Media Captain Digital Marketing Podcast

In this episode, Jason and Stephanie Parks sit down with Will Crall, President of On3 Sports, one of the fastest-growing college sports media brands in the country. Will shares how On3 built its empire through passionate fan communities, elite newsbreakers, and a dominant social media strategy, including their acquisition of Rivals from Yahoo in 2025.The episode also covers the latest digital marketing trends, agency insights on AI automation, why direct mail is making a comeback, and what Jason and Stephanie are personally excited about right now.Whether you're a college sports fan, business owner, or digital marketer, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Google and Meta just released their Q4 earnings, and the numbers are staggering. Google pulled in $113B in revenue while Meta hit $60B, but the profit margins tell a different story. We break down what these earnings mean for advertisers, plus why Google's algorithm is causing chaos right now.In this episode, we also reveal how we're using AI to transform e-commerce SEO (one client went from 8% to 30% visibility), why iPhone videos are outperforming professional content on Meta, and the project management tool that completely changed our agency.

After a 6-year hiatus, sibling co-founders Stefanie and Jason Parks are back with their marketing podcast. They own Media Captain (a marketing agency serving 100+ clients since 2010) and DermWarehouse (an e-commerce company with 200,000+ customers selling 60+ skincare brands). Each 30-minute episode covers marketing news, agency insights, and personal updates.Marketing News & Trends:Google's dominance continues - Alphabet's market cap surpassed $4 trillion, overtaking Apple for the first time since 2019. Only Nvidia is larger. AI hasn't killed search - Despite ChatGPT predictions, Google remains critical. The agency emphasizes you can't have an AI strategy without SEO, as AI tools still rely heavily on Google's infrastructure.Vibe coding disrupts software stocks - New AI coding assistants allow people to write software using plain English instead of manual coding. This trend has hammered software stocks: Salesforce down 25%, HubSpot down 51%, monday.com down 44% year-over-year as Wall Street predicts increased competition and DIY software development.Google's AI commerce revolution - Google is launching AI agents that can handle entire purchasing processes automatically, finding products, comparing prices, and completing purchases without customers visiting websites. Major retailers (Walmart, Target, Shopify) and payment processors (Visa, Stripe) have joined Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. McKinsey estimates this represents a $3-5 trillion opportunity by 2030. Stef and Jason share their thoughts on this. Agency Insights & Best Practices:Authentic storytelling is critical - In an era of AI-generated content, brands showcasing genuine personality and stories stand out. LinkedIn personal vs. business accounts - Business owners posting from personal accounts get 10x more engagement than company pages. Personal accounts reach more targeted audiences like CMOs and decision-makers when properly cultivated.Multi-channel content strategy - Create high-quality content once and deploy it everywhere. Example: Client video content appears as social posts, paid advertisements, email campaigns, and website embeds for maximum ROI.CallRail integration transforms tracking - This $100/month tool provides comprehensive phone call and contact form tracking across all marketing channels. Case study: Allergist client success - Created personality-driven content including educational videos about ILIT (a replacement for traditional allergy shots) and an MTV Cribs-style office tour. Content distributed across social media, paid ads, email sequences, and website for multi-channel impact.Key Takeaways:Authenticity beats AI-generated content in building customer connectionsPersonal LinkedIn accounts dramatically outperform business pagesRobust tracking tools like CallRail enable smarter budget decisionsCreate content once, deploy everywhere for maximum efficiencyGoogle's ecosystem continues expanding despite AI disruption predictionsPersonal Highlights:The hosts shared their experience hosting a Blue Jackets luxury suite event for clients, including riding the Zamboni as an example of "unreasonable hospitality" that creates unforgettable customer experiences.

US Consumers spent $8.9 billion online on Black Friday, down from the record $9 billion in 2020, the forest ever year-over-year decline for eCommerce sales [source]. Traffic at retail stores on Black Friday dropped 28.3% compared with 2019 levels [source]. I ran a poll asking whether people shopped at a physical retailer after Thanksgiving and whether people made a purchase online after Thanksgiving.  It was the fifth Black Friday sales for our in-house eCommerce company, DermWarehouse! Go behind the scenes!  $2.9 billion. That’s the total sales of Shopify Merchants on Black Friday. That’s up 21% from 2020 and more than double their sales from 2019 [view source]. The skin care line my family developed, Park Perfection, is ranking in the top five positions on Google for the coveted search query, “Instant Eye Lift.” How'd we accomplish this?  If you own an eCommerce store, it’s important to optimize your product pages. I wrote a blog on how to optimize your eCommerce product page. What differentiates our eCommerce marketing and development versus other agencies? You'll find out in this podcast! I recorded a podcast on Facebook and Instagram best practices for eCommerce brands [listen here]. Make sure you check out episode 59!  One of the biggest eCommerce misconceptions of the holiday season is that it’s a great time to acquire new customers. Did you know that Amazon took 19% of total spend during Black Friday weekend last year? [source]. They expect to do even more sales in 2021!

In Episode 59, Jason Parks of The Media Captain talks about the Facebook eCommerce Retargeting Strategy he set-up for DermWarehouse. This includes how to structure your retargeting based on purchasers and non purchases plus lead generation campaigns being integrated into Klaviyo. If you are an eCommerce store owner looking to improve your Facebook advertising, this podcast should help!