How to find out if you should go ahead with a new launch idea or not.
In this episode, we will talk about the 3P diagram, that will help you to make a decision. It’s about passion, profitability, and problem-solving. Short: anything you do in your business needs to meet all three aspects – your idea has to sit in the middle.
If you want to find out more details about the 3P diagram, listen to the episode.
So you have a great idea and just don’t know how to decide if it’s really that great. You tell it to your friends and colleagues and some of them will say: “Wow this is fantastic. I will be the first one who will buy it. I know many others that would need it. Everybody talks about it now. It’s a huge trend.”
You’re totally enthusiastic and you’re just like: “Oh my god. Yeah, this would be good.”
And there is another group that will say: “Oh my god. Who will buy that? It’s a crazy idea. People don’t buy these things these days.”
So which one is correct?
I will show you these two tools, which will take you much closer to deciding whether or not to go ahead with your idea or not.
The first one is the 3P diagram for your decision. The 3Ps are passion, profitability, and problem-solving. Anything you do in your business has to have all these 3 aspects.
Let’s start with the first one. Is the new idea (that came up in your mind or you just heard it somewhere or somebody tells you to do it) – is it in line with your passion, with the mission of your company? It can be a great idea, a great profitable idea but if you just don’t feel it’s yours if it doesn’t match the goals that you have (not just profitability goals, not just business goals, but anything you’d like to achieve with your business) then don’t do it.
Just to give you an idea. If you’re not the type who would want to be in front of people, talk to people, meet people then even if training would be a great option for your business to do, you might say that this is not where we want to go.
Then the second one is profitability. Obviously whatever you do has to be profitable. This is an accounting exercise and math exercise that you simply have to see based on the costs you have to put into that new product or service and the needs – how many people would potentially buy it? Would it be profitable? Is there a chance? Is there a good potential that it’s profitable? Because business is really something we love doing it but at the end of the day it has to be profitable.
And the third P is the problem-solving aspect. Is there a problem out there that my service can solve? A problem is not only something that is a pain but basically what it means is that: Is there a need for that? Will there be a demand potentially? Will people buy it?
How to find it out? By market research.
So you have to find out if there’s a potential need for what you’re planning. Nothing is guaranteed but at least there is potential.
Let’s see the cross-sections for a while. When you love doing it and you make the pricing exercise, you go through the pricing strategies and then you see that it could be potentially profitable but then you have to see if there’s a potential need for that.
I give you a few examples of products that just appear as if I am a ski instructor. I love skiing and yes it’s profitable. I set prices that are profitable. But actually, in the summer there’s no need for that, right? So I wouldn’t be able to do that. So this is just an extreme example. But another example is: All in the events industry, unfortunately. Or providers just fell into this category because suddenly as events stopped being organised during the pandemic there was no need for their services, unfortunately. So it was not in this category in the middle where it used to be.
So you have to see that there’s a need. And again this is based on market research not simply by somebody saying: Oh my god. That is fantastic.“
Okay When it solves the problem and is profitable but you just hate doing it. This is what I already covered. You shouldn’t do it because even if you kind of give it to a colleague or outsource it you would not be happy to be identified with that and you should just say no. If you just hate events or you just don’t want to run events even if there is a need, it’s profitable you wouldn’t run it, right?
And when it solves a problem, when you love doing it and it’s not profitable like helping people in 1 to 1 who cannot afford consultation prices. Then it’s not business. Then it’s a hobby or CSR (corporate social responsibility). Obviously, do it but it’s not business then.
Again, sit down, be honest with yourself and decide. Look at all 3Ps and when a new idea matches all of them then it sits in the middle.
This is ConvertX Radio, with episodes on actionable marketing tips and explanations. To get you closer to your client.
This episode goes back to the basics: the 4Ps of the marketing mix.
– I hear business owners worry about which social media channels to use before even having a clear offer. – I often see that pricing is ad hoc. – In the lockdowns, many companies struggled with switching their distribution channels to get their services and products to the customer.
With the right marketing mix, none of the above should be a problem.
Please, listen to the episode by clicking the below banner and get closer to your client.
Business owners like you often come to me with questions like:
Where should I advertise my product or service?
How often should I post on Instagram, Facebook?
Should I use LinkedIn?
These are excellent questions but not necessarily at the right time. Marketing is not only about communication. That’s a very important part of it but it doesn’t start there. First, you have to have something to advertise. Today I’d love you to go back to the basics and have a look at the marketing mix. The marketing mix consists of the four Ps.
The first P is the product. The core of your marketing. What do I sell? Do people know exactly how it’s different from everybody else’s? Are they able to spot immediately they need it? Do you have something for all customers on the journey? Even if they don’t know you, will they immediately buy something from you? Are you ready to satisfy those who are already customers and would love to buy more from you? This is where you have to build a product staircase, have to be ready to offer people what they are ready to buy at that stage and this is the product part of marketing.
Then the second P is the price. It’s a very important part of marketing. If I just put a price on it out of the blue or just because I looked at a few competitors or somebody told me. Or I’m worried they won’t buy at a higher price, then it’s a very important thing to look at. Much more important than writing a blog post at this stage right? Because if you’re not offering your products at the right price then your customers will say: Oh my god it’s too expensive. So pricing is a very important part of marketing.
The third thing that many people forget is placement. How does my product or service go to my client? Is it fully online? If I just have a consultation then what are the steps? Do I meet them or do I have an online consultation first and then meet them? And then send them a report?
Even if it’s just a consultation you have to see the whole channel off the product reaching your client. Obviously when it’s a product then you can think of combining online and offline. If it’s online: How do I send this to the client? How to reach them? How many days does it need to get there then? What will happen? Will I have a pop-up store? Do I have events online or offline?
So placement is really really important. How my product gets to the client.
The final one, you must be the most familiar with, is promotion. How do I communicate about it? And I really don’t have to go to a lot of details on it but it’s all your channels. All the ways, offline and online. It’s not only online you also have offline. It’s offline networking or brochure, or an exhibition or event or it can also be a Billboard.
But obviously, you have a lot of online: Social media, email, webinars. And a lot of online tools that you can use. And this is promotion.
But as you can see there are four Ps and it never starts with promotion.
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Five Hollywood plots every story can be boiled down to
Storytelling ideas with real-life examples
No marketing conference is complete without at least one (but usually more) speaker pointing out how important storytelling is in your marketing toolkit. But as we go back to work to start to write a story, the question comes up: ok, but how to craft a story that sells? Just copy the techniques of Hollywood blockbusters.
The power of story in marketing is obvious and the reasons are discussed intensively elsewhere so I won’t go into that. Instead, I will show you a list of easy-to-adapt templates which – apart from above the average email campaigns – brought me a one-page article in Forbes, a TEDx talk, speaking at the Digital Marketing Innovation Summit in London – just to mention a few.
At first sight, storytelling doesn’t seem to be difficult, we tell stories and listen to stories every day, multiple times. But our customer (and by customer I also mean editor/potential partner/investor) doesn’t have to be polite to listen to us, nor did they pay for listening to us as we pay to watch a film. So they will abandon us as soon as it is of no interest to them.
Therefore, at the end of the day, the story should be about the reader: to teach, inform, and convince them in an entertaining way. To build powerful stories let’s follow examples that worked already: the blockbuster Hollywood films. Your stories don’t have to be long though, you can do it in a few sentences.
Pretty woman
Use this: if you want to show progress, results, achievement, credibility.
Where:About section of your homepage, presentation about your company, showing results your clients achieved
Plot: hero with high potential and limited financial circumstances has a big dream and makes it come true.
How you can use it: show a goal – which should be challenging enough – you or your client wanted to achieve, even better if nobody believed in it. Then present how they succeeded.
Real-life example: ‘When speaking at a conference I made a promise to the audience that I will get published in Forbes magazine within a year and will document the steps I take. I sent the first email the next day and I was published in the next issue.’
Armageddon
Use this: if you want to show how your company and services are different from the rest, show USP or if you want to emphasise the problem your service solves.
Where: in eDM, about section, social media post
Plot: devastating danger approaches but superhero Bruce Willis steps in to save the world
How you can use it: talk about the weaknesses of most competitors in your industry – you don’t have to name the companies – and how you do it differently. Another option to show the big problem of your customers and how you, the superhero solve it.
Real-life example: ‘I am so upset to have just heard from a friend who booked an amazing hotel room for their wedding anniversary, to find out on the plot that they have to sleep in a musty basement. This is why I started my travel consultancy to make sure my clients have a more amazing stay than in their dreams.’
Hitch
Use this: if you want to show concerns about your service or industry and want to demonstrate it’s not true in your case. You can also present a testimonial where your client says how much they didn’t believe in your service and finally how much it helped them.
Where: eDM, FAQ section, video
Plot: beautiful woman and handsome man hate each other but then they fall in love.
Real-life example: ‘I hear people saying that insurance is expensive and insurance companies eventually never pay you. Just last year we paid xxxx to our xx clients to compensate for their damages.’
Back to the Future
Use this: if you want your audience to imagine their future, to have a dream you can help them achieve
Where: company brochure, email, website, PPC
Plot: it shows the future and makes you think about the future. Even if it seems impossible at present, show the customer how you will make it real. Or you can tell them step by step what happens when they sign the contract with you, how their life will change for the better.
Real-life example: ‘Your next birthday you keep receiving birthday wishes telling you how younger you look than your age. Suddenly Facebook pops up a photo from 3 years before and you are shocked to see how much younger you indeed look. You thank yourself for having used xxxx face treatment.’
Saving Private Ryan
Use this; if you want to show people what happens if they don’t use your service or product. You can showcase examples when clients turned to you after suffering a lot with other solutions – and what a relief it was.
Where: email, landing, FB ad
Plot: hero suffering, struggling and suffering but finally finds peace.
Real-life example: ‘You can go on the net and try to decide on your own which of the hundreds of tips will work in your case. You think it is free, but in fact, Mr x spent exactly xxx and lost the trust of all of his clients before turning to me. Now he hosts 1,000-member conferences and earns millions of dollars.’
The article was written by Timea Kadar, the lead of the Your Story™ Storytelling Program which helps business owners share their stories and engage with their clients. The program is launching on 28 January, be among the first ones to be notified about it, and get the best deal offer. Sign up here.
To include some accountability I looked back at the predictions I made a year ago and checked how these have held up. Based on trend reports – including the one from the Chartered Institute of Marketing on Kantar’s forecast – and what I see as emerging, or ongoing trends. Brand design prediction for the year by brand strategist Caroline Somer shared at Marketing Megahits Festival in October. (Reading time: as long as you read 1,825 words.)
Full disclosure: I am no god, no magician, I can’t see the future. No human can. (But you can always call me names publicly if anything doesn’t happen like I said.)
A year ago we had the last face-to-face meeting of London Marketing Club at the prestigious Devonshire Club, where I talked about Marketing Trends for 2020. Internet connection at the venue broke at the last minute, so I had to deliver the presentation without the slides, but that was no problem, as I knew what was written on my slides by heart. I wrote them from my heart and talked from my heart, just as I do now.
The Marketing Trend 2020 presentation in January 2020. In the background the two gentlemen trying to fix Internet, with no results.
Nobody knew that in a few weeks it would be the least of our worry not having internet at a venue. The biggest worry was not having the venue at all (Devonshire Club went into administration as lockdown started in March). Not having anything the way we planned, expected, predicted. But we still carried on and here we are again, with a lot of the unknown ahead of us.
Strategic use of LinkedIn
A year ago a big part of my presentation was about the LEAD LinkedIn Strategy, and how to be a strategist on LinkedIn instead of spending a lot of time posting every day without a purpose (or even worse, not being present at all.)
Many people say that the surge in LinkedIn usage was due to covid and lockdown, I’m convinced it would have happened anyway, as already a year ago there was a rapidly growing interest and activity on the platform.
An increasing number of people joined our 30-day LinkedIn challenge each month since January, and as people started to see results, the number of (really good) posts have rocketed.
It will keep going this year, and even if there’s a rising concern LinkedIn being the next Facebook, story-led content will always be among the top ones.
It’s safe to predict that at some point LinkedIn will reduce the reach and we have to pay for it, it’s hard to say when, so let’s party until we can.
Storytelling in marketing
In spite of the regular mention of storytelling at industry events, it’s still the most underused content type. Probably as people find it hard to write these (nobody tells them how), and feel it’s too personal to share. Last year we saw a long due surge in sharing honest content with emotions, including failures along the successes, as failing in the wake of a pandemic doesn’t seem to be the fault of the author.
We could see the people behind the brands and could see the emotions of these people. I consider this a big leap, which will go on in 2021, and every business has to consider stepping out of their formal self (or even shelf?)
On-demand content providers have been blooming for some time, and the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and newcomer AppleTv and Disney+ will be joined by Paramount+ next year. And it’s not just the big players: a small business Rogue Opera launched their VIP Opera Pass program offering on-demand opera productions after they had to pause their event-based services.
However, it’s not only the film and music industry but also the business world. Several training companies, conference providers converted their products to the online world. The challenge now is to make sure people come back, bring other people with them, and use the platforms so that they renew their subscriptions.
On top of that, professionals who lost their businesses, started online courses, entering an already saturated market. This also changed the pricing picture and thus the pricing expectations of users.
Once sought-after events have become available for a few bucks, and it has become more difficult to communicate the difference between a lead gen webinar and a fully fledged training program or a VIP Membership program.
In 2021, I expect some stabilization in this area. Online training and conference platforms have invested a lot in developing systems with extra features, and it will become easier to add a difference to our service.
As we are more used to an online-only offering, people start to understand that just because it’s online, it’s not free (or low priced.)
Put the fun back into the funnel
Speaking of funnels, this was one of my predictions a year ago: the ‘traditional’ pushy sales funnels will be replaced by a more customer friendly and entraining path. This absolutely happened, as users have figured out that they are dropped into the funnel, and then are overwhelmed by the storm of emails and ads trying to push them down the way.
I’m not saying it’s not happening or it doesn’t still work like that for many providers, but it’s definitely not something that has the greatest potential. We have to be able to leave some money on the table and build long-term connections and work towards a more sustainable revenue model. A sales path is more like being a partner, and adviser, standing by our prospects and clients, and inviting them to (online) events, offering them value at each stage of the path. We still have to know and plan what the next stage is, but it’s more for them to reach out when they’re ready.
Social media and influencers
We’ve already mentioned LinkedIn, and could talk about this topic forever, but one thing we can all agree on is that Tik Tok is the one to watch. With provenly much higher and easier reach than in other social media channels it’s surely something to experiment with.
While Instagram influencers have become like what TV ads used to be: they have their management companies, retainer packages and ROI might be questionable. This is what peanut butter company Nerdy Nuts co-founder Craig Mount talks about in The Hustle magazine: while working with 18 Instagram influencers resulted in selling 107 jars, 2 Tik Tok influencers generated millions of views and sold 5,947 jars, and their sales ballooned.
WhatsApp has become more than a messaging service, it has become what used to be Facebook groups (at least in the UK), where communities meet and vividly interact with each other. I expect more functionality to be able to manage groups, and keep track of updates and shared documents.
Online vs offline vs hybrid
Event marketing has become more liberal and more inclusive, as online events are cheaper to organise and can accept an unlimited number of attendees from anywhere in the world. At the same time it’s a challenge to keep people engaged and deliver the experience people are used to at offline events.
If this year at some point we – hopefully – can return to face-to-face events, organisers will want to keep the advantages of an online event too.
“Hybrid events have to offer a different – and better – value proposition vs the online-only or the offline-only versions. These events have a real future.” – says Marton Berze, CEO of The Underground marketing agency. They launched the Onlife event series in May 2020 and since then have run several other successful online events, which went beyond a simple online conference delivering a full experience to attendees.
Being hybrid also applies to eCommerce: personal styling company Stitch Fix invented it already 10 years ago. They deliver complete clothing outfits in their subscription service styled by algorithms based on data gathered from the customer. You order online but you still have the feeling of being in a shop and trying on clothing. You can return whatever you don’t like.
This kind of hybrid thinking will be a trend in 2021, to give customers an offline experience after making a purchase online.
Audio search
This was a big prediction by me a year ago. I was so excited having finished my one-year research on voice search and how to create content for all these voice assistants. I had a presentation about how these work and how these will change the way we consume – and the way we create – content.
Well, I was wrong.
It didn’t pick up the way I expected, at least not in mainstream marketing. Obviously, voice search is in use, (Apple launched HomePod Mini which is really affordable at £99), but the big breakthrough is still ahead of us. Content creators don’t focus on it yet, and now I’m cautious to say when – and if – they will.
What to put into the marketing mix in 2021?
This is a Facebook PAID ad by a FUNNEL company that promotes a program to generate leads WITHOUT having to spend on ADs and building FUNNELS…haha, very credible.
To answer the above question: both paid and organic tools are needed. Paid ads work and organic tools are amazing too – if used the right way – and this won’t change.
What’s wrong is exactly this witch hunting of certain tools and methods to fool people.
It’s like a cake: the right proportion of several ingredients is needed to make it a yummy cake.
And a good deal of credibility and authenticity. This will never expire.
That’s the ‘secret’ recipe!
Testing and experimenting
And the good old mantra of testing. “[Around] 80%, 90% of your budget needs to be on what you know works, but you need to be testing and experimenting on the new channels…to find the next rich vein of performance,” says Mark Inskip, Kantar Media’s UK & Ireland CEO in the trend report published by the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
2021 might be the last full year of third-party cookies, as Google earlier announced that these will be phased out by 2022 (and replaced by other tracking systems).
Meanwhile, brands will have to focus on the gold mine they are sitting on: keeping track and understanding their own first-party data.
Brand design
As I’m a rookie at brand design, here are some golden nuggets from my friend, brand strategist Caroline Somer from Somer Design shared at her presentation at the Marketing Megahits Festival in October 2020.
Muted colour palette
We are going to see more settled colours, more pastels and fewer neons this year.
Simple data visualisations
Basic visualisations that people will get it straight away. No more confusion! (And vector illustrations like the ones you see attached to this post (I’m so trendy:)
Serif fonts
As in the 15th century.
Wait, and what about email marketing?
I’m glad that you asked. It will live forever. Sign up for my weekly Profit and (G)Loss Newsletter and you will too:) (Well, not really, but you’ll enjoy it until you do.)
This trend article was written by Timea Kadar, Chief Marketing Strategist of Francis Cooper based on the thoughts of other professionals duly quoted. Timea has 21 years of experience in marketing working as a marketing lead at large corporations and a marketing mentor at smaller ventures and start-ups. If you’d like to know the marketing predictions for your business, contact her at tk@franciscooper.com
![LEAD LinkedIn Strategy [video + article]](https://franciscooper.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LinkedInSrategy-1-400x250.png)
