Leveraging the flip side of an elevator pitch

Leveraging the flip side of an elevator pitch

Apr 24, 2017 | Branding, Communication, Small business

Honing an elevator pitch is something we all should do, and many spend hours writing and practising a pitch, following one of the many templates around, most of which are similar.

Grab attention.

Describe the product.

Articulate the benefit.

All in 30 seconds.

We fantasise about catching that mystical perfect customer alone in an elevator, enthusing him/her to such as extent that they rush out and buy.

Rarely happens.

More often, you get the opportunity to deliver your pitch at a networking meeting, or some semi social gathering.

Still rarely happens that your perfect customer is there, listening, but we are happy to be delivering a pitch perfectly in that hope.

However, most people, somewhere in their networks, will know someone who will be the perfect customer.

The question then becomes how do make the pitch sufficiently memorable, that they are able to recite it back to their networks.

Do this successfully, and you will have  a host of sales people out there pitching for you, and we all know  the most effective marketing is still person to person, word of mouth endorsement.

It comes down to being able to articulate your differentiator and value proposition, in one sentence, in simple words.

It must be memorable, simple, and describe why they should be interested beyond any apparent alternative.

In the early days of Uber, founder Travis Kalanick described Uber as “Push a button and in 5 minutes a Mercedes picks you up and takes you where you want to go”

Nothing about platforms, technology, marketplaces, or any of the other buzzwords we slip into so easily, just the benefit. More recently it has been further simplified into ‘Push a button, get a ride‘

One of my clients in Sydney, Planet Press  that I met after I was ‘constructively rude’ about a botched elevator pitch delivery has a rare differentiator. It is a medium sized printing business with a highly experienced and skilled design function, combined with digital and offset printing, a wide range of die cutting, perforating and assembly options, along with a slick distribution service, all under the one roof. How do you make that lot sufficiently memorable that someone hearing the pitch will be able to relate it to their networks?

‘Quality printed communication from under one roof’?

Perhaps not quite there yet, but closer.

 

 

How to make your website really work for you

How to make your website really work for you

Dec 7, 2016 | Communication, Small business, Social Media

A friend of mine recently drafted a website for a product he is launching, and asked me to have a look before publishing it. Not a great thing to be doing, as by the time I had finished commenting, he had tuned out. There was just too much bad news.

There are millions of websites out there, so the question  now is not just how to get your website seen by those to whom it is targeted, but how do you then get them to take some sort of action, without which, it all has little point.

A few simple rules

Clarity of purpose. Ensure it is crystal clear what you do, in essence why the site exists. The simpler the better, remove all the detail, all the jargon and fancy words, opting instead for simple statements and graphics that illustrate why you are there.

What problem do you solve. Customers buy solutions to problems, not products. The purchase of everything from the groceries to expensive luxuries are in some way connected to a problem, real or perceived that the customer has. Tell them which one you are solving, how, and why they should buy from you.

They are not interested in you. Almost every site has an ‘About us’ page. It is useful to give some background, demonstration of expertise, and how you care deeply about the ‘bilbies’, but less is more. People are interested in you only to the extent that it confirms their decision to purchase from you. The fact that your grandfather who founded the business was apprentice of the year in 1935 is supremely irrelevant, as are the awards you may have won in 2000.

Demonstrate that your solution works. This can take many forms from testimonials to statistics and demonstrations, but is an important component of building trust and credibility.

Have a designer design. The look of a site says a lot about you, and it is a designers job to interpret the important things visually. The choice of images, layout, use of white space, location of icons of various types are all done better by a pro. It does not have to cost a lot, and most of those who design websites who may be good technically are not necessarily good at visual and creative design. The bit of extra investment is almost always well worth it.

Tell them what to do now. Ask for the action you want a visitor to your site to take. Download something, watch a video, follow a link, whatever it may be, make it clear, easy to do, and ask.

My friend was sorry he asked, but a week or so later, showed me a way better version that will now be published as a part of his product launch in a few months.

Digital impotence and the Black Knight

Digital impotence and the Black Knight

Oct 16, 2016 | Communication

I am in the middle of a device free week.

Not by choice, my PC took a powder, and is in the ‘hospital’ for surgery. Now, at the close of day 5 I feel like the Black Knight, still kicking, but no arms.

The term digital impotence springs to mind.

It is interesting to reflect at such a time on the dependence we have developed to these things. This post is being done on one of my kids computers, a bit like the Black Knight landing a feeble kick on his opponent. Might make him feel better but is effectively useless.

Ages ago in an effort to retain some control of my time, I decided that I would not connect my phone to my email. Clients who might need me at short notice all have my mobile, so I do not need the constant email alerts going off, they are nothing but an unwelcome distraction, and kill battery life.  However, being disconnected since Wednesday morning is starting to have psychological effects.

Sweating, worrying that I just might have missed a return communication from someone not yet a client, but who is keen to be, a link to something that I would have liked the time to consider, the list drags on, and on, as does the time.

Nir Eyal writes about the habits we form, with some focus on digital products, his book ‘Hooked” is a disturbing, enlightening and fascinating read, but I thought I was largely immune.

No so.

Please give me back my PC before I lose my legs as well.

Should I use Facebook as an advertising medium?

Should I use Facebook as an advertising medium?

Sep 21, 2016 | Communication, Marketing, Social Media

Once again yesterday I found myself in a conversation both extolling and deriding the utility of Facebook as a small business marketing tool.

Seems to happen a lot that small businesses hear (urban myth?) of someone making a fortune just using Facebook and think ‘Why not me”

Fair question, with a bunch of ‘maybe’s’ as answers. What should be remembered is that Facebook is one of a large number of social platforms, all are different, but all are vying for your attention and the money that flows from that attention, so choose wisely

Facebook benefits.

  • Facebook (as are all social platforms)  is a wholesaler of eyeballs, they leverage your use of the platform to attract other eyeballs to which they can sell access. The sheer numbers using the platform, and the targeting ability generated makes Facebook a potent marketing tool, when used well.
  • Facebook is terrific at connecting people, one on one. It has become sometimes easier to connect on Facebook than by email or phone, although there is a strong demographic factor in this. Want to connect with me, Facebook is not the place, but you will find my kids there.
  • The small focussed groups, connecting one to a few where there is a strong common interest is also a potentially powerful marketing tool for small business, depending on their markets. However, it takes an investment of time, effort, and often money, to leverage it.
  • As a tool in the list building box, Facebook has a place, particularly as you seek to identify specific behaviours and interests. This targeting potential of Facebook is from a marketing perspective, its most potent tool

 

Facebook costs.

  • Access to your friends and followers is limited by the algorithms Facebook uses. The organic reach is now around 6%, if you want more, you pay. They may be your posts, friends and followers, but you are in Facebooks house, and they make the rules to suit them, not you.
  • Facebook has an addictive quality about it, and can become a ferocious consumer of your time, the only non renewable resource you have, so use it wisely.
  • Conversion to a sale on Facebook is a challenging prospect, often overlooked. You can spend heaps and get no sales, no financial return. You might have lots of friends, shares, followers, group members, and all the rest, but few sales. Largely this is because Facebook is at the ‘social’ end of the social media spectrum. People are on Facebook not to buy and sell, but to be ‘social’ There are however, exceptions. There is a buy/sell group in Armidale NSW with thousands of members, and it constitutes a social marketplace, but the transactions often occur offline.

 

Take-out.

Facebook is great, in some circumstances, use it when those circumstances favour you, and ‘managing‘ your involvement can deliver rewards. However, if you are not focussed on what you want, Facebook will take you to the cleaners. The only right answer to the question ‘Should I use Facebook” is the same as that question directed to any other cost in your business: do it If, and only if, it makes commercial sense to you.

To Social media or not, that is the question.

To Social media or not, that is the question.

May 25, 2016 | Communication, Customers, Social Media

Many of the small and medium sized businesses I interact with still struggle with the notion that they should be investing in social media as a marketing strategy. Creating and sharing content of value to their customers, potential customers, and competitors runs against their grain .

In addition, the operational challenges are technically confronting to many, and the notion of having to write and produce the content necessary is normally a hill too far.

B2B, B2C,  it makes little difference.

The immediate reaction of my B2B clients is that this social media stuff is for consumers, not serious businesses. However, it is the reality that those in businesses who make the purchase decisions  are usually engaging, anonymously at first with potential suppliers during the early phases of the purchase cycle, and coming to the supplier only for the transaction. Not being in on the ‘conversation’ early is clearly a mistake.

vanity metricsIt is becoming pretty clear that social media well used is a remarkably potent marketing tool, but challenging for those with modest resources, as this stuff is time consuming, technically challenging to measure properly as distinct from just measuring what is becoming known as ‘vanity measures’ just thinking they are measuring something useful.

 

 

There are a small number of very sensible strategies you can use.

Use it as a tool.

Social media is a marketing tool,  and like any tool, the effectiveness is best measured by the outcomes rather than the use, so set out to measure the effectiveness by identifying the cause and effect links between the SM and your corporate objectives.

Understand the tool.

When you have a nail to be driven, a screwdriver is of little use. Same with social media, they are tools that can be used very effectively in the right circumstances, but are useless in the wrong place. Understanding how the tool works, and where it’s characteristics are best deployed is a fundamental part of the game.

Identify your key customers, and what they want out of it.

You simply have to  be able to put yourself in the customers shoes, understand the value you can deliver from their perspective, and be prepared to be patient. My favourite  metaphor for social media is to humanise it in a way everyone understands. You walk into a bar, and spot someone who just overwhelms you. If you just walk up and ask them to marry you, your chances are pretty slim. By contrast, introduce yourself, find shared interests, spend some time together, and you never know where it can lead. Social media is no different. To have a chance of the desired outcome, you need to do the spadework up front.

Measure, test & improve.

Be creative but deeply interrogative about the measures. (is interrogative even a word?) continuously test options, so you can continuously improve. Social media and digital generally have absolutely changed the practise of marketing. It has made it measurable and accountable, but there are limits.  ‘Vanity measures’ such as number of friends, and likes  are very poor measures. They are superficial and misleading offering no clue as to which activity is likely to generate a commercial outcome, they just look good on a piece of paper to a boss who does not understand. Understanding the difference between cause and effect and correlation is critical, observing correlation is terrific, but do not make the mistake of thinking it is always cause and effect and therefore measurable. A metaphor used by Gary Vaynerchuk is particularly potent here. He observes that everyone understand the value of good parenting, over time it has great outcomes for both, but trying to measure it in a month  by month basis is stupid, it is a cumulative effect of many small things over a long period. There are some aspects of measuring digitally the return on SM that can really stuff us up.

 

Success with digital marketing, including the leveraging of the potential of social media is not easy, despite all the nonsense and get rich quick promises to the contrary.

Hopefully now you are at least a part way to answering the question.

Anatomy  of a successful email

Anatomy  of a successful email

May 23, 2016 | Communication, Marketing

Email is still the most widely used marketing tool out there, and that is for a good reason.

It works.

Like most, I receive many emails, and having subscribed to all sorts of sites over the years, to see what works and what doesn’t, as well as to get my hands on their stuff.

Every email whose purpose is marketing has, or should have a pretty common structure.

Subject line.

The subject line makes or breaks the opening rate of your email. It does not matter how great the content of the email, if it does not get opened, it will not be seen. Spending time on the subject line will be a great investment.

Good subject lines have at least one of c couple of common characteristics. They grab attention by appealing to our deep instincts for survival, they create an interruption of some sort, appeals to our curiosity, or promises to deliver a relevant benefit.

Opening sentence.

Having conjured an open, the first sentence of the email must reinforce whatever grabbed the attention of the reader and motivated them to open it. It is like a sub headline of a sensational headline you click on a news site, it delivers a bit more information, and draws you into the body of the email

Email body

As implied, this is where the message is delivered, where you are drawn into the description of the problem that got you this far, and then given the solution.

The Pitch.

Every email should have a pitch, it is the reason the email was written, it is the delivery vehicle for the pitch. In effect, ‘I have outlined the problem, here is the solution”.

Call to Action.

The CTA answers the question “what do I do now”, it may be buy here, or sign up to this webinar, or just go to this  site, whatever it is, the email must be clear on what they how the reader to do now, as a result of reading.

The power of the CTA is considerably enhanced by the use of some sort of ultimatum. ‘There are only 7 left in stock’ or ‘this price lasts only until Saturday’. Just directing someone to ‘click here for more information’ these days is pretty lame, there is insufficient motivation of FOMO (fear of missing out) as it implies they can come back at any time, and they rarely do.