Ease into the week off with some reading material, mostly about the brainy side of marketing and sales!
My Stuff
In digital marketing, we constantly refer to the sales funnel. Scott Stratten, in his book Unselling: The New customer Experience shows us why the sales funnel is a far from perfect model. Instead, think “sales cloud” – read about it in Do You Suffer From Funnel Vision?.
Are you (or your CMO) still flying by the seat of your pants? This week’s episode of the Brainfluence podcast features author, performance marketing expert, and PR 20/20 CEO, Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer). Paul and I talk about the sometimes scary (for old-fashioned CMOs, at least) thought of making marketing accountable with hard data in Ep #29: The Performance Marketing Blueprint with Paul Roetzer.
Just in case you missed it, last week’s best stuff was compiled in Packaging Power, Imaginative Imagery, More – Roger’s Picks.
Two Interviews
I had a chance to talk marketing with Michael Bungay Stanier (@boxofcrayons) of Box of Crayons. We discussed selling to the subconscious brain, emotional vs. rational decision-making, getting people to like you, and much more. Check Michael’s podcast, The Subconscious, Getting People to Like You, and the Power of Storytelling.
It seems like most interviews are via Skype these days, but when I was in Stockholm a week ago, I spent a few minutes talking to the guys from the UX Podcast (@uxpodcast) up close and in-person. They probed a few points form my talk at Conversion Jam 4. Check out #CJAM4 interview with @rogerdooley. (They taught me a nifty audio trick, too. To avoid varying sound levels from microphone motion, when recording hold the mic’s foam pop filter against your chin. Probably best for audio only, it might look a bit odd on video.)
Around the Web
This article by Thai Nhuyen (@ThaiWins) has it all – a clickbait list heading, brains, and persuasion. You’ll Market Better and Be More Persuasive Knowing These 10 Brain Facts is worth a scan.
Need to stock your feed reader with some sales-oriented content? David Mackey (@dbmackey) gives us a list of 29 Sales Training Blogs You Need To Be Reading.
Here’s a super-quick read from Max Lugavere (@maxlugavere). In 5 ways to Upgrade Your Brain Before Lunch, Max gives us a few simple strategies for a quick cognitive boost.
It’s only appropriate that the science behind a highly visual element, the brand logo, be presented in a visual format. Linday Kolowich (@lkolo25) shows us, graphically, How Your Brain Processes Logos [Infographic].
Here’s another quick read, this one providing some research-based leadership hacks. Dr. Ronald E. Riggio shares 5 Steps to Being Successful at Anything.
When you buy something, you shop around, right? A great strategy for buyers, though, can be death for an ecommerce site. Customers come and go, shopping carts are abandoned… Jeremy Reeves, writing at KissMetrics (@KISSmetrics), tells you How to Stop Potential Customers from Comparison Shopping.
Did you go to journalism school? (Nope, I didn’t either…) There are, in fact, proven ways to grab and hold your readers’ attention. Julia Ogden (@Zazzle_Julia) explains them in Want to Hook Your Readers? Apply These 10 Principles to Create Captivating News Stories.
