Latest / The Daily Writer / BONUS: Jeffrey Shaw: Hug Marketing vs. Marketing Funnels

Transcript

BONUS: Jeffrey Shaw: Hug Marketing vs. Marketing Funnels · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Jeffrey, thank you so much for sticking around for this bonus episode.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I appreciate making time to do this.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks again.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: My pleasure.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious to see where we're going.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I want to dive into for just a few minutes here, and again on these bonus episodes, this is my chance to ask about a really, really specific thing related to the guest content platform or something else that will apply to helping us to become better daily writers.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: In this instance, I'd love to dive into for a few moments this concept of hug marketing that you talk about in your book.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was so fascinated and so intrigued by this concept, it makes so much sense to me, but I have never ever heard of this.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and the reason why it was so revolutionary for me is because there's so much out there on the importance of building a marketing funnel, which feels so cold and impersonal, and it just doesn't touch your heart in any way, you know, as valuable as that concept may be.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm wondering if you can share with us what is hug marketing and if you can talk about these concentric circles that that are part of that process as well.
• 1:09
  unknown: Yeah.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I feel like I, as a business owner, I spend a great deal of my time trying to reframe things in traditional business world that creep me out.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: And hug marketing is one of them, right?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because what has always bothered me is um the idea of a marketing funnel.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it just being a former photographer myself, I'm very visual.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: And all I could think of with a traditional marketing funnel is that, hey, I'm very open-minded and a wonderful person at the top, but then the closer you get to my world, I'm going to squeeze you through a small hole at the bottom of the funnel.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like I get the idea.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: We all get the idea of a marketing funnel, but I think we have to pay attention to the energy of the words that we use.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like in my business, we actually don't use the term marketing.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: We refer to it as enrolling so that we take personal responsibility of how are we so amazing?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: We get people to enroll into our world.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Not we're mark, we're not marketing at people or to people.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the concept of hug marketing came from my own needing to reframe what totally creeped me about, creeped me out about business, about this idea of marketing funnels and turned it into we have the same goal, but the goal is to get customers.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: How can I meet that goal in a way that felt better to my heart and soul?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: And again, nothing, I don't care how good it feels to your heart and soul, it has to work in business because we're in business to create a sustainable lifestyle.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I also know this works.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: And the the name hug market because it started with this visual.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like I didn't want to look at it as a funnel.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I just drew a bunch of concentric circles.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then I realized the goal was to get to the center of the circle, the center of the all the circles.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought that just looks like a hug.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I called it hug marketing.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I love what it energetically represents.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Our goal is to get a hug.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So how can we do that?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what does that actually mean?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, especially in our pandemic-written world where people are like, I don't want to give hugs.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, that's a metaphor, and I get that.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: But what does that mean emotionally to get a hug or to give a hug?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: So to me, the the the one of the most overlooked parts in business is to me, the hug doesn't happen until you get the center of the circle.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So to give, I know we're on a podcast, so we need to create a visual here.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: You have to just imagine a bunch of concentric circles.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a circle inside of a circle, right?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And they go from larger to smaller.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: In the center is what might look like a bullseye, although I I hate using the word because I don't want it to look like a target, right?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: But in the center, you've got one whole circle fully colored in.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's the hug.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's the most overlooked stage on business because the ring outside of the hug are is when you get a customer.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: The difference between the ring that's a customer, the hug, is that those are the customers that become repeat customers, loyal customers, loyal to your brand, and your strongest advocates.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: For the life of me, I can't figure out why so many people stop at the customer stage.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: I got the customer, but then they don't nurture the relationship to make sure that customer doesn't just become a transactional customer, but becomes a hug, right?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: The I mean, I've I've been in photographer for 35 years, and you know, I do very little photography today, but I can assure you, anybody that I photograph, and first of all, I have a 70% retention rate in my photography business.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: So 70% of my customers work with me on an ongoing basis.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's and you know what?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Pre-pandemic, we hugged every time we saw each other.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: These kids ran up to me for hugs, right?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I realized that that's that should be the final goal.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just to gain customer, it's to go that one step further to when you've turned those customers into such solid advocates that to greet them, whether literally or metaphorically, would be we should never be anything less than a hug.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any specific companies or or businesses that are kind of well known that you feel like do this on a of course?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure it's large to do this on a on a scale that's large.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: So really, does this concept apply to larger businesses, or is it mainly just for like self-employed people, small businesses, entrepreneurs, that kind of thing?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm uh my world is geared around self-employed business owners and small.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I tend to think of it being, you know, they're on my mind when I'm creating something like this, much smaller than the big companies.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I think, you know, without a doubt, I mean, there are brands that create incredible amount of loyalty.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: The difference is that the bigger the company, the easier the loyalty can be broken if there's any misbehavior.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's true, right?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, hate to use them as an example because it's so cliche, but I think people will get the point.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Apple has incredible loyalty, right?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I actually think they have loyalty for another reason.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're not my by brand image anymore, they're not my favorite brand.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: But the reason I stay connected is something else I talked in the book, um, which is uh a product suite.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, honestly, I mean, it's not that Apple is the most Apple doesn't tug at my heart anymore.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: They did, right?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: They don't tug at my heart, they don't tug at my heart anymore.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: But now they it's such a product suite, I don't know how to get out of it, even if I wanted to.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really was their number one business strategy.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people overlooked, right?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: They really looked what they really did is create.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: I've I even say in the book, I I'd swear airdrop is going to keep me a customer for life because it's so easy.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So their strategy, a product suite.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, I care most about your small businesses and and this idea of hug marketing and and the to go from the outermost circle to that hug is the journey that I want small businesses to most uh to most focus on.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, I do think there are brands, there are certainly brands that I'm loyal to.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um I have a favorite shoe company that I I and you know why I'm you know why this is my favorite?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Their shoe company is called Fluvog.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know why I'm loyal to them?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because of the bag that my shoe comes in.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're they have not the bag, the box.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: The shoes are in a box, of course, but inside the box, the shoes come in a in a bag, which you can you know use for taking your shoes on a flight or something.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: But they have the most powerful personal development messages on the bag.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that they took the time to do that.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: I love getting a pair of Fluvog shoes and opening that box and and seeing the the message on the fabric bag that that is my shoes are inside of.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it means a lot to me that a brand takes the time to want to change my life.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: It means a lot to me when a brand takes the time to create an emotional connection to me as a buyer.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so to me, that's a hug, right?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and I I now live in Miami.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: When I lived in New York, you know, I didn't quite get hugs, but there's a point where the staff gets to know you.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's so yes, I think it can be done with bigger brands as well.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, one final question here on this uh bonus episode.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Are there some really simple or specific things that we could do as self-employed people or small business owners that kind of are like a superpower, such as sending handwritten notes to people, things like that that really lend a personal touch that you have found to be really effective as you have worked with clients, customers, and so forth?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think that has to be very customized.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um in that, you know, I I, for example, I'm I'm so environmentally conscious, I don't necessarily love getting a handwritten note.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting, okay.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, I'm very I get a little creeped out about what I have to, and I have to recycle everything.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, I live in an apartment building and my building isn't recycled paper, so I have to drive it to the dump.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's actually inconvenient for me to accumulate paper, but I I just am so conscious of the environment that I I won't just throw out paper.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: I want it to be recycled.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that has to be adapted to the mindset of um the people you work with.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: What I think it's almost always in the details, almost always in the details that will move people emotionally the most.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you can identify something that is a knowing of them, that that's I think what I would suggest most people do.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you want to really, really step into how deeply you can know you those you serve.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: And is there a detail you can point out?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't even have to be something you give them, it can be um a knowing of them that you point out.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: That to me, the goal in all marketing today is to get your customers to say, Wow, it's like you're in my head.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, I I dell I love that that's the goal, right?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: To know your customers, to know who you serve so well, they have no choice to say how in the world you're doing.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, it's like you're in my head.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that is an awareness of who they are that touches them emotionally, or you've given them something that in part of your process, one of your touch points, that is so specific to them that they can't feel anything other than wow, it's like you're in my head, you know me so well.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: So it almost seems to go back to this kind of basic humane that we have of we want to be seen, we want to feel affirmed and validated, we want to be acknowledged by other people.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if we can find a way to do that.