Author: Ryan Dolotallas

Categories
Weekly Story

You have to see this Apple Ad

I was helping a client yesterday tune up her sales and marketing story so more customers would tune in.

I asked her, “What does Apple sell?”

She replied as many would: “Apple sells computers, phones, accessories…”

Then I showed her this video: https://youtu.be/yyNtm0LZiKc

It’s an ad for Apple AirPods (wireless, miniature earphones).

A brilliant ad.

If you want to discover how to tune-up your sales and marketing story, I encourage you to spend just two minutes watching the video…

…and then read on. (I’ll go refill my coffee cup while you watch).

My client watched the video, and then I repeated the question: “What does Apple sell?”

She hesitated.

I gave her a hint: Apple doesn’t sell AirPods.

Apple sells the outcome, the benefit that people experience from buying AirPods.

She smiled and said, “Apple sells spring in your step.”

Bingo.

“And…?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up and she said, “Apple sells a cure for the doldrums,”

Double bingo!!!

Watch the video. You see it, don’t you?

Not a single word spoken about the product. Just a story, about a young man dragging himself off his bed, dreading the day ahead, literally forcing a smile on his frowning face, trudging out the door with shoulders slumped, until…

…That music begins to play through those Airpods and…

Spring in his step.

Goodbye doldrums.

He’s literally sky-high, hanging out with the birds.

After we watched that video and discussed it, I asked my client, “What do you sell?”

We then had a great conversation about what her customers feel and the benefits they experience when they buy her products.

Her story’s stronger, and she’s more confident telling it.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 209.08.12

Monday, August 12
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Outstanding Advertising
Apple’s New Ad for Airpods is a Stunner

Apple has a history of great television ads. Here’s their latest: A pitch for Airpods (wireless earphones). This is great, technically stunning, highly entertaining advertising. Watch for the email I send on Wednesday. I’m going to talk more about this ad in that email. 

Dumb Marketing
Two Big Brands Miss the Mark with Women
 
Here’s an interesting article about how mega-brands Macy’s (department store) and Forever 21 (apparel) suffered big-time backlash after playing to women’s fears about their weight. 

This is a good lesson about how businesses must be attentive and careful about how their products and marketing may be perceived by their target market. It also reveals how quickly social media backlash can punish a business that missteps. 

“Outlaw” Marketing Rarely Pays Off

My friend Will Hanke (Red Canoe Media) is a great marketer who knows a ton about search engine marketing. In this blog post, he describes how some search marketers use “black hat” methods to game the search marketing system. Will prefers and recommends “white hat” methods. Here’s why…

Free Course
Get Noticed and Attract Followers in Your Industry

Want to be a thought-leader in your industry? Then you must have a message and an audience who is ready to hear it. I recommend a free online course that will reveal how to develop both. 

“How to Use Article Writing to Develop Your Personal Thought Leadership Brand” is a great course, published by EQ and taught by Dixie Gillaspie who really knows her stuff. Highly recommended!

Quotable

Speaking of Apple (see above), here’s something its founder Steve Jobs once said that I think is right on: 

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the values, the vision and the agenda for an entire generation to come.” 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Weekly Story

The Misguided Siren Song of “Out of the Box”

A marketer was struggling to achieve year-over-year success. So he asked for help on one of my favorite online forums.

“What’s a new strategy or platform you introduced in 2019 that is working or really helped?” he asked. “I’d love to see what’s out of the box we could try.”

(Sigh!)

The first respondent offered this advice: “Attribution media mix modeling using machine learning.”

(Big sigh!)

Marketing doesn’t fail because you lack the latest, greatest, shiniest, out-of-the-box thing.

Marketing fails because you get one or more of these key elements wrong:

  1. Your target market.
  2. The message for that target market.
  3. The media you use to deliver that message to that market.

More often than not, #2 is the culprit. The story and messaging need a tune-up.

I’m sure attribution media mix model using machine learning (I’ll call it “AMMMUML” for short) is super-cool and just the ticket for certain marketers in certain situations.

But with all due respect to all you AMMMUML vendors out there…

PLEASE, dear readers, do not chase the next shiny techno-tool or leap out of the box.

Start by trying to fix what’s in the box.

That means cleaning and updating your list to make sure it contains people in your target market.

That means tuning up your story to deliver more compelling content and pitches.

That means using tried-and-true media and proven tactics to deliver your tuned-up message to your well-defined target market.

Leaping “out of the box” to get the latest shiny thing won’t cure what ails your marketing.

Identifying the right market, crafting a compelling story and choosing media that gets your message to the market most efficiently — that’s what cures your ailing marketing.

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me  at  tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 209.08.05

Monday, August 5
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Great Ad, Great Story-Telling

My colleague Pat Hawn sent this video to me. A great example of marketing by story-telling. What does T-Mobile sell in this ad? Not a “phone.” They sell adventures, family connections and more… Thanks, Pat, for sharing this great ad. 

Market to the “Maybes” to Grow Your Business

I spotted this article over the weekend that describes marketing as a courting process. I agree. In fact, many years ago, I wrote this blog post that describes how nonprofits can court prospects. The ideas apply to for-profit businesses, too. And the ideas still apply — after all these years. 

Marketing Tips
Best Times to Post and Send…

We hear the question all the time: What’s the best time to send emails? The short answer: It depends on many factors. That said, we like this article that relies on data to recommend the best times for sending email and posting to social media. Further advice: Split test your sends and posts to measure one time against another.

Scruffy Cab Driver Does Customer Service Right

I love this video in which customer service expert Shep Hyken shares the story of a Dallas cabby who — at first glance — looked like a bum…

…but delivered moments of magic. Lots of lessons for all of us.  

Music and Movies
Recommending Rebecca

Rebecca Pidgeon is an American actress who is married to American playwright and screenwriter David Mamet. I learned of her years ago when I saw her in movies written and directed by Mamet. 

I highly recommend Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner which stars Pidgeon, Campbell Scott, and Steve Martin. 

I learned recently that she is also an accomplished singer / songwriter. I recommend her 2011 album Slingshot. I also recommend her latest album, Sudden Exposure to Light, which was released last week. 

Quotable 

Marilyn Monroe passed away on this day in 1962. In the years since, we’ve learned that there was more to Marilyn than met the eye. Here’s something wise she said: 

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Weekly Story

Your Video Doesn’t Have to be “High Quality

Earlier this morning, I shot a quick-tip video that (I think) has some good marketing advice.

I propped my phone over my computer monitor. Shot the 2:30 second video. I saved the video to my YouTube channel. And then linked to it in this email.

The entire process took less than five minutes and cost me $0.

Why’d I do it?

To prove a point: The quality of your content is more important than the “slickness” of your presentation.

My video is not professionally produced. It’s not slick. It’s not pretty. But it still contains valuable content.

Here’s a link to that video.

Please let me know what you think.  

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me at tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 209.07.29

Monday, July 29
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Simple and Wise Writing Tips

Here’s a great information graphic with 19 tips to help you write better with fewer mistakes. Print this out and post it by your desk. You’ll be a better writer for doing so.  

Marketing Tips
This Column is Not What It Sounds Like

I came across a great column with this headline: “It’s Time to Start Sleeping With Your Customers.” Don’t worry. It’s G-rated. This column is all about getting to know your customers, getting “intimate” with them, understanding their emotions, pushing the right buttons. And it’s very good. Most marketers and sales people rely to much on logic to drive sales. Successful marketers tap emotion. 

Recommended Reading
Steal Like an Artist 

Thanks to my friend Mary Kutheis (MCK Coaching) for recommending that I read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. Here’s how the author describes the book’s big idea: “You are a mash-up of what you let into your life. Anyone can be creative if they surround themselves with the right influences, play nice, and work hard. I like that idea, and I like this book. 

Music and Movies
Recommending Rebecca

Rebecca Pidgeon is an American actress who is married to American playwright and screenwriter David Mamet. I learned of her years ago when I saw her in movies written and directed by Mamet. 

I highly recommend Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner which stars Pidgeon, Campbell Scott, and Steve Martin. 

I learned recently that she is also an accomplished singer / songwriter. I recommend her 2011 album Slingshot. I also recommend her latest album, Sudden Exposure to Light, which was released last week. 

Quotable 

“We live in a world where we are taught from the start that we are thinking creatures that feel. The truth is we are feeling creatures that think.” 

– Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, quoted in the great column cited above. 

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Lessons from myth-busting a crummy article

In my most recent Monday Mash-Up, I mentioned an article about B2B marketing that I hated.

The article was a collection of quick-tips from different “experts.” Here’s the first tip that annoyed me:

An appeal to emotion typically wins in B2C marketing. In other words, when marketing to consumers, a winning strategy includes developing emotional connections and backing them with rational bits. B2B, on the other hand, goes through a more in-depth screening process. Decision makers in businesses are logic-driven and are trusted to find and defend the best possible solutions.

I think this is B.S.

Yes, selling to consumers (B2C) is different than selling to businesses (B2B). And yes, businesses go through a more thorough logic-driven process of vetting a purchase.

But emotional triggers almost always lead a buyer to consider a purchase. That’s true with consumers. That’s true with the buyer in a business.

The best B2B marketers understand this. Appeal to the emotions. Trigger desire and interest. Then prove the case with proof, data and other bits of logic to close the deal.

The article got worse. Here’s the tip that really got my blood boiling: 

Tell Them How You’ll Make Their Business Better. A B2C campaign is very direct in that it shows how a company’s goods or services directly impact the consumer. A B2B campaign’s focus is one company impacting another to make the second company better. The campaign’s value proposition has to be in making it easier for the other company to be more profitable, organized or efficient, and how those attributes will convert into long-term sales and growth.

So here’s a dirty little secret about lots of people who work in lots of businesses: They’re not worrying about how to make the business better. They’re worrying about how to make their own life better, how to succeed in their own little bubble. 

That doesn’t mean their selfish. That doesn’t mean they don’t care about the company’s bottom line. It just means they focus on their lives, first.

Of course, their job is part of their life. So they may be very concerned with how to perform their job more efficiently, with less headache and hassle. But that’s not the same as worrying about the company’s bottom line and overall performance.

Here’s an example:

Our sales vice-president Pat Hawn once met with a prospect who handled email marketing for a B2B firm. The firm had 12 sales reps each with their own list of contacts.

The email marketer sent 12 separate copies of her newsletter each month — one each for every sales rep. Each email was “From” the sales rep. Each reply address was that sales rep’s address. Twelve emails for 12 reps.

Pat nodded. “That’s a hassle,” he said.

“I hate it,” she said. “It’s the worst part of my job. I wish I didn’t have to do it.”

Pat showed her how MarketVolt can automate the process, how she could send a single email with a list that combines all 12 reps’ contacts, and have the reps’ names and email addresses automatically merge into the “From” and “Reply” emails.

“One email for 12 sales reps,” Pat said. “Easy.”

The rep hugged him and signed up for our service.

Pat didn’t say a word about the company’s bottom line. He didn’t pitch how MarketVolt will make the company better.

He recognized the marketers emotional turmoil.

She hates the process. Can’t stand it. She craves an easier way. That’s all about emotion.

That’s all about helping her.

Sure, creating greater efficiency can help the company’s bottom line. But that’s not how Pat sold it, and that’s not why she was buying.

B2B buyers are driven by selfish desires and emotion. They want a more comfortable life. They want recognition and glory. They fear looking foolish or failing. That’s all emotion.

Understanding what motivates your prospects is key. If you assume emotion doesn’t matter, if you assume that the company’s bottom line is the driving motivator, you’re probably misreading your prospects.
 
Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me at tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.07.22

Monday, July 22
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Marketing Guidance
There Are No Universal Truths in Content Marketing (Sort Of)

This is a great article. I encourage you to set aside a few minutes and read it. The key idea: “How you choose to approach content needs to differ depending on what you’re trying to accomplish.” The article goes on to outline different approaches for different goals. 

For the “Bad Advice” File
I Hate This Article So Much I Have to Share It

I came across this article from Forbes this morning. It’s a curated collection of tips from an expert panel asked to discuss how to build a B2B marketing campaign. The article is loaded with contradictory points and invalid advice. I’ll elaborate in the email I send on Wednesday. Meanwhile, take a look and let me know what you see. Can you tell what I found so annoying and wrong?

(p.s. Sorry… I try to keep this Mash-Up as positive as possible, and I generally only share content I think is strong. I made an exception in this case because sometimes we can learn from others’ mistakes.) 

Marketing Funnies
What Does “Disruptive” Mean? 

I met a guy last week who was raving about a new company that he said was “perfectly disruptive.” I hear about “disruptive” companies a lot. It’s supposed to be a compliment. But it may be the most overused cliche in the business world today. Here’s a funny cartoon and accompanying blog post that gets at this idea. 

Music Discovery
This Site Offers a Quick Way to Find New Music

When I’m looking to discover something new to add to my playlists, I go to AllMusic.com’s New Releases page.  I’ve written before about AllMusic.com. It’s a great resource for learning about artists and reading reviews about their releases. AllMusic reviews music in all genres. Music that doesn’t get reviewed elsewhere gets space on this site. I’ve discovered tons of great music here. The New Releases page is always a great place to start.

Quotable 

Emma Lazarus was born on this day in 1849. She was the American poet who wrote “New Colossus,” the poem on the base of Statue of Liberty. Here’s that poem: 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom

Categories
Weekly Story

How a Lying Airline Lost My Business

I used to love Southwest Airlines…

…until I caught Southwest Airlines in a lie.

In fact, I discovered that Southwest lies to me — and you — frequently.

It happens when you book flights online.

I was doing that last night — booking a flight for my wife and me.

I entered the locations, dates and number of passengers. Then I pressed “Enter.”

Southwest listed the available flights.

I spotted the flight I wanted (perfect times, decent price)…

…but, darn it, there was only “1 left,” Southwest told me.

I needed two tickets so “1 left” wouldn’t cut it.

Hey, wait a minute! I had entered the wrong number of passengers in the search form. I said “1” passenger, not “2.”

So I revised and resubmitted the search.

Lo and behold, the “1 left” label disappeared from the flight I preferred.

As a test, I resubmitted the search, this time for “4” passengers. No problem. Plenty of seats available on my preferred flight.

More tests. I searched again for just “1” passenger. No more “1 left” label. Then I cleared my browser history (no more cookies on my computer to let Southwest know I had previously visited and searched). Now the “1 left” label was back.

Let’s face it. This shouldn’t surprise us. I suspected those “1 left” notices were lies.

Southwest isn’t the only airline that does this. The airline industry is just one of many that pulls this trick.

Businesses like to create urgency and scarcity to drive sales.

But they don’t have to lie about it.

Sure, it may be a little white lie. But it’s a lie, nonetheless. So yesterday I proved the lie that I suspected, and I booked the flight with a different airline.

How will your customers react if they catch you resorting to little white lies and tricks to drive sales?

Tom
MarketVolt

p.s. We help businesses figure out what they sell. Then we help them identify and connect with their target markets so people will listen to what you’re saying. If you want to discuss how to make it happen for your business, email me at tom@marketvolt.com. For no charge and no strings attached, we’ll discuss with you how you’re building email lists, generating new leads and generally finding and connecting with prospects.

p.p.s. If you like these emails, please do me this favor: Forward this to someone who might also enjoy it and encourage them to sign up for future emails on our website at MarketVolt.com.

Categories
Monday Mash-Up

Monday Mashup 2019.07.15

Monday, July 15
MarketVolt’s Monday Mash-Up

Excellent Advice
Four Email Marketing Goals For Your Business, With Examples

This is a great article from MarketingProfs. Excellent advice with how-to examples. You have to sign up for a free MarketingProfs membership. But it’s easy to do that, and the content on their site is well worth it!

Amusing Enlightening Video
Generic Brand Video Mocks Messaging Cliches

This video is funny. And it probably will seem familiar. That’s the point. It demonstrates how easily marketers fall into familiar, cliched patterns to deliver their messages — how they rehash tired cliches, thinking they’re saying so much when they’re actually saying so little.  

More Email Marketing Tips
How to Get More Email Clicks

Here are some excellent tips about how to make your emails more engaging and increase clicks.

Recommended Viewing
If You Like the Beatles…

I recently saw a movie I liked: Yesterday. The premise: A struggling singer/songwriter in England gets hit by a bus. When he wakes up, everyone in the world — including Google — has no recollection of the Beatles, except him. When he performs a Beatles song for his friends, they think he has written a masterpiece. Guess what happens next? There’s nothing very deep about this film. The romantic stuff is predictable. There’s a twist at the end that makes some people cringe. But, still, I liked it, and I recommend it. 

If you’ve seen it, let me know what you thought. 

Quotable 

Russian author Anton Chekhov died on this day in 1904. He said this: 

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

Any reading, listening, quoting, resourcing that you think we should share? Send us a tip.

Until next time, enjoy the rest of this week and the weekend.

Tom