The Launchguide Weekly
5th Edition - 11.05.23
Welcome to The Launchguide Weekly - helping businesses scale! ?Let’s get into it.
The Launchguide Weekly works to provide the latest news, tips, hacks and updates to your marketing. ?Our vision is simple - provide solid information that you can choose to use to level up your business or compare with your current provider. ?We’ll be sharing Featured Articles, Spotlights, Product and Service reviews, new technology, AI updates, Shout Outs, Brand of the Month fun tools and re-sharing industry and industry-adjacent breaking news. ?
Stay subscribed to keep up and be in-the-know, or click Unsubscribe below. ?
- The Launchguide Team ???
A Day in the Life
Recently, I noticed a crazy trend.
The rise of the Super Hero Marketing Company.?
A “company” based on serial larger-than-life-at-times pictures or images of the founder, doing phenomenal things.
Looking phenomenal.
But in so viewing the image, do you see where the priorities lie?
. . .
I know this “Marketing Guy” for example.
Marketing is a process or methodology to drive sales.
You’d think that that we’d see images of the sales.
Nope.
Just images of the guy lol.
So be careful about these “Marketing Companies” that are not actually famous (if they are you could work with them, just watch the price-tag) that you come across where the founder is always center-frame of the post, meme, reel or video.?
They can’t make you the priority if they already are.
. . .
If you are looking for Marketing but instead fall for this ruse, it’s ok don’t get discouraged.?
You weren’t the only one, but going forward let’s just call it what it is.? You could have been unsure about what you needed so you were drawn to the charisma and magnetism of another, in effort to test out “is this for me?” or “how is it so effortless for them?”?
(FYI They’ve already figured out their marketing strategy btw and it’s designed to woo and dazzle, get you to pay, and subsequently pay a LOT for proximity).?
And as long as you “Beta” out to this person, you can feel closer to who you’d want to become.
You can convince yourself you’re taking actual marketing steps and actions.
You could take their course, maybe? . .
Nah - something is off.
Perhaps you weren’t able to identify that what you were REALLY seeking, which was a business support partner to grow yourself or grow your company revenue (rather than someone else’s) and when you looked online, all that came up were “Advertising Companies” ($$$) or “Creative Collectives” ($$$$) and you were like um where are the list of their current customers so I can finally see if this is for me lol.
Oh and how much does this cost lol.
. . .
There’s another way to square this circle here.
Quick – what was your favorite ad during the last Super Bowl??
The one that really “got” you, had you in stitches.?
Had you in tears.
Now quick ?– what was the name of the firm that produced it??
GO!
That’s right.?
You don’t know because it’s irrelevant.?
What comes through in your memory, is the brand, the excitement you felt when you saw their offer or solution.?
You felt uniquely understood!
The cast of characters lined up to demonstrate the utility of the product/service, how it alleviates pain points you’ve shared.
You can empathize!
You understand their place in the market (product/market fit), you’ve been provided a way to determine if you’re in the buy box (do I need this) and your internal monologue can articulate the value (price isn’t a determining factor where value is conveyed appropriately).
That’s right.?
It makes total sense.
It soothes.
You don’t know the company responsible for the ad because it’s irrelevant to great marketing and the reason you recall your Super Bowl fave is that they did their job.?
In fact??
If at the end of the ad you remember the creative director more than you do the purpose of the creative & copy - it’s honestly just a straight up fail.
It’s a win – just not for your company.
If you go to a website and you walk away going “that’s a great website” rather than “I want to buy the product with website sells” well shucks friend, this is a SPECTACULAR fail.?
It’s a win – but not yours.?
Similarly, if you come away from a reel going “that’s a fantastic reel” rather than “I feel like I can trust the seller of this online brand” (and trust me EVERYONE is selling something even if it’s just reinforcing your current perception of them) this is also a magnitudinal fail.
It’s a win!? For the maker of the reel!? Just not the owner the reel was produced for.
Great marketing can be anonymous.
Great marketing should not be only anonymous, it squares the client with the ideal customer and stealthily conveys the value as well as the Call To Action (well damn, what should I hurry up and do next already?).
If the founder of your “Marketing Company” is always center-frame (all eyes on me lol) unfortunately, they’re not usually capable of putting you, your company and your vision first, when theirs is clearly too important.
Or worse, it’s not that they’re incapable of advancing your vision, it’s that theirs is too important to them.
If the not-actually-famous owner/founder is always is always the focus of the piece or content, your company won’t ever be.?
. . .
I came up with this rubric you can disregard at your own risk, or utilize to determine what you’re look at with anyone in my key areas; sales, business development, marketing, and lead generation (all variations of the same prospect > solution> fulfillment process.
NOTE - the Criterion are in ascending order of Able to Actually Help You (Descending on the cringe scale lol).
Here it is:
What do the company or individual MOSTLY put out there?
1 Mostly about themselves – who they say they are, who they are presently with right now, what they are presently doing right now, what they are eating, and where they are vacationing today.
2 Mostly about something they do, make or sell (like a realtor posing next to a home they have for sale, car dealer next to a new model on the lot).
3 Mostly about problems they solve.
4 Mostly about people they help, citing real examples of successful clients.
. . .
Selfies for example, are not marketing.?
They’re self-promotion.?
Which is not always, but most often, a vain attempt to familiarize an audience with a person of exceedingly high ego, and/or, the lack thereof, where all the posting comes from a position of insecurity – layers of body-armor posturing asself-confidence.
Self promotion ≠ marketing
. . .
I’ll be the first to admit it is a thin, taut and treacherous tight rope to walk out there, a supremely fine line between building your business behind your own name (great SEO btw!) versus just “doing Instagram” or other self-promotion style activities that you’ve been told are marketing but are something more like self-promotion, and don’t encourage anyone to know, like, or trust you, anymore than they did before they saw the post. ?
- Matt Holmes
Featured Fintech Site of the Week #1
Nerdwallet
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Featured Fintech Site of the Week #2
TheFinTechTimes
Great editorial content. A refreshing ?Global viewpoint. Diverse writers and news sources.
Featured Fintech Site of the Week #3
American Banker
Don’t be fooled. What’s old is new and AB has evolved from industry-advocate to critic.
Featured Business
Caring Hearts Medical Staffing
With Offices in:
Company Website:
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Contact [email protected] directly to learn how they can simplify YOUR medical staffing needs for CNA/NAC, LPN/LVN, RN & even RCM. Are you a Clinician looking to level-up your employment game? Seeking a greater work-life balance?? Yeah we feel you on that one :) Are you simply looking for additional flexibility within your day-to-day to manage your family or care plans or earn at a higher rate than before? It's all gravy this is just our thing!
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Marketing Minute
It’s your Launchguide Weekly Marketing Minute!
Avoiding the Perils: Top 5 Pitfalls of Bad Marketing Strategies
Dear Esteemed Readers,
In the landscape of marketing, pitfalls are aplenty, and navigating these traps is key to ensuring successful campaigns.
Let's delve into the top five dangers and pitfalls that can wreak havoc on your marketing efforts, shedding light on these pitfalls to help fortify your strategy against them.
Neglecting Audience Understanding:
One of the most common mistakes is neglecting a deep understanding of your target audience. Failing to comprehend your audience's desires, pain points, and behaviors can lead to misdirected efforts and lackluster campaigns.
Overlooking Consistency in Branding: Inconsistencies in branding across various platforms can dilute your message and confuse your audience. Maintaining a unified brand voice, imagery, and values is crucial for fostering trust and recognition.
Ignoring Data Analysis and Adaptation:
Neglecting to analyze data and adapt your strategies accordingly is perilous. In the fast-paced digital realm, not leveraging analytics for informed decision-making can lead to missed opportunities and stagnation.
Falling for Shallow Fame:
Choosing Unverified "Marketing Gurus": Aligning with a purported marketing guru based solely on a self-proclaimed status rather than a track record is risky. The realm of marketing is cluttered with self-proclaimed experts; trusting unvetted personalities can misdirect your strategies and waste resources.
Hasty Embrace of Trendy Tactics without Strategy:
Jumping onto trendy tactics without a well-thought-out strategy is hazardous. It's crucial to resist the allure of fads and ensure they align with your brand's core strategy and long-term goals.
Every pitfall poses a risk, but aligning with a so-called "marketing guru" who lacks verifiable expertise and success can be particularly damaging. Entrusting your marketing strategy to a persona who isn't actually influential or reputable within the field can mislead your campaigns and jeopardize your brand's reputation.
Our advice is to research, scrutinize, and validate any supposed marketing expert's credentials, ensuring their proclaimed expertise aligns with their actual achievements and industry influence.
Avoiding these pitfalls requires vigilance, adaptability, and a commitment to a thorough understanding of your audience, your brand, and the marketing landscape. Embrace data-driven decision-making, maintain brand consistency, and tread carefully in the pursuit of marketing gurus.
Your journey to marketing success begins with recognizing and sidestepping these pitfalls, steering your strategy towards a more assured and effective path.
Success begins with a single choice.
- The Launchguide Team ???
Product Review
Today’s Featured Product Review is of CaptiveDiner
CaptiveDiner - Restaurant Menu Software
Easily create, manage, publish, and syndicate restaurant menus where you need them - your website, at the table, third party sites, and accept and process funds for online orders.
Realia combines the essential tools every real estate professional needs to succeed into one seamless and easy-to-use platform.
A restaurant's customers are researching online.??It's never been more critical for restaurant's to have responsive and accurate menus displayed on their website as well as syndicated online.
CaptiveDiner?menus used in-store have proven to significantly lower overhead while increasing sales of alcohol, appetizers, and more. ?
CaptiveDiner?is the premier menu management platform for restaurants, bars, hotels, and more.? Build your business’s menus and display them everywhere. In-store (qr code), websites, online ordering, and Google business page syndication.? One system - multiple menus - in sync everywhere. ?
Whether a business has one or multiple locations, our enterprise solution can manage and update menu items, photography, descriptions, pricing and more in real time. ?
CaptiveDiner’s?included menu syndication makes it easy to showcase and update a business’s menus on the top search engines, social media sites, and more.?
Key features include:
?
?
?
?
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Speed-to-Ordering. ?Execute on Carry Out & Delivery.
CaptiveDiner. And that is your Featured Product of the week! - Launchguide Team ??
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WRAP
As always, we’re looking to pay it forward and back and help businesses succeed while avoiding common mistakes - weekly we’ll be providing the latest news, tips, hacks and updates to your marketing.
Our vision is simple - share the most useful and valuable information we come across, test, study, research and vet so you don’t have to. ??As you’ve come to discover, we’ll be sharing Featured Articles, Spotlights, Product and Service reviews, new technology, AI updates, Shout Outs, Brand of the Week and/or Month fun tools and re-sharing industry and industry-adjacent breaking news. ?
Did you notice any typos or inaccuracies? ?We’re committed to error-free reporting and look forward to hearing back on anything you caught that you think we should fix or address. ?
Stay subscribed to keep up and be in-the-know, or click Unsubscribe below. ?
- The Launchguide Team ???
In the meantime, follow us to Social for 10% off of any core service offering that we’re featuring at Launchguide.io, or read on about our core offerings to helping your business launch online. ?Tune back in this time next week for the latest.
- The Launchguide Weekly.