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Consumer Driven Marketing – Inspiration Board

Over the last several years of developing my own entrepreneurial approach to consumer-driven marketing for startups, I have had the pleasure of reading lots of good articles, watching fascinating talks, and following some very interesting people.

I decided to create this “hit list” for those of you who like the consumer-driven approach, want to explore its different aspects, and learn more about consumer behavior. So here are my top 7 people/topics to follow (not necessarily in this order):

1. Simon Sinek (author of Start with Why) – Simon is a British-American author, motivational speaker, and marketing consultant. He is the author of four books, including, Start with Why. He challenges businesses and people to put the “reason why” in the center and build around it. Sinek delivers his talks with passion and claims that “when you think, act, and communicate by starting with WHY, you can inspire others”. I like to use his framework when looking at business and products, and have found that starting with the WHY can help people to become advocates of your brand. His famous Ted Talk is a good starting point if you want to get to know this framework a bit better, and you can find it here: His website is https://startwithwhy.com.

Simon Sinek – Start with Why

2. Dan Arieli (on irrationality) –  This is probably my favorite guy to watch. I have never read something of his that I didn’t like, and I absolutely love listening to his talks. I even had the pleasure of meeting him in person. Dan is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics, and he talks a great deal about how humans are “predictably irrational”. This is his website: http://danariely.com, but if you want a quick intro to his work, make sure you watch his Ted talk here.

Dan Arieli – Predictably Irrational

3. Daniel Kahneman (thinking and decision making) – Daniel is an Israeli-American psychologist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Each of his talks and theories are fascinating, and the insights you can glean from them are endless. Look at this example, and think about how important the customer experience and support is to those who use  your products.

Daniel Kahenman – Decision Making

4. I also like The Anchoring Effect – one of the most solid tested phenomena in the world of experimental psychology which Daniel and his colleague, Amos Tversky, wrote about in in the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. The Anchoring effect is widely used in negotiation skills and theories, but it is definitely something that you can use in marketing as well – here’s a good post that summarizes it nicely.

5. Zappos (customer support) – There’s a reason Zappos is the ultimate example of great customer support and for considering it as a marketing channel of its own. These guys are doing a great job at this, and their numbers can prove it. I love hearing stories about both their history and latest approaches. Just in case you didn’t hear about it before, there’s a short summary here , or here , or you can read the complete book here.

Zappos – Happy team, happy customers

6. Andrew Chan (growth/data) – Previously lead the Rider Growth Team at Uber, Andrew is now an investor and a very active voice in the SF innovation scene. He writes prolifically about user growth (amongst other things) and what I like best about him is his approach to using data when trying to understand consumer behavior patterns. Following his blog/twitter is worthwhile: http://andrewchen.co , @andrewchan. One of the first posts I read there was actually a guest post, and it’s a very good one.

Andrew Chan – Get insights from your data

7. Neil Patel (Digital Marketing) – a brilliant young(ish) marketer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Crazy Egg, Hello Bar, and KISSmetrics. Heis consulting big, name-dropping, jaw-opening companies around the world, and he is an expert storyteller and mastermind who puts customers in the centre of sales and marketing funnels.  He writes a considerable amount about digital marketing topics, like SEO, blog content etc., but he also has some excellent articles about messaging and sales/marketing methods. Mind you, he is a bit salesy (trying to push his online course, etc.), but all of his free information is of real value as well. You can start following him here.

 

Neil Patel – Focus on your consumer

I think this is definitely enough to get you started. I combined much of this information into my own unique framework that compares the customer/business life cycle to dating. It’s called, “The Art of Dating Your Customers”, and it’s a nice way of looking at various touch points your business has with customers. Want to learn the key to the perfect relationship? Read all about it here: (https://flintandspark.com.au/marketing-tactics-the-art-of-dating-your-customers/

Enjoy your learning and growth journey. Let me know if there’s someone else that can inspire us that I left out for some reason.

Yifat Shirben
Yifat Shirben
Yifat Shirben is an entrepreneurial marketer, with over a decade of international experience in marketing, branding, PR and business development within the innovation and entrepreneurial environment. As a former start-up founder herself, Yifat has developed a unique consumer-driven methodology to analyse and allow cost-effective, tailored made marketing strategies and solutions for start-ups and entrepreneurs. Yifat is also a director at Jayride (ASX:JAY)

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