Building a great product is useless if no one knows about it. Marketing and selling are how you bridge the gap between what you've built and the people who need it. These mental models help you compete for attention effectively.
Most people wonât read your long-form content. Most wonât watch your full video. Most wonât click through your entire funnel. Thatâs fineâbecause youâre not marketing to âmost people.â
Your marketing should filter for the engaged minority. Long content, high-effort sign-ups, and detailed information all filter out the lazy and attract those who truly care. Quality over quantity.
Every step of your marketing funnel should be filtering for better customers. If everyone gets through, youâre attracting people who arenât serious. Some friction is goodâit brings you the right people.
Youâre not just competing with other products in your category. Youâre competing with Instagram, TikTok, Netflix, and every other attention-grabbing platform for a slice of your customerâs day.
Attention is the scarcest resource. If you canât capture it in seconds, youâve lost. Your marketing must be immediately compellingânot just compared to competitors, but compared to everything else fighting for attention.
âProfessionalâ marketing is often boring. Boring loses to entertaining every time. Your B2B SaaS is competing with memes and viral videos for the same attention. Make your marketing interesting, not just informative.
Buying decisions are emotional first, rational second. People feel they want something, then find logical reasons to justify the purchase. This is true even for B2B decisions.
Your marketing should evoke emotion first: desire, fear, belonging, status. Then provide rational justifications: features, ROI, testimonials. Emotion opens the door; logic seals the deal.
Apple rarely leads with specs. Their ads evoke feelings: creativity, freedom, belonging to a tribe of innovative people. Once you want to be an âApple person,â you find reasons to justify the premium price.
Every marketing interaction is a transaction. Youâre asking for attention (valuable) and offering something in return. If your content, ads, or outreach donât provide value, youâre just taking.
Great marketing is generous. It educates, entertains, or inspires before it asks for anything. Give first, ask later. The best marketing feels like a gift, not an interruption.
For every marketing touchpoint, ask: âWhat are we giving the audience?â If the answer is âjust information about us,â youâre asking without giving. Provide genuine valueâinsights, entertainment, toolsâbefore expecting anything in return.