Marketing
920 posts
The Three Steps To Articulating Value
It’s tempting to begin with product and service descriptions when you are communicating the value your business creates. Of course, it’s easier to start with what we know for sure. We list features, benefits and specifications—telling the customer as much as we can about ‘the what’. And all the whil
Beyond The Point Of Sale
Many marketing strategies focus on the point of sale. Most great brand stories focus on what happens before and after the point of sale. We win by considering who the customer is, and helping him to become who he wants to be. This happens by understanding his story beyond the point of sale. Image by
Optimising For Customer Delight And The Peak-End Rule
Jody and Jim (not their real names) run a small web design studio. Their initial pricing strategy was to keep base prices low, putting time caps on every deliverable during the website design and build. New clients were informed about this policy up front. Things like design time and content populat
The Importance Of Happy Endings
When we’re serving customers we tend to front-load our effort. Hotel reception staff are well-versed in making a great impression when the guest checks in. Good waiters quickly seat new diners and take orders promptly. Retailers station greeters at the store entrance to welcome and orient new custom
The Facts Are Overrated
Since the new Model 3 Tesla was unveiled just over two weeks ago 400,000 people (who have never test driven or sat in one) have paid $1000 to place an order. And while the price of this latest model makes it accessible to more people it’s clearly not what’s driving these organic sales. Think about…
From Awareness To Loyalty
The purpose of your brand story and of every piece of marketing material is to move a prospective customer from awareness to loyalty. When we imagine the customer decision journey as a timeline it’s clear that we need to treat customers differently according to where they are on that journey. THE CU
The Power Of Promises
“You’ll have it by Friday.” “I’ll call you tomorrow.” “We’ll be there by 3pm.” How many times have promises like these been made to you in the past few weeks, only to be casually broken and replaced by a fresh set soon after? Doing what you say you’ll do is the fastest route to building…
Grow Your Business By Watching What People Do
I once walked the length for Bourke Street behind a young man in a hurry heading towards Southern Cross Station. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and a designer shopping bag in the other hand bumped his knee as he walked revealing the Christian Louboutin logo. When we both stopped at the lig
What Do Your Customers Really Want?
There’s an Italian Cafe in our neighbourhood serving good coffee and speciality cakes. It’s jam-packed every single evening—not because people are hungry for cake, but because they are hungry for the feeling of being connected. They seek out the place that makes them feel that way. Howard Schultz re
The Cost Of Interruption
The web design firm can access thousands of contact details for newly registered domains each day. It’s easy from there to hire a bunch of poorly trained phone operatives (who are overqualified to do soulless work but need the money) to interrupt people. It’s possible to scrape, buy, trawl and inter
The Importance Of A Responsive Business Mindset
The beauty salon owner has a limited number of available appointments. Every day she encounters the same problem—zero availability and several last minute cancellations or no-shows. This situation is frustrating and it’s losing her money. She thinks she might solve the problem by implementing a canc
The Importance Of Customer Cues
Ira’s cafe is tucked away at the bottom of a narrow city centre laneway. Without regulars who live close by Ira’s place is dependent on converting tourists and weekend shoppers into diners. Every neighbouring cafe stations a host in the small doorway waiting for passers-by to make a decision. Ira ta
Most Brand Stories
Most brand stories… Start with what the marketer needs to say, not with what the customer wants to hear. Describe product features and benefits, instead of customer problems and desired outcomes. Prioritise conversion above emotional connection. Seek to build brand awareness rather than create brand
The Sustainable Marketing Strategy
The fast food restaurant’s latest advertising campaign announces the return of it’s famous $1 chips. Of course, the lure of the bargain will bring back people who have forgotten that this brand exists. Foot traffic will increase and revenue along with it—for a little while. The local organic store p
The Power Of Relevance
I recently got an email about an online service I’d once signed up for. The email detailed new product features. There was also a call to action. “It’s been 3.2 Years since you updated your profile.” This was the first time I’d heard from the company in over three years. I’d never once engaged with…
When Rational Sales Strategies Don’t Work
A couple of years ago Mrs Jones spent $12,000 to install a hydronic heating system. She hasn’t had the boiler serviced since. She politely refuses when the guy from the service department calls her to arrange an annual service for just $164. He pushes back a little, explaining about voiding the warr
Being Found Vs. Standing Apart
Jim is a painter and decorator. He’s been in business for twenty-five years, long enough to see the world of marketing turned upside down. Fifteen years ago Jim took out a three line advert in the local newspaper every week. He finally cancelled that three years ago when it was yielding two calls a
The Essence Of Meaningful Ideas
Victoria Parade is the road that separates north Melbourne’s suburbs from the city. It’s a busy spot. The road is dotted at intervals with pedestrian crossings and used by cars, commuters and pedestrians alike. But the widest pedestrian path across the dual carriageway isn’t a planned pavement. It’s
The Value Of Customer Questions
Every day our customers give us clues about what’s important to them and what they really want. Often we ignore them. Questions like the one asked of a running shoe manufacturer, which was followed up with this response: “Thank you for your email regarding shoes for a mud run. Unfortunately, we don’
The Unspoken Problem With Traditional Marketing Campaigns And Product Launches
It’s not unheard of for an entrepreneur or organisation to send 10-20 emails during an online product launch. We all understand that part of the job of our marketing is as McKinsey puts it; “…is to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions.” This is why you have no choice bu
