Looking for a better way to describe and define marketing to clients, or for your business? Well then, step into the Marketing Metaphorest w/ Jake Sanders!
The POSMarketer, musician, audio illustrator, and content strategist, mixes metaphors & marketing science, to demystify this important business development function.
In this opening episode we learn why metaphors, and why now, and then we dive into the first metaphor:
FUNNELS
Marketing is a funnel; first goal to broadly reach potential buyers with Awareness, which narrows into Consideration for a smaller group of buyers, which then shrinks into a Decision set of buyers.In regards to prioritizing budget for marketing activities, turn the funnel upside down to get a sense of how to properly fund marketing.
It seems like every book available on marketing today promises a bunch, vows to be different & useful, but then delivers little in the way of truly unique & applicable advice.
Most marketing books are tactical in nature, focusing on segments, specific channels, drilling into smaller and smaller arenas of activity, until the expertise acquired from the book is only applicable under the tightest environmental conditions….. I am now an expert in demand generation from specialized microsite SnapChat retargeting campaigns for 30-34 year old art school graduates concerned about credit liquidity, living in/around Baltimore with cat allergies.
While we are awash in advice on tactics, marketers are SUPER THIRSTY for strategic advice on how to properly employ such activities.
That’s why Byron Sharp’s “How Brands Grow” kicks every other marketing book in the shins.
Let’s jump right in with this graphic, I’ll explain Byron’s Old/New World vision as far as I can, but in the end, you have to read this book to feel it’s healing waters quench your parched marketing soul.
The book starts off like a goddamn birthday party for a creative like me – “Marketing is a creative profession and one of the main jobs is to get noticed!” — That sounds like my entire schooling history and explains why I was in trouble a lot as a kid!
Supported by mountains of evidence from the work of Ehrenberg-Bass and the IPA, Sharp details the benefits of marketing from a “new world” perspective, that is juxtaposed against an “old world,” Kotlerian (Philip Kotler) view of the profession.
The “old world” view of marketing, which many hold up as the current paragon of the profession, emphasizes segmentation, brand loyalty, and persuasion as the hallmarks of good marketing & advertising. No qualms there, right?
Zero in on loyal brand audiences who are viewing your ads in a rational capacity, teach them the messages, convince them of the uniqueness, and show them you are different and create conversations and then they will crave your marketing!
Adding technology to this only makes sense; digital ads and the concomitant surveilling opportunities, social ad stacks, A thru G intention testing capabilities, dashboards aplenty – find the exact people, at the exact location, at the exact moment, serve them the quantum slice of advertising that fits their unique persona, funnel them in, measure it all…now we’re marketing!
Sharp sees things a little differently in the “new world”….
You advertise in a crowded world and very few people pay attention to messaging, indeed, the large portion of a consumer’s purchase decision is actively ignoring a vast majority of labels to find a small set of recognizable and salient brands to make a choice from.
So the good news here – no one truly gives a shit about your UVP, USP, merits and benefits – not because these things aren’t there or meaningful to you, but because consumers just don’t even know your brand exists in the first place!
The goal of advertising is to first get noticed and then build and refresh memory structures through relevant associations, not convince an emotional and distracted audience of the rational/unique merits of a product.
Marketers build brands with advertising by getting noticed, and not just to brand loyalists, but to everyone in the category because, there is no such thing as 100% brand love.
100% loyalty is a dumb thing to quest for in marketing because consumers are brand agnostic, and metrics-wise, focusing on a smaller slice of any market segment, no matter how loyal, caps your potential for actual growth. (This is so painfully eloquent it hurts)
Huge successful brands like Coke & Dove – the majority of their buyers are not Brand Loyalists that hoard these precious brands in their underground bunkers.
No, the goal in big brand ad campaigns is to rope in Ultra-Light buyers, because that is the overwhelming majority of the brand buyers.
Meaning, 50% of all people who buy Coke, in one year, buy it once or twice.
A whopping 87% of all Dove buyers bought the brand only a few times…in five years. Take a look from this chart from “Eat Your Greens” –
That 20+ bump on the far right are the “loyal purchasers,” the Valhalla for most modern marketing strategies. And the huge bars to the left are brand buyers who bought Dove once, and the shaded bar is people who knew the brand, but did not buy it.
Look at the potential for growth here – where could it possibly come from?
Does brand growth mean getting more & more of that small bump on the right, or, does it happen by capturing a few of the category buyers with distinct, branded, salient and broad reaching marketing campaigns?
What else?
Pareto’s Law is bullshit, for the most part….
Your customers are not unique, they are your competitor’s customers.
Segmentation isn’t reflected in buyer behavior
Branding lasts – differentiation doesn’t
I could keep going but at some point you’re gonna have to cough up the money and BUY THIS BOOK!
This book is amazing for several reasons, but the most profound to me is this seemingly old school advertising advice somehow feels new.
As marketing interfaces with digital culture, we’ve become so entranced by behaviors, segments, and finding ways to hack into psychological consumer models, that we’ve left the heavy, brand lifting activity behind us in favor of whisper-thin bullshit tech fixes that have zero (or negative) consequences for the companies we work for. And so, the average lifespan for a CMO is dwindling down because from them upwards, no one has a firm grasp on what the marketing department ACTUALLY DOES IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Any other profession would see people up in arms, taking to the streets, demanding that we save our industry and jobs, hitting the books and finding answers – but in marketing & advertising today, the highest-rewarded minds are working on CTRs, synthesizing personas and research, making apps that are more addictive than the last; all focused on creating smaller and smaller pools of loyalty in an ever-expanding desert of consumer interest.
A time-traveling, genre-spanning, thought-leading comedy musical podcast experience about marketing, sales, and ROI, that’s sure to enchant anyone in business that’s ever asked, “RO-Why are we doing this?”
STRAP LINE
“If you’re living life by the measurements, you’ll never do something for the hell of it!”
The Trailer
BASIC IDEA
A musical audio drama, in which, the leadership staff of a fictitious company, after a journey of transformation, discover that investing in marketing the business isn’t about ROI, it’s about RO-Why.
The question business leaders should ask in regards to marketing & ROI is not “what will we get out of marketing,” but “why are we even doing this?”
Beyond just getting more leads & business, why choose marketing?
The WHAT of marketing, the tactics & measurements of marketing can be mishandled, misinterpreted, crammed into square holes; you want ROI, I can get you ROI.
The WHY of marketing, the strategy, is about more than a return on investments, it’s about the purpose for being in your brand’s marketplace. RO-Why.
With a marketing strategy strongly focused on WHY, the tactics, expectations, and measurements of marketing are aligned, so the way forward becomes clearly defined.
So when it comes to marketing, it’s RO-Why, before ROI. Or else, you endlessly chase more metrics that prove more things that are disconnected from the value you create and offer in your marketplace.
Deciding to start your own podcast is a great idea – or is it?
In the process of launching the LAWsome podcast for Consultwebs with Paul Julius, we learned what it takes – and it takes a lot.
The suggestions made below are based on our own research and preferences – for each suggestion, there are more expensive options, and indeed there are cheaper/shittier options – We encourage you to do your own research and find solutions that fit with your own preferences.
This outline is also ordered in a specific way –
You must first Presearch; create a powerful purpose for your podcast, ID specific/narrow audience and install business goals – before you record anything.
Then, focus on Content; what will you be saying, how will you say it, how will you pitch it? Get the words right, speak them aloud.
Then, get your image right by dialing in the Creative; logos, show art, episode art cards for social media.
Then, get all of your Sites together; figure out where it’s going to live, be distributed, connect the dots – everything short of publishing an episode.
Finally, get all the Tech and equipment you need to create, record, edit, and produce the podcast you’ve envisioned.
We did NOT do it this way, and learned in a roundabout, hit our head on the doorway, stubbed our toe in the dark kinda way.
Let this guide serve as the diving board into the pool of podcasting. And just like real swimming, the best way to learn is through experience, so, good luck!
Here are some considerations, software, tools, templates and tech that you may find helpful as you get your podcast off the ground.
PRESEARCH – Figure Out ‘Why’ First
Audience? – Narrow audience, narrow focus = loyalty, who needs this podcast?
Content? – Theme? Topics? How deep can you go on the topics, how many episodes can cover this topic?
What kind of format? – Interviews, long-form, story/chapters, product reviews, length, who is Host/Co-Host, advertising potential, will you be live-streaming, will there be video?
Competitors? – Who is doing similar? What are they offering? How can you differentiate? Can you go more narrow with your topic? Focus in on what they haven’t.
VMOSA – The Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies and Actions. COMPLETE THIS before doing anything – Learn more → HERE
Goals – Are you ultimately looking for emails, bookings, sales? Find a way to incorporate the “Ask” naturally.
CONTENT – Show format, content schedule
Show/Episode Flow & Formatting – Use Google Docs to keep a list of topics, guests, links, and show lengths to make sure you’re staying on theme.
One-Sheet – Create a one-sheet pitch for your podcast, highlight benefits/topics/themes – sell the podcast – this can be sent to potential guests, advertisers, used on social, in show blogs
Content Schedule – Map out the episodes and dates for recording and distribution
Email Templates – Have prefabricated starting points for your most frequently sent emails – Interview requests, sharing requests, links – be sure the footer includes podcast logo!
ID3 Settings Template – For your mp3s, you’ll want to make sure the ID3 (metadata) tags are complete, so keeping a good reference of what a complete ID3 tag looks like is a good idea.
Blog Per Episode – Your site needs to be updated with every episode.
Influencer List – Research people who frequently talk about your show’s themes on social media, get with them/tag them when publishing
SITES – Destinations, Applications to Create/Distribute Podcast
Your Website – A place to send folks, collect info, update with episodes, embed LibSyn code.
Social Platforms – Twitter, FB, Pinterest? Where is your audience – ?
LibSyn – Pay to host content and distribute to major platforms, ensure ID3 tags (metadata that explains the file on the web and connects back to you) are complete.
iTunes Podcast Connect – Submit your LibSyn RSS feed to iTunes, refresh, some analytics – Only takes a day or so to submit, make sure you are ready to Publish before submitting to iTunes
Google Docs – A place to create show notes, links for guests, collect art/logos/episode cards,
Calendly – To schedule interviews
CREATIVE – Podcast brand/logo/show art
Canva.com – Image editor, visual content engine – online, quick, easy to use and provides templates!
Show Logo – review iTunes podcast art, create similar – 3000 x 3000 px –
Social Platform Art – Banners, right-sized art cards for distribution
Episode Art Cards – Social posts that feature the episode art, logo, features of the episode, visual banners for iTunes and GooglePlay –
Follow LibSyn FAQs – Art requirements (size, file type) will be explained in LibSyn to ensure that all your logos, wallpapers and backgrounds will look good.
TECH – Running a radio station
Microphone – Audio Technica AT2035 Condenser
Stand – On-Stage Stands MS7701B Tripod Microphone Stand – Mic needs to be free-standing, not on desk.
Pop-Filter – Prevent the “pffs” and unnecessary mouth noises
Mic Baffle – Deaden the room sound.
Closed-ear headphones – Sennheiser HD 280 Pro – closed-ear contains audio bleed from headphones better
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) – Audio editing platform to edit show, add music, etc – Audacity, Logic, Garageband – YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO EDIT WAVEFORMS – how to maintain audio levels with compression and other mastering tools, and how to export MONO mp3s.
Audio HiJack – A program that allows you to capture audio from either specific applications like Skype, or your entire computer, then export as mp3 and edit in your DAW.
Skype – For interviews or audio access to guests, including options for video, Skype is the way to go.
Original Music – You’ll want a theme and music that is distinct to your show – HIRE A COMPOSER – or, find royalty-free music and be sure to credit musicians and composers/links to their work.
Total cost for Tech investments → $500+
So that’s it then…..?
Not quite.
The two main ingredients to a podcast, or any successful content marketing idea, are CONSISTENCY and TONE.
Be consistent or be forgotten.
We all have awesome ideas, passionate ones. But passion doesn’t scale.
When you set out for this endeavor, think romance, not passion. Make sure you have a deep well of topics and ideas you can drink from regularly and for a long while.
Podcasting is a performance art.
Don’t think for one second that a podcast is “just talking.” Your podcast is here to perform, and the hosts better deliver because the competition isn’t the next business in your vertical, it’s the New York Times, or WNYC, or Serial, or any other high-quality audio experience up for grabs in the marketplace of podcasts.
Speaking in public or on record is an art with artistic tools like rhetoric, grammar, colloquial flourishes, inflections, and melody. If you are still thinking of doing a podcast, consider the entertainment quality of your hosts and ensure they are ready to deliver a performance with each and every episode
In Conclusion….
If you have any questions about your podcast, or are interested to learn more, let’s connect here on LinkedIn.
POSMarketing 