Direct Response Marketing Copy & Strategy
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We choose help people that we like, people that make us happy.
We like people that are similar to ourselves. People that remind us of our best attributes.
Therefor, if we want to be persuasive, we must be likable.
As humans, we mirror one another’s behavior. We reciprocate emotions and we reciprocate favors.
To be persuasive, you Continue reading “Building Rapport for Fun and Profit”
You like things? I like things! It’s hard not to, am I right?
Liking others, and being likable, is essential in the art of persuasion. People don’t help or support those they dislike.
But what if the things that someone likes aren’t capable of reciprocating that affection? They’ll forever support that, too.
People will dismiss an opportunity for improvement or learning if it means they might have to question their behavior… or their access to a favorite treat.
I could never eat healthy — I like cookies too much!
I love my morning Frappachino!*
Well, I don’t smoke that much.
This represents the most insidious of all the Liking: Consumables. Food, soda, beer, drugs.
*It’s 2017 — is Frappachino still a thing? Continue reading “Three Types of Liking: People Liking Consumables (Part 3)”
You like cake? I like ice cream, although I’m flexible.
They’re both desserts. They fall under the same utility in classic Economic Theory, meaning they serve the same purpose: dessert!
Yet we all know that people have different tastes and preferences. Even economists understand that we like different things, which can make economic models complex!
In his book Influence, Robert Cialdini identified liking as one of his six (now seven) principles of persuasion.
If we want to persuade and influence people, it’s important that we’re liked and that we like others. It’s essential.
No one wants to help the jerk.
But in the age of Social Media, what does it mean to “like?”
Continue reading “Three Types of Liking: People Liking People (Part 1)”
I can barely feel my fingers. The wind whips while I work in the wintry 6° weather. Fahrenheit.
My car’s alarm won’t stop sounding since I tried, and failed, to jumpstart the car. It’s a constant blast of the horn.
Now I’m trying to silence the alarm with some key trickery that the dealership is suggesting over the phone. I can barely hear anything over the car’s alarm.
“Turn it left for ten seconds,” he says. “No, wait, try turning the key to the right.” Continue reading “Reciprocity at the Car Dealership”
YOU can be 10% more knowledgeable about advertising giant Claude C Hopkins’ Secrets to Success with this one PRL post!
This is the 11th post in a series covering the current PRL book selection, My Life in Advertising.
Chapter twelve of My Life in Advertising, Hopkins works on the Palmolive soap account.
Following Hopkins’ playbook, the ad agency offers to buy the beauty soap for whomever brings in a coupon. Palmolive uses this offer to force quick distribution in retail stores, because no business wants the customer going elsewhere. The customers become hooked because the rule of reciprocity says that something done for them, the free bar of soap, will increase their desire to give back.
Continue reading “Food… Shot from Guns? (My Life in Advertising: Chapters 12 and 13)”
Over the last few years, I’ve had the feeling that the Universe is Talking To Me.
Not with words. The Universe is bigger than my language skills. And not in a tinfoil-hat kinda way.
These Messages From The Universe appear as coincidences in my life. We all have them.
Some people would miss these. Some may see the coincidences but ignore them.
I’ve started paying attention. Continue reading “Universal Mind Control?”
When you’re shopping, how closely do you monitor the price tags? We tend to think we’re very price-conscious. We do pay attention to price, it’s true, but there are many more factors at work.
Price is often one of the least important concerns when we find the right item.
For example, we can get generic shoes at many stores. Do you buy the cheapest shoes you can? Or do you look for something that expresses a bit about your personality? If not shoes, maybe you prefer that people use your title when addressing you. Maybe you like to see your name in lights. Maybe you drive a fancy car.
Everyone has a desire to express and elevate their status, and the right item to do that will make someone say, I gotta have this, price be damned.
Chapter 6 of My Life in Advertising, Personal Salesmanship. While Claude C Hopkins worked at Swift and Company selling the lard substitute Cotosuet to home users, the company was having a hard time selling to bakers. The price was higher than the competition.
Hopkins insisted that price has nothing to do with salesmanship, and he sets out to prove it.
Continue reading “Bakers Rising (My Life in Advertising, Chapter 6)”
Have you ever felt obliged to do something for someone to repay her for her efforts? Maybe you sent a thank-you card to a great aunt for that fruitcake. That time when you tipped at a restaurant when grabbing takeout. Someone held a door for you and you hurried through, trying to not waste his time.
Obligation goes beyond wanting to do something. You feel like you have to do something. This is reciprocity. You might call it tit-for-tat.
We recently covered anchoring, setting a large opening bid to help sway a negotiation towards that anchor. Reciprocity is almost the opposite.
My father-in-law recently gave me a great example of reciprocity that he uses in his college classroom. Continue reading “From Bottled Water to Better Grades”