Donnie Bryant, Direct Response Copywriter

How to Write Sizzling Content

March 4, 2021November 16, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

“If the woman howling from the backseat of Agent Carson’s black SUV weren’t already dead, I would’ve strangled her. Gladly.”

So begins Darynda Jones’ latest book. But the book is captivating even before the opening line. The title instantly sends your mind on a journey of curiosity.

Seventh Grave and No Body.

To be fair, I haven’t read anything other than the first page of the book. The book cover caught by attention yesterday at Barnes & Noble. My imagination isn’t ready to stop thinking about where the story might go.

That’s what sizzling content does. It grabs your attention and puts it in a headlock. It activates the movie screen in your brain and reaches down to pull on the ol’ heartstrings, at least a little bit.

This is not the kind of writing we were taught in school. The style we mastered between K and 12 is almost the polar opposite, when you think about it: matter-of-fact, even clinical in it’s lack of emotion. Without personality. Yet, a large percentage of business owners and marketers carry this dry, academic style over into their attempts at sales and marketing.

Then they wonder why no one opens their emails.

Now, I know YOU don’t have that problem. But there’s a good chance that you feel like your writing could be stronger. You’d like for your content to be more persuasive. You want your marketing to pack more punch in whatever media you’re using.

If so, I hope you’ll join Jeff Zelaya from Triblio and me for “How to Write Content that Sizzles and Sells,” a Google Hangout On Air tomorrow (Monday, November 17) at 1 Eastern. We will discuss turning your articles, blog posts, video scripts, etc., into “page-turners” your potential clients will have a hard time ignoring.

You can even ask content marketing, writing or persuasion questions and we’ll try to answer them.

Hope to see you there!

***UPDATE: You can watch the full replay here.

P.S. I want to quickly emphasize a takeaway we learn from the book I mentioned in the beginning of this post.

The title Seventh Grave and No Body, is pretty interesting all by itself. Even more than the words themselves, this title is engrossing because of the mental associations the reader carries while he reads. The title doesn’t mention anything about crime scenes, tricky murder investigations or elusive serial killers. You read that into the words on the page. The pictures created in your mind have more to do with your own personal experience than anything else.

The meaning of a word is greater than its definition.

Leveraging the power of mental associations is an advanced writing technique we’ll be covering during the Hangout. You’re not going to want to miss this.

Your Should-Be Customers Say “No” Because… (Pt. 3)

June 4, 2016September 15, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

[Don’t miss Parts 1 and 2 of this series]

“It’s not a question of how. It’s a question of what. If no one told you that bullets flew straight, and I gave you a gun and told you to hit the target, what would you do?”

Do you remember that scene from the movie Wanted? Wesley, the protagonist, was training to become a Fraternity assassin. Part of the training was learning to curve bullets. Wesley was clueless as to how to make that happen. Sloan (played by the always-dapper Morgan Freeman) described the difficulty as a belief problem.

In the movie, bullets fly straight because the shooter believes that’s how they should act.

An assassin’s belief in his ability to shoot bullets in impossible trajectories makes it possible.

In the same way, your should-be clients’ belief in you, your products, your industry, etc. — and his own ability to “curve bullets” — plays a huge role in their buying decisions.

I hesitate to talk about this…

The concepts of belief and the suspension of disbelief are advanced and powerful; in my attempt to treat the topic properly, I’ve taken forever putting my thoughts on “paper.”

I’ve just recently started sharing this info with private clients, but we’ll talk about it briefly here today. After all, I am committed to helping you win more ‘yeses’ from people who will benefit from your products and services.

Going Beyond Credibility

It should go without saying that a sales message MUST be believable if it’s going to have any kind of positive effect.

Proof elements such as testimonials, scientific or clinical evidence and demonstrations help clear away doubt about whether or not your product does what you say it will.

Most sales pitches work hard to establish the credibility of the salesperson, service provider or manufacturer. They mention degrees earned, awards won, longevity in business and the fancy magazines they’ve been featured in.

All of this is good stuff. Important stuff. People don’t buy when they don’t trust. But credibility in itself isn’t the stuff breakthroughs are made of.

Consider this. Whenever you step into a movie theater or turn Netflix on, you engage in a subtle volitional activity: you flick off the unbelief switch in your brain — or at least put it in standby mode. You know you’re watching a movie…you know parts of the plot are totally unrealistic (in the real world, no man is THAT romantic)…but for the sake of enjoying the story, you accept these things as truth.

That’s why Morgan Freeman can tell us — with a straight face — that the laws of physics don’t matter. That’s why we believe him for 90 minutes.

As in the theater, so in the marketplace (to paraphrase Bill Jayme).

Your marketing message or sales pitch has to strike at the emotional heart of the hearer/reader and create a vision in his mind. For a moment, he has to dissociate from the “real world” and see himself enjoying the benefits he’ll receive after buying from you.

He has to SEE the bullet curve.

You have to create a story and help him watch the plot unfold — with himself as the main character.

He has to see HIMSELF bending the trajectory of the bullet.

How do you make him envision that?

Briefly,

Talk about a topic the potential client wants to believe, or approach the topic from an angle he wants to believe. Desire forms the basis for vision and belief. (See Business of Belief by Tom Asacker)
What’s the “big idea” behind the thing you’re offering? Let the story do the heavy lifting. The statistics play a supporting role.
Say unexpected things. You have to slap people out of their haze to earn their attention. Then keep earning it, or the audience will tune out. Predictability is boring, like in any other story.
Dig in for the long haul. Be prepared to use a series of messages, because in many cases, the first exposure may not do the trick. The more a person is exposed to something, the more likely he is to believe it (look up the illusory truth effect and mere-exposure theory).
Be a character. Strong personalities take us on journeys and activate the imagination. Polarizing figures force us to make choices. Don’t you feel like you know the characters on your favorite TV shows personally? You probably have similar feelings about some brands and business people.

What’s the difference between store-brand bottled water and Fiji or another high-end brand? The story. That’s some serious suspension of disbelief at play going on there!

(If you’re interested in learning more on this topic, you may enjoy my in-depth article Belief-Based USP.)

Your Should-Be Customer Says “No” Because… (Pt. 2)

March 4, 2024September 8, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

[Read Part 1]

When people who should say yes to “you” say “no” instead, there is one overarching cause. Borrowing a few words (and an image) Dr. Harlan Kilstein shared someplace in cyberspace:

“The only reason you hear “no” when you are selling is because you haven’t connected your product to their highest ranking criteria.” Couldn’t’ve put it better myself — so I didn’t even try.

If what you’re offering doesn’t gain a position of ranking priority in your potential customer’s mind, you’re gonna hear a lot of nos. That shows up in a few different ways, one of which we discussed last week. We talked about how sales messages miss the mark if they don’t appeal specifically to the self-interest of the prospect.

Another reason people who should be your customers will reject you is because change is hard. When we’re selling our products and services, we’re asking people to

change from inaction to action
change from one course of action to another
change brands or providers
change their thinking
change their habits

People generally do not like to change and we usually try to avoid it, even when we know the results will be good.

As the saying goes, we usually change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. And this is really the key to overcoming this reason people reject our selling messages.

Many times, we try to persuade tough prospects by piling on benefit after benefit and bonus after bonus. What we don’t realize is that the problem is not a lack of value (although extra value is rarely a bad thing). We oversimplify the persuasion process.

When people make decisions, they have to weigh multiple factors. As marketers, it is easy for us to only address two main categories: payoff of taking action and the cost of not taking action, i.e. the benefits they get from buying and what they miss out on if they don’t.

What we fail to consider is that, in the mind of the potential customer, there are HUGE benefits to inaction.

Changing is hard; your prospects most likely aren’t going to do it just because you offer a better alternative to what they’re doing now (which could be nothing). You’re going to have to paint the picture, taking into consideration the payoff of inaction and the cost of action.

Recognize that change is difficult for the prospect (just like it is for you). Acknowledge the fact, but put it in its proper perspective. “It feels good to smoke a cigarette when your coworker gets on your nerves, but is it worth shortening your life because he’s a jerk?”

The Cost of Truth

Sometimes we’re stuck in our ways. We like our way of doing things and seeing things. Even when we learn about a better way, we’re not trying to hear it. I was that way with the Dewey Decimal system. The Library of Congress classification traumatized me.

Speaking of books, how many book publishers, newspapers and magazines have gone bankrupt because they didn’t want to change along with the digital revolution?

“Everyone—yes, everyone—has an emotional attachment to their view, no matter how trivial. Some attachments are more easily severed than others. But they are still there.” ~ Abdu Murray

We have to realize that there’s more behind the “nos” we hear than a lack of value on our part. We have to explore ways to facilitate change.

Can that be done through marketing? Absolutely. We’ll get deeper into that in the future.

[Check out Part 3 now!]

Your Should-Be Customers Say “No” Because… (Pt. 1)

January 20, 2020September 1, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

Who is the hero of your marketing message?

It is a common mistake for businesses to promote themselves by…promoting themselves:

“Quality Service and Affordable Prices”
“Over 40 Years of Excellence”
“Nobody Does XYZ Better Than Us”

Each of these statements has some degree of meaning. They’re fairly generic, though, and almost completely focused on the leadership’s opinion about the business itself (or how they hope to be seen by potential customers).

Marketing claims like these are not very persuasive, are they? Why not? Because consumers do not care about businesses; they care about themselves. They care about fixing their problems and getting the various things they want in life.

That is the key to connecting with customers. When a business is the main character in its marketing messages, it sacrifices a large part of its persuasive power.

The Reality: People are Self-Interested

The late David Wallace Foster, a renowned writer and professor, made the following remark in his commencement speech to Kenyon College in 2005:

“…everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe; the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely think about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness because it’s so socially repulsive. But it’s pretty much the same for all of us. It is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth.”

I’m not saying it’s right. It’s just true.

Customers owe no loyalty to a business that doesn’t make their life better in some way. If that life-improving potential isn’t communicated in customer-centric ways, the business will probably be ignored.

People are self-interested. Businesses are self-interested, too.

Something wonderful happens when a potential customer hears exactly how buying a product will make his life better — in clear, specific, compelling language. He buys! That kind of message can penetrate the inward focus that dominates the customer’s worldview.

Emphasizing a prospect’s self-interest is in the business’ best interest.

“Results — Nothing Less.” Drayton Bird tells potential clients that they’re not paying for marketing or consulting (which they don’t care about). They’re buying the results they want.

“Income On Demand: The Simple Secret to Unlimited Stock Market Payouts.” Who doesn’t want income on demand? Rather than saying “Great Stock Market Tips,” Agora Financial adds emotional punch and begins telling you how easy it is to reach your objective: making lots of money on the stock market.

“Is Cancer a Fungus? Can It Be Prevented? Learn How To Help Your Body Destroy the Candida Fungus, Get Your Energy and Your Life Back” Specific, surprising and all about the reader.

Now, who is the hero of your marketing message? Remember, your should-be customers are not thinking about you. They’re looking out for their own best interest, not yours. (And rightly so!) They care about you only insofar as they can benefit from doing business with you.

It is in your best interest to show potential customers that you’re looking out for them and you’re uniquely equipped to help them achieve the results they want.

Check out Part 2!

Why I Only Teach One Kind of Telepathy

May 19, 2017August 11, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

Did you see the marketing prank Sony did to promote the movie ‘Carrie’ last fall? It’s very clever and quite amusing when you know what’s going on. If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it. The video is less than 2.5 minutes. Even if you have seen it, you’ll probably enjoy watching it again.

[ The prank is about telekinesis, not telepathy, but I’ll come back to that because I teach one form of that, too. ]

Telepathy is transmitting a message from your brain directly to another person’s brain. And far from being confined to the fantasy world of sci-fi and horror movies, it is real. It is the force that moves nations as well as individual citizens like you and me.

“It’s amusing when you stop to think about it – for years people have argued about whether or not such a thing exists…and all the time it’s been right there, lying out in the open… All the arts depend upon telepathy to some degree, but I believe that writing offers the purest distillation.” ~ Stephen King

Plato’s Republic. The Communist Manifesto. The Bible. The course of history has been shaped by the words written in these books.

Advertising words have also influenced culture, changed perceptions and built empires:

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” (Who can forget that one?)
“Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” (At the time of his death Forrest Mars and two of his sons were the 29th, 30th and 31st riches Americans)
“A diamond is forever.” (In 1939 only 10% of engagement rings had diamonds. By 1990, 80% did, largely because of the marketing efforts of the De Beers diamond cartel)

You Are Telepathic, Too…

…but you have to be intentional about it. Rule number one of selling is that nothing sells itself, no matter how good it is.

The people who should be your customers

don’t know you exist
don’t know there’s a solution for their problems at all
are already buying from the competition or
aren’t ready to buy yet.

The survival and success of your business depends on you proactively fixing each of those issues.

You need to get your sales message your should-be customers’ minds. That’s telepathy.

Then, you need to get those people to take action based on the message you delivered. That’s telekinesis.

The telepathy part
Create an appealing message. Consider what will appeal to those should-be customers; that’s more important than what you think is cool about your product. The approach most likely to get the right kind of attention is to address, in an interesting way, a topic that has a big impact on them.

Very few things get our attention like problems we’re facing right now.

(Check out the P.S. below for a partial list of ways to deliver your messages)

In that first instant, you must identify who you’re talking to (your should-be customers) and why they should continue paying attention. You can plainly state what kind of benefit they’ll get or you can tease them along with mystery. Both work well in certain situations.

Keep them interested by continually letting the reader/viewer/listener what’s in it for him. In the case above, the reader will have a happier wife, more productive communication, less time sleeping on the couch, etc.

The telekinesis part:
Let should-be customer know how to take advantage of your offer. Make the decision as easy as possible for him; remove as many obstacles (real or imagined) as possible. Help him see what he’ll be missing if he doesn’t take action.

Of course, not everyone will receive the message you’re sending out, and not everyone will move the way you hope. That’s just how these things work. But you have to realize that people everyone has needs and desires, and there’s a segment of the population for whom your product or service is the perfect solution. You would do them (and yourself) a disservice by not trying to get your thoughts into their minds and help them make choices that are in their best interest.

I’ll be sharing the best insights I’ve got on this topic during tonight’s Irresistible Offers teleseminar. If you’d like to improve your telepathic and telekinetic abilities, head over to https://donnie-bryant.com/irresistible-offers/ to get registered. (I refuse to under-deliver, and my money-back guarantee confirms the fact).

P.S. Here’s a partial list of telekinesis delivery methods, in no particular order:

Writing blog posts or articles, on your site or other sites your target customers is likely to follow
Write for magazines, newsletters or trade journals
(Self) Publish and promote a book
Build and communciate with an email list. Or “borrow” someone else’s list
Real mail
Interview or be interviewed in traditional media (radio, TV, newspaper), Google Hangout, podcast, etc.
Youtube or Vimeo. Not (necessarily) being cool or funny, but educating, offering value and being helpful
Banner ads online
Space ads in newspapers or magazines
Pay-per click
Radio or TV commercials
Make phone calls
SMS mobile marketing
Social media

If you need help figuring out which of these channels will work for you, or if you’re not sure how to best use them to communicate your message, feel free to get in touch.

Why Selling Is So Hard?

August 9, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

Most people won’t say this in public, but behind closed doors and in their innermost thoughts, you hear it with staggering frequency:

“Why won’t these dummies buy my product?? They know they need it! I’ve clearly shown them how much better their lives will be when they start using it.

Selling is HARD! Argg!!

Yes, selling is hard. The reason is simple: it is impossible to change someone’s mind. Literally impossible.

But you still have to get people to say yes or click a button for your business or career to survive. How do you do it? Why is there a small percentage of people who make selling look so easy? How do I become one of the ones who make it look easy?

Your prospects have “No Trespassing” signs posted at every one of the entrances to the mind. The guards are very selective about who they allow inside the gates.

If you try to punch a hole through their mental defenses, you’ll soon find out how ineffective (and exhausting) that can be. Using hype and high-pressure tactics is a foolish approach — no matter how cool the Wolf of Wall Street makes it look.

Here’s what it boils down to:

There are things that your would-be customers really want to do, but for numerous reasons they can’t bring themselves to take action.

They want to start investing so they can retire comfortably. They want six-pack abs. They want to meet their soulmate.

Your job is to give your customers the psychological, emotional and volitional strength to get out of their own way.

To empower them to grab hold of their better future.

That’s what we’re going to talk about during Monday’s Irresistible Offers teleseminar.

We’re going to tackle the topic of persuasive selling based on how the brain works…how human emotion works…how language works.

There is one psychological reality that puts all the pieces of the persuasion puzzle into a single, cohesive concept.

Instead of long lists of complicated techniques and formulas (which all talk about different things), you’ll discover a simple but incredibly enlightening illustration of the how the mind works and what makes persuasion work.

You’ll learn why people say ‘yes’ and you’ll learn what it takes to get more yeses from your sales and marketing.

Everyone who makes selling look easy leverages this reality, consciously or unconsciously.

This session is going to be a real eye-opener, with research gathered from

the U.S. Army
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
the latest psychological and neuroscientific studies
social movements
millions of dollars of direct marketing testing
and Hollywood, possibly the greatest influencer of culture on the planet.

If you’re an entrepreneur, salesperson, marketer, copywriter or anyone who needs to be more persuasive, you don’t want to miss this call. The insights you’ll gain could change everything for you.

Understanding what makes people tick and learning to make offers they can’t resist — now that’s a good investment.

My promise to you:

The teleseminar starts from 8:00pm Eastern on Monday, August 11th. The cost is $58.

I’ve condensed the best insights I have on selling in person, print or pixel into an hour-long. I’m not holding anything back. I’ve only spoken publicly about some of this information once in the past 2 year (at my paid workshop in June). Parts of it I’ve never shared before, which is why the teleseminar is more expensive than the workshop.

At $58, it’s a freakin’ steal. I guarantee you’ll get 99 times more value than what you spend or I’ll happily give you a full refund — before I go to bed Monday night.

I can’t stand sitting in on presentations and listening to the “same old, same old.” Don’t you hate that? I’m not going to put you through that torture. If you don’t learn something brand new, I’ll give happily your money back.

Let me help you get past your customers’ “No Trespassing” signs. Sign up for the Irresistible Offers teleseminar here.

This Is Probably the Main Thing Holding You Back

August 7, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

Gary Halbert, one of the smartest marketers in history, said he believed most people would choke to death in a restaurant before they’d allow someone to perform the Heimlich maneuver on them.

I don’t think he was far off the mark.

Why would Gary make a statement like that?

I wasn’t there when he said it, but I think I understand his reasoning. He was trying to shed some light on the biggest force that stops most people from making the kind of progress they’re capable of making.

I’ll come back to this in a moment.

**Your Real Job as an Entrepreneur, Salesperson, Marketer or Other Kind of Influencer**

As a business owner, copywriter or marketer, you have a two-fold duty:
1. Create value for your clients/customers.
2. Get them to take action.

(Sometimes your ability to induce action is itself the value you create.)

I’ve often said it this way: A salesperson/marketer/copywriter’s job is to empower people do the things they already want to do.

They want a more comfortable temperature in house during summer, so you help them get the right air conditioner, etc.

A big part of that process is education. Education is in powerful tool for persuasion, but if it’s not helping the would-be customer take action to improve his life, it’s lacking. Consider this: a teacher gets paid to “do the work,” preparing lessons, presenting to the class, grading homework. As entrepreneurs and marketers, we don’t make money by simply doing the work. We have to impel customers to act.

What Holds People Back?

What keeps people from buying even when they’re in the market for a specific product, they can see the benefits and can afford to make the purchase?

The main reason is fear. The fear of making the wrong choice, looking stupid or getting burned. The fear of having to explain the purchase to a spouse or business partner.

Here’s a big one — the one Gary Halbert was referring to in the statement above: People are very protective of their comfort zones. Halbert said that people will “struggle harder to stay in their comfort zones than they will to save their own lives.”

When you ask someone to change their habits, their preferred brands or their way of looking at things — you’re asking a lot — even if it will get them closer to the future they want.

**This applies to YOU as an entrepreneur or marketer.**

We often cling to our way of doing things, even when we know there’s a more efficient way.

Or…

We spend hour after hour educating ourselves, only to keep doing the same things, the same way.

I’m guilty, too. Over the years, I’ve only implemented a fraction of the ideas I’ve spent hundreds of hours consuming.

Herein lies the rub: nothing is going to change if you don’t change it. You can either take responsibility for your own results or you can make excuses. One of those options empowers you; the other gives your power away.

If there’s something your business needs but doesn’t have…
If there’s something you need to do, but you’re not sure how to make the next step (or the first one)…
If there’s an urgent problem you have no idea how to solve…

…Own it! Then take action to get what you need.

Quoting Gary Halbert again, MOTION is the biggest difference between winners and losers. He said “You don’t have a choice of being afraid or not afraid in life; you’re going to be afraid. You’re either going to be afraid and frozen or scared and moving.”

Isn’t it time to get in motion?

P.S. Need help skillfully persuading your prospects and clients to take action? Come to my Irresistible Offers teleseminar August 11th.

Are You Playing the Flashlight Game with Your Clients

May 19, 2017August 4, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

My 4 year-old son gets a major kick out of playing with flashlights. He loves to turn out all the lights in the house and pretend it’s a blackout. Then he runs around the house, exploring and frolicking in the dark.

His fascination must have started during a real power outage about 2 years ago (seen in the photo above).

The other night, my 11 year-old twin daughters (also seen in the photo) were putting away their laundry when the flashlight game began. The weren’t supposed to play along, but the game’s allure proved to be too strong. Before long, the girls stopped working to join the fun.

The flashlight game is far too enticing to ignore.

Are Your Clients Playing Your Game?

When you reach out to your prospects and customers, are you presenting them with ideas, words, images and offers too enticing too ignore?

Frankly, none of us have much of an option these days. The people you’re trying to connect with have a limited mental bandwidth. They can only really pay attention to one thing at a time — and there are no shortage of messages and people fighting to be that one thing.

The brain always pays attention to the most interesting thought it can find. Not necessarily the most meaningful or most important, but the most interesting. (That doesn’t mean that you throw away the meaningful, important stuff. You just have to lead with a thought so intriguing that it can’t be ignored. Earn attention, then deliver the meat of the message.)

Turning the Lights On

A flashlight in a dark room gets everyone’s attention. In marketing, it’s not quite that simple. You have to know what kinds of things your ideal clients are interested in. Hint: every answer to this question is about the client — not you.

Everyone is interested in problems that are bugging them…pain that is plaguing them…goals they haven’t reached yet. What are your audience’s problems, pains and goals?

Speak to your clients and potential clients in an unexpected way. Predicable marketing is easily dismissed. Make big, yet believable claims. Or make promises that are so unbelievable that the listener/reader/viewer can’t help but wonder what you’re up to.

One of my favorite novelists, Ted Dekker, put it like this: “A good writer is one who can take those rather blunt instruments called words and string them together in a way that turns lights on.”

Connection Concept

Whatever you do, don’t be boring!

In many ways, your audience are walking around in the dark. It’s your job to get their attention so you can turn on the lights for them.

There’s only a few more hours to get the 50% discount on next week’s Irresistible Offers teleseminar. Until 11:59 Central tonight (August 4th), you’ll pay $29 for the hour-long training. Find out more at https://donnie-bryant.com/irresistible-offers/.

**Update May 19, 2017**

I recently recorded a livestream video about writing copy that wins and keeps your should-be clients’ attention. In about 10 minutes, I shared 4 critical ideas that you can put into practice today. Thought you might get some value from it.

How to Beat Goliath – Now on Amazon Kindle

July 14, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

You may have heard by now, but just in case you haven’t, I’m proud to announce that my book How to Beat Goliath…even if you can’t outright kill him is now available on Amazon Kindle.

If your business facing fierce competition from the big boys in your industry and the battle is beginning to take it’s toll, his book shares information and ideas you can use to turn the tide.

David went to his battle with Goliath armed with 5 smooth stones. With this book, you will arm yourself with 5 strategic marketing concepts. When put together, these 5 concepts form a powerful marketing system that puts you in control of the growth of your business.

You’ll be set up to successfully defend your territory and gain ground, even if your Goliath never dies off completely.

Beat Goliath is my 3rd book, but the first one available on Kindle.

Check it out on Amazon here.

Be on the lookout for the 2nd edition of Stealth Selling: Non-Pushy Persuasion for Professionals in the very near future.

Customers Not Engaging with You?

June 28, 2021June 11, 2014 by Donnie Bryant

Greg Ciotti called it “The Shocking Truth.”

What’s more shocking than the “truth” uncovered in the article is the sloppiness of the method used to uncover it.

“The conversation around brand loyalty has been on a steady decline since the advent of social media,” says Ciotti.

“Ever since the term “engagement” snuck into the picture, marketers have been blowing smoke about how important it is to regularly engage with customers, touting the untold benefits of regular contact.

“The problem is that this belief couldn’t be further from the truth. Most consumers do not care about how much you engage with them–and I have the data to prove it.”

That data comes from a 2012 article in the Harvard Business Review, “3 Myths about What Customers Want.” I’ll save you the trouble of having to read the article: the myths are that 1) customers want relationships with brands, 2) interactions build relationships and 3) the more interaction, the better.

According to HBR’s study, 77% of people say they don’t want relationships with brands. Of the people who had established brand relationships, 64% of them say that “shared values” are the main reason they maintain those relationships.

The shocking truth is that marketers are still trying to understand their craft based on what people say instead of what they do.

“How should you market differently?”

In light of the 3 myths, the writers of the HBR articles suggest you should change your marketing strategy in the following ways:

“Stop bombarding consumers who don’t want a relationship with your attempts to build one”
Focus more discounts, because that’s what consumers say they really want when interacting with brands, at least online
“To build relationships,” with the few customers who want them, “start by clearly communicating your brand’s philosophy or higher purpose.”
“Instead of relentlessly demanding more consumer attention, treat the attention you do win as precious… When it comes to interacting with your customers, more isn’t better.”
This advice isn’t completely toxic, but there’s enough poison in the cup to cause some real damage.

In short, this article tells marketers to charge less, communicate less and stare at their own navels more (that is where USPs usually hang out, you know). How does that sit with you?

Why You Shouldn’t Charge Less

Discounting is a dangerous race to the bottom of a hill where nobody wins.

Everyone likes to save money when they can, but every day people happily trade money to get results they want: food, fashion, fun, etc. If you can satisfy a deep desire or necessity, people will pay you.

The greater the desire, the more they’ll be willing to pay.

The fewer places they can get similar results, the more they’ll be willing to pay.

The faster/more convenient/more emotionally gratifying your delivery is, the more they’ll be willing to pay.

Why You Shouldn’t Communicate Less

It’s very rare that you’ll win a customer the very first time he sees your name. Especially if you’re actively trying to avoid looking like you want to start a relationship.

Potential customers are usually in the process of forgetting you. Out of sight, out of mind. Being nonchalant seems “cool,” but sitting idle while all your competitors flirt with your prospects sounds like a bad idea.

Even after a prospect becomes a paying customer, it’s dangerous to be out of sight for too long. There are plenty of other suitors who would love to swoop in and steal your customers.

Why wouldn’t you make the most out of every relationship you’re involved in?

Where Brand Loyalty Really Comes From

In the original version of Ciotti’s article, a woman named Valerie left this comment:

“I hate Mc Donalds. They are the ideal of everything I hate…Yet some how I wind up at that Drive Thru kicking myself the whole time…They always seem to know what I need, when I need it and they are always there.”

This lady says “I hate McDonald’s.” Her actions prove otherwise — consistently.

What people say is often very different from what they do.

Valerie is also describing a brand relationship. Mickey D always knows what she wants and is there to supply it. Are shared values at the root of this relationship? Yes and no.

If McDonald’s concentrated one communicating its “philosophy or higher purpose,” do you think it would have resonated with Valerie’s own stated values? Probably not. The desire for quick convenience and relatively low prices won the day. (Not to mention the physical addiction caused by the chemicals in the food!)

People reveal their true values/priorities through their actions.

People actively seek brand loyalty. Rather, they seek to satisfy their needs and wants in the best way they know how. They’re not interested in your business except insofar as it appeals to their self-interest:

Do you help them move closer to their short- and long-term goals?
Do satisfy their desire to feel powerful, intelligent, attractive, special and/or connected?
Do you give them hope?
Does buying from you enhance their self-image?
Do you make good things happen faster for them?
Do you prevent bad things from happening to them?
People make their decisions (who to pay attention to, who to spend money with, stay out of relationships with) based on who they perceive can best scratch those deep-seated itches in their minds.

That’s how you build value in the mind of your customer.

If you’re providing such great value, would customers ask you to communicate less? No! They want to hear from you more. Would they demand that you charge less? Not if you’re offering something they treasure more than the money you’re asking for.

THAT is how brand loyalty is earned