Marketing
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Brand Storytelling: Your Customer Is the Hero. Be the Guide.
Stop having heroes. Be one. For someone else. I want to dispel a myth about heroes. Heroes aren’t necessarily super. They’re people. People like you and me. And this matters because the way we think about heroes shapes the stories we tell—and the roles we ask other people to play in them. The hero isn’t you. It’s them. Heroes are often thought of as courageous, strong, and exceptional. That isn’t wrong. But for those of us raised on Hollywood superheroes, this is only one version of the story. The extraordinary, deeply flawed hero—Batman, Supergirl, or the protagonist of the latest Marvel movie—takes it upon themselves, sometimes with the help of…
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Influence and Media: How Ideas Break Through
Influence is the art of moving people toward an idea. Think of TED’s tagline: “Ideas worth spreading.” That’s the point. Ideas are the currency of influence. But influence only matters when an idea eventually becomes something more. Someone believes it. Shares it. Supports it. Acts on it. And getting people to act, most of all, is the work of leadership. Ideas Have to Move Before thoughts can become actions, ideas have to be communicated. Communication is essential. But it isn’t enough. It needs media. Influence is the art of moving people toward an idea, and media is the means of moving that idea to them. Media is the car and…
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Attention in Marketing: What Matters Most?
Why are you posting on social media? For attention. And that makes sense. There’s both a strategic and psychological advantage to earning someone’s attention. Attention is an act of focused giving: for a few seconds, someone may choose your message over everything else competing for them. And without it, your message—whatever it may be—evaporates without impact. So, yeah: go after attention. But there’s a catch. Attention requires exposure You can’t have attention without exposure first. My apologies, Bill. Posting creates the opportunity for exposure. It gets you into the environment. It gives someone the chance to encounter your idea. But exposure is weak on its own. Because we’re exposed to…
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How to improve your content strategy
One tweak to improve your content strategy Many companies send emails as a piece of their content strategy. But many of these same companies don’t seem to consider their content strategy before marketing. Marketing, unfortunately, tends to come first – and then sales quickly thereafter. Of course, these two strategies aren’t mutually exclusive. They go hand-in-hand. But tell me, is your content strategy playing third-string to your marketing and sales efforts? I’m wiling to bet that without a clear content strategy, your engagement rate is lower than you’d like. And if your numbers are low, here’s a quick way to improve them. Take Amazon Prime Video’s content, for example… When…
