The Problem With Current Marketing
One of my favorite 10x projects we’ve undertaken at CoSchedule is our Headline Analyzer.
Originally, it began as research. Our team dug into over 1,000,000 blog post and article headlines published through our software. Then, we boiled the top-performing headlines down into a formula that our team started using.
Because we’re software dweebs, we built an algorithm that could score the quality of any headline we typed into it. It predicted the likelihood for everything from potential clicks to social shares.
We simply automated the manual process we’d been following. Then, we went a step further.
We also love providing value to our audience, so we launched a project to make our algorithm available to everyone for free in exchange for their email address.
Thus the headline analyzer was born. And immediately, email addresses began to pour into our coffers.
To date, that tool alone has contributed over 50,000 email addresses to our total list.
It’s a great example of taking something your team already does well and “productizing” it.
The Problem With Case Studies
However, there’s a potential snare in the case study I just shared with you.
It’s certainly a great idea that’s paid off. But that’s not where the problem is.
Instead, what often happens with positive case studies like this is that they’re used by marketers to spawn copycat projects rather than spark original, competition-free content.
It’s such an easy trap to fall into.
You see a success and think, “Hey, I can do that!” So, you do it.
The problem is, so does everyone else. That means copycats spring up faster than dandelions in springtime.
Helping marketers negotiate this pitfall is one of the main reasons why I wrote The 10x Marketing Formula.
So, how can you use case studies as creative springboards rather than copycat fodder? By generating your own 10x project ideas.
A 10x project is one that can multiply your marketing results by tenfold rather than a mere 10 percent.
The Headline Analyzer was a true 10x project for us. Here’s how you can use it to fuel unique projects of your own.
How To Generate Your Own 10x Ideas
I’ll share part of our process for generating your own 10x ideas as a team (as many as 30–50 in just an hour!). Here’s an excerpt from my upcoming book to explain:
For some people, the idea of 10x projects feels a bit out of reach, if not altogether unattainable. You may be thinking: “It’s a great framework in theory, but how in the world am I supposed to become a 10x-idea factory?” Even more, it’s unlikely that you have the luxury of waiting for the marketing muse to inspire such brilliant ideas. Instead, you might owe your boss results by the end of this week. So, you don’t have time to twiddle your thumbs and wait for a zap of creative lightning.
But, what if I told you that all you needed was one hour? In just sixty minutes, you can go from no project and content ideas to fifty-plus. I’ll walk you through the exact three-step process we use as a team at CoSchedule. And if you follow it, your results will be as advertised.
The 10x-Ideas Process will help you achieve three things:
1. It forces you to consider what your customers want from you.
2. It cuts through the ambiguity of which projects should take priority.
3. It galvanizes consensus within your team to chase results, treating projects as means to the goal of all marketing activity.Step One: 10x Brainstorm
The process begins before the team ever meets. I ask everyone to spend ten to twenty minutes brainstorming as many ideas as they can that will answer this question: “What can we do to grow our {metric} by tenfold over the next {timeline}?”
Sending a guiding question keeps everyone focused and ensures ideas are aimed at solving a specific problem. Also, notice how the question is structured. When boiled down, there are four components: idea, metric, goal, and timeline.
Idea: How are we going to achieve growth?
Metric: What specific number correlates with revenue growth?
Goal: We are going to multiply growth of this metric by ten times.
Timeline: What is the specific duration in which we’ll accomplish this?
Here’s an example:
We will launch an {email subject analyzer tool} to increase {email signups} by {ten times} within {four weeks} from start date.
Idea: Create an email subject analyzer tool.
Metric: Email signups.
Goal: 10x growth!
Timeline: Four weeks.
In the book we’ll cover how to go from brilliant 10x ideas to shipped projects with robotic efficiency.
However, by owning this focused creation process, your team can go from zero to sixty in just four weeks, too.
If you want to get in on more insight from The 10x Marketing Formula, including expert interviews, our private LinkedIn 10x marketing group, and the first chapter for FREE, sign up for early access.
I’ll ship the chapter your way so you can press reset on your marketing mindset immediately.
