Funnel Vision - For Performance-Driven Agencies & Marketers

Nicholas Delgado (CEO of TNA Associates) joins Mikael for the premiere episode of Funnel Vision's new season to break down how he scaled a D2C skincare brand from $5,000 to $1 million per month in revenue within a year using data science and AI-driven marketing strategies. Nicholas specializes in quantitative modeling and business analytics, helping e-commerce brands make faster decisions through data science combined with strategic ad spend. The skincare brand he scaled had only 3-4 organic, vegan products with a $30 average order value when he started. His approach focused on three customer types: first-time buyers, repeat customers, and subscription users, with a 90-day conversion timeline rather than immediate sales pressure. Key strategies included splitting male and female audiences due to different lifetime values, using view content and add-to-cart campaigns instead of direct conversion ads, and implementing strategic landing pages with targeted popups. Nicholas emphasized the importance of lifetime value over immediate ROAS, knowing that customers would spend $180+ over 90-120 days and $250+ as subscribers. The breakthrough came from viral TikTok content, including a post from Kylie Jenner's makeup artist, which allowed them to scale aggressively and dominate competitors through "blitzkrieg" marketing tactics. Tune into the full episode to learn how data science, AI tools, and strategic patience can transform e-commerce growth!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro 1:11 Nicholas's bragging rights - $5K to $1M monthly scaling2:08 The D2C skincare business model breakdown3:13 Early testing strategy with Facebook ads5:28 Product positioning and male skincare market penetration7:07 Evolution from homepage to strategic landing pages8:22 Customer segmentation and 90-day conversion strategy10:19 The three customer types and lifetime value focus12:59 Lead collection through targeted popups15:12 Scaling strategy and budget allocation philosophy17:39 Add-to-cart campaigns vs immediate conversions20:34 TikTok Shop early adoption and viral success23:05 Three core lessons: data science, financials, and AI24:13 How Funnel Alytics provided team clarityConnect with Mikael -   / mikaeldia  Connect with Nicholas -  / nicholasdelgado-analyst  

AJ Eckstein, Founder and CEO of Creator Match, dives into the promising world of LinkedIn creator marketing. He reveals why traditional brands overlook this platform and the unique opportunities it presents for B2B growth. AJ shares insights on how LinkedIn creators, often with full-time jobs, blend education and entertainment to engage audiences effectively. His innovative tools help brands identify impactful creators and build authentic partnerships, showcasing LinkedIn as a fertile ground for organic, high-performance content.

Taylor McMaster (Founder of DOT & Company) joins Mikael to discuss client onboarding and account management strategies that help agency owners scale beyond the day-to-day operational bottlenecks. Over the past 6 years, Taylor has helped over 12,000 agency owners optimize their onboarding processes through her fractional account management services. After running her own marketing agency and feeling burned out from doing everything herself, Taylor discovered her passion for account management and client relationships. She pivoted to offer fractional account managers who work 10-20 hours per week, fully white-labeled within agencies to handle client communication and project management. The biggest challenge most agencies face isn't strategy or delivery - it's communication breakdown with clients who don't know who to contact or feel left in the dark about project progress. Taylor's four-pillar framework (onboarding, project management, agency structure, and communication) helps agencies audit their current processes and systematically improve client retention. The key insight: agency owners should focus on what they do best (strategy and results) while having skilled account managers handle the operational heavy lifting. Tune into the full episode to learn how to remove yourself as the bottleneck in your agency!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:12 12,000 agencies helped4:18 From agency owner to account management specialist6:51 The first client success story9:03 Scaling across different agency types11:39 The origin of "Dot & Company"12:15 The four-pillar framework for account management14:36 Most common agency problems15:39 Why onboarding is make-or-break18:33 Handling client expectations about working with the founder20:27 The business impact of better account management22:06 When is the right time to hire account management?24:18 Where to connect with TaylorConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Taylor - https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylormcmaster/

In this engaging conversation, Chris Silvestri, the founder of Conversion Alchemy, discusses his journey from software engineer to copywriting expert. He emphasizes how critical strong positioning and messaging are for driving conversions in B2B SaaS. Chris argues that while AI can assist, it can't replace the essential human understanding of buyer psychology. He also shares strategic tips on utilizing AI tools effectively and predicts a future for copywriters focused more on strategic oversight than traditional writing. Tune in to gain insights on elevating your copy!

Jake Hundley (CEO of Evergrow Marketing, Host of The Agency Growth Podcast) operates in the landscaping & lawn care industry. To date, 100% of their business has come inbound - which is a dream state for most agency owners. Jake and his co-founder Cody both worked at agencies prior to founding their own, and they recommend doing the same to anyone looking to become an owner. When they set up their flow, Jake and Cody picked tools that were easily scalable and repeatable, as productization was their number one priority from the start. Even though local lead gen is their speciality, they still reject clients outside of the landscaping and lawn care industries, as their internal processes aren’t fully fleshed out for other industries and they see no value in trying to expand their offer due to how many operational difficulties custom offers bring.Tune into the full episode to learn how to better productize your service!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:24 Revenue retention for seasonal businesses5:42 You need to prioritize scalability8:14 Different industries require different budgets10:13 How Jake closes new business12:41 Time is the only finite resource15:36 The profit-first system18:12 Jake’s growth plansConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Jake - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-hundley/

Bianca Blake (Co-Founder of Klickrr) is an expert in leveraging text-messaging as a marketing channel. Texting is a heavily underrated marketing channel. Before founding Klickrr, Bianca ran marketing for various corporations. After getting fed up with the corporate life, she found a few contractor opportunities that ultimately grew into a consultancy she ran for 5+ years.Bianca’s text messaging playbook consists of a high quality list segmented based on relevance, that you consistently engage with by sending messages that are below 160 characters without any special characters. From there, you need to analyze the data and optimize accordingly.Tune into the full episode to learn how to turn text messaging into a competitive marketing advantage!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro4:16 Bianca’s journey into entrepreneurship8:07 The Do’s and Dont’s of text message marketing 12:39 The Text Message Marketing playbook18:07 Where does text messaging fit into your strategy?Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Bianca - https://www.linkedin.com/in/biancablake/

Patrick Ward (VP of Marketing, Formula.Monks at Media.Monks) joins Mikael to help marketers figure out what it takes to become a truly legendary marketer. He’s constructed world-class campaigns with such global multi-billion dollar clients & partners as Google, Nike, Walmart, Sony, Allianz, Fiji Airways, Oracle, and The U.S. Space Force.What many software providers seem to forget is that they’re fundamentally competing with the status quo, not their category rivals. Even at huge conglomerates, the status quo might be an excel sheet or a few Google Docs. As a marketer, if you allow yourself to live in an advanced tech and automation echo chamber, there’s a good chance your message will never resonate and you’ll have a hard time truly weaving in the customer's mindset - which should be your top priority. Tune into the full episode to learn how to master the Marketing Mindset!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro1:10 Patrick’s world-class portfolio2:09 The fundamentals stay the same3:58 Builders vs Sellers 6:28 Understand the customers mindset 9:10 What is the Marketing Mindset?11:59 The 5 Mindset Shifts20:16 How to apply this framework?Connect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Patrick - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickjamesward/

Chris Roche (CEO of Catalyst Consulting) joins Mikael to discuss the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) for B2B tech. Chris is an ex-CRO who founded his agency 3 years ago, which has now grown to over 7 figures in ARR.One hugely impressive stat about Catalyst Consulting is that Chris has been able to scale the agency to 7 figures with only around $10k spent in paid advertising. Chris attributes their organic growth to their ability to deliver tangible ROI to their clients, and due to their current fixed capacity it would be redundant to invest further in marketing their service. When Chris evaluates clients, they typically look for a minimum of $25k ACV for a sales-led organization, or a 6-12 month CAC payback period for a PLG company. These aren’t the only metrics that matter though - most early stage startups think that they know their true numbers, when in reality they haven’t accounted for sales commissions, trial-to-purchase conversion rates, or other data that is missing from their calculations and CRM.Tune into the full episode to learn how focusing on BOFU drives real ROI!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:09 Chris’s entrepreneurial journey4:29 Scaling to 7 figures organically 6:03 The analytical edge 7:54 PLG vs Sales-Led9:47 You don’t need a crazy tech stack10:31 Fix your CRM data ASAP14:37 Are paid ads the right move for your business?15:45 The revenue metrics that matter18:04 LinkedIn Success = Strong ICPConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Chris - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thechrisroche/

Lindsey Carnett (CEO & Founder of Marketing Maven, Author of The Marketing Maven Method: Secrets of a Maven) joins Mikael to help agency owners differentiate between brand and performance marketing, and better understand how to approach PR.Brand Marketing & PR often get neglected in favour of performance marketing due to it being more difficult to measure the ROI of brand initiatives. Instead of thinking about the direct ROI of every campaign, to properly measure brand you need to focus on metrics such as conversation rates and sales velocity, as the goal here isn’t simply generating leads - it’s increasing the overall trust in your company.Crafting a good brand message requires understanding your business objectives, reverse-engineering a plan based on other success stories, and building a bespoke strategy based on this competitive analysis. Then, you need to swim with the grain enough to look like a real player in your space, while figuring out how you’ll approach your unique messaging to stick out. Tune into the full episode to learn how to better balance Brand and Performance Marketing!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro3:12 Lindsey’s PR experience4:21 Trust brings ROI7:01 Lindsey’s creative journey10:12 The Marketing Maven Method12:45 What makes a good brand message?16:55 Be the right level of unique18:55 Quirky, Timely, Local, Hard News, Personality 20:09 Quirky vs Personality21:48 SummaryConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Lindsey - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseycarnett/

Robert Glazer (5x Entrepreneur, #1 WSJ & USA Today Best Selling Author, Top 0.1% Podcast Host) is an expert in all things affiliate marketing. His affiliate journey started with the realization that cost-effective lead sources are the lifeblood of business, and at the time content partnerships were a brand new niche that could provide exactly that.To date, Robert has written 7 books, earning prestigious titles such as the number 1 spot on The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. His first book, “Performance Partnerships: The Checkered Past, Changing Present and Exciting Future of Affiliate Marketing“, came from a ton of industry conversations regarding the subject.Tune into the full episode to learn how to approach affiliate marketing in 2025!HIGHLIGHTS:0:00 Intro2:44 Roberts first tango with Affiliate Marketing 6:32 Creator success requires passion9:32 The journey of writing 7 books11:58 The different types of affiliate labels 16:42 How to build a solid partner program19:16 Affiliate marketing isn’t easyConnect with Mikael - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikaeldia/Connect with Robert - https://www.linkedin.com/in/glazer/