Jake Tlapek is a performance marketing strategist at Finch, known for DSP-driven omnichannel campaigns and no-fluff SEO + CRO execution. He grew a 100K+ TikTok audience by posting twice daily and turns that attention into qualified demand. His wins range from doubling crews for a Chicagoland landscaper to 5x conversion lifts with surgical UX tweaks.
Performance marketing takes center court as Jake Tlapek of Finch breaks down demand-side platforms (DSPs), TikTok SEO, and conversion optimization playbooks that win customers on every channel. He shares his journey from Air Force IT to agency leader and founder-creator, including how posting twice daily sparked 100K+ TikTok followers and a steady stream of leads. You’ll learn why DSPs let brands place ads where buyers actually are—from Hulu to digital billboards—without juggling a dozen dashboards, plus why search isn’t dying, it’s moving (hello, Reddit, Pinterest, and TikTok). Jake caps it with two slam-dunk case studies: a landscaper scaling from 3 to 9 crews and a simple button-color change that 5x’d conversions.
[00:00] Chicago roots & kickoff – deep dish to deep strategy.
[01:15] Career pivots: Air Force IT → PM → marketing → founder-creator.
[03:07] 100K TikTok engine: two posts/day, viral lift, inbound leads.
[06:07] What Finch does: SEO, paid, and DSP everywhere.
[07:00] DSP explained: ads where people are—Hulu, Pandora, billboards, podcasts.
[15:34] Search is shifting: clicks down, info consumed off-site; optimize for platform search.
[17:09] TikTok SEO: 1 in 4 sessions start with search.
[20:29] Case study: 3 → 9 crews, $1.2M → $10M+ with fundamentals.
[24:00] CRO win: button color lifts conversions to 6.5%.
[30:42] Offers & ROAS: custom SEO, paid across Google→Hulu, ~17x ROAS via DSP.
[32:15] Trusted partner for social/video (ex-director tied to “a Gary”).
[34:00] AI = Oreo: people on both ends, AI in the middle.
[40:24] Connect with Jake & Finch (finch.com, Vox & Coin shows).
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DSP dominance: Use demand-side platforms to reach buyers across Hulu, Pandora, podcasts, and digital signage—meet fans where they play.
TikTok SEO is real: Search is shifting—1 in 4 TikTok sessions starts with a search; optimize captions, hooks, and on-screen text.
Founder-led content wins: Twice-daily posting built Jake’s 100K+ audience and inbound pipeline. Consistency > complexity.
Conversions are a game of inches: A button color change lifted a landing page from ~1.2% to 6.5%—micro-tweaks, macro-results.
Messaging mismatch kills deals: Most sites speak to the owner, not the customer—rewrite copy to the buyer’s “benefit of the benefit.”
Search isn’t dead—just moved: Blend SEO + social search (Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok) to capture intent beyond Google.
ROAS that scales: Finch’s DSP programs target money-in/money-out efficiency, with cited 17x ROAS examples.
People over pixels: AI is the cream in the Oreo—useful in the middle, but humans bookend the brand experience.
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Jake plays full-court press on performance marketing—open lanes via DSP buys, fast breaks via TikTok SEO, and high-percentage shots with on-page conversion. His stance that “search moves” reframes strategy: build content for platforms where your buyer already searches, then use DSPs to shadow their journey from streaming to street-level signage. The message discipline—benefit of the benefit—turns features into emotional wins, the same ethos I coach in the SUPERFANS Framework™: Attract → Engage → Convert → Elevate → Advocate inside your ecosystem. Do this and your brand stops playing pickup ball—you’re running a championship system that compounds trust, referrals, and revenue.
The Action: Run a 7-day “platform-search sprint” for your top offer.
Who: Founder + marketer + copywriter.
Why: You’ll capture intent beyond Google and build omnichannel consistency that compounds.
How:
Identify 10 buyer-intent phrases your customers search on TikTok/Reddit/Pinterest.
Create 5 short videos + 3 carousels mapping benefit of the benefit.
Syndicate via DSP to follow your audience across streaming/audio/out-of-home.
Ship daily, measure saves/clicks, and A/B your CTA/button color on the landing page.
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