| Dear Marketing Top Gun,The great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, has said, “You can get anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, put the same thought this way, “The only way to influence someone is to find out what they want, and show them how to get it.”
Notice that both these masters of influence say that success lies in what others want.
Ignoring this simple insight is the most common cause of marketing failure. Over and over, I’ve seen otherwise sharp marketers launch a product because they want to sell it, not because anyone wants to buy it.
Top Gun, remember this always—you will easily avoid embarrassing failures and discover great riches only when you look at markets through the other end of the telescope—not the lens of what you want to sell, but the lens of what people want to buy.
This is why marketing decisions based on demographics, psychographics, “relationship marketing” and other hifalutin phrases can be a huge trap.
Let me tell you something—I’ve never bought an aspirin because I’m a member of a demographic group or because I want a relationship with my druggist. I buy aspirin because I have a headache!
Headaches, problems, desires—human wants—these are your markets!
Identify these wants, these “hungry crowds” as my friend Gary Halbert puts it, and you can make more money than is likely good for you. Help enough people get what they want, and you can get virtually anything you want.
How Can You Identify Wants?
I have many suggestions, but I promised to keep these Bullets short, so let me name three of my favorites for now:
- Keep your eye on best-seller lists. These are straws in the wind of what the public wants. Example: go to Amazon.com and look up the 25 best-selling books in your market. They will instantly give you lots of ideas on what people in your market are looking for. Similar titles could make red hot informational premiums to add to your own offer.
- Watch more movies because movies are the playgrounds of human emotion. As a marketer, you want to be an expert in human emotions. As you watch, try to identify every emotion the actors are playing, and let yourself feel it intensely. It’s fun and instructive.You’ll also open up your emotional channels as never before. This will help you immensely in writing more emotionally powerful copy because you will feel what you are writing about.Remember that in direct response, for clarity and for maximum believability, we must express our thoughts in logical sequence, in rational sentences, offering lots of proof and “reasons why” along the way. These are rational elements that make up the bones, the skeleton of your presentation. They are critically important.But emotions are the flesh and blood of your copy. They are the life juices, the beating heart of your ad. The vast majority of products are sold because of the need for love, the fear of shame, the pride of achievement, the drive for recognition, the yearning to feel important, the urge to look attractive, the lust for power, the longing for romance, the need to feel secure, the terror of facing the unknown, the lifelong hunger for self-esteem and so on. Emotions are the fire of human motivation, the combustible force that secretly drives most decisions to buy. When your marketing harnesses these forces correctly, you will generate explosive increases in response.
- Follow Your Heart. Your brain is the smartest organ in your body, but your heart is the wisest. In any activity, whether in marketing or in life, listen to your heart.If your heart is saying one thing, but your brain (or the “expert” running the meeting) is forcing the issue in another direction, take a step back and listen to that voice from your heart. Don’t be afraid of that inner voice. It is not just your best friend. It is you.You will live a much happier life, be much more influential and become a much better marketer because other people’s hearts vibrate to the same string. The more you listen to your own heart, the more you will hear—and influence—the hearts of others.
Sincere wishes for a good life
and (always!) higher response,
P.S. If you know any copywriters or marketers who would enjoy this Bullet, just send them an email with this link:http://marketingbullets.com/
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