Monday, 3:21 pm
West of Langford Cove, TN
Hi there.
In the world of successful advertising, there’s a mantra: “Copy is King.”
And the simple phrase is based on a simple truth: pretty websites don’t sell things, exciting graphics don’t sell things. Words sell things…
But not just any words. The words have to be crafted into something that conveys a message to the reader that not only grabs their attention but also ignites their interest to the point that they take action as a result of understanding your message…
The best way to do this is a method that has been used since the dawn of mankind: the art of storytelling.
Why?
Because the human brain is always categorizing things. Always.
Your brain takes in enormous amounts of information all the time, the only way for it to cope with it all is to organize everything into two major categories, “Relevant” and “Irrelevant”.
The “relevant” is stored away somewhere, (however fleeting its stay may be), while the irrelevant is almost instantly, imperceptibly dropped into oblivion.
“It’s irrelevant to me so it’s not worth my time or energy remembering it.”
Subconscious of the Average Human Being
This is an instant death blow for sub-par advertising.
If your ad isn’t relevant, it won’t even last .2 seconds in the subconscious “relevancy filter” in a prospect’s mind.
But, a death blow to sub-par advertising is a golden opportunity for top-notch advertisers who get it.
This is where the magic of storytelling swoops in to save the day.
The art of good storytelling has a natural way of eliminating what is unnecessary or irrelevant from the narrative to focus on moving the plot.
In the case of your advertising, the story involves your prospect overcoming some challenge/obstacle/villain by acquiring your product/service.
The challenge for most businesses is that they simply miss the mark in their storytelling. Or, more specifically, they miss the mark by telling THEIR story, instead of THEIR PROSPECT’S story.
Here’s the thing, most people are looking out for themselves. They only care about your business or your product/service insofar as it helps them along in life, in whatever form that may be.
Therefore, the story you craft for your advertising MUST remain centered on that “selfish” desire of your customer. The story isn’t about you, it’s about them. You’re just a side character. The wise, old sage who bestows upon a brave hero the ancient and magical sword that will decide the fate of the universe and sends him on his way to slay the dragon, etc.
Here’s the key takeaway:
In all advertising, you must speak directly to the customer and convey as clearly as possible the way that your product/service will help him along in life. Whether it be physically, mentally, financially, spiritually, socially, or any myriad of other ways.
You’re not offering him a widget. You’re offering him a new and better way of living that the widget makes possible?
Does that make sense?
Stay tuned for part 2.
