The 8 most viewed StrategyAudit blog posts of 2018.

The 8 most viewed StrategyAudit blog posts of 2018.

Jan 5, 2019 | Leadership, Management, Marketing

 

Over 2018, the StrategyAudit blog attracted 19,948 page views from 10,568 individual visitors, about 65% of whom are repeat visitors. To me this repeat visitation is a vital number. I would rather have 1 person who demonstrates that the musings I publish are of value by returning, than  10 casual visitors who read and leave, never to return. Also important is the simple fact that on average, each visitor visited almost 2 posts. Averages are misleading, many visitors leave quickly, others engage with 2,3,sometimes 4 posts, and sign up to the feed so they do not miss further posts. It is this engagement that delivers the value to them, and is the reason I persist.

To some, 20,000 page views across a year would constitute a disaster, they get that in a week, but to others, it is a significant number. I am just pleased that the number is well up on 2017, despite the increased ‘noise’ from so called content that now infests the web.  

These numbers are in addition to  the thousands of views that occur from second party platforms, most often LinkedIn. These are valuable, but long term digital marketing success is dependent on the quality of your own digital ‘homebase’ where you control the rules. For example, back in August, LinkedIn changed their algorithm, and the visitors from LinkedIn halved overnight, and the geography changed from 75% Australia, where there is some potential return for me from the effort of writing the posts, to 75% from the US, from where I will not be able to leverage any benefit. I do  not mind helping the Americans, they need all the help they can get, but it is nice to have some hope of receiving a benefit in return, which Linkedin, and their colleague ‘Social’ platforms are making increasingly difficult unless you pay for it.

Organic reach from third party platforms is almost a thing of the past, something  to think about as you plan for 2019.   

To the most viewed posts of the year.

The 4 dimensions of project planning. Published July 2016

It looks like this will become one of the most viewed posts over an extended period, as the numbers keep climbing every month, 2018 being 40% higher than 2017. It is only a short post, 300 words, but summarises the challenges faced by every team planning a project, from a tactical initiative to a major enterprise changing implementation.

7 tips on how not to be boring while presenting. Published March 2018.

This post garnered may views in the days after it was posted, but attracted little attention thereafter. This is  not an uncommon pattern amongst those posts that have a ‘long tail’. They start slowly after an initial  flurry, then build over time. I am hopeful this happens with this post, as several readers have let me know that the tips have helped them enormously.

3 essential pieces of the supermarket business model. Published November 2014

This post would be on this list for every year since 2014, clearly it struck a chord.  Although 2018 was below 2017, it delivers readers to the blog every day. Along with Loose/Tight management further down this list, it is the most viewed post I have written. On several occasions, this post has been the basis of a successful keynote to various gatherings.

11 trends that will influence success in 2018. Published January 2018

January and  February were big months, presumably as people planned for the year, with little since. However, the trends noted for 2018 are all still present as we face 2019, so I would expect (hope for)a revival.

How do you measure culture?. Published May 2018

May and June were heavy, with modest numbers subsequently, but this post is building momentum slowly, as we come to realise the vital role enterprise culture plays in success, and failure. Perhaps I should send it to some of the senior executives in the financial services industry, as they contemplate their navels and bonuses in the wake of the royal commission.

Loose/tight management. Published October 2010

This is the most surprising post, delivering pretty consistent numbers month in month out since posting, in the early days of this blog. it is short, and specific, must be the headline that catches ‘googlers’. However, I note a recurring flurry of readers in April/May every year, so assume that somewhere an academic has cited the post in course material.

What is the number 1 job of the CEO? Published July 2018.

Published at the end of July this post was seen mostly in August, with few views since then. A short post that concludes that the number one job of the CEO is to create the environment in which employees can flourish, thereby delivering the strategic and financial outcomes required for sustainable economic success. In a word, the number 1 job of the CEO is ‘Culture’

10 considerations to make better pricing decisions. Published July 2018.

Significant readership in the days around posting, then almost nothing. Perhaps it is a lousy headline, a good one is vital to attracting readers. This is unfortunate, as I consider it to be one of the posts that can deliver  immediate and meaningful outcomes to readers after consideration of the issues noted. It has also been the basis of several seemingly well recieved keynotes.

These top 8 posts are only 15% of the total post views over the year, a strong indication of the longevity of posts that add value to someone, somewhere.

Now, on to 2019. Thanks for reading, your feedback and good wishes during 2018.

 

Do not make resolutions, set goals.

Do not make resolutions, set goals.

Dec 31, 2018 | Governance, Marketing, Strategy

It is the morning of the last day of 2018.

Tonight most of us will gather with friends and family, watch the fireworks, have a few sherbets, and consider what 2019 might bring.

Some of us will make New Year’s resolutions.

Things we decide to do to change our lives, some will be tiny, others huge, most will be things we have had in our minds for some time, and new year’s eve is the traditional time to trot them out (again) for a moment of feel-good.

Most will be discarded a few days into January.

If we know anything about resolutions, it is that they fail unless there is a clear path towards the achievement, and usually we call them goals, or objectives.  

‘Resolutions’ are even easier to discard than goals.

To achieve a goal, there are a few simple steps:

  • It needs to be worthwhile.
  • There needs to be a clear path towards the achievement made up of incremental steps that are individually achievable.
  • We need to be committed to the goal. Hope is not a strategy, we need to be serious and commit.
  • There needs to be performance measures along the way so we can see progress, measure what works and what does not, and adjust as necessary.
  • Be public. Public goals are way better than private ones, let others know, and you will be more committed.

Take those steps, and your chances increase.

Some ‘resolutions’ do not fit the typical path above, such as giving up smoking.

Every smoker and former smoker I know failed many times to give up, and giving up smoking incrementally does not work. When I gave up, 35 years ago, I used a simpler method. I did not give up smoking, again, as doing so had failed comprehensively many times, and is a deprivation, something none of us like. I took up ‘non-smoking,’ a practice that had seen me happy and healthy in the past. It worked; it was a positive goal, not a negative one.

Try seeing your New Year’s goals as positives, things to which you aspire, things that make you feel good, rather than focusing on the negatives.

Don’t set out to deprive yourself.

Have a great 2019, see you there.

The reconciliation of advertising and content.

The reconciliation of advertising and content.

Dec 21, 2018 | Branding, Marketing, Uncategorized

 

Self appointed digital marketing experts have for years been telling us that ‘Content is King’, and for a while it was. As a result, marketers have flung millions upon millions on the altar of ‘creating content’.

Piles of crap produced en masse with the odd gem well hidden, aiming at leveraging the reach of the web and social platforms, to deliver messages to consumers in a manner that demanded more attention than the ad breaks on TV, without the cost.

Google and Facebook developed a virtual duopoly, and so the dream of cost free reach has been squeezed out of existence.

To get reach you have to pay for it.

Isn’t this what we did when we paid for advertising?

Why pay for content aimed at ‘engaging,’ or some other cliché, if you are going to pay to have it delivered? You may as well make it an ad, that has as its objective generating a sale.

As Facebook and Google, and the other platforms as they evolve continue to squeeze organic reach, Content will morph back to something more like the advertising used in the 20th century to build the huge brands we all still buy.

Call it what it is, don’t be precious, it is Advertising!

Cartoon credit: Tom Fishburne of Marketoonist, who continues to express in simple drawings the complexity and hubris of modern marketing. I hope you have a great Christmas Tom.

As for me, I am taking a short break from my (unpaid) adverting disguised as content on this blog, to see if I can catch the elusive bloke in the red suit.  Thank you all for reading, sharing and often commenting on my  brainfarts, it is a privilege and pleasure to be able to communicate in this way.  Have a safe and merry Christmas and i will ‘see” you all in 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

What marketers can learn at church

What marketers can learn at church

Dec 19, 2018 | Branding, Marketing

Every religion, from the worlds great ones to the meanest cult with a few deluded followers has something in common.

They communicate their message, engage their followers, with stories.

In most cases they are setting out to explain the mysteries of the human condition, to get at the essential truths that underlay behaviour, to explain the complexity in a simple and memorable manner, that makes recall and retelling easy and consistent.

The story of Adam and Eve is set in a perfect garden, with a snake representing evil, and an apple representing the pressures of the human condition.

Try explaining that without a story.

Every story in the Christian bible, from Cain and Abel to Jesus walking on water and making a crippled man walk contains a message. It is the same in the Koran, Hindu Bhagavad Gita and Buddhist Tripitakas.

With effective storytelling, they have all succeeded at the marketers dream.

Brand differentiation, and effective segmentation within the brands

Longevity

Strong loyalty and commitment that is multi-generational

Sustained commercial success

It may be a touch insensitive to make these observations as we are about to go into Christmas, but think of all the stories around Santa, and traditions that have built up over generations about what you eat, how you behave, and who you commune with.

All communicated by stories that support the central proposition, and even if you do not believe it, the behaviour still prevails. 

You have to give it to the clergy, of every brand,  they have this marketing gig nailed!

 

 

 

 

 

Anatomy of a sales effective website

Anatomy of a sales effective website

Dec 7, 2018 | Communication, Marketing, Sales, Social Media

People search Google for 1 of 2 reasons:

  • They have a problem to solve, they need information, guidance, options, and are looking for help in some form.
  • They are bored and too lazy to go and have a game of golf, tennis, or mow the lawns, so they look for cat photos to amuse themselves.

It follows therefore that if you are setting out to be of interest to those in the first group, it helps if they recognise quickly that you have something of what they are seeking. Any Google search will throw up multiple options for the searcher to have a quick look at.

Most times when an SME recognises the need for a website, they hire a web designer, and stand back and let them run.

Wrong strategy.

The technology of websites these days is largely commoditised, the 18 year old down the road can often do the ‘techie’ end of a site construction quicker and better than many of the ‘professionals’ around.

The challenge is the  marketing and graphic design of the site.  This is all about the combination of the words being not only the right words for the visitor, but in the right place so they get seen, and the graphic design that makes the site visually interesting and engaging, and importantly, makes some  sort of offer that leads towards the transaction.

The following has nothing to do with SEO, it assumes that you have been found, by one means or another, and your task is now to engage the casual visitor, and very particularly, that casual visitor who fits the profile of your ideal customer, in some sort of process that may lead to  a (first) transaction. The reality is that if you are not attracting your ideal customer, the whole exercise will be at best, sub-optimal. The objective should be to get these people to step through the site to a positive conclusion.

The natural progression of eyes across a website is outlined below, as they seek the answer to the question in their minds ‘Will I find what I am looking for here?’

 

The basic principal.

Top left, to right, across towards middle left, then back to bottom right.

All of this is ‘above the fold’. Many of the more recent sites have a ‘rolling’ architecture, but that does not  eliminate the old adage of ‘be above the fold’.

Let’s go into a little more detail.

The header.

The all important header, or headline, has to be specific, and deliver the value proposition that is directed towards the ideal customer, the answer to their question. Evolutionary biology plays a key role in the construction of the header. Our built in survival mechanisms register automatically the elements around us, is it dangerous, is it food, shelter, a potential partner, without us recognising at a conscious level these automatic choices. If your ideal customer registers in their ‘lizard’ brain that you are good for them, a significant part of your work is done.

The cost of failure.

Highlighting the pain points most likely to be felt by your ideal customer provides a barrier to them just moving on. The more you can highlight the problem they feel, the greater the chance that they will ‘stick’ on your site instead of moving on.

The Solution.

In the simplest words possible, how does your product/service solve the problem.

The plan.

Having established the ideal outcome, offer a plan, create the steps to achieve it. Making it easy to progress to the transaction and beyond by making the process transparent and easy is the equivalent of a ‘Close’.

Testimonials.

‘Social proof’ to use the psychological jargon is an extremely powerful tool. People, prepared to be identified and tell a listener how great  your product or service is, how it delivered for them, are better than almost anything else in closing a sale. Even if the video is a bit amateurish, that is OK.  get those testimonials.

Call to Action.

Make sure that you ask for the order, or the progression through the funnel to the next stage. Often asking several times lifts the closure rates significantly.

 

There is  no need for clever graphics or fancy advertising slogans. Your ideal customer is looking to see if you can help them, or if they should speak to one of your competitors. The task of your website is therefore clear, by presenting a credible way of solving their problem.

No fancy embellishments, industry jargon to establish your creds, unintelligible sentences, words of 5 syllables, just simple, clear, uncluttered communication.

Help them to help themselves!

Header: is a common  ‘wire-frame’ 

 

Anatomy of a successful sales letter.

Anatomy of a successful sales letter.

Nov 28, 2018 | Communication

My inbox is stuffed with sales letters, an outcome of 20 years of researching and engaging in a wide range of areas of interest to me, and those I work with, in an effort to distil the lessons to be passed on.

Some are very good, they move the hand towards the credit card, almost involuntarily, and some are just plain awful. Most are somewhere in the middle, OK, but generally no cigar.

A sales letter has only two  functions: to state why somebody should give you their business, and then to lead them to the next stage in the process, which is not always a transaction. Most often with a letter, it is simply to move you to the next point in the sales ‘funnel’

It should always be in the language of the receiver, and as personalised as possible, without  any spelling, grammatical, or any other type of error.

In other words, accuracy and clarity.

The flow of a sales letter is critical to success, and is a fairly well understood series of steps:

Headline.

The headline is the most important part of a sales letter. It is what someone sees first, and unless it engages in some way, they will move on. David Ogilvy, the original Madman stated that the headline was 80% of any ad, and a sales letter  is nothing but a form of advertising, a cheaper form of a sales person.

After the headline, which distils the reason why a reader should continue to read, there is a logical process which normally looks like the following:

Pain points.

Describe the problem in words that the potential customer will relate to and understand, personalising the pain, and demonstrating that you understand it. Do this well  and they will start to empathise.

Amplification and Aspiration.

Amplify the consequences of not solving the problem,  and offer a vision of what the feeling will be like when it has been solved.

Story.

Sales letters are really a story, and you have to tell the story of your solution, and how their problem can be solved, the means by which your solution will deliver them the outcomes to which they now aspire. People are not buying your product, they are buying the  outcome from buying your product. It is the old ‘drill and hole’ story. When you go to the hardware to buy a drill, it is not the drill you want, but the hole it will deliver you. Testimonials are powerful ways to demonstrate the outcome from purchase.

Offer.

A sales letter has to make an offer, it has to offer a conclusion to the story told, the problem solved. You have to be absolutely clear about what it is you want them to do, how and by when. Many sales letters I see shy away from being direct, but if you have not lost them at the beginning,  and they are still reading, there is a fair chance they are interested, so enable the interest by telling them what to do next.

You do not have to be a professional copywriter to produce a good sales letter, but you have to be very clear, concise, and empathetic. Not an easy task, but one which generally comes at the end of a process of understanding the value of your offer to a specific group of potential customers, or better still, a specific person.