" Saying you 'recommend' rather than 'like' something makes people 32 percent more likely to take your suggestion." "Adding more prepositions to a cover letter makes you 24 percent more likely to get the job." "And saying 'is not' rather than 'isn't' when describing a product makes people pay three dollars more to get it." Source:  HarperCollins Publishers These are just a few examples of the power of language cited by Jonah Berger in his latest book, Magic Words:  What to Say to Get Your Way (HarperCollins Publishers, 2023). Jonah Berger is a professor of marketing at ..read more

Source:  Shutterstock If you've ever bought or sold a house, you're probably familiar with the concept of curb appeal. Curb appeal is the visual attractiveness of a house as seen from the street, and it's what creates a potential buyer's first impression of the house. Real estate professionals know curb appeal plays a big role in determining how quickly a house will sell and what the selling price will be. Good first impressions are also important for successful B2B marketing. Today, most potential buyers will form their first impression of your company based on the content you ..read more

Imagine you're a world-class athlete about to run a 100-meter dash. Your competitors are also world-class athletes, so the outcome of the race would normally be far from certain. But in this race, you'll have a major advantage. You'll be allowed to leave the starting line two seconds before the other runners. World-class track athletes usually run a 100-meter dash in about ten seconds. So, with a two-second head start, you're almost certain to win. In the race to win business and grow revenue, some companies have a significant head start over their competitors. I'm referring to the head star ..read more

Source:  Shutterstock (This year, I'm devoting some of my Research Round-Up posts to academic research papers relating to the use of artificial intelligence for marketing purposes. This post features an unpublished paper that compares the performance of AI-generated vs. human-made images across three marketing use cases.) "The power of generative marketing:  Can generative AI reach human-level visual marketing content?" Authors - Jochen Hartmann and Yannick Exner, Technical University of Munich; Samuel Domdey, Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg Date Written - July 1 ..read more

Source:  Penguin Random House The idea that marketers need to think like world-class poker players may seem a little odd, but that's the primary lesson I take from Annie Duke's book, Thinking in Bets:  Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts (Portfolio/Penguin, 2018). Thinking in Bets isn't specifically about marketing, but it describes an approach to thinking about decisions that would serve marketers well. So, if you haven't read Thinking in Bets, I recommend you add it to your 2024 reading list. Annie Duke is a recognized authority in the field of decis ..read more

Marketers have long argued that a strong brand can induce customers to pay premium prices, increase customer loyalty, and drive growth. But until recently, it's been difficult for marketers to explain exactly why and how a strong brand produces these results. Read on to learn why established principles of decision science can explain the power of a strong brand. Numerous studies conducted over many years have demonstrated that strong brands produce significant benefits for their owners. A strong brand can make customers more willing to pay premium prices, increase customer loyalty, and drive ..read more

One of the more infamous quotes in marketing is usually attributed to John Wanamaker, who reportedly said, " Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half." Cracking the code on what drives marketing effectiveness can be incredibly difficult. One TV ad, webinar, or ebook may be hugely successful, while another - based on the same theme and having similar creative elements and comparable distribution - fails to move the needle. In many cases like this, there's no readily apparent way to explain the difference in performance. An article appearing in t ..read more

(This month's Research Round-Up features a study by Boathouse that reveals what CEOs actually think about marketing and CMOs, and a survey by Informa Tech that addresses how much trust B2B technology buyers actually place in marketing.) The Third Annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO by Boathouse  Source:  Boathouse Based on a survey of 150 CEOs at U.S. companies; 55% were with public companies, and 45% were with private companies Survey respondents were with companies having $250 million to more than $1 billion in annual revenue Survey respondents represented 17 indust ..read more

Source:  Basic Books Predictive mathematical models touch our lives virtually every day. Every weather forecast we watch, hear, or read is formulated based on multiple atmospheric models. And that's just one example. Predictive models have also become an integral part of modern marketing. For example, marketers use mathematical models to determine the optimal mix of marketing programs (marketing mix models), identify the attributes of their best prospects, and personalize marketing communications and other forms of marketing content. The primary function of most mathematical mode ..read more

Source:  Shutterstock I've always been skeptical of claims that using any one technique or tactic will consistently result in superior marketing performance. Simple, "silver bullet" solutions for big, complex challenges are incredibly rare in the real world. But, if there is one key to decoding the formula for effective marketing, it is the ability to understand how people make decisions and what drives human behavior. Understanding what will cause a potential buyer to respond to your marketing messages and ultimately buy your product or service is a prerequisite for developing ..read more