Author: christopherskinner4136

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After linguistic analysis, grow your revenue with clear 1:1 marketing

Once you have your look-a-like total addressable market or mirror CRM, what comes next?

You have many options.

Once you have your lexical based trait analysis of customers how can this be used to reach audiences? By having an entire look-a-like CRM inside of your CMS/CRM, you can generate experiences as if you know the customer already. Matching by batch or in real time is possible.

The number one output of doing this type of work is to improve conversion. Every website and every app has volumes of people that don’t convert yet look exactly like great customers. They sign up for newsletters revisit multiple pages, they downloaded your app and shop, even putting things into a basket yet they just drop off and disappear at rates beyond 90%. It seems so debilitating. It makes you wonder why they even came to the website in the first place. They searched for the product you have in stock or even your brand, yet digital conversion, compared to stores is small.

By giving the desired visitors the experiences as if they’re a Mileage Plus Gold status member already, you’re presenting the best customers with options and product they expect. That does not mean everyone. Some people want Tahiti, some want London. Don’t mix it up. And it doesn’t have to be weird and awkward. But what you suggest, can be far better than it is now by using traits and a guide. eBay is starting to do it via emails. Netflix does it at the script level. By combining a look-a-like CRM, with app and CMS integration, you can significantly improve conversion.

One way to think about itIs going back a few years to how we did retargeting in display advertising. It’s a cookie -based system that just keeps reminding people until they give up. It performs great when done right. It’s a bit of a stretch of an analogy but the idea is similar. If you give an amazing experience and reminding people, they’re going to convert far better.

Another way to think about this is the off-line retail experience. I’m talking about a great store in Mayfair, London. Some of those stores are so specific and they know their audience well before they come in. Once you are in, the store, service becomes adaptable, focusing in on getting you what you need. Stores like this convert incredibly well, Upwards of 50% of the traffic coming in, find something to buy. Great stores convert incredibly well. What Amazon is getting ready to do with their retail physical expansion will bring the same type of thinking and conversion.

How the product is described and what it says can have variations based on who you are. So for anyone product, conversion can increased by dynamically triggering different text, images, etc from the CMS based on a connection to the look-a-like CRM. The current way of thinking is to do this based on page visits and clicks and even importing data from Google to better understand people. It works but it is weak. It’s no comparison to that Mayfair store.

The other clear output is marketing.

By finding ‘segment densities’ of people, you can change how digital marketing and its results work. You will notice there are many places and people that don’t fit what you do and don’t see your product as a solution to their job to be done. Our research indicates traits have a geographic component that is connected to traits. How places formed, the reasons they exist are deep rooted. By finding them, you can connect traits to people to profits.

Even things like life insurance have different pockets of density throughout the country. I have seen great insurance brands with a handful of locations above 10% market share while the rest languist at less than 1% market share. By identifying segments and where they might live you can use digital marketing is a very different way. You can ‘heavy up’ in high density areas and avoid others. CPC might be higher but in the end, profits matter more.

Another output is direct-mail. If left up to the direct-mail house you might over market. By handing them a list based on traits, even at a higher cost point, you can convert far better then paid search.

There are other 1:1 opportunities through display, TV and a host of other technologies that allow us to market to individuals or to households. A few new direct response oriented brands have been built on this foundation. Organizations worth billions are more likely to focus than to ‘spray and pray’.

By starting off with a precise view of customer segments, defined by traits and slowly expanding audience segments in unique ways, organizations can disrupt competitors with innovation that is ready to go.

How are you doing you’re 1:1 marketing these days? I’m curious to see what other people are doing.

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What are the next growth markets?

I’ve always been fascinated with growth potential of the business categories.

I created a scorecard based on a number of expectations by market category. Really

Some of the variables include market growth potential, barriers to entry, market growth (CAGR), Purchase frequency of the products sold, average order value, value to weight ratio, gross margin, manufacturing complexity, Market saturation, existing brand affinity, innovation in the category, regulation, accessible to a subscription model and density of startups in the category. Instead of looking at broad numbers, I converted all variables into a weighted scorecard valuation.

I prioritize these metrics and deprioritized others. The result is this simple scorecard of businesses in order of potential to grow into the future. My estimate is you will see more VC funding and growth of high scorecard companies.

If you’re interested in seeing the full research document with scoring please write me [email protected]

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David Lee Roth Interviews Eddie & Alex Van Halen

You can always learn business from rock stars. The successful ones give you the positive stories, the bad ones are also to be studied.

They are pure capitalist. Whatever the image is, people like Mick Jagger and David Lee Roth are natural business people. What makes a person a show person and a keep focus on business? What is in their personality that drives this?

Here is a solid story from Van Halen.

David Lee Roth Interviews Eddie & Alex Van Halen. Starbucks, contracts and 90% of 1%. Priceless stories.

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Digital Display Can Create Customers, Not Just Close Them

Published when I believed media could help us solve things. NOVEMBER 29, 2013

The large majority of marketers put a ton of money into traditional marketing channels, using “branding media” to drive interest in their products. Later, they allocate digital budget for “scooping them up” with retargeting and other cookie-based targeting tactics. After all, “intenders” have already raised their hand digitally, making them easy to find. They already have expressed an interest in the marketers product by visiting the website, leaving something in a shopping cart, or just “looking like” the typical customer. In the classic “AIDA” funnel, the “Awareness” budget at the very top of the funnel rarely gets any digital allocation.

Maybe this is 100% backwards.

Television advertising is about creating enough buzz to drive customers towards Interest, Desire, and Action. TV, radio, and print do this fairly well at scale. Media is easy to buy, has mass reach, and relatively standard creative formats, which lower the cost of broadscale market penetration. But that is changing. Traditonal media is losing people’s attention, which is becoming increasingly divided between mobile, tablet, and desktop screens. Folks are using the DVR and Netflix to avoid marketing altogether, and forget about the kids. You have to basically trick them with “native” ads or actually produce a buzzworthy YouTube video to get their attention. That’s impossible to scale.

What about digital approaches to branding? Can you actually create customers in digital, rather than just scooping them up with retargeting and other lower-funnel tactics? The answer is yes…with the right way to measure. Cookie-based measurement will always fail to give the progressive marketer the right answers. Common issues (deletion, do-not-track, multiple-device, etc.) mean we can only see 30% of online conversions from a particular campaign — never mind the offline sales digital receives 0% attribution for.

What if we used the right metrics, which could reveal the real impact digital branding has on new customer creation? One of those metrics is profit optimization: the concept of understanding what a products optimal sales should be in one geo-targeted area. In other words, understanding how many ACME widgets are selling in Huntington, New York — and how many it should be selling, based on its profit potential. If you understand those numbers, even at a basic level, you can actually start to measure digital success and uncover the “invisible” digital customers you might have. They are the people you can’t see online — because they don’t actually exist (as cookies) yet.

It’s a pretty simple equation: more and more time is spent online. But more sales occur offline. Looking at the graphic above, the concept is to try and pull the digital line backward, and engage the customers you can’t see online, leveraging digital media tactics for branding. By taking a pure digital approach in discrete markets, and measuring by nothing but profit optimization, you will be able to quickly see the hidden power of digital branding — and start creating more customers with digital, rather than marketing to those who have already expressed interest in your products.

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How Disney, Netflix, Amazon, and eBay embrace personality analytics

How good are they pulling this off?

All 4 understand the customer at a deeper level than most. They are leaders and have made efforts to use personality and trait theory to better understand why people decide.

Leading companies embrace understanding people at a far deeper level than ever before. Execution is still far from the vision of their executive teams but it gets better with each year. Are we still reminded to buy something we bought; yes. What comes next is far better.

Disney predicts personality and has made some efforts to better understand people. eBay understands predictive frameworks. Their inventory issues do make it hard but they could think different. Netflix stands out as the poster child for personality and trait theory. They can design their products vs. resell something. They can get product to market in relatively short order. Amazon gets it and drives it back to what matters; customer delight. It’s a great KPI for measuring results. Since Amazon can be taken down by China, et al (collectively, his suppliers), his focus on customer delight and brand equity is very important.

I expect these 4 to lead for a while but in 5 to 10 years, who knows. If they do not move fast enough, the theory of disruptive innovation tells us they can be taken down.

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Segmenting people by ‘why they cut’ can grow electric equipment sales by 10x

Each reason may or may not have a big connection to the other reason. For instance, somebody interested in reducing emissions and creating more efficiency when cutting the grass might not have any connection to a person interested in reducing noise and safety concerns.

Marketing needs products based on facts and figures. This solves some conversion rates but not all. Dramatic change in conversion rates reminds me of when Walmart promoted the CFL in 2006. They dramatically shifted the market from incandescent to CFL by launching a series of campaigns they change the perception of the light bulb.

The same can be said for Apple over a variety of products, over many years. They began selling products based on an idea to “think different”. The RAM, storage, and capabilities were second to the philosophy that Apple sells to this day.

The manufacturer or the reseller is in position to do this now.

Understanding psycholinguistics changes the ad copy, but more importantly it changes conversion.

By segmenting people based on why they decide and why they would change from traditional to battery-powered lawn care is where the manufacturer and the reseller need to go.

Psycholinguistics of gardening in the State of Iowa (just the over indexing traits):

Gardening on a surface level may be a relaxing hobby, but when you go into the psycholinguistics of it, it says a lot about the people who garden.

Gardeners focus on personal concerns and feelings. They’re socially oriented around family and they are perceptive. They live in the present often have high expertise and confidence. They tend to be not as concerned about money and do not think analytically or logically, thus using feelings to guide their decisions.

Over indexing in certain personality traits has many different meanings the quick review of gardeners in Iowa indicate intellectual curiosity open to emotion sensitive to beauty, considerate trusting and trustworthy, yet open to or are vulnerable to stress. Sometimes ordinary situations can be threatening. Generally they have positive emotions, are assertive and see stimulation from others. There’s great appreciation for art, adventure, imagination, and curiosity.

They don’t make fast decisions. They’re not controlling or focused on themselves.

By understanding psycholinguistics and personality traits we can better understand what makes a gardener garden. By understanding the gardener at a deeper level we better understand what marketing copy and messaging we’ll convince them to move from traditional power equipment two battery. It’s not always about saving the environment nor is it always about efficiency. It just depends on person. By segmenting people and messaging hey brand stands a far better chance to dramatically improve conversion and market share. Dominating this market allows your brand to expand to other areas in the future and build a long road toward success for years to come.

We plan on helping your brand succeed. Please write so we can provide more information about how to approach the market and how to create market share growth. My doing these things we create customer delight along with customer equity. We predict what comes next and we build powerful experiences for both the company and your customers.

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Gardening in Iowa — a story of who you are is related to what you do

I personally enjoy gardening. It’s relaxing and it takes away the stress and strain of high-pressure jobs without the risk of hurting yourself. I tend to be a daydreamer when I’m gardening, so I avoid dangerous tools that can cut off my hands. I don’t really want to read a book or take on a new topic — I just want to let my brain rest and wander.

I don’t live in Iowa but I like choosing Iowa just like those politicians do. It seems to be a diverse state right in the middle of our country.

Using the technology that we built, I examined people who garden and who do home and gardening work as well as people who also garden and farm in Iowa. There are differences between those three groups of people but for this article’s sake, I averaged them.

Collectively, gardening is very personal and relates to Home & Leisure and Family. Some of the linguistic trait analysis characteristics of gardening are pretty obvious.

One area of research I like to look at is when a person over-indexes, meaning they are highly focused on a particular activity. It appears that gardeners in the state of Iowa are intellectually curious, open to emotion, and sensitive to beauty. They’re considerate and generous trusting and trustworthy.

When trying to convince a gardener to do something, it’s important to connect well to their traits that are shown above. There are set of verbs and adjectives that fit well to what it means to be a gardener.

Overall gardening in Iowa means the individual is optimistic, intellectual, considerate, and positive. I personally might use it more for escapism or rest time, but it looks like the people that enjoy it most are compassionate souls.

What are the traits that gardening is not?

People who garden in Iowa are not controlling or self-focused and do not keep to themselves. They also might not be focused on the past, but embrace the present.

When connecting this data to CRM, you uncover revenue and profits and how traits connect. Our research indicates a few traits drive profitability and revenue. We also have discovered that the traits that do drive profitability drive the vast majority of it. Think of the classic 80/20 rule. When designing marketing and messaging it’s important to think through the deep meaning of who people are and why they decide. It might not be an easy task but it produces far greater conversion rates creating far more brand equity and customer delight.

Understanding why people buy is critical for conversion rate improvements — one of the most efficient ways to grow sales and profits. We can help. Contact us how we can help you improve understanding the customer and creating growth.

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Organizations that get Jobs to be Done Theory

I recently ran a crawl of people and organizations that self-proclaim some understanding of Jobs to be Done theory.

It is hard to pinpoint any one type of organization. The list is diverse and no one organizations has any more than 25 people spelling out ‘jobs to be done’ in their Linkedin profile or website. If you had to pick, it would be, as expected, consultants. A common theme is worldwide work in management consulting. No one organization owns more than 1% of mindshare on this topic. If we count the people within the organization, very, very few people proclaim JTBD in anyway. In total, around 2,500 people can spell out jobs to be done on their Linkedin profile. I would assume the number is higher given some limitations of Linkedin search.

After crawling all the websites of businesses spelling out JTBD theory, I pulled meta-data from each site and created a text file of all text. I counted word and phrases frequency. below are the high indexing words and phrases.

Here is the file.

Here are phases associated with companies found. Keep in mind, people work within the companies. The companies are not necessarily in the JTBD theory business. One surprise was a major manufacturer of peanut butter.

So why do this?

For me, it tells me a few things;

  1. JTBD theory is not household, not yet. I want it to be ubiquitous.
  2. JTBD has a diverse following but does lean toward consultants.
  3. In my research, many people struggle to implement JTBD into different departments, after the work is done.
  4. These companies must have ‘issues’ or supply results. For the issues companies, I doubt someone would take on a difficult project like JTBD without having a burning need to solve something.
  5. For JTBD to be ubiquitous, it needs a technology core. That has been my passion for some time. It works, it follows the classic process of disruption, starting out basic. We need more people to get this concept or some variations of it. We need more businesses to get the benefit of JTBD.

for more information, please contact me; [email protected]

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US Capital Cities and Their Similarities to Others

Examining US cities is not something that I find to be good research but could not help myself. I am curious about these places. Capitals often have a perceived ‘vibe’ that is different than the rest of the State. In general, cities are too big, too diverse but maybe capitol cities have a feel . They do have a certain ‘vibe’ and I was curious to pressure test my software, treating capital cities like organizations. I did find some interesting patterns; Demographics and financial aspects of cities have nothing in common with their psychometric traits.

GDP, medium income, poverty rate, population, household income, crime index, general health condition, Education Gini index, median resident age and living index all have little in common with the high indexing, psychometric traits of cities.

Below are clusters or groups of like cities based on their collective personalities. I found many ways to define clusters but 10 seems to fit well. All metrics are curent to 2017 numbers. Cluster 2 is generally less affluent than others, especially Cluster 8.

Below are the personality trait clusters for each cluster of capital city. Below are the 1st tier traits and a brief description of each trait. This information along with much more was rolled up into a cluster analysis of all 50 cities.

The traits you see below are in order density. Think of it as a collective scoring marker. Cities can be diverse and diverse within each city but commonalities independent of demographics do connect. Does Salam and Lincoln have similar people, the research indicates yes.

If you are interested in the entire research file, please contact me @ [email protected]

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Top Friendliest Cities & Psycholinguistics

What makes a friendly city, friendly.

I pulled in the all too common lists of top friendly cities from many websites. Most have some science behind them, some don’t (becomes obvious which ones).

These cites show up a lot: Asheville, Charleston, Fort Worth, Jackson, Key West, Nashville, New Orleans, San Antonio, Savannah, Telluride. This turns out to be a good list but why?

My software calculates the lexical based, high indexing personality traits of people based on a theory of who they might be. Since these cities contain large numbers of diverse people, the challenge is; can software agree with what we read about friendly cities. People do surveys all the time and extrapolate their findings. If the initial sample is defective, it just gets worst. The answer is yes, these cities have consistent, predictive personality traits that could define what some believe make these friendly places.

In a later post, I will indicate the differences of friendly and unfriendly cities to show the differential in traits and human activities, which lead to my prediction of these traits. There are ample University research studies indicating which traits mean and why this mix of traits can lead researchers to state a city is friendly.

IMO, cities that are friendly are analytic thinking and have high emotional tonality. High density of intelligence people, who are optimistic, positive and honest help define a friendly city (vs. not).

If interested, please write for the research work. [email protected]