How Smart Marketers Know What to Do Next

🎧 In this episode of the Trivera Deep Dive, Chip and Nova explore one of the toughest questions successful marketing teams face: What should you do next when your current strategy is already working?

They explain why simply spending more on the same channels can eventually produce diminishing returns, how emerging capabilities like AI agents, podcasts, GEO, quote builders, advanced analytics, and custom website tools can create additional value, and why every new investment must be tied to a real business problem—not just the latest trend.

You'll learn:

✅ Why successful marketing channels eventually encounter diminishing returns

✅ How to protect the strategies that are already producing results

✅ Where AI agents, podcasts, GEO, quote builders, and custom tools may fit

✅ How to identify friction that is costing your company leads or momentum

✅ The eight questions smart marketers ask before recommending the next investment

👉 Read the blog that inspired this episode:

How Smart Marketers Know What to Do Next

Transcript

[Chip]
You know what's harder than fixing marketing that isn't working? 

[Nova]
Deciding what to do when it is. 

[Chip]
Exactly. The website is performing. Search is improving. Campaigns are producing leads. So the obvious answer is, "Let's do more." 

[Nova]
But more of the same can eventually mean smaller returns, and chasing every shiny new tool can waste the budget you worked so hard to earn. 

[Chip]
So how do smart marketers know what comes next? 

[Nova]
That's exactly what we're digging into today. 

[Narrator]
[upbeat music] Welcome to Trivera's AI Deep Dive podcast hosted by Chip and Nova, our AI co-hosts. Together, they transform top marketing insights from our blogs, articles, and events into actionable strategies you can use. Ready to dive in? Let's get started. 

[Nova]
Welcome back to the Trivera Deep Dive podcast. I'm your AI co-host, Nova. 

[Chip]
And I'm your AI co-host, Chip. And as always, we are incredibly proud to be the AI members of Team Trivera. 

[Nova]
Thanks, Chip. It is fantastic to be here. As AI co-hosts, we get to process a massive amount of data, but, uh, today we are looking at something very close to home. 

[Chip]
We really are. We're exploring a brand-new blog by our CEO, Tom Snyder. 

[Nova]
Right. Today is all about tapping into Tom's insight and, of course, our team's experience to really talk about next-level strategy. 

[Chip]
And Nova, I wanna jump straight into the deep end here- 

[Nova]
Hmm 

[Chip]
... because Tom starts this blog by kind of flipping a classic business cliché totally on its head. 

[Nova]
He does. The blog brings up that old saying, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got." 

[Chip]
Which, I mean, in, like, 99% of business contexts, that is a warning. 

[Nova]
Right. It's a wake-up call against complacency. Stop relying on your old habits and expecting magical new results. 

[Chip]
But here is where we have to kind of unpack things. 

[Nova]
Hmm. 

[Chip]
In marketing, if your website is performing like a champion- 

[Nova]
And your search visibility is dominating your competitors 

[Chip]
... exactly, and your paid campaigns are producing highly qualified leads, well, doing what you've always done is exactly what is paying the bills. 

[Nova]
Precisely, Chip. When the strategy isn't broken and it's actually the reason your leadership team is finally willing to increase your budget for next year, you are in a fantastic position. 

[Chip]
You really are. 

[Nova]
But as the blog points out, it is also exactly the moment where budget planning gets incredibly complicated. 

[Chip]
And I have to push back on this just a little bit, Nova, because I think a lot of marketers, and a lot of CEOs, frankly, would say, "Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it." 

[Nova]
Oh, absolutely. 

[Chip]
Right. Like, if I have a marketing machine where I put in $1 and I get $5 out, why wouldn't I just drain my entire bank account into that machine until it literally breaks? 

[Nova]
Just keep cranking the lever. 

[Chip]
Yeah. Why not just say, "Let's do more of that," and just print money? 

[Nova]
It is such a tempting trap, Chip, but that completely ignores the brutal reality of the law of diminishing returns. 

[Chip]
Right. 

[Nova]
The highest value opportunities in any campaign are always the very first ones you capture. 

[Chip]
So when you launch a great strategy, you naturally grab the best, most relevant keywords first. 

[Nova]
You activate the highest intent, ready-to-buy paid media audiences first. 

[Chip]
Okay, let's make this tangible. It's, uh... It's like a gold rush. 

[Nova]
Oh, that is the perfect way to look at it. 

[Chip]
Right. The first miners who arrive at the river, they just scoop up the massive nuggets lying right there on the riverbed. It's highly profitable for very little effort. 

[Nova]
But three years later- 

[Chip]
Yeah, three years later, to get the same amount of gold, you are buying massive, incredibly expensive industrial excavators just to sift out tiny flakes of gold dust. 

[Nova]
Exactly. You're working 10 times harder for a fraction of the reward. 

[Chip]
Right. 

[Nova]
If you push harder into those exact same tapped out marketing channels, the next dollar you spend simply will not perform like the last one. 

[Chip]
And the real insight here is that diminishing returns are not a failure of the strategy. 

[Nova]
No, they're not. 

[Chip]
It's actually proof that the strategy worked. You successfully optimized that channel. 

[Nova]
But it means you are now competing for attention you've already earned, or you are reaching a much smaller, far less urgent audience. 

[Chip]
So how do you spot that? Like, if you're a marketer looking at a dashboard right now, how do you know you're at the excavator stage of the gold rush? 

[Nova]
You look at your cost per acquisition, or your CPA, right alongside your conversion rates. If your budget is going up but your cost to acquire a single lead is suddenly creeping higher and higher while your click-through rates are just plateauing, you've hit the ceiling of that specific channel. 

[Chip]
So throwing more money at it is literally just buying expensive gold dust. 

[Nova]
Precisely. 

[Chip]
Which means for everyone listening right now who is looking at their budget for next year, you have to ask yourself a hard question: Are you simply throwing more money at a tapped-out audience? 

[Nova]
Or are you asking the critical question Tom poses in the blog: Where is the next best opportunity for value? 

[Chip]
And that logical deduction, realizing that more of the same will eventually bankrupt your efficiency, it forces us to look at new capabilities. 

[Nova]
Which brings us to the really exciting part of Tom's blog. 

[Chip]
Yeah. He details the specific new tools that Team Trivera is already building, testing, and applying for our clients right now in 2026. 

[Nova]
Let's walk through the mechanisms behind these, Chip, because the key isn't adopting tools just because they are shiny tech. 

[Chip]
Right. It's adopting them because they have a specific strategic purpose. 

[Nova]
Exactly. So first on the list, AI agents. 

[Chip]
And we definitely need to clarify what an AI agent actually is 'cause this isn't the terrible customer service chatbot from 2018. 

[Nova]
Oh, those were the worst. 

[Chip]
Right. The ones that just said, "I don't understand. Please call this 1-800 number." 

[Nova]
Yes. Those old bots were basically glorified FAQ menus. But an AI agent turns a static website into an active, highly capable digital assistant. 

[Chip]
So imagine a B2B buyer on a manufacturing website. 

[Nova]
Right. Instead of making that user hunt through five different navigation menus to find a specific PDF spec sheet- 

[Chip]
Or trying to compare it to another product 

[Nova]
... exactly, the AI agent can parse the site's entire database instantly, synthesize the answer, and guide the user to the exact right product. 

[Chip]
It is about completely eliminating user friction. 

[Nova]
Totally. 

[Chip]
That's a huge upgrade. Next up, Tom highlights podcasts. And Nova, I mean, this one is a bit meta for us. 

[Nova]
It is awfully familiar, Chip. But the mechanism of a podcast in a B2B or a niche business strategy is wildly underappreciated. 

[Chip]
It really is. People think a podcast is just about getting thousands of downloads, but it's not. 

[Nova]
No. In the blog, Tom points out that podcasts build deep authority and trust. But more than that, it is an incredible networking and recruiting tool. 

[Chip]
Oh, absolutely. Think about it. If you invite a high-level prospect to a sales pitch, they will ignore your email. 

[Nova]
But if you send them a link and invite them to listen to your industry podcast- 

[Chip]
You're inviting them to listen to a short, informative, and entertaining audio overview that gives them useful insight on their own schedule. It's a much lower friction way to start a relationship, and it lets the value of your thinking come through before you ever ask for a meeting. 

[Nova]
That is exactly why Team Trevera has us hosting this deep dive. 

[Chip]
Next, the blog talks about quote builders, but it is actually referring to custom-built tools that enhance the customer journey or facilitate a step in the sales process. 

[Nova]
Now, this is an absolute game changer for service businesses or really any company with complex pricing models. 

[Chip]
Because friction isn't just about finding information. It's about taking action. Think about the traditional sales process. 

[Nova]
It's exhausting. 

[Chip]
Right. A prospect wants to know if they can even afford you. To find out, they have to fill out a contact form, wait for an email, schedule a discovery call- 

[Nova]
Have the actual call 

[Chip]
... have the call, and then wait for a proposal. That is massive friction. 

[Nova]
And a lot of buyers just abandon the process right there. But a tool like a quote builder or a product spec configurator can provide clarity and establish value upfront. 

[Chip]
It allows prospects to input their parameters and self-qualify. 

[Nova]
Exactly. It completely reduces sales friction, and it makes your sales team infinitely happier. 

[Chip]
Because by the time they actually speak to a prospect, that person already knows the ballpark price and is practically ready to buy. 

[Nova]
Okay, let's talk about the next one because this is dense but so important: GEO and AIO strategy. 

[Chip]
Right. Generative engine optimization and, uh, artificial intelligence optimization. 

[Nova]
We need to explain how this differs from traditional SEO. 

[Chip]
Because for 20 years, SEO was just about matching keywords to rank on a list of 10 blue links. You wanted Google to point a user to your website. 

[Nova]
But buyers are fundamentally changing how they research. They are using AI overviews and conversational engines to summarize topics. 

[Chip]
So the AI engine reads the internet and stitches together an answer right there on the search page. 

[Nova]
Exactly. If you are only doing traditional SEO, you might rank as a blue link way down the page, completely invisible beneath the AI summary. 

[Chip]
Which means GEO is about structuring your website's data, your facts, your proprietary research, your brand specs so cleanly and authoritatively that the AI engine confidently uses you as the source text. 

[Nova]
Right. If you aren't optimizing for that generative phase, you are going to lose visibility during the most critical part of the buyer's journey discovery. 

[Chip]
The blog also touches on better analytics. 

[Nova]
Yes. We are moving well past just counting clicks and bounce rates. Using AI-powered tools, we can now measure actual sentiment and intent. 

[Chip]
We can see where a user actually got frustrated, giving leadership much clearer actionable insights into visitor satisfaction. 

[Nova]
And finally, custom tools. These are the specialized ROI calculators or decision-making frameworks built directly into a site that help users take action with total confidence. 

[Chip]
So we have this incredible arsenal: AI agents, GEO, AIO, quote builders, LLM-based configurators. That's a lot. 

[Nova]
[laughs] Right. 

[Chip]
So let me ask you, Nova. Since it's 2026 and these tools are so incredibly powerful, shouldn't every single brand ask ChatGPT or Claude how to implement every single one of these tools on their own? 

[Nova]
As fun as that would be, Chip, the blog is incredibly firm on this. Absolutely not. 

[Chip]
Wait, really? 

[Nova]
Yes. These tools are completely useless and honestly a waste of money if they are not added with a clear strategic purpose that actually fits the brand, the audience, and the sales process. 

[Chip]
Which brings us to the boardroom. 

[Nova]
Yeah. 

[Chip]
Because it's one thing to know these tools exist, but, uh, it's another thing entirely to justify them to the people holding the purse strings. 

[Nova]
There is an intense dual pressure in marketing right now. On one side, agency people, like our team, need to create actual measurable value for our clients. 

[Chip]
Right. 

[Nova]
On the other side, the client side marketers have to take these ideas to the C-suite and provide bulletproof justification. 

[Chip]
Like, picture this: a CMO walks into a boardroom and says, "Hey, we need $50,000 to build an AI agent." 

[Nova]
And the CEO naturally says, "Why?" 

[Chip]
Right. And if the CMO's answer is, "Well, because it's 2026 and everyone is doing it"- 

[Nova]
Yeah 

[Chip]
... that budget is getting denied instantly. 

[Nova]
Because it's new is not a strategy. The blog points out that a marketing plan is not a list of tactics. It is a business case. 

[Chip]
And Tom provides a mandatory list of justification questions that every marketer needs to answer before they pitch a new tool, all of these based on how we at Trevera decide what to recommend for our clients. 

[Nova]
First, what problem does this solve? 

[Chip]
Are you trying to reduce the volume of low-tier customer service calls? 

[Chip]
Or are you trying to generate higher quality leads for the enterprise team? 

[Nova]
Second, why now? Has buyer behavior shifted in your industry? 

[Chip]
Or has your current paid search program hit that wall of diminishing returns we talked about earlier? 

[Nova]
Exactly. Third, what goal does this support? Is the primary goal of the business right now growth, operational efficiency, or maybe recruiting? 

[Chip]
Fourth, how will we know if it worked? 

[Nova]
You need a clear, agreed-upon metric to judge the value, even if it's not a simple one-to-one attribution like an e-commerce sale. 

[Chip]
And fifth, why is this the right next investment? Nova, this is where Team Trevera's entire approach really shines. It all comes down to context. 

[Nova]
It really does, Chip. Without knowing a client's specific friction points, their internal sales hurdles, and the deep nuances of their audience, recommending an AI agent or a podcast is just pointing blindly at items on a menu. 

[Chip]
Just guessing, really. 

[Nova]
But when you have that context, those tactics transform into strategic choices. As we said, not every client needs an AI agent. 

[Chip]
Right. 

[Nova]
But when the fit is right and can be presented using, using real world historic use case data, it unlocks a whole new level of value.

[Chip]
We're going to pause for a quick break, but, uh, definitely do not go anywhere. 

[Nova]
That's right. When we come back, we are going to dive into Team Trivera's ultimate checklist from Tom's blog on how smart marketers decide what comes next. 

[Chip]
And most importantly, what this means for you. So stick around. 

[Nova]
We'll be right back. 

[Nova]
[upbeat music] 

[Nova]
Chip, it's hard to believe, but we're already halfway through the year. 

[Chip]
I know. And while a lot of organizations are shifting into summer mode, the reality is that fourth quarter is right around the corner. 

[Nova]
And for many businesses, Q4 isn't just another quarter, it's the quarter that determines whether annual goals are met or missed. 

[Chip]
Exactly. The challenge is that the companies still scrambling to fix websites, clean up content, improve visibility, or streamline marketing processes in October are already behind. 

[Nova]
That's why smart organizations use the summer months to prepare. They strengthen their foundation while there's still time to make an impact this year. 

[Chip]
Because momentum built in July and August often shows up in revenue conversations by November and December. 

[Nova]
And when budget discussions for next year begin, it's a lot easier to make your case when you're already finishing strong. 

[Chip]
Visit Trivera.com and discover how thirty years of digital marketing experience can help you build momentum now and carry it into the future. 

[Nova]
Trivera, helping businesses get ahead and stay ahead. [upbeat music] 

[Narrator]
Welcome back to Trivera's AI Deep Dive. Now back to our conversation with Chip and Nova. 

[Chip]
Welcome back to the Trivera Deep Dive podcast. 

[Nova]
Before the break, we covered the reality of diminishing returns and the incredible new tools available to us. Now we are moving from the theory of justification into the practical checklist marketers can use today to plan next year's budget. 

[Chip]
We're diving into a specific subhead from Tom's blog, How Smart Marketers Decide What Comes Next. 

[Nova]
Because smart marketers don't stand still, Chip, but they also don't chase every new idea just to look impressive in a budget meeting. They ask better questions. 

[Chip]
And Tom lays out eight critical questions. Let's really dig into these, Nova, because they build on each other perfectly. 

[Nova]
Let's do it. 

[Chip]
Question number one: What is already working that we need to protect? 

[Nova]
Oh, this is huge. 

[Chip]
I see this happen so often. A brand gets excited about something new, like building an immersive video experience, and they accidentally pull budget away from the foundational SEO or email automation campaigns that are quietly paying the bills. 

[Nova]
It is the easiest mistake to make. You cannot starve your workhorses to feed a unicorn. You have to protect the foundation first. 

[Chip]
Exactly. Which leads to question two: Where are we seeing diminishing returns? 

[Nova]
Tying it back to our gold rush analogy, you have to be ruthlessly honest about which channels are tapped out. 

[Chip]
Right. Just because a channel performed brilliantly in 2025 doesn't mean it deserves an incremental budget increase in 2027. 

[Nova]
Question three: Where is friction costing us leads or momentum? 

[Chip]
This is where you find the immediate opportunities for those custom tools we discussed. 

[Nova]
Right. If your analytics show that prospects are consistently dropping off on your pricing page, that is severe friction. That is exactly where a quote builder steps in to save the momentum. 

[Chip]
Question four: What changed in how our buyers research? 

[Nova]
This is the GEO and AIO conversation. 

[Chip]
If your buyers have stopped typing questions into search engines and started asking AI assistants for summaries, your entire visibility strategy has to pivot to match that behavior. 

[Nova]
Question five: What business goal needs more support next year? Marketing does not exist in a vacuum. 

[Chip]
No, it doesn't. 

[Nova]
If the company's biggest macro goal next year is doubling the size of the engineering team, then maybe that podcast we talked about isn't a lead gen tool at all. It becomes a dedicated employer branding initiative. 

[Chip]
Question six: Which new capability could create additional value? And I love the phrasing here. Tom uses the word capability, not tactic. 

[Nova]
That distinction is so important. 

[Chip]
A tactic is running a new LinkedIn ad. A capability is giving your business the ability to do something it literally could not do before. Offering twenty-four seven, three sixty-five personalized, complex, but helpful guidance through an AI agent is a brand-new capability. 

[Nova]
Question seven: Which investment has the clearest path to value? We all sit in brainstorming sessions and come up with ten amazing ideas. 

[Chip]
Sure. 

[Nova]
But which one actually moves the needle the fastest with the most reliable ROI for the business? You have to prioritize the path of least resistance to revenue. 

[Chip]
And finally, question eight, the one that seals the deal: Can we defend this in a leadership or budget conversation? 

[Nova]
Because if you can't articulate the business case clearly to a CFO who knows nothing about marketing, it doesn't matter how incredible the technology is. 

[Chip]
Smart marketing is just as much about explaining why a project is worth doing as it is about actually doing it. 

[Nova]
Which brings us to the final section of Tom's blog, what this means for you. 

[Chip]
We want to bring all of Tom's wisdom directly to your desk, challenging you to apply this framework to your own upcoming strategy. 

[Nova]
Right. 

[Nova]
If you are listening to this and your marketing is genuinely broken right now, leads are down, traffic is crashing, your only job is diagnosis. You need to find the root problem. 

[Chip]
Don't buy a single new tactic until you do. 

[Nova]
Exactly. But if your marketing is working, you are at a critical juncture. You have captured the easy gold. Now you need to look for that next strategic layer. 

[Chip]
Tom's advice is clear for jives. Protect the foundation that is producing results, but do not artificially limit next year's plan to last year's tactics. 

[Nova]
You have to evolve based on where the friction is today, not where it was yesterday. 

[Chip]
We encourage everyone listening to ask themselves Tom's ultimate question: What new investment can we justify because it will create real measurable value? 

[Nova]
Success isn't measured by adopting the most tactics. It's measured by making the right next investment at the right time with partners who truly understand your brand. 

[Chip]
And if you are listening to this right now and you are ready to figure out exactly what your next strategic layer is, it is time to put this expertise to use for your digital marketing and your operations. 

[Nova]
Yeah. 

[Chip]
Let Team Trivera help you identify the exact next move to create real value for your brand. 

[Nova]
We wanna thank you so much for joining us directly on this Trivera Deep Dive. 

[Chip]
Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please make sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review, and check out the show notes. 

[Nova]
We warmly invite you to catch the next Trivera Deep Dive podcast. Until then, I'm Nova. 

[Chip]
And I'm Chip. See you next time. 

[Narrator]
Thanks for joining us on Trivera's AI Deep Dive with Chip and Nova. If you enjoyed this episode, you can find more and stay up to date with new episodes wherever you listen to podcasts or find them on our website and our social media channels. And don't forget to visit us at trivera.com to learn how we can help take your marketing to the next level. Ready to talk? Reach out. We'd love to hear from you. See you next time. 

[upbeat music]