Ep 113: Are we addicted to the direct response drug?

Subtitle:

Are we addicted to the direct response drug? Most are, and the question is how do you get off of it? Today we talk about the path to freedom while also breaking down digital ads, conversion, and direct response. We also talk about branding, survival mindset, ecommerce, lifetime value, storytelling, and more on this week’s episode.

 

Summary:

On today’s episode, we talk about digital marketing, conversions, and branding. We break down some of the challenges we face with each of these and discuss some ways to solve them. Often, people view digital marketing as a way to get more conversions rather than a way to improve and advance their business and brand long term. This is because many marketing leaders have a survival mindset, making it challenging for them to see the bigger picture. In order to thrive in the future, you have to prepare for it, something you can not do in the survival mindset. When you convince your clients to get out of this mindset and pursue long term strategies, they can begin to view their branding as a way to create more leads rather than the soul and values of the business. In order to create an effective brand, the business must believe in it and the things it stands for. Once the brand is effective and built, the client can focus on making digital ads and conversions. When direct response begins to fail, it’s important to get back to the basics. What is an ad and what makes marketing work? How can I apply these principles to other tactics to create a compelling ad? Once you remember what marketing is all about, then you can create new tactics with persuasive storytelling. There’s a process to all of this, and mindset, belief, and patience are key.

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

 

• Break out of the survival mindset. When agencies and businesses start up, they live in survival mode for the first few years. They do this because if they don’t focus on the present, they won’t live to see the future. Many of today’s marketing execs have this same mindset, creating a host of problems. They want instant conversions, not a long run plan. In order to thrive in the future, you have to plan for it and build a foundation. You can’t do that in survival mode. “If you're in a startup, or survival stage, you need to get immediate sales. But it's like every brand is operating in that mentality.”

• Believe in the brand. Brand is a key component to thriving in the future. But in order to build a brand, you have to believe in the values of the brand. Without belief, conviction, and passion, the brand is simply a shell of what it could be. “Every client I've worked with just cares about that lead, even if they tell you, “That sounds good. We want to brand our company.”, they don't understand. They just want a brand so that they get immediate responses.”

• Remember what works. In digital marketing, sometimes direct response doesn’t convert. With the changes coming to the marketing world, it’s important to know the art of advertising. Keep an open mind and have a curious attitude that’s ready to learn and remember.  “ When direct response is not working the way it was, we have to get back to what is it actually doing in the first place and how do we do that?”

 

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About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

• Bob on LinkedIn
• twitter.com/BobHutchins
• instagram.com/bwhutchins
• Bob on Facebook

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

• Brad on LinkedIn
• Anthem Republic
• twitter.com/bradayres
• instagram.com/therealbradayres
• facebook.com/Bradayres

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

• Ken on LinkedIn
• Metacake - An Ecommerce Growth Team
• Growth Rebel TV
• twitter.com/iamKenOtt
• instagram.com/iamKenOtt
• facebook.com/iamKenOtt

 

Show Notes:

[1:04] Bob begins discussing this week’s topic, digital ads and conversion.

[2:20] Brad talks about some of the challenges with digital marketing. “In the end, they judge you on how many leads that were converted right away.”

[3:08] Ken asks why clients seem to care only about the present rather than the future, launching a discussion about the internet and instant conversions.

[4:26] Brad begins a conversation about branding and thought leadership. “Every client I've worked with just cares about that lead, even if they tell you, “That sounds good. We want to brand our company.”, they don't understand. They just want a brand so that they get immediate responses.”

[7:13] Ken talks about the survival mentality most marketing leads have and how that contributes to the lack of a long term mindset. “If you're in a startup, or survival stage, you need to get immediate sales. But it's like every brand is operating in that mentality.”

[9:24] Ken dives into the role ecommerce has played in the survival mentality and how immediate sales are addictive but leave no room for long term thinking.

[11:28] Ken talks about one of the biggest problems he sees in ecommerce. “No one looks at profit until it's too late.”

[16:03] Bob discusses three ways to make branding a strategy for your clients rather than just something that is important or good for the business.

[20:36] Ken talks about the importance of understanding and using the business model and lifetime value. 

[22:03] Brad discusses one of the challenges his business faces when pitching the importance of branding. “The challenge with the size of the agencies that we deal with is that the marketing group works for the sales group.”

[25:05] Ken talks about the importance of defining what you mean by ‘brand’ and the importance of believing in the brand. “If the CEO doesn't believe in it, then I think there's a fundamental problem at the business level.”

[28:29] Brad talks about testing branding and how that’s changed throughout the years.

[31:33] Bob discusses how he  believes that the business world will go back to some of the older marketing tactics and methods to some degree.

[33:22] Ken talks about the goal of all marketing: recall. “I don't think we realize what's happening when we're doing direct response, especially in digital marketing. We're substituting the recall ability. The ad for impressions.”

[35:20] Bob discusses how the loss of excellent storytelling and creative have impacted digital marketing. He also breaks down the lie that, “people's attention spans have gone down to a few seconds and people swipe. You've got to convert them and get their attention in that.” 

[37:57] Ken wraps up by talking about the importance of remembering the marketing that worked when the shortcuts fail. “ When direct response is not working the way it was, we have to get back to what is it actually doing in the first place and how do we do that?”