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- OVERSUBSCRIBED: DANIEL PRIESTLEY’S FORMULA FOR BUILDING DEMAND
OVERSUBSCRIBED: DANIEL PRIESTLEY’S FORMULA FOR BUILDING DEMAND
4 principles for getting more customers than you can handle...
Niall Ratcliffe
May 11, 2025
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BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY
Daniel Priestley might be the most underrated marketer on the planet.
It’s funny to say that, because millions of people already see Daniel as an incredible marketer. But if you asked most people to name a great marketer, you’d probably hear:
Rory Sutherland.
David Ogilvy.
Maybe even Seth Godin.
But Daniel Priestley? He wouldn’t get included in that picture.
And it’s because Daniel doesn’t rely on loud, attention-grabbing stunts. He’s not surfing with naked models like Richard Branson. He’s not running a viral Rolls-Royce ad like David Ogilvy. He’s not breaking down human psychology like Rory Sutherland.
Instead, he builds simple marketing systems that drive consistent lead flow.
And it’s through these systems that Daniel has built multiple eight-figure businesses, become a major influence in the world of UK entrepreneurship, and quietly created a name that carries serious weight in business circles.
Over the last few years, I’ve spent 1000+ hours studying Daniel’s work. I’ve read his books, listened to his podcasts, and even had dinner with him in Belfast.
And today, I want to take you inside Daniel’s brain.
I’m going to break down exactly how he approaches marketing and how you can apply his principles to make your business 'Oversubscribed’.
Here’s how to think and market like Daniel Priestley.
Principle 1: Build A Campaign-Driven Enterprise
I’m convinced that the biggest needle mover for most companies would be to simply launch more campaigns.
I’ve chatted to so many marketing teams who are stuck in the same ‘Cycle trap’.
Every month, they cycle through the same set of activities:
They write X blog posts.
Share X posts on social media.
Send out X amount of emails.
But the truth is, leads aren’t driven by maintenance marketing. Leads are driven through campaigns.
That’s a philosophy Daniel Priestley embodies at his core. In fact, in his book Oversubscribed, he says all businesses need to operate as a ‘Campaign-driven enterprise’.
Priestley says that successful businesses grow by running rhythmic, layered campaigns across different timeframes. Each one stacking on top of the other, all tied together by one big message for the year.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: One Big Message (Yearly)
A clear, powerful theme that anchors all your marketing for the year.
Everything you say reinforces this message in different ways, so it sticks.
This should be a thesis or core philosophy for the year.
Step 2: Weekly Campaigns (Micro)
Small, ongoing activities like weekly emails, posts, and insights to nurture attention and trust.
The main aim of this is to keep you visible and top-of-mind.
Step 3: Monthly Campaigns (Mid-level)
Focused on gathering interest from those paying attention to you brand.
These often take the form of webinars, mini-offers, or ebook releases.
Step 4: Quarterly Campaigns (Major)
Big, high-energy launches designed to create a spike in demand.
Creates urgency and converts waves of customers.
These are your 4 big pushes for new clients.
Each layer builds momentum for the next. And because everything reinforces the same core message, your audience hears it again and again, through different channels and formats.
The result?
A business with predictable attention, demand, and sales.
Clear marketing focus instead of scattered efforts.
Buyers lining up before you even open sales.
AKA a campaign-driven, oversubscribed business.
Principle 2: Become a Key Person of Influence
The best decision I ever made was to start building my personal brand.
Yet while I started just 3 years ago, Daniel was banging on about the importance of being a Key Person Of Influence 10+ years ago. But Daniel isn’t saying you need to be famous, have a million followers or go viral every week.
Daniel interviewing Gary Vee 11 years ago
What Daniel says is that you need to become a ‘key person of influence’ around one topic. And he is a perfect example of what that looks like.
Right now, Priestley only has 100,000 followers on LinkedIn. He’s not got a massive podcast or some TV show. Yet there are millions of business owners and entrepreneurs who absolutely love and respect him.
He has a very concentrated influence in a specific niche relating to specific topics. He’s built authority, trust, and credibility with exactly the people he wants to reach.
How can you replicate it?
1. Own a message: Pick a topic, niche or belief you want to be known for. Something you could talk about for the next 10 years without running out of things to say.
2. Publish your ideas: Post content. Start conversations. Write. Speak. Share what you think.
3. Show your face: Don’t hide behind your company. Put your name on your work. Show up on camera.
Becoming a key person of influence isn’t about chasing reach. It’s about owning a space in the minds of the right people.
Principle 3: Flirt With Your Prospects
One of the smartest marketing tools Daniel Priestley advocates for is the quiz funnel. Which is, as he puts it, his way to “Flirt” with prospects.
There are 1 million and 1 ways to collect a prospect’s details and qualify them, but Daniel uses a quiz funnel every single time. Because a quiz makes people put in a little effort, without too much friction.
Instead of handing over a free PDF or pushing straight to a sales call, you invite them into a playful, low-stakes interaction. They answer a few questions, they reveal something about themselves, and they feel more invested.
Daniel’s philosophy is simple: The more effort someone puts in, the more invested they feel. Every answer they give is a buying signal, helping you understand who they are and what they need.
(Very similar to dating actually.)
All you need to do is:
1. Choose a simple problem to score: Pick a pain point your audience wants to benchmark. Example: “How strong is your marketing strategy?”
2. Keep the quiz short and easy: Aim for 5–10 questions max, focused on their goals, challenges, or habits.
3. Deliver personalised insights: Instead of a generic “thank you,” give them a score and a few tailored recommendations. Make them feel seen.
That’s Daniel’s secret. It’s not a lead magnet. It’s a trust builder disguised as a quiz.
I can tell you first-hand, these things convert like wildfire.
Principle 4: Always Collect Signals First
One of the most underrated lessons Daniel teaches and lives by is the importance of collecting signals.
Too many businesses rush to create a product, build a landing page, and start pushing sales. But Daniel’s approach flips that. He argues that before you launch, you need to ask a simple question:
Does anyone actually want this?
And this is where his waitlists come into play. It’s very similar to the quiz funnels we just talked about. Daniel calls it “flirting with your market.” You’re not proposing marriage on day one. You’re collecting interest. You’re teasing something is coming. You’re dropping hints, asking questions, plugging the idea casually, watching how people react.
Then you look for these “Soft signals”…
Are people replying?
Are they asking for updates?
Are they tagging friends?
Are they opting in with no incentive?
The key here is that you don’t want to launch for the sake of it. You want to launch something that will already be oversubscribed.
On DOAC, Daniel explained that he literally used this exact process to raise $3 million and created a 7-figure business with BookMagic AI.
All he did was:
Start talking about the idea publicly, long before it was ready
Built a quiz funnel waitlist
Posted about the idea on LinkedIn and asked who’d be interested
Launched the business to the waitlist
It’s really that simple sometimes.
🌱 THE GREENHOUSE
Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:
TL;DR
Build A Campaign-Driven Enterprise
Become a Key Person of Influence
Flirt With Your Prospects
Always Collect Signals First
I’m not sure Priestley will ever get the credit he deserves for just how good of a marketer he is. Yes, he’s known for entrepreneurship and telling people how to make money - but he’s also a fantastic marketer.
Hopefully you found this playbook useful, if you did - share it with a friend :)
Until next Sunday.
— Niall
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