Greg Hickman’s Take on Mobile Marketing in 2021

Welcome to the Marketing Growth Podcast. This episode is sponsored by Planable. I’m your host, Shane Barker. In this episode, Greg Hickman, the CEO of AltAgency, joins us again. For those joining the conversation for the first time, here’s a quick recap of our previous episodes. Greg discussed how to get paid for your expertise and ways to use automation without being transactional. Today, however, we’re going to take a deep dive into mobile marketing.

Before we start this episode, I want to take some time to introduce you to Planable. It’s a tool that makes social media collaboration a breeze. I’m not a big fan of spreadsheets because I think they’re super tedious and time-consuming. That’s where Planable comes in handy. It offers a better alternative for collaboration and social media approval.

Their color-coded labels make prioritizing and organizing your tasks easier. Plus, you can add comments and internal notes right next to your posts. I found Planable super intuitive and useful in a sea of social media tools. I think it’s a great find. Do check it out. Okay, now that we’re all warmed up for the podcast conversation, let’s jump right in.

So, let’s talk a little bit about mobile marketing here in 2021. I know it’s been a little while. You’ve been around for a minute—oh, geez, one of the OGs of the mobile world. But I think because of the foundation you have, I think you’re going to knock this out of the park, buddy. I have confidence.

Once again, we can edit anything you mess up. That’s the exciting part. I know that’s what I love about podcasts. I mean, they make me sound good all the time. Every episode, I sound remotely good. You know, not really good, but on the outskirts of good.

So, let’s talk about that. In your experience, what do you think about COVID-19? We’ve kind of touched on that. Obviously, COVID has affected everybody. We’re in 2021 now, and 2020 was crazy. In your experience, do you think there was an impact on mobile marketing in 2020? I mean, did you see anything? Again, I know you don’t have a heavy pulse on the mobile industry right now, but you’ve been around for a long time. Do you think it had an impact and how?

Yeah, it’s a good point—it’s not about mobile marketing, it’s just mobile in general. If 50% of your traffic is coming from mobile, the experience needs to be just as good as your desktop experience. I don’t even want to tell you how much time I spend on my mobile device. Every week, 2020 would say, “You’re up 15%.” And I’d be like, “How? Am I at 300% now?” It’s crazy how much time I spend on this thing. Obviously, everyone was affected by this. From an SBH perspective and the clients we’re working with, many didn’t even have a website. Suddenly, they had to get a website and really think about their mobile experience. If you’re not there, you need to get there fast.

Right, you’ve got to be present. You’ve got to be there. So, who do you think is doing mobile right now? Anyone stand out to you?

It’s funny how Apple does it so well that you don’t even realize it. It’s seamless. It’s just part of your life. I never think about it; I just do it. But they make it so easy you don’t realize how well they’re doing it.

And then there’s Tesla.

I had to replace a battery, and I went on their app. The lady said, “We’re going to send a delivery guy to you.” He showed up in three hours, changed out the battery, and I didn’t have to leave the house. It was all through the mobile app. It’s crazy how convenient that is. I’ll never go back to a traditional way of handling things like that again.

I think Bezos has done a lot with that one-click ordering system. I mean, they can get kids to click on things all day long, and when millions of kids do it, it adds up. It’s kind of like McDonald’s with the Happy Meals back in the day. They made it so easy to get kids in. Now Amazon’s just taking over everything. And with drones coming, it’s crazy. The times ahead are exciting. So, hide your kids, hide your Kindles, your Alexa—Amazon is coming for you!

Yeah, I always tell people, “Listen, you’ve got to perform. If you’re not out there performing, someone else will be, and they’re going to follow them.” I mean, it’s the same thing with influencers. We work with a lot of them on Instagram, and it’s like, the minute you stop producing consistent content or stop putting stuff out there, they’re going to latch onto someone else. They’ll become their new fan, sign up for their course, and do their program. So, it’s important to get out there.

Yeah, maybe over time things change, or someone else comes in and takes over, whatever that is. We’ve seen that happen with Moz and Rand, and at one point, someone else took over what Rand was doing. There are a lot of companies where that can happen. It’s not a problem, but in the beginning, if you want your company to succeed, you’ve got to be that face. If you let someone else be that face and they leave, it gets super awkward.

Well, we talk about that all the time—having the best product in the world doesn’t matter if nobody knows about it. There are people who market the hell out of something that’s crappy, but that’s what people know. They don’t know you have a great service or product because you’re not putting yourself out there. Yeah. So here’s what we’re going to do, Greg. I know you’ve been on a lot of podcasts, and you don’t need to tell me this was the best podcast you’ve ever been on, but I can tell from the look in your eye that this is probably in the top three—if not number one. I’m feeling the vibes right now!

But let’s talk about the fun section. This is where I want to get to know you a little more as an individual—not just the transactional Greg pulling me in through Instagram. I want to know the real human side of Greg. So, if you could travel to one place in the world for free—and I mean free, as in financially and also COVID-free (I think that’s important to throw out there during 2021)—where would that be, and what would you do there?

Oh, look at you! That’s a good question. Am I bringing the wife and kids, or is she going to babysit them while I do my thing?

Yeah, give me both. Because if I say without my family, people will be like, “I can’t believe Greg gave up his family!” Let’s keep it real.

Beautiful. We’re safe.

That’s awesome. You know, I’ve never been to Japan. Never been. But I have been to British Columbia. I haven’t done any mountain biking there. Sounds like you’ve been doing it since you were, like, three months old. I’d probably kill myself on those trails. Not sure there’s a helmet big enough for me! But I’d give it a shot. It would definitely make for a phenomenal video for someone—probably end up on “Influencers in the Wild,” trying to keep up with Greg.

If you had a superpower, what would it be? It can be anything—X-Men related, whatever. What would your superpower be?

I mean, that’d be a good little weekend trip, right? Especially with mountain biking. You go to fall and you’re just like, “Nope, not a problem. Hey, we’re good.” I almost fell, but I didn’t. I just swung through the trees like an ape and survived. That’s awesome. I like that. Good old Spider-Man. I was a huge fan too. He always seemed down-to-earth, but then they started getting a little darker. And at this point, there’ve been, like, 19 Spider-Man movies. It’s gotten a little heavy, but we’ve watched them all. Yeah, we have. Not a bad way to go.

What about a good podcast or favorite book? Are you more of a podcaster? Do you listen to podcasts or watch books? Wait, how do you watch a book?

Same here! I’ve got a ton of unread books. I use Audible and listen to podcasts mostly because, with everything else I’ve got going on, it’s nice to have them on the go. What about you? Do you have a favorite book or podcast?

We’ll put that in the show notes. “The Road Less Stupid.” I feel like my wife handed me that book, and I didn’t read it just because she gave it to me. Hold on… just grabbed the book. Oh, here it is.

Shout out to Keith Cunningham. “The Road Less Stupid.”

Thinking time. I’ve heard about that. That’s awesome. We’ll put that in the show notes too. It’s important. I was about to write it down, but then I remembered I can just listen to it again—no need to jot it down. So, if anyone wants to get in contact with you or find out more about your courses, what do we need to know?

And just to clarify, Greg’s not paying me to say this, by the way, but I know firsthand that his Instagram stuff is great. My team reached out to you, and I was seriously tempted to pull the trigger on that course. I can only imagine your YouTube is probably ten times as good. I’ll definitely subscribe and make sure we follow you there too.

Awesome. Greg, brother. Man, thank you so much for everything. You’ll probably see me sign up for your course here sometime soon, just because…

Absolutely, man. You take care. We’ll talk soon.

Thank you, folks, for listening to this episode of the Marketing Growth Podcast. I hope you’ve learned a lot from Greg Hickman and that you can use the tips he gave to improve your marketing strategy. Next week, I’ll be hosting another thought leader, so stay tuned to the Marketing Growth Podcast.