How to Keep Your Customers Glued to Your Advertising Message
AS HUMAN BEINGS our attention spans are ‘very’ short. We are easily distracted – even from things that we are interested in.
Our baby nephew Bim, who just turned one year old in January is a perfect example.
He’s thrilled when I take out his red rubber ball to roll to him. He starts out after the ball with a joyful chuckle, but then he spots one of his other toys just off his path and just like that, he’s diverted.
In less than a minute he notices something new, and wham, he’s after that. First this, then that, then those, etc.
Now, as adults we have a little more focusing power – but not much. Especially when it comes to marketing messages.
It takes very little to divert our attention. That’s why it’s vital that when you get your prospect’s mind on your marketing message, or offer, that you don’t distract him with something that has nothing to do with your goal.
If you want your prospect to sign up for your newsletter when they arrive at your web site’s home page, then you have to ensure that every element on that page serves the purpose of making that happen.
1. Don’t Divert Them
One subject per ad. If you’re selling a bunch of items, make the ad only about ONE subject like “We’re overstocked — and need to get rid of these . . . ” Many ads run in so many different directions you aren’t really sure what you’re supposed to do.
In the web, some of websites even put links to other people’s web sites on their home pages. Imagine doing everything you can to attract prospective customers to your web site, and then sending them away! Sounds crazy, but it happens all the time.
2. Don’t Confuse Them
If you’re mailing a letter to your prospects or customers and the goal is to get them to call you and purchase your product, then every element in that letter must support that goal.
Don’t make the mistake so many business owners make of including a number of different offers for different products or objectives in the same mailing.
That rarely works — it’s confusing and distracting.
You know what they say about people who chase two rabbits — they don’t catch either of them.
3. Organise Your Marketing Message
Keeping your prospects and customers focused on your purpose also means providing your customers with a clearly laid out path for them to follow. Organize your message to cover each element in a clear sequence. Don’t hop around.
If you’re presenting your products’ benefits, then cover them all before proceeding to the next part of your message, which may be building trust through your credentials, testimonials and a guarantee.
4. Provide Compelling Reasons for Them to Keep Reading
Finally, to keep your prospects focused all the way through to your Call to Action — that’s where you tell them what you want them to do next — you must give your prospects compelling reasons to keep reading.
Your message must be interesting to them. You need to hit their hot buttons, touch their heart. Curiosity is a powerful motivator to keep your prospects glued to your path.
But not irrelevant curiosity. The curiosity must be directly related to your message and their desire.
For instance a good curiosity subhead within a sales letter for a health food magazine might be:
‘Which common fruit has the ability to increase the power of your memory?’
The curiosity factor is directly related to the message, and it is compelling enough to keep interested people reading.
If you want to talk over these Get More Customers ideas, or the other effective tactics that I have, give me a call 0414 955 743 – advice is totally free of charge.
Cheers,
John