I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
Seth Godin’s new book This is Marketing sums up the lessons of his previous books.
In the past Marketing was Advertising. Many Brands and businesses used to buy ads to interrupt prospects in the hope that people would buy. However, with so many media channels, the advertising of yesterday has lost its effect.
What this means for Marketers is that they need to build trust, engagement, community and earn permission to contact prospects and customers. With the ever-increasing privacy legislation such as GDPR, Marketers will pay a high price for SPAM.
Also, today there are many micro-markets of products and services as opposed to one mass-market. Frequency has surpassed reach in terms of effectiveness. Marketers need to tell a compelling story that resonates with the people they seek to serve.
Marketers need to improve their knowledge of customers to enhance the customer experience and engagement. Brands need to have conversations with customers as opposed to talking at them.
Ideas that jumped out at me while reading and listening to the book
Seth dissects Marketing, showing the reader that today’s successful marketer is generous and gives value to the customer as opposed to stealing their attention.
Chapter 19, the chapter on funnels is very interesting because it shows how to look at the funnel in a new way.
Seth explains how to shorten the sales cycle by making it easier for prospects to engage and purchase a product.
He demonstrates how to do funnel math to see if and when marketers should advertise using paid ads along with how to know if ads will pay for themselves.
In this chapter, Seth shows how marketers should focus on serving micro-markets as opposed to the mass market.
This idea is illustrated in Jeff Moore’s book Crossing the Chasm. Seth takes this concept, and explains how to move a product from micro-markets to the mass market but surprises the reader by demonstrating that marketers can be successful by catering to a micro-market.
Seth illustrates this in the long tail concept where he shows that hits are exceptions to the rule. Instead he shows that selling a lot of different products to different people is the way that most marketers will find success today and in the future.
What is next in Marketing? Comment and share.
Bonus Content
I have had the pleasure of meeting Seth on two occasions. Here are videos and pictures of the talks.
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
Things are changing in the automotive industry. These changes are from the way vehicles are bought and sold. Vehicle offerings are also different. Vehicles went from gas combustion engines to hybrid vehicles which means a split between gas and electric. Now there is going to be a shift to all-electric vehicles or EVs. The adoption of EVs will accelerate as more charging stations become available.
Source: Derived registration counts by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Experian Information Solutions https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10861
“This figure illustrates the population breakdown of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) registered in the United States as of Dec. 31, 2020. Most of the vehicles are flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), but those generally operate primarily on conventional gasoline. FFVs were produced and sold as a way for vehicle manufacturers to meet their fuel economy requirements. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are the second-largest population by fuel type, accounting for 70% of the AFV population when excluding FFVs. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) include all-electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and account for about 30% of the AFV population when excluding FFVs.”
I covered The New York Auto Show which was back after a two-year pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s auto show had different types of cars, trucks, and SUVs. The show was made up mostly of electronic vehicles and hybrid vehicles. This change is because of changes in the industry and US government policy to improve the environment. Starting in 2026, all gas vehicles will need to get 50 miles to the gallon to be sold in the US. Gas engines are being phased out. The industry pledges to sell only electric vehicles or EVs by 2035. This is a global trend.
This is information that came out of the World Traffic Symposium, at the New York Auto Show.
I did a survey on LinkedIn on how people find and buy vehicles. The results are here.
People are buying and selling cars online but many sales are still happening at dealerships.
According to the New York International Auto Show, here are the demographics of people who attended and bought cars at the auto show over the last 10 years.
How do you feel about electric vehicles? How do you find and buy vehicles?
Share your thoughts.
Posted 126 weeks ago
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
During my time in field sales, I wanted to obtain the business of Dental Schools and Hospitals. After obtaining meetings and making presentations to prominent Dentists, I was informed that they could not buy from me. After handling objections, showing how my offerings were better than the competition, I found out why. The decision-makers explained that they were under contract with large manufacturers and distributors.
These competitors offered deep discounts to Dental Schools so their students would get comfortable using their products. When students would become licensed Dentists, they would use the products they trained on instead of the competitors. These competitors built lifelong customer loyalty.
When I called on certain Dentists, they said they liked a particular company’s product. I asked them why they liked the product and would they consider switching for something comparable with faster service. The Dentists said no saying that they learned on particular equipment in Dental School and it was the only thing they felt comfortable using.
Geoffrey Moore discusses the Technology life cycle in Crossing the Chasm.
Dental manufactures and large distributors used pricing to target the Innovators/Early adopters/which in this case was the dental students and hospitals. To increase market share, they offered discounted pricing in exchange for purchase and long service contracts. These manufacturers and distributors succeeded in targeting dental students right before they would become customers; earning them years of customer loyalty.
Here is how this SAAS marketing program could be executed on the Technology Life cycle curve.
Innovators Preparation programs
Offer Preparation programs discounted pricing and free trials to try the product.
Have Pre-service Professionals get comfortable using the product.
Early Adopters Early Career Professionals
Offer them free trials and a lower discount.
Early/Late Majority Seasoned Professionals
Offer Trials and discounts to targeted staff and managers
Laggards Senior Staff Members
Continue to innovate the product and messaging to show how the product is being used.
Obtain Testimonials from satisfied staff and managers.
Show how the product exceeds competitors.
When appropriate, offer free and discounted trials to all appropriate prospects.
This is how Tech companies can improve their market share and generate life-long customer loyalty.
Tech Companies have the chance to improve business and generate life-long customer loyalty. This opportunity can be seized by offering discounted pricing and free trials to Innovators/Early Adopters which in this case are the preparation programs.
What Tech product do you want to try?
Comment and share below.
Additional Market Research Why & How People Buy Tech
When marketing and selling a tech product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
I surveyed my LinkedIn audience for answers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
People buy a technology product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
People find and buy technology products or services in different ways.
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace. Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create and, position offerings people want to purchase. I
Why & How People Buy
When marketing and selling a product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
I surveyed my LinkedIn audience for answers.
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
People buy a product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
People find and buy products or services in different ways.
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace.
Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create and, position offerings people want to purchase.
About Me
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference.
I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Articles and insights have been featured, mentioned and, referenced in: