When you’re doing a presentation, making a sales call, speaking to group, doing standup, you want to connect with your audience emotionally. When you know who that audience is, you’ll be more effective.
It’s the same with your commercials. Engaging an audience of potential investors concerned about having enough money for retirement is different than engaging an audience of young couples wanting to put aside money for their children’s college education.
Different mindsets, wants, needs, perceptions.
When you define the potential customer, think more in terms of psychographics than demographics. Is your audience a certain age, or do they want to think of themselves as being a certain age?
The key question to ask yourself:
What will trigger an emotional reaction in this audience?
Let’s clarify. You want to elicit an emotional response (positive or negative) that leads to a sale, not one that alienates the audience.
When in doubt, run the idea, concept, script or produced commercial by a member of the intended audience. Take their reaction seriously. This is especially important when writing for women, especially with humor.
Percentages vary, but many studies show at least an equal, if not larger percentage of purchase decisions are made and/or influenced by women.
Remember, your identified individual is part of a tribe, so you should support, not diss that tribe’s identity in your commercial. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating that you want your audience to experience your commercial and say, “That’s me. They’re talking to me and my group.” Now you’ve made the message interactive.
One way to define for your audience participant who you’re talking to is to make clear who you’re not talking to: the unknowing, the uncool, not as smart, less sophisticated, less pretentious, haven’t heard the news, haven’t learned… etc. group.
Once you create your powerful emotional message to target your selected listener profile, know that you will also touch the hearts of prospects far afield of that target. Think of it as a bonus for your client.
Powerful emotional messages will have a kind of ripple effect on many people who weren’t your focus, but who will have been moved by it.
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