Demand Curve

Why is convincing people to buy stuff so hard? Probably because you’re trying to persuade prospects before properly PRE-SUADING them. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This is a common mistake. A mistake I made myself for yeaaaaars without realizing it. I’d spend weeks working on a new promotion. I’d meticulously craft each ad, sales page, and launch email... But sales didn't pour in. (It was more of a slow drip.) I felt like a fraud. WHY THE F#CK WASN’T IT WORKING? I used the same templates and “proven blueprints” promoted by the gurus, but didn’t get the same results. Then I read Robert Cialdini’s book, Pre-suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. After that, my whole approach changed… Cialdini explained something I *think* I’d always understood but didn't know how to articulate or put into action. Effective marketing PRIMES people to be receptive to a pitch *BEFORE* they hear it. Cialdini refers to this strategic effort as “pre-suasion”. (Clever, right?) Pre-suasion is subtle. The goal is to set the mood by carefully crafting the right context, cues, and emotions necessary to subtly nudge prospective customers towards a desired action. For instance, our next cohort of UNIGNORABLE is coming up. And I recently updated my LinkedIn banner image. Coincidence? Nope. This is an example of priming in action. And priming is powerful. I used priming and 5 pre-suasion technqiues leading up to our PAINKILLER course launch. The result: Our pre-order campaign sold out in 53 minutes (netting $33,750 with just 1 email and a Google Doc). -- Want to master the art and science of pre-sausion before your next launch? I created a free 6-day email course you'll love. Hit me up in the comments for access.

Is there anything more boring than oat milk? This strategy is gaining popularity: Taking a dull, sterile category and making it fun and exciting through pure creativity. Product categories that are inherently interesting: - Cars - Tech - Money - Fitness - Fashion Product categories that are inherently UNinteresting: - Cleaning supplies - Toilet paper - Underwear - Deodorant - Bidets - Water Smart companies recognize they're operating in a boring category and make people care through sheer creativity and zaniness. Think Oatly, Liquid Death, Dude Wipes, Old Spice, Tushy, and Dollar Shave Club. Oatly makes $786.9M/yr as a media company masquerading as a product company. But it wasn't always this way—Oatly started in the 90s. I bet you—and everyone else—only started to hear about them in the past few years. That's because they were tiny and flatlining. Then they: 1?? Rebranded—from boring to bold and fun. This bold packaging and style make it stand out in stores and on the street. 2?? Completely changed their strategy—to be the "over-the-top" fun oat milk brand. And try to convert the massive market of cow's milk drinkers instead of just trying to dominate the relatively small alternative milk market. 3?? Restructured their organization—the creative team became the heart of the business. Hence, all the wacky ideas you'll see in this carousel. –––– If you're in a dull, simple space. Sometimes, all you need to do is out weird the competition. Follow Neal O'Grady ?? to create unignorable ads and content ;0

I respect this level of absurdity.

Copywriting is one of the most important skills. Period. This is particularly true for a founder, marketer, salesperson, or an AI agent trying to replace basically all computer-based jobs. Here are 10 copywriting tips with before and after examples: ___ Like this? I'm Neal O'Grady ??. I create fancy PDFs about ads, content, and copywriting.

Cracking edition of Demand Curve from Neal O'Grady ?? today. Appeal to selfish interest, not reason. There are a lot of examples in the newsletter: - high quality skin-care ingredients ~vs~ looking like a celebrity - helping a child's learning + development ~vs~ giving a parent some free time - driving an electric vehicle is good for the planet ~vs~ having the latest prestige vehicle -- Another one I've coaching non-profits and social enterprises on is partnership and funding pitches. Sure... What you’re doing is delivering all of the impact in the world to a very important cause. BUT... Is that going to open the purse strings more than helping the government minister appear in front page news advocating for the cause? I know we like to think we live in a world that responds to reason - but the reality is we're irrational creatures. Instead of fighting with that reality - work with it to achieve the things you're trying to do. Also: Great to see an Old Charlies Almanac reference - it's one of a handful of actual physical books I own ??

“Lo que realmente cambia los costos de las campa?as ?????? ?????? ??????????????????” Estuve hablando con muchos especialistas en paid media estos días. Una y otra vez surgía lo mismo. Hablamos de escalar en inversión y cómo hasta un punto escalás en por skills en campa?as. ?? ???? ???????? ???????? ?????? ???? 80% ?????????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ??????????????????. Por eso no me extra?ó que en Demand Curve el tema de la última newsletter esté enfocado en cómo pensar tus creativos. Específicamente en cómo combinar texto + imagen en creativos. Se trae de Dan Nelken una receta de cómo trabajarlos: ?Twisted visual. Straight line.? ?Twisted line. Straight visual. Algo así cómo que hay que tener el balance de imágenes complejas, textos simples. Y a textos complejos, imágenes simples.?Que intenté ilustrar con el meme (?).? Desarrolla cómo balancear las piezas: cómo lo usamos cómo hook a cada recurso: el texto o la imagen. Pero también nos reta a cuestionarnos cómo se complementan.? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????????????? ????????.? Cómo conectamos eso con nuestro producto, con los dolores que trae el usuario. Y si. Habla de imágenes fijas.?Si se que estamos todos a favor del video, pero cuando todo va por un lado, muchas veces ponerse creativos con lo que no todo el mundo hace, cambia el juego. Y cambiar el juego, ???? ???????????? ???????????????????. Porque los creativos que usamos en nuestras campa?as son un tema de performance, de costos. Y de negocio. #acquisition #creativos #paidmedia

21 LinkedIn hooks I've collected and shared on The LinkedIn Creator this month: 7 creative hooks: 1. Jay Acunzo: X is a Euphemism for Y 2. Dan Koe: Choose or be Chosen 3. Alex Cattoni: You Need to Read This (Today) 4. CJ Haughey: Advice from the Sidelines 5. Zach Wilson: Life Learnings 6. Rory Flynn: Demystifying Terms 7. Sara Stella Lattanzio: So Much For Semantics 7 funny hooks: 1. Liz Willits: The Nonconformist 2. Neal O'Grady: Humbled and Honoured 3. Benjamin Watkins: My Honest Answer 4. Matt Barker: Bizarre Backstory 5. Mark A. Just As You Thought 6. Grace Hall: Absurd Comparison 7. Katelyn Bourgoin: Ironic Realisation 7 image hooks: 1. Codie A. Sanchez: The Gut Punch 2. Justin Welsh: Choose Your Hard 3. Matt Barker: All You Really Need 4. Eric Partaker: Reality Check 5. Charles Miller: If You want X, Do Y 6. Jade Bonacolta: It Depends on These Factors 7. Alex Hormozi: Y Comes Before Z Need weekly LinkedIn inspiration? Subscribe to my newsletter and every Sunday you'll get: - 5 post templates with real examples and breakdowns - 3 profile examples designed to convert customers - 1 creator backstory how they went from 0-hero Subscribe at LinkedInCreator.io

Here are some Newsletters I’ve actually been opening AND reading lately (!) ?? ? MKT1 by Emily Kramer ? Founderoo by Guy Ligertwood ?? and Farzan M. ? ProductLed by Wes Bush ? Demand Curve by Neal O'Grady ?? ? Founder OS by Matt Gray Highly recommend ?????? Will add links to subscribe to these below ?? ?? Who are you reading at the moment? #marketing #sales #plg #newsletter

Over the last year, we've sponsored 17 different email newsletters. One thing I've learned is that the success rate/response varies dramatically. Here are the three that have performed best for us: - Demand Curve by Neal O'Grady ?? - MKT1 by Emily Kramer - Growth Memo by Kevin Indig A few other learnings so far: - Higher Price ≠ Success — We've gone out on a limb and sponsored a handful of more expensive placements, and I've always found myself a little disappointed. If anything, I would say that the lower the placement cost, the better it has generally performed for us. - Don't Go Too Broad — We've tried sponsoring a few very general newsletters (eg "AI"). And in some cases, they actually drove a ton of demos, but the quality of the demos was a lot lower. Folks were curious but weren't actually in our ICP. And I wasted a ton of time demoing as a result. - Target Different ICPs with Different Placements — For example, the Growth Memo serves a very different ICP than MKT1, and you'll need to tailor the copy to the ICP you are targeting with that placement. For the Growth Memo, I might pitch our internal linking tool very specifically, given that the audience caters to harder-core SEOs. In contrast, I might pitch ourselves more broadly as an all-in-one tool for content marketing and SEO if the newsletter serves marketers/growth folks more broadly. - Double Down on Winners — When you find a placement that works, do it again. But not right away; maybe wait a month or a few. It's better to double down on the placements you know worked previously versus risking it with another unknown placement. But you do need to burn some capital on unknown placements to find those winners ultimately. - Dedicated Landing Pages Didn't Work as Well — In the beginning, we pushed everyone to our homepage. But then we experimented with dedicated landing pages custom to that placement. We actually found that pushing folks into the homepage performed better. ?? You might see us in a few more placements soon! ??

Liquid Death: 2019: $2.8M revenue 2020: $10M 2021: $45M 2022: $130M 2023: $260M After five years they're valued at over $1B. If you had told me you wanted to create a unicorn water brand in 2019 I would have coughed awkwardly and tried to change subjects. But Liquid Death expertly disrupted a $235B and incredibly boring industry—bottled water. They did it by targeting younger people who care about: ? Sustainability ? Drinking less alcohol ? Brands with personality and fun And they did this by: ? Using highly recyclable aluminum cans ? Leaning into a heavy metal aesthetic (the complete opposite of every other boring water brand) and a slogan of "Murder your thirst" ? Made a can that looks like a beer, making it more acceptable to drink at a party. ? Creating a ton of viral social content by going over the top with their ideas. Flip through the carousel to see some of the most creative marketing currently out there. H/T Neal O'Grady ??