1) Marketing impacts many areas of a business and should be considered before launching a new product.
2) Successful marketing requires engaging customers through techniques like pretotyping to validate ideas and pricing models before full development.
3) Brand messaging should focus on the customer benefits and values rather than just product features to increase engagement and sales.
3. A fool and his money are no longer easily parted.
Marketing impacts many
Marketing can impact all
areas of your business!
4. KEITH ELLIS
COO, HeadCount Corporation
MIKE HEFFRING
VP Corporate Development, Expion.com
STEPHEN KING
President, Stephdokin.com, “The Digital Brand Agency”
CAREY HOUSTON
Advisor, Consultant & Mentor
“Increasing Customer Engagement through Pretotyping”
“Pricing models & Validation”
“The point is to make money:
Lead Generation and Closing Sales”
“Brand Value Messaging vs. Product Featuritis”
7. THE REALITY
• 90% of all mobile apps
don’t make money
• Four startups out of five
lose money for investors
• 70% of the 25 million
small businesses in the
US have no employees
29. * Not really. It was reported incorrectly. It’s about the same as other sources of iron like tomato’s or lentils:
http://www.disruptiveadvertising.com/conversion-rate-optimization/features-vs-benefits-a-cartoon-case-study/
Feature Messaging
When we talk about what our products are
Spinach has 10% more iron than other vegetables.*
“Eat your spinach,
dear. It has iron.”
“Yech!
No, I shan’t”
BUT …
kids could care less.
31. Value Messaging
Aligning your Brand Message to the Value you provide
• Feature statement: “Our spinach is full of iron.”
• Benefit statement: “Spinach makes you stronger.”
• Value statement: “Spinach makes you a hero!”
A feature is when you talk about your company or products.
A benefit is when you talk about the customer.
A value statement also considers ROI ($, time, emotion)
33. Only two types of
businesses.
Which are you?
1) Vitamin:
Create opportunity for
your customer
2) Pain pill:
Reduce time or expenses
for your customer
What value do you provide?
36. Outcomes
• 33% increase in annual spinach consumption in U.S.
• Popeye saves the spinach industry in the 1930’s. Spinach becomes a
“valuable source of iron” to replace red meat during 2nd world war.
• Towns erect Popeye statues and compete over valuable
“Spinach Capital of the World” title.
• All based on that erroneous piece of information (“10% more iron”)
The power of data in a marketer’s hands! #eatyourspinach
37. THE POINT IS TO MAKE
MONEY: LEAD GENERATION
AND CLOSING SALES
KEITH ELLIS
COO, HeadCount Corporation
41. Hi, it’s [Keith Ellis] from
[xyz corp]. I understand
you’re interested in
improving the efficiency
of your [Sales
Techniques] can I ask
you some questions?
Selling is ASKING, not telling
(i.e., expounding brilliantly elicits snores not customers)
Simplified outbound cold-call script Sales: Simplified discovery meeting dialogue
A) Why don’t you tell me how
you’re doing this today?
B) In your ideal world, how would
you like to see that work?
C) What’s preventing you from
doing this?
D) Fast track to the future and
[repeat everything they said],
what’s changed for your
business? What’s fundamentally
different?
41
42. 42
Selling Discipline
(Successful selling happens at the end of a long chain of events)
Leads Customers
Start at 7:00 AM,
start calling.
When you have a new prospect that day
… stop
ALL STARTUPS HAVE A DREAM TO BECOME PART OF THE CLUB
THIS THE REALITY
AND WE KNOW THE REASONS WHY – AND THERE ARE MANY
BUT THE CORE REASON IS THAT MOST NEW STARTUPS DON’T ENGAGE ENOUGH CUSTOMERS IN A PROFITABLE WAY FOR A LONG ENOUGH TIME
PRETOTYPING IS MAKING SURE YOU ARE “SOLVING THE RIGHT PROBLEM” WITH THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS
MOST STARTUPS ARE ASSUMING THEY KNOW THE PROBLEM THE CUSTOMER WANTS SOLVED AND CAN DECIDE WHAT THE MINIMUM VIABLE FEATURES ARE. EXPERIENCE SUGGESTS OTHERWISE
THE PROCESS IS REALLY A SERIES OF CUSTOMER EXPERIMENTS – REALLY “FAST DATING THE CUSTOMER” TO EXPLORE HOW TO ENGAGE THEM MORE ON SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR IDEA
ITS ALSO INVOLVES TESTING YOUR BRAND POSITION – A LITTLE MORE SCIENTIFICALLY THAN THIS CARTOON SUGGESTS
SO THAT YOU DEVELOP A COMPELLING WAY TO ENGAGE YOUR CUSTOMER WITH YOUR IDEA – LIKE ALL THESE STARTUPS HAVE DONE ON THEIR WAY TO BECOMING PUBLIC COMPANIES WITH A STRONG BASE OF RAVING FANS
http://www.thekitchn.com/why-did-popeye-eat-so-much-spinach-the-surprising-answer-191802
In 1870 German chemist Erich von Wolf correctly ascertained the amount of iron in spinach, but while transcribing his notes, he accidentally misplaced a decimal point: instead of recording that spinach had 3.5 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving (as is the case), he wrote that it had 35 milligrams. This is a huge amount. As Samuel Arbesman notes in his book The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, if that calculation were actually correct, "a 100-gram serving would be like eating a small piece of a paper clip." But this was the "fact" that went out into the world, and as it wasn't corrected until almost seventy years later, in 1937, spinach enjoyed a long tenure as the most vaunted of vegetables.
Because it was full of iron, it was forced upon children as a miracle vegetable. Who hated it. Soggy. Leafy. Chewy. Strained. Ugh. It was being sold for it’s features …
Popeye got hold of the “iron” concept and one of the original super-heros were born, that paved the way for books like Superman. Spurred on by the hopes of similar super powers, Spinach sales increased by 33%.
Benefits talk about the customer. Features talk about you / your product / your service / your event.
Benefits include an ROI. Features do not. Vitamin or a Pain Pill?
Features are reasons to believe that the benefits promised are true.
Inspire, don’t tell. Benefits should create strong emotions: “Spinach is full of iron” is a feature. “Spinach lets you kick Bluto’s ass” is a benefit.
http://www.thekitchn.com/why-did-popeye-eat-so-much-spinach-the-surprising-answer-191802
In 1870 German chemist Erich von Wolf correctly ascertained the amount of iron in spinach, but while transcribing his notes, he accidentally misplaced a decimal point: instead of recording that spinach had 3.5 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving (as is the case), he wrote that it had 35 milligrams. This is a huge amount. As Samuel Arbesman notes in his book The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, if that calculation were actually correct, "a 100-gram serving would be like eating a small piece of a paper clip." But this was the "fact" that went out into the world, and as it wasn't corrected until almost seventy years later, in 1937, spinach enjoyed a long tenure as the most vaunted of vegetables.
Because it was full of iron, it was forced upon children as a miracle vegetable. Who hated it. Soggy. Leafy. Chewy. Strained. Ugh. It was being sold for it’s features …
Popeye got hold of the “iron” concept and one of the original super-heros were born, that paved the way for books like Superman. Spurred on by the hopes of similar super powers, Spinach sales increased by 33%.
Benefits talk about the customer. Features talk about you / your product / your service / your event.
Benefits include an ROI. Features do not. Vitamin or a Pain Pill?
Features are reasons to believe that the benefits promised are true.
Inspire, don’t tell. Benefits should create strong emotions: “Spinach is full of iron” is a feature. “Spinach lets you kick Bluto’s ass” is a benefit.
http://www.thekitchn.com/why-did-popeye-eat-so-much-spinach-the-surprising-answer-191802
In 1870 German chemist Erich von Wolf correctly ascertained the amount of iron in spinach, but while transcribing his notes, he accidentally misplaced a decimal point: instead of recording that spinach had 3.5 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving (as is the case), he wrote that it had 35 milligrams. This is a huge amount. As Samuel Arbesman notes in his book The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, if that calculation were actually correct, "a 100-gram serving would be like eating a small piece of a paper clip." But this was the "fact" that went out into the world, and as it wasn't corrected until almost seventy years later, in 1937, spinach enjoyed a long tenure as the most vaunted of vegetables.
Because it was full of iron, it was forced upon children as a miracle vegetable. Who hated it. Soggy. Leafy. Chewy. Strained. Ugh. It was being sold for it’s features …
Popeye got hold of the “iron” concept and one of the original super-heros were born, that paved the way for books like Superman. Spurred on by the hopes of similar super powers, Spinach sales increased by 33%.
Benefits talk about the customer. Features talk about you / your product / your service / your event.
Benefits include an ROI. Features do not. Vitamin or a Pain Pill?
Features are reasons to believe that the benefits promised are true.
Inspire, don’t tell. Benefits should create strong emotions: “Spinach is full of iron” is a feature. “Spinach lets you kick Bluto’s ass” is a benefit.
http://www.thekitchn.com/why-did-popeye-eat-so-much-spinach-the-surprising-answer-191802
In 1870 German chemist Erich von Wolf correctly ascertained the amount of iron in spinach, but while transcribing his notes, he accidentally misplaced a decimal point: instead of recording that spinach had 3.5 milligrams of iron per 100-gram serving (as is the case), he wrote that it had 35 milligrams. This is a huge amount. As Samuel Arbesman notes in his book The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, if that calculation were actually correct, "a 100-gram serving would be like eating a small piece of a paper clip." But this was the "fact" that went out into the world, and as it wasn't corrected until almost seventy years later, in 1937, spinach enjoyed a long tenure as the most vaunted of vegetables.
Because it was full of iron, it was forced upon children as a miracle vegetable. Who hated it. Soggy. Leafy. Chewy. Strained. Ugh. It was being sold for it’s features …
Popeye got hold of the “iron” concept and one of the original super-heros were born, that paved the way for books like Superman. Spurred on by the hopes of similar super powers, Spinach sales increased by 33%.
Benefits talk about the customer. Features talk about you / your product / your service / your event.
Benefits include an ROI. Features do not. Vitamin or a Pain Pill?
Features are reasons to believe that the benefits promised are true.
Inspire, don’t tell. Benefits should create strong emotions: “Spinach is full of iron” is a feature. “Spinach lets you kick Bluto’s ass” is a benefit.