Digital marketing insights.

Ask almost any marketer what customers think about when viewing a website and they’ll tell you it comes down to, What’s in it for me? It's generally agreed that’s the big thing we have to get across. It's incentive to keep reading or to take action. The presumption is that “what’s in it for me?” neatly distils our buyers’ motivations into a very clear question. Or does it?

I have to ask: does Social Proof still hold value?

It's one of the concepts internet marketers love to talk about, even bemoan the loss of (share counts discontinued in 2015 by Twitter, for example).

Are you an above-average marketer? Statistically speaking, you probably think so… even if the results of your most recent campaigns suggest otherwise.

Back in 2013, I co-wrote a book with my friend and fellow Canadian marketer, Sam Fiorella, titled “Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing”.

When we look at human behaviour from the outside in, we come up against a recurring problem: we don’t know what we don’t know.

As far as the advice goes, “always look on the bright side” scores pretty well. It’s not a bad song lyric, either. But is there such a thing as too much positivity, especially when it comes to making business decisions?

Stop me when this sounds familiar: one of your colleagues or clients comes up with an idea that sounds mildly intriguing. But, the plan they put together is based on assumptions, the offer they’re making isn’t compelling to customers, or the whole thing just seems destined to go nowhere.

How many blog subscribers do you have? What kind of conversion ratios are you achieving? How much money did you make from that offer?

Stop and think for a moment about how often you’ve seen something advertised on TV, or the Internet, and thought to yourself: “who would be stupid enough to buy that?”

Think back to the last great thing that happened in your business. Remember all the good work you put into making it happen, and smart decisions you made that led to the triumph.

One of the interesting things I've learned studying behaviour and unconscious bias in marketing is that most people tend to think of themselves as being average when it suits them, but extraordinary when it helps their self-esteem. And, because all of this happens on a subconscious level, we do it without even realizing it.

At some point or another, someone in your life – like a parent or spouse – probably reminded you that you aren’t indeed the centre of the universe. That’s something we all come to learn eventually, even if we don’t necessarily like it.

Who is the one expert you trust more than any other in the world?

If you’re like most people, you probably thought of a scientist, a mentor, friend, or even a religious leader. And just like the rest, you would be completely wrong.

No doubt you've heard of Simon Sinek's Start With Why TedX talks or his books, but did you know that the origins of The 9 Whys are the work of Dr. Gary Sanchez of the Why Institute? In the slim chance you haven't heard of either speaker, it's a construct of 9 motivations that most people identify with as their primary 'purpose' in life.