Perplexity's keyword visibility up 86%, Why mainstream media is dead, SaaS spend $2.64 to earn $1

You know what's interesting is this is a tweet by Christy Hines. Remember we used to work with Christy, the writer here?

Yeah, the content writer.

Yeah, so she, so Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews kind of looks like Perplexity, those of you that use Perplexity. So we've talked about this a couple months ago, but Perplexity started doing programmatic SEO. So for the answers that come in, these are crawlable by search engines, right? So it says here, most Perplexity pages continue to get indexed in Google search results within 12 to 24 hours. It's also interesting to note that since the launch of Perplexity Pages, keyword visibility for the company's domain increased by 85%. According to Semrush data, the number of organic keywords in Google search results for Perplexity's website went from 25,000 to 46,000 between May 30th and June 19th. In addition, final thing here, the number of times the site appeared in Google search SERP features increased by 50%. SERP features include featured snippets and AI overviews. So it's interesting because they have AI overviews and then Google's taking some of their AI overviews to post there. But I think the, look, the programmatic SEO is working for Perplexity and your mileage may vary. But, you know, if you have something like an LLM or actually Perplexity is not an LLM, but if you have an answer engine like a Perplexity, then something that's worth testing.

And to give you guys an idea of how effective it is, Their traffic in May, and I know June is getting close to being over, but their traffic in May was 85.4 million.

Wow.

And to give you an idea of how effective it was, that's a 21.07% increase. So pretty much 21% increase in traffic from the previous month.

You look at SimilarWeb?

Yeah, I'm looking at SimilarWeb.

Yeah.

Dude, they went from, in March, they went from 61.5 million visitors to 70.5, right?

Yeah.

So you're talking about a 9 million increase. Yeah. From 70.5, they went to 85.4 million, which is a 14.9 million visit increase. So they're starting to clip and grow at a faster rate, which is kind of crazy.

Dude, we should also talk about why mainstream media is dying or dead because Trump actually did an interview on the All-In podcast a couple weeks ago and he did a really good job. I think he answered all the questions pretty well. Did you hear him talk about how, you know, to kind of bring more talent to America, if you go to college here, you get a green card if you graduate?

Are you talking about him talking in mainstream media or him on Him on the All In podcast.

And it goes to show that podcasts are coming full circle now because Trump's doing a podcast tour right now. I think they had RFK on the All In podcast too. And Trump was on all these— he was on the Logan Paul podcast too, right? So I think podcasts are gaining in power, like the cream of the crop, and we're going to see that continue to happen. I think this is a presidential cycle where it's like, okay, presidents know that they have to do podcasts. And that just is kind of reinforcing how mainstream media is continuing to die.

Dude, I'm with you. But the problem I have with all these media platforms is the extreme stuff is doing really well and a lot of it is modified. And I'll give you a great example of this. So there was something that ended up happening on X where there was a video of Trump at the border versus Biden at the border, and they made fun of Biden for not even talking about the border when he was at the border. Versus Trump, who's talking about the border. And again, I'm, I'm neutral. You know, I don't like certain things like taxes and stuff, but I would pay more taxes if it actually helped the poor. I just feel a lot of the tax—

Liberally social and then Republican when it comes to business.

Correct. Yes. So on both sides, right? But when you look at that, and I don't like either candidate, just being super transparent on this, I don't think I've ever voted.

But which candidate's more entertaining?

They're both entertaining, quite honestly.

But I don't like either. Oh, okay, okay.

That's that's a fair. That's such a look at look at it's politically correct.

I don't like politics.

No, no. But look at yesterday's interview.

Yeah, it was entertaining. One was entertaining because one person wasn't there quite mentally. The other was entertaining just because he's funny, right?

Yeah. But even when you look at that, dude, the reason at that time Biden was at the Texas border talking about other things was I think there was a natural disaster.

You're saying it got spun in a different way?

It gets spun, and that's what I hate. And it was so funny. So on X, I'm I'm posting. how people are just modifying crap and these platforms, whether it's X or Instagram or TikTok—

Blows it up.

Blows it up.

Yeah.

And they don't put a disclaimer saying this is inaccurate or any—

and for a lot of times— The community notes have gotten a lot better with X. Yeah, they're pretty fast.

They're not that fast for a lot of this stuff. People just go along and it's like you're getting millions of views.

I think it's going to get faster. You asked later about, or earlier you said about, you know, how do you get AI to do fact checks real time? I don't think we're quite there right now, but eventually in a couple years, I think we'll be there. Because community notes, when they're done well, like I'm like, this is actually really good. And I haven't seen that on any other platform.

And then when you look at these journalistic websites, they are extreme. But a lot of times when I'm reading the content, you don't see extreme stuff like that because they're fact-checking a little bit more, but they're still biased. And I just wish there was a neutral site where people just lay down what's happening and what are the facts and not—

No, you can't make money off that, you know?

Yeah, well, they make— you said it best earlier. They make money off the extreme stuff. That's what goes viral.

Yep.

But I wish there was a social network or a site that it's not about being neutral or not. I don't care what type of content people post. I just wish that people couldn't manipulate. And if they did, the community notes appeared right away or AI stepped in there and actually restated the facts in an accurate way.

I think we'll get there. Yep. Yep. I got to take a minute to tell you about the Agency Owners Association. This is a peer group for agency owners. Think YPO or EO, but for agency owners. And I just wanted to read you a couple of testimonials. So this first one comes from Carrie, and we asked her, what do you like most about the group? She said, having a group of people to discuss and bounce ideas. The leads are great too. Yes, we share leads in this group as well. This one from Aliyan, he says, the ability to really post whatever I want and need, and the group responds. Great experienced members. Getting a lot of insights from conversations with other members. Getting a lot of value from sessions from Eric. Getting advice from others as well. And so if you want to grow your agency faster and you want a peer group to To do so, just go to marketingschool.io/agency. This is a group that both Neil and I created. And our hope here is to create a vibrant community of agency owners and do a lot more with it in the future. So again, marketingschool.io/agency, and we'll see you inside. Dude, you have a good one here on how SaaS companies are spending $2.64 to generate $1 of revenue.

Dude, okay, so this is a really crazy stat for you. So there's this guy named David Splitts. who has been analyzing just what companies in SaaS are paying to acquire a user. So he looks at the data for 8 quarters, okay? So for every, and I'm going to read it per quarter. It used to be to generate $1 in revenue per year in ARR, people would spend $1.50. Then it became $1.67 to generate $1, then $1.79, then $2.06, $2.24, $2.49, $2.49 again, then $2.64.

Wow.

In other words, people are spending $2.64 to generate $1 in ARR. ARR stands for annual recurring revenue, and this is marketing costs. So if you end up spending $2.64, that means in 2.64 years, you'll recuperate $2.64.

See, that period is too long.

Yes, because that doesn't even mean you're making profit.

That's really— Unless you're like Microsoft or whatever, but most people aren't Microsoft.

Yeah, and it's getting ridiculous. And it's like, it goes back to people got to get more creative with their marketing. You can't just do the same old hamster wheel and rat race everyone else is.

B2B marketers are very, from what I've seen, they're just not as creative as B2C marketers. I know that's a generalization people don't like to hear, but that's the reality. Like when I go to these SaaS conferences to speak, you go to these SaaS conferences to speak, people are just talking about the same stuff over and over. It's like you can get a little more creative than that. It's going to take a little more work actually, but that's what it takes because marketing has gotten harder. And this is why CMOs keep getting fired. Right? Because they're not getting creative. And what used to happen in maybe pre-2020 or 2020 to 2021 is people were getting all these cushy jobs, right? And then, you know, we're in a zero interest rate environment. It's very easy, right? And people can kind of just hide behind everything. Now it's like, no, there's no more hiding, right? The chickens have come to roost. So you better be good or you ain't gonna have a job.

Dude, I was with Lloyd the other day.

Yeah.

All right, so you know Lloyd from Dubai. He's moving back to the States, by the way.

Lloyd is jacked now.

Yeah, Lloyd is jacked. He used to have a conference series called Traction, and then he had a financial company. I forgot the name of it, but he sold it to private equity. I'm like, good for you, Lloyd. He did really well, and it's grown since then. He still owns shares in it. Lloyd was talking to me about He was just like, yeah, you know, I was, I was talking with someone and they were just like, yeah, we need to learn to walk and chew at the same time. I'm like, what, what the heck are you talking about? He's like, oh, you know, multitask.

Uh-huh.

You know, he's like, I was talking to someone and they're like, yeah, you know, we're at a place where we can walk and chew. And Lloyd cusses. He's like, mother effer. Excuse my language. I don't wanna say the whole thing. He's just like, we used to run and tie our shoes at the same time.

When he was running his startup?

When he was running his startup. And I'm like, yeah, that's true. I can see Lloyd just grinding it out. But the dude was really creative. You want to talk about people doing stuff that's outside the norm to generate sales for his, you know, financial service-based business? Yeah.

Yeah.

He would throw events called Traction and he would pick up customers from an event. And this wasn't a corporate event for his company. It was just a general event. He would network and schmooze. But because it was his event, he would get to pick the speakers. He would try to figure out who to target for attendees and all this kind of stuff. And he was able to generate a lot of revenue from his business for that. And I was like, good for you. But that's an example of someone getting super creative. Yep.

Part of the reason why I volunteered to champion that event next year. It's a lot of work, but it'll be good.

That's right. So Eric's doing something smart. Can I mention this? Yeah, sure. It's a YPO event. And I don't think it's only limited to YPO people, right?

It's YPO plus they can bring 2 key associates. So my way around it to bring more people is like, we have like our, one of our mutual friends, Yaniv. I'm like, oh, come as Syed's, uh, you know, key associate. So that's how we're gonna, you know, work around.

Oh, Yaniv's not a YPR?

No.

I respect that.

Yeah. Well, yeah, I'm sure you do. I'm sure you do.

I did renew today.

You did?

I renewed the global one.

Yeah, I know. I know when you told me that, that's what I assumed.

Yeah, I didn't renew the chapter.

I see. You didn't need to say— I was giving you an out to not say it, but you said it.

Yeah. So. But no, like what Eric's trying to do is he's going to do an event, a lot of big businesses will show up. It's like fishing with dynamite. I think that's a really smart strategy and approach. You got to just think outside the box. And by the way, you know, when I said I didn't renew my YPO chapter, there's nothing wrong with my chapter. With my schedule and everything being really hectic, I think I only went to one meeting.

You need like an international one or one where you don't need to meet that much.

Yeah, it just doesn't work with my schedule.

Yeah. So anyway, I mean, that's the power. Like Neil mentioned this before, he does events. So Neil and I were both speaking at a conference in Germany and we're going to throw a little dinner there. But usually, you mentioned, and I'll let you tell the story here, but sometimes you'll throw events when you're speaking somewhere and what does the event look like?

Sure. So when we're speaking at an event, we try to do a few things. One, I'll speak. 2, I'll do a QR code during my speech so people can download the slides. So that generates a lot of leads. 3, what we also do is if we have a booth, an AMA or an A&A in this case, Ask Neil Anything. So then people come and they can ask me any questions and our team is there answering any questions. Another strategy that we also do is, this is the 4th one, we do private lunches.

Oh, cool.

So depending on the event, sometimes they have like a lunchroom and you can have your own tables and we'll invite specific people to our table that could be potential clients and we'll discuss whatever they want to discuss or specific topics that we know that would appeal to them, which helps us close revenue. The 5th thing that we do is we also do a different type of lunch or a different type of event where during their event, we, you know, tell them who our ideal customer type is. They tell us who some of the type of people that'll be there. We invite them to come to our own private session that's not available to the public. Sometimes it'll be during lunch and I'll give a presentation while people are eating. We pick up quite a bit of clients from that too. And if I had to say out of which method produces the best results, probably the one where I speak. It doesn't even have to be during a food time. Like it doesn't have to be during lunch, You know, I've done a lot of times like at 10:00 AM or 5:00 PM.

You're speaking at the main event or a separate event?

Main event, but I'm not actually— I've already spoken at the main event. I have my own private session where we invite specific people who are already at the event and we're discussing things. And while we discuss, we also have someone come on stage from a client that we work with talking about how we implemented all the things I just talked about in their business and showcasing the results. And it'll be a large business or a business that's similar size to the ones that I manage.

That client speaks to it or you're speaking about the client?

We invite that client on stage.

See, that's the best because they sell you. You don't have to sell yourself.

And they're like, look what NP Digital did and here's what results. And they did this and now—

You're not paying for that.

No, we don't pay for that. And we went from working with them in one division to now they work at A and we just started with them SEO and now they do email and conversion, all this. And the results were amazing. That sells really well for us.

Yeah. And the thing for that one is if you're trying to save money, like I'm assuming they're probably in town, um, or do you fly them in sometimes?

No, no, no. Well, we're global, so we typically have clients wherever country I'm speaking at.

Okay. So you'll find a way to bring someone in that works. Yeah.

But it doesn't cost anything because they're usually in that city or close by.

And you'll probably get dinner or lunch with them later or something like that.

Yeah.

Um, by the way, um, something I learned today, At the— in the Agency Owners Association, we had a call with the 7 and 8-figure people. And you would know this, you have a global company. But I thought this would be interesting to share because I've heard a lot of great things about hiring South African talent. And so, when this guy on the call, he told me— so he's South African, he has a South African agency. So he's like, yeah, you know, well, fresh graduates, we're paying $250 a month. I was like, wait, what? So $250 a month. I was like, okay, how about someone that's mid-senior level? He's like, you know, $1,000 to $1,500 a month. I was like, what about someone that's like pretty good? Like really good. He's like, you know, $3,000, $4,000 a month. And, you know, I've just heard a lot of amazing things about hiring from South Africa because there are significant agencies there.

There's not really tons of significant agencies.

Really?

No. No. So we looked at the whole South African market. We do hire from there. It depends what you consider significant, by the way.

Okay. I'm not talking Dentsu level, you know.

Yeah, but Dentsu and a lot of those guys are in South Africa, but it's hard to generate $100 million from the South African—

Yeah, I'm not talking $100 million. I'm saying significant, relatively speaking, to South Africa. You got it. That's what I mean. Yeah. But I think it's, it's, it's like, you know, more people are hearing this right now might complain. It's like, oh my God, how about you pay Americans a living wage or something like that? It's just like, the market is the market at the end of the day. And, um, you know, if you can find great talent for a lower price, then like, you're gonna try to do that. Because we've talked about McDonald's, um, and In-N-Out and Burger King, I think in California, they're basically shutting down or automating the whole thing because the $22 minimum wage doesn't work because there's less foot traffic coming in because of work from home. People can't pay as much because of inflation. And then if so, so costs are rising while revenues are dropping. So what do you think is going to happen? Right. So businesses need to think about what's right for them.

Yes. And what did McDonald's and people like that do? They raised their price and they figured out how to cut costs to stay in business and stay afloat. Yeah.

I mean, that, that, that reel did really well for us. Yeah. On the, on the inflation one. The number one challenge for businesses is hiring. And more specifically, the number one thing I get asked asked for all the time is, Eric, where can I go find an amazing marketer? And the reality is right now, when you think about the world, we have inflation. That also means wage inflation right now. And it means that when it comes to hiring talent, you can't spend as much as you would have in the last couple of years because it's just become too cost prohibitive. And so we've partnered with one of the best offshore recruiting firms when it comes to marketing. They've been a great asset for us, and I believe that they will be a great asset for you. All you have to do is go to marketingschool.io/hire. Again, it's marketingschool.io/hire to learn more. You can fill out the form there and we're going to place you with the best marketing hires that we can help you find. This last one's very simple. And then, then I'm going to let Neil go to bed. Actually, you can't go to sleep for another 4 hours or else you're going to have jet lag.

No, I'm going to go to sleep.

You can't. You're going to have jet lag.

I'm okay with that.

No, you need 3, 4 hours of staying awake.

All right, continue.

Anyway, so—

I woke up yesterday at 12 at night.

Dude, I'm telling you, man, if you can hold out for 4 hours, you're good.

Nah, it's all right.

Continue though. Okay. So see, guys, this is what we call short-term pain, long-term gain. But Neil will take the short-term gain for long-term pain.

I don't mind waking up at 12 at night. I just work.

Oh my gosh. All right.

I get a lot done because no one's there to disturb me.

That's fair. That's fair. Okay. So Joe Pompliano says the WNBA's Atlanta Dream typically play in a 3,500-seat arena. But for tonight's game against Caitlin Clark, this was a couple of weeks ago, and the Indiana Fever, they moved it to a nearby NBA arena. The game sold out and set a franchise record with basically 18,000 fans in attendance. This has already happened a couple times, and it just goes to show you that, you know, WNBA has been kind of sitting around for a while, right?

Yeah.

But you have someone that's, that's brandable. Um, you have Caitlin Clark, and she seems to be like the next big thing. That's something like that can stratosphere, um, a league to the next level. It's like when Michael Jordan did that for the NBA, right? And then, you know, you had LeBron kind of carrying the torch, right? So, um, I think It goes down— it goes back to earlier this conversation. We started with the presidential debate and we're talking about who's the most marketable one. Here we're ending it saying who's the most marketable one. And sometimes when you have someone that's that great, they can carry an entire franchise.

Did you see that basketball player in the women's league in China? She's like 16 years old and 7 foot something.

She's 7'2. Yeah, she'll destroy both of us. Yeah, and she's like just throwing the ball over everyone. I'm like, she should be number 1. She's like the new Yao Ming. You remember Yao Ming?

Yeah. And I was like, I'm like, wow. And you know, I don't know much about basketball for the ages of 16 or anything like that. It's definitely not like the NBA, but people who are 16 haven't fully developed and aren't fully at their like total height or weight or strength. But like, she's so tall. She's like, huh, she just lobs the ball.

Yeah, it's like she's playing with kids. You know what I mean? I hope she makes it to the WNBA. I do too. I'll buy her jersey, you know what I mean?

It's cool.

So, so yeah, anyway guys, this is where we'll end. Go to marketingschool.io/agency to learn more about the Agency Owners Association. Join before we start to jack up the price more and more. And the good thing is there's no contracts to it. And don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. It helps us grow. Let us know what you think about this format. We put a lot of time and effort into this format, so we've been hearing great things, but give us more great things to hear. So that's it for today, and we'll see you tomorrow.