There’s thinking you know what customers want… and then there’s finding out what customers want. Two separate approaches. One offers you validity. The other relies upon assumption. I’d already been playing guitar for 15 years when I woke up one morning as the owner of a guitar shop. Guitar ownership can quickly become … Read More
Making your business story stand out in a saturated market
Think you work in a competitive market? How would you compete with a product that is in every household? A product that is in use morning, day or night. An instantly recognisable product defined by it’s shape and ultimate simplicity. We’re told to drink 2 litres of water per day. … Read More
What if you could sell, without selling?
We suffer from door-to-door salesmen. Each day a knock on the door finds me greeted with an over enthusiastic salesman pitching drain clearance, window cleaning, cleaning products, you name it. The last few days, the service of choice has been tree pruning. Tree Surgeon #1: I was introduced with a … Read More
Start thinking like an Oscar winning movie director
Okay, so my new project, Storyboard, is packed full of metaphor relating to the film industry. Let me explain why. Storyboard is about mindset. It’s about how, as a marketer, you approach your task of attracting and retaining the interest of your online audience. That’s the crux of Storyboard. … Read More
Pulling the red carpet from under the feet of your advocates
We love to hear what other people think of a product or service don’t we? The film industry relies upon the snappy sentences offered by critics to promote their latest blockbuster. Praise from literary critics and respected individuals adorn the covers of business books. For retailers and service providers, there’s … Read More
Are you doing things differently, just like everybody else?
Data analysis tells us a lot about what’s happening on your website. We learn how visitors find our site. We explore the journeys they take within our site. We gather insight to help make that journey as smooth as possible. One thing, however. One key thing that data analysis doesn’t … Read More
What if… you gave your customers something they could truly believe in?
Sometimes we find it difficult to put across our ‘business story’ in an authentic language. A language that resonates from the very heart of our project, our business, our livelihood. Summarising why our business exists is often left in the hands of the marketing department. Our natural intention, as marketers, … Read More
Fact or fiction, do you believe the story you tell?
Business storytelling isn’t simply about the stories that you tell; it’s about the story that you believe. This resonates as much with you and your business colleagues as it does with your audience. Your story began the very moment your company was born. It’s your introductory paragraph – it’s the … Read More
Creating a Pain Point
How do you sell to an audience that doesn’t yet know they need your product? Time saving software when your typical consumer isn’t aware of the time they’re wasting? Job roles suited to candidates who aren’t necessarily thinking of changing jobs? Your Audience Is Out There… They Just Don’t Know It… … Read More
Why tell a story? Allow 21 of the brightest minds in marketing to explain
Stories shape our personal lives, they shape our business lives. Stories shared through conversations with your customers, colleagues, suppliers, clients, friends and peers. Stories of our company founders, our roots and the reasons why we do what we do. Business storytelling sets the scene for the relationship with our online … Read More
When the headline detracts from the story you tell
In 1979, Bob Geldof penned ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’. A song, 40 years on that still receives significant airplay across the globe. Why is the song still in such demand? The context of the title? The discontent felt by the aggrieved worker when the Monday morning alarm rings out? or … Read More
Are you a digger, or a builder?
‘We’ve been interrogating data and found out that 20 visitors searched for…’ Digging deep into Analytics, finding isolated instance of visitor behaviour. For most, it’s a quick win to impress our bosses with our insight and determination to find a cause to a potential problem. Extracting data from within our … Read More