Driving Conversions in Sustainable Markets | Amber Spencer from Damon Motorcycles

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 on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Amber from Damon Motorcycles, CMO at Damon Motorcycles. How you doing, Amber?

Amber Spencer: I’m doing great. Thank you so much for having me.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on. And, well, I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering what Damon Motorcycles is all about. So, let’s kick it off with that. Amber, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Amber: For sure. Damon is the future of motorcycling. Our mission is to unleash the full potential of motorcycling for the world. We’re doing it by making motorcycling smarter, safer, and cleaner. We’re essentially here to disrupt the motorcycle industry through and through, just like Tesla did with the car industry. We’re starting at the top with high-performance electric superbikes. Our bikes are built on a multivariate platform that allows us to scale down to commuter bikes that can serve the rest of the world. The current product that we have for sale on our website is the Damon Hypersport. What makes our bikes really special is that they come with 360-degree collision warning systems. We call that system Copilot. We also have our adjustable ergonomic system called Shift, which allows you to switch from a commuter position to a sport position and back to a commuter position again, depending on the road condition.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. Then, who would these motorcycles be for? Is there a vertical segment? Is there an ideal ICP for you guys that you want to know about Damon Motorcycles?

Amber: Yeah. So our primary customers are existing motorcycle riders. This isn’t us taking customers from electric motorcycles. We’re actually having motorcycle riders who ride existing gas motorcycles switch over to electric because this motorcycle is all around a better riding experience. So it’s not just an EV, but a better user experience. What we’ve seen in our customer base is that they’re typically younger than the average motorcyclist, usually between age 30 and 50. They’re more tech-savvy than the traditional motorcycle demographic. We also see the motorcycle on our website looks like a sport motorcycle, but we’re seeing commuters, sport riders, adventure riders, people riding electric motorcycles, coming from all sorts of different segments and choosing to purchase a Damon. Another interesting insight about our audience is that 40% either don’t have a motorcycle or they don’t have a motorcycle because they’re new to motorcycle riding, or they stopped riding many years ago. The thought that motorcycling can be safer is bringing them back into the market again.

Ernesto: All right, awesome. I love that idea. I used to ride one back in the day, so it’s exciting to see that. So, what would you say, then, is the top client acquisition channel right now for Damon Motorcycles?

Amber: When we launched the product, we had a really strong jumping-off point at an in-person CES launch event, and we did a surround sound marketing campaign around that. We saw huge acquisition from doing in-person launch, plus PR, plus social, plus influencers. So it’s always great to do a big event where you do that surround sound. One of our best channels for ongoing acquisition is Instagram. We combine really good organic content with paid media as well. The better our organic content is on Instagram, the lower our acquisition costs are on our paid media. So we use both of those, and we do utilize the other channels as well. But we have definitely seen the best acquisition via Instagram.

Ernesto: Awesome to hear that. So that way, our listeners who are tuned in could go ahead and visit you guys. They could always check you out at damonmotorcycles.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition, then, Amber?

Amber: I would say the website has evolved as our story has evolved over time. The main reason for our website is people can go and see what Damon is all about. It’s middle of the funnel. Sometimes they’re looking just for more information to understand what the product is, and that’s more top of the funnel. But of course, it also serves as conversion for us. We’re not like a typical automotive company where you have to go to a dealer to purchase the motorcycle; you can just purchase it online, and that’s our online sales process. Once you place a pre-order, you receive updates from us, a little bit like Tesla. When your motorcycle is ready, we can communicate with you via text, by email, whatever your preferred communication preference is, and then we coordinate to have that motorcycle delivered or you go to a center to pick it up. So it’s really central to not just our acquisition but also to our conversion. It’s just that central hub that provides a place for people to go and get the information they need. Especially for a motorcycle, the specifications are super important. They can go there and find out the details of the motorcycle, like the wheelbase and the technology features that come with it. All of those details are crucial for the decision-making process so that they can compare against other products.

Ernesto: On that note, then, is there any tools or tips or methods that you would recommend to our listeners as far as some website lead generation?

Amber: I would say, yeah, lead generation involves listening to your customers. The landing page is super important, depending on where they’ve come from. If you’re running paid media, make sure that when the person comes to the landing page, the message they’ve seen on the ad aligns with what’s on the page. Something that’s worked really well for us is having our value props towards the top of the page and aligning that with the messaging on the ads. In terms of budget, we’re a small company, so we like to make our budgets go as far as possible. Make sure the website is optimized for SEO, has good content, and we’re capitalizing on that free traffic from search engines. Along with that, having a blog assists with the website copy and SEO. We found that those two things have really helped with lead generation on the website. Another really big thing is ensuring that your website is really fast. Before images go up, make sure they’re super optimized. Videos should be super optimized too. The load time should be low when they initially load the page to make sure visitors don’t bounce away before they even get a chance to look at the information.

Ernesto: Great, thank you so much for sharing those tips and methods with our listeners. Let’s switch gears a little bit, Amber, and talk about you as a leader. You being the CMO for Damon Motorcycles, what are some key tasks you like to focus on in your day-to-day work?

Amber: We’re a small team, so I have a lot to do. My day-to-day involves overseeing any projects that are going on, managing external partners, like checking in with the advertising agency and checking the social media. I also communicate with key stakeholders. Being a small company, I make sure that the C-suite is in the loop with what’s going on. Regular planning, replanning meetings, checking KPIs, customer support—there’s a lot. Prioritization is key. Trying to keep the most important things at the top of my task list is essential. With startups, things change quickly. One day our goal might be generating leads for our newsletter, and the next day it might be generating leads for our test ride list. Making sure the team is aligned with these changes and ensuring we have the resources to execute is crucial. My role involves top-level strategic planning, replying to customers, assisting the team, and training the team.

Ernesto: Thank you for sharing that. Let’s jump into our next section, Amber, which is our rapid-fire question rounds. Are you ready for them?

Amber: Yeah, go ahead.

Ernesto: Awesome. First off, what is the last book that you read?

Amber: The last book I read was “Building a Second Brain” by Diego Forte. I found it helpful for productivity and note-taking. It covers effective note-taking not just at work but also when reading books or taking courses. It offers tools and structures for organizing information to assist with important projects or for future reference. I’d definitely recommend it.

Ernesto: Perfect. Next, if there would be no boundaries in technology, what would be that one thing that you want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Amber: I’d like a tool that can automate the reporting process better. There are many tools that claim to integrate with all your marketing systems and generate marketing reports, but something that integrates AI and can generate these reports easier and quicker would be ideal. It should seamlessly integrate with tools to generate targeted reports for the C-suite or the team, with charts and data easily manipulated without manual troubleshooting or dashboard building.

Ernesto: Definitely. I think that would be something many people would want. Lastly, you have a lot of experience already, but what is that one piece of advice you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Amber: The one piece of advice I’d give myself is that it’s okay not to know everything. As a junior marketer, I stressed myself out because I felt I didn’t have enough knowledge or didn’t know how to do things. I’d tell myself not to worry. There are always people willing to help, and you don’t need to know everything early in your career. Experience and working on different projects bring knowledge. Don’t stress about having all the experience because nobody expects that of you other than yourself.

Ernesto: Great advice, not just for yourself, but for many listeners out there. We are coming to the end of the show today, Amber, but before we end, I want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is the one thing they should remember about Damon Motorcycles?

Amber: We’re transforming two wheels for the better. If you’re looking for a safer, smarter way to get around, check us out at damon.com.

Ernesto: Amber, thank you so much for being on. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thank you so much, Amber.

Amber: Thank you so much.