Mastering Digital Marketing Strategies | Michael Landry from The Influence Agency

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Michael from The Influence Agency, vice president of strategy there with them. How are you doing today, Mike?

Michael Landry: Very great. Yourself?

Ernesto: I’m doing great, great. Thank you so much for asking. And, I was mentioning before, great jersey there from Scotty Barnes. He looks like the future, so we’ll see what happens with those Raptors.

Michael: Yeah, definitely. Anthony Edwards is looking pretty good out there too, and obviously your favorite guy, Wembanyama. That’s going to be one to watch over the next 15-18 years.

Ernesto: Definitely, definitely. Awesome, great there. Well, Mike, thank you so much for joining. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what The Influence Agency is all about. So, let’s kick it off with that. Mike, in your words, tell us a little bit more.

Michael: Sure. So, when we first started the agency, we knew there would be a big opportunity due to the gap in the influencer marketing marketplace, hence The Influence Agency was born. But it was going to take a little while to get it going, make sales, and feed ourselves. One thing we could get going fast was to create Consultus Digital, which was more SEM-focused, more performance marketing-focused. It lent itself to the background that we had, which was in performance marketing. Our company was about offering the full spectrum of marketing across two brands—you have your more social influencer marketing on The Influence Agency side, and your performance marketing on the Consultus side. But after a little while, after I think about our 14th hire, there was a lot of confusion as to what our identity was—are we Consultus or are we The Influence Agency? So we eventually just collapsed into one brand that is The Influence Agency.

And, if I could give you what would be on a slide deck, The Influence Agency is a digital agency that focuses on 360-degree digital elevation, covering everything from influencer marketing to development to SEO or CRO. We create an environment where brands can go to one partner for strategy and execution across all digital channels.

Ernesto: Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Mike. And so that way our listeners can get a good understanding of The Influence Agency, what would you say is the key problem that you guys like to solve for clients?

Michael: Well, every client has something a little different, right? I was in Torrey Pines for a Google partners conference, and they were really preaching the idea of going after one vertical, offering one solution, and sticking to it. They were highlighting agencies that, for example, just did Google Ads and hardwood flooring—just lead generation in that industry. And that’s very different from what we do and how we’re built. So it kind of makes you think, are we doing it wrong? But, we actively pass on clients that directly conflict with clients we already have, and we’re out there competing across a multitude of different platforms.

Every client is different. Some customers come to us because they want more e-commerce sales, some come because they want more phone calls, more leads, some because they want to move their television budget over to digital and be where the eyeballs are. So, we’re not solving one problem—we solve a lot of them. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a single answer because we do it all. Most of the time, we’re helping make more sales, but sometimes it’s awareness, social media, conversion rate optimization—it just depends on what the client is after.

Ernesto: Very important. Okay, awesome. So, is there a certain vertical or segment that you guys like to go for? Is there an ideal ICP for you guys?

Michael: The kind of customer that I like, or that we like, is one where we know we can materially help, where we know we can meet or exceed their expectations. We’ll get people who come to us for influencer marketing for, let’s say, a spa in Toronto, and they actually need Facebook Ads with a well-defined radius, not influencer marketing. The right kind of client for us is one that will take our recommendations and where it makes sense to pay the fees we charge. We’re not built for every kind of customer out there. Some customers probably need to start off elsewhere. But our ideal client is one where, when they get a customer, it’s meaningful to them—it’s someone they can resell to or it’s a big enough ticket item. Of course, that isn’t all of our clients, but it’s a good general rule of thumb.

Ernesto: All right, thank you so much for sharing that. So, how would somebody then usually find out about The Influence Agency? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you, Mike?

Michael: Yeah, for sure. Agencies are funny. There’s a saying, “the cobbler’s kids have the worst shoes” or “the maid’s house is the messiest.” Often, advertising agencies don’t advertise very well for themselves, and we don’t want to come across as a fat personal trainer, so we actually advertise for ourselves. That means we rank. If you type in “influencer marketing Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, New York,” we’re on the first page. We’re actually one of the few companies out there that can do influencer marketing and SEO concurrently.

We market very well for ourselves. If you look at our social media, you won’t find another agency that does social media for themselves as well as we do. Our clients get the best of us, of course, but at the end of the day, we wanted to be the marketing company that practices what we preach. That’s enabled us to meet so many wonderful brands from all over the world.

Ernesto: Definitely agree with you on that—practice what you preach. Awesome to hear that from you guys at The Influence Agency. So that way, our listeners tuned in can visit you, they can always check you out at theinfluenceagency.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition?

Michael: It’s everything—well, it’s a lot. Your website is on 24/7, it never has a sick day, and it says exactly what you want it to say all the time. It’s often your first impression and can handle multiple people at once with varying needs. Your website is such a pillar of new business acquisition. It’s got to be the best it can be—whether that means it looks good, helps people find what they’re looking for, or is optimized for paid media traffic so people take the intended action. And it’s also got to be SEO-friendly, because if you have a website and you don’t show up on the first page of Google, you might as well just print business cards. So yes, the website is absolutely integral to our strategy here.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Thank you so much for sharing that. On that note, is there any tools or tips or methods that you would recommend to listeners for website lead generation?

Michael: It’s a broad topic. The number one thing is you have to think about where your customers are. For example, if you have a groundbreaking new product that no one knows about, Google Ads might not be a great strategy because people aren’t searching for it. In that case, you might do Facebook Ads or TikTok Ads where you can interrupt people, let the algorithm figure out who’s interested, and display it to them. You have to think about where your clients are, what they need to hear, and how to get in front of them. Lead generation is a big topic, but start with who your customers are, where they are, and what they need to hear.

Ernesto: Definitely. Great advice there for our listeners. Thank you, Mike. Let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about you as a leader, you being the VP of strategy at The Influence Agency. What are some key tasks you focus on day-to-day?

Michael: When you’re a founder of an agency or business, you’re doing a lot. The only thing that keeps me sane is my notebook. I write down everything—old school—because if it’s on the computer, it’s out of sight, out of mind. I like to have it visible. Usually, I’m doing one of three things: working with my accounts team to bring value to clients, working on finances (influencer payments, payroll, rent, etc.), or working on strategy—forming partnerships with complementary or even semi-competitive businesses. It’s a good practice to make friends with people, even those who seemingly do what you do, because it’s a small world and a long life. You can always find ways to work with each other.

Ernesto: Definitely agree. That’s some great advice, because you never know, three or four years down the line, that person might become a partner. Awesome to hear that from you. Let’s jump into our next section—our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Michael: No, but go for it.

Ernesto: All right, let’s see how it goes. First up, what’s the last book you read, Mike?

Michael: I’m not a big reader; I wish I could say I read one book a week. But the last book I read was Traction by Gino Wickman. I highly recommend it because it gives you a great framework for building and managing a business. It’s part of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), which helps businesses implement principles to enhance accountability, control, and vision within the business.

Ernesto: Great read there—Traction by Gino Wickman. Next, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would be the one thing you’d want fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Michael: Not to be a politician, but I like it when things are challenging—it’s what makes an agency like mine worth going to. If SEO, social media, or web development were easy, there’d be no place for us. But if I could wave a magic wand, it’d be an AI tool that gives perfect attribution reporting and analysis. So many times, I look under the hood of a new prospect, and they’re not tracking conversions properly, or their analytics are a mess. Universal analytics, GA4—all Frankenstein. Good analytics and measurement would be universally helpful, leading to better advertising decisions.

Ernesto: Not so rapid, but great insight. Lastly, you have a lot of experience in marketing. What’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were restarting your journey today?

Michael: Trust the people you hire. You’re hiring smart, talented, hardworking people—let them be the problem solvers first. Take your hands off the wheel and let the car drive itself a bit.

Ernesto: Great advice for many leaders out there. Thank you so much for sharing, Mike. We’re coming to the end of our show, but before we wrap up, I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about today, what’s the one thing they should remember about your company?

Michael: The Influence Agency truly can do it all. Even if you’re not the right client for us, we’ll always make sure that everyone who comes across us is better for having done so. We always advise and point people in the right direction, no matter what.

Ernesto: You guys heard it—check them out at theinfluenceagency.com. Mike, thank you so much for being on with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode on Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Mike.

Michael: Thank you.