CXL - The story is the strategy

Your host today is Peep Laja, Founder at CXL

The story is the strategy.

Your positioning and marketing strategy are informed by and wrapped in the blanket of a narrative.

Here are the most common types of stories businesses can tell:

"Small brand explicitly challenging a big brand"

This is the David vs Goliath story. You name the giant in your category, and call them out. You position against them directly, and by doing it you're positioning yourself as a good alternative.

Hey by 37signals directly positions against Gmail.

"Challenging the way things have always been done"

You point out what's wrong with the way things are and offer a better alternative. Gong brings data to where there was none.

"Standing up for the people"

The establishment has been ripping you off. The consumer has been wronged. For years. We're gonna put an end to this!

When Wise launched, they were doing exactly this. "Bye bye bank fees".

"Democratizing X"

This story is about making something accessible. It challenges elitism. Tearing down once-formidable barriers.

Target democratized design. Robinhood launched with the story of democratizing finance for all: "We are all investors."

"Missionary"

The story here is about a sense of purpose - standing for a cause, being a force for positive change.

Patagonia is the prime example of an activist brand.

"Irreverence"

This is the approach to take something traditionally serious and make it fun. Controversial, even.

Suitsupply sells high-quality men's suits while breaking traditions and conservative attitudes.

"Like back in the day"

Bringing back the good old days. When you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. Nostalgia is a powerful tool.

Hiut Denim Co is making a small town make jeans again.

"Real and human"

We're done with fake corporate bullshit. We yearn for authenticity. We want to see the people behind the company.
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SparkToro is real; with public founders we can connect with.

"Transcendent vision"

These companies are about the bigger picture. It's about the future and goes beyond its mundane everyday activities.

Tesla is not just selling cars, it's here to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

"Next-generation"

This is a story about how the times have changed, and new solutions are needed for new times. You position yourself as a brand for those wanting to be part of a new generation.

Evolv AI is saying the "traditional testing tools" are outdated, it's time for AI.

"Game changers"

This is about inventing a new game. It requires you to bring an entirely new product, service, or experience - wrapped in a new category narrative.

Wynter helps you outcompete others by unlocking buyer intelligence - know what your target buyers think and want, and how your messaging lands on them.

"The very best"

The highest quality, very best standards, unwavering commitment to excellence.

You stay at a Ritz Cartlon because you deserve it.

Connect with Peep on LinkedIn.

Your weekly dose of marketing updates

1. CXL Live

What if you could hang out with the absolute best B2B marketers for 3 days? People like...

Chris Walker
Dave Gerhardt
Gaetano Di Nardi
Emma Stratton
Casandra Campbell
Peep Laja
Ben Labay

That's what you get at CXL Live this October. The top 1 % marketers are coming as keynotes, and more of them will be the moderators of the group discussions we'll host to connect you with people that share your interests, goals and problem.

This is a rare opportunity to really hang out with the absolute ballers in experimentation, growth and demand gen, and hearing how they overcame the obstacles you're facing today, how they reached the same goals you're tasked with, and obviously, party together.

And like with all events, there's real scarcity and urgency involved. There's fewer tickets left every day, so hurry up and...

Get your tickets now.

PS. This poster does look like a Marvel movie poster, just because the people attending are proper superheroes of B2B.

2. Community

Making data-driven decisions and turning business insights into an efficient and useful practice is key to growth. The problem? It's usually time-consuming and there's no clear way of doing it... Until now.

With these playbooks you'll be able to start tracking conversions in Google Analytics, obtain insights for your business through your website performance, obtain insights from your social media performance, and more.

More questions? Just ask Dynamic Data team of Business Intelligence specialists with 10+ years of experience in data tracking, architecture, transformation, visualization, and analysis.

Check out their playbooks on Data Analytics and Data Visualization.

3. Omnichannel marketing: 7 examples to improve customer experience

When researching a new product, buyers use 10 or more channels to interact with companies. Each channel presents a chance to make a good impression.

Optimize each channel, and you’ll win new customers, enjoy higher order rates, and retain customers. Get them wrong, and you risk damaging brand perception and trust.

In this post, we’ll explore lessons from brands that use omnichannel marketing to deliver a seamless customer experience.

Read the entire article here.

4. Ecommerce Merchandising course is here

eCommerce merchandising is displaying products strategically on a website to increase find-ability.

This course connects advanced science mechanisms of algorithms, optimizations, and personalizations deployed in advanced eCommerce today to escalate conversion and revenue.

After taking this course, you will:

Understand the mechanism of omnichannel and instant gratification in today’s modern world. Learn how influencer marketing is driving a new style of merchandise creation.
Understand how important it is to build the foundational software or access the correct technology to manage tagging values to each product effectively to return smartly in user search results and other customized preferences.
Understand the importance of the Product Detail Page (PDP) as a mechanism to ‘own the last mile’ in selling your product.
Review the action plans needed to support merchandise storytelling throughout the annual calendar.
The impact of ‘the metaverse’ on transforming how consumers will interact with merchandising in the future.

Check out the course.

5. Selling on marketplaces course is here

Amazon has pioneered what it means to be a marketplace, even surpassing Google as the largest product search engine in the US.

54% of people go directly to Amazon to search for products. Whether you’re a brand owner, an agency owner, an Executive Level person, or own a PE Retail Group, you have to be on marketplaces, namely Amazon. It always starts with Amazon.

After taking this course, you will:

Know and understand exactly what a marketplace is, why you need to be on them as a brand, the core components of marketplace sales, and the big contenders.
Where the opportunity is, how to gauge it, and what to tackle first, p.s. It always starts with Amazon.
How to effectively set up your brand presence on marketplaces and get the ball rolling. Why telling Brand Story is key and how to do this well.
Optimize the conversion rate on your PDP (Product Detail Pages) to convert the highest amount of traffic to consumers.
Follow the customer journey and find out how to create more than just sales. Learn how to create a loyal following and eager brand evangelists.

Check out the course.

6. CXL talent program

Go through a 12 week marketing training with CXL for a one-time $100 fee, get matched with US based companies looking for marketers of your profile, land a remote job and experience the true freedom of remote work while being paid more than you ever were.

Upskill through a 12 week world class program
Get matched with US-based companies
Land a remote job that opens the door to the US market
Earn more than you ever did, starting at $40,000/year
Enjoy the true freedom of a remote role
Experience the stability of being paid in USD

US companies are finally opening their doors to you. Learn more about the Talent program here.

If you are a US company interested in growing your team with CXL certified and vetted professionals, fill out this form or contact us.

7. How to process an experiment

How do you process an experiment? What are the stages? Are they one-way gates? What are the activities per stage? Who's involved?

I'm sharing the miro link here to this info.

Speero's test phase gate framework.

It's the theory behind the test document. It represents the flywheel of running a test, piece of research, product initiative, or really anything with a hypothesis and conclusion.

It's not something to look at often.

But it does help create great process governance, alignment among a team, and consistency with how you run and speed up your flywheel of testing.

The picture isn't perfect but check out the miro link.

It's comment-enabled, so feel free to add yours there.