In this episode of Bullhorns and Bullseyes, Tom Nixon and Curtis Hays geek out (in the way that only true geeks dare!) on three powerful marketing models that shape how they plan campaigns, create content, and measure success.
If you’ve ever wondered why some campaigns flop while others convert like magic, this episode is your masterclass in doing it the Bullhorns and Bullseyes way—from the top of the funnel to the flip at the end.
That is the art of effective communication.
What I learned in sixth grade holds true today. If you’re using your marketing content and messaging to TELL people why they should engage with you, nobody will relate.
But if you SHOW them—through storytelling, testimonial, metaphorical allusions, emotional connection—your story will resonate. And be remembered.
Allow me to show you how…
If I told you my life story, would you care?
What if I asked you tell me your life story?
Eugene M. Schwartz’s The Brilliance Breakthrough: How to Talk and Write So That People Will Never Forget You should be (and often is) considered to be the “bible” of effective copywriting and storytelling. One of the many tenets Schwartz embraces is the notion of making the reader (or the customer) the hero of the story you’re trying to tell.
Too often, we put the capes on our own backs. And that’s where the writing falls short.
Adrian Lurssen tells the story of when he went to see Nelson Mandela deliver an address in his home country of South Africa. He still draws upon the experience today, but in the most unusual context.
As Adrian has recounted this tale to Jay Harrington and me on an episode of The Thought Leadership Project podcast, he likens this notion of a praise singer to how we considers thought leadership content to work on behalf of the expert that shares it.
See how…
One of my all-time favorite movies was Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King, staring Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges and Mercedes Ruehl. The movie’s key lesson — as told through a parable — is one that I think applies to much more than just life and love. The parable of The Fisher King and the movie from which it is taken provide a useful allegory for effective messaging, positioning and branding.
In a key moment in the movie, Robin Williams’s character tells the story to Jeff Bridges’s character:
I don’t think it’s wise to approach LinkedIn as prospecting “CRM” software, wherein you go trawling for leads, playing the spray-and-pray numbers game.
Instead, I think there’s a more genuine, human approach you can take to the world’s largest business-to-business social network in a way that will almost assuredly result in business-development wins, but will not have you pounding the proverbial pavement, cold calling and knocking on doors.
If you are in the business of selling expertise, a professional service, or consulting engagements, one of the best ways to earn the confidence of a prospective client is to consistently and convincingly demonstrate domain authority and subject matter expertise.
Here is my formula for structuring written content that will earn the interest of your clients, referral sources and prospects, and ultimately, establish you as the preferred candidate for anyone looking to hire a service provide in your particular domain of expertise.
Most people are familiar with the term "content marketing" as it relates to thought leadership. But what is "content business development?" Recently referenced by prior guest Adrian Lurssen of JD Supra, this is (as the name suggests) content that lives and operates further down the sales funnel.
To be specific:
Refresher course: What is a sales funnel?
How content and thought leadership now operate across the entirety of the sales funnel.
How can professionals use various formats of content for business development purposes, in addition to its marketing uses?
A handful of specific examples of content being used as business development tools for listeners to consider.
An invitation, not a solicitation. The offer, not the cold call.
How should professionals be thinking differently about their content marketing strategy in 2021?
Reading & Resources
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The post that inspired the topic: Guest Adrian Lurssen coins the term "content business development."
The sales and marketing conundrum for busy professionals who bill their time.
Google’s recent algorithm update provides guidance on writing content that is deemed “helpful.” This is not only good SEO practice, this is just sound advice. This is who will win the content game, now and apparently into the future: real people who can distill complex subject matter and serve it up generously and consistently to help real people solve real problems.
Learn how to write helpful content…
Maybe. But I’ve always found that to come off as a bit hokey. It’s easy to say if you’re one of the 0.1% of people who hit it big, strike it rich, or achieve fame and fortune. “Follow your passion. That’s what I did, and now look at me!”
But you know who else followed their passions? The 99.9% of people who you’ve never heard of. Following a passion wasn’t enough for them. Most who pursue stardom fail, then move on to something else as Plan B.
That something else is known as “the real world” by many. Myself included.
Here’s what Kenny Loggins suggests…
The above is the title of a podcast I recently listened to called “7-Figure Small,” a podcast hosted by Brian Clark. Of course, it caught my attention, as any good title will. “What is the surprise, pray tell?! I just HAVE to listen to find out!”
So I did. And you know what? Brian was right on.
This somewhat counterintuitive and, dare I say, provocative headline is 100% true. And it runs counter to what most people think…myself (in the past) included.
Professional service providers like to think we get hired for our expertise. But that’s not the case…
Too often, the language we tend to use in marketing and advertising puts ourselves as the hero in the journey — the one coming to the rescue of the client or customer.
When, in reality, the client, customer or prospect truly only cares about his or her own journey…their own challenges, aspirations and coveted conquests.
Continue reading to see how this story can have a happy ending for you and your marketing efforts…
(If you’ve never seen the Christopher Nolan classic, Memento is a story that is told in reverse chronology. The first scene of the movie is actually the final event in the story. The second scene depicts the events that immediately preceded the first scene, or final chapter. The third scene depicts the events that immediately preceded that. And so on it goes, all the way to the final scene, which depicts the first event in the storyline — the one that kicked off the chain of events, told backwards, from back to front.)
Here’s how that would work…
What’s more convincing: If I told you how many times I’ve helped a client out of given problem, or if I told you a story about the person I helped yesterday?
Too often, we litter our marketing copy with statistics—facts, figures, bullet points, specs, product lists, empty promises—when we should be telling stories. Stories are magical tools that convince people that what you claim to be true is actually rooted in reality. Stories make people feel. They make people care.
There is an old quote, often misattributed, that is taken from a work of fiction: “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.” Here’s how you can apply that logic to your marketing messaging…
“Show me, don’t tell me.”
Those were the words a younger, deflated Tom Nixon read written in red atop his recently submitted creative writing assignment. The admonishment, coming from my sixth-grade teacher, would be a recurring theme in my life.
The lesson that first I learned in grade school, and kept relearning throughout life, would become a valuable asset in career as a content creator for businesses and professional services firms.
