it comes to knowing what to do next, qualitative feedback is often more powerful. From customer interviews to win/loss analysis, we dive into the tools that reveal what your

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00:03:31

I’m a nice guy, BUT… / If you want to trigger me /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/11/12

This week’s Poetry in Marketing haiku is both personal and a little cathartic, and yes, I'm complaining about sales funnels again:I’m a nice guy, BUT…If you want to trigger meMention sales funnels.Yeah, I said it. In this episode, I revisit my beef with the sales funnel—why it’s an oversimplified, misleading metaphor that fails to reflect the real-world difficulty of selling anything. Sales isn’t gravity. People don’t just “fall through” a funnel. They hesitate, they bail, they need

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00:02:48

When you aren’t sure / How you can grow your...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/11/06

Today’s poem tackles a simple truth that often goes ignored: When you aren’t sureHow you can grow your business,Ask your customers.In this episode of Poetry In Marketing, I talk about the curse of knowledge—how knowing too much about our own business can actually blind us to what customers really want. The solution? Ask them.I make the case for customer interviews and market research as the fastest way to get unstuck, uncover new opportunities, and discover what actually drives buying decisions. If

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00:04:22

“Give eight percent of / Revenue to marketing,” /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/10/29

In the spirit of Halloween, I brought my Big Lebowski sweater and a spooky poem:“Give eight percent ofRevenue to marketing,”Whispered the devil.In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I take aim at one of the most misleading (and haunting) ideas in business: budgeting for marketing as a fixed percentage of revenue. I break down why this rule of thumb is not just vague; it’s completely unhelpful.Instead, I argue for a smarter approach: build your marketing (and sales) budget based on what you

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00:03:04

A “prove it” moment / Is about fostering trust / To...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/10/22

I recorded this one from the couch, dog on my lap, because some poems (and sales insights) are just too important to wait. Today’s verse:A “prove it” momentIs about fostering trustTo fight uncertaintyIn this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I unpack what I call "the prove it moment": that critical point in the sales process when a buyer’s on the fence and needs that last push of confidence to move forward. It’s not about hard selling. It’s about knowing what gesture, insight, or piece of

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00:04:20

Why do my people / Keep giving me irrelevant / Stats...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/10/15

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I’m taking on a modern plague:Why do my peopleKeep giving me irrelevantStats that don’t matter?Marketing today is drowning in data: social metrics, website traffic, open rates, NPS scores, you name it. But more data doesn’t always mean better decisions. In this episode, I break down how to separate signal from noise, why marketing should only be measured by what it can actually influence, and how to connect the numbers back to real business objectives.If

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00:02:33

Marketing is / A discipline, and requires /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/10/07

I’m a little under the weather in this episode, which actually makes today’s haiku hit even harder:Marketing isA discipline, and requiresDiscipline in kind.In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I talk about the gritty, unglamorous truth of marketing: consistency matters more than inspiration. Like sports, music, or cooking, your marketing muscles only get stronger when you show up and put in the reps… even on the days when you’d rather crawl back into bed.If you’ve been struggling to stick with

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00:05:36

What’s the difference / Between sales and marketing?...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/09/23

This time on Poetry and Marketing, I talk about the divide between sales and marketing:What’s the differenceBetween sales and marketing?Just perceived value.Sales and marketing have the same mission: driving revenue. So what's the difference? Sales is one-to-one. Marketing is one-to-many.I also talk about scalability in the sales process. If you’ve ever felt stuck choosing between investing in marketing or hiring another salesperson, this one’s for you.

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00:03:22

Funnels are stupid. / There isn’t any gravity / In a...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/09/18

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I take aim at one of the most overused (and misleading) metaphors in the business world:Funnels are stupid.There isn’t any gravityIn a sales process.Yeah, I said it. Sales funnels look great in diagrams, but anyone who’s actually sold something knows the process isn’t that clean—or that passive. In this episode, I explain why the funnel fails as a metaphor and offer a better one.Climbing takes effort. People change their minds. And if the journey is too hard,

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00:04:30

If marketing works, / Why do I spend so damn much /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/09/02

I love this episode's poem: If marketing works,Why do I spend so damn muchTo be this pissed off?It’s a joke… but it’s also not.In this edition of Poetry In Marketing, I dig into the very real frustration so many CEOs and business owners feel when marketing doesn’t deliver, especially when they’re spending real money. The problem isn’t the budget. It’s how the money is being used. I dig into this issue and try to reframe the frustration in a constructive way.

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00:04:15

Our content is great… / At least that’s what I hear...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/09/02

In this episode of Poetry In Marketing, I get into one of the more controversial issues modern marketers are dealing with, in a poem that may hit a little too close to home:Our content is great…At least that’s what I hear fromMy ChatGPT.AI is powerful. It’s fast. It’s affordable. And if we’re not careful, it’s going to drown us all in a sea of content that says a lot, but means very little.In this episode, I talk about how we got here, from the “content is king” era to today’s flood of AI-generated

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00:03:53

“Just quit your whining / And make the logo bigger; /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/08/15

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, we dive into one of the great clichés of creative work, captured in a single poetic line:Just quit your whiningAnd make the logo bigger.Design’s subjective.Except… it’s not.As someone who’s done a fair share of design over the years, I’m here to tell you: design is not about personal taste: it’s about purpose. Whether you’re building a website, a brochure, or a logo, the goal isn’t to please the CEO, it’s to connect with the customer.In this episode, I unpack

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00:02:46

The budget isn’t for / Buying marketing tactics: /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/08/15

In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I’m digging into something that might change how you think about your entire marketing plan:The budget isn’tFor buying marketing tactics—It’s to fund success.This is one of the most common mistakes I see: businesses build a budget based on what they want to buy (a website, some SEO, maybe an account-based campaign) and then assume the job is done once they’ve made the purchase. But what we really want isn’t a website or some ads… We want results.In this

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00:04:43

O, lifetime value: / How I long to see you grow... /...

Poetry In Marketing ·

2025/07/29

Today’s poem is a love letter to one of the most overlooked metrics in business:Oh, lifetime valueHow I long to see you growOur retention sucks.In this episode of Poetry and Marketing, I break down what Lifetime Value (LTV) actually is, how to calculate it in plain English, and why it’s one of the most powerful (and underused) ways to grow your business. Spoiler: it’s not just about getting more leads. It’s about making the most of the customers you already have.I walk you through a simple example

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24 results

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