common human behavior

People don’t want the product; they want what the product can do for them.

Have you ever bought a tube of toothpaste? Probably. Why did you buy the toothpaste? You bought because you want your teeth to be clean. Your gums too. Your smile to be bright and your breath to be clean.

In order to sell the results of a product, you must accomplish three tasks:

• Identify a need that will be filled or a problem that will be solved.
• Make the listener (viewer, reader) aware of that need or problem.
• Show the listener (viewer, reader) how your product or service will fill the need or solve the problem.

Present the information from the listener’s point of view.

The listener cares only about what the advertiser can do to add to the listener’s life. Remember, your listeners don’t care about the advertiser’s product or service unless you make them. They don’t know about the advertiser’s product or service unless you tell them.

Tell them in a way that shows them why they should care and how this product or service will make their lives better.

Successful advertising intersects common behavior.

Have “common human behavior” in mind to think of behavior that most of your target audience has experienced.

By “common human behavior“, we’re talking about behavior that most of your target audience has experienced:

• Filling out income tax returns and filing by the due date.
• Losing cell phone service in certain areas.
• Walking into a room and not remembering why you entered the room.

Create a scenario within your commercial that intersects common human behavior and delivers a good, strong sales message. Do this, and you have a good commercial.

Keep in mind to “relate” to the target audience.

In your commercial, talk like real people talk. Convey real emotion.

Sell the results of the product, not the product itself.

Identify a need that will be filled or a problem that will be solved.

Successful advertising intersects common human behavior.

6 words to avoid, especially at work

The small words and phrases you resort to every day at work can have an out sized impact on your leadership ability.

Language is a powerful force in all your impromptu conversations.

Your job title isn’t the only thing that determines how influential you are. Every word you use at work expresses your personal brand,

Overusing certain weak verbs can make you sound weaker.

I found a very good post on FastCompany that points out 6 verbs that are overused in the workplace. You might want to limit using these words:

1. Think
2. Need
3. Want
4. Guess
5. Hope
6. Suppose

Focus on dropping these 6 words and notice your confidence increase.

 

audio creates the image

Early engineers of television called it “radio with pictures”.

Think on this. Radio is obviously an auditory medium. The initial audience connection is made auditorily. For the auditory message to have an impact on the listener, that listener must convert the sounds into mental pictures.

What makes a good radio commercial powerful is a dual modality of auditory and visual. The images that minds create are limitless in scope and detail. Auditory mediums are visual mediums.

There is no difference between the memory of something you’ve seen before and the memory of something you’ve never actually seen.

We might have heard a story about something we did as a young child. We may have heard the story many times. We may get confused and don’t recall those events actually happening. We ponder if we actually remember the events or the pictures of the events placed into our minds.

As far as the brain is concerned, those pictures are mentally stored in the memory bank. That’s regardless if you ever saw then in “real-life” or through other people’s stories.

A well-crafted radio commercial can create mental images strong enough to motivate the listener to really receive the message and act upon it.

Could we not call radio “television created by sound”?

In the next copywriting post, image types will be the focus of attention. 

a commercial that sells

A good commercial is not one that entertains.

I’ve made those.

A good commercial is not well-produced.

I do think that production is important, but the message is more important.

A good commercial doesn’t always win awards.

I’ve won one.

A good commercial always sells.

A commercial that sells is a commercial that motivates the listener to act.

Learn to differentiate between response advertising and image advertising.

Response advertising is intended to produce a specific, measurable response. An example of response advertising is, “Buy one suit, get one free at The Men’s Store”.

Image advertising – also called institutional advertising – is intended to support or boost the advertiser’s image. “First National Bank has been a part of the community for 100 years” is image advertising.

Response advertising has the best chance of being profitable, not just an expense.

Image advertising makes the client feel good but produces little results.

Advertisers should be spending money on response advertising. This type of advertising motivates the listener to act.

 

 

 

why advertise?

The ultimate strategy of advertising is to whisper a powerful, believable, and motivating message into the consumer’s ear. 

Effective advertising is one person making a strong, believable recommendation to a friend.

 

 

write for the ear

A simple technique. Really.

When doing radio, we’re told to write “for the ear”. Yet, we hear radio commercials and other audio that assumes the listeners have a copy of the script.

In good radio commercials, people talk like people talk, not as if they were reading a newspaper ad. In a well-written radio ad, there is a certain spontaneous feel to the conversation and to the monologue.

Don’t write your radio commercial, “talk” it.

Speak into a recording device. Test your ad. “Talk it” instead of “write it”. At first, don’t concern yourself about length and structure. Start out with your idea and let the words flow.

Once you have built your idea, then move on to edit it and get it down on paper.

 

blog your way out

Blog for reflection, thought leadership, and sales. Blogging ties interests and objectives together.

Our blog content should be full of personality. The passion of the industry your in comes to the forefront. This showcases you to those who have an interest too, Your voice in the conversation is heard. This moves you and your product forward.

You might feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again. We all have that feeling – and that’s okay. Just don’t project the feeling of boredom.

Think of this: we aren’t bored, just in a daily routine. Others might wish to have our routine. Think of that too.

words build the relationship

Words engage. Words bridge the gap to experience. Words change relationships.

Words highlight a brand’s character and differentiate it from other brands. Consider that the words you’ll be writing are actually a conversation with the customer. Develop a relationship between the user and the product.

 

4 steps to becoming an influencer

If you have been following Social Media for any length of time, you know about influencers. These are brands, organizations, and people who influence Social Media topics and trends. They have tendencies to post and share content often. Their information has proven to be vital for my business and I have taken influencer’s advice.

What attributes are needed to become an influencer? I explored this area and I’m grateful to report my results. I hope you find this useful.

A strong motivation exists for people to influence. Folks want to make a difference. Influencers have created a portion of their agenda to start a mission which turns topic complexity into simplicity. The characteristics, which enable influencers to be very knowledgeable and skilled in their fields, come to the forefront when they create a project. They are decisive and have a directive to achieve success. Their tasks are filled with enthusiasm. Their prospects for success are realized through their drive to understand the contributing process, whatever their role is in an organization.

 

There are four steps influencers take to bring success to fruition:

 

1. Know the aspects of the project. Social Media is rooted in campaigns, whether it be a major advertising program or a single blog post. Influencers always establish keywords, whether an influencer is an SEO expert or not. Keywords rise to the top of their content.

 

Keywords are, in my estimation, positions associated with specific actions and are further developed during transition periods. When a new topic hits Social Media, it takes time to be absorbed by the audience. I’ve noticed we, who follow Social Media, see a “catch-up” phase when a new idea is published. This phase is constructed in several levels which are amended according to our individual needs. Influencers see this construction and know that certain levels need explaining or further expanded upon. Oftentimes expansion is focused on implementation. Influence makes development relevant.

 

2. Know the opportunities. Influencers see opportunity. They learn fast. They get a feel for process and refine elements of a process to fit their needs. Initiative is vital. Influencers know what direction to take and articulate goals to solidify suggestions to make to potential customers. This basically gives then drive.

 

3. Develop relationships. Influencers know their market and realize it’s always changing. They know and understand key people who have influenced them. They anticipate their reach and the reach of key people. Influencers have established, trusted relationships and support the opportunity to contribute suggestions and initiatives.

 

4. Know the role. Leaders know history and their expected responsibilities. They evaluate considerations and validate initial research that informs them to execute strategies. Influencers identify and establish key responsibilities for carrying out a project and support the “go-to” people who enable the responsiveness required to establish the initiative to succeed. Leaders assemble select teams. They know the basic foundation which develops the drive to execute a plan.

 

These four items are the basic elements of an influencer. Remember, influencers have made career decisions on what they’ve learned. This helped them to advance. Know the importance of these four basic, fundamental ingredients. Study them. Practice them. Make the commitment and you too will eventually become an influencer.

 

4 items for blog relevancy

You write your blog for your audience.

Choose a blog topic for your audience. If you like a particular topic, become part of your audience. Know which readers you want to attract. Your engagement is based on how well you know your readers.

Focus on the interests your readers have.

Find relevancy. Here’s the four items that help make your blog relevant:

• Your niche
• Objectives
• Present time
• Problem-solving

Read. Study. Learn all you can about your specific topic. 

Source for this post: How to Choose the Right Topic for Your Blog, May 11, 2016 blog.the socialms.com