Welcome to the first issue of the new and improved Mike’s Marketing Lab. To say things have been busy recently would be an understatement. But, with a good amount of encouragement from my wife (thank you, love!) I’m committing to writing more regularly and believe I have a format to make it happen.
Here’s what to expect:
A weekly column (~300-400 words) featuring one idea you can put to work tomorrow
Lab notes featuring the actual things I’m thinking about, testing, working on, and tinkering with when it comes to marketing, communications, branding, and beyond.
A trip to AI Corner where I’ll share one practical AI tip to improve your work.
A rotating wild card segment (or two) because I want to keep you on your toes, but also have room to talk about something if it can make you a better marketer and communicator.
One way to get out from behind your desk and get moving. If we want to do this for a long time, we have to take care of ourselves. Plus, I do my best thinking when I’m in motion.
Now, let’s get started. Welcome (back) to the Lab!
What I Wish I’d Known
I turned 30 a couple weeks ago and naturally reflected on the last 10 years of my life. When I turned 20, I was watching the Cubs punch their ticket to the World Series and hadn’t even entertained the thought of pursuing a career in marketing. In my mind, I was still going to become the next Ryan Seacrest (whatever that meant), work in news, and maybe one day host College Gameday. Thankfully, none of that came to pass. Although, I wouldn’t mind being a guest picker on Gameday.
All this introspection, though, did lead to one fun question to chew on: What’s one thing I wish I’d known in my twenties? Since this is a marketing newsletter, we’ll make that our sandbox for this thought exercise. The good news is we won’t have to dig long in the dirt to find the answer because the moment I asked it, I knew.
The one thing I wish I’d known about marketing in my twenties is that in order to succeed you must have a rigid discipline around costs and profits.
Marketing exists to make the most amount of money for a business at the lowest cost. As the father of advertising Albert Lasker tells us, “Advertising at its core is salesmanship in print,” and that is all there is to it. Marketing is sales and sales is all about making the graph go up and to the right. Don’t overthink it. Just make the number go up.
Yet, because marketing is a practice that requires creativity and creativity is inherently subjective, we sometimes like to give ourselves a pass. Or worse, we pat ourselves on the back for work that looks good and will surely get us applause from fellow marketers on LinkedIn, but fails to deliver a single gosh darn conversion. Likes, views, awards, applause, and flashy case studies do not keep the lights on. Cold hard cash does and it’s why we exist as a field. Make the cash register ring and you will always have a job.
Unfortunately, this isn’t something I fully grasped until many years into my career. I was always quick to show off a creative execution, but much more timid and slow to point to any results. But, at the same time, I get it. Accountability is scary and it’s even scarier when people’s livelihoods are partially downstream of your ability to do your job. It’s heavy stuff to contemplate.
But, paradoxically, the only way to get past it is to embrace it. Holding yourself to the numbers means holding yourself to the gold standard. It means putting your back against the wall and giving your work stakes. But, I truly believe that is the only way we can do great work. We need stakes to succeed.
Lab Notes: Good In, Good Out
Every October, I run a deliberate experiment on my own writing (and my gut). I call it Spooky Book October: 31 days of horror, suspense, and the supernatural. A daily dose of the sharpest and most terrifying prose I can find. The hypothesis is simple: the sentences you consume shape the sentences you produce.
This year (as it is almost every year), Stephen King is my storyteller of choice. His prose is sharp, clear, and vivid. Reading him feels less like reading words on a page and more like huddling around a campfire for a scary story; you lean in a little more with each sentence. And after a week of it, I catch my own sentences getting leaner. Tighter verbs. Less throat-clearing.
That’s the test result, and it has nothing to do with horror: feed your brain good sentences, get good sentences back. The mechanism works on marketing copy just as well as campfire stories. (Minus the curses, hexes, and vampires, of course.)
Oh, and it gives me an excuse to stock the fridge with pumpkin cider for maximal fall effect. Science demands sacrifices.
AI Corner: Talk to Me, Goose
To get the most out of your AI of choice, don’t type into the box. Instead talk into it. Here’s why.
Efficiency: Typing a long prompt takes time and it’s easy to leave things out.
Context: Speaking, no matter how jumbled up your words, provides maximal context to the model. The more context, the better the output.
Speed: Running the loop of talking, reading, talking, reading is much faster than typing and reading. You will move much faster and get a greater understanding of whatever job you need done.
Most apps have transcription or voice mode built in. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Black Friday Tip of the Week: The Grandparent Test
Black Friday is chaos. Granted, it is now digital chaos where we can shop from home in our pajamas rather than battle it out in person at 3 a.m. in a Circuit City over a Wii.
Still, it is imperative you communicate clearly during this time because you are competing with hundreds (if not thousands) of brands trying to get a share of your customers’ wallets. The tip of the spear in these cases is your deals. If you don’t communicate them clearly or if they require a PhD in mathematics to maximize the savings, you are toast.
That is why I use what I call the “Grandparent Test” to gauge the clarity of our deals. It goes a little something like this.
Imagine one of your grandparents is shopping for you during Black Friday. Would they be able to…
Understand how much money they are saving by purchasing during Black Friday.
Act on their understanding, purchase, and actually save the money.
If you can confidently answer “Yes” to both, congrats! Your deals are ready for the bright lights. If not, you need to go back to the drawing board. Clarity wins over craftiness on Black Friday.
The Highlight Reel: Wisdom from Rickey Henderson
I’m an active highlighter while I read. When I read this anecdote about how Rickey Henderson carried himself as a professional, it resonated with me. Yes, it is good to look up to people in our industry, but that doesn’t mean we should discount ourselves in the process.
“Even if he admired what other players were doing, he wasn’t a spectator. He saw himself as a future peer, destined to be a one-name guy just like him.” - from Rickey by Howard Bryant.
Get Moving: The Lunchtime Walk
The lunchtime walk is a staple at ANCORE HQ. Many of our team members get up and cruise around outside to reset before the second half of the day. It clears the mind, gets the heart rate up a little, and provides a chance to be outside in the sunshine.
That is my challenge for you to get moving this week: Go for a walk during lunch. It doesn’t need to be long. Just get out from behind the desk and into the beautiful fall weather.
See you out there!
-Mike