How I replaced SWOT with SOAR and built teams that actually trust each other. Why SOAR is the smarter, more human alternative to SWOT: 1️⃣ It starts with what’s right ↳ People need recognition of what they already do well. 2️⃣ It builds trust ↳ Talking about aspirations builds psychological safety. 3️⃣ It connects the now to the future ↳ Teams see how strengths become results. 4️⃣ It encourages hope, not fear ↳ Opportunity creates energy — threats drain it. 5️⃣ It makes strategy feel personal ↳ “What makes us proud?” > “What are our weaknesses?” 6️⃣ It honors team voices ↳ SOAR includes what customers and peers already value. 7️⃣ It reframes challenge as possibility ↳ Less “What could go wrong?” More “What could be better?” 8️⃣ It’s emotionally intelligent ↳ Aspirations matter just as much as results. 9️⃣ It drives belonging ↳ Teams feel more engaged when the focus is strengths. 🔟 It aligns with how real humans change ↳ SOAR makes growth feel attainable, not overwhelming. The best leaders don’t fix people. They amplify them. ❓ What’s one aspiration your team is aiming for?
Credit toDr. Chris Mullen, follow him for more insightful content.
I wrote an article here arguing that, to achieve success in 2024 and beyond, marketers will need to be adept at leveraging both the capabilities of technology and data science, and the principles of behavioral science describing how people make decisions. I called technology/data science and behavioral science the yin and yang of high-performance marketing.
Technology and data science have received a great deal of attention in marketing circles. For example, the use of artificial intelligence in marketing has been a hot topic in the industry for the past few years, and the recent tsunami of buzz surrounding ChatGPT and other generative AI applications has been nothing short of astounding.
The use of behavioral science in marketing has received somewhat less attention, even though marketers have been using principles of behavioral science for decades.
Given the importance of technology/data science and behavioral science for marketing, I'll be providing a reading list of the books I've found most useful for learning about these topics. I'll cover books relating to technology and data science in a future post. In this post, I'll describe the books that I think are required reading for marketers who want to leverage behavioral science principles in their marketing efforts.
The following list is by no means comprehensive, and most of the books listed aren't that new. However, these four books will give you a solid foundation in the principles of behavioral science that are relevant to marketing.
Here are my essential must-reads.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011)
If you can only read one book about human thinking and decision making, it should be Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, one of the most influential psychologists in history, and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics.
Kahneman can accurately be described as the intellectual "godfather" of behavioral economics. In the 1970's, he and fellow psychologist Amos Tversky collaborated on research regarding the non-rational aspects of human decision making. The work of Kahneman and Tversky laid the foundation for the behavioral science discipline we now call behavioral economics.
In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman asserts that the cognitive processes people use can be thought of as two "systems."
System 1 (fast thinking) operates automatically, quickly, with little or no effort, and with no sense of voluntary control.
System 2 (slow thinking) consists of thinking processes that are reflective, controlled, deliberative, and analytical.
When we think of ourselves, we identify with System 2, our rational self, but System 1 actually originates many of the impressions and feelings that are the sources of the explicit beliefs and deliberative choices of System 2. Therefore, System 1 exerts a powerful influence on the economic decisions we make, including decisions about the products and services we decide to buy.
The most important lesson for marketers in Thinking, Fast and Slow is that System 1 uses heuristics (mental shortcuts) to generate our impressions, intuitions, and feelings. Astute marketers can use these heuristics to make marketing messages and programs more effective.
Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins Publishers, 2009)
The original edition of Predictably Irrational was published in 2008, and this book, along with Nudge (discussed below), raised public awareness of behavioral economics and put it on the radar screens of business and marketing leaders.
In Predictably Irrational, Ariely described several experiments that illustrate the many invisible factors that lead us to think and behave in ways that are both irrational and predictable.
Ariely summarized the basic thesis of the book when he wrote:
"If I were to distill one main lesson from the research described in this book, it is that we are pawns in a game whose forces we largely fail to comprehend. We usually think of ourselves as sitting in the drivers seat, with ultimate control over the decisions we make and the direction our life takes; but, alas, this perception has more to do with our desires - with how we want to view ourselves - than with reality."
Nudge: The Final Edition by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (Yale University Press, 2021)
The original edition of Nudge was published in 2008, and "nudging" soon became a popular behavior change/management tactic in both the public and the private sectors.
A key lesson for marketers in Nudge is the power of choice architecture, which describes how the arrangement and/or framing of choices or options can affect what choices are made and which option is selected. One example in the book discusses how the order in which food items are arranged in a school cafeteria can lead students to make more healthy eating habits.
Using Behavioral Science in Marketing: Drive Customer Action and Loyalty by Prompting Instinctive Responses by Nancy Harhut (Kogan Page, 2022)
Thinking, Fast and Slow, Predictably Irrational, and Nudge aren't specifically about the role of behavioral science in marketing. But these books provide insights into human decision making that are essential for marketers to understand if they want to create effective marketing messages and programs.
Using Behavioral Science in Marketing speaks directly to how marketers can leverage principles of behavioral science to improve their marketing efforts.
Nancy Harhut clearly wrote this book for hands-on marketing practitioners. While she provides clear descriptions of the behavioral science principles discussed in the book, and ample citations to the research relating to those principles, her primary focus is on how marketers can apply those principles in real-world situations.
If you look at recent vendor announcements, it seems that the cutting edge in applying AI to marketing is 'end to end' campaign generation, where a collection of agents work together to build and execute a complete marketing campaign with no human effort (although, for practical purposes, still under human supervision). As I've written before, this strikes me as an advanced type of 'substitution', where the new tech is used to execute the old processes better and faster. That's fine and valuable but it's only the first step in taking advantage of the new technology. The final step is to develop new, "transformed" processes that are optimzed to make full use of the new tech's capability.
I've recently been asking myself and others what they think that "transformed" process would look like for marketing. I'm still collecting my thoughts but, as part of the process, asked ChatGPT for its opinion. The answer was better than I expected. I don't necessarily agree with all of it but thought it was interesting enough to present to the larger world for comment. So, please, let me know what you think.
Prompt: if marketing techniques were designed from scratch to take full advantage of AI, what would they look like?
That’s an excellent and forward-thinking question — and the answer’s pretty transformative.
If we were to design marketing from the ground up for AI (instead of retrofitting AI into traditional marketing), we’d end up with a system that looks less like “campaigns” and more like continuously learning ecosystems that respond in real time to individuals and social dynamics.
Here’s a breakdown of what that might look like:
1. Autonomous, Adaptive Market Intelligence
Instead of periodic market research and segmentation, AI-first marketing would run on constant sensing loops:
AI agents continuously scan social media, purchase data, and search patterns.
They detect cultural shifts, emerging memes, and micro-trends as they form.
Personas aren’t static — AI builds and dissolves them dynamically based on live data.
Analogy: You don’t define “target audiences.” You discover living patterns of attention in real time.
2. Hyper-Personalized Narrative Engines
Instead of a single ad creative for millions of viewers, AI-first marketing generates unique narrative journeys per person:
Language models craft individualized story arcs and product framing that match someone’s identity, tone preferences, and current emotional state.
Multimodal models (text, image, video, audio) assemble personalized content on the fly — like an AI “showrunner” creating micro-stories for each user.
Brand consistency is enforced by a central “brand DNA model” ensuring all outputs feel coherent and on-brand, even when autonomously generated.
3. Predictive and Generative Commerce
Instead of advertising then selling, AI-first marketing anticipates needs and builds products or bundles before people articulate them:
Predictive demand modeling uses behavioral and environmental data to suggest what products should exist.
AI may prototype and A/B-test new offerings via virtual storefronts, gauging interest before production.
Marketing and product design merge — you market possibilities before they exist, and only produce what the market proves it wants.
4. Multi-Agent Relationship Systems
Instead of one-way brand broadcasts, AI-first marketing uses relationship agents that represent both consumers and brands:
Consumers might have personal “shopping AIs” negotiating with brand AIs.
Trust, transparency, and reputation become measurable assets traded between AIs.
The marketing goal shifts from persuasion to mutual optimization — aligning a person’s needs and a company’s offerings through agent collaboration.
5. Real-Time Ethics and Trust Architecture
AI-driven marketing would require built-in ethical governors:
Explainability modules ensure users understand why they’re being shown something.
Consent becomes dynamic and contextual (you can allow certain data uses for limited time).
Bias-detection systems continuously audit generative campaigns for fairness and cultural sensitivity.
6. Emotionally Intelligent Interaction
Instead of static messaging, AI-first marketing converses, empathizes, and co-creates:
Emotional state detection (via tone, text, or visual cues) guides responses.
The AI adjusts its persuasive approach — sometimes offering information, sometimes humor, sometimes retreat — like a human skilled in timing and empathy.
Brands become more like adaptive characters than faceless institutions.
Dan Zarrella in his book The Science of Marketing: When to Tweet, What to Post, How to Blog, and Other Proven Strategies consistently leads readers along the route of Internet marketing. The book consists mainly of graphs that are based on the research that the author has conducted. Zarrella analyzes a large amount of data related to Internet marketing, and draws patterns based on this information, and also gives the most effective practical suggestions.
The book is divided into 4 parts: content, channels, middle of the funnel (MOFU) and analytics.
The first part of the “Content” consists of 2 chapters and the author talks about e-books and webinars. The second part is devoted to the main channels of Internet marketing and consists of 5 chapters: SEO, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, blogging. The author on the basis of data gives advice on the more effective use of data channels.
SEO
So, regarding SEO, Dan Zarrella says that this channel as an independent industry is no longer relevant. The function that pop-ups used to take on is now the creation and promotion of good content, which itself attracts traffic and generates links. Nevertheless, search traffic is still important. Search engines are the most relevant tools in finding information and making a purchasing decision. Social networks should be used to strengthen your search engine optimization strategy.
Search engines are the most relevant tools in finding information and making a purchasing decision.
In the list of results of each search engine, there are three main types of text, which can be used to determine how fully the necessary attributes are presented on the website: title, description, and the email address field. Site creators need to think about their content, taking into account not only the relevance of keywords and openness to search engines but also the interests of people. If you write a text for people, the headlines will be short and memorable.
Twitter
As for Twitter, according to the author, it is an ideal platform for the distribution of marketing content. Studying Twitter, Zarrella concludes that the more actively words such as “I”, “me”, “we” and “us” are used, the fewer readers the user has. It is important to remember that Twitter users do not subscribe to you to listen to endless stories about your life. The more negative, the fewer readers. People come to the social network for entertainment.
If Twitter is a marketing channel for you, and your goal is to gather a wide circle of loyal subscribers who will distribute your content, it is much better to focus on filling your account with interesting content than answering each message.
It is important to remember that Twitter users do not subscribe to you to listen to endless stories about your life.
If you want someone to post your content, you have to report something new that readers haven’t heard about yet. To establish yourself as a source of reliable new information is the most correct strategy to attract new readers and get retweets.
Facebook
Dan Zarrella gives the following tips for Facebook: Facebook users like to watch photos of other people – if possible, give them more subjects for contemplation and reasons to put a mark. Experiment with different motivations to convince readers to tag your content, but don’t forget that you can directly ask them to do what you need to do.
Facebook is a place where users relax from the work atmosphere, so you need to adapt your corporate content and talk so that they do not have the feeling that he was back in the office.
If creating videos is part of your marketing strategy, use Facebook to promote your videos and think about how to convince your readers to share them. Do not forget that the call to action in the social network should have a context.
Facebook is a place where users relax from the work atmosphere. So you need to adapt your corporate content and talk so that they do not have the feeling that he was back in the office. The more difficult the language is, the fewer the number of users in the census his Facebook. When you write for Facebook, try to avoid clever expressions and jargon. If your company is in the high-tech industry, try to connect your topics with more understandable ideas and stories.
Pinterest
The following observations are interesting on Pinterest: most repins receive images, the description of which consists of 100-200 characters. Words are used to clarify the context of the image, but it should speak about something.
The most frequent words on Pinterest: love, home, items, style, ideas
The most frequent words on Pinterest: love, home, items, style, ideas. Often found in repins: recipe, chicken, minute, bake, pie, cheese, cut, bottle, stage, mix, favorite, excellent.
Blogs
According to the author, blog is the main strategy in social networks. You can design your content like blog posts and then transfer them to social platforms.
As a result of the author’s research, it turned out that for most users, the blog plays a significant role in making decisions about buying. But it must be remembered that it is not enough just to subscribe to bloggers. You have to give something unique and valuable to convince people to give you some of their time.
The number of entries is not as important as the time of publication. If you want to choose the right moment when your audience is most attentive, the easiest way is to send several entries every day at different times. And if you want to experimentally find the perfect day, send notes daily for a week and follow the results.
You have to give something unique and valuable to convince people to give you some of their time.
The more blogs published content, the more views they received. Readers want to hear you talk FROM yourself, not About yourself. Publishing relevant news and starting a discussion about current events earlier than other industry representatives is a great way to provide links to your blog.
Part three “Middle of the funnel (MOFU)” is divided into two chapters.
The first chapter is dedicated to email marketing. The study, which the author conducted, showed a qualitative understanding of the priorities and behavior of email users. According to users, e-mail is a daily task that needs to be performed and which they often do not like. The author also found that the primary way users interact with mailboxes is a dropout. The title of the letter is the main selection criterion. And you also need to mention the sender’s name.
Consider e-mail marketing from the point of view of your subscribers – as a way to give them what they want. When developing a marketing proposal delivery mechanism, try to give consumers something exclusive and do not forget to communicate this clearly.
Consider e-mail marketing from the point of view of your subscribers
Personalization is a classic and still effective solution to this problem for those involved in email marketing. Experiment with images in emails. Send letters to new subscribers – this is the most grateful audience.
The second chapter in this part is devoted to attracting potential customers – lead generation. The key concept of inbound marketing is that you offer potential customers some valuable content. If you are trying to attract people and offer them something valuable in exchange for their contact information, you need to find something that will interest them.
People prefer content that teaches them something, or tools that will provide them with convenience and success in their work. To take advantage of this information, marketers must first clearly explain what kind of value they offer.
“Free” is one of the most powerful words in a marketer’s arsenal, but they need to be used carefully. Also, landing pages that use the words “competition” or “winner” have a higher conversion rate than those that do not have these words. Try to make your requests look appropriate. Explain the reasons for your questions and explain how you plan to dispose of the data.
“Free” is one of the most powerful words in a marketer’s arsenal
In the fourth part Analytics”, the author talks about the importance of analytical data, and also offers a scientific method in analytics, which consists of the following steps: definition phase, research phase, prototypes, and testing phase.
At the definition phase, you ask and answer the question: “What do I want to improve?”. At the research phase, the question sounds differently: “What does my audience want?”.
At the prototype phase, ask yourself: “What will I test?”. And finally, at the testing phase, you must answer the question: “Which option was more efficient?”. This scientific method is a continuous improvement process, the basis for which becomes your analytical and statistical data.
Dan Zarrella’s book also answers such questions as What to post on Facebook and at what time of the day? How many times a day do tweets? How to use Pinterest to promote your brand? What headlines encourage people to open letters from companies? How to design an effective mailing list? What is better – positive posts or negative? And negative or neutral? All these data are confirmed by studies of the author himself with a large number of graphs, statistical observations, and useful tips.
