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09 Dec 09

Interview: Barry Schwartz, author, "The Paradox of Choice" - Good Experience

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choice ecommerce conversion sales marketing books interview

People can't ignore options - they have to pay attention to them. If they make a choice, is there another choice would have been better? There's more effort put into making decisions, and less in enjoying them. What's nagging is the possibility that, if they had chosen differently, they could have gotten something better.
e-commerce sites should be designed so that the complexity is hidden, so that people who really care, or know a lot, can find their way to the complexity, and the rest of us who can't be bothered to find it, won't have to. That's how software, websites, and retail stores should be designed.
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- The result is that you look at 20 and buy none. But what if Amazon did a simple experiment of not showing 20 books, but only the top five? You can always click to the next screen and see more. My prediction is that if you reduce the choice set, you increase the number of books sold.
- Most importantly, learn that "good enough is good enough." It's what I call "satisficing" in the book. You don't need the best; probably never do. On rare occasions it's worth struggling to find the best. But generally it makes life simpler if you settle with "good enough."

04 Dec 09

MOO.com | The story behind the Perch MiniCards

Perch ordered some new MiniCards, with unique discount codes on the front where the photo normally goes. They wrote some software to generate the codes, and output an XML file that they then “mail merged” into their images using the Data-Driven Graphics tool in Adobe Fireworks. This created 100 unique images for each batch of MiniCards, which they then uploaded as part of each order.

www.moo.com/...ory-behind-the-perch-minicards - Preview

moo.com business cards perch marketing conversion tracking

Perch ordered some new MiniCards, with unique discount codes on the front where the photo normally goes. They wrote some software to generate the codes, and output an XML file that they then “mail merged” into their images using the Data-Driven Graphics tool in Adobe Fireworks. This created 100 unique images for each batch of MiniCards, which they then uploaded as part of each order.

On Self-Promotion – Jeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report

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self promotion marketing

03 Dec 09

The Single Most Important Marketing Tactic Ever Devised - Team Nimbus West

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marketing cornerstone

The most important marketing tactic ever devised is also the simplest.
Make a list of everyone you know.
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- Once you have your list made, divide it into two categories – potential clients and potential gate openers (people who can refer to me).
- Assemble your top 100 potential clients and gate openers and commit to call two of them every day and say hello – no agenda. Build the relationships and do business after it’s appropriate.

29 Nov 09

Strategic Collaborations: A Powerful Way to Promote Yourself

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marketing relationships promotion

collaboration with others will benefit you in ways that go beyond what you can do on your own. Think about it. Each involved party comes with their own established audience, reputation, brand, networks and strengths.

22 Nov 09

Essential Marketing Principle: Give Before You Try to Get

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marketing dosh dosh value sales

They don’t want to be lied to. That’s why they are hesitant to believe what you say or claim. They don’t want their feelings to be exploited.
There is a fool-proof way to get people to lower their defenses and commit. You just need to manage their impressions of you. You need to change what they think about what you’re doing.
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- Give them helpful free content. Give them answers to their questions. Give them a freebie. Point them to tools they need and things they should know. Give them tips they can instantly use in their lives/business. Give them pleasant surprises. Give them interaction. Give them promises you can keep. Develop a history of giving. Be known as a giver.

The Most Powerful Way to Presell Any Product or Service

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sales marketing copywriting conversion dosh dosh

11 Ways to Influence People Online and Make Them Take Action

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marketing influence storytelling sales call to action cornerstone

Influence can be defined as the power exerted over the minds and behavior of others.
When deciding to make a purchase, we often influenced by how fast we can have the product (gratification). In an experiment participants were asked to choose between getting $5 now or $40 at a later date. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reports show that when they thought about waiting, the new brain or pre-frontal cortex was activated.
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- When they thought about getting the money right away, the mid brain lit up. This shows that the emotional mid brain is aroused when people think of getting something rewarding right away. You can take advantage of this even if you’re not selling a digital product or something that ships the next day. You can activate the same emotional triggers by using words like ‘instantly’, ‘immediately’ or ‘fast’ to engage the mid-brain.
- When something has a limited amount to it, its assumed value increases. We will want it even more. Make your product/offering limited by showing a limited stock quantity or limited time frame.
- I’ve seen some marketers combine scarcity with exclusivity by restricting access to a limited number of people.
- When someone gives you something, it triggers a sensation of indebtedness, which you will unconsciously want to get rid of by giving something back. Create this feeling of indebtedness in your visitor’s mind. You can give away things like free product add-ons, free guidebooks, free content, free downloads, free shipping etc.
- Use pictures of food on your webpages, it instantly attracts the attention of the old brain.
- While people think they prefer many choices, the numerous options available often lead to decision paralysis. Too much choice may cause your visitor to not take any action at all. The Paradox of Choice is a fantastic book which examines this issue in much greater detail.
- My solution is to simply choose for your visitor. For example, certain products could be moved into a ‘Editor’s choice’ or ‘Most recommended’ or ‘Top 3 choices’ list which is then displayed prominently on your site.
- Our brain has a unconscious fear of losing and we’ll make decisions to avoid loss, especially when we feel the loss will be painful or disadvantageous. This fear of losing can be activated by bundled products/services. This means that instead of allowing visitors to select the core product first and then choose addons, you promote a product bundle and then allow them to subtract items from their final order. Subtracting is akin to ‘losing’ something.
- People are more likely to take action after they’ve made a small commitment first. This is because a small commitment activates a persona which the person will seek to maintain with future decisions.
- Use images of attractive people who are similar to your target market’s demographic profile. People are most influenced by people they deem to be both attractive and similar to them.

17 Nov 09

How To "Add Value" - Servant of Chaos

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value marketing slideshare

In the world of marketing, there is also a lot of talk about “adding value”. But what does this mean? What are the practical steps that we can take to deliver this "value" to our clients?

15 Nov 09

Before you can truly talk about Change Management, you have to focus on achieving clear vision « The BrandBuilder Blog

Olivier talks about how working with a company on their brand requires a clear vision of where they want to be within 1, 2, 5, 10 years.

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business sales marketing branding goals strategy plan brand builder

Don’t sell change. Ever. Instead, sell results. That’s what execs really want anyway
What’s important here isn’t to sell change. Nobody likes change. It’s scary, it’s risky, it’s unpredictable. You’ll never get very far selling fear, risk and uncertainty. Especially to that crowd. So you have to approach change from a very different angle: From the end result. From what they actually want to accomplish.
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- You would be amazed how many CEOs have absolutely no idea where they really want to be in 5 years.
- Work your way backwards from that. What’s it going to take? Probably some key acquisitions, first and foremost. Is that even possible? Are they in a position to pull it off without risking too much exposure? Does it even make sense to try and grow that quickly? What else do they need to do? Look for strategic partnerships? Expand distribution? Capture more market share? All of the above? Okay, you have 24 months. Show me on a 24-month schedule/timeline how you currently plan to accomplish that.
- Knowing where you’re going is 90% of getting there.
- Most company execs are so focused on meeting numbers this month and this quarter that they just aren’t able to look beyond the here and now long enough to actually drive their businesses anywhere. They’re too busy reacting to the next pothole or turn ahead. By helping them see 1 year into the future, then 2, then 5, than 10, you can help them impact their numbers now, this quarter, this half, this fiscal year, by giving their performance context in relation to where they want to actually take their business.
- In the end, I can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves.
- you either find leadership teams made up of people who are willing to do whatever it takes to save and/or make their businesses kick ass, or management teams made up of people who are happy to pretend that everything is golden even though their business is either stalled or in the tank.