Forget about marketing hacks, swipe files, or trying to replicate someone elseās āproven launchā…
In this video, Iām going to tell you why most launches flop, the 7 questions you MUST answer correctly before any marketing campaignā¦
And most importantlyā¦
The #1 thing your customers HAVE to feel ā yes, feel ā before they will buy from you.
Without this, nothing else on this list matters.Ā
Hey Posse, whatās up? Itās Alex.
Coming at you this week with a tutorial that will seriously change the way you think about marketingā¦
So pay attention and get ready to take notes because you arenāt going to want to miss a single tip.Ā
But before I get into it, if you want to read more blogs like this one, give me a comment below. My team and I create new content based on what YOU like. So while it seems like a small action that doesnāt matter much, it directly impacts what we put out nextā¦
Now letās get right into itā¦
Time to geek out on my FAVORITE topic ever ā marketing and marketing psychologyā¦
To start, I want to call out what a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners do wrong when it comes to launches and campaignsā¦
While there are more than a few reasons why a launch might flop, here are the most common mishaps that I see time and time againā¦
1. Lack of Market Research
Listen āĀ never create something just for the sake of selling somethingā¦
Well, not if your goal is actually to make money. You MUST solve problems first and foremostā¦
You can identify these problems by doing excellent market research. This is the secret behind the success of any business, product, or service.
If the problem youāre solving isnāt actually something your customers want help with (and are willing to pay for that solution)⦠they wonāt buy it, no matter how great, cheap, or revolutionary it is. Ā
Remember, people donāt buy the product. They buy the OUTCOME of that product.
2. Your Target Audience is āEveryoneā
We all know your product or service can probably help TONS of people. But the most effective campaigns are the ones that solve a very specific problem for a specific person.Ā
3. You Have No Budget, No Audience or No Time
Now, Iām not saying you need to have a massive budget in order to have a successful launch, but you DO need an audience.
So, if you donāt have money to spend on ads to build your audience quickly, then you at least need to allow yourself the TIME to build an audience organically.
This is what I did⦠my first launch was very successful WITHOUT spending a single dollar on paid ads, but thatās because I put in the time to build my audience through content marketing.
If you have no budget, no audience and NO time, itās going to be harder to have a successful launch unless you can find other traffic sources, like affiliates to promote your product or business to THEIR audiences for a commission.
4. Messaging Misalignment
The #1 rule of marketing⦠you need to communicate who you are, what you do and how you can help as clearl and concisely as possible.
Confusion is the biggest conversion killer, so if you canāt say it clearly, your customers wonāt get it.
Also, pay attention to your customerās level of awareness with you or your products, if you try to sell too early or too often to people who donāt know, like or trust you yet, your launch is likely to fall flat.
Now listen, if youāre guilty of any of these marketing mishaps, please know itās not your fault!
There is so much information out there, and it can be really confusing & overwhelming trying to sift through it to figure out what ACTUALLY works and what will move the needle for YOU in your business.
And hey, Iāve definitely missed the mark on my marketing beforeā¦
Iād attend masterminds or events and learn all these incredible tactics that worked for other peopleā¦
Then Iād try them and NOPE.
But that is the BIGGEST and most important lesson to remember when it comes to marketingā¦
It is ALL just one giant experiment.
Just because something works for someone, doesnāt mean it will work for you and your audience.
The only way to know for sure is to try it and watch what happens.
So the best marketers in the world are the best marketers in the world because they have tried more stuff, and some of it worked!!
Guess what? A lot of it didn’tā¦
And no one talks about that!!
Luckily, after being in the industry for over a decade (and helping dozens of businesses scale to 7 and 8 figures), I realized somethingā¦
Great marketing can be stupidly simpleā¦
And running a successful campaign can actually be EASY, FUN, and FAST.Ā
In fact, my most successful launches are often the ones where Iām scrappy and messy⦠rather than the ones I sit on for a year trying to make āperfectā with fancy marketing bells and whistles.
The biggest difference? I donāt focus on āmarketing tacticsā and instead focus on ācustomer resultsā…
In other words, I see a problem, challenge or question my audience needs support with and I create a specific solution for themā¦
When I do that, my programs practically sell themselvesā¦
And the best part about this is that you donāt have to look at what anyone else is doing for this to work for youā¦
Marketing tactics are great ā but ātacticsā donāt create demand or desire. That, my friend, has to be present FIRST before marketing will workā¦
So to help you massively boost your marketing events, here areĀ 7 questions you must ask FIRST ā before you create, launch or SELL anythingā¦
Because the answers will change everything.
And the more clear you get with this, the better your launch will goā¦
So letās dive inā¦
Question #1 ā What Do My Customers (REALLY) Want?
This comes back to one of the main reasons new business ideas and product launches fail ā because the market demand wasnāt there.
Anyone else remember the launch of the Segway?
When the 2-wheel transportation device first came onto the market in 2002, it was supposed to revolutionize how we move around…
And it was incredibly hyped up. Because why WALK when you can SEGWAY. lol.
The founders predicted that sales would explode to 10,000 units per weekā¦
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, the company sold less than 10,000 units in its first 2 years.
And less than 24,000 units in its first 4 years.
What was supposed to be a game-changer for transportation turned out to be a total flop.
Why?
Because Segway didnāt conduct proper market research.
There was zero demand for the product.
No one really NEEDED a segway ā people could walk, bike, or drive to where they needed to go.
Which means there was no unmet need that the product was targeting or solving.
Which is a fatal mistake.Ā
If no one NEEDS what youāre selling, then they arenāt going to buy it ā period.
But then you look at the millions of electric scooters that have popped up all around the worldā¦
And the fact that the electric scooter market is expected to grow into a $24.8B industry by 2033 ā and youāre like WHAT GIVES?
Why have electric scooters popped off but segways never had a chanceā¦
Itās because electric scooters donāt JUST solve a ātransportationā problem (because you could also just drive or Uber) or even just an āenvironmentalā problem because one would argue segways are also an environmentally friendly alternative (or you could just walk or bike)ā¦
Scooters also solve one very SPECIFIC solution the other alternatives donātā¦
Convenience⦠they are light, compact, faster than walking and available on every street corner in major cities.
Soā¦
Before launching anythingā¦
Ask yourself, āWhat do my customers REALLY want, need, or desire? And WHY?ā
Because while they might say āto get from point A to point Bā ā what is it that they REALLY want?
Another exampleā¦
If I ask my audience what they want – they will tell me FREEDOM!!! But if I dig a bit deeper and ask the right questions, I find out that freedom means different things to different peopleā¦
Some of my audience want to learn copywriting so they donāt have to go back to work after maternity leave ā and they want to stay at home with their kidsā¦
Some want to learn copywriting so they can travel the world and work whenever they pleaseā¦
Others want to learn copywriting so they have creative freedom and can use their words and voice to make an impact in the lives of othersā¦
So yes, my audience wants FREEDOM⦠but what they REALLY want is actually so much juicier than thatā¦
And the more specific you can be in your marketing, the more relatable and desirable your product or service becomes.
To answer this question, ASK your audience what matters to themā¦
- Do surveys
- Create polls
- Or my personal favorite, directly ask them WHAT they want to accomplish and WHAT they need to get there.
Every product Iāve ever created came directly from what my audience told me they wantedā¦
Alright, the next question you need to ask yourself isā¦
Question #2 ā Why Might They Say NO?
Even if youāre creating the exact thing your audience said they wantā¦
Youāre still going to have to put in a bit more work if you want to avoid a flop.
Humans are skeptical by nature.
We actively seek reasons to discredit something, find a reason it wonāt work for us or any other reason we can say ānoā…
In fact, we look for reasons to FILTER OUT, before we look for reasons to BUY IN.
No matter how amazing your product or service is, you WILL encounter people who feel resistance to buying it.
In the early 2000s, Coca-Cola identified a new market: 20- to 40-year-old men who liked the taste of Coke ā but not its calories and carbs.
They also liked the no-calorie aspect of Diet Coke ā but not its ātaste or feminine image.ā
So after correctly identifying the unmet need of this new market, Coca-Cola pitched its brand new product: C2.
Which had half the calories and carbs and all the taste of the original Coke.
Perfect ā right?
Wrong.Ā
Men completely rejected the new drink.
They wanted a full-flavor drink that had NO calories or carbsā¦
Not half the calories and carbs.
Coca-Cola pulled the failed drink from the market and later released Coke Zero ā a drink with none of the calories and all of the flavor.
The product was a success.
If Coca-Cola had done a better job of asking the right questions and identifying reasons why men might reject the C2 drink before they launched it, they would have saved themselves millions of dollars.
The more prepared you are to counter and address ANY AND ALL objections, the more successful youāll be.
Ask yourself āWhy might my ideal customer say NO to buying this product or service?ā
Alright ā so those first 2 questions are really what you need to be asking yourself BEFORE you create your product or serviceā¦
Question 1 + Question 2 are going to help you create a product and offer your ideal customer wonāt be able to resistā¦
Questions 3-7 are going to help you position your product in a way that gets them to pull out their credit card faster than you can say āBuy Nowā… without saying thatā¦
These questions are based on something I call ā¦
The Emotional Buyers Journey.Ā From the moment a customer discovers you, your product or service, to the moment they pull out their card to purchase, there are 5 core emotions they NEED to feel before saying YESā¦
The next 5 questions will help you elicit those emotions.
Question #3 ā How Can I Make Them Feel UNDERSTOOD?
When a new customer comes to you, they usually come with a problem, issue, or desire that they are struggling withā¦
And they arenāt going to waste time with you if they donāt get the feeling that you understand exactly what they are feeling.
This is FOUNDATIONAL to any buying experienceā¦
You want your customers to feel like you GET them.
- Share your personal experiences overcoming the same problems, issues, or desiresā¦
- Talk about why you created this product or service in the first placeā¦
- And showcase empathy + compassion for what they are going through.
Next, you want your customers to feelā¦
Question #4 ā How Can I Make Them Feel SAFE?
First, you get them to like youā¦
Next, you get them to trust you.Ā
They have to trust you ā to feel safe ā in order to give you their money.Ā
You want your customers to feel like YOU HAVE GOT THEM.
- You have their back.
- Youāre qualified.
- Youāre legit.
- You are *the* person that can help them.
Next, you want your customers to feelā¦
Question #5 ā How Can I Make Them Feel EMPOWERED?
No matter how much a person WANTS to solve their problems or WANTS to achieve some goal or dreamā¦
Most people encounter a lot of self-doubt.
We tend to think āwell, it worked for them, but it will never work for meā¦ā
You really want your customers to feel like they CAN DO IT TOO.Ā
You want to increase believability and show them that they can do it, have bit, create it, or achieve it.Ā
A great way to do this is to share testimonials from previous customers ā making sure to share the stories that your ideal customers can see themselves in.Ā
For exampleā¦
A lot of people in my target audience want to become freelance copywriters ā but they have a full-time job, or theyāre stay-at-home, so they are balancing a lot of other obligations and donāt think they have the time to start a side hustleā¦
Thatās why during all of my promotions I always make sure to share a TON of stories from previous students who also worked 9-5s while they were learning and building their businessā¦
Or from moms who only had time to work during naptime & bedtimeā¦
These stories resonate with my audience AND ALSO make them feel like they can do it too.Ā
The next emotion you want your ideal customer to feel isā¦
Question #6 ā How Can I Make Them Feel EXCITED?
There is a damn good reason why people will buy a plane ticket and fly to a different country⦠just to wait in line for 24+ hours to buy a $150 sweatshirtā¦Ā
Or why Taylor Swift fans will stay awake until midnight for two whole weeks JUST to hear the title of a track on her next albumā¦Ā Ā
Yep ā just the title, no music included!
It all comes down to excitement.
When people are excited, theyāre borderline irrational.
And thatās a good thing in marketing.Ā
Excitement means quick decision-makingā¦
Which means less time to rationalize, self-doubt, or convince yourself out of something.
Excited people are easier to sell to.
Which is exactly why you see so many brands āhypingā up their new product or services.Ā
And yes, you can do this too ā even if youāre not a wildly popular streetwear brand that charges $1,000 for a t-shirt or a singer with a cult-like fanbase.
You do this by showing them their future.
Paint a picture of what theyāre life looks like after working with you, or using your product or service.
What is the big transformation they are seeking and how can you showcase that possibility to get them excited?
But with this, like all things in marketing ā itās important to be HONEST.
Overhyping, exaggerating, or misleading people with empty promises is not cool.
Itās unethical and will always backfire.
So donāt do it.
Alright, the final, and most important feeling you need to get your audience to feel isā¦
Question #7 ā How Can I Inspire Them To COMMIT NOW?
I say this one is the most important because ultimately, it doesnāt matter how well you answer and execute the other 6 questionsā¦
If you canāt elicit a feeling of commitment, a drive to buy from you NOW and not LATERā¦
Then you wonāt be very successful.
You want your audience to feel like āOmg, yes! This is exactly what I need and I need it right NOW!ā
You do this by creating a sense of urgencyā¦
Either by highlighting the immediate benefits they can expect to receive, utilizing scarcity (like a limited quantity, a lower price thatās time-sensitive) OR by giving them some other incentive to buy, like a special fast-action bonus.
ANDDD there you have it! The 7 questions you MUST answer correctly before any marketing campaignā¦
I hope you found this helpful!
If you want to take this thing weāve got going on to the next level, read this blog where Iāll reveal the EXACT 3-step launch plan that has made me millions.
Until next time, Iām Alex. Ciao for now!