Three Marketing Lessons From The Mind of Seth Godin

Why we’re all in on performance branding – and how it can transform your growth.

Three Marketing Lessons From The Mind of Seth Godin. You’re Welcome…

Bryan Karas

October 3, 2018

If you’re not familiar with Seth’s Blog then you’re in for a real treat. Although Seth – we call him Seth – is one of the top marketing minds in the universe, this particular blog is more of a personal journal. It’s like he just jots down thoughts and publishes them online – and it’s amazing…

One post is titled High Value where Seth talks about high value not being the same as low price. He says “Low price is the last refuge for marketers who don’t have the patience or guts to demonstrate value for those that need it.”

We all know competing on price is a slippery slope – it can devalue your brand and put false expectations of continuous low prices in the customer’s mind, among other things.

Using a value-based pricing model is how DTC brands like Casper, Warby and Burrow compete with the likes of Amazon…

Beware of Dog

When you’re walking down the street and you come across a sign that says “Beware of Dog” – then you hear the loud bangs and barks from a 120 pound kanine – what are the chances you actually go and open that gate? Pretty small I bet…

Seth makes this argument using the traveling salesman. “Everyone hated the traveling salesman. That’s because he came to town, said whatever it took to make the sale, and then left.”

When building trust with a customer most marketers will talk about post-purchase customer service. How you handle the angry customer…

But here we’ll talk about how Ecom companies can build trust with potential customers pre-purchase. Things like having a modern web design look, creating a comprehensive About page, flaunting your customer testimonials and reviews, offering multiple payment options and providing top-notch content on the blog all work in your favor.

First Class Skiing

Seth talks about how some people get a thrill from crossing the “out of bounds” ropes on the slopes – that the closed off runs are better than those in the regular skiing area…and he’s right.

But the real point he’s making lies in the fact that the thrill comes from the out of bounds part, not the skiing part…

He then goes on to say, “A different feeling with a similar boundary issue is the magic of a first class seat. It doesn’t matter that first class seats are often smaller than they used to be. What matters is that they’re better than coach.” It’s all about comparisons…

There’s a lesson here in marketing multiple products – for airline companies it’s coach, business, first class etc. For Ecom companies it could be marketing three different sizes of the same protein powder. The goal is to guide the customer through the multiple products to the “one” option that is most relevant, important and urgent to them.

Epic Pricing Experiments and What You Can Learn From Them

For Ecom companies, pricing is always a pain in the butt – you have decoy pricing, the magic number of 9, anchoring and the contrast principle…where does it end? Lucky for you it ends right here. Check out these amazing pricing experiments you can apply to your business today.