Digital Transformation Success

Most brands still judge their reputation by what shows up on their own website and are confused about AEO and how it is similar to and different from SEO. We clear it up.  Adam Bittner, global head of business development and partnerships at BrandRank.AI, joins Priscilla McKinney on Digital Transformation Success to talk through who actually owns a brand's narrative once AI engines start telling it. Bittner spent his career building revenue engines for consumer intelligence, retail media, and digital commerce. He now helps brands measure and protect their standing through answer engine optimization, a discipline built specifically for how AI generates and delivers answers.  AI visibility works differently than the search rankings brands have optimized for over the last decade, and businesses that don’t understand the difference are already behind. Polished websites, product photography, and videos were built for people, NOT for the systems now answering questions on a brand's behalf.  AI models want fast, structured, and citable information, and anything locked inside a PDF or an image is functionally invisible to them. The sharper risk is misrepresentation. As Bittner explains, “AI says you don't have a waiting room, it says the wrong price point, and that's part of that ongoing brand measurement which you know is crucial to provide." A brand can show up in an answer and still get it wrong, with no warning and no chance to correct the record before a customer has already acted on it. Waiting isn't neutral here. Every quarter a brand treats this as someone else's problem is a quarter a competitor, or an inaccurate answer, fills that space instead. While this is important for all types of businesses, B2B companies have to factor in that even one missed or mangled answer can mean a six- or seven-figure deal, and that cost stops being theoretical fast. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21/07/2026 • 31:46

Most companies treat AI as a flip-of-a-switch fix for customer experience, but the real driver of a working digital transformation strategy is still the people behind it. Digital Transformation Success returns with host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney, who sits down with Ty Givens, founder of CX Collective. Givens has over two decades of experience in support leadership, watching the role shift from people management to operations and now to AI oversight. Her work centers on helping businesses build a customer-first culture that can actually hold up once new technology enters the picture. She’s quick to point out how tools are sold as quick wins, but the businesses that struggle most are usually the ones operating on guesses rather than evidence. Many leaders build their entire support strategy around what they assume customers want, never stopping to confirm whether that assumption holds up. That gap between perceived expectations and actual ones is where AI tools tend to fail loudest, since no amount of automation can fix a strategy built on the wrong starting question. Instead of asking the important question about what customers expect, Givens explains, “we start operating based on what we think they expect instead of figuring out what it is that they really do expect."  It’s a simple shift, but a very important one to make because a digital transformation strategy built around assumptions instead of evidence tends to break under pressure, no matter how advanced the tools behind it are. The companies that get this right treat customer experience as an ongoing discipline rather than a project with an end date, which is exactly the mindset shift this episode is built to spark. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07/07/2026 • 21:13

*Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠.* Knowing which AI tool to use is not the hard part. Knowing what question to ask is. Mike Deinlein, Vice President of Corporate Innovation at Burke, Inc., joins Priscilla McKinney, host of Digital Transformation Success and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, to explore what it actually takes to bring AI to bear in market research. The conversation gets at a tension most organizations are living right now, where the pressure to "do AI" is pulling business leaders toward tools before they have clarity on the problems those tools are meant to solve. The gap between AI's promise and its real-world performance is almost never a technology problem. Deinlein brings a perspective shaped by years of applying econometrics and advanced statistical thinking to business questions, and that rigor surfaces throughout the conversation. Most organizations are so focused on which tool to pick that they never stop to define what a good answer would even look like, and that is where the real work gets skipped. "Ask your question first," Deinlein explains. "Think about it for 95% of the time and say, this is what I want to do, and then figure out how AI unlocks new solutions for that business question." Skipping foundational thinking does not just produce mediocre outputs. It builds decision-making processes on results that cannot be validated or trusted. The organizations getting the most from these technologies are not the ones chasing the newest tools but the ones that have done the harder, slower work of understanding what they are actually trying to know. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but they keep slipping away? Most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a focused plan for building a sales pipeline and predictable growth. No massive budget required—just strategic execution that delivers measurable results. Ready to turn missed opportunities into new wins? Click here and build a predictable pipeline for sustainable growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16/06/2026 • 33:49

Most B2B professionals are treating LinkedIn like a digital business card when it is actually the highest-trust sales floor they will ever have access to. Mark Young, founder of Love Social Media, joins Priscilla McKinney, host of Digital Transformation Success and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, to discuss what it actually takes to build authority on LinkedIn as part of a B2B sales process. Young has spent over 13 years helping founders and sales professionals turn their expertise into buyer trust, and his approach centers on a shift most teams resist: stop broadcasting and start earning credibility. They discuss why the platform rewards certain behaviors and how understanding that dynamic changes everything about how you show up. Buyer psychology, not posting frequency, is the real driver behind whether LinkedIn generates pipeline or just noise. Most content fails not because of poor writing or bad timing but because it is written about the creator rather than for the reader. The professionals winning on LinkedIn right now have figured out how to make their target audience feel seen, and that shift in orientation is what separates a content platform from a trust engine. "Social media networks will come and go," Young explains. "But trust [in the person] is what stays." That is a harder thing to build than most people want to admit, and a much more durable asset than most people realize. The algorithm will keep changing, the best practices will keep shifting, and the tips and tricks will keep getting recycled. What does not change is whether your audience trusts you enough to choose you when the moment arrives. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

02/06/2026 • 35:13

*Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠.* Most businesses are moving fast on AI adoption and skipping the most important question entirely. Jim Jacobs, CEO and founder of Focus Insite and Human Layer, joins Priscilla McKinney on Digital Transformation Success to challenge some of the assumptions driving AI investment right now. Jacobs has spent over a decade building systems around human verification and emerging technologies, and his perspective on where automation earns its place and where it doesn't is earned rather than theoretical. The episode tackles what responsible AI adoption actually requires when the quality of your data determines the quality of your decisions. The businesses winning with emerging technologies are not necessarily the ones with the most sophisticated tools. They are the ones that started with the right problem. Chasing technology before understanding the pain it needs to solve is one of the most expensive mistakes a team can make, and it is far more common than most leaders want to admit. "You always [need] to keep in mind the problem you're trying to solve," Jacobs explains. "Just solve that better than anyone." Speed and scale are seductive, but they do not self-correct. The organizations building real staying power right now are the ones asking harder questions about what their AI actually knows, where it learned it, and who signed off on that. Those answers are not always comfortable, and the businesses willing to sit with that discomfort are the ones positioned to get it right. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

07/04/2026 • 21:39

*Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠.* Market research has a productivity problem, and the industry has been too busy fielding studies to fix it. Priscilla McKinney, host of Digital Transformation Success and CEO of Little Bird Marketing, sits down with Jeremy Antoniuk, Founder and CEO of Scalafai, to talk about what happens when someone who has actually run research operations builds the platform they always wished existed. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, Antoniuk brings two decades of hands-on experience to a conversation about why the research industry is overdue for a different approach and what it looks like when digital transformation meets the day-to-day grind of a project manager. The pressure to do more with less has pushed research teams to patch together workflows across a fragmented landscape of tools, and that fragmentation creates risk at every stage of a project. Data quality issues that force costly re-fielding, executive presentations that consume senior-level hours, survey programming that eats days when it could take minutes — these are not edge cases. They are the standard. What separates a platform built by someone who has lived that reality from one built purely by engineers is the difference between a tool that performs and one that actually fits the way researchers work. "Building software that truly helps a user get through their day faster and with less pain," Antoniuk explains, "to me, that's the ultimate measure of success." The build-vs-buy debate runs underneath much of this conversation, and Antoniuk's perspective is grounded in real patterns he is seeing across the industry. For research teams weighing whether to develop something in-house, the answer may be less about capability and more about what it actually costs in time, in risk, and in the domain knowledge that no engineering team inherits automatically. The path to meaningful marketing automation in research is not just a technology decision. It is an operational one. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17/03/2026 • 27:34

*Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠.* Most companies treat digital transformation as a technology problem and spend accordingly. Digital Transformation Success returns with host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney tackling one of the most misunderstood realities in business today. The failure rate of digital transformation initiatives is not a technology crisis. It is a people crisis. And until organizations accept that distinction, no amount of software spending will save them. The rate of business mortality is accelerating, and the organizations that survive are not the ones with the largest tech budgets or the most sophisticated tools. A clear digital transformation strategy matters far less than the organizational willingness to actually change how people work, think, and create value. Because transforming isn't about software, it's about people. "So many digital initiatives fail because people never asked whether their people were willing to work differently," McKinney explains. "Think differently, or let go of the way things used to be." McKinney breaks down the approaches available to organizations at different stages of readiness, and the strategic levers that determine where to focus first, arguing that the right starting point is rarely where most companies begin. Marketing automation, new platforms, and digitized workflows all play a role in transformation. But the organizations that get the most from those investments are the ones that do the harder internal work first. Skipping that step is not a shortcut. It is the reason so many initiatives end up as cautionary tales. Sponsors: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? Little Bird Marketing often finds that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take the Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24/02/2026 • 28:12

*Want to win some noise-canceling headphones? Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠ and be entered into the giveaway. Deadline is February 28th.* Growth doesn't always require more spending, it requires smarter allocation of existing resources. Digital Transformation Success host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney speaks with Eric Siano, Managing Director at Blue Leopard LLC about digital transformation as a business growth accelerator. They examine how companies can achieve measurable growth by rethinking current spending levels rather than demanding increased budgets. Siano shares frameworks for translating digital transformation strategy into executable go-to-market plans that impact revenue, efficiency, and cross-departmental alignment. Siano's experience spanning 15 industries and 17 countries reveals a counterintuitive truth, that digital transformation consulting isn't about mastering industry-specific nuances, but recognizing universal patterns in how businesses create value. The core challenges remain consistent whether working in financial services, automotive, or consumer goods - companies must develop products, communicate their value, and reach customers effectively. This perspective allows him to see beyond surface-level technology debates and identify the fundamental business problems that digital transformation strategy should solve. "Understanding that digital transformation is a growth accelerator, once you understand that, there's a lot of commonality across industries," Siano explains. "We have to create products, we have to communicate the value of those products, we have to reach customers." The shift from viewing digital transformation as a technology project to recognizing it as a digital business strategy requires fundamental changes in how departments communicate and collaborate. When teams align around shared revenue goals rather than isolated departmental metrics, the conversation moves from blame and excuses to collective problem-solving. This alignment doesn't happen through new systems alone, it emerges from understanding customer buying cycles, budget processes, and the strategic use of questions that guide organizations toward actionable solutions rather than scattered tactics. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book: Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.   Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27/01/2026 • 34:07

*Want to win some noise-canceling headphones? Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠⁠listener survey⁠⁠ and be entered into the giveaway. Deadline is February 28th.* Technology enables strategy, but strategy must come first. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Alena Rossini, Head of Business Strategy for Tesco Retail Media, about how digital transformation strategy fails when organizations prioritize tools over foundations, treating technology as the answer rather than an enabler of strong brand principles and clear direction. Rossini explains why digital transformation strategy fails when leadership keeps pivoting direction, chasing technology changes instead of staying true to strategic plans. She finds that many organizations struggle with fragmented channels and rapidly changing technology, which tempts CMOs to shift brand positioning, target audiences, and messaging constantly. This creates the opposite of a strong foundation. She shares how an effective demand generation strategy requires consistency even as the landscape evolves. She explains, "If you build strong foundations, you can build really high, what is very tempting nowadays, especially with the shorter cycle of CMOs in place, is to keep changing what you stand for. And that just creates massive inefficiencies."  She also shares insights on B2B marketing trends, showing a return to brand building and emotional engagement through video content, as well as the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing, distinguishing between productivity gains and creative applications. While AI excels at consistency and scale, true differentiation still requires human intuition, emotion, and boldness in marketing strategy. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book: Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16/12/2025 • 28:34

*Want to win some noise-canceling headphones? Help us shape the future of Digital Transformation Success by taking a short, 11-question ⁠listener survey⁠ and be entered into the giveaway. Deadline is February 28th.* CRM systems fail because we confuse strategy with software. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and CEO of aheadCRM LLC, Thomas Wieberneit, about customer relationship management (CRM) and the customer experience (CX) industry. They discuss how CRM implementation fails when organizations confuse the map with the territory, treating systems as silver bullets rather than strategic tools that require proper planning, change management, and continuous optimization. Wieberneit explains the two most common mistakes in digital transformation consulting related to CRM implementation. The first is failing to include the people who will actually use the customer database in planning discussions. The second is implementing systems to serve management rather than frontline teams. The mistake that management or buyers often make, Wieberneit explains. “Is [thinking that] another system helps me get out of [a failing CRM situation]; It's a silver bullet." By contrast, he shares how successful CRM projects focus on removing administrative burdens from sales and service personnel so they can spend more time building customer relationships. He provides expert advice on how to turn systems of record into true engagement platforms by improving audience segmentation, automating mundane tasks, and prioritizing user adoption over key performance indicators (KPIs) and management reporting. McKinney and Wieberneit also discuss the role of emerging technologies, such as agentic AI and large language models (LLMs) in CRM systems. Wieberneit provides real-world examples of where these technologies create genuine value, versus where they become expensive solutions in search of problems. He shares a valuable use case of how Siemens uses LLM-based helper tools for technical service questions, allowing human service personnel to focus on complex problems that require relationship building. The conversation emphasizes the importance of outcome-oriented implementation that creates a unified customer experience by prioritizing customer needs, thereby generating business value for the organization. Music written and performed by Leighton Cordell. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book: Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

02/12/2025 • 32:18

Every company today operates as a technology company, whether they realize it or not. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Dr. Tracy Tuten, VP of qualitative research at Illuminas, a Radius company, where she leads the qualitative practice. They discuss how companies across all sectors must recognize they're operating in a technology-driven marketplace and adapt their digital transformation strategy accordingly through strategic brand positioning. Tuten shares her expertise on emergent positioning dangers and grand flag concepts, explaining how businesses can navigate competitive landscapes through strategic research and positioning. She demonstrates through real-world digital transformation case studies like ONTIC versus Resolver and Stripe versus Audion how companies can understand the B2B customer journey and uncover the right positioning strategy using market research to differentiate themselves in crowded markets and even redefine entire industry categories. The conversation addresses the high-stakes nature of product launches and market positioning in today's competitive landscape, where companies have limited budgets and marketing automation resources. Tuten emphasizes how understanding buyer psychology and strategic research provides the foundation for confident decision-making in these critical business moments. "Research is the antidote to risk," Tuten explains. "We have a limited budget. We need to see success from it. Research is the investment that you make to have that antidote to risk." McKinney and Tuten also discuss practical frameworks for avoiding common positioning pitfalls, such as kitchen sink messaging, parity positioning, and attempting to win where competitors already dominate. They emphasize how engineered positioning strategies enable companies to establish a foothold on competitive ground they can actually hold and defend. Sponsors: Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

09/09/2025 • 24:08

What if the difference between business success and stagnation lies in distinguishing flashy metrics from insights that beat your competition? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Andrew Elder, SVP for Advanced Analytics at Illuminas, a Radius Insights company, about the critical shift happening in quantitative research and competitive analysis. They explore how AI tools are transforming the baseline of what clients can accomplish independently, forcing research professionals to evolve beyond traditional metrics like Net Promoter Score toward more sophisticated competitive positioning strategies. Elder also explains how B2B decision-making complexity creates unique challenges that AI cannot fully address, particularly when dealing with collaborative organizational decisions involving multiple influencers across different timeframes and contexts. The conversation reveals why understanding your competitive position requires moving beyond simple recommendation scores to capture the nuanced reality of how brands elevate within their specific market categories. "The competitive context is absolutely crucial," Elder explains. “The reality is that companies need buyers to not only think positively about [their] brand, but also think about how that fits [their] needs relative to other options.” The discussion also covers Illuminas' "Science of Winning" methodology, which builds on over 10 years of research demonstrating that relative brand position predicts future outcomes far better than absolute scores. This approach helps technology companies understand that becoming the most recommended brand within their competitive set matters more than achieving high scores in isolation, whether they're competing at the platform level or within specialized technology stacks. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Tired of generic marketing firms that don't get market research? Say hello to Little Bird Marketing, the revenue generation company of choice for the market research industry. Our "peeps" understand market research inside and out. We know your buyers, craft meaningful messages that move them to buy, understand the competitive landscape and where you fit in the market. We get the industry - from qual/quant to emerging technologies. Why settle for getting the job done when you can soar with marketing that drives real revenue? Click here to get started. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26/08/2025 • 32:11

Technology buyers can't make decisions based solely on immediate needs. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Jay Shutter, CEO of Illuminas, who has spent three decades interviewing CIOs and senior IT leaders across every major technology transition. How do you use tech products when you’re studying tech products? Interesting question and a good place to start when talking to an expert on market research in the tech space. McKinney takes the opportunity to get a finger on the pulse on how tech companies are struggling to understand enterprise buyers and how they gain a competitive advantage. Shutter gives an informed explanation of how technology purchasing decisions have evolved as systems become more integrated, requiring buyers to consider three to five-year implications because technology stacks create vendor dependencies. He shares insights from launching Radius Tech, which combines decades of technology research experience with AI-powered tools like Radius IQ for real-time qualitative probing within quantitative surveys. "Technology buyers today can't just think about what they're buying for today," Shutter explains. "Because technology changes so fast, you as a buyer have to think about today and the future." They go a bit deeper, examining how marketing automation platforms have reshaped partner ecosystems. This part of the conversation reveals how market research can identify and address common positioning mistakes when companies try to reach skeptical enterprise buyers. In the end,  digital transformation consulting approaches must evolve beyond traditional methodologies, and while AI levels the competitive playing field technologically, customer service excellence and human relationships are the standout differentiator for technology companies. Sponsor: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12/08/2025 • 40:23

Time is the only commodity nobody gives us back, and data scientists spend 70% of their time on manual tasks instead of meaningful analysis. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Naira Musallam, co-founder of SightX, about addressing the fundamental challenge of data collection, cleaning, and analysis processes that have plagued the market research industry. Before starting SightX, an all-in-one consumer insights platform, Musallam was on faculty at Columbia University and taught graduate-level courses in research and statistics at NYU while leading R&D for a consulting firm that served Fortune 500 companies.  They discuss how the research industry transforms through automation of manual statistical processes while maintaining the transparency and accuracy that enterprise clients demand. Musallam explains how her team recognized that the industry was broken across multiple touchpoints - from data collection to cleaning, formatting, analytics, and visualization - and built SiteX to solve this problem. The conversation explores how digital innovation enables the platform to incorporate both traditional automated statistical libraries and modern AI capabilities for text-based analysis while avoiding the "black box" problem that can lead to hallucinations in quantitative research. "The only commodity in life that nobody gives us back is time," Musallam explains. "Given choices, people want to spend it doing meaningful things and fun things." McKinney and Musallam also discuss career advice for the next generation of data scientists, emphasizing the importance of soft skills over technical skills. (Dear Reader, this harkens back to a great episode where Abhijit Bhaduri said the same thing!) They explore how curiosity, flexibility, and genuine relationship-building matter more than learning specific programming languages or prompt writing, especially as technology continues to evolve rapidly. The conversation covers the evolution of technology trends in market research, from big data to machine learning to artificial intelligence, and how Musallam differentiates between AI automation and synthetic data. The episode highlights how inclusive design principles help democratize sophisticated research methodologies for users at every level of experience. Sponsors:Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

01/07/2025 • 34:38

Can an innovative and collaborative AI initiative transform market research from exclusive Fortune 500 privilege to accessible business intelligence? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Nichola Quail, Global Insights Strategist and CEO of Insights Exchange, about democratizing market research through digital transformation. They explore how AI integration revolutionizes traditional research methods while maintaining the critical human element that drives meaningful insights. Quail outlines her comprehensive digital transformation strategy for building research agents and connecting businesses with independent research specialists through her global platform. The conversation explores Quail's hands-on experience implementing digital transformation tools, from early AI applications to custom research agents that synthesize reports across multiple timeframes. She describes how human researchers capture subtle cues and contextual insights that drive innovation rather than relying solely on large language models (LLMs). "The human computers in our brains are extremely adept at capturing that [nuanced insight]," Quail explains. "If we keep training the LLMs and use the same output, we never talk to a human." McKinney and Quail also discuss findings from their upcoming US Consumer Trends Report, revealing that nearly half of Americans use generative AI regularly, with younger demographics leading to adoption at 78%. They explore the professional implications for the 35-49 age group, who must integrate AI into their toolkit to remain competitive. The discussion highlights how digital transformation in market research encompasses fundamental changes in how businesses access insights and how researchers deliver value through flexible, high-quality service delivery. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17/06/2025 • 28:24

AI adoption requires assessment beyond efficiency to unlock true business growth. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Steve Mast, Co-founder and Partner at Twenty44, an advisory firm helping businesses navigate and adopt AI. They discuss how organizations can assess their AI readiness through four key areas: knowledge levels, understanding limitations, selecting appropriate applications, and establishing ethical guidelines. Mast shares his digital transformation strategy for implementing AI solutions, explaining how many organizations are stuck in what he calls the "wait-wow" cycle—where they experiment with AI but fail to gain traction. Through this digital transformation journey, they explore why many businesses, especially large enterprises, struggle with adoption rates hovering around 25% in the US and even lower in Canada, despite the technology's transformative potential for digital innovation. "The real potential of AI is you start to unlock growth and that's where we start to grow and create productivity inside of organizations," Mast explains. "But we're stuck in this idea of efficiency—doing my dishes, right? Those are very important things, but really the unlock or the real opportunity is when we meet this growth opportunity." McKinney and Mast also discuss the leadership requirements for successful AI implementation, examining how individual initiative is often more important than top-down directives. The conversation showcases Mast as a digital transformation leader who emphasizes why marketers and HR professionals should take ownership in AI adoption rather than leaving it solely to IT departments. Mast highlights the importance of involving teams in identifying AI opportunities within existing workflows while maintaining ethical standards. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

06/05/2025 • 34:56

Unlocking authentic frontline worker feedback drives effective digital transformation and risk prevention in manufacturing industries. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Vivek Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of TeamForce AI, and Cecil Puvathingal, Vice President of Sales and Operations at QuestionPro. They discuss how creating psychologically safe environments for frontline workers can transform safety outcomes while addressing the challenge of gathering honest feedback from the 80% of the global workforce who don't sit behind computers. Both Puvathingal and Kumar share their digital transformation strategies for implementing frontline feedback solutions through automation integration and cross-team collaboration. "The number one problem for us is never the employees using our system," Kumar explains. "The challenge is sometimes employer readiness around saying, wait, why do I want that?" They explore the partnership between TeamForce AI and QuestionPro, highlighting a powerful digital transformation case study where a manufacturing company reduced safety incidents to zero by implementing a worker-suggested solution—filming family members discussing the importance of their loved ones returning home safely. The conversation demonstrates how digital innovation breaks down silos between management and frontline workers, offering practical frameworks for leaders to capture critical insights without disrupting workflow while driving improved safety outcomes. Sponsors: Little Bird Marketing proudly supports the Marketing Research Education Foundation's 2025 Race Around the World for Education. This virtual event in May 2025 promotes STEAM education in underserved communities. Participants log miles to circle the globe three times and aim to raise $90,000. Form a company team to compete with other market research firms! Become a sponsor to help provide quality STEAM education to children who need access. For registration and more information, visit: https://www.mrgivesback.org/ Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to tell you about my book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22/04/2025 • 33:15

Transform your market research into visuals that drive action. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Vashte Brilliant, founder of Slidedesignr, about transforming analytical insights into visually compelling presentations. They discuss how researchers frequently focus on meeting deadlines and checking boxes rather than conveying actionable insights that address the fundamental business questions that prompted the research. Brilliant shares her journey from mechanical engineer to market research professional to presentation design expert by identifying a critical gap in the research process. Through her work with hundreds of insights professionals across organizations of all sizes, she outlines her five-step framework for creating powerful presentations: adopting an expert mindset, understanding the audience, creating a clear big picture from multiple data sources, visual writing that chunks information strategically, and finally implementing a beautiful design that underscores the strategic thinking. "The deliverable is that artifact. It's the thing that lives on and captures all of your smart thinking [and] all of your hard work," Brilliant explains. "People are going to be looking at that thing months later, even hopefully years later, and it's the thing that everyone leaves until last." McKinney and Brilliant explore how poorly designed presentations can undermine a research firm's credibility and sales process, while thoughtful, clear visual communication reinforces authority and differentiates the brand in a crowded marketplace. The conversation highlights how the shift to digital delivery has raised the stakes for creating memorable, impactful deliverables that stand out amid increasing digital noise, revealing that following a b2b marketing strategy framework for creating these deliverables actually reduces work and stress compared to last-minute approaches. Sponsors: Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11/03/2025 • 30:25

Career development creates competitive advantages through effective talent management strategies. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Abhijit Bhaduri, an authoritative voice on talent management and social media influencer with nearly one million followers. They discuss how organizations that invest in career development gain a tangible edge in today's rapidly evolving business landscape, with findings from LinkedIn's 2025 workplace learning report highlighting this connection. Bhaduri, former General Manager of Global Leadership and Development for Microsoft, shares insights on how proper talent management impacts the sales team structure and organizational success. The conversation explores how career development is a retention tool, particularly for sales development professionals who build critical tacit knowledge and customer relationships. They examine the connection between b2b networking capability, personal branding, and career advancement in the AI economy. "Great organizations are built on great careers," Bhaduri explains. "The businesses which are winning in the marketplace are also the ones which have invested heavily in career development." McKinney and Bhaduri also discuss his book, Career 3.0, which outlines six essential skills for thriving in today's economy: learning, teaching, brand-building, storytelling, network navigation, and managing one's career like a venture capitalist. The discussion emphasizes how organizations can foster deeper expertise through what Bhaduri calls the "three E's": education, exposure, and experience - creating mutually beneficial growth for companies and professionals interested in how to move beyond simply improving their social selling index on LinkedIn and instead trulty experience digital transformation with postitive career implications. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Ever feel like your marketing plan is just... meh? You've got the pieces, but are they really working together? We often find that even when companies are doing the right things, they may not be doing them in the right order. The results are, well, no results. Curious how you can effectively evaluate your marketing efforts? Want clarity on your next best strategic move? Take our Marketing Assessment Quiz and in just minutes, discover exactly where you stand – and where you could be going. Click here and take the quiz today and don’t leave success to chance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25/02/2025 • 32:16

Data quality transforms business decisions from guesswork to strategic success. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Guy Solomon, Dooblo's CEO, about data quality's fundamental role in digital transformation strategy. They explore how the quality of data collection directly impacts decision-making across global organizations, from major corporations to aid organizations working in emerging markets. With over 20 years of experience, Solomon shares his digital transformation journey, explaining how the traditional market research pyramid builds from data collection through reporting and insights to final decisions. Through this digital transformation case study, they examine the challenges of digital surveys in emerging markets, including infrastructure limitations, internet literacy barriers, and the critical importance of maintaining methodological rigor across different data collection modes. "If I'm basing all of my insights and reporting on data, half of it is true," Solomon explains. "What's the probability of my decision at the top to be successful?"  McKinney and Solomon discuss how digital transformation trends in survey methodology must balance efficiency with accuracy, exploring how AI and multimode survey capabilities can enhance data quality while maintaining the human element in data collection. Their conversation highlights real-world examples of how proper data collection transforms decision-making across industries, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right tools and methodologies for different global contexts. One of these tools is Dooblo’s SurveyToGo and you can learn more about how it is an invaluable tool for multimode surveys in market research. To learn more, simply book a demo.  Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11/02/2025 • 28:04

Master the art of strategic LinkedIn engagement beyond viral moments. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney shares powerful insights about effective B2B social selling and thought leadership on LinkedIn. Drawing from LinkedIn's Thought Leadership Impact Study of 3,600 management-level professionals, she examines six key practices that drive meaningful engagement and business growth, starting with understanding your LinkedIn social selling index (SSI). McKinney explores critical findings from the study, including how 71% of professionals find most thought leadership content lacks value, while 65% say quality content significantly improves company perception. She also breaks down essential strategies like the Rule of 15 for content balance, emphasizing value-driven posts over sales messaging. She explains the importance of creating audience-centric content, addressing industry blind spots, and the importance of challenging conventional wisdom. "Your audience isn't just looking for information," McKinney explains. "They're looking for insights that help them make better decisions." While most B2B professionals focus on reaching massive audiences, McKinney demonstrates how strategic thought leadership targets the right 100-500 connections who truly matter for business growth. These proven frameworks, along with tools for networking, help leaders build trust, showcase expertise, and develop authentic professional relationships that drive measurable results. Sponsors: Ever feel like your company is sitting on a goldmine of opportunities, but somehow they keep slipping through the cracks? Here's the thing - most companies already have their next big win hiding in their database. They just need a systematic way to turn those contacts into revenue. They need a way to reactivate dormant connections and give them a reason to engage and even buy. Little Bird Marketing's Revenue Sprint is a proven system that works backward from your revenue goals to create a plan that is focused on building a sales pipeline and ultimately, predictable growth. We focus your sales and marketing efforts on one goal only and employ strategies for real wins that are measurable and replicable. And the best part? You don't need a massive budget to make it happen. Ready to turn those missed opportunities into new wins? Click here to learn how we build predictable pipelines for sustainable growth.  Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28/01/2025 • 21:34

AI transforms medical documentation from burden to breakthrough. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with Dr. Michael Ewing, Chief of Surgery at Corpus Christi Medical Center and co-founder of MedQuill, the engine behind SurgeOn Scribe. They discuss how AI revolutionizes healthcare documentation by addressing the significant challenge of physician charting time and documentation accuracy. Ewing shares his digital transformation strategy for implementing AI solutions, explaining how the technology captures patient conversations while maintaining HIPAA compliance and seamlessly integrating across multiple Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. Through this digital transformation case study, they explore the impact on healthcare delivery, including time savings, improved patient interactions, and enhanced documentation accuracy. "With SurgeOn Scribe, doctors reclaim valuable hours in their day,” Ewing explains. “And focus on better patient care – and that's why we're there at the end of the day.” McKinney and Ewing also discuss the broader implications of digital transformation in healthcare, examining how AI tools can reduce physician burnout while improving patient outcomes. The conversation highlights real-world examples of how digital innovation is transforming traditional medical practices, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the human element in healthcare while leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and accuracy. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/12/2024 • 26:12

Market research gets an innovation makeover by integrating digital innovation and psychological insights. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest Stefanie Francis, founder of Hootology, about modernizing market research through digital transformation. Francis, an experienced market research professional and former NYU adjunct professor, brings insights from her innovative approach to combining qualitative and quantitative research methodologies at scale. They discuss how emerging technologies and digital transformation reshape traditional market research methods through gamification and enhanced data collection. Francis explains the "quantification of qual," highlighting different approaches to gathering consumer insights in today's segmented market landscape. They explore the practical applications of gamified platforms in market research, including their ability to facilitate cross-team collaboration and maintain a comprehensive customer database. They talk about how these platforms facilitate real-time, synchronous conversations with larger groups while retaining the depth of qualitative research. "If we're doing research in five years the same way we're doing it now as Hootology, call us on it because society is changing so much," Francis explains. "How can we not get so caught up in [how] it's always been done and [evolve]?" McKinney and Francis also discuss digital transformation strategy in market research, emphasizing the importance of combining traditional and innovative approaches. They explore digital transformation examples from Francis's experience, highlighting the potential of gamified platforms to enhance data quality and consumer understanding. The conversation touches on the evolution of market research methodology and the role of digital innovation in creating more engaging and effective research experiences. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney is not just a CEO; she is also a LinkedIn Influencer. The reality is that very few people are using LinkedIn efficiently or effectively, and if you’re not careful, social media can become a black hole. When you emerge, you find you wound up in a place you never intended to go and you’re wondering where all the time went. Time is precious, and trying to be everything to everyone means becoming nothing to no one. That's why she's developed a transformative 12-week course that goes beyond basic tips and tricks – teaching you how to build a strategic network and create stellar content that cuts through the LinkedIn noise. Click here to learn more, and sign up for a spot in her social influence course today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19/11/2024 • 27:30

Is optimizing existing tech more efficient than chasing the shiny, new object? Is your company flush with technology but still faced with productivity challenges? Did your last technology onboarding fall flat? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney, talks with Jane Hales, co-founder of Sapio Research, strategic partner for Seamless.AI, and most recently, founder of partofthe.team, about developing effective digital transformation strategies for businesses. Hales brings significant expertise in helping companies optimize their technology and processes, successfully systemizing Sapio Research to run efficiently without her daily involvement! McKinney and Hales discuss how companies create operational gaps between changing business strategies and updating processes, usually a drastic difference of four to five years. Organizations face common challenges, such as unused software licenses, failed CRM implementations and the tendency to focus on edge cases rather than common scenarios.  "About a third of [a company’s] software licenses and apps [are wasted],” Hales explains. “If you could put a third extra revenue or profit on your bottom line, wouldn't that be fantastic?" They also discuss the value of bringing outside expertise to optimize existing technology investments rather than constantly adopting new solutions. Hales emphasizes the importance of understanding and documenting processes before attempting to automate or transform them digitally. Her methodology includes practical solutions that enhance digital transformation customer experience, such as screen recording routine tasks for documentation, building process libraries for onboarding and training, and integrating core systems (what she calls "hero packages" - CRM, CMS, and project management systems) Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing. I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney has taught many forward-thinking B2B professionals how to build a personal brand and create a presence on social media that advances their careers, showcases their thought leadership, and creates dynamic relationships that expand their network. She has put together a giveaway with the tools to make your social influence life easy. Click HERE for a chance to win this exciting package of goodies to start building your social influence today!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

05/11/2024 • 26:46

Market research, no matter how advanced the technology it uses, still needs astute judgment… and the best judgment comes from humans.  On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney, gives her patented Conference Flyover of Question Pro’s XDay 2024 in Austin, TX. XDay is a premier event where the best and brightest in market research come together to both network and share insights.  Mckinney, along with Little Bird Marketing CRO, Stephanie Douglass, talk with industry experts, such as Garry Batroff of Thematic and Ibby Sayed of Cotera (who is also a fellow podcaster). Question Pro’s Cecil Puvathingal joins Priscilla in a conversational recap about what they heard and felt throughout the day. There were moments of inspiration – both personal and professional. They talk about conversations they had throughout the day about solving timely problems in market research, digital innovation, data integrity, customer satisfaction, employee relations, communication gaps, maintaining a high survey response rate, and the impact of AI. Listed below are the names and LinkedIn accounts of this episode’s guests. If you like what they do or have to say, then please feel free to reach out to them, and also let them know that Priscilla McKinney and Stephanie Douglass sent you their way: Ibby Sayed, Gary Batroff, Cecil Puvanthingal, Stanley Gibbs, James Canga and Jeff Noonan. Also included here are several keynote speakers mentioned in the interviews: Stanley Sthanunathan, Mainak Mazumdar, Tim Sanders (who, by the way, is also a published author), Dr. Andrea Hollingsworth, Stan Sthanunathan, Julie Rodda Ph.D, Stephanie Murphy Ph.D, Mainak Mazumdar and Vivek Bhaskaran.  Sponsors:  Priscilla McKinney has taught many forward-thinking B2B professionals how to build a personal brand and create a presence on social media that advances their careers, showcases their thought leadership, and creates dynamic relationships that expand their network. Now, she has put together a giveaway with the tools to make your social influence life easy. Click HERE for a chance to win this exciting package of goodies to start building your social influence today! (drawings to be held at stated dates) Glimpse is a next-generation market discovery platform uniting human insights and AI-enhanced performance.  It empowers marketers, researchers, and creators to make effortless decisions, create powerful content, and gain a perpetual advantage. The platform allows users to ask questions, find audiences, and analyze diverse data sources, uncovering behavior, emotions, awareness, and purchasing decisions through AI. Glimpse's capabilities extend beyond surveys, offering enterprise-grade digital twins and AI personas for real-time conversations with key audiences.  To learn more, visit Glimpseahead.ai. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15/10/2024 • 44:56

Don't crack open that old business textbook, because we got you covered! On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and CEO, Priscilla McKinney, speaks with Rogier Verhulst, Senior Director at LinkedIn, and Marco Vriens, CEO of Kwantum, about the groundbreaking metric, Customer Surplus Value (CSV). As further described in the Harvard Business Review article entitled “Why You Should be Tracking Customer Surplus Value”, CSV measures how much customers would need to be compensated to give up a product or service, providing insights beyond the traditional Net Promoter Score (NPS). While NPS has long been the standard for measuring customer feedback, CSV offers unique advantages: it provides concrete dollar values that executives can easily understand, it's less affected by cultural biases, and it's particularly useful for measuring value in digital and freemium products. When used together, these metrics tell a more complete story in behavioral marketing - for instance, AT&T's low NPS but high CSV indicates customers might be unhappy but find it difficult to switch providers. "If your consumer surplus value is five dollars, but the consumer pays two dollars for it,” Vriens explains. “[Customers] are going to be happy because they're going to get more value than they're giving up. But if the consumer surplus value is two dollars, but they're paying five dollars, then you're going to have to wonder: are these customers going to stay customers?"  They also discuss LinkedIn's experience using CSV to evaluate premium versus free features, future applications in brand research, and how this methodology could revolutionize the way businesses measure the dollar value of brand associations built through advertising campaigns. Sponsors: Priscilla McKinney here! I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Priscilla McKinney has taught many forward-thinking B2B professionals how to build a personal brand and create a presence on social media that advances their careers, showcases their thought leadership, and creates a dynamic relationship that expands their network. Now, she has put together a giveaway with the tools to make your social influence life easy. Click HERE for a chance to win this exciting package of goodies to start building your social influence today! (drawing to be held at stated date). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

01/10/2024 • 35:54

Is AI the key to revolutionizing market research? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney talks with guest Steve Male, Executive Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at the Logit Group, about AI's impact on market research. Male, an author and seasoned market research professional brings insights from his book, AI Empowered: Revolutionizing Market Research.   They discuss how AI is transforming market research through digital innovation and improved data quality. Male explains the concept of the "AI spectrum," highlighting different levels of AI adoption in businesses. They explore the practical applications of AI in market research, including its ability to process large datasets quickly and efficiently. They cover digital transformation trends in AI adoption and the importance of ethical considerations in AI implementation. "AI can do a lot of the heavy lifting really quickly,” Male explains. “It addresses a couple of different areas of concern that you can then turn over to a human and get one final pass or look through.” McKinney and Male also discuss digital transformation strategy about AI adoption, emphasizing the need for caution and due diligence when implementing AI tools. They explore digital transformation case studies from Male's experience, highlighting the potential of AI to enhance data quality and operational efficiency in market research. The conversation touches on the challenges and opportunities of AI in creating a better digital transformation customer experience for market research clients. Sponsors: Hey y’all, Priscilla McKinney here, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing. I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Get ready for another amazing Insights Marketing Day! It’s everything you need to take control of your marketing funnel in one power-packed day. You’ll hear from fun, engaging and instructive speakers who are proven authorities in digital marketing. They’ll leave their egos behind and pull the curtain back to show you what it takes behind the scenes to achieve dramatic marketing results. This year, we’ll take you on a journey from the very beginning of the marketing funnel through realizing revenue and how to create a more predictive model for success. You’ll be challenged to change your mindset, learn emerging skills and discover game-changing tools. All this while creating genuine connections with like-minded professionals. Learn, network, discover and strategize. Make Insights Marketing Day a MUST on your 2024 calendar. Visit littlebirdmarketing.com/insights-marketing-day and get your tickets today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/09/2024 • 26:12

AI and digital innovation are actively reshaping the B2B landscape. On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney, talks with guest and Fractional CMO at Data-Mania, Lillian Pierson, P.E., about the intersection of AI, digital transformation and product-led growth in B2B tech companies. Pierson brings over two decades of experience specializing in B2B tech startups. She has consulted with Fortune 100 companies and led go-to-market and product-led growth strategies for high-growth data and AI startups. The two discuss the evolving landscape of digital transformation, emphasizing the importance of marketing strategies that support product-led growth. Pierson highlights the differences between traditional sales-led growth and product-led growth, noting that the latter focuses more on community building, email marketing, and self-service access. Pierson stresses the need for companies to adapt their digital transformation strategy to align with these new growth models. Together they review how AI is driving efficiencies for growth, with Pierson explaining how AI, particularly machine learning and generative AI, is revolutionizing marketing automation and personalization. She shares insights on building digital communities and leveraging influencer marketing to support product-led growth initiatives. She has found this approach to be key to implementing successful digital transformation solutions that drive growth and engagement. "Once you have a strong underpinning of community,” Pierson explains. “You can leverage this… and yes, they will help you grow your business."  McKinney and Pierson also discuss the importance of product-market fit in digital transformation initiatives, the potential of data monetization, and Pierson's upcoming book, Data and AI Imperative, which focuses on designing strategies for exponential growth. The conversation provides valuable insights for founders and leaders of data and AI-intensive companies looking to navigate their digital transformation journey. Be sure to sign up to be a part of the launch festivities for her much-anticipated book!  Sponsors: Hey y’all, Priscilla McKinney here, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing. I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Get ready for another amazing Insights Marketing Day! It’s everything you need to take control of your marketing funnel in one power-packed day. You’ll hear from fun, engaging and instructive speakers who are proven authorities in digital marketing. They’ll leave their egos behind and pull the curtain back to show you what it takes behind the scenes to achieve dramatic marketing results. This year, we’ll take you on a journey from the very beginning of the marketing funnel through realizing revenue and how to create a more predictive model for success. You’ll be challenged to change your mindset, learn emerging skills and discover game-changing tools. All this while creating genuine connections with like-minded professionals. Learn, network, discover and strategize. Make Insights Marketing Day a MUST on your 2024 calendar. Visit littlebirdmarketing.com/insights-marketing-day and get your tickets today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

06/08/2024 • 28:44

Can digital transformation change surgical education for the better? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host Priscilla McKinney talks with guest and co-founder and CEO of Surgery Unified, Dr. Mark Soliman, about the innovative SurgeOn platform and its impact on the medical field. Dr. Soliman, chief of colorectal surgery at Advent Health Digestive Health Institute, brings his extensive background in surgical education and advanced robotic colorectal surgery to the conversation. Soliman describes SurgeOn as a digital transformation platform for surgical networking and education. He describes it as a mixture of professional social media platforms, tailored specifically for surgeons. The platform aims to address issues in surgical education by providing a cohesive space for learning, networking, and professional development. The conversation explores how SurgeOn is transforming surgical education through digital innovation. Soliman explains that the platform enables surgeons to search, sort, and filter operative videos down to specific steps, allowing for targeted learning. This approach to digital transformation in healthcare aims to improve surgical techniques and patient outcomes. Soliman discusses the broader implications of this digital transformation solution for the healthcare industry. He emphasizes the importance of including medical device manufacturers and industry representatives in the platform, albeit with restricted access. This collaborative approach ensures that product development is informed by real surgical needs, potentially leading to better tools and techniques. The platform's focus on privacy and identity verification is also highlighted as crucial for maintaining a professional and trustworthy environment. "SurgeOn… fundamentally,” Soliman explains. “Is a surgical networking and education platform." Finally, Soliman shares an example of how SurgeOn has directly impacted patient care by enabling surgeons to learn from shared experiences of managing complications. He discusses the platform's potential for expanding to include other healthcare professionals and international users, while maintaining strict identity verification processes. Sponsors: Hey y’all, Priscilla McKinney here, CEO and Momma Bird at Little Bird Marketing. I am very excited to announce the release of my much-anticipated book:  Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind The book's chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today's complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information. Get ready for another amazing Insights Marketing Day! It’s everything you need to take control of your marketing funnel in one power-packed day. You’ll hear from fun, engaging and instructive speakers who are proven authorities in digital marketing. They’ll leave their egos behind and pull the curtain back to show you what it takes behind the scenes to achieve dramatic marketing results. This year, we’ll take you on a journey from the very beginning of the marketing funnel through realizing revenue and how to create a more predictive model for success. You’ll be challenged to change your mindset, learn emerging skills and discover game-changing tools. All this while creating genuine connections with like-minded professionals. Learn, network, discover and strategize. Make Insights Marketing Day a MUST on your 2024 calendar. Visit https://insightsmarketingday.com/ and get your tickets today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30/07/2024 • 32:19

Can AI break barriers for underserved communities? On this episode of Digital Transformation Success, host and Little Bird Marketing CEO, Priscilla McKinney talks with brothers Ifiok and Monk Inyang, co-founders of 1st Street Partnerships, about empowering entrepreneurs and creators of color through the emerging technology of generative AI. Growing up in a poorer, working-class environment in Newark, NJ, the Inyang brothers understand the challenges faced by underserved communities. They recognize that a lack of resources often means these communities have no cushion to fail, with minor setbacks potentially setting them back years if not decades. But there is a solution, and it lies not just in providing hardware like laptops, but in harnessing the power of generative AI. Their approach involves providing strategies for modern problem-solving, identifying necessary tools, and teaching how to use them effectively. This education-focused method helps build a supportive community, fostering B2B-cross-team collaboration.   "The way [underserved communities] interact with AI can be a very embracing moment,” Ifiok explains. “We can use it to break down the biases that we have… that keep brilliant minds out of certain industries." McKinney and the Inyang brothers also highlight the compounding barriers these communities face, noting that most industry gatekeepers are not people of color. They see AI as a game-changer, offering entrepreneurs less expensive, entry-level solutions. Their vision extends to partnering with academia, government, and public service organizations to increase access and expand the community of AI users. Sponsors: Looking for the right space to mix and mingle with corporate researchers and insights professionals who are moving the industry forward? Ready to take your skills to the next level and get connected within the consumer insights space? Join Little Bird Marketing at the Corporate Researcher's Conference, presented by the Insights Association. This conference is designed specifically for client-side insights leaders and practitioners who are committed to advancing the profession. We’ll talk about shifts in society, buyer’s beliefs, preferences and advances in technology.  You’ll hear from innovative researchers and insights visionaries showcasing their groundbreaking work and sharing strategies to manage change and innovation. Visit insightsassociation.org/events for more information. Register today and let us at Little Bird Marketing know you’re coming. We’d love to meet up in person. Get your research done anywhere around the world quickly and efficiently with Gazelle Global!  Are you looking for experts and tools to collect research data worldwide? Global sampling, field management, data collection? These are just some of the services that Gazelle Global provides with much, much more!  Visit gazelleglobal.com to learn more about how our expertise can help you unearth quality data that drives meaningful insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16/07/2024 • 25:56