Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Curiosity Catches the Customer

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Curiosity generates attention and action. Want to generate interest and motivate prospects to take action? Awaken their curiosity!

Direct mail marketers use curiosity to get you to open the envelope and read the sales pitch. A tantalizing statement on the outside of the envelope makes you want to know what is inside. Great marketers take it further. The direct mail packages for books published by Boardroom Publications offer exciting news and benefits, with the page numbers where you can learn the details. Of course, to get to those pages, you have to first order the book from them. They get lots of orders from people who want to look up the information they were teased with in the ad.

Get customers itching to know more by engaging them in these ways:

Make an outrageous statement that causes them to wonder about who you are and why you think that way.

Start a story that makes them want to know more. One of the most famous headlines in advertising is, “They laughed when I sat down at the piano but when I started to play! –” John Caples wrote that headline more than 75 years ago for a mail order piano course. The ad was amazingly successful, and has been copied by marketers selling a wide range of products and services. A recent radio ad for a language course started out, “They laughed when I said I would order in French . . .” The speaker then goes on to confidently speak in French.

Ask a provocative question that makes them think. A question on the cover of a brochure or outside of an envelope can get readers to keep reading.

Use pictures. Photographs attract the eye and capture attention. Using photographs in advertisements increase interest. Want readers to click on a link in an email or on your Web site? Add a picture, perhaps with a caption such as, “What are these people doing?” That simple action will multiply your click through rate.

Offer a puzzle or a riddle. Customers will want to know the answer.

Test readers with quizzes. Magazines know that quizzes are irresistible. Humans love to take quizzes, whether about trivia or to learn something about themselves, such as “What kind of mate are you?”

Be random. Flickr.com allows you to browse a random assortment of recently-submitted photos. When you see a photo that catches your interest, you can click on a link to see other photos by the same person. Displaying random images, quotes, or other information can get Web visitors clicking and keep them exploring your site.

Tantalize them with a chance to get something free, learn something new, or get something more.

Leave them wanting more, but with a call to action. Tell them how they can satisfy their curiosity by scheduling a consultation, reading your book, visiting your web site, coming to your workshop, or whatever it is you want them to do. Then, deliver what you promised.

Use your customers’ natural curiosity to draw them to you. 

Don’t Buy This Product!

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Can you imagine telling customers not to buy your product? But don’t stop there. Give them reasons why they should buy from someone else instead of you. 

That’s exactly what Sonlight Curriculum does on their web site. In fact, they list 27 reasons why customers would not want to buy their home schooling products.

Of course, the reasons not to buy are crafted to subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) point out the strengths of the products, and why their customers love them. For example, two of the reasons Sonlight says people should not buy from them are: (1) They want a program that provides the features of a classroom school, with regular quizzes, tests and grading services, and (2) They want their children to study what their peers study in a traditional school environment. (To view all 27 reasons, and the explanation for each, go to http://www.sonlight.com/not_to_buy.html.)

Clearly, some home schooling parents will want a program that has the features described in Sonlight’s 27 reasons not to buy, and they will go elsewhere. Those customers would not have been happy with their purchase from Sonlight, anyway. However, many others will be drawn to Sonlight specifically because of the reasons they say some people will not like them. These are the parents for whom they created their products.

Elsewhere on their web site, Sonlight offers 13 Reasons Why Families Love Sonlight, Key Reasons to Shop With Us and other information that supports why customers should buy from them. But by including the reasons why someone should not buy from them, they focus on the strengths and uniqueness of their programs in an unexpected way.

Your products and services should be positioned to meet the wants and needs of specific groups of people. By doing so, they will not appeal to others. Spelling out exactly who will want your products and why makes it clear to your best prospects why they should buy from you. That can also mean identifying who should not buy from you.

When done effectively, this type of marketing not only conveys the benefits of buying from your company, it makes customers feel as if they are part of an exclusive group. After all, these products are for just anyone. It takes a special customer to appreciate the qualities of what you offer.

Start by listing the features and benefits that make your products different from your competitors’ products. Don’t be afraid of listing things that may alienate some potential buyers. Next, frame those features and benefits in a way that will appeal to your perfect customers. These are the people you want to attract. Use language that shows they are special, phrases such as, “This isn’t for everyone,” or “This may not be for you.”

Although you may think it is best to make every possible sale, selling to customers who are not a good fit for your business can result is less satisfaction (both for them and you) and more time spent on customer service issues. Attract your perfect customers and everyone will be happier.

Say the Secret Word and Win Customers

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There are words that excite customers, draw them into your message, and cause them to buy. Using these powerful words in your marketing communications, especially in headlines, can increase the response you receive to advertising, direct mail campaigns, e-mail and Web offers and anywhere you use the written word to communicate with potential buyers.

What these words all have in common is that they promise benefits. Your headline should always pull customers in to read the rest of your copy, whether it is the headline on an article, a Web page, or an advertisement. Each line of copy should encourage them to read the next line. Benefits do that by suggesting the answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?”

So what are these secret words? Of course, one obvious choice is free. Who doesn’t like to get things at no cost? Bonus, win and gift can have the same effect. Along the same line, sale, bargain, discount, special and save promise reduced cost.

Customers like a guarantee. It reduces the risk you are asking them to take. At no risk, no-risk trial, and send no money are also effective.

Discover, new, at last, announcing, first time ever, just arrived, breakthrough and never before let customers know that they may be learning something that others do not know. We also like how to, secret(s of), unknown, hidden, facts, and the truth about as they imply that we are getting inside information.

Other benefits include easy (to use), unique, valuable, amazing, instantly, premium, miracle, improved, opportunity, priority and revolutionary. Create urgency with hurry, only, last chance, rush, limited, today, and now.

Questions can cause the reader to pause and think of an answer. Once they do that, they will keep reading. Use how much, how would, how will, do you and other questions to get them involved.

Words with a strong emotional connection include you, love, hate, protect, life, and yes.

Pay attention to advertising copy you see in publications, in your mail and online. What words and phrases grab your attention and get you to continue reading? Which ones turn you off? Which ones move you to buy?

Remember that your customers will not necessarily respond the same way you do, so consider what is important to them. What do they want (rather than need)? What do they want to avoid? What are the hot buttons that will cause them to buy? Test to determine which words and phrases draw the best results from your target market.

Make your claims credible. People are wise to marketers who simply throw a bunch of adjectives and promises around. Use testimonials and other documentation to back up the headline, and show that you can deliver on the promised benefits.

Use words to paint a picture of something that would please your customers, then show how you (or your product) help them achieve that. These “secret words” will engage your customers’ imaginations and allow them to visualize how they benefit from doing business with you.