Biggest takeaways from This is Marketing by Seth Godin
This is Marketing by Seth Godin is the most impactful marketing book I've read, so I wanted to share my favorite notes and biggest takeaways.
Whether you're just getting started or far along with your product, this book will help you zoom out and reframe marketing in a more human way. You'll put the tactics, platforms, and strategies aside for a moment and get back to understanding the real people you're serving, what they value, and how to connect with them on a human level. Hope this is helpful!
"Help people become better versions of themselves - the ones they seek to be."
Marketing in Five Steps
- Invent a thing worth making, with a story worth telling, and a contribution worth talking about.
- Design and build it in a way that a few people will particularly benefit from and care about.
- Tell a story that matches the built-in narrative and dreams of that tiny group of people - the smallest viable market.
- Spread the word.
- Show up - regularly, consistently, and generously, for years and years, to organize and lead and build confidence in the change you seek to make, to earn permission to follow-up, and to earn enrollment to teach.
Minimum Viable Market
- Define the MVM - what’s the minimum number of people you’d need to influence to make it worth your effort?
- Curate the customers - choose the people you serve, choose your future, choose the people who want what you’re offering, who are most open to hearing your message, who will tell the right other people
- Make your mark - find a point on the map where you and you alone are the answer and overwhelm this group’s wants and dreams and desires with your care and focus
The Simple Marketing Promise
- My product is for people who believe [ ].
- I will focus on people who want [ ].
- I promise that engaging with what I make will help you get [ ].
Process
1. Start with empathy to see a real need - not an invented one, not just to start a business. What would matter here?
2. Focus on the smallest viable market - how few people could find this indispensable and still make it worth doing?
3. Match the worldview of the people being served - show up in the world with a story they want to hear, told in a language they’re eager to understand
4. Make it easy to spread - if every member brings in just one more member, you’ll have more than you can count (network effects)
5. Earn and keep the attention and trust of those you serve
6. Offer ways to go deeper - instead of looking for ways to get members for your work, look for ways to do work for your members (eg. free program plus paid personalized program)
7. Create and relieve tension at every step of the journey as people progress towards their goals
8. Show up often, do it with humility, focus on the parts that work
Modern Business Plan
1. Truth
- Describe the world as it is
- Describe the market you’re entering
- The needs that exist
- The competitors in your space
- Technology standards
- How others have succeeded and failed in the past
2. Assertions
- Describe how you’re going to change things
- “We’re going to do X, and then Y will happen.”
- We will present X to the market, and the market will respond by taking this action
- What will you do and what impact will it have?
- What change do I seek to make?
- Creating tension by telling stories
- Heart of the business plan
3. Alternatives
- How much flexibility does your product or team have?
- What happens if your assertions don’t pan out?
4. People
- Who is on your team and who will join your team? Not literally, but what are their attitudes, beliefs, skills, track record?
- Who are the people you’re serving?
- Who are the champions?
- What do they believe about status?
- What worldview do they have?
5. Money
- How much do you need?
- How will you spend it?
- What does cash flow look like?
- Profit and loss, balance sheets, margins, exit strategies
