Tag: communication

Silence is not weakness

Fabrizio1 Comment

A problem needs a solution.

A hunch needs clarity.

An idea needs execution.

An opinion needs an audience.

The point is, you can’t treat them all in the same way. If you share a hunch with an audience, most people will find it pointless and fail to understand. If you try to execute on a opinion, most of the times you’ll end up going alone. If you give your audience a problem, they will look at you for a solution.

If you are unsure what you are about to express, it’s ok to take some time to think it through.

Silence is not a sign of weakness.

Plenty of choices

FabrizioLeave a comment

More instructions.

A little longer text.

One more pop-up to tell users where to go next.

A tooltip with some additional information.

An example to explain what you mean.

These are all things that (almost) nobody will read. Ever. People are not on the web, they don’t use tools and services, they don’t download apps because they lack stuff to read. They do all that to help their own personal and professional journey. And if the website, the tool, the service, the app is designed in a way that requires hand-holding, they will just leave and move on.

The world is full with alternatives.

Founder bias

FabrizioLeave a comment

There might be many wrong aspects in these emails (and some good too), but the key thing here is that they reflect a bias – or a series of bias – that many founders fall for.

It’s the idea that just because they do work (successfully in this case, but that is not necessary) in a certain way, then everybody else is supposed to do that too.

It’s the idea that by doing more of the same they will automatically scale the results.

It’s the idea that in order for their employees to show they care, they need to conform and comply.

This is typically building an enormous blind spot for founders and their companies. And that’s very dangerous in the long term.

The measurement trap

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are many myths in marketing, that marketers would do better forgetting about. Or at least, putting them in the right context.

A/B testing is one such myth. Not because it doesn’t work, it’s a fantastic idea. But the organisations and the marketing teams that can do A/B testing effectively are only a few.

For that, you need a high enough traffic, a high enough budget, a set-up that allows you to track and compare things, and most importantly consistency and patience. And even when you have all of that, more often than not you will get misleading or contradicting results.

Instead of falling in the measurement trap, focus on basics: who is your customer, what they care about, where do they hang out, why should they pick you. This is going to deliver far more solid results than any weak testing you might be wasting your time with.

Just you hiding

FabrizioLeave a comment

No matter what your role is inside an organization, you have the power to change the things you see not working. Much more than you think you do.

You might think that those above you condone a negative behavior or a flawed process, but the reality is that most likely they are simply not aware of them. Or they don’t have the bandwidth to jump on them. Or they have initiated the behavior or the process with completely different intentions and failed to follow up.

If you hide behind that excuse, be mindful that it is just you hiding.