How to Get and Keep Attention
by Nick Nichols, B2B Sales and Marketing Expert
(This post is short and to the point, but don’t let that fool you. It addresses the fuzzy thinking I encounter far too often.) A recent LinkedIn discussion centered on a follow-up email message that a podcast show host wanted to send to potential show sponsors. He posted a redacted version and asked for comments. I decided to rewrite the message and post it as an image. I was then criticized by a couple of people who said my message was “way too long” and because “people are busy” they would never read it. Horsefeathers!
Rather than try to prove my case in back-and-forth exchanges on LinkedIn, I decided to prove it here. Namely, that I can write an email, print ad, blog post, or any marketing communication for that matter of any length that is targeted to a specific audience that offers to solve an urgent, expensive or very personal right-now problem that audience has and I bet you $100 that it will be read in its entirety – and all I have to do is write the headline! To do this, I’ll address my message to a man named Oscar Trophy. Click on the image below to see the headline.
Click Here To See the Headline
I GUARANTEE that if you were Oscar and saw this headline you would read every word of what followed at least once!
Yes, I used a headline that is blunt, but I proved my point, which is that people will pay attention to and absorb content of any length when it is targeted to them and the problems, wishes, dreams and desires they have.
But here’s an even more important lesson:
If you are not in the audience a message is targeting, then it doesn’t matter what YOU think of the message. It only matters what THEY think and do as a result of absorbing the message! And the only way to know if your message will be effective is to test it.
In checking the LinkedIn profiles of the people who criticized my email message I found that they did not appear to be in the podcast host’s target audience. Whether or not he listens to them is up to him.
