two old men walk onto a stage

The first 10 minutes matters more than the next 80.

When you’re prepping a political candidate for a debate, this is what you say over and over and over again.

The first 10 minutes is the whole game.

How strong, articulate, and on-message you are in the first 10 determines who wins, who loses, and who looks like a geriatric a-hole in a golf-club-waving contest no one asked for.

People will tune in at the beginning to see if this is worth their time and bounce quickly, but not before deciding who won.

Last night's Presidential debate was a master class in ✨nothing✨. *swats a mug onto the ground like an angry cat*.

But it reminded me of something crucial about marketing — the first 10.

The First 10

Maybe on a debate stage, you can get 10 minutes of attention. But in the era of TikTok, marketers are lucky if we get 10 seconds before your customer determines if your brand/content/ideas are worth their time.

And this is what a lot of marketers are spending their 10s on:

Thanks, we all hate it.

So how do you take actually advantage of your 10?

1. Talk about them (not about golf)

Your lead doesn’t care about you, your business, your golf handicap, or what you want to sell. They care about their targets, customers, business, (and universal bloody healthcare).

Your content needs to care about your customer. It needs to help them, make them laugh, make them feel less alone, teach them something, have a plan to slow inflation, or you know, prevent the downfall of democracy.

2. Don’t beat around the (George) bush

Clarity is a kindness. Your adjective-crammed landing page might sound good to you— but often that’s because you already know what you’re selling. Like a stammering octogenarian, bloated site copy may be confusing your core customer.

Revisit your landing page with fresh eyes. Set a timer. How quickly can a potential customer answer these questions:

What are you selling?

What problem is it solving?

Why should they trust you?

Your messaging should be clear, concise, and not make anyone want to dig an apocalypse bunker.

3. Get their vote

Your marketing needs to anticipate and resolve your customers' objections. Are they worried about price? Credibility? Your ability to form coherent sentences and also handle the nuclear codes?

You only have their attention for a short period of time. It's your job to resolve their concerns and make them feel confident in their decision within that small window.  It might just save your Q3 sales goals (or democracy).

And voila! By focusing on what impression you make in those first 10 seconds, you’ve made your marketing, and perhaps the world, just a little better.

*slowly sweeps up mug shards*

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