This invisible force impacts ALL your marketing
This invisible force impacts ALL your marketing
Man Bites Dog I guardianmarketing.substack.com
There's an invisible force in your marketing.
If you aren't aware of it, or how to leverage it, you'll be entirely at it's whim.
When you do start to pay attention to this force,
You're liable to focus on it Tactically or Strategically because it shows up in those areas, but this is a Principle.
We want to understand the principle so we can see how it applies strategically and tactically.
This is a principle because it shows up in every marketing system, no matter what you do, whether you realize its there or not ... it's there ... and it's impacting your marketing and your business growth.
In some cases positively.
In some cases negatively.
So whether you like it or not, it's wise to understand this principle so you can benefit from it, rather than be hindered by it.
We're talking about ...
FRICTION
WOO WEE
You know you're talking about a principle when talking directly about that principle it sounds so dry and boring.
Welcome to Man Bites Dog,
Where we talk about the dry boring stuff because it's what actually makes the moola.
Friction is that dynamic you can identify in a component of your marketing system where your lead flow seems to slow down. Where people seem dissuaded from action. Where there are dropoffs in clicks, reads, engagement, etc.
We see all that and we think
FRICTION BAD
But I'm here to tell you, Friction is only a monster if you make it out to be one.
Seriously though,
It's a dynamic that exists, and it alone is neither good nor bad. It just ... is.
BUT
Friction can cause problems if its in the wrong places.
I could ...
... take that line in a lot of directions, but lets keep going.
Friction can also be really really useful in the right scenarios. It can be downright necessary if you're using it properly. You need friction to sharpen a knife.
So,
We're gonna understand this Friction so we don't get sore in the wrong places ... (hah)
And instead use it to sharpen the knife.
(The knife is our audience)
Quick intro ...
The more friction in your marketing ... generally... the higher quality the lead and customer out on the other end.
The idea being that, the more someone has to work and figure things out on their own end, the more energy they have to expend to move through your system, the more likely they are to be committed and the kind of person you want to be speaking with.
HOWEVER
The more friction in your marketing ... generally ... the fewer people end up going through your system.
You can think of it as a tradeoff between quantity and quality,
Because friction in marketing usually results in fewer actions, fewer leads, fewer sales ... it is looked at as something you want to remove.
But it's a little more nuanced than that.
What is friction?
Anytime you ask something from someone, you introduce friction.
That can be a direct ask (give me your email, click on this link), but it can also be an indirect ask, where you require someone to read/watch a certain amount of some content in order to get to the payoff point.
In general, the more energy you require from your prospect/customer/reader/audience the greater the amount of friction. The more actions you need them to take, the greater amount of friction. The more emotionally invested and attentive you require them to be, the more friction.
This is why you'll see great copywriters focus on simplifying.
Less energy spent = less friction = more likely to move forward.
But that simplicity and lack of friction does not always get the outcome you really want. We don't always WANT a greater likelihood of anyone moving forward.
A simple example in an email signup form:
An opt-in form which only requires the user to enter their email has much lower friction than an opt in form which requires their email, first and last name, and phone number.
You'll receive more opt ins with the first, but in the second your opt in quality will objectively be higher (someone who goes to the effort of also sharing their name and phone number being far more likely to be interested and more likely to be qualified than someone who is only willing to share their email).
A more complex example in email itself:
My "Great Filter"1 series is a type of friction.
It doesn't overtly ask more of the reader than a pretty average new lead series - in fact it might ask less (where a new lead series is aimed at getting someone to take an action like buying a product or service).
The friction it introduces is what you might call an emotional friction.
Because I build those series to focus on and create resonance around principles, the people who have that resonance will feel less friction going through the series - because it will require less emotional energy, and in fact may add emotional energy, if they find the presentation of resonating principles to be exciting.
And conversely the people for whom the principles don't resonate, will find having to read through 7-12 emails before continuing to be too much - high friction.
In this case friction acts like that used in the sharpening of the blade.
A more overt example from email:
In The Guardian Academy, we currently use a tactical structure in our email series which forces activity in the email in order to continue receiving email. After each email is sent, the next one only sends if you've opened the previous. So all the people who get to the end of that series have read every single email of the series.
That's a high amount of friction, but it results in a highly attentive audience of people who we are certain are engaged following that series.
A generalized copywriting example:
The headline and the lede are typically considered two of the greatest leverage points in any piece of copywriting. The headline being obvious (hopefully), the lede being that "intro section" which takes you from the headline into the body copy.
If you get into copywriting you'll see references to the concept of a "greased slide" - like, you want your writing to be slippery so people just naturally run through the whole thing.
That's ... removing friction ... in writing.
Where can friction be experienced?
In identifying friction points I like to think about it similarly to how I'd think of "Black Holes."
In fact sometimes friction creates "Black Holes."
More on Black Holes in a future article, but in short, they are spots in your marketing, in your lead flow, where people just *disappear.* After an opt in can be a black hole, after a new lead series can be a black hole, after asking people to take an action, etc.
So, for friction I look at the following:
Where I'm asking someone to take an action
Where there are transition points
Where I am requiring a certain behavior in order to continue
Some examples:
Taking this from an email marketing perspective ...
What is your opt-in experience like?
Compare the two: A website which has an opt-in form at the bottom of the main page. A website which has an opt in landing page where the primary feature is the opt-in form.
In the first, for people to end up on your email list you are requiring them to have read through a ton of your content before they find the opt in form, OR if they are actively looking for your opt-in you force them to dig through your website to find it.
In the second, the new reader landing on that page doesn't need to do any work to find the opt in form or understand why they might opt in.
What is the delivery of your opt-in bribe like?
(Assuming you are using a bribe to get someone on your list like a free download)
Compare the two: Someone signs up to your email list, and on the next page gets the free download. Someone signs up to your email list, and on the next page is told they need to go read the first email in order to find out how to get their free download.
In the first, the person who signs up is immediately delivered the free download.
In the second, they have to jump through one or more hoops in order to get the download they just gave their email for.
More work for the reader is not necessarily a bad thing.
In the first example, finding the opt-in, the person who takes a long time (potentially many minutes or even hours) on the page to find that opt in form is inarguably more interested and dedicated that someone who has spent a fraction of the time.
However, just because the opt in form is buried doesn't mean that's ideal for getting your best audience onto your email list. Too much friction can introduce inefficiency in your process.
In the second example, delivering the bribe, the person who gets the bribe immediately experiences a lot less friction, which might on the surface look like a more appealing experience.
However, if the point is to establish a relationship through your email list, you do neither yourself nor them any favors in making it easy to receive that free thing. Introducing friction brings them to a better place in terms of their relationship with your business and email list. It also cuts out the people who are so disinterested they won't take a couple extra steps you actually want them to take anyway (going into their inbox and reading an email).
There is no right or wrong answer.
Friction is a useful tool.
But more important than figuring out how to use this tool, is being aware of when and where your audience is experiencing it.
Let's walk through an example as practice
(NOTE: This will be heavily focused on email as a practical example of how friction is applied - but it applies all the same in any environment)
I'm gonna walk through a typical experience and first consider where we might remove friction.
(Because this is the most popular reaction to friction)
Video ad -> landing page -> opt in -> email delivery -> welcome series -> ongoing emails (with the outcome being an initial offer)
Starting with the video ad.
There are many ways to build your ads which can ultimately lead someone onto your email list, and in fact you might consider an act of *removing* friction to be sending people straight to an offer instead of going through your email list (or to conversations in direct message).
Those are ideas to consider. In this example I want to get people onto an email list. So from video ad to landing page, the least friction is going to be a click to the page. Simple.
Astute readers familiar with Facebook ads might wonder, Why send them to the page at all when you can go straight to opt-in form in the ad? In this case I value the control on the page and believe I'll get higher opt-in rate. I also know a click from an ad is lower friction than filling out an opt-in form on Facebook. And then the opt in on the next page will feel lower friction because they've already taken a step in my direction.
(That's an advanced form of managing friction, when you micro step people closer to an action it removes the feeling of barrier to action and thus lowers friction)
Now they are on the landing page.
I want people on the landing page to opt in to my email list. So from the beginning I'm going to make this page all about whatever hook/offer I'm using to get someone onto my email list. Standard Lead Magnet landing page with opt in form right at the top.
Let's consider what we're asking from people on this page.
We're offering them perhaps a solution to a problem in the form of something they can get by opt-ing in. The action is filling out the opt in form. So we're going to design that form for the least friction possible and just ask for their email (compared to email and name, or email name phone number).
If there were a way to auto populate their email, that would be even lower friction.
Now they have put in their email, we need to deliver the opt in.
The lowest friction would be just giving them the opt-in, but that doesn't actually serve my interests which is to have them reading my emails.
In this case, the bribe acts as a way to lower the friction into the inbox to read my first email. It's an action they have to take yes, BUT, they signed up to get this free thing so their momentum and self interest are tied up in the action - it's little extra effort to go to their inbox and receive the free thing vs having it handed to them right away.
Now they are reading my emails.
I'm going to immediately send them the introductory series, which will be timed to send daily for the next week.
This one requires no adjustment to lower friction. They've ideally come into the inbox and gotten the freebie, but either way they are going to receive this introductory series.
In order to increase the likelihood they read more of my emails I'm going to number them in the subject line. They don't HAVE to read more, but if they don't tune in until email 3, they will be immediately aware that there are at least 2 more emails before that one they might want to go read.
I'm also going to make the content of these emails easy to understand and tied into their current interests. I don't want them to think too much, I just want them to follow the thread of desire that lead them to sign up with their email in the first place, and tug on that thread as often as possible until they are compelled to take action.
Each email will be attempting to lead them into the offer. When they click through from the email to the offer, all the info I have about them will be pre-filled - in this case their email address - this will help lower friction to the offer even further.
At this point all they have to do is read emails until they click on the offer and buy.
In order to reduce the negative cognitive and emotional load in the offer - and thus reduce friction - I'm going to make it as simple as possible, solving a very specific problem, AND I'm going to give a ridiculous guarantee, while building up positive emotion and painting the picture that all they desire is just behind the curtain.
Again, I don't want them to think about buying, I want them to feel like their problem will be solved if they just put in their credit card information.
NOW - Let's walk through the same experience and consider where increased friction might actually benefit you in the long run
Starting with the video ad.
Depending on the rest of my front end marketing, I might not actually want to go straight to the landing page with the video. I might instead want to speak with them in messenger. This will depend on whether I value conversations now or later. So that would be an increased level of friction.
But for the sake of argument lets say I'm running ads with the intent of creating conversation in messenger, and separately to the engaged video audience, I'm sending other ads which click to the landing page.
From a system perspective, this will actually lower friction to the landing page and opt-in simply because the only people who will get the ad are people who have seen me before - they don't have to think about who I am or why they might click on the ad.
The approach above is an interesting considering because there is increased friction before people receive the ad, but that increased friction actually makes the click to the landing page on the ad they ultimately receive more likely.
Now they are on the landing page.
Our interest here is still the same. We want people to opt in to our email list.
HOWEVER
Because I know the kind of person I want on my email list already (since I started figuring that out by analyzing my Stage 4 Customer2) I don't actually benefit by making it easier for just anyone to sign up.
Right off the bat I'm going to make the form at the very least include their first and last name. I might even make that required. Depending on how I want to run my list, I might even force people to give me a real name and legitimate email. This is an extreme approach, which significantly lowers the opt in rate, but dramatically increases the quality of the reader on the list (in terms of interest, engagement, momentum, buy in, commitment, etc).
I'm also going to write the landing page in a way to try to very narrowly identify exactly who I want. I want to exclude people here if possible.
Why?
Because I'm trying to make an email list of people who are committed and engaged hopefully for years. Getting as many people on the front is not important to me. Getting the right people is.
So I'm going to add as much friction as I can to cut out the wrong people, and call in the right people.
Now they have put in their email, we need to deliver the opt in.
We're going to use the same approach of leading people into their email to get the opt in. We don't want to deliver this right away, we want people to read that first email.
In that first email, I'm going to do everything I can to get them to continue to the next email.
However once they are in the email, I'm not going to use any more friction towards the free thing. (There's a balance here, it's a reasonable ask to get people into the email to get the freebie, it's not reasonable to make them jump through more hoops).
Next I have a decision to make ...
Who do I want to send emails to after this point?
Now they are reading my emails.
There are a few things I can do. First, I could just send the intro series to anyone who signs up, following that delivery email.
Second, I could continue people on the intro series ONLY if they open the delivery email.
Third, I could continue people on the intro series ONLY if they click the link to get the freebie.
This is what you might call invisible friction. Because I can force people to take actions to continue without being overt about it. They won't know, if they don't take the action, but then they won't continue.
Why would I introduce this?
Again, its about who I want on my email list. Who do I want to be sending emails to? Who do I want to be having conversations with?
If I want to be sending emails only to people who have read every intro email, then I'm going to include some automation which only sends each email if the person opened the previous one.
However I might decide to throw every new lead into that automation and let the automation do the filtering for me. This is my foundational tactic explained in R3 for Email - I could still restrict to people who open or click in that first email and be even more targeted.
At the end of that automation I might then filter out on the back end people who don't read emails.
I might also again force people to click to continue (almost re-opting in to keep going).
The more friction I include here, the more engaged and inarguably higher quality the email audience afterward.
But the more friction you add the more likely you are to remove people who are qualified, but just not quite there yet.
There’s no wrong way …
Remember, this is a principle.
There's no right or wrong answer.
The real value is understanding that friction is there throughout your marketing, and in some cases it might be rubbing you the wrong way ...
But in others you might be able to use it to sharpen the knife.
Who do you want?
In a broad sense, especially with respect to email, how to assess the friction for me is answered by this question - "who do I want to be speaking with?" (aka, who do I want on my email list?)
And THAT question is answered by my approach in R3 for Email, where I design the system to produce Stage 4 customers - Raving Fans.
Backwards engineering a system makes it clear where friction can help increase the likelihood you are always talking to the people you want to be talking to.
It becomes clear, when making offers, how and when friction can be useful to make sure you are selling to the people you want to be selling to.
Which means,
The real clarity here is understanding who you want to be speaking with, and who you want to be selling to.
Then you can, where appropriate, selectively use friction to remove everyone else, making it easier for the people you do want, and harder for the people you don't.
This has the downstream effect of making all your copy and offers much more effective since you can be sure they are going in front of more accurately targeted people. (As an added bonus, in terms of email, it has the positive impact of supporting a much healthier list - but that's a whole 'nother subject)
Do you use friction intentionally?
Being principled, this is a broad subject, so I'd encourage you to hop in the comments below with your specific scenarios if you have questions about the impact of friction on your own marketing.
Be Useful. Be Present. Love the Journey.
Joseph Robertson, CMO Man Bites Dog
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