The 95/5 Rule

Chubbies was acquired for 9 figures and went through a 10 figure IPO - your classic overnight success that took a decade. As a brand builder, the stat that completely changed my approach to brand building was the 95/5 rule.

btw, I basically did the exact opposite of what the rule says for embarrassingly too long, but hey, my loss is your gain, so here's:

1) Three things I learned about the 95/5 rule,
2) Three ways you can update your thinking on the topic, and
3) Three things you can do about this right now.

let's do it.

** Three things I learned about the 95/5 rule

1. Only 5% of the people who see your content on a daily basis (AKA your potential buyers) are in-market to buy right now. That means 95% of the buyers you reach are out-of-market and won’t buy for months or even years.

2. And, nope, no matter how awesome your direct response offer is, you cannot persuade the buyer to go in-market because they already have what you’re selling and won’t need a newer version any time soon. We don’t move buyers in-market – buyers move themselves in-market based on their needs.

3. All the direct-response conversion-focused dollars we spend are only relevant to the 5% of folks. This was especially humbling when realizing that ~95% of our spend allocation went to direct response (see reference above re: doing the exact opposite).



Three ways you can update your thinking on the topic

1. Our goal is to increase the probability that the brand comes to mind when the buyer goes in-market, NOT to persuade the buyer to go in market. You can’t push buyers down a funnel, but you can, to quote Professor Jenni Romaniuk, “catch buyers as they fall”.

2. "People largely use their memories when buying, rather than searching. Simply put, the brand that gets remembered is the brand that gets bought." - John Dawes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute

3. Since marketing works by influencing future buyers, think about developing creative that gets noticed and gets remembered -- gives you permission to be bold, put on a show and have a little fun.


Three things you can do about it right now **

1. Since we've all been so focused on optimizing the hell out of how we convert the 5%, we need to reacquaint ourselves with the 95%. Walk a day in the shoes of the 95% to develop the empathy needed to effectively speak to that person.

2. Put together a plan to gradually shift your marketing investments to match the reality of the 95/5 rule. It could take all of 2024. No need to rush.

3. Take a day with your team. Remove all meetings. From a blank slate, think about what it means to do things that get remembered, that get noticed. What does it mean for your brand to be bold, to put on a show, and to have a little bit of fun?

enjoy
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