The Ice Cream Chronicles: Marketing Edition

[IceCreamKid]

Welcome to the next chapter in the ice cream novel. SALES and MARKETING! Wee! I haven’t quite determined what I’ll be teaching just yet, but for now I want to reveal to you the underlying lessons that you can learn from REAL, SUCCESSFUL marketing campaigns that aren’t outdated.

I got a degree in marketing and one of my biggest issues with it was that we were always taught using outdated marketing campaigns as examples to learn from. Lame. Let’s talk stuff that’s working right now! Stuff like how to host effective online webinars or how to create a compelling and convincing offer. That’s what gets you the ice cream.

I invite you to participate and discuss marketing ideas that are actionable. If you wish to discuss mindset stuff then please discuss it in the other ice cream thread, The Astonishing Secrets of zen*******. My hope is that this thread stays clean with actionable ideas. Motivational stuff like, “you have to want it as badly as you want to breathe” is cool and all, but put it in the other thread.

I ask that you shift your mindset and become more open to new things. The most common limiting belief that I hear when I mentor people is, “I can’t get into that business. It’s outside my scope of abilities”. Stop limiting yourself to only what your current skill set is. If there’s something you don’t know, chances are there’s a tutorial for it on YouTube. Learn it bro! The ice cream there is free and it comes in a lot of great flavors!

Develop an “I don’t give a shit” attitude towards the little voice in the back of your head that keeps feeding you BS stories about why you can’t do something. Focus on pushing your boundaries and constantly learning new things. This means you have to leave the 1st grade mental masturbation classroom and start chillin’ with the sales/marketing kids in 2nd grade. 2nd grade is a new and scary place to be at the beginning, but that’s where growth comes…there is no growth without exposing yourself to scary things.

It is essential to stop giving a shit. Otherwise you get stuck in “analysis mode” and retreat back to the learning loop with zero action. Stop giving a shit and just move fast…you’re gonna like who you become, I can promise you that! BTW, thank you @JasonR for teaching me to stop giving a shit. I felt truly free after learning how you roll the dice day in and day out. Huge respect for that.

I hope you guys enjoy the stuff I teach here. I enjoy teaching so much that I end up doing a little dance and get really loud at the ice cream shop...the police won't stop walking in to tell me to quit disturbing the peace. I don't care, this is fun stuff!

Lastly, all the glory and credit goes to the big boys on the playground...Zendizzle, JackEdweezy, Vigilunky, BioPhrasey, JasonRizzle, MJ DeFunkyBoy, AllenCrawfish, and all the others.

Stay drunk. Entrepreneurship is supposed to be a fun process.

And remember: take ACTIVE action daily. I'm talking about picking up the phone and making things happen! Not filing mindless paperwork, reading motivational books, copying sales letters, etc. Nothing wrong with that stuff and I'm certainly not against it, but active action is what takes you to the next level.

On to the lessons…

 

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[IceCreamKid]

Dollar Shave Club has sales of over $1M a month. Anyone making sales like that is worthy of an inspection. Watch their marketing video really quick then think about my thought process as I tear it apart, piece by piece.

Beginning: Mike the founder introduces himself. We’re taught to respect authority figures. We’re trained since youth to believe they are honest and hold credibility.

Using authority figures for your business is POWERFUL. Imagine if you were selling pills that claim to make you faster and stronger. Do you think having Michael Jordan represent your product would help sales? Yup, try to get authority figures into your business if you can.

Introduce Promise: "What is dollar shave club? For $1 a month we send high quality razors right to your door."

BOOM! This is the hook! This is what gets you saying, "Wait, what? only $1? Tell me more, I'm curious". Promises are quite useful for getting your company remembered. When I think of Zappos, I think about how cool their promise is...free shipping both ways, 365-day returns, etc. Promises are effective for marketing.

P90x- Ripped body in 90 days.
Turbotax- 100% accurate calculations and your maximum refund, guaranteed.
Domino's- Pizza to your door in 30 minutes or it's free.

Address Objection: Are the blades any good? “THEY’RE F*ckING GREAT.” LOL this had me laughing. You need to address the customer's biggest objections if you wish to make a sale.

Discuss Features: I advise people only to discuss features after you have emotionally hooked them in. By emotionally hooking someone in, you now have their full attention. Describe the features of your product at this point...stainless steel blades, aloe vera strip, pivot head

Attack Competition: "Do you like spending $20 a month on brand name razors? Do you need a vibrating handle, a flashlight, a backstratcher, and 10 blades. Stop paying for extras you don’t need."

Attacking the competition totally works. That's why you see it so much in presidential campaigns. Instead of focusing on why the candidate himself is qualified for the job, they often spend a ton of time discussing why their opponent sucks. Be careful though, don't spend too much time focusing on attacking the competition or else you will brand your company as the jerk on the block.

Remind Customer of How Simple Your Product Is: "So easy and simple, you don’t have to worry about forgetting your blades every month. We ship them right to you".

The majority are lazy as hell. They want to cheat the grind, find the fastest/easiest way to get what they want, and get everything for free. Focus on how easy and simple your product/service is to use...you will stand a far better chance at entering ice cream heaven if you do this.

Introduce Social Charity Movement: "We’re not just selling razors, we’re creating new jobs"

People like being part of a charity movement. Study the story of TOMS shoes. For every pair of shoes they sell, they give one pair to a needy person. The shoes are ugly as sin, but the guy made millions just off of that little concept. Dude, promoting something charitable about your business works. In a few months my company will start giving children's playhouses to needy kids. They're cheap to produce and leave a lasting impact. Being charitable is not only good for business, but it's good for the soul too. Give back to the people. It will come back in spades, alcohol, and ice cream.

Re-Introduce The Promise and Benefits: "Stop forgetting to buy your shavers every month and start thinking of where you can stash all the money you saved"

People have a short attention span. Repeat the promise and benefits! I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about how the attention span decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds from 2012-2013. Not sure how they conducted this experiment, but I found it quite fascinating.

 

[MorgothBauglir]

Off to an awesome start! Your threads are a big reason why I value this community so much, especially as a new member. I log in and read what you write each day, and each day I take action as a result.

Thanks again and keep it coming.

 

[Bigguns50]

I LOVE MARKETING !

I love the science behind it..the creativity...and the madness. Great start and perfect example.
This will be a fun ride. Thanks man.

 

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[JasonR]

It is essential to stop giving a shit. Otherwise you get stuck in “analysis mode” and retreat back to the learning loop with zero action. Stop giving a shit and just move fast…you’re gonna like who you become, I can promise you that! BTW, thank you @JasonR for teaching me to stop giving a shit. I felt truly free after learning how you roll the dice day in and day out. Huge respect for that.

So much this. My topic at B&P will be somewhat related to this.

Keep this thread going, man. It's highly entertaining/valuable.

 

[gdup3784]

Rep dolla bills sent! Can't wait for more updates!

 

[bensonj]

Welcome to the next chapter in the ice cream novel. SALES and MARKETING! Wee! I haven’t quite determined what I’ll be teaching just yet, but for now I want to reveal to you the underlying lessons that you can learn from REAL, SUCCESSFUL marketing campaigns that aren’t outdated.

Wow @IceCreamKid - this is exactly what I needed. I'm working on a video similar to Dollar Shave Club for my product. Thanks so much for this thread! $$$Transfered!!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

You forgot the most important .... VIRALITY! (Or HUMOR!)

The sharing of this video, cuz it's FN hilarious, is what catapulted these guys on the radar. The VIRALITY turns a good ad into a blockbuster because it turns into FREE marketing, and you don't need to spend a dime.

Rep Transferred! $$$$!!!!

 

[IceCreamKid]

You forgot the most important .... VIRALITY!
The sharing of this video, cuz it's FN hilarious, is what catapulted these guys on the radar. The VIRALITY turns a good ad into a blockbuster because it turns into FREE marketing, and you don't need to spend a dime.

I wanted to touch on the virality aspect of the video, but I had no idea how to put it into words because virality is more of an art than a science. How would one quantify virality? How does someone become the next Rebecca Black? I'm still trying to crack the code for that and break it down into an actionable science.

I've pretty much cracked the code for virality in the offline world to some degree. I discussed it in the Secrets thread.

Basically I would perform some ridiculous stunt, but call the local news stations to let them know what I was about to do so I would get free TV exposure. My first stunt was probably the most successful one. I filled 2 garbage bags with $2 bills and stamped my company message on there. I slowly unloaded the bags from the top of a building onto a crowd below that was listening to the local mayor give a speech.

Virality is so much fun. I love being insane. I'd rather live my life as bright as a 10,000 watt bulb and burn out in an hour than live the next 40 years like a 15 watt bulb.

Can someone please help me crack the code to online virality???

 

[AllenCrawley]

I've pretty much cracked the code for virality in the offline world to some degree. I discussed it in the zen******* Secrets thread.

Basically I would perform some ridiculous stunt, but call the local news stations to let them know what I was about to do so I would get free TV exposure. My first stunt was probably the most successful one. I filled 2 garbage bags with $2 bills and stamped my company message on there. I slowly unloaded the bags from the top of a building onto a crowd below that was listening to the local mayor give a speech.

I love these types of 'stunts'. @snowbank has had some successes like this...

Fox News: Bluefirepoker challenges Obama to $1,000,000 poker

 

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[Chris R]

Virality is so much fun. I love being insane. I'd rather live my life as bright as a 10,000 watt bulb and burn out in an hour than live the next 40 years like a 15 watt bulb.

I can't agree more with this! The $2 stunt is awesome! Just like something I did with a business I keep talking about over and over (sorry but once more!) In my successful brick n mortar business I would put filled boxes of CRAZY bumper stickers out almost every week for all of my customers to put on what I thought would be guitar cases and drum cases. But instead they ended up ALL OVER TOWN!!!! Everywhere. I'd be miles and miles away and see them. I really didn't have a clue as to what I was doing... I was just doing. And I ended up with a waiting list so deep that I was forced to grow. (The stickers had a very crazy/rebellious photo on them with a crazy slogan) Stickers I know aren't the greatest of ideas because people do have to scrape them off but the idea behind the concept of virality is what I'm trying to point out, too. The slogan became a bit of a joke, which was the intention, and bands would say it up on stage when they were playing to sold out venues - I'd even get back stage passes and invited on stage. I even had radio personalities as customers, and would mention it on air. It was crazy what being crazy had produced.

 

[Option]

Thank you so much for this, came at the exact right time. Will be shooting my marketing video next weeks. This is Gold!

 

[Bigguns50]

Charlie Sheen.
Chuck Norris.
Dude that shot his Daughter's laptop.

As everyone goes "Ahhh"..lol.

Viral is fascinating. I know people like 'different', 'colorful', 'entertaining', 'truthful', 'outspoken', 'crazy', etc. My uneducated guess is there is no real formula. Although, I think the stronger the emotional response something gets, the better the chance it has to go viral. Some things catch on..some don't.

 

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[IceCreamKid]

I LOVE MARKETING !

I love the science behind it..the creativity...and the madness. Great start and perfect example.
This will be a fun ride. Thanks man.

I love studying marketing too! It's what separates the kindergarteners from the big 8th graders.

You'll find that the kindergarteners focus 90% of their energy on the product/idea and 10% on marketing. These are the guys that think the idea is everything. The 8th graders focus 90% of their energy on marketing and only 10% on the product/idea.

Dollar Shave Club is a very simple concept...in fact they didn't even invent a new product, but their execution with marketing and the subscription model is the stuff ice cream dreams are made of.

Process and execution is the key to unlock the doors to Candy Land. I hope my Dollar Shave Club example is helping the masses realize that the idea is almost insignificant.

 

[throttleforward]

Can someone please help me crack the code to online virality???

It's about social currency. If I can gain social currency by sharing, then I win, and I share. My currency is dependent on what I want to sell about myself. Do I want people link me with humor? Then I share humorous things (hoping other people agree with my sense of humor). Do I want to trade in smartness? Then I share stuff that demonstrates my intelligence (see "I fu*(ing love science on FB for an example).

 

[xaviel]

Thank you IceCreamKid! Solid value and breakdown.

There is even more to the video.

What creates a laugh/entertainment is the unexpected. (And it makes it memorable)

• He catches the tennis racket, yet misses the ball (you expect him to hit it).
• Pulls a machete out of nowhere.
• Bear catches the package
• Guy is rolling in the cart

The OldSpice commercials are ALL about that as well.

 

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[Angus]

Thank you IceCreamKid! Solid value and breakdown.

There is even more to the video.

What creates a laugh/entertainment is the unexpected. (And it makes it memorable)

• He catches the tennis racket, yet misses the ball (you expect him to hit it).
• Pulls a machete out of nowhere.
• Bear catches the package
• Guy is rolling in the cart

The OldSpice commercials are ALL about that as well.

And the final song, amazing video by the way.

I'm looking forward to seeing more posts from you ICK, gold as always.

 

[Oztrepreneur]

May I suggest a book, once suggested by a wise man (MJ I believe):
Made to Stick - Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Quite interesting. May have some hints to virality and sticking in peoples minds. Refers to why 'stupid' urban myths make it global and are treated as gospel.....

ICK, another great thread btw

 

[IceCreamKid]

Wow @IceCreamKid - this is exactly what I needed. I'm working on a video similar to Dollar Shave Club for my product. Thanks so much for this thread! $$$Transfered!!

I don't want your rep bank...I want 10% of your company's profits jk lol

I really enjoy your progress thread btw. Neat to see somebody out there shakin' and bakin' making some moves. Holler at me if you need any help.

 

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[Blueskies4me]

It is essential to stop giving a shit.

Rubber.

Meet Road.

You may hold me to that little piece of advice.

Thank you.

Carry on.

 

[bensonj]

I don't want your rep bank...I want 10% of your company's profits jk lol
I really enjoy your progress thread btw. Neat to see somebody out there shakin' and bakin' making some moves. Holler at me if you need any help.

Lol @IceCreamKid JUST 10%!!!- Thanks so much!

 

[PeeVee]

Another great thread @IceCreamKid! I love the case study. They did an amazing job and hit all the key points.

Have you ever seen the work of Neville over at App Sumo? He has assembled what he calls the kopywriting kourse and from what I know he has studied many of the great copywriters and has a fun, no nonsense approach to marketing. He has played a key role in their copywriting and you can tell from the moment you visit their page and browse their products. They are doing fairly well in their niche.

 

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[throttleforward]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonah-berger/virals-secret-formula_b_3052685.html

"If you ask most social media "gurus," they'll tell you it's all about getting lucky. Viral isn't a strategy, it's like buying a lottery ticket. Or they'll talk about cats. Lots of people share videos of funny kitties, so cats must be the reason things go viral.
All these theories are great, except, well, they're not really backed up by anything. No data. No analytics. Just old fashioned guesses based on looking at a couple particularly noteworthy successes. It's like the idea that the Earth was flat. It seemed right until someone actually looked deeper and showed, well...it wasn't.
Virality isn't luck. It's not magic. And it's not random. There's a science behind why people talk and share. A recipe. A formula, even.
My colleagues and I have analyzed thousands of news articles and hundreds of brands, all to understand why some make the most emailed list or get more word of mouth. Again and again we found the same principles at work. Six key drivers that shape what people talk about and share. Those six principles are the basis of my new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, and the first principle is Social Currency."

 

[PeeVee]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonah-berger/virals-secret-formula_b_3052685.html

"If you ask most social media "gurus," they'll tell you it's all about getting lucky. Viral isn't a strategy, it's like buying a lottery ticket. Or they'll talk about cats. Lots of people share videos of funny kitties, so cats must be the reason things go viral.
All these theories are great, except, well, they're not really backed up by anything. No data. No analytics. Just old fashioned guesses based on looking at a couple particularly noteworthy successes. It's like the idea that the Earth was flat. It seemed right until someone actually looked deeper and showed, well...it wasn't.
Virality isn't luck. It's not magic. And it's not random. There's a science behind why people talk and share. A recipe. A formula, even.
My colleagues and I have analyzed thousands of news articles and hundreds of brands, all to understand why some make the most emailed list or get more word of mouth. Again and again we found the same principles at work. Six key drivers that shape what people talk about and share. Those six principles are the basis of my new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, and the first principle is Social Currency."

And that in itself is a great example of an ad.

I am just bustin your balls man ;-)

 

[throttleforward]

And that in itself is a great example of an ad.

That's the insidious thing about products geared toward marketers. You know you're being marketed too, you can identify the steps, techniques, tactics...but it's still effective.

 

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[throttleforward]

@IceCreamKid One of the things you mention on our call was that the best copy comes from the mouths of customers. Assuming that a person has interviewed a handful of people in their target market and identified a common pain point, how would you go about testing your written/online copy for efficacy without blowing a ton of money on ads with poor copy and/or driving traffic to your poorly written site? (Or do you simply have to accept that you'll have to spend $100's/$1,000 honing your message while split testing?)

 

[PeeVee]

That's the insidious thing about products geared toward marketers. You know you're being marketed too, you can identify the steps, techniques, tactics...but it's still effective.

Effective and the reality is most don't know they are being marketed to. Thanks for the contribution! @throttleforward

 

[IceCreamKid]

@IceCreamKid One of the things you mention on our call was that the best copy comes from the mouths of customers. Assuming that a person has interviewed a handful of people in their target market and identified a common pain point, how would you go about testing your written/online copy for efficacy without blowing a ton of money on ads with poor copy and/or driving traffic to your poorly written site? (Or do you simply have to accept that you'll have to spend $100's/$1,000 honing your message while split testing?)

What's up man! My ice cream shop exists in the offline world, but if I were in the online playground like yourself then I would create multiple landing pages. Each landing page will have its own unique copy. Try to put a limit on how much you are willing to spend when you buy media. I'm not the expert on buying media at this point...I've been quite successful at burning through a lot of cash while trying to figure out Google Adwords. Heck, you might call me a professional failure if you list out how many things I've tried and sucked at.

You might want to reach out to JasonR, he really knows his stuff. He's a really busy guy focused on building a solid business so you might have to propose something of value in order to make it worth his time.

Be careful not to be penny wise and dollar foolish. When I started that property management company years ago, I spent months learning how to code the website when I should've outsourced that stuff and focused on sales/marketing.

I wouldn't outsource my copywriting though. I really enjoy writing copy because it's my opportunity to really get into the mind of my customer.

p.s. I'm about to use the last of the Starbucks gift card tonight. Thanks man!

 

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[KLaw]

I wanted to touch on the virality aspect of the video, but I had no idea how to put it into words because virality is more of an art than a science. How would one quantify virality? How does someone become the next Rebecca Black? I'm still trying to crack the code for that and break it down into an actionable science.

I've pretty much cracked the code for virality in the offline world to some degree. I discussed it in the zen******* Secrets thread.

Basically I would perform some ridiculous stunt, but call the local news stations to let them know what I was about to do so I would get free TV exposure. My first stunt was probably the most successful one. I filled 2 garbage bags with $2 bills and stamped my company message on there. I slowly unloaded the bags from the top of a building onto a crowd below that was listening to the local mayor give a speech.

Virality is so much fun. I love being insane. I'd rather live my life as bright as a 10,000 watt bulb and burn out in an hour than live the next 40 years like a 15 watt bulb.

Can someone please help me crack the code to online virality???

Ice cream kid - could you post a link of the coverage you rec'd from the 2 dollar bill stunt? I tried googling it and couldn't find anything. Im just curious about the type of buzz you received. I may do something similar. Thanks for all your helpful posts.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Ice cream kid - could you post a link of the coverage you rec'd from the 2 dollar bill stunt? I tried googling it and couldn't find anything. Im just curious about the type of buzz you received. I may do something similar. Thanks for all your helpful posts.

I don't feel like exposing what my business is to the thousands of lurkers on this forum so that they can create a clone of my company. On top of that, it was all television coverage and I don't have any of it recorded. I actually don't own a TV...I got rid of it along with my video games when it occurred to me that the success cost of owning that stuff was too high.

I'll tell you this: the buzz was awesome. Do it.

People will think you're Santa Claus making it rain money.

EDIT: If there's one thing that I would've changed about that stunt is I would've used $1 bills instead of $2 bills. I formerly thought that the $2 bill would have an extra impact because they're unique, but it didn't seem to do anything special.