Think Fast: What makes you better when others do it, too?

This is important. Take two more seconds. 

Let’s say you’re pitching an idea and receive the question above. You want to land your answer with 100% validity.   

Tip: Showcase at least two of the following attributes and all three if possible : 

1. IP. This can be a design, technique, formula, defensible patent, trademark, copyright, model, data set, code, and/or process that allows you to deliver what others cannot. Your special sauce. You want to be more than the best in an existing category. You want to be the only person or business that does what you do. 

2. A valued product or service in a high-demand space. You have the ability to generate results unique to your competitor set. Think: How is what you’re marketing more capable, nimble, accurate, powerful, customer-focused, and/or equipped to operate at scale? How do you see the world differently? While it’s OK to mention price, your answer should show how you’re competing on value.

3. Relevant experience. You have a portfolio of evidence. Everyone does. If it’s not dense, at least you have a track record in something. Translate your something into a compelling reason to believe. If you’ve won before, show me how you’re positioned to win now.  

An playful example: At Acme Amalgamated, we help commuters save time and energy. We are the only company to harness clean hydrogen power for lightweight jetpacks. Our patented design was developed by NASA engineers with a track record of safely launching and landing small rocket-powered vehicles navigated by humans. We are early stage and have already cut our customers’ average commute time by 50%. Our product is selling fast and at a price point similar to e-bikes. (Note: This paragraph was not generated by ChatGPT. The fictitious jetpack thing is mine.) 

Your answer: Write it, draw it, unpack it, repack it, take it for a walk.

The prep exercise to identify and express your business or individual IP, value, and relevant experience tends to be harder than it looks. Most people struggle with it - including those who claim they don’t. It’s OK! And it’s OK to revise it based upon new breakthroughs and evidence. 

Remember: You’re not generating revenue for being average. If you are, then it won’t last long and you’ll need to consult Tips 1-3 above.  

This elevator is going one floor

Of course there’s more you could say. Anyone and many bots can generate words. There’s just no time. This is about putting in the hard thinking to say what must be said *in your unique voice*. 

Then saying it.

Start with the end in mind. And other tips for marketing and content success.

I want you to hit your target. To do it, you’ll need to think and act more strategically than ever before.

Here’s a voice-over of a short .ppt presentation on how to make the most of content for brand and product marketing.

How I made this:

• By recording presentation audio in FCPX using a Blue Snowball microphone.

• Then using QuickTime to record the accompanying video of the .ppt presentation. The reason I recorded audio and video separately was so ensure slide transitions were accurately timed.

• I then uploaded the .mov presentation recording to FCPX.

• Then combined the audio and video files in FCPX. Seamless.

• Then uploaded the video to vimeo.

• Production time: 25 minutes.

Back soon.

Working to code: A punch list for delivering the goods

If you’re going to compete over the long haul, then you’ll need a plan. Your plan will need a foundation. And your foundation - like a construction project - must be built to code.

You are responsible for your code and whether or not you have a code. As you might gather, I’m a fan.  

When you review work, judge your process and results against your code. Did it hold up? What could have gone better? Were expectations exceeded or did they fall short? Are modifications necessary?   

You have license over your code. It exists for you and your team. It may be pragmatic, aspirational, or both.

When I look at my code for MoreBetterNow, I see a path to success in marketing and strategy. Your code may be engineering-related, or support goals for finance, HR, operations, or any other set of tasks requiring focused attention and a quest.    

• It’s 5:30am and pitch dark. first point: ☑️ 

• Sent this post into the wild: last point: ☑️ 

• All others tracking to plan. 

Forward ->

*Inspiration: Tom Sachs and his Ten Bullets.   

Questions change everything: Reframe how you think about your expertise

As a form of professional introduction, common practice is to recite what you do and have done. For example, ‘I’m an architect,’ or ‘I designed the new addition to the Guggenheim.’ Data points that are helpful but don’t address evolving needs of the here-and-now.

Consider supplementing your self-description with questions you enjoy answering. These may be questions you’ve recently fielded or that are top of mind among your target audience.   

Even if you don’t publicize your questions, compiling a list is a useful exercise because it adds relatability to how you think about your work. It forces you to walk in the shoes of your customers and begs critique of whether or not your answers are valid responses to questions that matter today. It makes you think ahead and not get bogged down in history. (Note this is a technique that’s applicable at the brand, product, or individual level.)  

Here’s an example list for MoreBetterNow, where my target audience is marketing and communication leaders: 

• How can we convey our brand promise across channels and formats?

• What is an accurate, data-driven, and easy-to-understand way to communicate our value prop?

• How can I get a content marketing program off the ground (or turned around) fast?

• How can I implement a customer evidence program that reinforces our integrated marketing strategy? 

• Where can we lead the market on customer-first ideas and research? 

• Where’s the point of tension I need to address in my marketing - and what’s the best way to resolve it?

• How can I equip my sales and marketing teams with the content they need for each stage of the customer journey?

• How can I ensure our PR and AR incorporate our core messages?

• What are the highest-impact metrics in our business model and how can I show colleagues and partners what they mean? 

• And more…

We’re as original as the questions we ask and are prepared to answer. I’ve found the sooner I can embrace new questions, the more thoroughly I can listen for follow-up questions. And the more resonant my answers will be. 

Shall we begin? 

Back soon. 

A one slide conversation starter

For when time is short and you can’t run long.

The goal of a one-slider (or -pager) is to help audiences ‘get’ what you do in a single glance. It’s not to go deep. That’s for a separate deck or doc and should also be elaborated upon via your web properties.

Here’s an example for MoreBetterNow. You may recognize many of the themes from other blog posts and content on this site.

A one-slider may be applicable for products, services, or entire businesses. Give it a try. I think you’ll find the process valuable. I made mine using Canva and plan to update it over time.

It’s OK if assembling your one-slider isn’t easy. It’s less OK if you pass on doing it because it’s too tough.

May your icon options be abundant and true.

Large font data: A shorthand model for fast answers and sticky stories

As mentioned in my August 9 post, Not your accomplishments, your story, I keep a list of the most clarifying questions I’ve asked and been asked during marketing and strategy interviews. Questions that reveal insights, ideas, and the person behind the profile. I occasionally answer (or re-answer) some of those questions for myself. 

Today I’ll unpack a favorite you might also find helpful.  

Q: What market-driven data point is fascinating to you? 

This is a request for a headline number, or what I commonly refer to as LARGE FONT DATA. It communicates to the reader, listener, or viewer a simple request: If you take away one piece of information from my story, make it this. I want this to stick. 

Large font data does not need to be one data point, though for the sake of audience retention, it’s best to include no more than three. You just need to have one.  

If a candidate gazes upward for divine inspiration, then I’m concerned. If I don’t have an informed number on a critical topic, then I’m even more concerned.  

First the big numbers

I advise companies on how to grow revenue and earn customer love, so when I see a data point like ‘61% of CMOs lack the in-house capabilities to deliver on their strategy,’ I consider the source and write it down. (source: Gartner). To me, 61% is a valid number that will lead to other indicators of where help may be welcome. In my business model, it’s worth a large font.  

Additional examples of large font data include market share, market growth, latent demand, pace of adoption, customer satisfaction, cost/per metrics, and many others.

The key is to have a large font number for your space, regardless of what your space might be. 

Then the opportunities

Large font data cannot exist in isolation. It must be supported by facts that accrue value to the original point. Otherwise it’s a random number.

For example, if just 39% of CMOs have the in-house capabilities they need, what do they need most and where are they likely to find it? This is where we connect the data dots. In the same report, I learned which categories are the highest priority (analytics, customer experience, and martech). It’s like following breadcrumbs.

While one valid data source is good, more are better. By cross-checking additional reports, I learned how few marketers (42% of B2C and 41% of B2B) have a documented content strategy and that quality is the number one contributor to content success (source: semrush). This is all transpiring within the context of a 90% reinvestment rate in content channels (source: hubspot). 

Considering the role of content in capitalizing on analytics, customer experience, and martech, it’s a short walk from one large font data point to supporting points that are nearly as large. To opportunities that are win-win.  

Based upon the example above, many CMOs are under-optimizing their content strategy and as a result missing chances to achieve their highest priorities. It’s a talking point that’s tangible and relevant to my business. I could use large font data to share this takeaway in under twenty seconds and another twenty to spark a follow-up conversation. 

You should be able to do the same with yours. 

Large font data is an entry point for stories 

If you’re going to identify openings and tell a story that sticks, then you’re going to need large font data. The more surprising your data and the better you’re able to layer it, the more likely you’ll grab your audience’s attention. And the more attention you grab, the more credible and energetic your conversations will be. 

Tip: Think large and repeat. 

More soon.

Priority one: Don’t be boring. (OK, but how?)

Boring marketing happens. I’d rather it not happen to you. 

First, a personal note:   

I’ve had brushes with boring. Most were early in my career, when I felt boxed in, self-sequestered by convention. I pushed a little here and there, enough to leave an imprint but not enough to break molds. It’s an explanation, not an excuse. I learned from it.  

My model for boring/not boring is simple: invest in not boring and chances are the risk will be worth the return. Still it needs to be the right kind of not boring. I’ll elaborate. 

If you’re a marketer on point for content, campaigns, communications, customer stories - any form of inbound or outbound marketing -  the goal of not boring is incremental sales and long-term brand equity relative to your peers. There’s $$ in it; e.g. the ‘Return’ in the graphic above. And the cost of boring: invisibility + low returns. The choice is more in your court than you might think.   

*****

Ten bullets x 2

What’s boring:

1. Copying the style of others. Not only is this creatively underwhelming, it’s a vote of no-confidence in yourself and your team. Borrow selectively (every artist does); copy, no. There’s a difference and once you’ve told enough stories and engaged enough audiences, you’ll get it. Your customers already do.

2. Not having a style of your own. This is almost as painful as point (1). Unless you’re expressing a distinct attitude, you will fade into the background. Beige on beige is bad for profits.    

3. Not sharing new ideas. You will never expand your possibilities unless you reach out. Take your work for a walk among critical thinkers and risk the consequences. Most people won’t do this. Just think: You are not most people.   

4. Underdelivering. Not pushing your work to be distinct. Unless you search around each corner and think through every scenario with excellence as your intent, you’re underdelivering. Hard truth.  

5. Making life difficult on buyers and users; e.g. not being helpful. I see this all the time. Dear brand, Why are you sending me on a treasure hunt? If your communications aren’t making decisions easier for your target audience, they should be rewritten. Signal, always signal.

6. Regurgitating old material. Don’t be a one-hit wonder. Consider: Am I rocking this like Amadeus for the 1,100th time? If so, please pause and return at a later date. (That’s a Falco reference, BTW.)      

7. Me, me, me. A vapid technique often employed by companies who are starved for anything at all to say. Shine a spotlight on your customers and not yourself. It’s far more flattering.   

8. Features. I’m sure they’re awesome. But if you can’t tell your audience why your features are important and how they’ll solve a problem (in a measurable way), then they won’t move the needle.

9. Theoretical benefits. I’d rather not have to guess if your marketing is sending me to the fiction or nonfiction section. Make your offer true, tangible, achievable by me. In the digital world, anyone can say anything and they often do. Please make your claims real.   

10. Phoning it in by not innovating in formats and channels. Every hour, every day the market is moving. If you’re not meeting your audiences where, when, and how they’re hanging out, then it’s like you’re showing up for a costume party at the same time and address as last year when this year the party is black tie and a week later at a location a mile away. 

What’s not boring: 

1. Having a distinct point of view. This often begins with a fresh discovery or placing a new creative lens on an old conflict. You want to change the status quo, not uphold it and become a commodity.    

2. Creating your own unmatched style. When you enter a room (real or virtual), there should be no mistaking you for anyone else. Warning: If you’re good, expect imitation and do everything you can to remain one step ahead of it.  

3. Digging for new insights. Push the envelope. Even if you don’t find what you hoped to find or if the idea you thought had potential instead landed like a lead balloon, then at least you learned something. Fortune does not favor the timid because timid is boring.  

4. Overdelivering. Provide value in every exchange. Make me want to read what you write, watch what you produce, listen to what you have to say because it’s more than what anyone else in your field has considered let alone shared. Be very not normal here. 

5. Living on the path your customers travel. Internalize their problems, speak their language and regard it as poetry. If not, they will tune you out and chalk you up as …. zzzzz.   

6. Helping buyers and users of your product or service. They are under pressure to make effective decisions - for themselves, their team, company, and/or family. If they’re interested in you, assume they’ll give you twenty seconds (a generous estimate) to determine if learning more will be good for them. Point your audience to proven payoffs and don’t distract them with outdated or irrelevant material. Note this will require discarding content and concepts you might like but others don’t find helpful. Keep the helpful stuff and only the helpful stuff.  

7. Your customers, your customers, your customers. This is good old-fashioned respect. You exist for your customers and they will always be your best form of PR and advertising. And they’re never boring.

8. Validated benefits. Let's see them and illustrate how they came to be. Wrap them in authenticity. Communicate them in large font (so I don’t have to hunt for them) and update regularly.  

9. Being open and candid. Vulnerable. Because life is messy and the best way to hold an audience’s attention is to let them in. When you do, you make it worth their time and strike boredom from the equation.    

10. Taking chances. I saved this for #10 even though it’s the red thread of today’s post. If you’re not in an organization that encourages chances and know what to do with the chances worth taking, then you’re not growing. And if you’re not growing, then you’re not on the road to work that will get noticed. I want you to get noticed.

*****

I think the world counts on each of us in unique ways. Deliver your ideas with inimitable style, commitment, and conscientiousness and I promise you won’t be boring. Even better, you’ll be fully alive.  

Organizing principle No. 1 : A pyramid of marketing communications excellence. Because I want you to deliver awesome every day.

Where to start when it’s time to land an idea

All communication benefits from structure. Want to tell a memorable story? Make sure it has a beginning, middle, end, and a surprise baked in. Want to engage an audience with details on your latest widget? Be intentional. Organizing principles help. 

I’ve jotted the pyramid above on whiteboards and in slide decks, and mentioned it in conversation hundreds of times. I’ve put it to the test in my work and my team’s work. Observation proven by data: the pyramid holds up. And it holds up because it’s simple.

Caveat: I expect zero readers to faint at their standing desk upon viewing the Audience <-> Channel <-> Content (+ Why) pyramid. It’s a reinforcement not a revelation. That said, I’m accepting calls from anyone who believes their marketing communications couldn’t do a better job connecting each component.

Not theory, practice

If you’re going to transmit, receive, and convert, then you’ll need answers to questions that can be deceptively tough. Here’s a sample set for each of the pyramid’s three corners:    

• Audience: Who are you attempting to reach with your product or service and what are their motivations, wants, needs, fears, and incentives? Persona development can help here. Are you targeting buyers or users? What data do you have on engagement (brand-level) and conversions (demand-gen), demographics, psychographics, and budget? This can take time. In my experience, rushing to conclusions accelerates failure not success and teams that put more effort behind audience analysis + testing yield higher ROI.   

• Channel: What are your primary channels for reaching your target audience? How is your story likely to play out around your audience’s digital (or real-life) campfires? What do your KPIs say about whether or not you’re reaching your audience? How many versions of your story will you need to optimize every touchpoint? Pro tip: Don’t assume a great piece of content for one channel will work on others. Customize.

• Content (+ Style): What is your message or story and how are you packaging it? Does it speak to your audience’s needs? Is it differentiated? Does it convey your brand promise and character? Is it tailored to your primary channels? It can be tempting to think content before channel. I’ve tried it. However, success is channel before content and modifying content to suit your channels. Because if you can’t reach your audience with your content then your content isn’t going to be worth all that much.

Not local, global

Your communications won’t travel far without a convincing Why. Hence its position at the center of the pyramid, like the Eye of Providence.    

• Why is the reason you’re in business. Simple as that. It determines the audience you’re pursuing, the channel(s) where you can arrest their attention, and the content that will help them reach their goals. 

In practical terms, if your Why and supporting details are best showcased via long-form thought leadership or research, then hit the keyboard; if short-form videos on social media are the path to your audience’s heart, then supply and distribute accordingly; if blogs or how-to illustrations or name-your-category will convey your Why and compel action, then invest to win. And de-invest in assets that don’t perform as well. Net: Whatever you do, center your content strategy on your Why. There’s really no other way.   

I’ll use this post as an example

• Why: Because the battle for mindshare and conversions (e.g. delivering awesome) rewards those who hit the content and storytelling 🎯. 

• Audience: Senior-level brand and product marketers at fast-growing technology companies where there’s constant pressure to think strategically, reach customers in original ways, and spend wisely.  

• Channel: My blog and email list, website visitors, Medium, targeted social. This is a relatively long-form piece made for a 4-minute read rather than a 2-second (if that) glance.      

• Content: Copy + illustrations presented in an approachable style with personal references. Emphasis on pragmatic insights and explanations. Subtitles to break up the story and allow scanability on mobile devices. Not to exceed 750 words. 

Put your pyramid to work 

Test it with the knowledge that if it were easy, everyone would do it. The upside is that as far as I can tell, more should.  

Also: macro point: Keep your material as short as possible but no shorter than necessary. I’ll 🛑 here. 

Your turn 🟢.

👉 Link to additional blog posts and articles

How I think about opportunities : A diagram for optimizing investments in energy and expertise.

Success and a good professional fit require alignment of key criteria 

I’ve referenced the Venn diagram above dozens of times. Its strength: simplicity. Its challenge: knowing where to set your overlap criteria because most opportunities don’t offer it all.  

The three circles and questions worth answering: 

1. Team: Does the team consist of daring thinkers who are capable of remarkable execution at scale? What are they known for and how do they prove it? How long have they been working together? How would you characterize the team’s culture? Are they good people by the standards important to you? Every aspect of your experience will connect to this.     

2. Role: How are you expected to help the team accomplish its goal? Is this work in your wheelhouse? How important is the role to the success of the team? Is the proposed role at an ideal level relative to your skills and experience? Does the role have upside from a scope, comp, and impact perspective? Are you excited about it? To quote Steve Jobs, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”   

3. Idea: Is the core idea new and innovative or in need of resuscitation? How significant is the idea to the company’s top and bottom line? Is the idea in a growth category? Can you relate to the idea? Do you genuinely like it? In this case an idea can apply to an entire business, an org, a product or service, or an initiative. Idea-wise, I’ve had most of my fun on the frontier, not the farm.   

Add a data-driven lens 

On a scale of 1-5, rank each criteria relative to your goals and expectations. Larger numbers are better. If you’re considering multiple opportunities, compare them against one another both in total and as subsets of two. 

For example, if Project A ranks high on Team and Role but low on Idea, will it be worth your time? Will your role enable you to make the Idea more compelling? Is there a future Idea behind the current Idea that’s enough to compensate for a relatively low score? Do you anticipate the Team will continue supporting the Idea?  

Each Team + Role + Idea combination is worth evaluating. Your job is to identify the highest individual and combined scores you can because that’s where you’ll find the most overlap and add the most value. Be critical! Don’t self-rationalize by giving points away.     

This is about optimizing and not settling

Making circles is easy. Filling them in with informed perspectives gets hard. We know that for most people, a score of 15 (e.g. fully overlapping circles) isn’t possible. For you: What is and why? On a 1-5 scale, I look for totals greater than or equal to 12 with no category scoring lower than 4.   

The market is in a weird place right now. Times are getting lean. I hope you have the courage to invest wisely and the foresight to continue making long-term bets aligned with work you’re proud of.      

P.S. In case you’re wondering: 

According to Wikipedia (reliability 3.8 of 5..?), Venn diagrams were introduced in 1880 by John Venn in a paper entitled "On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Propositions and Reasonings" in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, about the different ways to represent propositions by diagrams.

Make your proposition count.

👉 Link to additional blog posts and articles 

Not your accomplishments, your story : Seventeen clarifying questions I’ve asked and been asked during marketing and strategy interviews.

Because if I’m going to share with you my most precious commodity, I’ll need to know a few things. 

1. What have been the two most significant pivots in your career? How did one lead to the other? 

2. What is a strategy recommendation you made that transformed your company for the better? 

3. What was the a.) brightest shining moment and b.) toughest time in your career?  

4. What is a business decision you’d like back and why? 

5. What is undervalued in your current business and why? Could be a skill, an asset, a tactic, or an entire value prop.  

6. What is overvalued in your current business? 

7. What market-driven data point is fascinating to you?

8. What data point in your current business is more noise than signal and vice-versa?  

9. Who was your best coach and why? 

10. Who was your worst coach and why? (No need to name names; a description will suffice.)

11. Based upon your current understanding of our business, what are three things we should consider doing differently? 

12. If I were to poll 10 people with whom you’ve worked, what would they say you do as well as anyone they know? 

13. Describe a situation that was going sideways and what you did to correct it. How did you measure success? 

14. How would you grade yourself on the most recent launch of a product or service you led? 

15. What work environment brings out the best in you? 

16. What work environment do you find challenging? 

17. What are you striving to improve and how are you making progress? 

I realize question sets are often prescriptive; e.g. one person interviews for a specific trait or skill set and another something different. That’s simple divide-and-conquer and it makes sense. 

I also realize not every question listed above will be applicable to every role in our known universe. Some interviews are more technical and time is always a limitation. Feel free to modify as you wish. I will. 

Best of luck. Not that you’ll need it but it’s nice to have.

Link to additional blog posts and articles

In less than a blink : Every test is timed. The most important are very short.

I’m an avid note-taker. Two years ago, in a 5 x 8.5 unruled hardcover notebook, I jotted the following: 

It’s a quote from Annie Leibovitz’s MasterClass.  

Study and reflect, study and reflect. Work hard to develop perspective, intuition, and the skills to have agency over what happens next. Ask questions. Because when the moment - the test - arrives, there will be no announcement and not a blink to spare. 

Stories are in the tests. Sometimes they’re great.  

Again soon. 

Link to additional blog posts and articles

Systems thinking for customer stories : Want to land best-in-class stories at scale? Systems thinking helps.

Excellent or meh, every brand has customer stories. Trouble is, most stories lack scale because they don’t begin with the end in mind. They deliver opportunistically and piece-by-piece rather than strategically and start-to-finish. 

This is a post about stories but systems thinking sounds so left brain. What gives?  

Effective storytelling is a right brain act that benefits from left brain structure. Lacking structure, a story will wander and leave audiences wishing they could turn back time. Similarly, a shortage of systems thinking will limit the reach of evidence (a.k.a. stories) that can win more business.

You want customer stories to land, expand, and drive results, not ship then drift aimlessly. Think right and left brain: creativity and structure: better together.

Connect your brand strategy to customer experiences to story production and distribution. Connect them like they’re supposed to work together and fix them where they don’t. Then you’ll have a system. With any luck and a little skill, the system will reward you. It will turn your stories into competitive currency by making your one plus one - your stories and how you land them - greater than two. 

Observation

Systems thinking requires energy because collaboration and connections require energy. I’ve worked with teams where bringing it was a way of life. We worked holistically and outperformed. It wasn’t magic. It also wasn’t easy and didn’t happen overnight. I’ve also worked with teams that collapsed under disjointed processes and struggled to deliver. The standout difference between the two: commitment.

Implementing a system

Get prepared for storytelling greatness with the following questions. I recommend revisiting them on a semi-annual basis. 

• What are your goals and how do they support your business? Be specific. For example, if you’re driving demand, then how many and which types of stories will you need and over what period of time? 

• What do you have resources and expertise to deliver and why? Can creative or production partners help? 

• Who are your target audiences, why are they important, and what are they seeking from your brand? 

• Are you in a complex domain where long-form stories are needed, or does short-form rule the day? How do you know? 

• Do you need video stories, written stories, or both? Where’s the awareness, interest, and conversion value in each? What are the differences in production costs and time?   

• How many channels are you operating in? Why? To what extent does each channel require unique skills? 

• Who are your reviewers and contributors and editors? Are they prepared for the volume and variety of stories your team aims to produce?   

• How do you connect with your customers on a personal level and how can you make them want to work with you? 

• What are your sources of funding? How many stories do you have time and budget to tell?

• What tech do you need to organize, prioritize, produce, store, and distribute your work? 

• What processes have worked for you in the past? Which are worth repeating and which should be relegated to the dustbin? 

• What’s on your performance dashboard and is everyone moving in lock step? 

• …and more. In short, lay it all on the table and record your answers. Then share your answers with your org. By soliciting feedback, you’ll invite others to participate and help your system scale.

Here’s a graphic

It’s one of hundreds on the topic of systems thinking. Mine centers on the essentials for delivering customer stories at scale. With a few modifications, I can insert brand stories or product stories and many others. I can also dive into each individual category and generate layer after layer of detail and use systems thinking as a cross-team collaboration principle.

I’ve chosen a honeycomb because honeycombs are the most scientifically efficient packing shape. (Source: the internet) 

View fullsize

I realize the font is bee-level. Hopefully you can magnify as needed. Key takeaway: execute holistically and harvest the benefits.

Start-to-finish

• Systems thinking is about leveraging creativity not limiting it. It’s not easy but with some critical thinking and commitment, it doesn’t need to be hard.

• It’s how to give stories the airtime and reach they deserve.

• It applies to companies of all sizes.  

• If you don’t showcase your customers, who will?  

Gotta buzz. (Yeah.) Back soon.

Link to additional blog posts and articles

Shorten up : When things go sideways as they sometimes will, return to the basics. They’ll keep you in the game. (I know you know this, but do you practice it?)

This is an intentionally short post

Competitors in every arena have a tendency to get fancy. To adorn their thoughts and movements with bling and as a consequence make their path to success more complicated than necessary.

Keep your margin for error small

When marketing misses the mark, it’s often when brands attempt to accomplish too much before their audiences are ready and/or before they’ve accurately identified the problem they’re solving. Another feature here and benefit there, then one more because why not (?) and in a snap they’ve lost their organizing principle and their message has spun out of control. They’ve widened their margin for error by introducing movements that increase risk but not the probability of achieving a high ROI or CLV.  

It’s similar to a long backswing in golf or tennis, when a player adds complexity in the name of progress and ends up spraying the ball in unintended directions. When this happens to me (and it has happened more than once), I shorten up by eliminating every movement that doesn’t accrue to hitting a solid shot. I ditch the bling and narrow the focus.

Here’s how I think about it with my teams

We give ambitious new concepts a try, extend when they work and shorten up when they don’t. Over time the shortening up gets shorter and less pronounced, the fine-tuning more fine. The tweaks you need to nail the shot/campaign/strategy become smaller and smaller, inline with your unconscious competence. The process accelerates success because you’re working smarter and taking intelligent chances. You’re managing your margin for error while at the same time driving positive change.  

Three reasons shortening up is a path to growth    

1. Remember: the longer the backswing, the bigger the (potential) whiff. That’s physics. Manage your risk-return profile (e.g. your budget vs your ROI benchmark) with savvy and adjust according to conditions. It’s effective.

2. The more straightforward (and frequently shorter) the story, the better your audience will be able to put it to work for themselves. That’s good marketing, from acquisition through retention. Inform, improve, and help. Don’t overwhelm.    

3. To win the game, stay in the game. That’s competition. Limit unforced errors and wins will follow.  

The basics: always in style, frequently nuanced, never as easy as they sound.

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Also on the blog: Sand Mode, A Brand Statement, Unstuck Shortcuts, Creative Experiments, A CLV Restart, Workshop This Way

Mindset: Problems = Opportunities : Correctly identifying a problem is the first step. The other six are also useful.

A short list of field-tested marketing and communications recos.

1. For effective marketing content and campaigns, it helps to have real-world knowledge of the business problems you’re solving and how to solve them. This combination is less common than many perceive and often accompanied by under-quantified goals; e.g. CLV, CAC, ROI, product usage, and more. In other words: go, do, try, think, measure. You’ll be glad you did.

2. Expressing solutions in easy-to-understand language is a superpower. And it takes practice. I once worked with a CEO who walked the floor rehearsing his product’s value prop every day. Genius.   

3. Strategy accelerates in proportion to its comprehensibility. The teams I’ve worked with who invested a little more upfront earned a lot more later. Others got caught in thornbushes, often because of point 1, above.

4. Have a playbook and know your audience sequences + tactics. Lacking a playbook is like doing creative work without a brief. It happens and I don’t recommend it.

5. Customers every day, all day. They speak the truth and validate whether or not the problem you think you’re solving is really the problem you’re solving. Over the course of my career I’ve pivoted, reset, rebuilt, rewritten, and reinvented mountains of work to meet evolving customer demands.  

6. You’ve gotta have an offer and an answer to How does this make my life better? How is this solving my problem? Why is it worth it? This applies to every piece of content you produce and campaign you run.    

7. Always forward. Always. Because if anyone said it would be easy they were lying.

More again soon.  

Words, words: a digital library : It has been said that not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers. I buy that.

Book recommendations can be a double-sided gift: frequently helpful though often not risk-free. (e.g. And why does she/he think I should read this..?)

Click here to visit my digital library. Best estimate is it features ~20% of the books currently occupying my shelves.  

Library contents are listed in a modified Dewey Decimal System: 

1.  Storytelling

2.  Marketing

3.  Strategy

4.  GSD and Business Stories

5.  Philosophy and the Art + Science of Success

When asked if I have any book recommendations I can now: a.) visit my own web page; and/or b.) send inquiring readers to my page. Convenience factor: 10/10. Bonus: you can do the same.

All that remains is to keep the page current. I want to believe this’ll be easy. 

Future recommendations appreciated.

Creative Experiments: A 00:30 spot for LinkedIn

Cover stories are seldom seen. I made one anyway. Here’s how.

For starters, I decided not to make my ‘Cover Story’ a talking head video. A still image of my mug is more than enough. 

My approach was to create a no-audio clip featuring personal images, supers, and a DIY graphic. The goal is to provide visitors with a summary of who I am, what I do, and brief perspective that might help them get unstuck. Spoiler: Stories add value and you should tell them more and better. 

Ingredients:

• Final Cut Pro X (my preferred video editing software)

• Canva for arrow and line graphics

• Photos

• Enough time to iterate

Constraints:

• Cover stories on LI must be < 30 seconds

• Pre-roll (e.g. the segment that autoplays upon page load) is approximately 3 seconds. I wanted to get the timing of this juuuust right: so the jump to additional content would happen after the 3 second pre-roll.   

• Vertical/portrait orientation only

Result: 

That’s it. Production time: 2 hours.

Some of you may be thinking ‘2 hours…that’s a lot of time!?’ A: not really (I know my way around FCP) and it was well-invested.  

To be clear, a Cover Story is not an act of daring. It’s just one more way to try a new software feature and be unique. Because, in the immortal words of Dr. Seuss:

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”   

And because we all have places to go.  

R&D (Research & Data): Oct 21 Ed. : 6 useful references for marketing and business pros

I keep a running list of links. Here’s a sample of numbers + insights recently uncovered or reread. If you’re into content and campaigns, I’m 99% confident you’ll find something interesting here.   

1. Salesforce: 90% of marketers report the pandemic improved data strategy via VentureBeat. Necessity is the mother of invention.

2. US Digital Ad Spending by Industry 2021 via eMarketer.  In a previous role I followed these numbers - and the global version - like a 🦅. Good refreshers on market sizing, mix, and trends. 

3. Content Marketing Statistics You Need to Know via Semrush. One way of comprehending whether or not you’re doing what your peer set are doing, too (and how well). 

4. The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2021 via Hubspot. Straight-up good to have in your back pocket: for research, context, comparisons, and strategic ideas.  

5. US consumer sentiment and behaviors during the coronavirus crisis via McKinsey. A trusted source on many topics, sales and marketing included. Plus first-class graphics. 

6. The Definitive Guide to Sales Enablement via Highspot. Blast from my professional past. Nice to see how far it has evolved.  

Now back to the lab.

A CLV restart : Eventually you’ll get stuck. It may as well be on a road to customers you want.

I like KPIs that don’t require an advanced degree to ‘get it.’ At its heart CLV says build stuff people want and don’t waste your time selling to people who aren’t going to buy as much of your stuff as other people who will. The rest is details; some dryasdust but worth sharing because the payoff is as important today as ever before.  

Heads-up: This is a tactical post and there’s a Greek symbol just around the corner. If you’d like to bail now I understand. 

What we’re dealing with

Customer. In this case your customers (plural). Hopefully you know them and how to find them and connect with them. 

Lifetime: That’s how long you want them. More realistically it’s how long, on average, you anticipate a customer will remain a customer.   

Value: The margin you’ll earn in exchange for the value you’re delivering. 

Here’s an example of a CLV formula. As any quick internet search will reveal, it’s one of many and leans technical.  

Plain English interpretation: CLV is the difference between annual customer revenue and costs (e.g. margin, the CRn - Cn) multiplied by the customer retention rate (e.g. the percentage of customers you expect will stick around, the R) compounded over time (the n) and divided by the sum of 1 (one) plus a discount rate (e.g. your expected return on investment in the business being evaluated; the riskier the business, the higher the rate), again compounded over time, the result of which is set against customer acquisition costs (CAC). Note for the more scientific: over time, each customer’s retention rate will change, as will the discount rate. Also note: CAC is often viewed as a separate calculation. I prefer including it because it provides a holistic view of customer economics.  

I know it can be a lot of math.

Alternatively, if a back-of-the-envelope calculation is preferred, then it’s worth trying this simple(r) version:  

Again in Plain English: CLV is the difference between customer revenue and costs (e.g. margin, the CRn - Cn from the previous example) multiplied by the result of the customer retention rate divided by 1 (one) plus the discount rate minus the retention rate and less customer acquisition costs.

All aboard

Treat CLV conversations like a great excuse to get your people together for a short road trip where the whole team joins the fun. Via CLV: 

• Marketers reveal who they’re targeting, why, and how much they should be willing to spend to win a customer, plus the importance of customer retention (which cannot be overstated).

• Finance can describe how the company’s risk level and budget contribute to customer growth.

• Sales illustrates the impact of marketing and product/service decisions on revenue opportunities. 

• Engineering is able to see how their hard work translates into $$.  

When you know what your customers are worth and how they value your product or service, you become more aware of how you’re helping them get unstuck, of the problem they’re paying you to solve. And you can make more strategic decisions including: what projects to fund, how to position and message, which audience(s) to prioritize, and how to more profitably build what you sell and sell what you build. Insider tip: This knowledge isn’t common.  

Use cases

The bulk of my CLV-related experience has been in SAAS businesses where ACV (Annual Contract Value) and ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) play a large role in decision-making and quarterly KPIs. That said, CLV also applies in a wide array of industries and at revenue levels of all sizes. Over the years I’ve used it in consumer tech, mobile telecoms, and elsewhere. Still I haven’t started a fan club…yet.  

Closer to the palm of your hand: Ever wonder why you see the ads you see when you’re scrolling through your social feeds? They don’t appear for artistic merit. They show up based upon who available data perceive you to be and who you might become as a margin-generating customer. The more ads you see from one brand, the more that brand is willing to spend to bring you aboard; e.g. the greater they anticipate your lifetime value will be relative to the $$ they’re spending on targeted marketing and sales. It’s an example of CLV at work.

Here’s another example: 

Customer X: Annual revenue: $100, Annual costs: $30, Retention rate: 80%, Average years: 5, Discount rate: 17%, Acquisition cost: $80

Customer Y: Annual revenue: $75, Annual costs: $25, Retention rate: 85%, Average years: 5, Discount rate: 15%, Acquisition cost: $80

Pop quiz: Which customer is more valuable? 

Ceteris paribus (e.g. all else being equal) and using the simple(r) formula illustrated above, Customer X is more valuable by ~$10. Pat yourself on the back if you guessed calculated correctly. 

Practical summary and inspiration for further research

Returning to our driving analogy, knowing how metrics work is like knowing what’s happening under the hood of your car. You can pinpoint what’s going well, what’s on the verge of breaking down, and when to pause and reassess. You can also better describe what’s happening for those who might be in position to help. It’s a simile that doesn’t rust out. (The pun police have been notified.) 

All for today

I’ll return to quant topics soon enough. Because knowledge is power and math is good to know.

In the meantime, many happy returns. 

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Other recent posts: Sand Mode, Workshop This Way ->, A Brand Statement

Workshop This Way -> : As a noun and a verb, it’s hard to outdo workshop. Here are a few thoughts on how to make the most of the noun, collected by way of the verb. I’ll clarify.

Workshop: noun, work·shop. A seminar, discussion group, or the like, that emphasizes exchange of ideas and the demonstration and application of techniques, skills, etc. Source: dictionary.com. 

Fragmented business environments and WFH trends are making workshops indispensable. Not meetings, workshops. Moments in time when blue sky thinking can occur in a zero-multitasking space. Prior to 2020, we would have referred to these as laptops-down sessions and with any luck they’ll return IRL soon. 

Without workshops, all we do is work. It’s an etymological twist. And if all we do is work, head down and shoulders tense, it’s hard to perceive whether we’re setting ourselves up for progress or getting stuck.  

Want to run a workshop? Here’s some of what you’ll need.

1. An approach. If you’re asking a team or partners to trade time with customers for time in an internal conversation - however critical it might be - then the why, how, and what of your workshop investment must be clear-cut. You’ll need an agenda, a set of roles and responsibilities, an outline of desired outputs, knowledge of who else is attending, and a menu. Yes, a menu. For morale. If the workshop you’re leading is virtual, make sure everyone has sustenance nearby even if it means sending digital coffee cards in advance. In short, show participants you care and they’ll care in return. ☕️☕️

2. An ethos. Be flexible because where you think you’re stuck isn’t necessarily where others are also stuck. Your workshop may pursue a tangent and that’s 100% OK as long as the tangent reconnects with your goals. Keeping a workshop moving while making space for perspectives - being inclusive - is what participants will remember just as much if not more than your conclusions. Inclusive in the workshop: inclusive outside the workshop. Everything else is details.

3. Tactics. Intersperse tech where you think it will add value and not distract. For example, anonymous polls inserted in slideware can be a great way to keep conversations moving. If you select this route, bear in mind there are no stone tablets commanding that all workshop polls must be business-ish. Have the confidence to infuse a little levity. I, for one, am grateful to know that my spirit animal is the arctic fox. All-up: to stimulate progress, keep the conversation moving. Find avenues for personal engagement and record learnings in the language of your audience. Use your whiteboard, the comments field in your video communications platform, and post-it notes. The more involvement you generate, the more actionable your workshop results will be.

4. Follow-up. Point out the differences between your trajectory (or lack thereof) going into your workshop and where you closed the day; e.g. we started here — 🔴 and ended here — 🟢 Make a list of tasks you’ll begin doing, keep doing, and stop doing, with accompanying next steps. Establish your next connection point before your workshop wraps, ideally within the next 7 business days. And always, always, thank your attendees. Make your next workshop a must-attend event.

Who should lead

Not everyone is equipped to lead a workshop. I’m not equipped to write code. That’s just how it is. I can’t force it and neither should you. 

Look for someone with a coach’s mentality, a person who’s comfortable speaking in front of groups, asking insightful questions, and showing their vulnerability because this will inspire others to do the same. Maybe the ideal person is inside your organization and maybe not. Maybe she or he is more junior or senior than you. Maybe they know your space deeply or maybe they don’t. Maybe it’s you! I’ve found workshops tend to work best when the person leading is acquainted with an industry or product but not so deep in the minutiae that their preconceived notions stand in the way of gritty debate. If you’re in charge, it’s your call. Either way, do your part to encourage open minds. We’re all as impactful as the questions we ask and the teamwork we stimulate.  

But first, workshop it

Workshop: verb (used with object), work·shop·ped, work·shop·ping. To experiment with different versions … often in a collaborative environment: Source: dictionary.com. 

Workshopping is one of my favorite activities because it’s impossible to know whether or not you’re stuck unless you try it. And try it repeatedly. Workshopping is taking an idea for a walk or, to offer another metaphor, sending it up the flagpole and seeing who salutes. You get the gist.   

When workshopping, seek insights and feedback from a variety of people: old friends, new friends, colleagues, family members, anyone who’ll listen. Listen for enthusiasm or skepticism, commonality of purpose, familiarity with the opportunity or problem you’re presenting and willingness to examine it. Listen for how you articulate your goal and where your story needs help. Listen for the raw materials that will make a decisive workshop.

Workshop your workshop because your workshop isn’t going to be a slapdash event (see: most brainstorms). It’s where you’ll replace the Hollywood Squares of modern collaboration with real connections. Where you’ll identify the traction needed to sprint forward together rather than one-at-a-time. Where you’ll trade stuck for forward progress.   

Time to move. Thanks for visiting. 

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Other recent posts: Sand Mode, A Brand Statement