Friday 5 Marketing Observations – Why the biggest and best struggle to grow
Another week flying by, March is coming to a rapid end.
A good week only 1 trip to hospital for my daughters MRI, awaiting results.
Another NSW State Election came & went without the Sky falling in.
These are the 5 most interesting & insight business & marketing articles I came across this week.
Why The Biggest and Best Struggle To Grow
The largest companies eventually find size itself an impediment to creating new value. They must recognize that not all forms of growth are equal.
The largest, most successful companies would seem to be ideally positioned to create value for their shareholders through growth. After all, they command leading market and channel positions in multiple industries and geographies; they employ deep benches of top management talent utilizing proven management processes; and they often have healthy balance sheets to fund the investments most likely to produce growth.
- What holds them back? A good Question… Even well-run big companies, growth slows or stops: “For
some it’s the natural result of past success: their portfolios are weighed down by large, leading businesses that may have once delivered considerable growth, but that have since matured with their industries and now have fewer natural avenues for growth. At others, management talent and processes are more grooved to maintain, not build, businesses; and their equity- and cash-rich balance sheets dampen the impact growth has on shareholder value”… - It’s amazing how many companies are still chasing getting the numbers for the Quarter…But the short-term focus on meeting unrealistically high growth expectations can undermine long-term growth. Ultimately, the scramble to meet quarterly numbers will continue to intensify as
cost cutting further decelerates organic growth… - So the Problem many big businesses face, smaller investments can get lost on the management agenda, long-term investments fail to capture management’s imagination, and the temptation is to invest in highly visible near-term projects with
low value creation intensity….
Go Read – Why The Biggest and Best Struggle To Grow
Google’s Shift From Answers To Journeys: What Does It Mean For SEO?
It used to be that Google’s algorithm tried its best to give users the answers they were searching for. However, today, things aren’t that simple.
With concepts like user intent and the buyer’s journey becoming increasingly important, Google has revamped its algorithm in order to better understand what users are actually searching for when they type in a phrase or question.
But when Google announced their new update in 2018, no one expected that they would not only be changing their algorithm, but that they would actually be changing the way we think about user searches and search history altogether.
- Google uses AI with Search Journeys to gain a betting understanding of the at the context of the searcher and uses this knowledge to show users the most relevant content to where they are at in their journey rather than simply giving them an answer to a question…
- The Problem, when users go to looking something up online, they first go to their chosen search engine and type in what they want to know… So the old algorithm didn’t account for what a user meant to do. Rather, it simply tried to find the best fit (i.e., answer) to what they searched for.
- The introduction of Search Journeys presents a new way to understand search – The why behind what users search for… So it’s vital to map keywords to stages of the buyer’s journey, whether it’s the Information, Decision, or Buying stage… Google’s AI technology is able to figure this out and show users content that matches what it is they are actually searching for and are ready to see…
Go Read –Google’s Shift From Answers To Journeys: What Does It Mean For SEO?
How To Build An Investor Deck To Raise Money From Angel Investors
There’s nothing more rewarding than building a product that you created, own, and have nourished into a tangible asset that has true meaning and value. Oftentimes, in order to do this, you need capital. Lucky for you there are more angel investors today than ever before in history.
In 2018, there were 34,000 deals made, a 32% increase in overall deal volume (YoY). Angel and seed-stage activity accounted for approximately 59% of all deal volume.
As an angel investor, I’ve seen hundreds of pitch decks. They have been anywhere from 2–120 pages, some with one word on a slide and others so dense it felt like I was reading a book. When writing a pitch, there are general principles and an outline you can follow to cover all of the important information an angel investor is looking for.
- Pitch decks need to tell a story while engaging people emotionally… Tell a story people can relate to emotionally. If you can weave a story throughout the talk track or into the deck about how this problem has affected you or someone you know, it will resonate much more with your audience and validate the investment.
- The process of telling a good story is 80% research, 15% writing, and 5% design. Don’t jump into designing a deck until you spend a few hours researching the industry, your competitors, market size, and product features…
- This article gives good advice on how to structure your slide Deck & what you need to put into your presentation to get an Angel interested in wanting look further at your business…
Go Read –How To Build An Investor Deck To Raise Money From Angel Investors
Volkswagen Partners With Amazon Web Services To Transform Automative Manufacturing
Volkswagen has inked a multi-year global agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build the Volkswagen Industrial Cloud, a cloud-based digital production platform that aims to “transform the company’s manufacturing and logistics processes.”
Pulling together real-time data from Volkswagen’s 122 manufacturing plants, the German automotive firm will use AWS IoT services to collect, organise and analyse data from the plant floor.
- When I think of Amazon Web Services (AWS) I usually associate with Video Hosting & Website assets… It just goes show Big business and they gain efficiency & reduce cost… This should be
goal of all businesses… For Volkswagen has also created a data lake in partnership with AWS, that will help it “ pinpoint operational trends, improve forecasting, and streamline operations by identifying gaps in production and waste.”- “Volkswagen’s industrial cloud, which will reinvent its manufacturing and logistics processes, is yet another example of how Volkswagen continues to innovate and lead,” Andy Jassy, CEO of AWS… Watch this space when they start using Amazon SageMaker, a service that helps developers and data scientists build, train, and deploy machine learning models quickly…
Go Read – Volkswagen Partners With Amazon Web Services To Transform Automative Manufacturing
This “Great” Sales Page Template Dropped Conversions By Over 70% (Yikes)
f there’s one thing I’ve learned in more than a decade marketing online it’s this…
Every recommendation you hear or get about something that’s “killing it” in terms of conversions… you need to test and prove for yourself. In your own niche. With your own funnel. For your own product.
I recently got some info about a video sales letter template that’s been the “unbeatable control” for a particular company
- This a valuable lesson why you don’t blindly copy
someones marketing trying to adapt to your business… You need to understand the nuances & the CustomerJorney & how everything works together. Do they have a backend, which allows them tolose lose money onacquisiation.. - Testing data and test results from other marketers are only valuable in giving you fresh ideas for things to test in your own funnels.
- The Killer Template DECREASED sales conversions by over 70%…Control had 6.53% conversion while Killer Template only converted 2.59%… Keep in mind, aside from the headline, the body copy of the long-form sales letter is identical – word for word – to the script used for the video sales letter.
Go Read –This “Great” Sales Page Template Dropped Conversions By Over 70% (Yikes)
I hope you found these articles useful. Let me know if you implemented any of these ideas. Let me know if you need any help with any of this stuff.
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