Hi There
When you start writing your marketing copy you need to understand the basic needs and desires of human nature – what’s makes us all tick effectively. What pressure buttons do you need to be pushing to get a result, so at the risk of sounding obvious here’s a list and if I were you I’d print it off and stick it up on the wall near where you write – then you can tick them off as you go along
The 9 Basic Needs of People in the 21st Century
Generally when people talk about basic human needs, they’re talking about our most primitive drive for food, shelter, clothing, and love.
We aren’t taught to need these things, the desire for them is hot-wired into our genetics and are responsible for our primary motivation as human beings: to avoid pain and maximize pleasure.
No longer primitive, and generally able to satisfy this quartet of the most basic of needs, contemporary humans are now free to expand their “gotta have it” list to include…
Security – the need to feel safe
Adventure – the need for a “rush”
Freedom – the need for independence and spontaneity
Exchange – the need to share information and knowledge
Power – the need to be in a position of authority
Expansion – the need to build and grow
Acceptance – the need to be accepted by others
Community – the need to be around people like ourselves
Self-Expression – the need to reveal ourselves through speech, actions, dress, etc.
If your marketing copy can demonstrate that you can meet any of these basic needs…or, better still, that you can satisfy a combination of needs…then selling your product or service is a snap.
The Fear Button
You probably don’t sit around thinking about worst-case health scenarios, but insurance companies do. They use those scenarios and the fear attached to them to shock you into buying a product that you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
Our fears, whether they’re of illness, loss, or social rejection motivate us to make wise decisions by forcing us to consider negative possibilities — “Will I die if I don’t follow this diet?” “Will my business collapse if I don’t purchase this software?” “Will I be embarrassed if I don’t use this deodorant?”
There are three kinds of consumer ‘fears’ that you can leverage to your advantage.
Fear that the status quo will go from good to bad and from bad to worse if he/she doesn’t buy your product
Fear that the consumer will be paying more than is necessary unless he/she does business with you
Fear of making a mistake in choosing a solution unless it’s YOUR solution
Fear of losing out on an opportunity unless they act now and purchase your product.
Food for Thought: Fear of Loss is A Biggie
When writing your marketing materials, bear in mind that people respond more to what they are going to lose than to what they are ” going to gain. It’s called “fear of loss.”
Ask yourself: What will my customers stand to lose if they do not buy my product or service? When you’ve figured out the answer, you’ve identified a key sales point for your sales letter.
A word of caution: Fear works when an optimal level of fear is evoked. Not too much, not too little, but a level of fear that’s just right.
How do you know what’s optimal? That’s tricky. You need to go to a level of fear that’s strong enough to scare people into action, but not so strong that it makes them so disturbed that they just turn off and stop reading.
Thanks for reading
Tony
Feel free to contact me anytime if i can help you with your online journey
