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Marketing When People Ignore Marketing How to be heard AND believed by your prospects © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Before we get started… Increase profits Increase sales Increase marketing ROI Increase conversion rates Increase lead quality Increase response rates Increase traffic Principles of Persuasion © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. A Growing Problem • Reaching and persuading people is harder than ever – Access to information – Consumer mistrust – Marketing clutter – Media fragmentation – Micro-niches • Generalist = Charlatan © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. A Growing Problem • Marketers are misplacing their focus on refining tactics before first refining their message. • NEW NEWS: The message is more important than the medium © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Marketing Physics Marketing success – moving prospects to action - hinges on three high-level communication principles. © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Principle #1: Overt Benefit • Old news: Sell benefits – not features • NEW NEWS: The benefit must be overt – More is not better • (2 max) – People must “get it” quickly • 10 words or less © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Overtness 101 • Why did you get into the business? – Straight talk wins. No BS. – Be specific. No generic promises. – Offer rational OR emotional benefits – not both. – Narrow your audience. Focus = credibility – It rarely pays to be clever. – Beware of assuming knowledge © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Overtness 101 • Beware of the 7 Deadly Claims: – “Superior Customer Service” – “Easy to Use” – “Most Experienced” – “We’re #1” – “100% Risk-Free” – “Cutting Edge” – “Best Value” © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Principle #2: Reason to Believe • Benefits are almost useless without addressing HOW will you make good on your promise? • More is better. Especially online and on infomercials. © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Building Believability • 5 proven strategies to communicating reasons to believe: – Kitchen logic – Personal experience (the demo) – Pedigree – Testimonial (friends are best) – Guarantee © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Building Believability • TIP: Score your reasons vs. your competition – Break from the industry norms. The more a strategy is used, the less credible it becomes. • TIP: Anything unique about your development/production process offers a potential reason to believe. • TIP: Don’t let sloppiness kill your credibility. • TIP: Admit a weakness. © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Principle #3: Dramatic Difference • NEW NEWS: For uniqueness to be compelling, it must be dramatic and related to your overt benefit. • Without uniqueness, you have a commodity. And price will be the deciding factor. – Is there a meaningful difference vs. existing options? – Is it worth the price? © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. What Should You Do? • STOP focusing on marketing tactics first • STOP working against the laws of marketing physics – Narrowly define your target – Identify and focus on your most compelling benefit – Triple your reasons to believe • Cultivate empathy for your prospects © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. What Should You Do? • Write your copy as though you’re speaking to a single person – Use active not passive voice – Be specific and concrete – Be authentic and candid • About Us: Present the real company © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. What Should You Do? • Proof your copy and test your site • Hire a great designer • Simplify your customer policies – Take some risk • Give them something to talk about – A remarkable experience • Give customers a voice (user reviews) – Publish some negative remarks along with the positive © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved. Thank You Tom Blue Managing Partner (804) 400-4953 [email protected] www.MarketingRevisited.com © Copyright 2008 Accelerated Growth Partners, LLC All rights reserved.