Motivating Your Target

There's just no time to waste in a cyber day; competition for your target's attention has always been stiff, but now it's just killer. There's less time and more to do, more to see, more to read--ad infinitum. What can you do to attract attention to your clients' message? Here are a few tips and techniques that motivate your audience to want to know more about your product or service.

"The free time I used to spend watching TV is now divided between shopping and blogging online," remarked one corporate executive, "it allows me to relax physically and it's certainly more entertaining than an episode of Law and Order." What was once a minor distraction is now a formidable competitor demanding its share of the market. How can direct mail compete with the dynamic web, traditional print media, and titillating TV or radio (satellite, broadcast or cable)? The most effective advertising demands target participation; it removes the "will I or won't I" part of the equation and turns it into "I MUST". Can you make them say "Man, look at that. What's that about?"

Here's an example: When asbestos removal was a big concern in the mid 1980's, a commercial building owner had no greater fear; not that he had asbestos, but that someone would find out. The ad campaign for my asbestos removal consultant was a gut wrencher for anyone with commercial real estate leasing in a highly competitive market. The headline ran over a photograph of a high dollar broker working the phones at night with a view of the city skyline in the background:, "I can get you out of your lease in a snap with the hazards clause." No one in the business could turn the page without reading the rest of the ad because desire was created in the viewer's imagination. They wanted to know more and provided the impetus to continue reading on their own. Here's a simple 3 step check for effective advertising, no matter what the media.

1) Create Motivation: There is a way into the heart of your prospect. What emotion can you instill to motivate them to want to hear what you have to say? Make it something they can't ignore, like your Uncle Guido, make them an offer they can't refuse.

2) Create Emotional Tension: After you arrive in their emotional center, create a stir. No matter what the media form, the best advertising grips a prospect by it's emotional needs and quickly creates turmoil. It's a simple formula of "Do you want this? followed by "Here's what you have to do to get it." The emotional tension hangs and propels them to participate.

3) Offer Resolution: Relieve the emotional tension you just created. Find the need in your prospect's soul that you can satisfy with your product or service; fan the flames, excite them about the benefits, then relieve their emotional uncertainty by telling them how to get it.

Here's the same formula applied to the asbestos consultants:

1) Motivate/Captivate--Did you know brokers are using your asbestos to void existing leases and relocate tenants to other properties? (YIKES!)

2) Grip/Tension--Have you looked at your statistics lately to determine just how much your asbestos problem is costing you in lost tenants?

3) Resolve/Solution--We have the answer. We can solve your problems quietly and cost effectively. We can stop the exodus and solve the problem.

Studies have shown that you have less than 3 seconds to capture the attention of your audience, whether it's in a stack of junk mail, online, in a magazine, radio or TV. The most self defeating mistake made is offering relief before they've gripped the target. Be careful not to show your hand before the game starts.

? Motivate and captivate; create curiosity.
? Grip their attention with emotional tension.
? Offer resolution and solutions; relieve the tension.

Here's the Ultimate in Marketing Communications Directory provided by the University of Texas. http://advertising.utexas.edu/world

Visit the American Advertising Awards (ADDY) website: http://www.aaf.org/awards/addy.htm

View an archive of over 7,000 print advertisements at Duke University: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess

©2005 Susan Kirkland, small business owner and author of Start and Run a Creative Services Business, shares the secrets to finding and keeping clients, negotiating with vendors, protecting yourself from Scoundrels and scalawags--a valuable resource for everyone, no matter what line of work. For more information and a complimentary POD cartoon visit http://www.sdkirkland.com

---

Three Alternative Methods On Getting Quality Testimonials with Bonus

Here are three alternatives to increase your testimonial numbers or... Read More

The Easiest Marketing Plan Youll Ever Find

When it comes to marketing there's simply too many choices.... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - Viral-Email, Referral Marketing Strategy

This is a devastatingly powerful way to extend your marketing... Read More

4 Steps to Successful Offline Drawings

There are many different ways to market offline, each important... Read More

Postcard Direct Mail Marketing: 15 Ways To Grab Attention

If you use direct mail postcards to generate leads or... Read More

Take The Test: Does Your Marketing Copy Sell?

Your marketing materials must grab your prospect's attention long enough... Read More

Commercial Collections By Telephone

The telephone enables a credit manager to make many contacts... Read More

Flesh Eating Spiders And Other Marketing Horrors

After a friend was bitten by a spider, I decided... Read More

Marketing Secrets #101- Your Most Important Sale

Which sale is the most important one you will ever... Read More

Use a Guarantee In Your Headline To Increase Trust

Sometimes you can use a guarantee effectively in your headline.... Read More

Set Your Business Apart With A Unique Selling Proposition

Unless your company has absolutely no competition now or in... Read More

What Our CAT Taught Me About Marketing!

Toby is one of our two family pets (both cats).... Read More

How to Use Direct Response Post Card Decks as a Valuable Market Research Tool

Market research specialists have discovered a new tool which enables... Read More

Fail Your Way To Small Business Marketing Success!

Are you willing to fail your way to great marketing... Read More

Gaining Business Intelligence

A white paper on how companies should analyse customer data... Read More

Fundamental Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

This is a pretty tough global economy and it is... Read More

Marketing For Just Cause

Cause marketing is a relationship between a for-profit and a... Read More

Making More With Existing Clients

Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn... Read More

Tie-In With Others To Maximize Your Business Leverage

One of the most rewarding, inexpensive, under-used, and effective methods... Read More

Your REALTOR® Marketing Plan

The steps to creating an effective marketing plan begin with... Read More

Five Joint Venture Marketing Skills A Small Business Owner Must Have

Joint venture marketing is a lucrative way of leveraging the... Read More

Top 7 Ways to Get Your Products in the Hands of Celebrities

Celebrities are the tastemakers that drive brand awareness and usage.... Read More

10 Essential Criteria For Choosing Your Target Market

A specific group of people you will focus on selling... Read More

Niche with Passion and Reap Your Financial Rewards

One of the keys to creating a successful business is... Read More

Mortgage Marketing - How to Write a Mortgage Marketing Sales Letter That Gets Results!

Have you ever sat down to write a sales letter... Read More

How Toyota Captured the #1 Market Share . . . Through Solid Decision-Making!

How Toyota Captured the #1 Market Share . . .... Read More

Communication Breakdown - Dont Let It Happen To You

Do you have Communication breakdown?How are you communicating with your... Read More

The Bare-Bones Basics Of Multi-Level Marketing

Multi-level marketing is the biggest growth industry in the 1980's.... Read More

5 Print Ad Essentials!

Writing an effective print ad, particularly a classified advertisement, requires... Read More

How to Manage Your Marketing Mix

Here's the deal: advertisement is not marketing. It's like saying... Read More

Determining Marketing Effectiveness Even If You Didnt Track

What if you've done a variety of marketing activities over... Read More

Basic Marketing Dope

Sometimes the simplest data is the best. Marketing is not... Read More

Marketing Operations Elevates Public Relations and Communications Professionals

Is your marketing department taking advantage of MOM and MRM?... Read More