Anton Lipkano, president/partner of Delve Partners .
A few years ago I saw a short video of a cyclist beating other runners with the Superman pose.
It seemed unfair. He didn't even walk.
But if you think about it, I understand that he is acting quite honestly. He had the same resources as other motorcyclists (especially the acquisition of basic knowledge of physics). He made better use of those resources. I think what sets this bike apart from the Rider is the methodical process of building this feature. The trick he used was not due to a 'lightning bolt' in the hall. He and his coaches probably spent hundreds of hours studying aerodynamics and trying different riding positions to improve speed. In the end, they achieved exponential results that they couldn't even dream of. His impressive performance was probably the result of intensive operational training.
The concept of "unfair" benefits came up frequently in conversations with clients. After all, everyone wants a feature that perfectly fits the rules of work and life, but is so powerful that it feels like a fake. Marketing leaders are no exception. However, there are a few things to consider:
• How is this "unfair" advantage? I heard early on that it is the ability to do more with less or more at the same time. The economic outlook is dire, budgets are tight and investors are hungry for profits. Brands are expected to dominate their industry without outspending their competitors. This topic came up in every customer survey my company did.
• How do you get the features? My answer is a simple process.
Proper process design
The iterative process of achieving well-defined short-term benefits ensures the long-term sustainability of a well-defined "unfair" advantage. Without a precise definition, it is very easy to get caught up in marketing ideas that seem plausible at first glance, but are definitely not silver bullets. For example:
• Consumer obsession: Should brands have an obsession, which is defined in the dictionary as a preoccupation with a particular thought, feeling, person or thing, relative to their entire consumer portfolio, as it says? How about expanding your business by attracting new customers?
• Data and media integration. In the marketing industry, you often hear about the power of media organizations with analytical consulting and data science. Lots of words and little clarity about what is really going on here.
• Automation. This can include everything from automated analysis to predictive modeling and dynamic creativity in analytics platforms. The idea of putting so many aspects of your marketing on autopilot can drain even the biggest monthly budget.
similarity modeling. Does this mean you have to rely on anonymous cookie signals to find people who want to buy your product? What could go wrong?
We can do better here.
First, be specific about the seemingly "unfair" benefits of doing more with less from a business perspective. I say it means controlling the segment of the market that contributes the most to your bottom line. This market segment consists of your core customers who are very interested in purchasing offers that are very similar to yours. When the most people decide to buy your offer, which they can't get anywhere else, you effectively dominate that market segment.
Then recreate the aforementioned marketing concepts into half-baked customer obsession, add some logical thinking and winning ideas, and identify additional profits that will lead to dominance in that market segment.
Finally, these additional benefits feed into a sequential cyclical process, each in turn promoting the next indefinitely.
Here is an overview of the resulting process that I would recommend:
1. Lawful Collection and Correlation of Consumer Data.
2. Find 20% of your current potential customers.
3. Find your best customers like them.
4. Be a travel enthusiast to give everyone a great experience.
5. Measure your impact on total revenue and the corresponding share.
Use outside thinking to your advantage
A little critical thinking and some outside thinking can go a long way in giving yourself that "unfair" advantage that everyone else wants. To help put this into perspective, I'll share how my colleagues and I reimagined consumer obsession.
In a recent survey of marketing leaders, we found that many CMOs and CMOs struggle to use data to significantly improve their marketing results. Some have done better than others. These outsiders had one thing in common: they paid little attention to the consumption data they received. Instead, they analyzed specific data collected about a certain percentage of consumers who bring the most value to their organization—usually the magic 20%—without wasting time and money on others.
Portfolio management and lifetime value marketing are nothing new. This means that marketers must get more value from the consumers they attract. Therefore, the logical approach is to find and attract people who are likely to spend more and spend more time with you than your competitors' regular customers to become your customers.
What is new (to my knowledge) is the idea of approaching your recruitment and acquisition initiatives according to an obsessive, obsessive Pareto principle. It's fair to say that obsessing over your best customers means spending 80% of your marketing efforts and budget on the 20% of your most valuable current and potential customers.
This type of consumer obsession is associated with actions that lead to significant results. I'm not just talking about return on ad investment here. You need to focus on overall profitability and deeply understand your customers.
How are you? You must have good data and analytical skills. Evaluate existing data and analytical capabilities to identify weaknesses in people, processes or technology. Then expect to spend 80% of your resources obsessing over the top 20% of your customers. A weak heart can never gain an "unfair" competitive advantage.
The Forbes Business Council is the leading organization for developing and connecting business owners and leaders. What am I entitled to?
