All Systems Go! Marketing Automation and Systems Building with Chris L. Davis Chris L. Davis: Marketing Automation Expert

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 190 - How can your business achieve true operational clarity and ensure your team is all on the same page about workflows and systems? In this episode, Chris interviews Brian Ragone, the founder and CEO of Puzzle, an app that helps teams visualize their workflows and systems. They discuss the challenges of documenting operations without a consistent visual language, and how Puzzle solves this by providing a unified way to map out processes. Brian also shares about the powerful features of this tool that connect processes to teams, roles, and tools. Tune in to learn how Puzzle can bring clarity and alignment to your team and business operations.

What You'll Learn:


3:21 - Brian shares what inspired him to create Puzzle14:45 - The key difference between shallow documentation tools like Lucidchart and the deep documentation approach of Puzzle17:57 - How Puzzle's relational database allows you to pivot and view processes connected to teams, roles and tools27:47 - Recommended ways for getting started with mapping processes in Puzzle's blank canvas29:41 - Which tools Puzzle integrates with to easily visualize existing workflows38:56 - Why Brian views Puzzle as an "operational journal" for continuous process improvement43:19 - High-level maps VS granular detailed maps - and which works better in Puzzle
About Our Guest:


Brian is the Founder & CEO of Puzzle, and he's helping teams visualize their workflows & systems in a fast and easy way so everyone understands how they work. He's helped visualize over 10,000 workflows to bring clarity and alignment across teams within organizations so they can make improvements to their operations with confidence. He has found organizations use 130 SaaS applications to run their business operations on average. Yet, most processes and systems aren't well documented and the only person who knows how they work is the person who built them — everyone else on the team is left in the dark.

Resources:


Start Your Free Trial of PuzzleSubscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 189 - In this episode, Chris invites back Kay Peacey, a world-leading ActiveCampaign specialist and founder of Slick Business. They dive into the latest updates and features released by ActiveCampaign in Q2 2024, including new email sending limits, crucial email authentication changes, recurring payment integrations, and powerful enhancements to email engagement tracking. Kay shares valuable insights from her role on ActiveCampaign's Customer Advisory Board, offering a unique insider's perspective. Whether you're a seasoned ActiveCampaign user or just getting started, this episode is a must-listen to stay ahead of the curve and unlock the full potential of your email campaigns.


What You'll Learn:
6:32 - How new email sending limits could impact businesses with high sending volumes14:25 - Major changes made to email authentication requirements from Google and Yahoo in February 202424:49 - Kay walks through how to use an auto authentication tool to check your email authentication settings37:11 - Brand new recurring payment integrations ActiveCampaign released - Subscription businesses: This one's for you!41:16 - How updates to tag management and handling unsubscribes in automations have made things easier for users49:21 - Benefits the new time window conditions for email clicks provide (especially for contact management and segmentation)52:49 - How the new time windows for email engagement can be leveraged to identify inactive/engaged contacts56:17 - Kay teases about a major overhaul is coming soon to the way segments are managed within ActiveCampaign

About Our Guest:
Kay Peacey has honed her email marketing automation skills to the very highest levels over 6 years of consulting and training for small businesses.
She’s a world-leading ActiveCampaign specialist with a seat on the Customer Advisory Board for ActiveCampaign, and founded the ActiveCampaign Academy at her own company, Slick Business.
Kay’s unique combination of top-level strategy and technical skills, plus a lifetime of teaching, make her the perfect person to help your business unlock bigger return on investment from your email marketing automation whilst keeping the human touch.
She’s also partial to using the Lego mini-figs or paper aeroplanes to drive home the learning.


Resources:
Free Accelerated ActiveCampaign TrainingThe ActiveCampaign AcademyJoin Kay's Facebook CommunitySubscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 188 - In this episode, Chris is joined by Shaun Pereira, the founder and CEO of Emailpref, a software that simplifies user preferences while empowering businesses to gain deeper insights into their users. They discuss the importance of properly managing email lists and user preferences, and how Emailpref integrates seamlessly with ActiveCampaign to handle list subscriptions, unsubscribes, and segmentation based on user preferences. Shaun even walks through a live demo, showcasing how Emailpref fetches lists and tags from ActiveCampaign, creates customized preference pages, and syncs user preference updates in real-time. If you're looking to reduce your email unsubscribe rate, this may be the tool for you!

What You'll Learn:
4:46 - The purpose and benefit of having customized preference centers8:54 - How Emailpref seamlessly integrates with ActiveCampaign's lists, tags, and fields16:46 - How Emailpref handles real-time syncing of user preferences19:49 - Powerful use case scenarios Shaun has seen for businesses utilizing Emailpref23:00 - Shaun shares what business size Emailpref is suitable for25:24 - Shaun’s tips for new users to set up clean preference management29:11 - New features and improvements coming soon to Emailpref
About Our Guest:
At just 24 years young, Shaun is already making waves as a visionary entrepreneur. With a proven track record as the founder of a contact sharing company, which he successfully sold, Shaun now leads Emailpref as the CEO. He's passionate about simplifying user preferences while empowering businesses to gain deeper insights into their users.

Resources:
Claim your Emailpref discount with code: automationbridge Subscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 187 - Are you prepared for when disaster strikes in your business? In this week’s episode, Chris draws from personal experiences and emphasizes the importance of having systems and automation in place to ensure business continuity. He discusses the challenges of relying solely on human resources, the risks of not documenting processes, and the value of facilitation automation to streamline operations and enable faster onboarding of new team members. Tune in to learn how to future-proof your business and ensure it can withstand unexpected challenges, whether it's a personal crisis or a key team member's absence.

What You'll Learn:
0:43 - Disaster can strike at any moment - are you truly prepared for when it derails your business operations?3:15 - The hard lesson Chris learned when sickness made him unable to run his business - and how to avoid that pitfall9:08 - The powerful role "facilitation automation" can play in reducing errors and enabling anyone to seamlessly step in13:23 - Why SOPs alone aren’t enough to keep your business running if key players are out of commission19:02 - Efficient steps to quickly train anyone on even your most complex processes when needed
Resources:
ASG 186 - Dear Manual Marketer...Subscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 186 - Why continue to settle for tedious manual efforts when technology allows for streamlining work, reducing errors, and freeing up time - all while producing the same or better results? In this episode, Chris challenges you to level up beyond simply "getting it done" and consider truly optimizing your processes through marketing automation. He argues that CEOs could be getting more value from what they pay marketers, and marketers could be providing more value without exerting more effort. By the end of this podcast, you’re sure to be inspired to stop settling for basic automation and embrace a smarter way of working.

What You'll Learn:
3:45 - Why the manual marketer shouldn’t settle for their current "good enough" efforts6:30 - Examples of why you may want to use automation to facilitate tedious and redundant tasks11:25 - What Chris is tired of seeing from marketers in Facebook groups and training programs12:30 - The difference between learning marketing strategy vs. applying technology and automation to marketing efforts19:05 - Chris argues that CEOs and clients could potentially get more from their marketers with the switch from manual to automated23:15 - Why marketers should want to evolve their marketing and automation efforts24:33 - Where marketers can learn more about marketing automation and improve their skillsResources:
ASG 185: Your Done Doesn’t Equal My DoneSubscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training

Send us a Text Message.
Ep. 185 - Are you truly satisfied just coasting at "good enough" or do you have that hunger to level up and achieve even better results? In this episode, Chris tackles the idea that what clients see as a completed job may not match an expert's standards. He dives into why so often, clients simply don't have the specialized knowledge to recognize areas for improvement. It's an insightful look at the importance of getting objective feedback from real experts and why it is crucial to get uncomfortable and actively seek out opportunities to grow, rather than staying stuck in a mediocre comfort zone. This episode is sure to light a fire under you to stop settling and start striving for more.

What You'll Learn:
0:47 - What Chris means by “my done" is not the same as "your done"2:50 - The human behavior that often leads to settling for mediocrity in business6:15 - How to qualify what is really “working” and what isn’t12:01 - What “better” means when it comes to marketing automation14:19 - Chris compares the dynamic of clients applauding basic work to an NBA player dominating in high school19:53 - The challenge Chris poses to digital marketers regarding their skills24:59 - Why business owners often enable and perpetuate mediocrity in the marketplace29:47 - The issue with businesses not properly investing in continued learning for their marketing and tech personnel
Resources:
Subscribe to the Automation Bridge YouTube ChannelStart Your Automation Bridge Community MembershipWatch the 3 Segments Webinar Training