The Napkin Marketing Plan

Ever heard of a 'Napkin Plan'? A marketing strategy so simple you can fit it on a napkin?

I'd heard about napkin plans plenty of times, most notably from an influencer I follow, Ryan Deiss who has been a favourite of mine since my very early days in digital marketing.

I knew Ryan from www.digitalmarketer.com was a fan, and started his comeback with his own napkin plan, but why is it that so many great businesses start that way?

• Facebook

• Harry Potter

• Ethernet

• Southwest Airlines

These are multi nine and ten figure businesses and all started with scribbles on the back of a napkin. In the words of Prof Julius Sumner Miller, Why is it so!?

The answer is simplicity.?

'The more complex something is, the more things can go wrong. The more complex something is the more costly it typically is to oversee. The more complex something is, the greater the chance of someone saying ‘bugger this, it’s all too hard’?

On the other hand, the simpler it is, the more sustainable it is. The easier it is to implement and the more likely you'll actually take action and implement.?Done, as they say, is better than perfect, so taking sustained action is the key to success.

Now all that sounds wonderful, but?what does it?look like when it comes to real world marketing strategy? Here's a simple 3 step process you can use to create a marketing strategy for your business.

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Firstly, What is the transformation you're selling with your core offer?

Understanding this in VERY intimate detail is the first step to creating your simple marketing strategy, and is foundational to your campaign. Eugene Schwartz once said 'People don't buy what your product does, they buy who it helps them become' or something like that...? We all have dreams and desires. Dreams of travelling the word or owning a bright orange Lamborghini Urus...(or is that just me?)We have goals to give our loved ones everything they want and need, to create a better life for our kids than we had, support our local community groups or start a rescue for unloved Greyhounds. Just me again?) These dreams are usually tied to some form of desire to be a better version of ourselves. A more financially wealth version (if that’s what you see as ‘better’) A more well travelled version, a more philanthropical version of ourselves. A better parent or partner. Whatever that ‘better’? version looks like, our goals and dreams are almost always tied to the desire of becoming that person.

Whatever you’re selling, there is a transformation at the end of it...

• When I go to Woolies (Or Trader Joes if you’re in the US) I’m not buying groceries, I’m becoming the chef in my family, the one responsible for their health and nutrition. ?

• When I go to the cafe, I’m not buying coffee, I’m becoming more alert, ?friendlier (you don’t want to meet me at 7am before I’m suitably caffeinated) and more creative.?

• When I visit the homewares shop, I’m not just buying a scented candle, I’m becoming more spiritual, more aware and more enlightened.

Yep, whatever you’re selling, there is a transformation at the end if it. So step one of creating your marketing strategy is to get crystal clear on what that transformation is.

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Next, create a free offer that clearly shows the outcome of your core offer is possible, that your process works, and that your prospect has a gap your core offer fills.

This is the part of your strategy that does all the heavy lifting and makes your job of closing sales a whole lot easier. Or harder if you get it wrong... Taking up your free offer is the first little commitment your prospect is making. Sure they took time to read your ad, or your post, or watch your video but to get your free offer they have to enter their email address, their name and maybe even their phone number.?

They may not be giving you any money but this is still a big commitment because like everyone else, they know what comes next. Email Marketing. So you better make sure your free offer delivers the goods and creates an experience that’ll make these people who are now your subscribers want to read your emails when they arrive.?

So how? Go all in, and divulge all your secrets. People HAVE to be absolutely certain that what you’re offering is possible. There is very little information about anything that can’t be found online anyway, so be the person that helps your prospect find it, not the one who makes it difficult and puts conditions on the relationship.For example...

1. If you’re a physiotherapist, you might have a simple 10 minute set of stretches people can do in the morning when they get up to help alleviate that neck and shoulder pain they have. Once they try that for a few days in a row and feel better and have more energy to play with the kids or grandkids, they’ll trust you more and be way more likely to pay for a more comprehensive service that makes them an even better parent or grandparent.
2. If you’re Woolies, or Trader Joes (or even a smaller independent store) you might have a free recipe and sample pack to make an easy Monday night meal. Once people see how simple it is, and how much their family love what they cooked, they’re way more likely to come back to buy more of your easy meal packs and become their own super chef.
3. If you’re an accountant, you might have a step by step process small business owners can use to audit their monthly or quarterly expenses and?find wasted costs they no longer need. Once they see how effective it is, improve their bottom line and feel like a more successful business owner, how likely do you tink it is they’ll at least speak with you about making their business even more profitable, and helping them feel even more successful.

As part of your free offer you’ll need to highlight the fact that while they got a great result, it was the tools you provided that helped them. Tools they don’t have. Sure they might eventually get their on their own but working with you, buying from you will get them there more quickly and more reliably. And that’s the gap your core offer will fill.

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And thirdly, decide how your are going to convert your newly found subscribers into paying customers.

SO many people get this wrong. They nurture their lists with useful content. They position themselves as experts. They answer questions and help people. But they don’t talk about their core offer, and they don’t have a plan to actually drive sales.?Sure you don’t want to be too salesy, but if you want to have that world holiday, support your local community, start that animal rescue and be the super partner or parent, you need to make sales. There are a load of different ways to convert your leads, depending on your set of skills, and what you know about your audience...

• Run a free webinar with a special offer during the presentation?

• Run a 3 or 5 day challenge?

• Make a price driven incentive, or limited availability offer?

• Offer a one on one strategy session with an obligation free quote at the end. ?

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There are numerous ways to convert your leads and the good thing is, they all work. Yep, all of them. I know, I know, you heard Marketing Guru So-and-so say that webinar funnels are dead and people need discounts in this tough economic climate, or discounting kills profits and free webinars are the only way to make real sales. ?They’re appealing to your sense of fear, and creating their own unique selling mechanism to make you believe you HAVE to work with them.

The elements that determine the right mechanism for you are things like...

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• Your own resources. Don’t do a 5 day challenge if you don’t have a team to help you create the content and consistently show up for the audience. If you’re on your own, a 5 day challenge is a lot of work and may actually do more harm than good if it’s not a seamless experience for your prospect.

• Preferences of your audience. Don’t run a 90 minute webinar if you have a time poor audience, they’re unlikely to show up and will often register just for the replay, and that doesn’t really help you close sales. That doesn’t mean don’t have a webinar, just try and keep it to 40 minutes!

• Your skillset. Don’t try and convert people with long form sales copy and stories if you’re not a compelling storyteller. They’ll get bored and go do something else.

• The cost of your product. ?It’s possible to sell high ticket services via email and chat, but often needs a phone call so an online strategy session or webinar might work well there.

It’s unlikely you’ll get this right the first time, so don’t panic if your campaign flops the first time, Or second... ?The key is to test and measure, try again and be persistent till you DO get it right.

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And if you want to take a shortcut, if you want to really level up your game and start getting the kind of results that lead you to becoming the business owner you always wanted to be, let us help. DM me or book a call with me HERE to see how we can help.