MarTech Interview with Brad Agens, Founder at Glocally

How exciting is the current Social Content ecosystem today?

Exciting is an understatement. There are literally changes and enhancements happening on a daily basis. These changes are not only happening within the big platforms like Facebook, Snap, WhatsApp, and Pinterest, they are happening on the consumer front as well. I can’t think of a better time to be in space. That said, excitement and change can present challenges too. Challenges that we have to stay on top of. As a social content firm, we serve our clients by being experts in the space. That expertise requires a lot of work.

Tell us about your role and journey into technology. What inspired you to start Glocally?

I’ve spent most of my career as a Sales, Product, and Marketing Executive for Digital/Tech start-ups. However, I was inspired to launch Glocally while I was at Tribune Publishing. I was watching really great content being developed by social media creators for large national companies, but when I wanted to replicate that for regional or local brands it became incredibly difficult. That needed to change. I wanted Glocally to become a company that could connect local and regional brands to incredible local content creators across the country and the globe. In a very short period of time, Glocally has helped smaller brands, non-profits and regional companies save time and money on Content Development, develop meaningful ambassador programs, and come up with sound content distribution strategies in both the U.S. and Canada.

How do you focus on bringing Content Management trends and Data Analytics together at Glocally? What are the core technologies driving your product? 

Technology is a part of everything we do. We have developed some proprietary tech, we use each of the major platforms, as well as specialized social platforms like Tagger, and have formed partnerships with publishers and companies like Storied that make Content Distribution easier. All of these technologies enable us to manage our content, help us scale, and meet the goals of our clients.

Which businesses and geographies are you currently marketing to? What’s your Ideal Customer Profile?

We are largely focused on the U.S. and Canadian markets, but we plan to expand into the U.K. and Australia in the near future. Our customer is a regional business or national company with regional initiatives that are looking to develop and promote compelling authentically created content.

Tell us about your most recent Digital Marketing campaign and the audience it was targeting? How did you measure its performance?

We are a company focused on creating content so in addition to the typical KPIs in social (likes, pins, views, etc.), we also evaluate authenticity, quality, and how content can be used across channels. Ultimately, each client has key metrics that they want us looking at. In an average campaign, we will measure the social engagement of each piece of content, we’ll track the results from coupons and promo codes, and then track views, CTR’s, and other metrics on our digital web and/or digital OOH placements. We’re helping brands to create content, but our content has a purpose and its measured.

Tell us more about your recent partnership with Storied Partner. Who are your other partners?

Storied is just one of many partners that we will be announcing over the next few months. Glocally is still a relatively small company. We know we can’t build everything on our end. We partnered with Storied to help us build unique ad creative that will deliver our clients better results.

What are your predictions on the most impactful disruptions in Social Media Management driven by AI and Data Science technologies for 2019-2020?

Good question. I expect big advancements in visual recognition. As visual recognition improves and offers more relevant results, AI will be able to identify better content creators for brands to partner with.

What startups in the technology industry are you watching keenly right now?

Outside of ours and those I’m invested in I’m not keenly watching too many, but I am incredibly interested in everything that’s happening with voice. Voice search is soaring, devices are now in every room of many homes, and the technology is only getting better. Very interested to see what this year and beyond will bring.

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a Business leader in MarTech?

Unless it’s your passion and you want to be the expert, surround yourself with people that know more than you do. At Glocally, AI was brought up in the first whiteboard session we ever held as a team. I wasn’t the person that brought it up but I listened.

How do you inspire your people to work with technology?

Tech is like oxygen in our business. We can’t do what we do without it. You don’t need to inspire most people to breathe.

One word that best describes how you work.

Relentless

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

In addition to the ones I’ve mentioned, we love Copper’s CRM solution. Sure CRM isn’t sexy, but it’s an invaluable and affordable tool.

What’s your smartest work-related shortcut or productivity hack?

Don’t give up on past ideas. Too often, we obsess about the new. My team is full of great ideas, but not every idea becomes a content campaign. However, that idea shouldn’t be trashed. Save it. Remember it. It wasn’t right for one client. but it might be right for another. New ideas are important but don’t spend hours ideating when you have a great concept sitting right in front of you.

What are you currently reading?

I think I listen more than I read, but I’m a fan of The Daily, NY Times, Bill Simmons Podcast and The Rewatchables, KCRW The Business, and 2 friends/clients, The Wrap and The Los Angeles Times I read them both daily.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

It’s ok to say I don’t know. My life got a lot easier and more interesting once I gained the confidence to say, ‘I don’t know.’

Something you do better than others – the secret of your success?

I will outwork you and I find almost everybody interesting.

Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read

Dave Dickman from Tagger

Thank you, Brad! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.