Matt Stanley, The Secret Sauce of Marketing: Empathy, Onboarding, and the Human Touch - Innova.Buzz 685

Our guest in this episode is Matt Stanley, the founder of Get Reviews and Leads and a passionate marketing architect with 30 years of experience. What started as a fascination with the early internet evolved into a mission-driven career for Matt, focused on using technology to serve people and build thriving, human-centered businesses. In our chat, Matt shares his powerful frameworks for moving beyond simple deliverables to create marketing that forges deep, emotional connections and lifelong customer loyalty.Key points discussed include:* Connect with your dream customer’s "reptile brain" by understanding their deep-seated pains and fears.* Closing the sale is the starting line; create a legendary onboarding experience to build loyalty.* Use AI as a strategic toolbox to free up your time for genuine, human-to-human connection.Listen to the podcast to find out more.Innovabiz Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Show Notes from this episode with Matt StanleyIt was an absolute thrill to welcome Matt Stanley of Get Reviews and Leads to the InnovaBuzz podcast. For 30 years, Matt has been in the trenches, architecting sales and marketing systems, and our conversation was a masterclass in stripping away the noise to focus on what truly matters: genuine, human-centered connection. Matt’s passion is infectious; he’s a self-described "nerd" and "geek" who fell in love with the craft of marketing not as a way to make a quick buck, but as a profound way to serve people.His journey as an "accidental entrepreneur" is one many of us can relate to. What began as a fascination with the early internet, a technology he knew would change the world, became a career-defining mission. The 2008 recession, which cost him his stable job, became the catalyst that pushed him all-in. It was a decision, as he puts it, that was made for him, leading him to discover that his true calling was helping businesses navigate the intimidating world of technology to build something truly meaningful.The "Forest for the Trees" Marketing MistakeOne of the biggest takeaways for me was Matt’s frustration with how many businesses "can't see the forest for the trees." They get so fixated on the deliverable—the shiny new website, the social media campaign—that they completely lose sight of the bigger picture. A website, he rightly argues, is just a tool. If it’s disconnected from the fundamental "DNA of the brand" and fails to make an emotional connection, it’s not going to deliver a return on investment.This is where so many marketing efforts fall flat. Companies start with the what—"we need a website"—instead of the who and the why. They fail to ask the critical questions about how this tool will connect to their dream customer and serve the core mission of the company. It’s a powerful reminder to always start with the end in mind: a deeper relationship with the people you aim to serve.Decoding the "Reptile Brain": The Real Secret to Connecting with Your Dream CustomerSo, how do we build that connection? According to Matt, it starts by getting under the hood and understanding the "reptile brain." All purchase decisions, he explained, are made from this primal place that is driven by pain, pleasure, and survival. We then use our logical brain to justify the decision we’ve already made emotionally. This is why a simple demographic profile of your customer just doesn't cut it.The real secret sauce is digging into the psychographics through tools like an empathy map. What are your dream customer’s hidden fears? What frustrations keep them awake at night? When you can poke that pain, rub salt in the wound, and then offer a genuine solution, you're not just selling; you’re connecting on a level that builds profound trust and loyalty.AI: The Planet's Most Powerful Toolbox (Handle with Care)Our conversation naturally turned to AI, a technology Matt sees as being just as transformative as the early internet. He views it as the most powerful toolbox on the planet, an incredible asset for saving time and creating efficiency. However, he offered a crucial warning: a tool is only as good as the person wielding it. He sees too many people using AI as a crutch for laziness, forgetting the timeless fundamentals of human psychology.As Matt bluntly puts it, "garbage in, garbage out." If your prompts are lazy and you don't understand the core principles of your brand and your customer, the AI will produce junk. The real skill is learning how to communicate with the technology to make you a more effective, articulate, and strategic thinker, freeing you up to do the high-value, human-centric work you love.Your Greatest Differentiator: The "Whites of Their Eyeballs" Onboarding ExperienceIn an age of automation, Matt argues that the path to differentiation lies in doing the things that don't scale. How do you create an experience your customers can't...