Hey everyone! In today’s episode, I share the mic with Erik Harbison, Chief Marketing Officer at AWeber, an email marketing platform. Erik has a great deal of experience with digital marketing and even serves as an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University, where he lectures about new media marketing.
Tune in to hear Erik share about being the first company to build an auto-responder, how AWeber stays at the top of their game by hiring problem solvers, why they’ve never changed their pricing structure, and how they’ve managed to stay successful for 20 years.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- [00:39] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
- [01:15] AWeber’s CEO has been on the show before. To hear more about the origins of AWeber, check out the Tom Kulzer episode.
- [01:45] Erik was working in media buying back before digital marketing existed, then shifted into digital marketing.
- [03:17] AWeber has been around for 20 years and was the first company to do build an auto-responder.
- [04:13] Pricing has stayed the same for years; it is based off of the number of subscribers. It costs $19 for up to 500 subscribers and increases incrementally from there.
- [04:55] Early on, the focus was on customer experience.
- [05:08] They have maintained that throughout the years and even after their success.
- [06:10] Even in light of new features, they have not changed their pricing structure.
- [06:54] AWeber hasn’t gotten any VC funding.
- [08:49] They recently added the ability to create a new flow campaign.
- [09:20] AWeber is trying to come up with other ways to send out automated campaigns.
- [09:27] They’re ramping up to 24/7 customer support.
- [10:27] Paid search is “a funny beast”.
- [10:42] AWeber has made sure that their brand’s keyword selection is more well-rounded.
- [13:35] The AWeber team has gone to enough conferences to know how to play the game and make the biggest impact.
- [14:00] Conferences are a great way to connect with current customers.
- [14:30] Word-of-mouth has been key to AWeber’s success at conferences and in general.
- [15:11] They have a team of 10 people who are dedicated to marketing and brand design.
- [16:30] It is important to hire native problem solvers.
- [18:00] Have a major focus and a minor focus at all times.
- [19:45] Erik teaches as an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University, so he has a great pipeline to new and eager talent.
- [20:10] Simply offering college students tours has been a great boost.
- [20:42] The most successful teams of which Erik has been a part have always been rooted in trust.
- [20:48] He suggests that everyone read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
- [22:17] Erik finds that giving himself opportunities to participate in “chunk thinking” is the most beneficial thing for his career.
- [22:55] It’s important to carve out time for uninterrupted thinking.
- [23:31] Erik has found Clearbit to be a useful tool.
- [24:20] Erik recommends the book Who? Because it has helped him figure out how to hire the right talent.
Resources from the interview:
- AWeber
- ErikH@Aweber.com
- Erik on Twitter
- Tom Kulzer’s Growth Everywhere Episode
- Clearbit
- Must read books:
Leave Some Feedback:
- What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.
- Did you enjoy this episode? If so, leave a short review here
- Subscribe to Growth Everywhere on iTunes
- Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed
Connect With Eric Siu: