Every Friday, get a short weekly illustrated newsletter by edutainment expert Adam Fairhead. Each issue contains a bite-sized tip to grow your business using proven edutainment techniques, and a fun cartoon to help you remember what you learn.
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@jordanbhodgson, Slack program manager
Potential customers have a problem.
And they want to get to a solution.
So what do marketers do?
They say, “Forget about all, that look at my cool product!”
And that is why marketing is hard for them.
They try to close sales by doing things such as:
❌ “Make a super-irresistible offer so scrumptiously delicious they couldn’t even entertain the very possibility of doing anything other than exactly what you tell them.”
The problem is, that’s not how people work. How often do you click on a page, then feel a magical marketing force rip your credit card out of your pocket against your will? Causing you to feverishly spend thousands of dollars on a service without any of the senses nor faculties you’ve used both your entire life prior to now? Exactly.
Here’s another:
❌ “Meticulously A/B test every aspect of the page to make the leap happen, like a hunter carefully aiming his weapon at unsuspecting wildlife, to make sure he paints the meadow with the maximum amount of brains.”
The problem with this one is two-fold. First, it’s a little bit gross. Second, it puts a lot of pressure on your materials to compress what could have been a really enjoyable user experience into a desperate pitch-fest graded by analytics rather than whether or not your target market actually likes it.
That is making marketing hard.
Here’s how to make it not-hard:
Step 1: Give them what they want.
Step 2: Give that to them how they want to receive it.
Step 3: Ensure you do both with unignorably-good quality.
Replace grandiose claims of what you want them to do,
with delightful experiences they want to do.
Replace skipping steps in the name of optimisation,
with taking the time to put on a show they make time for.
Replace gated content to force people forward,
with frictionless edutainment so good they force themselves forward.
Isn’t that better, champ?
Over to you:
Question for the week: Which part of this sounds most difficult or ambiguous for you? I’d love to know so I can expand on it more in future issues.
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
Happy marketing,
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I’m going to go out on a limb here.
I’m assuming you’re not making landing pages for the “Institute of Self-loathing.”
Oh that’s correct? Hah, what a relief. Okay good.
In that case, question for you:
Do your landing pages know that?
Because most landing pages are:
And yet brands spend huge sums of money ‘optimising’ these things.
It’s like trying to ‘optimise’ a dead twig into a Giant sequoia.
So next time you build a landing page, consider:
Show me 6 Yesses, and I’ll show you a winning landing page.
Quit optimising dead twigs. Start planting trees that’ll stand the test of time.
Over to you, friends:
Question of the week: How many of those 6 can you honestly answer Yes to?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
Happy marketing,
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Why are you sitting in a box?
Silly, let me help you out of there.
Feel better?
You might be wondering why you were in a box at all.
That’s okay, it happens all the time:
Spend time in any industry and it’ll build itself around you.
‘Best practices’ show up, corrugated and firm,
Giving you paper cuts as you defy them.
But the problem is, from the outside?
You just look like a cardboard box.
In a warehouse of other boxes.
Boring.
You can’t stand out while blending in.
Or while sat hidden inside a box.
So while your competitors are busy blending in,
And A/B testing for which variation of mediocrity is best,
You can be learning what customers actually want, how they enjoy receiving it.
Get ‘what’ right and they’ll:
Get ‘how’ right and they’ll:
You’d think your competitors hate the idea of distinctive brand presence, increased engagement and loyalty, more organic reach and shares, a fantastic reputation, repeat business and word of mouth.
But that’s okay. Maybe they like being in a box.
Not you though, champ.
We need you to shine.
Over to you, friends:
Question of the week: Which are you struggling with most, WHAT or HOW?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
Happy marketing,
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You receive an Amazon parcel.
Instead of an Amazon logo on it, you see a giant photo of Bezos’ face.
Bit weird…
Fortunately, he stepped down as CEO in 2021. Phew!
Whether we like it or not, the Profile Picture is the new Logo.
Bezos’ brand affects how we see Amazon.
Cook’s brand affects how we see Apple.
Elon’s brand affects how we see Tesla.
Tesla stock tumbles as Elon stumbles.
But it’s a good thing, really.
Because while everyone else is still paralyzed at the thought of a thousand photos of Bezos piling up in their recycling basket, you can be busy applying edutainment principles to your personal brand.
First, let’s remind ourselves of the big three elements of edutainment:
For personal brands:
WHAT they want also includes storytelling. Because people have transformations, overcome challenges, and shop at Amazon.
HOW they want to receive it includes personal connection. Because we want to feel like we’re on this journey together.
Un-ignorably good delivery includes you. Whether you’re a real human or a cartoon character, we want to see you, hear from you, and get to know you.
Say it with me now: “I am so much more than a box in the recycling basked with a bald face on the front.”
If you’re an individual creator, it’s your time to shine, champ.
If you run a company, stop hiding behind all that cardboard.
Over to you, friends:
Question of the week: Are you doing ‘personal’ branding? What’s the hardest part for you?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
Happy shopping,
Permalink
Automation is like a giant onion.
It makes your meal tastier… unless your meal is an onion.
So let’s look at how you can automate to enhance your work
(instead of bringing everybody to tears)
❌ Use low-pay low-skill offshore talent services.
Where there are people, hire masters, train masterfully, or both.
❌ Replace human touch with templates.
When challenger brands act like faceless corps, users choose the latter.
❌ Daisy-chain no-code tools and call it a ‘service’.
Do you deem microwave dinners and restaurants comparable?
❌ Strip away fun, UX, and theatre because it’s not ‘essential’.
Despite those being why users feel attached to you.
✅ Automate when it’s better than you alone.
Eg common questions are best answered with a short email + a thoughtful pre-made video, than as an email alone.
✅ Create leverage when others are better than you.
Eg sending all video tasks to a great animator, instead of just doing talking-head selfies, for stickier videos.
✅ Incorporate each that outperforms manual input.
Eg creating scripts that batch-process social graphics to different sizes as you’d do it. Just like you, but faster.
✅ Use all that recovered time to enhance the user experience.
Eg creating immersive onboarding experiences, interactive de-platforming ad experiences, or better content.
Each time you think about automation, think about onions.
It’s weird, but it works. 🧅
Over to you friends:
Question of the week: How would you improve your customer experience if you had less on your plate?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
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Will AI eventually replace YOU?
There’s a simple test to find out.
It’s very simple:
If they look at the competitor’s one (which is secretly yours)…
And they don’t think, “Hey, they ripped your material”…
…You’re replaceable.
If they look at your one (which is secretly the competitor’s)…
And they don’t think, “Hm, that doesn’t sound like you”…
…You’re replaceable.
You’d know if your mother or best friend had a personality transplant.
Because you know who they are. And you like them for it. You trust them for it.
If someone replaced your mother with a robot that sounded similar?
It’s still not your mother. You wouldn’t trust it.
Want to be irreplaceable?
Invest in what won’t change:
Question for the week: How easily do you feel like AI could replace YOU currently, and why?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
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Is personal branding really what you think it is?
It’s not about making people like brands. It’s the opposite.
Personal branding is about making brands like people. Let’s explore how in 3 steps:
If you’re branding yourself, don’t try to become like a company.
Companies don’t even want to be like companies. They want people to form relationships with them, to be seen as relatable and trustworthy, with shared beliefs and shared culture. Put another way, they want to be people. Doesn’t matter what you’re branding. Could be yourself. Could be your company
Don’t brand either like a company. Brand it like a person.
Now we have a person, let’s turn it into a friend.
What’s the difference between people and friends? Friends do the above things. They’re relatable and trustworthy. They have shared beliefs and shared culture. They know how to get great gifts, or show you a great time. They know what you like, how you like to receive it. They know what you think is awesome, or lame. They know what tickles your funny-bone.
That’s who people like spending time with. Design that.
Now we have a personality (person or company) people want to be around.
Now you just need to do what that person would do. Continue to learn what they want, how they love to receive it. And continually express that to them in the most unignorably-awesome ways you possibly can.
Now we’ve turned that friend into a BFF.
Who are you more likely to engage with on social media, a cold corporation, a person, a friend, or your BFF? Who are you more likely to support in new ventures, a cold corporation, a person, a friend, or your BFF? Who are you more likely to buy from when they ask, a cold corporation, a person, a friend, or your BFF?
Over to you:
Question for the week: Which part of this stood out to you most? Which part excites you the most for your brand?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
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Is marketing getting easier or harder?
Most would say harder…
And they’re right. If by harder they mean “different and I hate change.”
But it’s actually simpler than ever.
Despite the competition. Despite the changes.
Here’s why:
Sure, there are algorithms…
But they’re only there to show people more of what they like. So if you’re not showing up, you didn’t show enough people that they like it yet. That’s all.
Gatekeepers used to unlock specific captive audiences. Now they’re gone, you need to define cohorts within your audience yourself. It’s different, but you’re in control.
How did people feel about your banner ads? You have no idea.
On social, you do. You’re connecting with individuals, seeing their words in response to yours. You can even see what they talk about on their own profiles.
We’ve never had more data available to us. Now we have it, we need to analyse it to improve our creative. It’s different, but you’re in control.
Of the >800 million videos on YouTube…
How many channels do you love and look forward to regularly? If you can think of more than 3, you’re doing very well.
People want to consume things they want to consume, in ways they love to consume it. And you only really have ~3 real competitors per cohort.
Sure, you need to produce fantastic stuff. It’s different. But you’re in control.
So.
You have permission.
All the data.
And a wide-open opportunity.
Still think its harder?
Over to you, friends:
Question for the week: Do you feel excited or overwhelmed by the opportunity in modern marketing? And why?
Reply to this email with your answer. I read every one, and reply with support to as many as I can.
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