Andy Crestodina

Orbit Media Studios 

Andy Crestodina is a co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, an award-winning 38-person digital agency in Chicago.

Over the past 18 years, Andy has given digital marketing advice to 1000+ businesses. He speaks at big marketing conferences, writes for big marketing blogs and he hosts a little marketing podcast, Content Matters.
 
He's written hundreds of articles on content marketing, search engine optimization, social media and Analytics. Andy gives between 50 and 70 presentations and webinars per year. He is also the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.

• Top 10 Online Marketing Experts to Watch, Forbes 
• Top 100 Content Marketers, Buzzsumo
• Top 100 Digital Marketers, Onalytica
• Top 50 Marketing Influencer, Entrepreneur Magazine 
• Top 10 Social Media Influencers to Watch, Social Media Explorer
• Top 25 Content Marketers, Relevance
• Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers to Follow, Outbrain
• Top 50 Social Media Influencers, Top Rank Blog 2017
• Top 12 Online Marketers to Watch, Oberlo 2017
• Top 25 B2B Influencers, IZEA 2017
• Top 10 Online Marketing to Follow for Inspiration and Growth, Fox 2016
• Judge, Content Marketing Awards
• Guest Lecturer, Northwestern University
• Mentor at 1871, the #1 rated startup incubator in the US

Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer

Sets vision and leads web strategy efforts, both for Orbit and for clients. Responsible for marketing, new business and connecting Orbit to the Chicago business community.

Strategic Director

Northwestern University School of Communication

Co-instructor for summer course in the MSC program. Topics include content strategy, influencer marketing, search engine optimization, social media, personal branding and Analytics.

Lecture + Co-Instructor, Content and Influencer Marketing

Risetime Technologies

Qualified, interviewed, tested and placed technical team members on client projects.  Candidates included developers, DBAs, system administrators, QA/Testers, analysts, technical writers, etc.

Technical Recruiter

Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media | SEO, Analytics, AI, Content Strategy and Website Optimization

Andy Crestodina is CMO and Co-Founder of Orbit Media, an award-winning 55-person digital agency. He has 24 years of experience in analytics, SEO, content strategy and visitor psychology ...and 2.4 years of experience in AI.

Andy has applied his expertise in SEO and conversions to drive both visibility and lead generation for 1000+ businesses since 2001.

Contributions and Achievements
Andy's contributions to the field extend beyond his role at Orbit Media. He is a prolific writer, having authored 600+ articles on content strategy, search engine optimization, social media, and GA4 and AI.

He is the author of "Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing," now in its 7th edition.

Andy is committed to education and mentorship, and teaches digital marketing at Northwestern University and at Harbour.Space University.

Top 100 Influencers in Content Marketing (#3), SEMrush • Top 50 B2B Content Marketing Influencers (#3), TopRank • Top 10 Online Marketing Experts, Forbes • Top 50 Marketing Influencer, Entrepreneur • Top 10 Social Media Influencers, Social Media Explorer • Top 50 Content Marketers, Outbrain • Top 100 Digital Marketers, Brand24 • Top 25 B2B Influencers, IZEA • Top 10 Online Marketers, FOX • Top 25 Marketing Influencers, LiveAgent 

Andy gives up to 100 presentations per year and is a frequent repeat speaker at many of the top conferences: 

Content Marketing World (10x) • Social Media Marketing World (6x) • Call to Action Conference (5x) • MarketingProfs B2B Forum (8x) • Content Jam (10x) • MozCon (4x) • SXSW

Andy's approach to digital marketing is grounded in data-driven strategies, innovative use of AI, and a keen understanding of audience behavior. His methods in audience research, content creation, and SEO have consistently delivered measurable impact for clients

Giving Back and Community Involvement
Beyond his professional achievements, Andy is an environmentalist, deeply committed to community service. He is a certified Treekeeper with Openlands. He helped found Chicago Cause, a philanthropic initiative that has donated over $700,000 in digital marketing services to nonprofits.

Connect with Andy here or join the 250k marketers who subscribe to his LinkedIn newsletter.

Andy Crestodina is a co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Orbit Media, an award-winning 38-person digital agency in Chicago.

Over the past 18 years, Andy has given digital marketing advice to 1000+ businesses. He speaks at big marketing conferences, writes for big marketing blogs and he hosts a little marketing podcast, Content Matters.
 
He's written hundreds of articles on content marketing, search engine optimization, social media and Analytics. Andy gives between 50 and 70 presentations and webinars per year. He is also the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.

• Top 10 Online Marketing Experts to Watch, Forbes 
• Top 100 Content Marketers, Buzzsumo
• Top 100 Digital Marketers, Onalytica
• Top 50 Marketing Influencer, Entrepreneur Magazine 
• Top 10 Social Media Influencers to Watch, Social Media Explorer
• Top 25 Content Marketers, Relevance
• Top 50 Content Marketing Influencers to Follow, Outbrain
• Top 50 Social Media Influencers, Top Rank Blog 2017
• Top 12 Online Marketers to Watch, Oberlo 2017
• Top 25 B2B Influencers, IZEA 2017
• Top 10 Online Marketing to Follow for Inspiration and Growth, Fox 2016
• Judge, Content Marketing Awards
• Guest Lecturer, Northwestern University
• Mentor at 1871, the #1 rated startup incubator in the US




Your future prospect is asking AI for help finding a company in your niche. Which brands does AI recommend? Does it recommend yours?

Today we deconstruct the 9 steps in an AI-supported lead, from the first prompt to the final thank you page.

As we go, we'll discover ways to influence these AI recommendations by filling gaps in it's training data. The trick is to start with "Prompt Reverse Engineering"

Here's what you'll find in this little guide:

• Why conversion rates from AI sources are so high
• How to reveal which phrases AI searches
• What AI thinks of your brand and your competitors
• What proof points AI is looking for when making recommendations
• Why taglines are terrible for training AIs

Everyone is talking about AI visibility. But visibility is insufficient. We're full-funnel marketers. We're here to drive leads. We want to be recommended, not just visible.

We hope you enjoy the breakdown! We enjoyed making it.


PS: Thank you John Jantsch for the perfect contribution. 🤌

Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media | B2B Lead Generation Websites, AI, SEO, Visitor Psychology, Content Strategy and Analytics

🔴 Your new job: Train the AI to recommend your brand! Will “vector embedding” help you generate leads from AI? What about “citation tracking” or “ret

Open article: Prompt Reverse Engineering: An AI Lead Deconstructed in 9 Steps by Andy Crestodina • 11 min read

Prompt Reverse Engineering: An AI Lead Deconstructed in 9 Steps

It's easier than you think.
You combine your best prompts into a little tool ...and do it all with your voice.

Today, we’re going beyond the one-off prompt. 
Today, we turn a repeatable workflow into a reusable AI tool.

When I first wrote about this back in March, I was totally overthinking it. I was trying too hard. When I discovered that there's a faster (and more enjoyable) way to build these, I rewrote this. 

I also re-recorded the video and I've added it here. Unfortunately, there's a bug in LinkedIn so the video looks like a black box. But click the link and it will take you to YouTube.

Skip to minute 4:40 in that video and watch me build a custom GPT with my voice. No keyboard required.

Q: "Are everyday marketers going to build custom GPTs?"
I remember asking myself that when OpenAI first launched this feature. Now we know.

A: "Yes"
Because it's really not difficult at all. If you have a few prompts that you use in a workflow, you're ready. It's fun.

If you became a marketing because you love being creative, this is a moment of creativity. Not creating deliverables, but creating a tool that helps you be a better marketer. 

This may be the next step in your AI skill development.

Sit back, watch the video and discover the joy of making something. 🐣

Thank you, Leslie and Dillon for contributing to this. And a shoutout to TechSmith and Wispr Flow for building the tools that I recommend in this process!

#customGPT #AIlearning

Andy Crestodina is CMO and Co-Founder of Orbit Media, an award-winning 55-person digital agency. He has 23_ years of experience in analytics, SEO, content strategy and visitor psychology ...and 23 months of experience in AI.

Andy has applied his expertise in SEO and conversions to drive both visibility and lead generation for 1000+ businesses since 2001.

Contributions and Achievements
Andy's contributions to the field extend beyond his role at Orbit Media. He is a prolific writer, having authored 600+ articles on content strategy, search engine optimization, social media, and GA4 and AI.

He is the author of "Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing," now in its 7th edition.

Andy is committed to education and mentorship, and teaches digital marketing at Northwestern University and at Harbour.Space University.

Top 100 Influencers in Content Marketing (#3), SEMrush • Top 50 B2B Content Marketing Influencers (#3), TopRank • Top 10 Online Marketing Experts, Forbes • Top 50 Marketing Influencer, Entrepreneur • Top 10 Social Media Influencers, Social Media Explorer • Top 50 Content Marketers, Outbrain • Top 100 Digital Marketers, Brand24 • Top 25 B2B Influencers, IZEA • Top 10 Online Marketers, FOX • Top 25 Marketing Influencers, LiveAgent 

Andy gives up to 100 presentations per year and is a frequent repeat speaker at many of the top conferences: 

Content Marketing World (10x) • Social Media Marketing World (6x) • Call to Action Conference (5x) • MarketingProfs B2B Forum (8x) • Content Jam (10x) • MozCon (4x) • SXSW

Andy's approach to digital marketing is grounded in data-driven strategies, innovative use of AI, and a keen understanding of audience behavior. His methods in audience research, content creation, and SEO have consistently delivered measurable impact for clients

Giving Back and Community Involvement
Beyond his professional achievements, Andy is an environmentalist, deeply committed to community service. He is a certified Treekeeper with Openlands. He helped found Chicago Cause, a philanthropic initiative that has donated over $700,000 in digital marketing services to nonprofits.

Connect with Andy here or join the 250k marketers who subscribe to his LinkedIn newsletter.

🔴 You can do most of it without typing... When I first wrote about this eight months ago, I was trying too hard. It’s easier than I thought back then

The Easy Way to Make a Custom GPT [VIDEO]

OpenAI

AI Workflow & CRO Sprints for B2B Teams | Lead Gen | Customer Acquisition | Speaker | CEO @ TheSearchGuru.com | ​>14.4K Followers & ​>12.8K Connections

Marketing & Communications Coordinator | Artist

TechSmith

Wispr Flow

Jasmine Gruia-Gray, PhD

Spam is getting worse. There is more spam than ever in email, social and text messages. It's a huge problem here on LinkedIn in direct messages. 

You accept a connection request, then immediately get a sales pitch in a direct message ...a "pitch slap." 

Does this happen to you? Weekly? Daily?

A few weeks ago we asked about these spam DMs here on LinkedIn. The response was intense. The people have spoken. This is a problem. 

We're sharing some of those comments here. 

Welcome to the 4th Annual Spam Report! This collaboration with our friends at QuestionPro is a survey of 1000 internet users in the US. It answers some big questions...

• Which social network has the most spam?
• How has spam has grown over time across channels?
• Are we seeing AI generated spam?

Maybe it can't be stopped, but it can be tracked. Today we're measuring the problem and sharing our feedback. 

Maybe a few of the spammers will listen. 

Thank you to all of our many candid contributors! ❤️
Talia Wolf, Robin Visser, Prerna Mehta, Kathleen Marrero, Dave Boerger, Timothy "Tim" Hughes 提姆·休斯 L.ISP, Suzanne Feinberg, Bernie Borges, Carla Johnson, John Sukowaty 📊, Dale Bertrand, Janice Mandel, Scott Dayton, Gail Gardner, Adam Turinas, Jon Rivers, Stephen Tseng, Emily Call, Marjorie Clayman, A. Lee Judge, Samantha Schwartz, Todd Jones, Stacey Moore, Christopher Isit, M.S., IMC, Lukasz Klekowski and Michelle Garrett.

And also to Seth Turnoff for fighting the good fight with #Jerkstore.

" There are no websites with enough customer testimonial videos."

They are powerful for two big reasons...
1. Video is the most engaging / trust-building format for content
2. Testimonials change the messenger from the brand to the audience themselves.

When you say it, it's marketing.
When they say it, it's social proof!

Storyteller | Entertainer | Founder of Fungi Media 🍄 Connect, engage and grow your audience 🍄

Customer success videos drive conversions 🎬

Your customers are your best marketers. They bring credibility and social proof that drive conversions. Let's activate them!

Take it from Andy Crestodina👇

" There are no websites with enough customer testimonial videos. If you could build a testimonial Netflix library, you'll continue to convert the more you add."

Q: Are you finding ways to tell your story through the voice of your customer?

You're a pro at prompts. What's next in your AI learning curve?
Maybe this... building custom GPTs. 

In this little webinar next Thursday, I'll show you the simple way to build a custom GPT using your best prompts. 

It's easier than you think. If your prompts are polished, you can build an automation WITHOUT TYPING. Literally, most of the work can be done with your voice.

There are big upsides to building automations...

1. Standardize your best methods
2. Efficiency and quality
3. Share them with your team
4. More confidence, less anxiety and better positioning for yourself in the future of marketing

Register here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzdVkPjb

Bonus! I'll show you how to build a GPT for your brand that shares your best advice and drives traffic to your content. Clone yourself! It's fun.

Hope to see you there!

Big thanks, Alan Cassinelli and Blaze for putting this together!

"Well...um. My shortest answer...

What's good for traditional SEO is good for AI visibility. 
What's good for conversion optimization is good for AI recommendations. You have to do both."

Thanks, Theresa, for capturing this moment on the Semrush webinar today!

Marketing & Communication | Goal-Oriented Leader | “Yes, we can scale that...🚀”

"What's good for traditional SEO is good for AI visibility. What's good for conversation rate optimization is good for AI recommendation. You have to do both." Andy Crestodina thank you for this today.

New job for 2026! Train AI to be a sales rep for your brand...

That means writing copy and adding evidence that gives the AIs reasons to recommend you when your future prospect starts the research process.

This post by Sidharth at G2 has some great tips. 
https://lnkd.in/gUTcy_bU

My fav...
Counter AI’s generalizations with specific, verifiable evidence

I also contributed a quote to this piece...
“Taglines don’t train the AI. The sales team knows what wins the deal… But often, the marketing team is focused on brand messages, not sales messages. Marketers’ new job is to train the AI to recommend the brand.”

Thanks for including me, Sidharth!

You accept a connect request ...and get a pitch DM two minutes later.
Does this happen to you? Daily? Several times each day?

I'm looking for hot takes, confessions, counter-narratives and spicy points of view for an article I'm working on.

Drop a comment! Don't hold back.

This is for little spam research project in partnership with my friends at QuestionPro. New data on spam coming soon...

Thinking of you, Talia!

"An ally in creating content is an ally in promoting content."
That's one reason why I never miss a chance to include others in my content.

It's "organic influencer marketing" and there are plenty of good reasons to collaborate on articles...

• Makes your content more interesting (multiple POVs)
• Increases social reach (collaborators may share)
• Grows your professional network

That last one is a biggie. I've met SO MANY people just by reaching out and asking a subject matter expert if they'd like to contribute a quick quote.

Some of the best contributor quotes are from people who disagree with me. Counterpoints make content more interesting. And remember, your goal isn't to be 100% correct, it's to be helpful, compelling and memorable. 

This post by Ann Gynn at Content Marketing Institute breaks it down beautifully 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzzM_pNR

And it's a fun meta-example of a collaborative piece. Thanks for inviting me to share my perspective, Ann!

#influencermarketing #contentmarketing

This is the biggest digital marketing story of 2025. Next Wednesday, we break it down. 

Hope to see you there!

Content Marketing Lead at Semrush, AI Search Solutions | Product Marketing Strategist | B2B SaaS Writer

Have you also struggled with traffic drops this year?

You’re not alone — more than half of the Semrush users we surveyed have experienced the same (myself included). 

But it’s not the end of the world — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. :)

Join Andy Crestodina, Dale Bertrand, and me next week as we discuss effective marketing strategies for the zero-click world.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/dkg9Q3fn

Later today: Watch me and Corey Northcutt review a website LIVE at 2pmCT
We'll share perspectives on:

• Missed SEO opportunities ...and how to capture them
• What AI knows about this brand ...and why it wouldn't recommend it
• How visitors see this website ...and how to improve conversion rates

It's a quick 30-minute format. Hope to see you there!

https://lnkd.in/gcfpF9EZ

Live and in real time!

November 19th at 2:00 PM CT we are doing live reviews of websites...

• SEO and conversion optimization audits
• The best AI prompts for lead generation
• Page-level and site wide recommendations

Join us as we dive real-world examples.

Want us to review your website? Add it here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gWPcMHsV

See you there!

In Chicago? Here's a quick #GivingTuesday action you can take...
Just share this with a non-profit and help us give away a free website!

Hey Chicago nonprofits... 👋 

We’ve got a gift with your name on it!

Chicago Cause 2025 is back in full swing, and we are looking for two incredible organizations that deserve a digital spotlight as powerful as the work they do every single day.

And that could be you! 🧡


With the help of our friends over at Digital Third Coast, we’re donating $90,000 in web and digital marketing services to help make sure your mission gets the visibility and support it deserves.  

Here’s what’s up for grabs:
🔸 A new website from Orbit Media Studios complete with design, development, content strategy, keyword research, GA4 setup, and lifetime hosting (valued at $65,000)
🔸 A digital marketing strategy from Digital Third Coast including SEO, content, and paid media support (valued at $25,000)

This is your chance for more people to find you, hear you, and stand with you. (especially the ones who need you most)


🟠 Send your application by December 11, 2025 → https://lnkd.in/eTeYiGv
.
.
.
Know a nonprofit doing great work in Chicago? Share this with them so they don’t miss their chance to apply!

#ChicagoCause

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