Effective marketing isn’t complex.

It only needs two things:
#1: To give more value than it asks for,
#2: To be enjoyable.

Without #1, people feel sold to.

They put up their buyer defences.
They interpret your creation as a ruse,
To make them do something they don’t feel like doing.
A selfish cry from a selfish person.

Without #2, people feel interrupted.

They ignore you. Skip you. Scroll past you.
Then they forget you.
If we’re doing something we enjoy and want,
Why would we want to be interrupted,
By something we don’t?

You can plot this on a graph really simply:

This applies to all of your marketing:

Need more attention?

Post videos that give more than they ask, and are enjoyable.
True for successful ads. Social content. Explainers.
Even long-form episodic YouTube videos.
Great content, with a postage stamp attached.

Need more conversions?

Publish landing pages that give more than they ask, and are enjoyable.
An experience they’re glad they found.
Rare in the wild, but masterful in practice.
These are pages people share with others.

Need more user retention?

If you’re in SaaS, modify your UX to give more than it asks,
And is genuinely enjoyable to use.
We never unsubscribe from these.
Not in spirit, affections, and enthusiastic referrals.

It’s easy to tell whether or not you’re doing this.

Ask yourself this question:
“Is this giving more than it asks for? And is it enjoyable?”

Make each ‘No’ a ‘Not yet’.
Then conspire to make it so.

Question for the week: Think about your current marketing and ask yourself, “Is this giving more than it asks for? And is it enjoyable?”

Reply to this email with: Your answer! I’d love to see it, maybe I can point you toward some great ideas.

Happy ideating,