Category: marketing

Not how people work

Fabrizio1 Comment

Subject: Such Interesting Mentorship Programmes

Body: Hi Fabrizio, came across your LinkedIn profile and wow you have participated in such interesting internship programmes. I’m just checking to see if you are the person responsible for lead generation. If you aren’t the right person to speak with, can you forward me on to someone more appropriate?

I guess the assumption here is that personalisation is easy. That to establish a relationship it is sufficient to point at some trivial thing, such as the colour of your hair, or the fact we both have two eyes and one mouth. That after quickly exchanging some pleasantries, it is ok to not only go straight to business, but also to ask for further introductions. That the receiver of a cold outreach is nothing but a necessary evil to surmount in the name of the business goal.

Of course, that’s not how it works. Because that is not how people work.

Right there

FabrizioLeave a comment

The internet is full of messages that try to get someone’s attention to direct it somewhere else.

Banners that link to a landing page.

Welcome emails that link to three video tutorials.

Social media posts that refer to a comment that links to a blog article.

CTA buttons that link to a short form that links to a longer form that links to a privacy policy.

It is tiring, frustrating, and there is a huge opportunity to actually deliver the value you have to deliver right where your audience’s attention is.

The ocean of sameness

FabrizioLeave a comment

Messaging is the equivalent of defining. And when you define something you put a limit to it.

If I say tree, everybody understands what I am talking about, but at the same time everybody will have their own image of a tree in their mind.

If I say birch, fewer people will understand what I am talking about, but those who do will have a clear image in their mind.

If I say betula pendula, most people will not understand what I am talking about, but the very few who do will have a very powerful image in their mind, and a very strong connection with me.

Messaging is ineffective for many products because the limit is pushed further and further and further again, until the message itself loses any power to define what the product actually is. And for the fear of losing opportunities and market shares, all you end up selling is trees. Just like anybody else.

If your work involves some messaging, remember that your goal is to limit, not to expand. You can have different messages for different people and for different channels, but each one of them needs to be limited in order to resonate and actually mean something.

The alternative is drowning in an ocean of sameness.

Speed eats quality

FabrizioLeave a comment

Speed gives you an edge.

Not in the sense of cutting corners, rushing through things, hustling or muscling through. But in the sense of getting things through the finish line, often and consistently. Understanding when something is good, pressing the button, and moving to the next item.

Speed eats quality for breakfast.

Within a stone’s throw

FabrizioLeave a comment

Your urgency is not your customer’s urgency.

You might have a plan, investors that demand that you grow, the idea that 30% year-over-year is the only measure of success, a team that is competitive and wants nothing more than their bonus at the end of the quarter.

But that is you. And honestly, nobody cares.

Think about your customer’s plan instead, what their investors want from them, how they define success, what their team wants to achieve in the next 90 days.

And if your first thought is “it depends”, you might be right. Most likely, though, you are just trying to sell to anybody who comes within a stone’s throw.

Focus. And learn.