Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business
By: Donald Miller and Dr. J.J. Peterson
HarperCollins Leadership (March 17, 2020)
208 pages
Marketing Made Simple is a book that shows you how to apply what was taught in Miller’s last book Building A StoryBrand (Amazon). The books share basic principles along with practical action on marketing – especially in regard to internet marketing. One of the main ideas of the book is clarity. Clarity in what you offer, and clarity in how your offer makes the customer’s life easier. This goal sticks out to me the more I learn about persuasion.
Two of my favorite quotes:
Good marketing is an exercise in memorization and successful brands know it. Repeating the same language in the same way in your one-liner, landing page, emails, and direct sales letters helps you brand yourself into your customer’s mind. We know that in only fifteen minutes, Geico can help us save up to 15 percent on car insurance. Why do we know this? Because their marketing led us through an exercise in memorization that caused us to memorize their offer.
A human brain is designed to experience pleasure when it understands something and fear or resistance when it doesn’t. This is a basic survival mechanism and it’s one that very few companies take into account when they communicate with their customers. When somebody is confused, in varying degrees, they feel exposed to danger. Therefore, people move away from situations in which they are confused and toward contexts in which they understand the situation and feel in control. This principle is why politicians with repeatable, simple messaging statements usually win. It’s not because their plan will work or has even been thought through, it’s because voters feel a sense of understanding and associate that feeling of comfort and survival with that candidate. The answer to confusion is always no.