Marketers used to rely on persuasive sell copy such as: “Limited Time," "Only One Left," "Don’t Miss Out," "Never to Be Offered Again," "Big Discounts," "Guaranteed," and "Free,"
And for a long while, those words got response, drove sales, and helped launch many direct marketing careers and agencies.
Just as many of you might remember building “urgent” direct mail copy, you might also remember that point of diminishing returns from using all of those “powerful” words. And the point at which your bosses were not so okay with that average 1% response rate.
That's all changed. We’re just not in an era where smartphones rule our lives, we are in a perpetual era where smart consumers rule markets. They're not believing those brand claims or promises any more. They're also not caring if it is the very last seat on that flight at that price. They've heard it before, so they don’t care and don’t respond.
We’ve used those lines way too long and not delivered on promises we've made. Conscious choices are built upon values, personality and the giving natures of brands. Brands that give back to the earth, people and causes don’t use price discounts or sales gimmicks to drives sales. Apple, Patagonia, Starbucks and Newman’s food products, are just a few of the “feel good” brands that people purchase, regardless of infrequent discounts and promotions. They don’t have to lower prices to make people feel good about purchasing from them.
That last statement above is the “key” to copywriting and overall marketing that works in today’s Smart Consumer environment — copy, stories, social and live engagement — that makes us feel good about ourselves and our role in helping drive good, amid the daily chaos we experience and witness.
Marketing copy strategies that align with “feeling good” address many aspects of human nature and what really influences us to change our behavior. It's no longer about the words we use to influence behavior, it's about the values we project, our brands, and the values of those we want to do business with us.
Here are some examples of how we can persuade with good values vs. just “good “ words:
One of the five drivers of human happiness, according to Jonathan Haidt’s book, “The Happiness Hypothesis,” is being part of something that does good in the world. This new generation of customers not only seeks to do good in the world themselves, they seek to purchase from and align with brands that do so. If a brand just makes good products for good prices, that is not good enough.. According to Cone Communications research, more than 90% of consumers want to purchase from brands that give back to humanitarian or environmental causes, and around 80% of consumers will switch brands if their current brand is not aligned with their same “do good” values and able to show a direct impact, monetarily. (Opens as a PDF)
We are wired to seek safety, comfort and security, no matter how successful we are, or powerful we may think we are. Its all part of the “survival of the fittest” mentality our species adheres to daily — socially, financially, physically and emotionally — whether we admit or acknowledge it. Brands that help consumers find and secure a “good” place in life are brands that win trial and secure loyalty, no matter what they are selling. What is the security that your brand provides? What is the comfort you deliver? These are the things you should write about in your content, your social posts, your marketing campaigns, even your packaging. All those promises of “best” quality, service, price, value are meaningless. We’ve all been there, done that, and now we want more. We want to feel safe and made that way by a brand we trust and a brand that has our same values.
Of course, good products matter, too. Patagonia sold around $156 million in products with an ad that said “Don’t buy this jacket.” Instead, its call to action was to let customers repair their current jackets and save resources from the earth and money for themselves. However, this was so aligned with its customers’ core values, people bought those jackets and other products, anyway. But ads that promote your values really work best when your product has value, too. So as you promote the values you cherish for brand character, you need to promote what you do to add value to your products or services. Do you base your production protocols upon quality management processes and systems that have been certified by third parties? Do you add value in ways that others’ don’t, such as added features, warranties, extended return periods and so on? How can you communicate what goes into your product development that stands out from competitors’ products?
Words that communicate the above “good values” are the “words” that will stand out and help secure new sales, new levels of loyalty and new referrals. In marketing today, talk or “words” are cheap. Values drive value beyond price and imagination.
Source: Target Marketing
Edited by: Prohaska & Co.
