Have You ever Heard of Skin in the Game Marketing?
…and why it is a game changer to need identification
A couple of years ago I created a Refinery Basics course on LinkedIn. It had 26 modules with each one being 10–12 minutes long. It was well received for a technical course and some videos had up to 4000 views.
I then transitioned the course to Thinkific as a paid course for one sixth the price for a live course. Crickets…
It was a failure and a success.
It failed because it did not result in a profit. The course also failed because it did not satisfy a need that many new engineers and non-engineers have when they enter the refineries.
It was a success because it instructed me that there is a thirst for well done technical courses that can be absorbed quickly. The lectures have to be short and actionable.
My next failure was a soft skills course on Time Management. Since most people are living the crazy busy professional lives I thought it would be helpful to learn and master how to manage their time and energy while controlling distractions. A survey I ran told me that 60% of professionals never had a time management course.
A bust… People are too busy to help themselves. They do not know what they do not know and want to continue with their crazy busyness.
But that bothered me…
So I conducted interviews with a bunch of folks to learn what is their true . I asked 10–12 question of each person and got data. I can now see their description of the need. They even told me their level of pain and how much it is worth to them to solve their problem.
Unfortunately those commitments were just words. They were being very nice and supportive.
At this point, I can tell you the words that they used to describe their need. BUT their actions spoke so much louder and were a mystery to me.
I kept thinking to myself that there must be a better way to understand the need of my customers. How can I construct a better strategy to meet their need when I am only at their word level?
I just got done reading a wonderful book. It is called The Right It by Alberto Savoia.
In it he goes through a process full of techniques that details how to properly conduct market analysis of the true need. It boils down to establishing your testable hypothesis and getting your own data to quantify the customer’s “skin in the game” cost.
Without the hypothesis that you quantify and then obtain the data to support or reject it you think you know the need BUT you do not.
So what was I trying to do with my refinery course?
My Belief: I believe that majority of new engineers and non-engineers who enter a refinery are poorly prepared. They will invest in a course that teaches them the basics of the material flow and refinery units.
That belief is too wide. I should try to quantify what I believe into a HYPOTHESYS.
Refinery HYPOTHESYS: 50% of new engineers and non-engineers entering a refinery are poorly prepared and will purchase a $500 course on refinery basics.
Notice even though my HYPOTHESIS is improved, it is not good enough to test. It is a belief with a few numbers.
Let’s refine it into 3 measurable hypothesis.
Refinery hypothesys1: 50% of my LinkedIn connections will give me their email address to a free pamphlet that details refinery operations.
Refinery hypothesys2: 25 % of my LinkedIn connections will give me their phone number and email address to a free one hour Intro to Refinery Basics webinar.
Refinery hypothesys3: 10% of my LinkedIn connections will give me their phone number and email address and pay for a $500 Intro to Refinery Basics course.
Notice that the skin in the game progressively increases. The value of email might be $1 but phone number might be $10 with one hour time demand places the value to $71. And signing up for the course is $500 plus $10 for phone number plus $1 for email address. That $511 is a lot of skin in the game. In addition the 26lectures *10 min= 260 total time commitment. That brings the skin in the game value to $771.
If I had read this book two years ago my choice should have been to run one ad for a week for each one and tweak it during the week based on the response. At the end of the three experiments(maybe run each twice) I would know exactly the level of skin in the game actions my audience is willing to put into my product and NOT just kind words.
My four cents…
Why the picture?
The picture of the dad resonated with me. I have always loved carrying my children as the dad in this picture. The skin in the game concept is one of love in my mind. When people tell you that they love your idea but are unwilling to commit they do not love your idea. The dad by carrying the child is showing love- he literally has skin in the game in that child’s life.
The book can be bought on Amazon at:
