The Marketing Umbrella Podcast

091: Gamify Your Marketing Through Influencers with Ashley Stanford

Jul 16, 2024

36:09

Can you really apply game strategies to marketing?

This question and many more are answered in our recent podcast chat with Ashley Stanford, Executive Vice President of Client Strategy at TicketSocket and Vice President and Co-Founder of Ice Cream Social. From her early days in search engine optimization to creating Ice Cream Social, Ashley has always turned challenges into opportunities. She shared how she found creative ways to boost event ticket sales without spending extra on ads, demonstrating her innovative approach.

Ashley discussed her unique marketing approach, drawing connections between marketing and gaming. Her passion for optimization led to the success of Ice Cream Social, which helps increase event ticket sales without spending more on ads.

With years of experience in strategic marketing and optimizing tactics, Ashley focuses on the events and entertainment sectors but also has expertise in medical devices, healthcare, and finance tech. As the Executive Vice President of Client Strategy at TicketSocket and Co-Founder of Ice Cream Social, Ashley's wide-ranging experience in customer acquisition, email, search, and content marketing showcases her versatility. In her spare time, she loves biohacking and staying active with her Peloton.

Tune in to hear Ashley Stanford's inspiring story and discover how game strategies can transform your marketing approach.

Here are the key takeaways from the conversation:

Gamification in Marketing: Applying video game principles to marketing emphasizes the importance of optimization and problem-solving.
AI and Modern Marketing: AI is transforming marketing with predictive writing and ad optimization, and inclusive, word-of-mouth marketing can outperform traditional influencer models.
Foundational Strength and Communication: A strong foundation in product development and clear team communication are vital for long-term success. Rigorous reporting and analytics drive informed decisions and continuous improvement.
Shared Vision: Everyone in the company must understand and be excited about the big vision. Without this, the quality of work will suffer.
Importance of Measurement: What gets measured truly matters. Agencies that prioritize reporting are the ones that see their budgets increase year after year.

As a closing thought, "Every single person is an influencer, even if they don't have social media. We all have friends and family we interact with daily, and word-of-mouth marketing can be powerful."

Listen to the full conversation here: