What We Discussed on the Growth Experts Podcast with Dennis Brown
- Breaking Into Growth Marketing: Hamlet shares his unconventional journey from retail to running a growth agency, including how he landed his first clients through creative methods.
- The High Cost of Paid Advertising: The challenges of rising digital advertising costs and why traditional methods often fail to deliver quality leads.
- The Facebook and Google Ad Strategy: A detailed walkthrough of Hamlet’s ad technique using Facebook’s conversions API to drastically reduce per-lead costs while improving lead quality.
- The Role of Full-Funnel Data: Hamlet explains how mapping and integrating deeper funnel stages, like applications, pre-qualifications, and approvals, helped optimize campaigns and reduce inefficiencies.
- Open Targeting vs. Lookalike Audiences: Why leaving targeting wide open often yields better results than traditional methods, including lookalike audiences or demographic-based targeting.
- The Power of Custom Tools: Hamlet introduces his tool for identifying key influencers and improving outreach, emphasizing the importance of building relationships rather than chasing quantity.
- The Value of Long-Term Thinking: Hamlet discusses how short-term experimentation and patience can lead to significant long-term gains in campaign performance.
From Retail to Startups: Hamlet Azarian’s Journey
Hamlet Azarian’s path to becoming a growth expert began with his work as an executive at Saks Fifth Avenue, where he fell in love with data-driven decision-making. After launching Azarian Growth Agency in 2010, he focused on helping pre-seed and Series A startups develop playbooks, build teams, and create scalable marketing systems.
“I was drawn to the excitement of seeing results instantly,” Hamlet explained. “That thrill of discovering what works and doubling down on successful campaigns drives everything we do.”
Hamlet’s initial growth hack for acquiring clients was bold: he applied for jobs, used the interview process to connect with decision-makers, and pitched his agency’s services as an alternative.
This unconventional approach won over his first clients, setting the foundation for his future success.
Breaking Down the Facebook and Google Ad Strategy
With the rising cost of paid advertising, Hamlet and his team needed an innovative way to improve lead quality and reduce costs.
By leveraging Facebook’s conversions API, they went beyond basic pixel data to feed deeper insights into their campaigns.
Key Insights from the Ad Strategy
- Deeper Funnel Data: Instead of focusing only on lead generation, Hamlet tracked key milestones, like applications submitted, pre-qualifications, and closed deals, to give Facebook more context for optimizing ads.
- Open Targeting: Leaving targeting wide open allowed Facebook’s machine learning to identify the best audience, outperforming traditional lookalike and manually selected audiences.
- Results: This approach reduced lead costs from $120 to as low as $8–$12 while improving lead quality and conversion rates at every stage of the funnel.
Key Takeaways for Marketers and Entrepreneurs
- Rethink Your Data Strategy: Refine your campaigns using online and offline conversion metrics.
- Trust Machine Learning: Giving platforms like Facebook broader access to data can improve results over time.
- Focus on Quality Relationships: Building strong connections matters more than sheer quantity.
- Experiment for Long-Term Gains: Short-term losses in experimentation can lead to significant improvements.
Final Thoughts
This episode of the Growth Experts Podcast highlights the power of data, creativity, and persistence in digital marketing. Hamlet Azarian’s journey is a reminder that smart strategies and bold decisions can lead to extraordinary results.
If you’re looking to improve your campaigns and build a sustainable marketing strategy, listen to the full episode for actionable advice and proven techniques.
Tune in now to learn how you can achieve similar success!
Key Takeaways
2:35 – Introduction to Azarian Growth Agency
5:17 – Growth Hacks for Getting Clients
8:17 – Valuable Facebook Ad Hacks for Better Leads
13:52 – Leveraging Offline Data
18:37 – The Power of Open Targeting
23:44 – Favorite Book
