Outranking Your Competitors in AI Search
A quick rundown of the workshop with David Ly Khim from the agency Omniscient Digital on “Outranking Your Competitors in AI Search” David broke down how the world of SEO is changing with the rise of AI search (what some are calling GEO or AEO) and what you can actually do about it. The Big Picture: There’s a “Vibe Shift” in Search How to Measure AI Search Performance Actionable Tip: Add a simple, open-text field to your contact forms asking, “How did you find out about us?” This self-reported attribution is gold because last-touch attribution often misses the true origin. You can even ask prospects on sales calls what prompts they used! How to Actually Get Featured in AI Search Contact Info:
Understanding Attribution in the AI World
Zeke from DataSpeaks joined JJ to break down the complex world of marketing attribution in the age of AI. Explaining why the data from ad platforms can be misleading and outlining a modern, unified framework for getting a truer picture of your marketing performance. Here’s a rundown of what he covered: The Big Problem: Your Platform Data is Flawed Zeke kicked things off with a stat from Nielsen and others: 65% of advertising performance comes down to budget allocation. Where you put your money matters twice as much as how well you optimize individual channels. The issue is that platform pixels have up to a 50% error margin. This leads to misallocating funds, with studies showing about a third of every ad dollar is wasted. Why are pixels so inaccurate? The Solution: Unified Measurement Zeke stressed that these three pillars work together. General Budget Thresholds: Thoughts on Google Analytics Zeke is a fan! But he clarified its role: it’s an excellent website tracking tool, not a true attribution or measurement tool. Use it to understand on-site user behavior, but not to make high-level budget decisions. Contact Zeke: To learn more or ask questions, you can reach out to Zeke directly. He’s happy to be a resource for the community.
Partner Programs That Work for Service Providers
at Vision Labs, we work with a lot of agencies and brands, and we constantly hear about the pain of partnership requests. Most are a waste of time—vague proposals from software companies that don’t lead to real value. It’s a major distraction. That’s why we hosted a workshop with partnership expert Darren to get her insights. She shared a powerful framework for cutting through the noise and building partner programs that actually drive revenue. We wanted to share the key takeaways with you. Put the Client at the Center of Everything Before diving into tactics, Darren established the most important rule of partnerships: every decision must serve the end client. When evaluating a potential partnership, she advised asking these core questions: If everyone involved is focused on what’s best for the brand they serve, everybody wins. This is the non-negotiable foundation. What a Real Partner Program Is (and Isn’t) Darren was quick to draw a line between true partnerships and simple affiliate relationships. An affiliate link is purely transactional. It’s designed to drive traffic, but there’s no brand alignment or shared messaging. A true partnership, on the other hand, is a relationship. It’s a joint effort where two companies combine their messaging and share the same values for how they treat clients. Forget about paying to be in a program. In a healthy ecosystem, fees shouldn’t be involved. Any commission or referral fees should be treated as icing on the cake to help fund your marketing, not the primary reason for the relationship. Why Bother? The Real ROI of Partnerships A well-run partner program isn’t a side project; it’s a core growth lever. The potential ROI is massive. These relationships give you more feet on the street, boost your brand awareness by tapping into your partners’ audiences, and build a lead funnel that you couldn’t create alone. Getting Started: Quality Over Quantity The biggest mistake Darren sees is agencies playing a numbers game—signing up for every program just to collect logos. This is a massive error. The key is to be selective and strategic. You must do business with companies you truly stand by. And don’t just chase the biggest names. Partnering with a huge tech provider has perks, but as a smaller agency, you’ll struggle for attention. Some of the best partners are the hungry startups who are eager to invest time and resources into joint marketing with you. How to Stand Out and Get a Partner’s Attention Once you’ve chosen your partners, you have to work to become one of their go-to agencies. Stay Top of Mind Be proactive. Schedule regular meetings with your partner contact—quarterly or twice a year is fine. Use that time to show your dedication, learn their roadmap, and, most importantly, educate them on your business. If they don’t know you’ve added a new service, how can their sales team possibly refer clients to you? Initiate Co-Marketing and Offer Value Stop waiting for partners to come to you with ideas. Darren’s advice was to be bold. The single biggest thing you can do is initiate co-marketing. Share your expertise. Offer to create content that’s valuable to their ecosystem, such as: Case studies are the most beneficial co-marketing you can do. As the agency, you hold the client relationship and see the bigger picture. Your perspective is incredibly valuable, and a joint case study is a powerful way to get broader reach. Your Secret Weapon: A Solid Internal Infrastructure All this work is for nothing if your internal process is a mess. Once leads start flowing from partners, you absolutely must have the infrastructure to handle them. Don’t “Fill and Forget” We’ve all seen it. A company gets leads from an event, sends one “thank you” email, and does nothing. That is a complete waste. You must have a nurture sequence in place to follow up over time. It can take six months or more for a prospect to be ready, and you need to stay in front of them. Track Everything (Even Though It’s a Pain) Yes, partner portals are a nightmare. But from the SaaS provider’s view, they are a necessary evil for tracking. You have to create a system—in your CRM, a spreadsheet, or a dedicated tool—to keep track of your partners, their portals, and deal registration requirements. If you don’t plan for this from the start, you’ll create a massive headache for yourself down the road. Final Thoughts Building a real partner program takes work, but as Darren showed us, it’s one of the most effective growth levers you have. It gives you a bigger voice and drives more leads than you could ever generate alone. The biggest takeaways for us at Vision Labs were: Stop treating partnerships as a passive activity. Start building them as a core part of your growth strategy. Contact Darren Email: Darren@clarityrow.com Website: ClarityRow.com
Guess Less: What Your Users Wish You Knew
Go Beyond Guesses and Gut Feelings Haley emphasized that the most successful companies don’t just build a website or product and leave it; they continuously work to improve it. She defines Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) not as just changing button colors, but as a reliable method and business philosophy for using data to make decisions, rather than relying on gut feelings. Understand the “What” vs. the “Why” While analytics data is a crucial foundation for understanding what is happening on your site (e.g., where users drop off), it doesn’t tell you why. The key to unlocking real momentum is to pair quantitative data (the “what”) with qualitative data (the “why”). Three Fast Techniques to Uncover the “Why” Haley shared three low-cost, easy-to-implement techniques anyone can use to gather qualitative feedback: Prioritize Your Work with a Framework Instead of winging it, use a prioritization framework to decide what to work on. A great starting point is the ICE framework, which scores initiatives based on: Adopt a Repeatable Framework for Success Stop jumping from a proposed change straight to implementation. A more effective workflow is: Research → Insights → Prioritization → Action Plan → Testing → Implementation. This creates a continuous loop of learning and improvement. Contact Information: To connect with Haley Carpenter for questions or to learn more about her work: Email: haley@mychirpy.comLinkedIn: Haley CarpenterWebsite: mychirpy.com