“At the end of the day, we are contacting humans. If our artificial intelligence gets to be too robotic, it’s not going to be effective.”

Chris Simental is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ripe Media, a full-service design and marketing agency based in LA that specializes in digital, interactive, and web-based communications. Simental’s entrepreneurial streak began at a young age selling homework to fellow classmates, and as CEO of Ripe, he puts those leadership skills to use. His small but mighty team provides marketing solutions for clients of all sizes, ranging from non-profits to Fortune 500 companies.

In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Chris Simental shares his insights on content marketing, the steadfast importance of websites, and brand recognition in the age of voice.

Content marketing is a must (1:19) 

“If people are trying to find you through different avenues, like the topics you discuss or through the services you provide, and you don’t have content on your website that draws them in, then you’re not going to be found.”

Smart consumer targeting with marketing automation (2:21)

“Marketers have done a lot in the way of marketing automation, which on some levels is artificial intelligence. It gives you an opportunity to not just stay more in contact with your audience, but to contact them at the most opportune moments.”

How to brand in the age of voice technologies (3:47)

“In a smart speaker realm, marketing tactics might have to be a little bit more old-school. Before the days of websites it was more about what you say or about how you say it—maybe jingles will make a comeback.”

Websites aren’t waning anytime soon (5:00) 

“The thing about websites is they are the one place where you have the most control over your brand messaging, the experience, and how you tell your story.”

Is there still hope for the authenticity of influencers? (9:10) 

“Micro-influencers are people who don’t have a lot of followers but have extremely high engagement with those followers… [Today] there are so many influencers, there’s now questionability around whether their advertisments are false or not.

Our favorite question—Any Book Recommendations? (13:37)

“Crushing It! How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence – and How You Can, Too ” by Gary Vaynerchuck. The big takeaway is that you need to be prepared to hustle and you can’t be afraid of it.”

To learn more about Ripe, contact us here.