The Revenue Throughput Podcast: January 3, 2022
Leveraging the Right Sales and Marketing Data with Sky Cassidy
TOO much data is almost as bad as too little data. It hinders your sales & marketing clarity. The key to growth is knowing what data matters and how to leverage it.
Today’s guest is Sky Cassidy of MountainTop Data. Today, we will talk about data: about how there are more opportunities to obtain quality data to expand and extend your marketing efforts, even as marketers in small to mid-sized companies.
So listen carefully if you’ve ever wondered, “how do we reach out to people in ways that are legal, ethical, and effective?”
Authority Magazine: January 20, 2022
How to Effectively Leverage The Power of Digital Marketing, PPC, & Email to Dramatically Increase Sales
Grit, Mindfulness, Fairness, and Intelligence. You need a good combination of these and to enjoy working in an ever-changing landscape. Marketing doesn’t stand still; soso, you can never rest. A lot of marketing is competing against other companies and dealing with human nature; thewhile the techniques that work change from day to day. To really be successful you must enjoy solving the same problem over and over in different ways under different circumstances.
Savvy Broadcasting: January 4, 2022
Remote Opportunities for Businesses & Employees Alike with Sky Cassidy. 11th Season, Ep. 001
Christina Rivera and Sky Cassidy discuss the wonderful opportunity that is here thanks to the explosion of remote work.
MarTech Series, 2021
Maintaining First-Party Data: How It Goes Wrong for Businesses
Many businesses try to manage their own first-party data, and since they aren’t doing it correctly, they end up harming their business over time. Sky Cassidy, CEO of Mountaintop Data, explains the pitfalls and landmines involved with “dirty” data, and why it is often a job for the experts.
In Business Greater Phoenix: October 28, 2021
Employee Retention Woes Playing Havoc with Marketing Data
From data collection to creating B2B lists for potential leads, marketing has been seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The biggest factors being the increase in people working remotely and the phenomenal turnover rate businesses are experiencing. Recent statistics have shown that one-third of new employees are quitting after about six months.
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CISION PRWeb: August 30, 2021
Direct Mail Marketing Comeback Demands Digital Integration
After a long struggle with economic shutdowns and business closings, employees are starting to come back to the office. But upon their return, businesses are facing a changing landscape. Among those changes is a resurgence in the popularity of direct mail campaigns. “Businesses are discovering that after many months of isolation and increased online interaction, customers are finding a new appreciation for physical mail,” Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data explains. “Digital marketing campaigns are expected and ubiquitous nowadays. But now, getting a real, tangible piece of mail has become something special—and welcomed.”
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CFO DIVE: August 27, 2021
Towns waving cash at remote workers complicate CFOs' compensation models
Lowering pay for people taking cash from remote areas creates the risk of losing out in the competition for talent, but paying too much can hobble growth, compensation specialists say.
A number of small towns, their eyes on companies’ newly liberal remote-work policies, are offering relocation incentives to higher-income employees. The trend is raising the stakes for CFOs whose C-suite colleagues are looking to them to help devise a compensation model for a permanently distributed workforce.
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A number of small towns, their eyes on companies’ newly liberal remote-work policies, are offering relocation incentives to higher-income employees. The trend is raising the stakes for CFOs whose C-suite colleagues are looking to them to help devise a compensation model for a permanently distributed workforce.
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Rush to Reason: August 12, 2021
Radio Interview with MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy?
Rush to Reason is "Denver's Afternoon Rush" ~News, Politics, and Humor. Host John Rush talks with MountainTop Data CEO, Sky Cassidy, about the new work situation with remote working and the changes this can bring to small town America. They also discuss data quality and businesses having accurate information for their sales and marketing.
...Listen to the clip
...also see more on the Rush to Reason site
...Listen to the clip
...also see more on the Rush to Reason site
StrategicCIO: August, 2021
Is Your Data Decaying?
Keeping company and contact data for B2B sales and marketing accurate has always been a tough job. Even for skilled professionals and companies that do this for a living it’s a challenge. During an economic downturn, pandemic or any other massive event it can be particularly difficult. The data management job is all about maintenance, so the larger the amount of change, the more difficult the job is.
Pre-Covid, the average U.S. job turnover was around 4% per month. On top of that, to keep data clean you also need to update information when people change their phone number, title or email. Then you have company-level changes that need to be managed: businesses moving, mergers, acquisitions, companies going out of business and rebranding. When something like Covid happens, the difficult work of maintaining your target audience is suddenly multiplied and every one of these potential data changes jump into double digits. Typically, this data turnover is mostly seen in lower-level positions, but with Covid many people are reevaluating their careers and experts are predicting as much as a 20% turnover at the executive level.1 All of this adds up to a monumental task for those whose job it is to keep the sales and marketing campaigns reaching the intended audience.
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Pre-Covid, the average U.S. job turnover was around 4% per month. On top of that, to keep data clean you also need to update information when people change their phone number, title or email. Then you have company-level changes that need to be managed: businesses moving, mergers, acquisitions, companies going out of business and rebranding. When something like Covid happens, the difficult work of maintaining your target audience is suddenly multiplied and every one of these potential data changes jump into double digits. Typically, this data turnover is mostly seen in lower-level positions, but with Covid many people are reevaluating their careers and experts are predicting as much as a 20% turnover at the executive level.1 All of this adds up to a monumental task for those whose job it is to keep the sales and marketing campaigns reaching the intended audience.
...Read More
Small Business Digest – Sky Cassidy & Eric Czepyha: July 13, 2021
Data and how to stay safe using it in your marketing
Sky Cassidy of Mountaintop Data talks about how companies can use emails and sales leads more effectively.
...Listen here
...Listen here
Martech Cube: June 29, 2021
How Email Lists Can Ruin Marketing Campaigns
Emails make digital marketing tick. Marketing departments should be hyper-aware of where their lists come from. If not, they will be missing out on valuable leads, which means a negative impact on business—lost time, money and effort. “If you’re starting with bad lists, you won’t get results and you just won’t know why,” says Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data. “Maybe you’re using one of these list companies that’s really good at sales but doesn’t know or care about data. They see an opportunity where they can write some code and it creates something they can sell. They’re not really interested in having quality data beyond being able to sell it.”
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Young Upstarts: Feb 17, 2021
Understanding Business Data In 4 Categories Or Less
Small business owners and new marketers hate the word ‘Data’. It’s a dirty 4 letter word because everyone has to pretend they know what it means, that they’ve analyzed the data, they understand the data, they have the data, they’re making decisions based on the ‘Data’, but what the hell does it mean?
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Advisors Magazine: January 21, 2021
CLEAN DATA, KEY TO MAXIMIZING 5G'S POTENTIAL TO AUGMENT MARKETING
Data crunching is both a science and an art; many prominent proponents of 5G technology-the newest cellular wireless to help us navigate the online world-are focused on the breathtaking speed of content delivery. Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, says 5G's most important impact on marketers is the ability to connect, analyze the needs and desires of customers, and combine customer data with 5G's potency to personalize their journey from intrigue to sale.
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PR WEEK: January 6, 2021
Tech Talk with MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy
"Technical people originally used words like 'data' in their professions for very specific things. But in communications and marketing, it can quickly lose its meaning."
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PR NEWS: January 4, 2021
Eat or Be Eaten: Battling Dirty Data During The Pandemic
Information is power, or, more accurately, without information you are powerless. All of our senses collect information to allow us to make life-or-death decisions. Without this information, we are no more than a chicken nugget in need of ketchup.
Businesses are similar. They need information to know what direction to go, what life-and-death decisions to make. There are two types of information in this analogy: Information that keeps you from going off a cliff or being eaten, and information that helps you eat.
With COVID-19, many businesses are finding uncertainty in both areas. First, you have to make sure you’re not going off a cliff, then you’ve got to eat. Eating, that’s where direct marketing data comes into play. Business need leads for the sales team to close.
...Read More
Businesses are similar. They need information to know what direction to go, what life-and-death decisions to make. There are two types of information in this analogy: Information that keeps you from going off a cliff or being eaten, and information that helps you eat.
With COVID-19, many businesses are finding uncertainty in both areas. First, you have to make sure you’re not going off a cliff, then you’ve got to eat. Eating, that’s where direct marketing data comes into play. Business need leads for the sales team to close.
...Read More
INSIDE BIG DATA: December 25, 2020
The 6 Types of Data Everybody Should Know to Avoid Confusion
Everybody tosses the word “data,” but few actually know what it actually means and does. MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy explains the 6 different kinds of data everyone should know something about in order to avoid confusion.
Whether you subscribe to the scientific definition of data (information on which operations are performed by a computer transmitted in the form of electrical signals) or the philosophical definition (that which is known utilized as the basis of reasoning or calculation), MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy thinks most people use the word “data” incorrectly.
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Whether you subscribe to the scientific definition of data (information on which operations are performed by a computer transmitted in the form of electrical signals) or the philosophical definition (that which is known utilized as the basis of reasoning or calculation), MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy thinks most people use the word “data” incorrectly.
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CISION PRWeb: December 15, 2020
Data Privacy: Balancing Customer Protection With Quality Web Experiences
Does data privacy even matter anymore? There are conflicting reports detailing how data privacy works, when its safeguards fail, and what to expect in the future. In this taxing time, Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, says there needs to be a middle ground, where consumers trust providers to use their data responsibly, and marketers employ cleaner user data to create better online experiences.
Can your customers trust their personal data when it’s captured online? Perceptions are dangerously skewed right now, from a widespread mistrust of media to underreported cybersecurity breaches of companies that rely on customer information. How much are B2Bs willing to lose if their customers’ data is compromised? More importantly, how can consumers and businesses coexist in sharing personal data? Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, offers suggestions as to how to deal with these and more pressing matters.
There’s a disconnect between willingly surrendering privacy data and the consequences of a data breach. Even as businesses struggle to survive the COVID-19 landscape, their customers believe their personal data is less secure than ever.(1) There’s also the cost of doing business: a single data breach has a global average toll of more than $3 million, according to IBM. (2) Corollary effects include lost productivity as well as indeterminate costs incurred by poor data quality, which aren’t easily quantifiable.
Asked what one of the biggest market challenges is these days, Cassidy says, “Privatization.” (3) Just as companies use regulations and fear to drive customers to their paid proprietary platforms, anxiety among consumers about their increased exposure can corrupt platforms’ functionality and degrade the quality of users’ experiences. Not enough companies have the strategy and IT resources to play fair with private data. Meanwhile, too many exist solely to collect information on online behaviors, and demographics. “Basically, you’ve invited a data vampire in,” said Cassidy. (4)
...Read More
Can your customers trust their personal data when it’s captured online? Perceptions are dangerously skewed right now, from a widespread mistrust of media to underreported cybersecurity breaches of companies that rely on customer information. How much are B2Bs willing to lose if their customers’ data is compromised? More importantly, how can consumers and businesses coexist in sharing personal data? Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, offers suggestions as to how to deal with these and more pressing matters.
There’s a disconnect between willingly surrendering privacy data and the consequences of a data breach. Even as businesses struggle to survive the COVID-19 landscape, their customers believe their personal data is less secure than ever.(1) There’s also the cost of doing business: a single data breach has a global average toll of more than $3 million, according to IBM. (2) Corollary effects include lost productivity as well as indeterminate costs incurred by poor data quality, which aren’t easily quantifiable.
Asked what one of the biggest market challenges is these days, Cassidy says, “Privatization.” (3) Just as companies use regulations and fear to drive customers to their paid proprietary platforms, anxiety among consumers about their increased exposure can corrupt platforms’ functionality and degrade the quality of users’ experiences. Not enough companies have the strategy and IT resources to play fair with private data. Meanwhile, too many exist solely to collect information on online behaviors, and demographics. “Basically, you’ve invited a data vampire in,” said Cassidy. (4)
...Read More
Destination CRM: November 30, 2020
RSVD Scales New Contacts with MountainTop
RSVD is a Los Angeles-based technology company that helps other companies manage events, reservations, and capacity. It has created a custom appointments platform that allows customers to book times to visit businesses or access amenities. Event organizers that use RSVD’s products can even make it possible for event attendees to skip the lines at beer tents, food trucks, and merchandise booths.
“This enables attendees to have a much better experience than if they need to wait in line for hours,” says Rommia White, RSVD’s general manager.
The company started when its founders saw the need for such a technology at the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, a large-scale event for the interactive, film, and music industries that takes place in Austin, Texas, in the spring.
SXSW was one of the first major events canceled in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Every other major event followed suit, ending the need for online reservations like those provided by RSVD. But at the same time, another opportunity was opening up for RSVD. Businesses of all sorts looking to maintain government-mandated social distancing standards could turn to RSVD to manage capacity.
“Right now, there are a lot of Band-Aid solutions for businesses to put in place before they reopen,” says Brandon Stuart, chief marketing officer and cofounder of RSVD. “While our original business model was built on the ideas of convenience and that people did not want to waste time standing in line, the outbreak of COVID-19 and the necessity of social distancing made us realize our technology could be used to increase safety and help implement social distancing, and that the technology would be valuable to all types of businesses where people typically have to wait in line or for an appointment. And those types of businesses include farmers’ markets, gyms, small businesses, franchises—any business that doesn’t have a tech team or big budget to build the technology themselves.”
But to pivot to this new market, the company needed to find a way to promote its capabilities. It connected with MountainTop Data to do just that.
MountainTop Data started by helping RSVD identify target audiences. It provided RSVD with on-demand access, through the TopData Search platform, to its business marketing database so RSVD could pull whatever target contact data it wanted.
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“This enables attendees to have a much better experience than if they need to wait in line for hours,” says Rommia White, RSVD’s general manager.
The company started when its founders saw the need for such a technology at the popular South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, a large-scale event for the interactive, film, and music industries that takes place in Austin, Texas, in the spring.
SXSW was one of the first major events canceled in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Every other major event followed suit, ending the need for online reservations like those provided by RSVD. But at the same time, another opportunity was opening up for RSVD. Businesses of all sorts looking to maintain government-mandated social distancing standards could turn to RSVD to manage capacity.
“Right now, there are a lot of Band-Aid solutions for businesses to put in place before they reopen,” says Brandon Stuart, chief marketing officer and cofounder of RSVD. “While our original business model was built on the ideas of convenience and that people did not want to waste time standing in line, the outbreak of COVID-19 and the necessity of social distancing made us realize our technology could be used to increase safety and help implement social distancing, and that the technology would be valuable to all types of businesses where people typically have to wait in line or for an appointment. And those types of businesses include farmers’ markets, gyms, small businesses, franchises—any business that doesn’t have a tech team or big budget to build the technology themselves.”
But to pivot to this new market, the company needed to find a way to promote its capabilities. It connected with MountainTop Data to do just that.
MountainTop Data started by helping RSVD identify target audiences. It provided RSVD with on-demand access, through the TopData Search platform, to its business marketing database so RSVD could pull whatever target contact data it wanted.
...Read More
Authority Magazine: November 29, 2020
How to Increase Your Bingeability through Candid and Curious Conversations
"Sometimes I think the guests are surprised at the conversation we have. They’ve probably been on many podcasts and are used to answering a list of pre-prepared questions. Almost everything we ask is based on our curiosity about something they just said."
As a part of my series about “5 Things You Need to Know to Create a Bingeable Podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sky Cassidy.
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As a part of my series about “5 Things You Need to Know to Create a Bingeable Podcast”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sky Cassidy.
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MediaPost: October 19, 2020
Advertisers Can Teach U.S. Government A Lot About Cross-Data Integration
Advertisers take a lot of flak when it comes to mining data that gives customers a better experience online and offline. No one can dispute that the industry has managed to develop expertise -- perhaps too much.
Technology can find the correct nuggets and combine the information from numerous platforms and databases to target across channels -- from connected technology and radio to searches on Google or Bing. And the recent redesign of Google Analytics is said to have significantly improved the measurement of targeting for advertisers.
Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, a data provider to some of the biggest U.S. brands such as Motorola, and Symantec, says dirty data -- which he defines as any type of inaccurate information -- has become dirtier during COVID, at least for B2B.
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Technology can find the correct nuggets and combine the information from numerous platforms and databases to target across channels -- from connected technology and radio to searches on Google or Bing. And the recent redesign of Google Analytics is said to have significantly improved the measurement of targeting for advertisers.
Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, a data provider to some of the biggest U.S. brands such as Motorola, and Symantec, says dirty data -- which he defines as any type of inaccurate information -- has become dirtier during COVID, at least for B2B.
...Read More
MarTech Today: October 13, 2020
How marketers can get the highest ROI out of podcasts
Planning, content and guest selection are at the foundation of a successful podcast strategy
The new at-home lifestyle brought about by the onset of COVID has driven a significant increase in the numbers of listeners and the numbers of programs in the podcasting and audio-streaming space, and where the channel was a secondary or tertiary option for most marketers, having a podcast strategy is now part of many marketing plans for 2021.
“Podcasting is still a vast, open space that brands are smart to jump into,” said Lindsay Tiepkema, CEO of Casted, a podcast-centered marketing platform. “When you consider there are about 1 million podcasts, but more than 600 million blogs, you can see how much opportunity still exists for brands to own their own space,” she continued. “And listenership continues to rise dramatically, even in the midst of a pandemic, as people are actively seeking connection. Podcasts that offer that ability to connect an audience with a brand like not other form of content can and, in doing so, build trust and loyalty.”
...Read More
The new at-home lifestyle brought about by the onset of COVID has driven a significant increase in the numbers of listeners and the numbers of programs in the podcasting and audio-streaming space, and where the channel was a secondary or tertiary option for most marketers, having a podcast strategy is now part of many marketing plans for 2021.
“Podcasting is still a vast, open space that brands are smart to jump into,” said Lindsay Tiepkema, CEO of Casted, a podcast-centered marketing platform. “When you consider there are about 1 million podcasts, but more than 600 million blogs, you can see how much opportunity still exists for brands to own their own space,” she continued. “And listenership continues to rise dramatically, even in the midst of a pandemic, as people are actively seeking connection. Podcasts that offer that ability to connect an audience with a brand like not other form of content can and, in doing so, build trust and loyalty.”
...Read More
How Social Media Platform Data Could Be Hurting Businesses
When businesses looking for leads rely on outdated—even fake—data, their efforts will not only cost them money but, more importantly, the allocation of valuable resources to an empty lead. But when they have access to the right data, it can lead to success. Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, says there are specific steps marketers need to take to ensure their data is clean.
A recent study shows that 3.96 billion people are currently using social media—that’s more than half of the world’s total population.(1) The increase includes more than one million new users since July 2019 which is 12 new users every second.(2) The data to create new leads from these new users could be a boon for any business but Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, says it is imperative that businesses have correct, clean data.
Date: September 30, 2020
The Secret Behind Why E-Mail Lists Will Always be More Effective than Facebook Ads
1/3rd of small businesses start with less than $5K while a whopping 77% use personal funds as their financing method, which is why entrepreneurs are getting wiser on how they spend their marketing dollars. Despite the power of social media marketing, statistics show that Facebook ads lack in producing high ROIs for businesses, whereas email lists remain to be the most influential business generators.
Date: March 9, 2020
Extortion Artists Prey on AdSense Users
"In the past, the schemers were probably being hired by AdSense account holders to commit ad fraud. Once Google shut that down, they decided to do it to people and make them pay to not do it," Cassidy speculated. "They're taking their tools, pointing them at legitimate people, and making them look like the bad guys."
Date: February 19, 2020
What You Need To Know About Dark Data
The concept of dark data sounds ominous, even sinister. But it is very important in the technology world. “To make it more relatable, dark data is like all of the photos on your devices,” said Sky Cassidy, who is the CEO of MountainTop Data. “Most of them will never be used or even viewed again, but they are there.
Date: October 27, 2019
Is Martech Making You a Bad Marketer?
As the name suggests, Martech is the blending of marketing and technology. However, having the system and understanding the data are two entirely different animals. Presently, only 13 percent of marketers are confident that they're able to fully utilize the data they get from their MarTech tools [1]. In part, this may be because the technology itself overshadows its ultimate purpose.
Date: October 23, 2019
California’s Consumer Privacy Act Means Changes for Online Marketers.
According to Sky Cassidy, CEO of MountainTop Data, the CCPA is set to change three major elements of the data collection process.
Date: September 23, 2019
SKY CASSIDY: “DIRTY DATA” TOPS BRANDS’ HURDLE LIST IN SERVING THEIR CUSTOMERS
Date: August 11, 2019
3 Critical Steps to Startup Success
Date: August 9, 2019
Data Inaccuracies Harmful for Sales Cycles and Lead Generation
Date: July 29, 2019
Curtailing Dirty Data
Date: July 26, 2019
Dirty Data Causes A Downward Spiral For Small Businesses
Date: June 26, 2019
Dirty Data Remains a Persistent Hurdle for B2B Companies to Overcome
Date: June 19, 2019
Dirty Data Does B2B: Why Brands Fail To Reconnect
Date: June 4, 2019
7 Ways Email Marketing Can Help Influence Your SEO Ranking
Date: June 1, 2019
Dirty Data a Persistent Hurdle for B2B Companies
Date: May 16, 2019
How email marketing can rescue your website’s SEO ranking
Date: May 14, 2019
Failed Data Migration Causes Significant Ramifications for Marketers
Date: May 8, 2019
Our podcast (The If You Market podcast) has been selected by feedspot.com as one of the 10 best Marketing Automation podcasts. Subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get podcasts.
Top 10 Marketing Automation Audio Podcasts & Radio You Must Subscribe and Listen to in 2019
Date: April 19, 2019
SiteProNews: Will Startups Destroy Marketing?
Date: April 4, 2019
MediaPost: Advisory: Migrating Marketing Email To The Cloud
Date: April 1, 2019
MarTech Roundup: Study Reveals Most Effective Facebook Posting Strategies
Date: March 11, 2019
