Over the Bull Podcast Exposes Costly Marketing Myths That Are Quietly Undermining Businesses

Outdated landing pages and DIY design tools are hurting your brand. Learn how to market with strategy—not shortcuts—on this episode of Over the Bull.

ASHEVILLE, NC, UNITED STATES, July 28, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In the Latest Episode of “Over the Bull,” Ken Carroll Warns: Are You Marketing for Today or Tomorrow?

In a sharp and timely episode of the Over the Bull podcast, marketing strategist and agency founder Ken Carroll aims at two of the most under-discussed threats facing small business marketing today: the misuse of landing pages and the over-reliance on do-it-yourself design tools that flatten brand identity. Titled “Are You Marketing for Today or Tomorrow?”, Episode 19 urges business owners to question the comfort zones that may be holding their growth back.

Ken Carroll opens the conversation by introducing the concept of normalcy bias—the tendency for people to believe that the future will closely resemble the past, leading them to ignore early warning signs of change. “Businesses get trapped in what feels familiar,” he says. “But the digital landscape is evolving too fast for that kind of thinking to be safe.”

Part One: The Landing Page Illusion

The episode’s first major segment dives into a critical problem Ken Carroll sees all too often: the way some agencies misuse landing pages. Specifically, he highlights the growing trend of spinning up microsites—temporary, low-authority websites that serve as ad destinations but add no lasting value to a brand’s online presence.

“Some marketers are sending ad traffic to completely separate domains,” Ken Carroll says. “These pages don’t build trust, don’t enhance your domain authority, and don’t integrate into your long-term strategy. However, because they sometimes yield quick results, they feel like they’re making progress. That’s the trap.”

Backed by research from Analytify and SalesGenie, Ken Carroll presents a stark contrast: companies using properly optimized landing pages can see conversion rates up to 55%, while businesses using fewer than 10 generic pages typically convert at just 2–5%. Even more compelling, companies with 40 or more well-structured pages generate over 500% more leads.

“The point isn’t to crank out 40 random pages,” Ken Carroll clarifies. “It’s to be intentional—build strategic pages within your main website, where every visit adds long-term value.”

Ken Carroll also warns that some ad vendors are linking these off-site landing pages in clients’ Google Business Profiles, creating confusion for users and potentially violating Google’s terms. “That kind of shortcut is not only risky—it’s unnecessary,” he says. “A well-built landing page can live on your main site and be more effective in every way.”

Part Two: Canva, Sameness, and the Illusion of Design

In the second half of the podcast, Ken Carroll shifts focus from strategy to brand presentation, targeting a growing concern in the design world: blanding.

Ken acknowledges that using tools like Canva can be helpful for quick, disposable content. Ken Carroll emphasizes that relying on these platforms to create core brand assets—like logos or flagship visuals—is a significant mistake.

“Brand identity is more than colors and shapes. It’s tone, structure, consistency, and distinction,” Ken Carroll explains. “When thousands of businesses use the same templates, fonts, and layouts, they all start to blur together.”

Referencing two standout articles—The Canva Conundrum and Canva Isn’t a Brand Tool. It’s a Delay Button—he unpacks how mass accessibility can lead to mass uniformity.

One line that hit home: “Using Canva to design your logo could be like trying to build a high-rise with Legos^®.” Ken Carroll, feels this is another example of trying to undercut proven best practices with a system that is incapable of adequately addressing brand concerns of today.

“You can’t build a brand on shortcuts and expect it to hold up under pressure,” he says. “It might look polished at a glance, but your audience senses when something is wrong. And the more people lean on these tools, the easier it becomes to spot—and ignore—them.”

The Ethical Divide

At the heart of the episode lies a deeper concern about integrity in marketing. Ken Carroll shares a behind-the-scenes story of why Integris Design recently parted ways with a client. Despite mutual respect and solid collaboration on creative and SEO, the client insisted on working with an external ad consultant who promoted questionable practices—including keyword stuffing in the business name of their Google Profile.

“That’s a red flag,” says Ken Carroll. “Google clearly discourages it, and continuing down that path could trigger re-verification or even account suspension. We didn’t want to be the ones silently complicit.”

Rather than compromise, Ken Carroll chose to walk away.

“We could’ve taken the money and stayed quiet. But we knew the strategy was flawed, and staying would have meant watching their long-term success decline while cashing their checks. That’s not how we operate.”

Building for Tomorrow Means Choosing Clarity Over Comfort

Throughout the episode, Ken Carroll weaves in broader lessons for businesses navigating a noisy, fast-moving digital world. The temptation to cut corners is real—especially when budgets are tight and results feel urgent. But building a brand that can thrive in today’s AI-informed search environment requires clarity, consistency, and above all, patience.

“The tools and tricks that used to work—clip art logos, keyword stuffing, microsites—they’re not just outdated,” he says. “They’re dangerous.”

Ken Carroll encourages businesses to audit not just what they’re doing, but why they’re doing it. “Is your strategy rooted in credibility and relevance, or is it built on someone else’s template, someone else’s metrics, someone else’s promises?”

He leaves listeners with a familiar but essential reminder: If the only tool you have is a hammer, you’ll treat everything like a nail.

“In today’s marketing ecosystem, specialization is great—but tunnel vision isn’t,” says Ken Carroll. “We need to be careful who we trust, what shortcuts we take, and how we define success. Because marketing for tomorrow means choosing the path that might take longer—but actually gets you where you want to go.”

John Kenneth Carroll, Jr
Integris Design LLC
+ +1828-333-7621
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