PMax, AI, and the Myth of Set-It-and-Forget-It | Ep. 2 with Ben Lund (Rise Marketing Group)
Is Anything Real?June 18, 2025
2
00:23:0552.87 MB

PMax, AI, and the Myth of Set-It-and-Forget-It | Ep. 2 with Ben Lund (Rise Marketing Group)

Performance Max can scale. But only if you control the inputs.

Otherwise? You’re handing the wheel to a robot with no map.


In this episode of Is Anything Real in Paid Advertising?, I’m joined by Ben Lund, founder of Rise Marketing Group and ex-Googler, to unpack what’s real...and what’s wildly misunderstood...about AI-driven campaigns in 2025.


We get into:

⚙️ The real value of human strategy in an AI world

📉 Why Performance Max fails when left unchecked

🧠 The mindset behind building a 7-figure agency that’s still human-first

👀 Why automation without alignment is just budget drain


💡 If you’ve ever felt the gap between AI promise and real ROI…this one’s for you.


🔗 Listen + learn more at risemkg.com and connect with Ben



00:00:06

All right.




00:00:07

Welcome back to




00:00:08

Is Anything Real?




00:00:09

in Paid Advertising?




00:00:10

The show where agency




00:00:11

founders unpack what's real




00:00:13

and what's just noise.




00:00:15

I'm your host, Adam W.




00:00:16

Barney.




00:00:16

And today we've got someone




00:00:18

who's not just keeping




00:00:19

up with AI's pivot.




00:00:20

He's training it




00:00:21

to work smarter.




00:00:23

Ben, welcome.




00:00:25

How are you doing today?




00:00:26

Doing great.




00:00:27

Thanks so much for having




00:00:28

me excited, to chat.




00:00:30

Awesome.




00:00:31

You want to give about two




00:00:32

seconds on where you come




00:00:33

from, what you're building




00:00:34

with Rise Marketing




00:00:35

Group before we dive in?




00:00:37

Yeah, definitely.




00:00:38

So, yeah, my name is Ben.




00:00:40

I'm the founder




00:00:40

of Rise Marketing Group.




00:00:41

I've been in the marketing




00:00:43

advertising industry for 20




00:00:45

years now, which is crazy.




00:00:47

Started off, earlier in my




00:00:49

career at companies such as




00:00:50

Yahoo, when that was a thing,




00:00:52

when people went to the Yahoo




00:00:53

portal to access the Internet.




00:00:55

And then, and then over time




00:00:58

I worked at a big agency.




00:00:59

Then I worked at Google




00:01:01

up here in Cambridge.




00:01:02

We live in the greater




00:01:03

Boston area.




00:01:04

And then a little over




00:01:05

seven years ago, I founded




00:01:06

Rise Marketing Group




00:01:07

and we're a full service




00:01:09

digital marketing firm




00:01:11

offering ads, SEO,




00:01:13

website design, development,




00:01:14

email marketing.




00:01:16

Awesome.




00:01:16

All right, well, let's start




00:01:18

with a quick pulse check.




00:01:19

With Google specifically




00:01:21

dropping more AI into




00:01:22

the Ad mix daily, is anything




00:01:25

real anymore in paid media




00:01:27

from that perspective?




00:01:28

Oh, yeah, it's getting




00:01:30

crazy, but it's also very




00:01:32

exciting in the same lens.




00:01:33

I mean, one of the draws




00:01:35

to advertising 20+




00:01:38

years ago for me was




00:01:40

it's always changing.




00:01:41

So it's exciting.




00:01:42

It's if the Google




00:01:44

product and the Google




00:01:45

ecosystem was never




00:01:48

changing, you just had your




00:01:50

traditional search campaigns




00:01:52

and based off a different




00:01:53

phrase, match, you know, you




00:01:55

probably get bored of it




00:01:56

after a little while.




00:01:57

But it's constantly changing.




00:01:59

And Google is keeping up with




00:02:02

all things AI because they




00:02:03

kind of have an arms race




00:02:05

going on against ChatGPT




00:02:07

perplexity and all the AI




00:02:08

tools that can now provide




00:02:11

just as good of a search




00:02:13

engine or knowledge engine




00:02:15

as Google can.




00:02:16

And we're starting to see




00:02:18

a shift in consumer behavior.




00:02:20

And that has Google a little




00:02:22

concerned or probably




00:02:23

way more concerned.




00:02:24

And then so they're updating




00:02:26

their ecosystem to be more




00:02:27

AI heavy from both an organic




00:02:29

perspective and then




00:02:31

also from an advertiser




00:02:32

perspective as well.




00:02:34

Right.




00:02:35

And I know that's something




00:02:35

that's changed over 20 years.




00:02:37

I mean, maybe we could talk a




00:02:38

little bit more about how,




00:02:40

you know, the Google beast




00:02:41

has shifted from having 90




00:02:43

plus plus 98%, maybe percent




00:02:46

of the search share and how




00:02:47

that's changed over recent




00:02:49

years.




00:02:49

That's driving a little bit of




00:02:50

the shifts here that we're




00:02:51

seeing with Google's approach




00:02:53

and how they relate to all of




00:02:55

the other search bars that are




00:02:57

out there across different




00:02:58

platforms.




00:02:59

Definitely, even if we talk




00:03:04

about that consumer




00:03:05

behavior is changing, it is




00:03:07

important to know that




00:03:08

Google is still Google.




00:03:09

Google's not going




00:03:10

to disappear next year.




00:03:12

They have a lot of smart




00:03:13

people trying to figure it




00:03:14

out but their share will




00:03:17

definitely deteriorate and




00:03:18

then they're going to lean




00:03:19

on some of their other




00:03:19

products that they're not




00:03:21

going to lose share on.




00:03:22

Like, such as YouTube.




00:03:23

But yeah, even I think




00:03:25

it was noted earlier this




00:03:27

year was like the first time




00:03:29

that Google search market




00:03:31

share started to decline.




00:03:33

Now it only declined from like




00:03:35

90% to like 89% but that 1%




00:03:39

times global population.




00:03:40

That's a lot of




00:03:42

searches that are happening.




00:03:43

And if that's a sign of what is




00:03:45

to come that is a little




00:03:47

nerve-wracking for them.




00:03:49

And where are




00:03:50

the folks going to.




00:03:51

I mean Microsoft




00:03:53

still hangs in there.




00:03:54

Bing and their search alliance




00:03:56

with bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo




00:03:59

has been an engine that's




00:04:01

increasing popularity but hats




00:04:03

off to Microsoft because I




00:04:05

feel like once people started




00:04:06

like "Microsoft who go, who




00:04:08

uses bing"




00:04:11

they made it relevant through




00:04:13

the partnership with OpenAI




00:04:15

and ChatGPT and put a lot of




00:04:19

new life into them.




00:04:20

And not only from their




00:04:22

search product but Then also




00:04:24

within ChatGPT




00:04:26

and all the other tools.




00:04:27

And at our practice we for




00:04:30

every one of our SEO




00:04:31

clients we track referral




00:04:33

traffic of where's all this




00:04:34

traffic coming from?




00:04:35

And we are starting to see




00:04:38

referral traffic from these




00:04:39

AI tools increase month over




00:04:41

month at a high clip.




00:04:43

Granted small base to start.




00:04:44

So it's nothing too exciting




00:04:46

but it is exciting




00:04:47

of the growth




00:04:48

and we're even seeing business




00:04:49

impact from this.




00:04:51

What does that mean?




00:04:52

E commerce.




00:04:54

Real purchases, leads.




00:04:55

Real leads.




00:04:56

And I can speak




00:04:57

firsthand experience.




00:04:58

You know we actually got




00:04:59

a client last fall that found




00:05:02

us on chatGPT on




00:05:03

the other side of the country.




00:05:05

Turned out to be




00:05:06

a great client.




00:05:06

We're still working with




00:05:07

him today but he prompted




00:05:08

his whole project,




00:05:09

said who should we work with?




00:05:10

And he said talk




00:05:11

to Ben at Rise.




00:05:12

I'm like I don't know how




00:05:14

that happened at the time




00:05:15

but not complaining.




00:05:17

That's an incredible




00:05:18

referral story actually




00:05:19

to talk about that.




00:05:20

I don't think most people




00:05:22

understand of course,




00:05:23

you know, there's that




00:05:24

level set with, you know,




00:05:25

the way Bing operates.




00:05:26

And I have to admit part of




00:05:28

my 20 years in a nonlinear




00:05:30

digital marketing career




00:05:31

and a marketing career




00:05:33

across large




00:05:34

companies was spent at




00:05:35

Microsoft working on the




00:05:36

Bing ads product.




00:05:38

And it's incredible to see,




00:05:40

and understand




00:05:41

how maybe Bing doesn't




00:05:42

come to the forefront of




00:05:43

the conversation




00:05:44

necessarily, but they're




00:05:45

powering things like, like




00:05:48

ChatGPT, like Siri.




00:05:50

They sit behind the scenes




00:05:51

in so many of these scenarios.




00:05:53

But let's, let's shift




00:05:54

it back a little bit




00:05:55

to Google as well.




00:05:56

I know you were just recently




00:05:57

on a Google marketing




00:05:58

call where they were talking




00:05:59

about launching




00:06:01

their next gen AI updates.




00:06:03

From your perspective, what's




00:06:04

actually changing behind the




00:06:06

scenes with these tools




00:06:08

rather than just thinking




00:06:09

about say the consumer end




00:06:11

where the search engine




00:06:12

results page now gets that




00:06:16

dynamically updated AI answer




00:06:18

which sits above where the




00:06:20

paid ads sit rather.




00:06:22

Yeah, definitely.




00:06:23

And a lot of SEOs don't like




00:06:25

that move because it's less




00:06:27

referral traffic.




00:06:29

But you just have to play




00:06:30

the game, you have to stay




00:06:32

with it and then try




00:06:33

to get featured on that




00:06:34

and all that good stuff.




00:06:36

But yeah, and like behind




00:06:38

the scenes, you know,




00:06:38

obviously they're, they need




00:06:40

to compete with this new




00:06:42

experience that people like.




00:06:43

They like the AI overviews




00:06:45

and things like that and




00:06:46

also give options for people




00:06:48

to do their own research and




00:06:49

due diligence by sending




00:06:50

referral traffic which I




00:06:53

feel like they're hearing




00:06:54

loud and clear that that is




00:06:55

important to do.




00:06:58

Because if you don't do that




00:06:59

eventually you don't know




00:07:00

where this AI is sourced from.




00:07:02

And I just read an article




00:07:03

just a couple days ago that




00:07:05

the AI content engine




00:07:08

is already starting to show




00:07:11

signs that it's declining.




00:07:14

Because if everyone's using AI




00:07:16

for content, you're




00:07:17

just making clones of clones




00:07:19

of clones of clones because




00:07:20

that's all AI does, it




00:07:21

just picks up whatever.




00:07:22

And if anyone saw the old




00:07:24

school movie Duplicity with




00:07:26

Michael Keaton or so you can't




00:07:28

make a clone of the clone, it




00:07:29

just doesn't work that well.




00:07:30

And then if you do it multiple




00:07:31

times over then you're




00:07:32

just going to get garbage.




00:07:34

But kind of behind




00:07:35

the scenes a little bit.




00:07:36

What we're seeing and hearing




00:07:38

from Google is they're




00:07:39

actually penalizing sites that




00:07:42

primarily use AI content as




00:07:44

the main content source




00:07:46

because they know if that's




00:07:48

the main source of content,




00:07:49

their AI crawlers are using it




00:07:51

and it's just going to be a




00:07:52

really bad experience.




00:07:53

And in that case it makes me,




00:07:56

you know, kind of happy that




00:07:57

Google's taking that stance




00:07:58

to it because otherwise, you




00:08:00

know, if there's anything, if




00:08:01

anything's too easy or too




00:08:03

good to be true, it probably




00:08:05

is.




00:08:05

And it comes down to like




00:08:07

a real, you know, having




00:08:08

real marketers and really




00:08:10

copywriters providing




00:08:11

real value driven content.




00:08:14

And then on the ad side,




00:08:15

you know, Google's




00:08:16

making a lot of updates.




00:08:17

On the back end, they're




00:08:18

really pushing towards AI,




00:08:19

which they've done years ago




00:08:21

with the advent of




00:08:24

Performance Max, which is an




00:08:25

algorithmically derived




00:08:27

campaign serving ads across




00:08:29

all of their platforms.




00:08:31

Search display,




00:08:32

YouTube, email, etc.




00:08:34

Targeting a specific




00:08:35

conversion event.




00:08:36

But now they're rolling out




00:08:38

Search AI, which




00:08:40

we're excited to try, which is




00:08:42

very similar to that.




00:08:43

But search product, where




00:08:44

you just give it




00:08:45

the parameters and it's just




00:08:46

going to go crazy.




00:08:47

Google's pushing that.




00:08:48

They think they can




00:08:49

monetize that really well.




00:08:52

You know, time will tell.




00:08:53

I think, I think we're even




00:08:55

at a point, I mean, where,




00:08:56

Google




00:08:57

has gone over the last few




00:08:58

years for people who aren't




00:09:00

under the hood, launch




00:09:01

things not only like




00:09:02

Performance Max, but




00:09:03

responsive search ads.




00:09:05

I think we're at a pivot




00:09:07

point possibly where even




00:09:08

the, the idea of a keyword




00:09:10

and the definition of




00:09:11

a keyword is going to shift.




00:09:13

We've always, across our




00:09:15

careers, I think, talked about




00:09:16

the need from a paid ads




00:09:18

perspective within Google that




00:09:20

you always needed to connect




00:09:21

the dots of keyword to ad copy




00:09:25

to landing page, which then




00:09:27

led into that black box of




00:09:29

quality score.




00:09:31

But now it's more




00:09:32

about letting it fly.




00:09:35

Right, and kind of trusting




00:09:36

the Google engine.




00:09:38

So I know you've said it before




00:09:40

that agencies aren't dead,




00:09:43

but they just need to train




00:09:44

the algorithm properly.




00:09:46

How do you coach your team




00:09:47

and your clients to think




00:09:49

like AI whispers and not just




00:09:52

like their button pushers?




00:09:54

Yeah, definitely.




00:09:55

So there's a lot there.




00:09:59

Yeah, there's a lot




00:10:01

there, unfortunately.




00:10:02

Like, yeah, it was really nice




00:10:03

when you had the exact match




00:10:05

keyword or the appropriate




00:10:06

copy and best landing page.




00:10:07

And you know, it's like if




00:10:08

anyone does this search,




00:10:10

this keyword is worth $5




00:10:12

a click because I'm gonna




00:10:13

make $15 in or whatever




00:10:16

in revenue from it.




00:10:17

And that was just great.




00:10:18

And then, yeah, Google's,




00:10:20

since then they made exact




00:10:22

match, now phrase match




00:10:23

and then now phrase match




00:10:24

is more broad match




00:10:25

and broad match, who knows?




00:10:28

Good luck.




00:10:29

The good old match type dance




00:10:31

that I know to have to lead




00:10:34

clients through that




00:10:35

conversation and explain time




00:10:36

and time again how types are




00:10:39

different and match types are




00:10:41

even going away.




00:10:41

Right?




00:10:42

So they're going away.




00:10:43

So eventually you're right.




00:10:44

Like with Aimax, it's not going




00:10:46

to be match type derived




00:10:49

campaigns or potentially even




00:10:50

really search keywords.




00:10:52

It's going to be Here are




00:10:53

my URLs, here's this.




00:10:55

Go crazy.




00:10:56

So you know, what we focus




00:10:58

on is we have to feed




00:11:00

the algorithm We have to feed




00:11:02

the AIs and give Google




00:11:04

the best information possible.




00:11:06

So underpinning it, which




00:11:07

we've always been really




00:11:08

good at even before the ad




00:11:10

push, is setting up proper




00:11:11

measurement and tracking




00:11:13

which means every action




00:11:15

that's valuable on the




00:11:16

website that is funneling




00:11:18

through ga, that's funneling




00:11:19

through Google Ads because




00:11:21

ultimately you're going to




00:11:22

tell Google Ads and




00:11:23

performance max works just




00:11:25

like this.




00:11:25

They're not CPC bids, it's hey,




00:11:28

this is my conversion action.




00:11:29

Either maximize these




00:11:31

conversions or pay up to $20,




00:11:33

$100 whatever it is, cost per




00:11:35

conversion and it will, it




00:11:37

will hit those metrics but




00:11:39

you need to have the data in




00:11:42

real time coming in and also




00:11:45

sufficient budgets to support




00:11:47

that learning.




00:11:48

It's going to be really hard




00:11:49

for small businesses that




00:11:52

adopt these AI advertising




00:11:54

products that need a lot of




00:11:55

data when they just don't have




00:11:57

that marketing budget.




00:11:59

So they might, you know, that's




00:12:01

a little tough for them.




00:12:02

But yeah, it's, it's




00:12:05

different but it's exciting,




00:12:06

it's an opportunity.




00:12:07

And so we always try to be




00:12:10

the first at everything and




00:12:12

just kind of get a good




00:12:13

understanding and lead our




00:12:16

clients to success early




00:12:18

before everyone else




00:12:19

catches on.




00:12:20

It's not being, it's, it's




00:12:21

about not being scared of it.




00:12:23

Right.




00:12:23

And embracing the change




00:12:24

which is the thing that




00:12:25

when it comes to marketing




00:12:28

in general, digital




00:12:29

marketing overall, but paid




00:12:31

marketing, especially paid




00:12:32

advertising, it's always an




00:12:34

evolution, it's always,




00:12:36

always changing.




00:12:37

And I know you touched




00:12:38

on this quickly,




00:12:39

how reporting is finally sort




00:12:41

of catching up here.




00:12:43

What would you say?




00:12:44

Just when we talk about broad




00:12:46

strokes, whether it's B2B, B2C




00:12:49

small business enterprise




00:12:50

scale company, which metrics




00:12:53

are the most critical to, to




00:12:55

AI strategy feedback loops to




00:12:57

focus on?




00:12:58

Yeah, definitely.




00:12:59

So there's a couple things




00:13:01

obviously like if you're lead




00:13:03

gen, having like that main




00:13:06

conversion event to be that




00:13:07

lead that comes through, even




00:13:10

better is if you can follow




00:13:12

that those leads through to




00:13:14

the sales cycle through a CRM




00:13:17

platform like HubSpot or




00:13:18

whatever it might be and




00:13:19

imported those into Google.




00:13:21

So Google's like,




00:13:22

okay, I'm optimizing




00:13:23

towards these leads.




00:13:24

But over time it might say,




00:13:26

oh wow, these leads became




00:13:27

customers and then you place




00:13:28

different value amounts.




00:13:29

So that way Google is




00:13:30

not only just, you know,




00:13:32

years ago, just focused




00:13:33

on the click, right?




00:13:34

Last five years focus




00:13:36

on that lead and now




00:13:38

future, like actually like




00:13:39

getting real business.




00:13:40

And then that shows real




00:13:42

dollar signs that any company




00:13:44

can see and CFO can see.




00:13:46

I'm like, oh, okay,




00:13:47

yep, I see it.




00:13:48

You are making money off of




00:13:49

this and this is good thing.




00:13:51

But the challenge is




00:13:52

budgets have to support it.




00:13:54

So if you have a campaign




00:13:56

that, you know, you can't have




00:13:58

a campaign spending, you know,




00:14:00

$20 a day and say optimize




00:14:02

towards real customers.




00:14:04

Because maybe your sales cycle




00:14:05

is 90 days and you're going




00:14:08

to get like one conversion




00:14:09

event every month, maybe




00:14:12

it's never going to learn.




00:14:13

So in those cases you have




00:14:15

to be flexible, like,




00:14:16

okay, I can't have it




00:14:17

focus on that sale event.




00:14:19

Maybe it's just driving leads




00:14:22

or it could even be, which




00:14:24

we do sometimes is optimized




00:14:27

towards site engagement.




00:14:29

So it's like, okay, if anyone




00:14:30

who's clicked on my ad has




00:14:31

been on my site for at least




00:14:32

a minute, that's a positive




00:14:34

sign and maybe we can get




00:14:35

enough conversion volume,




00:14:36

off of that for it to




00:14:37

optimize.




00:14:38

So there's a lot of ways




00:14:39

to think about it.




00:14:39

But again, the whole spirit is




00:14:42

training the bots




00:14:44

with your budget based off of




00:14:45

your goals and kind of moving




00:14:47

in that direction.




00:14:49

And then that opens




00:14:49

up that wonderful world




00:14:51

of retargeting.




00:14:53

Right.




00:14:54

So retargeting is always




00:14:56

a piece of the puzzle here.




00:14:59

How do you sort of, from a rise




00:15:00

marketing perspective, explain




00:15:02

the value of the strategic




00:15:04

oversight that you provide to




00:15:06

clients versus the clients who




00:15:07

just believe in this old




00:15:10

school adage of say set it and




00:15:12

forget it.




00:15:13

Oh yeah, you cannot




00:15:14

set it and forget it.




00:15:16

And if you do like, yeah,




00:15:20

campaigns will just




00:15:21

deteriorate and heaven forbid




00:15:23

if you have Google auto




00:15:25

recommendations enabled, I




00:15:27

would actually be really




00:15:27

curious, that'd be quite




00:15:29

funny to see how an account




00:15:30

could just be like, oh, we're




00:15:31

increasing budgets, we're




00:15:32

changing match sites, we're




00:15:33

doing this.




00:15:34

And what would happen, and




00:15:36

even like working, you know,




00:15:38

I worked at Google and I had




00:15:39

a great experience and I




00:15:40

still have friends over




00:15:41

there and there are great




00:15:43

Google reps over there, but




00:15:44

there's also reps that




00:15:46

aren't as knowledgeable or




00:15:48

maybe put their interest way




00:15:50

ahead of clients.




00:15:52

And to a client that




00:15:54

doesn't have a consultant or




00:15:55

an agency, they'll just




00:15:57

finally say, oh yeah, Google,




00:15:58

I'm talking to Google.




00:15:59

I'll do whatever they say.




00:16:01

But Google really prioritizes




00:16:02

themselves over the client.




00:16:04

You need someone there




00:16:04

to be like, okay, all right.




00:16:06

Of your 10 recommendations,




00:16:08

I like three of them.




00:16:09

Two I'm on the fence




00:16:10

on and these other five




00:16:12

I can see right through this.




00:16:13

No thanks, not at this time.




00:16:15

Right, that's when the BS




00:16:17

meter goes up, right?




00:16:18

Yeah, exactly.




00:16:19

Yeah.




00:16:20

I'd love to understand from




00:16:21

your perspective, what do you




00:16:22

think breaks first though?




00:16:24

Is it the agencies who over




00:16:26

automate or is it




00:16:27

the platforms that over




00:16:28

promise on the quote unquote




00:16:30

magic that AI is delivering?




00:16:33

Yeah, definitely.




00:16:34

I think it comes down to




00:16:35

the agency to make the right




00:16:36

decisions for the clients.




00:16:38

And and then yeah, it just




00:16:41

comes down to.




00:16:42

And I, I see this




00:16:44

in agency land all the time




00:16:46

where you know, agencies




00:16:47

will come and go and,




00:16:49

and rise and whatnot.




00:16:52

But the agencies that I have




00:16:55

that don't really do a good




00:16:57

job for their clients are




00:16:58

those agencies that they go




00:17:00

after a specific niche and




00:17:02

then they over process




00:17:03

everything and then just put




00:17:05

like a junior marketer to




00:17:06

run everything.




00:17:07

So at this point there's




00:17:08

an agency for everything.




00:17:10

You could say, oh, give me




00:17:11

the best agencies for H Vac.




00:17:14

I'm making this up now.




00:17:15

But it could be best agency for




00:17:16

bowling alleys and like, oh,




00:17:17

we're the specialized and you




00:17:19

know, they put together




00:17:20

amazing processes but they




00:17:22

don't have a real marketer at




00:17:24

the helm.




00:17:25

And I hear this from our




00:17:26

clients or clients that come




00:17:27

to us because I hear it, I'm




00:17:29

like, okay, well benefit is




00:17:32

they do have a decent system,




00:17:33

but they just have someone




00:17:35

that's following a playbook




00:17:37

versus a real marketer to




00:17:39

navigate them through the




00:17:41

change of lens and can provide




00:17:43

real meaningful advice.




00:17:45

In that case, I think it




00:17:46

really falls down on the




00:17:47

agency to be that true




00:17:49

trusted partner to navigate




00:17:51

the clients and not just




00:17:52

rely on over processed,




00:17:55

deliverables.




00:17:57

I have to laugh because that




00:17:58

brings me back about 20 years




00:18:01

to my first role in marketing




00:18:03

where our client was




00:18:04

lawyers.com and literally law




00:18:07

firms across the country could




00:18:08

buy packages of 10, 15, 25 or




00:18:13

50 keywords at different




00:18:14

investment levels.




00:18:16

Talk about a specialized




00:18:18

approach that didn't work




00:18:19

from an effectiveness level.




00:18:20

Also lawyers, who are you




00:18:23

going to track back to?




00:18:24

Right.




00:18:24

From an hourly billable




00:18:26

rate, you can't really lead




00:18:27

to a conversion It's




00:18:28

a complicated, complicated way




00:18:31

to work towards that.




00:18:33

Yeah.




00:18:34

In that sense, though, Ben,




00:18:35

outside, of course, what




00:18:37

you're doing from your




00:18:37

expertise standpoint there




00:18:39

at Rise Marketing, is there




00:18:41

someone else in your circle




00:18:42

who's getting it really,




00:18:43

really right right now that




00:18:45

you might want to recommend




00:18:46

or mention here?




00:18:48

Oh, that's a really




00:18:48

good question.




00:18:51

Yeah, no companies




00:18:53

come to mind.




00:18:54

Everyone.




00:18:56

Sorry, that's a bad answer.




00:18:59

But, you know, like,




00:19:00

there's not like one marquee




00:19:02

company of like, oh, my




00:19:03

gosh, in the age of AI,




00:19:04

they're just knocking




00:19:05

it all out of the park.




00:19:07

I think everything




00:19:07

is on a scale.




00:19:09

You know, some agencies are




00:19:11

probably like, you know




00:19:12

what, they got AI down,




00:19:14

really well as it comes to




00:19:16

E commerce feed optimization.




00:19:18

Awesome.




00:19:19

And other agencies might do,




00:19:21

you know, provide some




00:19:22

good ideas for SEO, which




00:19:25

is now called Generative




00:19:26

Engine Optimization.




00:19:27

There's like five




00:19:28

other names for it.




00:19:30

And then.




00:19:31

But what I would stay away




00:19:33

from is if you're talking




00:19:34

to an agency and if you're




00:19:36

on the market for one, ask




00:19:37

them, what, what are you




00:19:39

doing for your clients on




00:19:41

AI?




00:19:42

And I hear this out on the




00:19:43

field, like, we go to trade




00:19:44

shows and the worst answer you




00:19:47

ever want to get is, oh, you




00:19:49

know, I don't think it's




00:19:50

really going to impact our




00:19:51

clients that much.




00:19:52

And I've heard that




00:19:53

twice over the past month




00:19:54

of agency leaders.




00:19:55

They're like, you know,




00:19:56

we're a local shop.




00:19:58

And I just don't, I don't




00:20:00

really see it's going




00:20:01

to impact us that much.




00:20:02

Is like, okay, I just smiled




00:20:05

and kind of walked away.




00:20:06

But that's an example




00:20:07

of an agency or shop where




00:20:09

it's like, they probably




00:20:11

know it does impact.




00:20:11

They just don't want to invest




00:20:13

the time and the resources




00:20:14

to make it work.




00:20:15

They're like, you know, we




00:20:16

have our tried and true.




00:20:17

So let's just sit on that.




00:20:19

So that's a roundabout way of.




00:20:21

I'm sure there's a lot




00:20:22

of shops that are doing




00:20:23

certain aspects well.




00:20:24

Just stay away from those that




00:20:26

aren't doing anything with it.




00:20:27

It's about always, always




00:20:29

being learning though, right?




00:20:30

It's always learning




00:20:31

and being moldable.




00:20:33

Ben, where can people




00:20:34

learn more about your work




00:20:36

and Rise Marketing




00:20:37

Group's approach here?




00:20:38

Yeah, our website is




00:20:39

risemkg.com otherwise




00:20:41

just Google or ChatGPT




00:20:43

Rise Marketing Group.




00:20:45

Check out our website.




00:20:47

We publish a lot




00:20:48

of content on it.




00:20:49

Most recently a lot of AI




00:20:51

type content just




00:20:52

to help navigate our clients




00:20:53

or prospective clients.




00:20:55

And if anyone's listening




00:20:56

and wants to schedule a quick




00:20:58

call to talk about their




00:20:59

business, more than happy to.




00:21:01

Cool.




00:21:01

Perfect.




00:21:02

And then let's end with, If




00:21:04

someone's feeling




00:21:04

overwhelmed by the AI Wave




00:21:07

in this space, what's one




00:21:09

no BS Piece of advice to




00:21:11

help them pivot smarter or




00:21:13

adjust smarter?




00:21:14

Yep.




00:21:15

If they're feeling overwhelmed,




00:21:17

they're not alone.




00:21:18

Nobody knows the answer.




00:21:20

So just kind of, like,




00:21:21

set the record straight.




00:21:22

Like, they're not behind.




00:21:23

They're actually ahead.




00:21:24

If they're actually




00:21:25

concerned about this,




00:21:26

they're well ahead.




00:21:28

And then the best thing




00:21:29

that you can do is just.




00:21:30

Just read.




00:21:31

Go.




00:21:31

You know, I have my list




00:21:33

of sites that I go to.




00:21:34

Search Engine Land,




00:21:35

Search Engine Watch,




00:21:36

Search Engine Roundtable.




00:21:38

They have a lot of coverage




00:21:39

and just,




00:21:40

you know, get to know it.




00:21:42

But if you actually feel




00:21:43

a little anxious of are you




00:21:45

on top of everything?




00:21:46

You're probably ahead




00:21:47

of most people.




00:21:48

I love it.




00:21:49

I love it.




00:21:49

Awesome.




00:21:50

Well, thank you, Ben.




00:21:52

That's a wrap on this episode




00:21:53

of Is Anything Real?




00:21:54

And paid advertising.




00:21:55

Massive thanks to Ben




00:21:57

and Rise Marketing Group




00:21:58

for join here today.




00:21:59

If you're looking for some




00:22:00

of that AI Clarity,




00:22:02

definitely reach out to him.




00:22:04

You can hit the show notes




00:22:05

for links to Rise Marketing




00:22:07

Agency and Ben below.




00:22:09

And if you're ready to




00:22:10

rebuild or build with AI




00:22:12

in the forefront, definitely




00:22:14

reach out to him.




00:22:15

And then, until next time,




00:22:16

stay curious,




00:22:19

stay skeptical, and stay real.




00:22:20

Awesome.




00:22:21

Thanks, Adam.




00:22:22

All right.




00:22:22

Cheers, Ben.




00:22:23

Thank you.
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