What is the one skill no SME can do without?

What is the one skill no SME can do without?

Mar 28, 2019 | Marketing, Strategy

Simple answer, rarely given at first: Writing quality copy!

Quality copy, in whatever form it is delivered,  gets inside someone’s head, it joins in and contributes to the conversation already happening, and influences the outcomes that evolve.

Everything we do in an enterprise is in one way or another directed towards the objective of getting someone to do something. It therefore follows that we need to be able to communicate with them clearly, in their words, saying things they either want to hear, or are receptive to hearing which may lead to an action.

This does not happen by accident, it only happens when time is invested in the writing process, and importantly, the preparation that happens before the pen is lifted. From writing a simple email, to communicating the most complex message by any number of media, the rules are pretty much the same, only the time invested will vary.

It is also true that we humans relate to, understand, and remember stories, so tell one! Do not just deliver a bunch of words, data and illustrations, create a memorable narrative.

There are 4.5 million copy templates out there, available via Dr. Google. Scrape away the jargon, fancy words, and promises of millions of dollars if you will just do this one thing, and there is a very common thread running through most of them that offer any real value. That thread comes down to  a few simple to say, but very hard to implement rules.

  • Audience. Know who you are talking to
  • Objective. Know exactly what it is you want to say, and why.
  • Action. Communicate what Action you want them to take as a result of reading (or listening)
  • Impression. What is the lasting impression you are seeking to place in the mind of the reader.

A simple acronym: A.O.A. I. That makes it 4.5 million and one!

An email will differ from website copy, and both will be different to a sales letter,  and to a major verbal presentation, but all will follow those simple rules, with the obvious variations in the manner in which they are executed.

Common to all are a few further observations I will make.

  • Every successful communication starts with a draft, that can always be improved. The more complex the communication, the greater the potential for improvement. Usually this is achieved by cutting words and selecting them more carefully to better communicate the meaning, motivate the desired action, and leave the lasting impression. For example, despite the following two sentences being quantitatively the same, almost everyone will feel substantially more favourable towards  the first:

‘This milk is 95% fat free‘ . Versus, ‘This milk contains 5% fat‘.

The pursuit of clarity, brevity, and maximum impact  are voracious consumers of the writers time, but always offer a return on the investment. Variously credited, but I believe correctly to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) is a note to his wife while visiting Australia in 1895. ‘Darling, I wrote you a long letter because I did not have the time to write you a short one’

  • In written communications, spelling and grammar are essential skills. Not because of some preoccupation with the past, but because the rules of spelling and grammar evolved to assist in delivering clarity. Spellcheck is a good first start, but it misses a lot, particularly grammar, and the construction of sentences to deliver clarity. When writing anything, from a simple email to a book, in the absence of a person playing the role of editor, read it out aloud to yourself, saying every word as it is written.  There is a tool in Word, called ‘Speak’ which I have on my quick access toolbar, which reads back your copy in ‘computer voice’. While it is far from perfect, no matter how careful I have been, listening back to  ‘Speak’ always highlights something that can be improved.
  • Verbal communication, from a simple elevator pitch, to a major speech, should always evolve from a written draft. ‘Winging it’ is almost always a very bad idea! Once you have an elevator pitch, it can be memorised, repeated, and ‘tweeked’. Writing any communication the first time is always hard, as you have to decide what to leave out. Doing a brain dump of everything you know  about a topic will just lead to a bored, and disengaged audience.
  • Verbal communication in front of an audience also imposes another set of choices that need to be made in addition to the choice of words. That is how those words are to be delivered. Speaking naturally, including all the intonation and body language as you would to a single person, is always best, but with caution. Colloquial and ‘expressive’ language that may be acceptable one to one, may not be in front of an audience. This is a judgement to be made each time, usually somewhat dependent on the audience. Practise helps, as does the recognition that it is natural to be nervous, and importantly, working on the written drafts until you know  the content intimately, removes a lot of the self imposed pressure.

While the basic rules will remain consistent, the formats used will differ markedly. A sales letter will  look different to the copy on a website, which will be different to the presentation you do to an audience. However, the basic AOAI framework will help in the writing of the copy that is the foundation of delivering the message.

In addition to my simplistic A.O.A.I. template, there are many others of value from successful writers, as noted, roughly similar. The following two I commend, which come from books I have read and re-read on several occasions.

R.O.A.M. Readers, Objective, Action, iMpression. Josh Bernoff, ‘Writing without Bullshit’.

P.A.S.T.O.R. Person Problem Pain; Amplify; Story, Solution System; Transformation, Testimony; Offer; Response. Ray Edwards. ‘How to write copy that sells’.

When you need help developing and articulating your strategy, and figuring out how to implement, call me.  0410 627 318

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Where is the similarity between strategy development  and ‘Two-Up’

Where is the similarity between strategy development  and ‘Two-Up’

Mar 21, 2019 | Strategy

Strategy is all about making choices, which market, which customer type, which channel, and so on. Many marketers do this sort of analysis almost on autopilot, when it is in fact the core of a robust strategy, and should be the subject of rigorous consideration.

Sitting behind the choices made, mostly without much fanfare, is the basis on which the choices have been made:

Expected value!.

What is the expected value of choice A

What is the expected value of choice B.

Expected value = Anticipated outcome – Risk

Once you have articulated the value, the choice becomes clearer.

It just gets complicated when you also need to consider the expected value of the following choices that need to be made. A strategy is a series of choices, all separate, but the final outcome is a result of the interdependencies of the choices made.

A part of the process of putting a number on the expected value is the expected risk. Again, this is a cumulative process.

Think about the essential Australian game of two-up. You are betting on the outcome of the flip of two coins, there is only three potential outcomes, a pair of heads, a pair of tails, or a head and tail, which is a foul throw, and is repeated.  It is possible to get a run of heads or tails, and in a modest number of throws, a marked bias towards one or the other. However, over a larger number of throws, the maths takes over and it ends up 50:50.  In this case, the range of outcomes is known, the probability of one or the other after the re-throw of ‘odds’  is exactly 50%.

I watched a mate at University (scary, 45 years ago) win next semesters fees in a run of ‘heads;’ in a two up game in Dubbo. 9 in a row, the odds are .5 X.5 X .5 X and so on, 1 in approx 19,500. Every time he spun the coins everyone was betting that the next fair throw would be tails, but the odds of each throw are exactly the same, 50:50, it is the probability of there being 9 heads throws in a row that is the really long odds, as you would need to make the bet on 9 consecutive heads before the first throw, to get the return from that outcome. In my mates case, he just kept on betting the ring each time that there would be another heads, 50:50 each time, until he had enough.

Building a strategy is similar, there are some knowns that can be calculated, there are some things that can be added in with some level of probability, and there are the random, incalculable events that can throw an unexpected result.

Trick is to know which is which, and calculate the expected value of any set of circumstances as best you can, always being prepared to accommodate the unexpected, that seems to always happen at the worst possible time.

I am tempted to also make the comparison to the state election to be held on Saturday. A choice of two, with the real possibility of a dud throw, which unfortunately cannot be re-thrown for another 4 years, but that may be inappropriate.

Photo credit: Two up at the Ypres front, 23 December 1917, Australian  war memorial.

 

 

Can ‘Platforms’ replace assets?

Can ‘Platforms’ replace assets?

Mar 18, 2019 | Innovation, Strategy

The new commercial behemoths of the 21st century, Google, Facebook, Amazon, et al, are all ‘Platform’ businesses. They leverage technology to create connections up and down value chains, replacing as they have businesses that have hard assets that make stuff.

They are facilitators, not producers.

When was the last time you ate a steak produced by a ‘facilitator’?

In order to produce the stuff we need to live and prosper, we need hard, productive, assets. Bits and algorithms help to leverage the hard assets, to build their productivity, but to believe they will replace them is to believe we can eat them and live.

Amazon may not produce the goods they sell, but somebody does, and it is these ‘somebodies’ Amazon relies on, as do the rest of us, to live. 

 

Is Amazon at it again, remaking retail in their own image.

Is Amazon at it again, remaking retail in their own image.

Mar 11, 2019 | Innovation, retail, Strategy

Amazon launched their ‘Dash’ button in 2015 in an experiment with Procter and Gambles Tide detergent, the monster of the category in North America. It is a one touch, one product order and delivery system that has succeeded, expanding to a range of 350 Sku’s in the middle of 2017 (latest numbers I could find)

Now Amazon  has withdrawn the Dash button from ‘service’. I guess the role played by the buttons is being overtaken by voice operated loyalty systems, largely Amazon Prime and Alexa, and on top, they were recently declared illegal in Germany for breaching consumer laws.

Killing off a successful service that was still growing at a very fast rate, but that was being replaced by a newer set of technologies is a logical move, but one only a company with the power of Amazon, who also owned the replacing technology space, would contemplate.

Clearly, Amazon  is now a technology and data business first, and being a retailer, where they started, is a very long second. 

They know more about many of us, our habits, preferences, and foibles than we know ourselves, and have that knowledge stored for analysis, retrieval and action by emerging AI functionality. They also know that we are not looking for a wide range of choice, despite what we say, that just confuses us and actually reduces purchase. We instead want certainty. 

Put all that together with the now 472 FMCG Distribution locations (450 in the US) Amazon has via the purchase of Whole Foods,  and you have the potential for Amazon to anticipate what we might buy, shape it by adding usage tips, recipes, and thoughtful additions, all in a box that delivers to your door. It combines operational and logistic efficiencies with maximum margin to Amazon while wowing customers.  

Suddenly the withdrawal of the dash button makes more sense than ever, as in the supply chain of the very near future, it would have been just another point of friction.

Meanwhile, Coles and Woolies are tarting up their Deli sections in stores my now three year old granddaughter will probably never visit to do her shopping as an adult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get stronger, then get bigger

Get stronger, then get bigger

Mar 6, 2019 | Change, Customers, Management, Strategy

Most businesses find themselves on the ‘get bigger or get out’ merry go round. Unfortunately, one of the characteristics of merry go rounds is that unless you hold on, centrifugal force  will throw you off.

Also, the faster you go, the more likely you are to be thrown off, and as you slip towards the edge, the momentum grows making it that much harder to reverse the trend.

The alternative choice is to get stronger, rather than just bigger.

This usually means you say ‘No’ to a lot of tempting, but short term ‘opportunities’ that will arise, as most will dilute the focussed and differentiated value you can deliver to your ideal customers.

The dual question therefore is: How do you get ‘stronger,’ and what does stronger actually mean?

To me, strong means a number of things.

  • You are commercially resilient,
  • Customers, employees, and suppliers are all aligned to your values and strategy,
  • You have a strong brand amongst your customer base who want what you have because you are the only one who has it, and
  • Your competitors employees wish they worked for you

In short, you have a ‘moat’ around your business that repels all boarders and pretenders, and resists the siren song that suggests the grass is always greener somewhere else .

When you have all that, you can get bigger, it will happen almost without you driving size, as the strength will attract suppliers, customers, and those great employees with energy and ideas. 

 

The hidden magic of the triggering event

The hidden magic of the triggering event

Jan 31, 2019 | Communication, Marketing, Sales, Strategy

What is it that acts as the catalyst that initiates the journey a customer will undertake that may end up with a transaction?

If you knew this, you would be in a situation to be very specific about your marketing, both the nature of the offer, the way you make it, and to whom you communicate it.

Customer personas are a great way to focus resources in a manner that delivers productivity of your marketing efforts. The more details and representative the persona the  better.

It works, and works well, but is not the whole story.

There are events and interactions that occur in peoples lives that are not logically accommodated within a persona. There is a point in the journey a customer makes towards that purchase not considered with anywhere near enough weight.

That is the situation, the event, the ‘thing’ that acts as a catalyst to create the beginning of the customer journey. The event that suddenly creates an awareness that there might be value in considering options, and that the current solution, whatever that may be is inadequate.

This is a ‘triggering’ event. 

A friend is a real estate agent.

She knows the market cycles very well, not just the economic ones, the seasonal ones that tell you that there will be a lull in activity in the market over Christmas, which will pick up again when things get back to normal in February.

Seasonal.

However, over Christmas lots of people will find themselves with family and friends staying over, for the night, for a week, and suddenly, the house they have is too small, the kids no longer can sleep two to a bed,  and one bathroom is no longer enough. That becomes a triggering event for some to start the process of thinking that perhaps a bigger house is necessary, or that they really need to do a tree change. As a result they start being unconsciously sensitive to any real estate ads that may pop up, where before they would not have even seen them.

Is my friend better off starting her advertising in February, when all the other agents are starting, in the expectation that the market is waking up? Or should she advertise in January, when there is  no activity, nobody else is advertising, but the possible users of her service are in the middle of their ‘triggering event’ and highly sensitive to suddenly relevant messages?

I know where my money would be.