Weird Psychological Marketing Fact #1
I thought I’d end 2011 with a series of contrarian psychological marketing insights. After all, what good’s being a marketing shrink if you don’t get to talk about it, right?
Seriously though, there are a few things I think marketers casually banty about as if they were psychological fact which really bother me… And there are others which tell only HALF the story.
So let’s start there with…
UNUSUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL MARKETING FACT #1: “Impulse Isn’t Everything”
Impulse isn’t everything.
Yes, it’s true you’ve gotta appeal to the Lizard Brain with greed, lust, envy, jealousy, etc in order to induce action on your offer. (Which is one of the reasons I’m fond of saying “try to appeal to the lizard brain without seeming like a lizard”)
But the other half of the story is, this only produces TRIAL BUT NOT NECESSARILY REPEAT…
Satisfying the lizard brain is only PART of what we need in this world…
As sappy as it sounds, the other half is help mastering our environments, our relationships, our place in society, and life as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong, you won’t get ANYWHERE trying to sell people self-actualization, self-improvement, or simple self-mastery solutions unless you can link them to the lizard brain…
It’s just that lizard brain satisfaction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for REPEAT purchase and customer loyalty.
So it’s not enough to sell luster and shine if you’re selling shampoo…
Or even to sell the emotional end benefit (I feel attractive)…
To really take the market you need to sell the aspirational character… how your product is going to MAKE YOUR PROSPECT INTO THE PERSON THEY WANT TO BE…
Think L’Oreal “Because You’re Worth It”: when a woman buys L’Oreal, she’s not just trying to look sexy, she’s supporting a character trait which translates to self-care across a wide variety of life areas… she’ll also more likely invest in vitamins, a gym membership, life insurance, a spa, etc
Or think Gillette “The Best a Man Can Get”: a guy’s not just buying Gillette razors to get the cleanest shave possible, or to attract a desired mate… he’s partaking of the best the world has to offer alpha males, and this informs WHO he wants to be across market categories
Or Intel “Intel Inside”: when you buy Intel, you’re not just getting a high speed processor, you’re committing (whether you know it or not) to recognizing, developing, and leveraging the value of intelligence across many areas of your life…
Or Kodak “Share the Moments, Share the Life”: when you buy Kodak, you’re not just getting sharp pictures, or even crystallizing memories… you’re committing to family and community as a value you want to demonstrate as a person… it enhances your sense of participation in life with others, and re-affirms your desire to build more of these relationships as part of WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON…
See what I mean?
These brands engender MASSIVE REPEAT PURCHASE and loyalty because they’ve managed to integrate themselves with the user’s aspirational self image!
What you should be asking yourself now is, WHAT KIND OF PERSON DOES YOUR PROSPECT BECOME when they purchase your product or service? Is your advertising set up to support this message?
Onward and Upward in 2012,
Dr. G 
PS – When you join Hyper Responsive Marketing Secrets you affirm yourself as a person who gets enormous leverage for their time and consistently “organizes and executes around priorities” because you know HALF your profits are driven by only ONE in 2,000 visitors. This radical paradigm shift not only transforms your business, but syncs with your commitment to apply the 80/20 rule throughout your life to achieve maximum results with minimum time. Join now
PPS – Keep your eyes glued to your inbox for “weird psychological marketing fact #2″, coming soon.
Managing Distractions: The #1 shift that makes 2012 the superior year
My 13 year old son has a t-shirt that says,
“I Don’t Have A.D.D., I just… Hey look! A squirrel!”
The #1 productivity enemy of online marketers is:
Being online.
Ever stumble on a distraction…. which led you to another distraction…. which led to yet another? Pretty soon you committed the sins of a thousand distractions.
If ever a world was custom designed to carry you off course willy nilly, get you gleefully lost and living in a happy timeless stupor, it’s the Internet. Enemy #1. If 2011 fell short of your expectations, distractionitis was probably the top culprit.
Most of us make our livings by distracting people. So, ahem, it’s not like we get to condemn anyone for getting distracted :^>
Still, if you want to earn mucho dinero as a marketer, you MUST master this. You gotta be able to distract without getting distracted yourself. The IM version of “buy low, sell high.”
I’m as susceptible as anyone else. My short attention span is one of the things that makes me a good writer. Always tossing in something unexpected. Mixes things up.
Because I know I am my own worst enemy, I’ve built all kinds of systems and habits that keep me productive and prolific.
In early January I’m doing a very unusual training program where I share the tools and systems that allow me to get so much done, given my passion for distraction. It’s called 80/20 Productivity Express:
http://www.perrymarshall.com/
I’ve priced this affordably, on purpose. So that even if you make ONE tiny change to your daily routine, the course will easily pay for itself 10X over.
Perry
P.S.: It’s not like you have to never get distracted again. You don’t have to be perfect. I just want to protect that 2-3 hours of honest productivity each day from the wolves. Is that too much to ask?
84 year old retail store better than ever, despite…
Yesterday after Christmas dinner I talked to a relative from out of state. He owns a local, brick-and-mortar music retail store.
Problems he faces:
- His bank came to him and said, “There’s no way you’re ever going to make any real money based on what you’re doing and we don’t want the business. Sorry, we’re getting rid of you.” The banker said contrary to what a lot of people would like, banks are not in the business of losing money.
- Competition from Big Box stores, deep discount online retailers and Amazon. There’s no way he can compete with their prices
- He pays sales tax, online retailers don’t
- Lines of credit are h-a-r-d to get, especially post-2008
- Online marketing can only gain him so much traction
- Unlike many Planet Perry folks, he can’t work all day in his underwear
- His original location is lousy and he’s got 3 1/2 years to go on his lease
- He’s in the process of buying out a partner, which costs a lot of money
- Unlike an online biz, scaling his business up demands a very large capital investment up front
- The prices of musical instruments have been deflating for years. Lower prices = less profit
A lot of guys like him started to figure they’re toast 10 years ago when the online wave hit. In spite of all that, here’s his report:
His sales are down slightly compared to last year but his profits are WAY up. His business is in the best shape its been since it was founded in 1927.
Last summer the local Public Schools Administration building burned down, along with 700 instruments. He quickly put together a “donate your used musical instrument to the schools, get a tax deduction and feel good” campaign. Sent out press releases.
Got coverage on 2 TV stations, the newspaper and 2 radio stations. People started coming into the store to donate instruments – and buying other stuff while they were there. You cannot buy that kind of publicity.
He realized that his accountant didn’t understand his business. (Which is VERY common. Odds are 3:1 that your own accountant also doesn’t understand YOUR business. That can be disastrous.)
He fired him and got a new one. Made huge improvements in how they manage rentals and inventory.
Firing the accountant helped him make changes which facilitated changing banks. They went from red to black in cash flow. He’d been making payments to vendors in arrears, which was resulting in higher prices.
With help from his bank and new accountant, started paying them immediately and earning 10% discounts. Fatter margins and happier vendors, who now also give him special treatment.
He’s using Facebook ads and Right Angle Marketing to identify quirks in his audience. His Facebook ads and status updates bring customers into the store.
He’s opened 2 more stores in affluent parts of town. Profits are up. He’s paying a lot more attention to margins and less attention to top line sales. As for his exiting partner, he says, “Hey at least the guy’s not interfering with anything.”
He’s hyper-aware of where he can’t compete with discounters (selling to price shoppers) and noting where they can’t possibly compete with him (people who demand knowledgeable sales people and service.) He’s doing what he does best and slashing everything else.
He’s done an 80/20 on the profitability of product lines, and trimmed whatever doesn’t earn dinero.
He’s writing for music industry magazines. People in the biz not only seek his advice but offer their best insights. He’s become a hub of information. The #1 beneficiary is HIM.
–> This week he’ll make the last payment on his house, which he bought 7 years ago. He owns it lock, stock and barrel now. Not bad for a couple in their late 40′s and early 50′s! <–
He summarizes:
“Marketing is like jazz. You always have to anticipate the unanticipated. You ask yourself, ‘OK, once this new thing stops working, what is going to work after that?” He’s learned how to see around the corner and stay ahead of the curve.
My friend, you might want to ignore the news and doom and gloom. Cuz MANY guys I talk to are like him. Post 2008, they’re running their business a lot smarter and DOING WELL. At least 1/3 of my Roundtable members scored a record month in the last four months. One just crossed the $10 million per year mark with insane profits.
What is YOUR plan for prospering in 2012? Do you know exactly what you’re gonna do?
I’ve started a Private Client Group which gives you exclusive access to me, a direct line to my personal assistant, and a full confidential 1-on-1 day of consulting with me for you and your staff.
I’m taking applications now. Great tax write-off for 2011, then watch your dollars multiply in 2012:
http://www.perrymarshall.com/pcg/
Perry Marshall
I got a toddler for Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
I don’t know what you got, but I got a toddler. 22 pounds of boundless energy!
Our last meal together as a family of six: Breakfast on the Saturday after Thanksgiving
A week ago today we touched down from our 13 hour plane ride from Hong Kong. That’s a long trip under any circumstances. It’s even more interesting with an adopted 1 1/2 year old who’s only known you for 2 weeks!
She was a little clingy and fussy but other than that – great. Couldn’t possibly ask for better.
This entire process has gone w-a-a-a-y better than expected. A month before we went to China, a boy newly adopted in our same hotel did nothing for the first 2 days but sit by the door and scream.
As crazy as that sounds, it’s actually a GOOD sign because it means he’s capable of bonding with whoever he was with before, and grieving the loss. What would be worse would be if he didn’t care. That would mean he’d never developed the ability to form emotional connections. Some kids never do.
| Perry’s Adoption Blog |
We’d gone into this whole thing with a certain amount of trepidation. I might portray myself as a really adventurous guy, but that’s on the OUTSIDE. On the inside, I don’t like it when things change.
Near the beginning, Laura and I had a nasty fight about it because this whole thing was moving way too fast for me. This adjustment did not come easy. In fact it took about five years and a sort of spiritual epiphany. After that I was OK.
December 4. Nanchang China. We come back from lunch and our tour guide is already at the hotel. The director of the orphanage is going to arrive early, and soon she shows up carrying Zoe.
Wow. So this is the kid we’ve seen pictures of! This is the girl I’m going to raise and send to college. Laura holds her, then gives her to me.
She’s very quiet. Pensive. This is so UN-dramatic. I hold her while Laura asks the orphanage director lots of questions. Finally, the director and our guide leave. And here we are on the 11th floor of the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang China. Suddenly we’re a family of seven now instead of six.
Our oldest is at home in school and the rest of us are here. With this introverted little girl.
Day 1: Stoic
Who knows what mysteries wait inside?
And . . . what do we do now?
We take it easy.
So we barely went anywhere for awhile. Mostly Laura held her. Very quickly she decided she trusted Laura and didn’t trust anyone else.
She would let the boys play with her but she wouldn’t smile. She hardly ever cried, except when someone besides Laura tried to hold her.
Day 4: Cautious
Laura put her down for bed at 8pm and she slept all the way through the night, as though she were well-trained. At 8am she woke up. We sat her on the floor with her stacking rings.
Laura gave her a bath. She didn’t like it. Laura would feed her; she’d accept the food but she wouldn’t feed herself. She never tried to crawl or move. She didn’t know how to drink from a sippy cup or a straw. She was just so quiet.
We didn’t have any of the crazy drama that you often hear about with adopted kids. She just slowly opened up to us and Laura’s taken care to make sure people around us aren’t poking her and trying to pick her up all the time. She’s going to get a generous amount of time to bond with her new family.
The next day we took her to the city of Nanchang to file the official adoption papers. We gavie our $7000 “cash donation” to the Jiangxi province and took her picture. She didn’t like being there, and whenever we took her anywhere she’d pull further into her ‘shell.’
Day 7: I'm starting to like this.
The Jin Feng hotel is the site of many adoption transactions. It was a quiet week and we were the only family on the 11th floor, which has a play area. We had it all to ourselves. It was an oasis of calm in this crowded, bustling city the size of LA. (And there’s 30+ cities in China that are even bigger than that. Mind blowing.)
The first time we saw her perk up was eating french fries. A couple of days later she was singing to them. She started playing with her 7 year old brother Z-man, and smiling. Then she started feeding me her crackers. After that she let me hold her.
Within a week, she warmed up to us all. She started to become comfortable even when we were going places. She started feeding herself and drinking from a straw. Her brothers would wrestle with each other on the bed and she’d watch with amusement.
She let them pick her up. She sat on the floor and explored her toys while we played Chinese Tom & Jerry cartoons on the TV.
Day 13: I'm up to something....
I wanted to see where she came from, what sort of place it was. She’s from Xinyu, a city of 1 million people 100 miles away. I got a ride and we drove through farmland and smog (the smog didn’t let up a bit, even in wide open spaces) until we got there.
Tree-lined Xinyu, China
One of the big industries there is steel, so I expected a depressing eyesore like Gary Indiana. Quite the opposite. It was full of parks and trees and boulevards. Skyscrapers and condos going up everywhere.
A prosperous, happening city. (Brand new unfinished condos there cost fifty bucks a square foot, if you’re interested.)
The whole town is very modern. They have solar-powered street lights and they’re known for energy technology.
The Social Welfare Institute in Xinyu, Jiangxi, China
I stopped at the Civil Affairs Bureau where she was dropped off in May 2010. I drove by the orphanage where she’d lived for the last 18 months. Took pictures. Stopped at a restaurant, where the local waitresses are obviously not used to seeing gringos.
We’d get on video chat with Drama Queen back home and she was trying to crawl through the screen to hold her new little sister.
About a month ago I picked Drama Queen up from school and she said, “Dad, I don’t think Zoe should stay in my room. I think she should sleep with you and mom. Because she’s going to keep me up at night and I’m in high school and I have to get good grades.”
I said, “I need MY sleep because I have to pay for your high school. I think she should sleep with YOU!”
We agreed to disagree.
A few weeks later, the Queen’s status update says, “As soon as Zoe gets here I’m going to take her into a cave and refuse to leave.” She’s DELIGHTED to share a room with her little sister.
It took Zoe a day or two to warm up to Laura; about four days to warm up to me; when we got home last Sunday we walked out of customs at O’Hare airport and Drama Queen was jumping up and down. “MY NEW LITTLE SISTER! MY NEW LITTLE SISTER!”
And Zoe’s lookin’ at her like, “And who, might I ask, is THIS???” She’s staring at her big sis with that poker face.
But they get in the van and ride home next to each other. By the time they get home, Zoe is letting big sis carry her all over the house. She lets her take her up to their room and Drama Queen lays Zoe down in her crib and takes a nap – MamaLaura doesn’t have to lift a finger.
Oh, and the boys LOVED their sister from the word go. This is just so cool. In fact, here’s a video where you can watch Zoe bonking Z-man in the face with a 7-Up bottle:
When we first got Zoe, she didn’t feed herself, she didn’t crawl, she didn’t walk, she didn’t do much of anything. Offhand I’d say she was acting like a 9 month old even though she’s 19 months.
Laura took her to the pediatrician this week, and the doctor said she acts like she’s 14 months.
5 months of development in 2 1/2 weeks? Hey baby, when you’ve got a mama and a daddy and brothers and a big sister and they’re all doting on you, when there’s a dog and a couple of cats and guinea pigs and it’s Christmas break and everyone’s around to play with you … things move fast!
Zoe’s Chinese name, the one the orphanage gave her, is Xin Yuan. There’s a very particular way that you have to pronounce it in Chinese, because Chinese vowels are based on tones.
If you don’t know how to say Chinese vowels (which for English speakers is quite hard), you completely butcher the person’s name.
Chinese is a very picturesque language full of rich metaphors. The reason that Chinese signs sound so dumb in English is because Chinese has all manner of beautiful imagery and poetic allusions. To translate direct to English is usually an act of butchery.
Chinese names also have rich meanings. So pronouncing someone’s name wrong in Chinese is sort of like meeting a guy named Frank and calling him Frankenstein.
Day 18: "I definitely like it here."
Which is why we gave her an English name. But Bryan has a friend named Robert who lives in Guangzhou. We spent a few hours at Robert’s house. We showed him the Chinese characters for Zoe’s original name and asked him to explain to us what they mean.
He studies the Chinese characters and tells us:
“Xin Yuan means new young pretty woman with high education and good behavior. She is very lady-like. She’s polite, has a good personality and excellent communication skills. She’s born from a famous family. She’s the girl who comes to the fashion ball and everyone wants to know who she is.
“It means she never behave like Brittany Spears.”
I look at him. “Seriously? It means all that?”
He nods. “Yessir. It means all of that.”
“Wow.”
So here she is, my little Christmas present. Best I ever got. Along with a seven-city tour in China!
The other day a lady left a comment on my blog asking how we know she wasn’t kidnapped before she was adopted to us.
(Child trafficking is a major problem in the world. Her question may be insensitive, but it’s not a dumb question.)
I replied that she’s got special needs – one leg is 3″ shorter than the other and she has two toes on one foot. We have a copy of her “lost and found” announcement from the local newspaper, announcing that an abandoned baby had been found. She was a month old.
70% of kids being adopted from China have special needs, and if you want a Chinese baby without birth defects, the wait will be 5-6 years.
Most of the adoptive families we met had kids with issues – club hands, club feet, cleft palate, heart issues, limb differences.
In China there is no such thing as “handicapped parking” or wheelchair ramps or any of that. There are stairs everywhere, and every doorway – even doorways inside of buildings – has a six inch threshold that you have to step over.
Handicapped people are invisible in China. To put it bluntly, nobody wants them.
Seven-city tour of China: Beijing, Kunming, Lijiang, Nanchang, Xinyu, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Xinyu is southwest of Nanchang.
China has a one-child policy and culturally, boys are preferred over girls. Nobody under age 30 in China has a brother or sister; they’re all only children.
When we’d walk down the street with our three boys, EVERYONE stared at us. When we added a Chinese girl, they stared even more. When we told them Kid #5 was still at home, they could hardly believe their ears.
Just the other day on a group coaching call, a guy was puzzled. “One child policy? How do they enforce that?”
“Ethnic minorities and rural citizens are exempt from this, but people who have a second child get slapped by a huge fine, i.e. several years’ income.”
“What if they don’t pay it?”
“Um, you don’t want to know.”
I’ll leave the rest to you to figure out or research for yourself. Suffice it to say, if people are only allowed to have one child, and the one they have is a handicapped girl – there’s a chance she’ll be abandoned.
That means there’s plenty of girls in Chinese orphanages waiting to be adopted. There’s also LOTS of boys, simply because China is better known for adopting girls.
I’ve been surprised how many of my friends have told me in recent weeks that they’ve thought about adopting a child. My friend, if that’s in your heart, then you can at least start investigating.
Yeah, I know it costs money. (Maybe as much as a new car.) Yeah, I know it takes a lot of time and patience. Yeah I know it’s scary. Cuz you’re reachin’ in to that box of chocolates and you don’t know what you’re going to get. Believe me, I totally get that.
The adoption bloggers have an abbreviation for guys who are skittish about adopting. It’s “RH” – “Reluctant Husband.”
I’ll just say this: The joys – the benefits – are a lot less clear, less obvious than the costs. But they’re all still there and they’re all waiting for you. St. James said, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress.”
In Shamian Island in Guangzhou is the American consulate. It’s where all the adoptions are made official. Next door is the White Swan hotel and its world-famous “Red Couch” where all the adopting families get their pictures taken.
We got our picture taken – here’s our little China girl posing for the camera.
After a week of having her with us, she’s still a little bit on Chinese time. She likes to wake up at 3 in the morning.
But other than that, we’ve skipped the sleepless nights that you have with babies and gone straight to the toddler stage.
She babbles all the time. She chases the cat and pulls its tail. She likes the doggie. She likes baths and zerberts.
Remember Robert, who translated her name for us? He made an interesting comment:
“I can tell your daughter understands Chinese, but she doesn’t want to be with me. She can’t understand anything you’re saying but she loves her mama and her family. This is new to me. I’ve never seen this before. Perry, she’s listening to you through her heart.”
Amen, Robert. She sure knows who her family is.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Perry Marshall
P.S.: John Paul Mendocha called me the other day and said Perry, I’ve got customers saying me on the phone, “Tell Perry we’re praying for him and his adoption every day.” Right on, and I can feel it too. Joy To The World – God is Good. Thank y’all for sending thoughts and prayers and positive vibes are way. I really appreciate it. A lot!
P.P.S.: More of Laura’s photos here.
Forget A/B testing – Is Multi-Ad Copy Testing the Future?
Matt Van Wagner is one of the funniest, and smartest people I know in paid search. In fact, I enjoy Matt so much, he’s doing the technical editing for the 2nd edition of Advanced Google AdWords (Thank you, Matt). He’s also the President of Find Me Faster and you can find him on twitter.
Matt wrote a controversial article on ad copy testing where you don’t run the typical A/B test. Instead run an A/B vs C/D test. That’s right, test groups of ads against each other as this will help combat over-optimization.
I have mixed feelings about this type of testing. In some ways, it can help put out different messages for long buying cycle items where the same user will see the same ad multiple times.
In other cases, it might decrease conversion rates when your only goal is a click to conversion. Either you get the conversion on the first try or you just don’t ever get it (common in some lead gen industries). You also need a lot of data to run this test, but that’s another story.
Instead of debating the finer points of this type of testing, I invited Matt to be a guest on the latest Marketing Nirvana episode. You can listen to both our theories, comments, and other musings on multi-ad testing and see where we agree or disagree, and get some advice on how to run this test yourself.
You can listen to the show at iTunes or on Webmaster Radio’s Marketing Nirvana Page.
I hope you enjoy the episode – we had a lot of fun taping it.
The next episode will be January 4th and I don’t have a speaker or a topic yet. If you have any ideas, please let me know.
Forget A/B testing – Is Multi-Ad Copy Testing the Future? is a post from: Certified Knowledge
