Saul Colt presents his marketing strategy called "Saul Colt's Marketing Risk" which is based on the board game Risk. It involves identifying target customer segments, building an audience within the first target segment, and then expanding to adjacent segments. The strategy emphasizes focusing intently on the first target through creative marketing ideas and activities. Colt provides several creative marketing examples he used in the past, emphasizing ideas that make people laugh, think, and feel emotion. He stresses the importance of taking risks in marketing through creative ideas and crossing boundaries.

1. 1
Saul Colt’s
Marketing

2. I like to start my talks by setting expectations.

4. Three times in my career I have taken a
company from almost no users to a whole
slew of folks using their product.

5. I have always been flippant about
how I make these things happen
because it was part of my personal brand
but as I get older I am finding out…

6. …people think the magic I create can be made with
a few banner ads and a little SEO. So for the first
time ever I am starting to pull the curtain back
and let people see how the sausage is made…

7. …because even if I tell you, you still need to
to be like me to make it work, and I am really
the best there is at what I do.

8. This is going to be a presentation in 2 parts

9. Ideas and Strategy.

10. Strategy First.

11. …and this assumes you have a decent product
that anyone would care about.

12. Anyone here remember the game Risk?

13. The first marketing plan for a very popular
SASS company that I used to be known for
was a world map

14. The idea came from Sunir Shah and Myself
but since Sunir isn’t here I shall take credit
for it all and hope my name is the only one
you remember at the end of this talk.
Kidding, maybe.

15. For those not familiar,
Risk is a game about world domination.
If you are not continually moving forward
you will get crushed. If you play defensively
chances are you will get boxed in and get
conquered.

16. The exact same thing can be said
for launching something new
or working for a startup.

17. So when you combine the two you get…

19. So what is it?

20. Saul Colt’s Marketing Risk(tm) is an
easy to follow plan for building a great
company that people care about and
want to give you money.

21. Here is how it works.

22. 1- Familiarize yourself with the board.

23. Think of the areas as targets, not Continents.

24. What is the overall group your product is chasing?
Make that your world.

25. For me it has always been Creative Professionals.
Inside Creative Professionals there are a slew
of different types of people so if Creatives are
your world the roles of these people
become your Countries inside the Continents.

26. So pick your #1 type of person that would be
the “low hanging fruit” of your user base and
make them Australia, cause everyone knows
in Risk you want to own Australia first.

27. …and if you don’t know who your #1 target is
for your company you may want to doze off
until I get to the fun ideas because you
don’t have a business if you haven’t identified
your target customer base.

28. A.B.C.
Always be customering.
Customer
Identification
Design Development Marketing

29. …but I digress.

30. Make a list of all the types of people
close to your number #1 target and you
are on your way to building your board.
…and Marketing Plan.

31. So lets pretend your #1 target is Web Developers.
Similar to Web Developers would be:
•Mobile Developers
•Web Designers
•Graphic Artists
•UI/UX Designers
Also similar but “a jump” away would be:
•Marketing Consultants
•Social Media Consultants
•Content Creators
•Seo and PPC specialists.

32. On the board that would look like this…

33. Web Developers
Web Designers
Mobile Developers
Marketing
Consultant
SEO
“Australia”

34. 2- Build up your armies.

35. Once you have mapped out your territories,
verticals, targets etc etc you need to focus
all your energy on the very first target. Don’t
get distracted, make friends, ambassadors,
fans and show them love like they are the
king or queen of the prom.

36. Web Developers
Web Designers
Graphic Artists
Marketing
Consultant
SEO
In the example of “Australia”
you would market only to Web
Devs and cater all your copy
and messaging to attract them.
They are your #1 focus. Once
you are getting traction you
move to the next small jump
in this case Web Designers and
do the same with the copy.
The reason behind small jumps
is that your first and second
targets will be so close that
traction in #1 will give you
credibility in #2 and you can
leverage testimonials from
1 to attract 2.

37. Web Developers
Web Designers
Graphic Artists
Marketing
Consultant
SEO
Before you know it you will
own a continent and you
will be ready to make a jump
across water.
Water jumps are just as easy
but the water makes credibility
less intimate and you need to
then speak to different things
with a new audience but you've
prepared for that and have a
plan to build up a new army.
…and just cause you’ve jumped
dont abandon ‘Australia” cause
the way you win is keep your
continents.

38. I know I keep using “Australia” and other
geographical analogies but don’t get confused
by that. Saul Colt’s Marketing Risk (TM) can
be adapted for a city, a state or a country.

39. 3- Protect yourself against opponents.

40. As you will see in the idea section you need
be super creative and find that balance
between digital and real world activities.

41. A great way to protect yourself from opponents
is to establish partnerships and lock down good
opportunities.
ie: parter with relevant trade associations
that your targets participate in. They usually
have huge mailing lists you can leverage for
good.
Spend real time with your audience so they
only think of your brand, or endorse you
cause you are in the room and they feel guilty
to talk about anyone but you cause you will
have your feeling hurt.

42. 4- Know when you need to make a new move.

43. Once you own a vertical, and by own, its really maybe
20-30% adoption, you need to keep momentum going.
This looks good for the current users because everyone
likes being with a winner but also for the next jump.
Winning a vertical is worth celebrating but you’re
still far from the finish line.

44. …and make sure you make the right one.
Don’t try
to go from
here to here.
Coffee
Roasters

45. 5- Expand your Dominion.

46. Momentum is how you win but the trick is to do it
slowly. Too quick spreads you too thin and allows
others to tear your work apart. Once you own a few
verticals you will feel a tailwind that will make the
third, fourth and fifth easier and easier but you need
to do the foundation work on the easiest targets.

47. 6- Keep control of the game.

48. Like I said earlier, Don’t get caught up on geography.
Focus on areas you can manage and then rinse and
repeat somewhere else. Once you feel you have your
area under control you can start over somewhere else.
Follow the same rules. Stay close. Start in your city (or
most viable city) and make the next big city a few hours
away your next target. You don’t have
to go from San Francisco to NYC or Boston.

49. Remember, Risk is a game about ruthlessly
crushing your opponents. It’s an arms race so
the army with the most people willing to fight
for them and the cause will always win.
Saul Colt’s Marketing Risk(tm) isn’t much different.

50. So how do you find these people?

51. By doing cool things and being creative.

52. We are finally at the ideas section.
Even I am a little bored so hopefully
this will make up for all that strategy
stuff.

53. …but first a quote.

54. “Businesses in music must need
to better understand that creativity must
be the foundation of the entire enterprise.
It’s not about making profit on each and
every album” - Clive Davis

55. Marketing Risk is more than just the board game
analogy.
Real risk is part of the Yin-Yang equation that makes
companies great. Being creative needs to be managed
but can’t be smothered.
Achieving genuine relevance for any brand is
impossible without taking major risks. The trick is to
find the balance between risk taking and risk
management.
Just like strategy without creative, Creative without
strategy wont meet all the goals you are reaching for.

56. This is the first example of about 100 where
that balance was achieved.
Better get comfortable.

57. 57
Freshii

58. 58
Magicians are the right
answer to any question

59. 59
Did I mention this was at a competitors user conference?

60. 60
Make friends with food!

61. 61

62. Nuvango

63. 7171
Nuvango

64. Quick ways to start WOM conversations!
•Force people to
ask questions?
•Make them
scratch their
heads!
•Try 100 things!
•Its ok if no one
shows up!

65. More ways to start WOM
conversations!
Redacted

66. Build a Myth!

67. Remember that ”Do interesting things”
slide?

68. Remember that ”Do interesting things”
slide?
Redacted

69. Remember that ”Do interesting things”
slide?

70. This is a perfect place to tell the story with the
stranger in your room from that year at SXSW.
…or just explain Laugh/Think/Cry

71. 51

72. …and the Banana Stand

73. Well, Here’s how I used Arrested Development (in
a real life way) to stand out from the crowd and
make people laugh, think and cry…

74. Saul’s
B-Day!

76. Important Take Away:
If you can’t or don’t feel like competing on other
people’s terms…just change the rules…

77. Like this!
Redacted

78. This Idea is Brilliant because…

79. …it was mine…

80. But also because it is a perfect example of laugh,
think, cry.

81. Laugh
Fans of AD got the joke right away and
appreciated it.
People who didn’t make the connection or
know of AD just thought it was something
interesting and unusual.
Either way people needed to see the booth.

82. Think.
Seeing a 10 foot banana is going to make you think,
even go as far as scratch your head and when you
couple that with giving people actual banana’s
instead of regular conference swag like pens and
such people where curious as to what the “Catch”
was and needed to see the booth.

83. Create an Emotion.
AD was a show with a rabid fan base.
This idea spoke to them and made an instant impact
while at the same time started conversations with the
folks who had never heard about the show and just
appreciated the small business connection of a fruit
stand and possibility triggered memories of Lemonade
stands of their youth.
As for actual Crying…this was done by the people on
our row who spent 50-70k on trade show booths.

84. So was this a success?

85. Some Stats!
-1/3 of all tweets with the Conference Hashtag
where about our booth.
-Conference attendee’s suggested we win a
prize for best booth without an actual prize
existing.
-we were included in most of the coverage and
wrap up posts.
-Gave out 2k+ bananas with a sticker and
unique URL and saw that over 65% of the
people got a banana checked out the link.

86. Last example…

95. 85

96. …and all these ideas were born using the
Laugh, Think, Cry formula

97. Seth Godin Agrees with me!

98. So…in closing.

99. If you remember nothing else from my
talk, Please make it these few things…

100. TAKE RISKS!!!

101. If you are not willing to take a risk then why are
you bothering doing whatever you are doing?
Starting a business is a risk. Putting your
career in someone else’s hands is a risk.
Crossing the street is a risk.
You take risks every day but are you taking
them in your work where it could actually
matter?
Without taking risks all you can expect is
mediocrity and no one notices mediocrity.

103. Marketing Risk is more than just the board
game analogy.
Real risk is part of the Yin-Yang equation that
makes companies great. Being creative needs to
also be managed but can’t be smothered.
Achieving genuine relevance for any brand is
impossible without taking major risks. The trick is
to find the balance between risk taking and risk
management.
Just like strategy without creative, Creative
without strategy wont meet all the goals you are
reaching for.

105. Know where the line of “good taste”
is with your customers and step over
the line. Because crossing the line is
where the conversations happen…
but make sure you don’t cross too far
and offend people.
Shock them, don’t stun them.

106. Trying too many things
from this talk wouldn’t be a
good idea.

107. Because I mostly spoke of sleeping with
people I care about and if you slept with
them I would cut you.
My wish is that you be inspired by what I
shared with you, I want you to form some
real relationships and dream up your own
ideas but mostly, never let yourself be afraid
to take some chances and step over the line.!

109. I’m Very Romantic!

110. Any Questions? Contact me!
Saul.Colt@xero.com
@saulcolt
416-219-3259
www.xero.com
Want to Try Xero? Ask me
for a discount code!