capstone final

Benefits of Geospatial Analytics

1. develop targeted solutions, thus helping decision makers to understand the impact of locational aspects 2. make analytics insights engaging with recognizable maps 3. move from hindsight to foresight and anticipate and prepare for possible changes

forces shaping the internet age

1. digitalization and connectivity 2. the exposition of the internet 3. new types of intermediaries 4. customization and customerization

Ch 4: capturing leads

Only a very small percentage of interested leads may be ready to purchase from you immediately. Lead capture is all about properly handling interest and building your future sales pipeline Hunting vs. farming Most businesses are hunters, not farmers In direct response marketing, the purpose of your advertising is to find people who are interested in what you do rather than trying to make an immediate sale from the ad When your interested leads respond, you put them in your follow-up database so that you can build value for them, position yourself as an authority and create a relationship built on trust After doing so: the sale comes as a natural consequence The vast majority will not be ready to make a purchasing decision on the very day they read your ad If you don't put them into a database then you've lost them a one-shot ad is not remembered Mining for gold with the ethical bribe Even in a narrow target market, all prospects should not be treated equally All other things being equal, the more money you can spend on marketing to high-probability prospects, the better your chances are of converting them to a customer How do we find who the right target is? We bribe them into telling us Anyone requesting the "ethical bribe" would be identifying themselves as a high probability prospect Avoid the temptation of trying to sell from your ad. At this early stage you just want to sift out the uninterested and unmotivated so that you can build your database of high-probability prospects About 3% of your target market is highly motivated and ready to buy immediately... you are losing out on the other 97% Secondary effect: they see that you are interested in building a relationship first, rather than just making a sale When you educate and teach, you are Perceived as an expert and an authority ... you are then set apart from your competition. You don't put pressure into your ad just to make a quicks ale. Instead, you have started the process of getting prospects to raise their hand. You are asking them to contact you, and when they do they have identified themselves as high-probability prospects Managing your goldmine Businesses: get a constant flow of leads and prospects while others struggle to get any because of infrastructure Building a marketing infastructure that is a system whereby a cold lead enters one end, and a raving fan customer comes out the other To build a system, we need to think it through from start to end The crm system is your marketing nerve center. You want all your leads and customer interactions to end up in your CRM

the future marketplace

Will there be forgotten individuals who will lose access to goods and services? yes. local stores will shut down, etc What is ecommerce doing to isolated areas and remote areas like rural North Dakota? don't need to live in large cities to have access Or any remote location around the globe? not anymore. anyone can get access now (to most of the worlds products and services) people now move all over because access allows it

omnichannel retailing

a fully-integrated approach to commerce, providing shoppers a unified experience across all channels or touchpoints true omnichannel shopping goes beyond brick-and-mortar locations to mobile-browsing, online marketplaces, social media, and wherever your users browse online through retargeting ads ex: disney. searching for disney, all the way to being there (ex: cruise ship or store)

the goal: building trust

cash will not disappear entirely as virtual payment systems go mainstream, greater attention should be paid to consumers' changing perceptions of money, of product value and of the trust they place in businesses trust remains a priceless asset

the new consumer

changes to technology and lifestyle are triggering a seismic shift in consumer patterns brands need to adapt to these changes to win the future consumer

think exponentially

companies should try to transform themselves into open, flexible, interactive organizations-- known as "exponential organizations" an exponential organization is one whose impact or output is disproportionately large-- at least 10 times larger--- compared to its peers because of new organizational techniques that leverage accelerating technologies

the use of GA allows a retailer to see its retail networks as a....

complex system. rather than just individual locations or independent channelx coexisting in a market

key consumer trends changing the marketplace

consumers are constantly connected they have more free time they are more focused on experiences consumers becoming more focused on critical thinking and social intelligence

coupon discounts

consumers will use the value of the coupon to infer the actual price of the product a $2 discount will usually infer a product with a full price of $10. and a $5 discount will infer $25 to many consumers be sure to translate the discount into a percentage amount relative to the "real" price so consumers can make well-informed decisions do not offer discounts more than 20%. the higher the discount, the higher consumers will imagine the price to be

the affective appeal of promotions

consumers' feelings and emotions are influenced by what they see affective influences can be - general or specific - positive or negative be aware of the different trade-offs involved with price promotions and their long-term effects --> these can lead to lower price reference points --> they can have long-term implications if the promotional price because the consumer's new reference point

disney omnichannel experience

disney gets omni-channel experience right it starts with your initial experience that is very mobile-phone friendly example: once you've booked your disney trip, you can use the my disney experience tool to play your entire agenda dining, fast passes, ride times in the park, and other park information magic band program. the band acts as a hotel room key, photo storage device for any pictures taken on rides or with characters, and a food ordering tool it has fast pass integration a true omnichannel experience

can GA redefine omnichannel retail?

forms of ecommerce have caused declining customer traffic in traditional brick and mortar and because the buying habits of purchasers have changed over time, the most sophisticated retailers are closely explaining the interplay between offline and online customer decision journeys

in store location intelligence can also help retailers

gain the upper hand in the relationship, providing retailers with a powerful tool for deepening mobile-centric contextual engagements with customers as they roam the isle

Prospect Theory/Loss Aversion

margins of utility diminish in the domain of gains with respect to a reference point, while in the loss domain, disutility is steeper a customer's pain of paying more than expected will have a stronger impact on future spending decisions than satisfaction felt after paying less than expected --anxiety of overpaying is high changing prices too frequently can elicit sticker shock and drive customers away --be careful with too many discounts, because it can change the internal reference pricing and create loss aversion

by correlating 360-degree customer data with in-store location data, retailers can

measure and optimize foot traffic, visit durations, repeat shopping trips, product merchandising and display, and employee staffing they can also more effectively personalize the in-store interactions with mobile-toting customers in order to decrease customer churn, spur upsell and cross-sell buying, and target promotions and offers

economic value of promotions

monetary: the actual amount the customer saves at purchase non-monetary: other factors such as efficiency during purchase (ex: consumer doesn't have to shop around and compare prices because discount makes decision easy)

accompany customers on their journey

new digital tools make it possible for brands to accompany customers throughout the entire decision journey, from when the need first appears, through the various phases of exploring, finding and purchasing the product, to finally complementing the purchase with related products a physical presence is no longer enough. customers expect virtual, round-the-clock attention its the shopping experience, not the product per se, that matters

"Future" Experts

or "futureiologists" There are several people out there who are considered experts on the future. Patrick Dixon is one of those people.

the payment continuum

people are less willing to spend cash as opposed to other forms of payment. as we move to more other forms of payment, consumers may be more willing to spend freely and value the products they buy less cash is the most painful form of currency for consumers to use with miles and rewards programs being least

geospatial analytics are used to analyze data about

physical objects that are linked to a geographical location

Price Reference Point

the internal price that a consumer expects a product to have *BE CAREFUL WHEN USING DISCOUNTS AND FREEBIES (you may be training your customers to shop solely on price) --> in scenarios where price cuts are uncommon, cut-price offers can lead to an altered perception of quality that there is inadequate demand at the original price

The two primary approaches marketers can take to convince consumers to choose your brand

value or differentiation value strategy: Must convince consumers your brand offers good quality at a low or competitive price. Differentiation - Superior quality, attributes or intangible benefits - Successful differentiation allows for premium pricing Unless a brand is value priced (think McDonalds), lack of differentiation is likely to lead to decline.

to get people to pay, understand how they think

venmo: in 2016, the p2p (peer to peer) online payment system processed more than 1 billion in a single month the way people pay for goods and services is changing fast, in what is being hailed as a revolution in personal payment. the biggest payoffs come when companies are transparent about their offers and seek to build trust with their customers. perception is everything - reference points (internal price): .. may be determined on past purchasing behavior, on contextual view (such as when a merchant provides info at the point of sale, or by what you believe to be a fair price - prospect theory/loss aversion: pay more than expected (more painful) versus satisfaction of paying less than expected the takeaway of perception: freebies and price promotions should only be used as a short-term tactic. using discounts as incentives may train customers to shop based soley on price. higher prices often signal higher quality. offering discounts on products that are rarley discounted may signal that there is inadequate demand and could lead to a negative quality perception - technology now allows companies to continually optimize prices - beware of changing prices too frequently, could elict stickier shock the effects of promotions - economic value of promotions: non-monetary and monetary - informational content of promotions: inform consumers of deals etc and the product - affective appeal of promotions: feelings and emotions. general, specific, positive, or negative - coupons can be effective promotional tools but if higher coupons dont boost sales, can erode profitability - consumers use the value of coupons to infer the actual price when they don't have that information the takeaway: be aware of the different trade-offs involved with price promotions and their long-term effects. using the tools effectively -coupons FINISH NOTES

online communities: how will these communities impact future business?

"If your product is great, if your customers are satisfied, if you're connecting with their emotion, if they feel a part of your family, if they passionately believe in the service they got from you; then your fame will spread online faster than you'd dare believe. And without any advertising budget, you too might start a tiny business and land a big check. But if there's a gap between what your promise and what you deliver, you will be severely punished in the market" basically: if you have a great product you will do well if theres a gap, negative reaction, consider you unreliable and disshonest ****advertising will continue to be less important and effective

online world

"In the online world - advertising is dead" "Instant feedback in online communities is too fast for an advertiser to respond." "Sheraton could spend $1 billion in online advertising to counter negative online comments, and it'll only seem worse." most consumers will do the work before buying. they are not going to convince consumers straight through advertising --> people now research and listen to online communities

summary of the future

"The winners will be visionary individuals and organizations that think rapidly, embrace radical new partnerships and integrate ways of working, integrate processes, and create reliable products and services that meet real needs."- Patrick Dixon

Online Communities and small companies

"Very exciting if you're a smaller company." with a great product Las Anclas Cozumel Mexico Hotel Villa Las Anclas (hotel in trip advisor that pops up as top 3 well respected and so many people love it. leads them to be able to compete with larger companies. the key: no matter the size of your company, if you have a great product you can compete

henry ford

"if i had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses" Always listen to your customers - but it's up to you to plan for and understand the future

seth godwin says

Be Remarkable! (give them something to talk about)

McDonalds Consumers --> Benefit sought

For example: What motivates a purchaser to choose McDonald's? - For McDonalds, convenience and value are more important than quality - Likely not the best hamburger - but it's the best-selling hamburger! - fair to say that McDonald's is not in the same business as Five Guys. service differentiation - convenient - quick service

Online Communities

In the old days your brand was what you made it. Today your brand is what others make it.' it is very difficult for brands to control their images nowadays Online feedback and/or communities. "Communities are changing our business model in a positive way" "This is an awesome community full of power and it's just starting." ... makes retailers put out a good product. they can't hide from bad products anymore A marketer's nightmare? Or is this a huge opportunity?

What is innovation today?

Innovation today is the exchange of ideas between individuals. "I have an idea, share it with a friend, he builds on the idea and shares it back" conversations back and forth

What's the singularity?

It's the point at which our ability to predict what's going to happen next year is beyond prediction because the rate of change is so fast.

mobile technology convergence

Phone have become a mobile communication device, advertising system, mobile bank, shopping mall, etc. --- all contained in the chip/memory within the phone. (convergence)

the one page marketing plan, intro

The book is about the fastest path to the money The reality is that many business owners would be better off just finding a job in their own industry Many Business owners who are struggling blame their industry Some of the most common industry complaints Its too competitive The margins are too low Online discounters are taking customers away Advertising no longer works However.... It's rarely the industry to blame! The trap that small business owners fall into: the entrepreneurial seizure -- They think they can own their own business This is one of the major mistake made by most small business owners --> they go from working for an idiot to becoming an idiot boss Key point: just because you're good at the technical thing you do doesn't mean that you are good at the business of what you do You must resolve to become good at the business of what you do-- not just the technical thing you do Professionals have plans Professionals never just wing it Having a plan dramatically increases your probability of success Its more than just your ego on the line, so its time to "go pro" and create a plan Vilfredo pareto and the 80/20 rule Pareto was an Italian economist who noticed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Ex: 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of its customers Ex: 80% of wealth is owned by 20% of people T he pareto principle predicts that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes 64/4 rule We take 80% of 80 and 20% of 20 and end up with the 64/4 rule So, 64% of effects come for 4% of causes Put another way: the majority of your success comes from the top 4% of your actions Or put another way: 96% of the stuff you do is a waste of time (comparatively) Lack of information isn't the issue holding back the bottom 80% of business owners-- its human behavior and mindset. The best kept secret of the rich Struggling business owners will spend time to save money, whereas successful business owners will spend money to save time. Why is that an important distinction? Because you can always get more money, but you can never get more time. So you need to sure the stuff you spend your time on makes the biggest impact Leverage is the best kept secret of the rich These big impacting, leveraged activities are the things that make up the key 20% of the 80/20 rule and the 4% of the 64/4 rule. If you want more success, you need to start paying attention to and expand the things that give you the most leverage We want exponential improvement, not incremental By far the biggest leverage point in any business is marketing If you get 10% better at marketing, this can have an exponential or multiplying effect on your bottom line The reason we want to focus so heavily on marketing because that is where the money is The one page marketing plan Is a living document in your business Its practical. Theres no management speak or jargon to understand Marketing is the strategy you use for getting your ideal target market to know you, like you and trust you enough to become a customer The internet has opened up a world of competitors-- because now they are all over the world through technology. As a result of this, many who are trying to market their business become paralyzed by the "bright shiny object syndrome." They get caught up with tools and tactics and never figure out the big picture of what they're actually trying to do and why Strategy vs. tactics Understanding the difference between strategy and tactics is absolutely key to marketing success Strategy is the big-picture planning you do prior to the tactics. You cant do anything worthwhile successfully without both strategy and tactics Strategy without tactics leads to paralysis by analysis Tactics without strategy leads to the "bright shiny object syndrome" You need both strategy and tactics to be successful but strategy must come first and it dictates the tactics you use A good product or service is a customer-retention tool However, before customer retention, we need to think about customer acquisition (AKA marketing). The most successful entrepreneurs always start with marketing How to kill your business The most common way small business owners decide on advertising is by looking at large successful competitors in their industry and mimicking what they're doing Its responsible for the bulk of small business failures. Here are the two major reasons why Large companies have a different agenda --> their strategies and priorities differ The marketing priorities of a small business owner are: making a profit, and large companies have a VERY different budget. Strategy also changes with scale--> using the same strategy simply wont work on a small scale Large company marketing Aka mass marketing or branding. The goal of this type of advertising is to remind customers and prospects about your brand and as the products and services you offer The idea is that the more times you run ads from your brand, the more likely people are to have this brand at the top of their consciousness when they go to make a purchasing decision The vast majority of large company marketing falls into this category Effective, but highly expensive to successfully pull off and takes a lot of time Requires you to saturate various types of advertising media on a very regular basis and an extended period of time Branding, mass marketing and ego-based marketing is the domain of large companies. To achieve any kind of cut through requires an enormous budget and use of expensive mass media Small companies Do not have the budget to run their ads in sufficient volume to make them effective If you are following a strategy that has different priorities than you, or has a vastly different budget, then its highly unlikely it will generate the kind of result you are hoping for Small and medium business marketing Direct response marketing is a particular branch of marketing that gives small businesses cut through and a competitive edge on a small budget. Designed to ensure you get a return on investment that is measurable Highly ethical way of selling Only real way for a small business to affordably reach the consciousness of a prospect Turning your ads into direct response ads become lead generating tools rather than just name recognition tools Designed to evoke an immediate response and compel prospects to take some specific action Main characteristics of direct response ads Its trackable: when someone responds you known which ad and which media was responsible for generating that response Its measurable: you can measure how effective each ad is since you know which ads are being responded to and how many sales you've reached from each one. You can drop or change ads that are not giving you a ROI It uses compelling headlines and sales copy: has a compelling message of strong interest to your chosen prospects. Uses attention grabbing headlines with a strong sales copy that is "salesmanship in print" It targets a specific audience or niche: the ad aims to appeal to a narrow target market It makes a specific offer: aim is to get the prospect to take the next action, instead of aiming to sell something. This makes a specific value-packed offer. The offer focuses on the prospect rather than the advertiser It demands a response: "call to action" compelling the prospect to do something specific. Easy way to respond and includes a means of response and "capture" of those responses It includes multi-step short term follow-up: valuable education and info on the prospect's problem is offered. The info should have an irresistible offer tied to the next step you want the prospect to take. Then a series of follow up "touches" are made through media It incorporates maintenance follow-up of unconverted leads: the slow to mature prospects may not follow up within the short-term follow up period for different reasons. They should be nurtured and continue hearing from you regularly Three phases of the marketing journey: before, during, after Before: people are known as prospects. The successful completion of this phase results in the prospect known who you are and indicating interest During: people are known as leads. The successful completion of this phase results in the prospect buying from you for the first time After: customers: this phase never ends. Customer buys from you repeatedly and refers people to you. They become a fan.

Ch 2: crafting your message

To stand out from the crowd, you need to craft a compelling message the grabs the attention of your target market. Once you have their attention, the goal of your message is to compel them to respond "marketing by accident" A qualified prospect happening upon the right ad at the right time sometimes results in the happy accident of a sale taking place Not effective. Because happens at random To start a marketing with a purpose, two vital elements What is the purpose of your ad? What does your ad focus on? By trying to do too much, they end up achieving none of their objectives. Rule of thumb: one ad, one objective Rather than trying to sell directly from your ad, simply invite prospects to put their hand up and indicate interest This lowers the resistance and helps you build a marketing database-- one of the most valuable assets in your business You need a very clear call to action Need to be clear about what they should do next and what they will get in return Need to have multiple ways to take that action. Different people have different preferences when it comes to modality of communication Most advertising by small businesses is inwardly focused. Direct response marketing focuses on the needs, thoughts, and emotions of the target market You enter the conversation already going on in the mind of your customer Don't leave anything to chance. Know exactly what you want your ad to achieve and the exact action you want your prospect to take Developing a unique selling proposition Don't be a "me too" business This is done by just looking at what their nearest competitor is doing The entire goal of your USP is to answer this question: why should I buy from you rather than from your nearest competitor? The commonplace that people go wrong with developing their usp is saying "quality" or "great service" is their USP. Two things wrong with that Quality and great service are expectations People only find out after about your quality and service after they have bought. A good usp is designed to attract prospects before they buy The two questions you should ask yourself is Why should they buy Why should they buy from me Be unique! The uniqueness may be in the way it is packaged, delivered, supported, or even sold Getting into the mind of your prospect What do customers want? Rarely the thing you are selling, but usually the result of the thing you are selling To get into the mind: need to discover what result they are actually buying .. Then can craft your USP based on this If you confuse them, you lose them Your prospect has three options Buy from you Buy from your competitor Do nothing You may think your competitor is your biggest problem, but in reality it is a fight against inertia Need to answer the question of why they should buy from you Confusion leads to loss sales People have too many options and little time so you need to clarify exactly what it is How to be remarkable when you are selling a commodity Be different enough to be remarkable Ex: coffee and CD baby and apple ipod The transformation of something ordinary and boring gives the customer a smile and creates free viral marketing for the business Explain the benefits instead of just talking about the features. And promote it in an interesting way The actual product being sold is a commodity and what makes it remarkable is something totally peripheral to what you are buying Lowest price You get far less grief from high-end customers than you do from low-end ones A better option than discounting is to increase the value of your offering Create an elevator pitch Great way to distill your USP Can help you clarify your message and your USP Good marketing, especially direct response marketing, is always customer and problem/solution focused We want to be remembered for what problem we solve rather than for some impressive by incomprehensible title or line of business Good marketing takes the prospect through a journey that coves the problem, the solution, and the proof. Crafting your offer Create an exciting and radically different offer from your competitors Two great questions to think about when you are crafting your offer Of all the products and services you offer, which do you have the most confidence in delivering? Of all the products and services you offer, which do you enjoy delivering the most? One of the main reasons marketing campaigns fail is because the offer is lazy and poorly thought out What does your target market want? Easiest method: ask them But most people don't know what they want until they have actually been presented with it. When people respond to surveys etc, they respond with logic. Purchasing is done with emotions and justified with logic after the fact. So you need to supplement asking with observing Recommend doing market research by analyzing what your target market is actually buying or looking for Ex: looking at product categories that are trending on amazon, google adwords Create an irresistible offer Value: what is the most valuable thing you could do for your customer? What is the result that takes them from point A to point B which you can take them through while making a good profit? Language: need to learn the jargon used within your target market Reason why: need to justify why you're doing this. People are used to being shorthanded. Explain the reason why Value stacking: packing in many bonusses can make your offer seem like a no-brainer Upsells: offer complementary6 products when they buy something. Perfect opportunity to tack on a high-margin item Payment plan: absolutely critical for high-ticket items. People generally think of their expenses on a monthly basis Guarantee: need an outrageous guarantee. Need to make dealing with you a risk-free transaction Scarcity: a reason why people need to respond immediately. People respond much more to a fear of loss than the prospect of gain Target the pain The usual ways of shopping get thrown out the window when we're in pain ... they want pain relief Your goal is to be a problem solver and pain reliver People are much more willing to pay for a cure than for prevention Copywriting for sales: you can't bore people into buying Emotional direct response copywriting: use attention-grabbing headlines ... known as salesmanship in print People buy from people, not from corporations. Building relationships and rapport is important. So be yourself Being yourself and bringing out your personality will help you stand out in a sea of sameness and monotony We are extremely interested in what other people are doing Don't use your marketing material as a screen to hide behind. Use it to give opinion, insight, advice, and commentary, and be yourself and authentic Elements of great copy Use compelling words that trigger a response People buy with emotions first. Five major motivators of human behavior Fear Love Greed Guilt Pride Headlines are one of the most important elements of your sales copy The headline is basically the ad for the ad and should encompass the self-servicing result your reader will get Fear of loss is one of the most powerful emotional hot buttons you can push in your sales copy Enter the conversation already going on in your prospects mine Research is often the most neglected component of copywriting Research, write, then test and measure to understand how your target market thinks and talks and what they respond to, etc Address the elephant in the room Avoiding this (the risks associated with buying from you) is a rookie mistake Amygdala (fear part of the brain.. Always in the background... don't let that take over Part of a good sales copy is telling potential prospects who your product/service is not for Filters out people who arent part of your target market and ensures that you don't waste your time Immediately makes it more credible when you tell them who this product is for Feels more targeted and exclusive Find out what they blame, and use it as a device in your copy known as the "enemy in common" People never blame themselves. So never blame your prospects in your sales copy for the position that they are in How to name your product, service or business The title should equal content ... shouldn't be confusing Always choose clarity over cleverness Test and get opinions from objective people who are apart of your target market

The Changing World

We are going to see dramatic changes in population and technology. We're also going to see continued urbanization of the world.

dixon

We're in the first 5 minutes of the first day of the digital world'

the future

Which industries should you target for future success and opportunities? - industries that are growing Which industries should you avoid? -if tech is taking over, don't look for a job there

its a lot easier to win in...

a growing market

three categories of promotions

economic informational affective

the multiplicity of contact points is called

omnichannel

the use of GA enables retailers to better bridge ...

the gap between online and offline shopping

Brand equity is defined as

''the differential effect that consumer knowledge about a brand has on the customer's response to marketing activity.''

You 'listen' to your customers...

...but you have to plan/predict the future as well "If I had asked my customers what they wanted," Henry Ford once remarked, "they would have said a faster horse." customers are going to respond with what they know

What are the 7 forces accelerating the acceleration?

1. Computation abundance 2. Time abundance or "saved time" 3. Capital abundance 4. Demonetization of technology 5. Communications abundance 6. Increasing genius (BCI) 7. Increasing lifespan

descending order of pain on the payment continuum

1. cash 2. credit cards 3. virtual systems such as apple pay or google wallet 4. gift cards 5. miles, points, etc 4 and 5 can feel like free money move down to continuum, more likely to get the consumer to spend

the way people pay for goods and services is changing

1. this is having an impact on how consumers perceive the value of their purchases 2. companies need to grasp this in order to craft sustainable business strategies

Chapter 8: increasing customer lifetime value

Acres of dimaonds Guy gave up everything to find diamonds, turns out he was sitting on them .. "dig first on your own property when seeking treasure" Another way to grow your business Kake more from existing and past customers Increase revenue and profit from existing customer is far easier than getting new ones The real profit is in figuring out how to sell more to existing and past customers and increasing their LTV Raising prices Youll find that your customers are far less price sensitve then you've imagined Some may not even notice an increase in prices If you hold your pcies constant for a long time then you are actually lowering them because inflation makes the same nominal amount of money less valuable over time Give your customers a reason why you raised them. Explain them the increase in quality etc The lowerst value customers tend to leave which is fine You can try grandfathering in current customers Upselling Bundling of add ons with the primary product or service being sold Two different things being presented sequentially feel more different than they really are When prospects buy the primary expensive item first, the suggested add-ons feel comparatively cheap Ppl are much less likely to be price sensitive to the item being attached becayse they did not specifically shop for it Not uncommon for the primary product to have thin margins and the upsells have the most profit People want to participate in social norms. By telling them what "normal" buying habits are When the prospect is "hot and heavy" and in the buying state of mind, they'll be much more receptive to other offers to buy (opportunity to bundle a high margin add-on) Ascension Ascension: the process of moving existing customer to your higher priced and higher margin products and services Ascension campaigns help you combat inertia When customers independently consider moving up because your current product isnt meeting their needs, they will consider competitors Your fault if you lose them because you weren't being proactive enough to keep up with their changing needs Need to have more than one pricing option for each category At minimum, need to have a "standard" and a "premium" option in each category Ultra-high ticket items can also help you benefit from Less affluent customers will see your standard products being a much better value Give clients an upgrade path, something to aspire to Frequency Increase the frequency with which your customers buy from you Reminders. People live busy lives. Send reminders to remind them to do business with you again Can be fully automated Great candidates for reminder notices are products whose benefit or usefulness expires Give them a reason to come back Redeem you offer in store etc Help them buy repeatedly with subscriptions Dollar shave club Dog food subscription (send a bag of dog food to door every month) Customer's price-shopping radar generally turns off when buying products by subscription If you are delivering extra value in the way of convenience, your customers likely won't care that you are charging them more Reactivation Run a reactivation campaign to get a customer back The basics to running a reactivation campaign Go through customer database and pull out names of past customers who you havent heard from in a while or bought from you in a while Create a strong offer to induce them back to you. Gift card, coupon, free offer, with strong call to action Contact these past customers and ask them why they havent returend. If its something you did wrong offer an apology and describe what corrective action you are taking and if they are reactive and want to buy from you again follow up with them to make them feel special A reactivation campaign can reboot the relationship and contribute signficantly to increasing customer life time value Numbers tell us the whole story Storytelling is a big part of what we do as marketeres Stories often obfuscate the truth What gets measured gets managed Need to constantly measure, manage, and improve your numbers Some of the key numbers you need to know Leads Conversion rate Average transaction value Break-even point Main point: measuring, managing and improving your key marketing numbers, even by an incremental amount, can have a massive impact on the end result. Small hinges swing big doors Some of the key metrics you need to measure and manage in a subscription or recurring business model: Monthly recurring revenue Churn rate (percentage of recurring customers that cancel subscriptions or stop buying from you) Customer life time value A business dashboard is a great early warning system for probems Smart business owners also tie incentives to hitting key metrics Polluted revenue and the unequal dollar Sometimes not enough thought is given to the quality of that revenue If you take on toxic customers you'll generate polluted revenue, which makes your business sick Your customer base can be divided up into four categories The tribe: raving fans, supporters, promote business, conspire to your success, healthy revenue, builds your business. Growing these types of customers is key to growth The churners: cant afford you on the basis of either time or money. Bc they can't afford you, may have engaged in overly aggressive sales and marketing tactics. They leave you, and can create brand problems Vampires: can afford your business but you cant afford them. They consume a massively disproportionate amount of resources compared with your average customer while paying the same amount. They terrorize and manipulate you Snow leopard: biggest customer, make up a very large chunk of your revenue. They are rare and hard to replicate. Team and leaders love to spend more time with them. Bad investment because they are so rare and therefore don't represent a great growth strategy NPS has been created to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction In NPS terminology, customers are either promoters, detractors, or passives Important that you don't treat all customers and revenue equally Fire problem customers Not firing problem customers is likely costing you huge amount of time, money, and aggravation Problem customers are low-value, price-sensitive who complain the most, waste huge amounts of your time and always need to be chased for payment Make very little, if any, real profit from them and you spend all your time chasing and appeasing them Also cause you to lose out on opportunities Firing problem customers creates scarcity without being disingenuous Shows that you have a limited supply and that you are very selective about who you'll work with With limited supply, people have to play by your rules and pay accordingly

ch 3: reaching prospects with advertising media

Advertising media is typically the most expensive component of your marketing It needs to be selected and managed carefully to ensure you get a good ROI Reaching prospects with advertising media --> the ROI game Most small businesses do little if any tracking of advertising. Not measuring where your leads and sales come from and not tracking ROI on ad spend is a mistake What gets measured, gets managed Be ruthless with your ad spending (cut the losers) Cut the losers and ride the winners is vital because Media is by far the most expensive component of your marketing spend. Its the bridge that connects your offer to your target market Hire experts that specialize in whatever media you decide is right for your campaign Don't try to do it yourself Each has its own idiosyncrasies and technicalities thar are highly likely to mess up if you are not experienced with it Response rates They vary dramatically depending on factors ... so you cant ask what a good repsonse rate is How do you measure the success of a marketing campaign? In general, ask yourself: did the marketing campaign make you more money than it cost you? If you are a small or medium sized business, you need to get a return on your marketing expenditures. Rather than getting your name out there, you'll fare much better by concentrating on getting the name of your prospects in here Need to look at the numbers carefully Primary concern: the return on investment Varies based on the customer acquisition cost and how much actual profit a marketing campaign yields Advantage of targeting a niche Marketing becomes cheaper Far less waste The front end and back end lifetime value of a customer CLV--> important number used in measuring marketing success Front end: the money we make up front on a campaign Offer that gets seen by prospects (people who aren't yet your customers) These people don't know you and have no reason to like or trust you Goal of the front end offer: create a customer and make enough profit from the first transaction to at least cover the customer acquisition cost Makes it very sustainable to keep advertising Back end: the money we make on subsequent purchases The real profit is made on the back end through repeat purchases by existing customers Together, these figures make up the lifetime value of a customer Lifetime value and customer acquisition are two key numbers you need to know to measure marketing effectiveness Constantly testing, measuring and improving these numbers is how you build a high-growth business Sometimes it makes sense to go negative Losing money on the front end, because you know for certain you'll male it up and more on the back end Is social media a cure all? A successful marketing campaign has to get three vital elements right Market: the target market you send your message to Message: the marketing message or offer you send Media: what you use to send your message to your target market Social media is a form of media, its not a strategy The time-tested fundamentals of marketing don't suddenly change just because a new type of media comes along Some things you need to be aware of when it comes to social media Its not the ideal selling environment Makes people uncomfortable because it feels pushy Overt selling and constant pitching of offers are generally considered poor behavior on social networks and can result in repelling people from your business rather them to it However, social media is a great place to create and extend relationships One of the most valuable things in social media: gauge customer emotions toward your business and engage with vocal customers who offer either praise or complaints in a public forum Social proof... engaging with your customers builds social proof and makes prospects and customers feel like they are dealing with humans Two potential traps with social media Can be a time suck Feeling like you have to respond to every comment and takes away from marketing tasks Some people have the perception that social media marketing is "free" but its only free if your time is worth nothing question of ownership Your social media page is the property of the social network Social networks can change their policies and a lot of money and time you put it would then be wasted With any marketing strategy, its vitally important to find out where your prospects "hang out" and use the appropriate media to get your message through to them So, social media may or may not be one of those places Email marketing Email is a direct, personal way to engage with prospects and customers A prominent part of your website should be an email opt-in form Email enables you to maintain a close relationship with your customer base Makes it easy to test and launch new products and services Your database of email subscribers remains one of the most important elements of your online marketing strategy The email database is an asset that you own If you build your business on someone else's platform and it starts to decline in popularity, your key online marketing asset will be stranded Key do's and don'ts when it comes to email Don't spam Also need to have consent of those who are on the email list. Have an opt in form Be human Feel free to be a bit informal Use a commercial email marketing system These services automatically take care of a lot of the legal compliance for you Email regularly They may forget who you are and mark you as a spammer Stay in touch with your email subscribers .. But ensure when you email its relevant and value building Give them value Ensure the majority of your emails are not sales pitches but create value for your customers A good ratio: three value building emails for every offer email Automate These platforms allow you to set up sequences that automatically get emailed to new subscribers With email marketing, you have three challenges Getting your email delivered Use a commercial email marketing platform Ensure that your email does not contain spammy phrases or use too many images or links Getting your email opened Have a compelling subject line that creates curiosity and motivation Getting your email read If you write compelling content, it will get read. Does not matter the length (depends on the target market) Snail mail Email does not replace postal mail, it complements it It would be a mistake to underestimate physical objects when it comes to moving people emotionally Moving people emotionally towards a desired action is what marketing is all about Postal mail has a much longer lifespan and requires effort to dispose of People are more likely to keep hand written letters over emails Has become significantly less cluttered over the past few years How to have an unlimited marketing budget When spending money on marketing, one of the following three things will occur and course of action Your marketing fails (you make less in profit then you spent on marketing expenses) Course of action: if fails--> stop and change what you are doing You have no idea if your marketing was a success or failure because you don't measure the results Measure! We have the technology. Its easier than ever to track your marketing results and ROI Your marketing succeeds (you make more in profit than you spent on your marketing) Crank it up and throw as much money as you can into it One of the craziest things small business owners do: set a "marketing budget" Have an unlimited budget for marketing that works The only time to set a marketing budget is when you are in the testing phase Fail often and fail cheap until you have a winner The most dangerous number One A small change in circumstances outside of your control could have a devastating effect First step: identify any scenarios in which the number one can potentially hurt you Ex: what if your largest customer leaves you for a competitor or what if they go out of business Identify and eliminate single points of failure in your business Have a least five different sources of new leads and customers ... most of these five sources in paid media. It is extremely reliable If I pay a newspaper to run my ad, there's an extremely high probability the ad will be run Paid marketing forces you to focus on return on investment (ROI) If paid marketing is not working, you cut it Don't waste further time or money on it Act 2: the during phase In the during phase you are dealing with leads The goal of this phase is to get your leads to like you and what you have to offer enough to buy from you for the first time

Chapter 9: orchestrating and stimulating referrals

An active process Don't rely on a free lunch Orchestrating and stimulating referrals implies that making referrals happen requires something very active on your part Passive wom marketing is great, but it is slow and unreliable when trying to build business Wom is the business equivalent of a free lunch ... putting the fate of your business into the hands of others Ask for referrals, people are more likely to do it then you think You made a referral because it made you look and feel good Need to use this concept in referral marketing Ask and you shall receive People have about 250 people in their lives who are important enough to invite to a wedding or a funeral Joe girard: figured that every person he did business with represented 250 potential referrals One of the best strategies for getting what you want in business and in life is just ask Make things happen for yourself, you don't just wait around for them to happen to you One of the best ways to get referrals is just by asking them from customers who you've delivered a good result to Heres how to ask for a referral Acknowledge them and appeal to their ego Offer something valuable they can give to someone in their network Give them a reason to give you a referral, a reason that directly benefits them Your customers know other people who are similar to themselves Excellent strategy: make known dyring your sales or customer onboarding process that you expect them to give you referrals as a natural course of doing business with you By increasing the reliability of wom marketing, you take back control of your lead flow and build a solid foundation for rapid business growth Conquering the bystander effect Bystander effect: occurs when a large crowd gathers around an ongoing emergency or crime and essentially treats it as a spectator sport. Everyone in the crowd assumes that someone else will intervene (happens because of a lack of personal responsibility) Everyone assumes somebody else will assist with the referral request ... so need to be very specific in your requests for referrals Three things must happen for someone to refer you They gave to notice that the conversation is about whatever it is that you do They have to think about you They have to introduce you into the conversation and introduce you to the person they are talking to When trying to find referrals Be very specific with both who you ask the referral from and what kind of referral you want to receive. Hook into a situation that is a trigger for someone needing your service. Don't ask for a cold referral. Set up the situtation so that the referrer looks good Who has your clients before you? Other complementary businesses that your customer deals with before they deal with you can help you uncover untapped profits in your business Setting up a joint venture agreement is a cheap or free source of leads One strategy: create a gift card or voucher for your products or services that they can give away to new clients A few methods to monetize your existing customer base: Sell the leads Exchange the leads Resell complementary products and services Become an affiliate referral partner Look who has your customers before you and after you and find ways of creating value in both directions Building your brand A brand is the personality of your business Personality can be a substitute for the word brand Think of your business as a person. What attributes make up its personality Best form of brand building is selling Branding is something you do after someone has bought from you Brand equity is the goodwill you build up that compels people to do business with you rather than your competitor The things in your business that cause customers to figuratively cross the road to buy from you Also the key to stimulating the virtuous cycle of referrals

Future Internet Connectivity

At the end of a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where his comments were webcast, he was asked for his prediction on the future of the web. "I will answer very simply that the Internet will disappear," Schmidt said. "There will be so many IP addresses...so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won't even sense it," he explained. "It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room." basically will be apart of your life

Offer Discernable Value

Be Amelia Earhart and not poor Clarence Chamberlain. You must offer something the market cares about and values.

Why should we discuss the future marketplace?

Because you can't just rely on market research to develop products for the future consumers. and its part of any marketers job. always look forward (be forward looking)

Chapter 7: delivering a world-class experience

By delivering a world class experience, you turn customers into a tribe of raving fans who want to buy from you repeatedly. To deliver this world class experience, you need to implement systems in your business and make smart use of technology. Delivering a world-class experience: building your tribe of raving fans A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader and connected to an idea Extraordinary businesses lead tribes-- tribes of raving fans, not just customers A tribe member acts as a cheerleader and is actively conspiring for your success They amplify your marketing message Qualities of extraordinary businesses that become tribe leaders: They continually focus on wowing their customers, which turns them into raving fans They create a foster lifetime relationships They make it easy and fun to deal with them They create a sense of theater around their products and services They have systems so that they can reliably and consistently deliver a great experience Truly remarkable businesses get exponential results because each customer they add is revenue over and over again, because that person becomes an evangelist for the business Dont have to market, hustle, and convince as much when you have a tribe of raving fans Small businesses have a massive advantage because they can be agile and respond to customer needs and feedback quickly. They can also micromanage their relationship with their customers The marketing process really only begins once you convert a prospect into a paying customer Sell them what they want, but give them what they need When it comes to the delivery of your product or service, we need to give our customers what they need on top of what they want Example: fitness instructor. You help people bc they need to become healthier. But they want a toned body and a six pack There are sometimes an overlap between wants and needs and sometimes they are completely separate Buying is just the first step. Putting it to its intended use is another. Treadmill example. A big part of the battle you'll fight is getting people to do what they need to do to achieve results with your product or service Our goal is for our customers to achieve results A customer who buys a product and doesn't use it or implement it correctly is highly likely to write it off as something that doesn't work May need to cut the process up into manageable, bite-sized pieces so that it does not seem so daunting Leadership is an attractive quality, and people want to be led Help your all the way through achieving results Create theater around your products and services Two basic functions of every business: marketing and innovation Innovation- conjures up thoughts of high-tech startups Common misconception: the innovation has to be in the actual product or5 service itself. But innovation can go far beyond the product sold --- such as packaged, financed, delivered, managed, etc One area where businesses fail: creating a sense of theater. NEED: to give them what they want by creating a sense of theater around your product Customers don't just want to be serviced, they want to be entertained Good example that does this well: blender "can it blend" , another good example: resturant and picking consumers up and giving them rides home so they don't drive under the influence Use technology to reduce friction While interacting with customers when getting paid, be as smooth and as frictionless as possible The purpose of any new technology In your business is to eliminate friction We want the fastest and easiest path to the sale, while increasing customer satisfaction Want to avoid situations where technology hi8nders rather than facilitates business Think of each piece of technology as an employee ---what am I hiring this employee to do? What are the KPIs? Every smart business man uses technology with very specific measurable goals Become a voice of value to your tribe Part of delivering a world-class experience to your customers is becoming a voice of value to them Do this by becoming a creator of content Be a content creator, not a content consumer To become a voice of value, listen to others (mentors) but do not let too many voices in The most valuable commodity is reputation Transform to education-based marketing... its twofold First: about positioning yourself as an authority In your target market Second: about building relationships, becoming the trusted advisor to your target market Tell them all the trouble you go to Example: shampoo bottle (mint leaves) Tell the audience about all the effort that goes into delivering your product or service Give them the details of how you painstakingly prepare or manufacture your product Dont let your efforts and skills go unnoticed Gives them assurance that there is quality and substance behind your product Products make you money, systems make you a fortune Most valuable business systems: those that are replicable If relies on a genius to run it, difficult to replicate Systems allow mere mortals to run an extraordinary business Four main types of business systems Marketing system: generate a consistent flow of leads into the business Sales system: lead nurturing, follow-up and conversion Fulfillment system: the actual thing you do in exchnage for the customer's money Administrative system: accounts, recept9ion, human resources, etc. the support of all the other business functions Customers don't find out about how good your products are until they buy from you Business sytems start with documented procedures and processes that allow your business to run without you Operations manual: its purpose is to capture the collective know how of the business Two major reasons why business systems are overlooked Back off ice functions: considered boring Neglected because of percieved lack of urgency Benefits of implementing systems in your business Builds a valuable asset Leverage and scalability Consistency Lower labor costs Mcdonals: best example The power of systems: the ability to fire yourself Catch-22 -- no time to work on the business bc they are too busy working in the business Goal: eliminate the biggest bottleneck from your business (you) Best tool In building business sytems: checklists The step process to documenting (only way to easily scale your business and let it run without you) and ensures your customers get a consistent experience Identify all the roles in your business Define what tasks each role performs Create checklists for properly completing these tasks Your ultimate customer More time needs to be thought on how to get back (exit strategy), rather than just how to get there Think about this in the beginning. Help you shape how you engineer your business Cruicial to structure things to ensure that you are on the receiving end of a big payday Purchaser looks to see if you have a business rather than if you are the business So have documented systems Need to consider who will buy your business and why Structure the business with a logical acquirer in mind (shows a clear path to exit) Start with the end in mind and start thinking about your ultimate customer and what would motivate them to write you the check that becomes your biggest payday

Who will benefit the most from the increased information?

Businesses with great products (including small co's) Consumers --> better educated and better access to great products

Ch 5: nurturing leads

Ch 5: nurturing leads Nurturing leads is the process of taking people from being vaguely interested in what you have to offer to desiring it and wanting to do business with you. The lead nurturing process ensures that leads are interested, motivated, qualified and predisposed to buying from you before you ever try to sell to them Nurturing leads: the secret behind the world's greatest salesman Joe girard, listed as the worlds greatest salesman in the guinness world records. Stand out thing he did: keep in touch with his customers constantly... sent letters that would say I like you in them Wanted his customers to open his envelope, see his name and the positive message inside and feel good By the time he was a decade into his career, almost 2/3 of his sales were repeat customers Marketing like a farmer The average number a salesperson follow up a lead, once or twice 50% of all salespeople give up after one contact In marketing, the money is in the follow up Immediately after you've captured a lead, they should go into your system, where repeated contacts are made over time You build a relationship, giving them value in advance of them buying anything from you, building trust and demonstrating authority in your field of expertise in the process Accept the fact most people will not be ready to buy right away. Put them in a database. Mail them something regularly to stay in touch, positioning yourself as an expert in your industry or field Over time you can build a pipeline of potential customers who'll have you at the top of mind when they are ready to buy They'll already be predisposed to doing business with you because of the value that you have created for them in advance. You wont need to convince or put on a hard sell; the sale just becomes the next logical step The growing list of prospects and the relationship you have with them will become the most valuable asset in your business To become a marketing farmer Advertise with the intention of finding people who are interested in what you do Add them o your database Continually nurture them and provide them with value Most important: make sure you keep in contact with them regularly If you become a marketing farmer, your database grows in number and quality Building your marketing infrastructure Most good crm systems can be set up automatically Automation systems allow you to robotically sort, sift and screen prospects and customers so that you can leverage your time more effectively Your job is to market to them until they buy or die Instead of being a pest, become a welcome guest Send your high probability prospects a continuous stream of value until they are ready to buy Could be case studies tutorials articles, etc This builds trust and good will and positions you as an expert and educator Various technology tools make it easy to automate this contiuous follow up mechanism The point is: by the time they are ready to buy, you've built a solid relationship with them based on value and trust. This makes you the logical choice when it comes to them making a purchase decision One of the most ethical and painless ways of selling, because its based completely on trust and an exchange of value Your marketing infrastructure will be made up of assets Lead capture websites Newsletters Blogs Etc Lumpy mail and the shock and awe package Envelopes have something in it that makes it lumpy Envelopes that have stuff in it are more likley to get opened and get your attention Lumpy mail is an attention getter and allows you to be very creative with your direct mail campaigns Trinkets purposely inserted for attracting attention are called grabbers Grabbers: often set the theme of your sales letter The items are also less likely to get thown away Taking lumpy mail to the next level: shock and awe package One of the most powerful direct response marketing follow up tools In the first few interactions with prospects, you have the opportunity to make one of the following three impressions Same same Crappy Mind blowing amazing Shock and awe package: physical box that you mail or deliver to prospects full of unique, benefit-laden assets related to your business and industry. Somethings you should include in your package: Books Dvds or cds Testimonials from past clients in video, audio or written form Clippings from media mentions of features about you or your product or industry Brochures, sales letters or other marketing material Independent reports or white papers Sample of your products or services Unusual trinkets and gifts that entertain, inform, and wow Handwritten notes thanking them Now easier than ever to get cut through with physical mail, and especially packages Understand that the first few interactions with a prospect are sacred and should be carefully orchestrated A shock and awe package should do three things: Give your prospect amazing, unexpected value Position you as an expert and trusted authority in your field Move your prospect further down the buying cycle than they would otherwise have been The more money you can spend marketing to high-probability prospects, the better your chances are of converting them to a customer You must know your numbers, numbers like CLV otherwise you will go negative. You cant substitute good marketing for bad math Don't make the mistake of cheap and efficient when It comes to wooing prospects Become a prolific marketer One of the commonalities amongst high-growth businesses is that they focus heavily on marketing and make a lot of offers. You don't need many hits to offset your misses When you become a prolific marketer, its much easier to spot trends and scientifically measure response by split testing Another important attribute: they are not timid with their offers More compelling and more frequent offers= rapid business growth Making regular offers will make you a better marketer. Getting good at the science of marketing is the key to rapid business growth. And when you get better, everything will get better for you Make it up, make It real, and make it recur Pooling different talents in pursuit of a single goal Business is a tema sport Three major types The entrepreneur: the ideas person or visionary. They make it up The specialist: the implementer of the entrepreneur's vision. Help make it reality, they make it real The manager: they come in every day and make sure things get done. They make it recur Extremely rare for a person to be all three A lack of a manager role is often why a marketing infastructure never gets up and running properly Lack of a functional running marketing infastructure will harm or possibly kill your business A marketing calendar sets out what marketing activities have to happen After you've locked in what needs to be done and when, the only other option you need to answer is who will be responsible for delivering on each of these scheduled marketing activities Need to consider event triggered marketing activities If someone else can do it 80% as good as you can, then you should delegate it Learn how to separate the majors and the minors Don't mistake movement for achievement Days are expensive We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things Time is more valuable than money The internet has broken down geographical barriers and enabled anyone to have a global workforce

reminds us of the marketing concept

Customer satisfaction is key satisfying customer needs

the future marketplace and dixon

Dixon: "More money to be made for telecom companies through processing mobile phone transactions than by everything else you could possibly do." Dixon: "The phone companies might even give away the phones in the future just to get you to spend money through them." You are a market of one - targeted individually through your phone based at least partly on your demographics and your purchase history.

Convergence vs. Divergence

Dixon: "True innovation is divergence. Doing something differently. Having something that is absolutely right for that target group." "To survive you must do things differently." ... when everything is converging be different you want to be uniquely different... be divergent Convergence works when it makes life simpler.

The Differential Effect

In a competitive marketplace, consumers must be provided with a compelling argument as to why they should choose a particular brand. You must convince consumers that your brand is the superior choice. Consumers must have sufficient exposure to your brand's message, so that they are knowledgeable about the brand's assertions. If marketers are successful in accomplishing this, they can hope to see a differential effect of this brand knowledge on consumers' behavior toward their brand. And thus, the differential effect is evidence that consumers believe your product is more appealing than competing brands.

act 1: the before phase

In this phase you will identify a target market, craft a compelling message for this target market and deliver your message to them through advertising media Goal: get the prospect to know you and respond to your message Selecting your target market--> its not everyone Excluding customers is actually a good thing To be a successful small business marketer, you need laser-like focus on a narrow target market, sometimes called a niche Niche: a tightly defined portion of a sub-category We want to limit our market because... We have a limited amount of money: if you focus too broadly, the marketing message will become diluted and weak Relevance: goal of your ad should be prospects to say "hey this is for me" Being all things to all people leads to marketing failure Ex: photographer Targeting a tight niche allows you to become a big fish in a small pond Allows you to dominate a category or geography in a way that is impossible by being general Once you dominate one niche, can expand your business by finding other niches. But never do so all at once. Doing so dilutes your message and your marketing power Niching makes price irrelevant A specialist is sought after rather than shopped on price By going to broad you kill your specialness and become a commodity bought on price So decide who you are going to exclude, and don't underestimate the importance of this How to identify your ideal customer Make a PVP index and give each market segment you serve a rating out of 10 P: personal fulfillment: how much do you enjoy dealing with this type of customer V: value to the marketplace: how much does this market segment value your work P: profitability: how profitable is the work you do for this market segment? Who is your ideal target market? --> be as specific as possible about all the attributes that may be relevant Create an avatar: one of the best tools for getting in the mind of your prospect is to temporarily become them -- A detailed exploration and description of your target customer and their life --Important to create avatars for each type of decision maker or influencer you might encounter in your target market -- Avatars are the marketing equivalent of method acting. They get you right into the mind of your prospect

Readings

Rethinking the Funnel for the Omnichannel Age

Ch 6: sales conversion

Sales conversion is all about creating enough trust and demonstrating enough value to motivate interested leads to become paying customers. Positioning yourself correctly will make the sales conversion process easy and natural for both you and your customer Every dog bites You are starting behind in negative territory Your prospects are cynical and don't trust you Trust is the major barrier to a sale, so you need to have sold strategies for sales conversion When you position yourself in a "me too" business way, your only marketing weapons are to should as loudly as possible or to discount your prices as far as possible You don't want price to be your key differentiator Theres no money in your product or service Once you reach a level of competence, the real profit comes from the way you market yourself Ex: violinist. Made millions, played on a street, made no money Difference: positioning People will generally take you at your own appraisal--- unless proven otherwise Transitioning from pest to welcome guest The welcome guest brings value to your life, whereas the pest is just there to interrupt you and to take Most businesses try to sell without creating trust The problem: you are asking your customer to make a decision when they have no idea about who you are or what you're about You'll also waste a signifcant amoutn of time energy and money dealing with unqualified prospects Youll waste a lot of money on poor advertising Hopeium, drug that travels through your body and mind when you think you have an intereted prospect who is sending you positive signals who actually has no intention of buying from you ... you end up getting hit with the silent treatment The faster you detox from hopeium, the sooner youll stop wasting your selling time chasing porspects who arent a true fit for your solution Prospects have become more and more skeptical You are starting in negative territory Need to move towards the model of: educate educate educate With education you build trust, position yourself as the expert, build relationshjips, make the selling porcess is easier for both buyer and seller Delaying the sale accomplises two things Shows you are willing to give long before you take, which breaks down sales resistance presents you as an educator and expert in your field Must stop selling and start educating, consulting and advising prospects about the benefits your products and services deliver compared to each and every competitor in your category Eyes and mind of prospect: someone who educates them and solves their problems Entrepreneur definition: someone who solves peoples problems at a proft Bottom line: don't let them think you are in sales for one second Have a consultative, advisory selling using a nurturing system Must see yourself as an agent of change, a creator of great value, benefit and advantage in the lives of your customers and prospects Consultative, advisory selling is the most cost effective, enduring, impactful, powerful marketing strategy Manufacturing trust People who know that while a large company might not give the best service, they are unlikely to be outright scammed by them Present your business in a way that conveys trust and confidence Leveling the playing field and helping fight the trust bias On a website should have Phone number vanity number Proper physical business address Privacy policy and terms of use Don't skimp on design Email address with their own domain Have a crm system and a ticketing system (gives the customer trust that their package is trackable) These tools help you manage perception, and soon will become relality Outrageous guarantees Risk reversal in the form of an outrageous guarantee means that if the porduct or service doesn't work out for the prospect, youre the one who will have something to lose rather than them To be successful, must avoid the vague crap that everyone does Your guarantee should be very specific and address the fear or uncertainty that the prospect has about the transaction A strong guarantee will attract more customers than a weak and vague one Smart entrepreneur will look at their business from the eyes of a fearful skeptical prospect Pricing strategy Will touch every part of you business, from financials to how you are perceived in the marketplace Price of your product is critical to positioning indicator Offering too much chouce can actually prevent sales Fear of making a suboptimal choice prevents them from making any choice at all Offer a standard and premium variation of a service or product Excellent strategy for removing risk is offer an unlimited variation of your product or service at a fixed price Look at your law of averages to give you a perceotion of what offering this would look like People tend to overestimate how much they will use something Small percentage of the population who wants to buy the best of the best product Price is used as an indicator Ultra-high ticket item Makes up a very large percentage of your profit Attract more affluent customer Makes the other variations in your product range look much more reasonably priced by comparison Try to avoid discounts at all costs Better offer: increase the value of your offering Important to test and measure to understand how Make the setting of price a central part of your overall marketing stratefy Everyone is in sales Make it clear that responding to sales opportunties is their job Could have an incentive porgram Easiest sale to make is to an existing satisfied customer Try before you buy, free trial or the puppy dog close Breaks down sales resistance, making the prospect feel less likely that they are committing to something irreversible Puts the onus on the buyer to reverse the sale Genuine customer is highly unlikely to return a good porduct that is meeting their needs Close down your sales prevention department Make it easy for your customers to buy from you Need to offer their prefered payment method Don't punish customers for using their preferred payment method by adding a surcharge Offer a payment plan or finance for your high-ticket items Look for other things that could be roadblocks to sales conversion

80-20

Some 80 % of today's revenues comes from offerings new or significantly altered during the last 5 years need to stay ahead of the game because it takes a long time to develop products and services

showrooming

The concept where customers browse at physical locations to test something out, see it, etc

trends and future

The need for convenience (making things easier) drove the minimization of electronics such as cell phones. This technology was supposed to make our lives easier and more convenient. A small phone is convenient. Yet the trend is back to larger mobile phones? Why?

The Role of the Brand

The signaling role of a brand is hugely important. The most common cues we use to infer product quality are price and brand. This is why brand equity is so valuable.

Peter says 4 billion minds are coming online because of global ubiquitous connectivity. What will be the result of this?

They will accelerate the future. These entrepreneurs now have access to all the knowledge and computational power that they want.

the future questions

Where are we going? What impact will technology have on lifestyle? How will the marketplace react and adapt to these changes?

Peter lists 7 exponential technologies that are becoming faster, cheaper and increasing in power. When referencing these technologies, what did he say was transforming business models?

You can be an expert in any one of these, but it is the convergence of two three or four of these together that's transforming business models.

understand the customer's or fail

You must understand motivations, benefits sought, etc. (think 'The Breakfast Club')

geospatial analytics, GA

aka, location analytics, is associated with geographic information systems (GIS)

transition to omnichannel

as marketers continue to adapt to new technologies, the need for a consumer to visit a physical store will continue to diminish stores need to become more attractive, interesting places for customers to justify a visit instead of buying online a retailer must be able to connect with consumers through multiple points of contact, including email, physical and electronic catalogs, websites, call centers, social networks, television, computers, mobile phones, tablets and home deliveries

One of the most vital skills of a marketer is to

be forward looking. You must be forward looking to succeed. And you should have a strong understanding of specific key technologies/services/industries/etc., that are likely to be in demand going forward.

survival tips for omnichannel cont.

companies need to strengthen their "retail brain" -- the IT systems that help managers track what's happening in their stores and anticipate future demand logistics systems have proven to be quite possible the most important factor behind the spectacular growth of distribution firms

rethinking the funnel for the omnichannel age-- the new consumer

companies need to take full advantage of the sweeping digital transformation that's occurring brands need to implement change to adapt to the new consumer

retailers are starting to realize that in-store GA can be one of their key tools for

defending themselves from customer smartphone-based showrooming

move from hindsight to foresight

geospatial analytics can help organizations anticipate and prepare for possible changes due to changing spatial conditions or location-based events

Technological Convergence

is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. (things becoming similar) Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies. We are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, "changing the way we create, consume, learn and interact with each other" Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism, health and education are increasingly being carried out in these digital media spaces across a growing network of ICT devices. (Information and Communication Technology )

develop targeted solutions

location-based analysis can help decision-makers understand why solutions that work in one place often fail in another it can also help understand the locational aspects that influence broader trends that may have future consequences

prioritize efficiency

optimize inventory management cover growing operating costs improve cash flows

strengthen your capabilities

organizations must develop better analytical capabilities to understand customer interests and needs, optimize their store capital and adjust their stock to meet demand

today's technologies-- mobile devices, location sensors, social media, and more-- allow .....

organizations to collect time and place ("geo-referenced") data about practically any person or event geospatial analysis uses this data to build maps, graphs, statistics, and cartograms, making complex relationships understandable. representations like these can reveal historical shifts, as well as those underway today

going forward, GA

physical stores aren't going away. mckinsey estimate that in-store sales will still make up 75-85% of retail sales in 2025 going to click-to-bricks strategy is a must. "advances in data and analytics can help a retailer quantify both a store's halo effect (positive) and its cannibalization effect (negative) --> dont want online store to be competing with your physical store. in other words, how a store's existence influences the performance of the retailers other sales channels by harnessing the power of GA, retailers can capture the omnichannel customer-- which, could soon be the only kind of customer there is

informational content of promotions

promotions also serve to inform consumers about a product. this can lead to additional purchases for example: an end-of-aisle display gets a product noticed

retailers use advanced geospatial analytics to

quantify the true economic value of each of their stores across channels.

analyzing both time and space analytics enables retailers to

see another later of patterns and trends in data which can help develop a more complete picture of their retail organization and distribution

Simple communication Edward Everett vs Abraham Lincoln

simple communication is best (speech, summarized)

survival tips for omnichannel

strengthen your capabilities think exponentially make the shopping experience unforgettable accompany customers on their journey prioritize efficiency

exponential organizations (ExOs)

the core notion is simple: rather than increasing human capital or physical assets, the most successful 21st-century companies leverage information and technology to achieve rapid expansion in pursuit of a "massive transformational purpose" MTP in doing so, they're able to scale their business strategies, culture, organizational frameworks and purpose at the same rate as the technology, ex: one that follows an exponential curve

Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. like the tollway trackers RFID is also being used for: Race timing Product tracking Animal ID Libraries Tracking children Identify humans at checkpoints/hospitals/etc

traditional channel vs omnichannel

traditionally, the consumer decision journey has been presented in the shape of a funnel, in which the options narrow the closer you get to the point of purchase today, as soon as you express an interest and start weighing your options, rather than narrowing down, the choice sets open up and go extremely wide. the journey only closes with the purchase

want and needs

turn a want into a need (in the minds of consumers)

make analytics insights more engaging

when events and trends are seen within the context of recognizable maps, they're easier to understand-- and act upon

Strategy vs. Tactics

• Strategy dictates everything you do. • Tactics (social media, retailing, sales, etc) are irrelevant if you don't have the correct strategy.