The Secret to Making an Impact

ID-100104496(1)Most of us want to leave our impression on the world, whether it is for a humanitarian cause or to get customers to purchase our company’s products or services.

In order to make an impact, we have to get others excited about the same things that excite us. In today’s fast-moving, in-your-face environment, this is not easy to do.

 

What is the secret to making an impact?

Passing our own passion on to others.  Our passion has an emotional energy all of its own. When we share it with others, it can prompt them to become as committed as we are to our passion.

This may sound like a simple process, but there are a number of barriers to getting our message across.

ID-100185968The first barrier is Clutter. The Internet, TV and radio, as well as our personal computers and smartphones are cluttered with information, most of which people can do without. Our potential customers are being bombarded 24/7 with ads, emails, YouTube videos, music, sports and news, leaving them with information overload.

Image courtesy of twobee/freedigitalphotos.net        

Our marketing has to cut through that clutter in such a way that we make a lasting impression.

Numbness is the second barrier that we have to overcome when getting our message across. Consumers eventually become numb to the attempts of salespeople trying to grab their attention to convince them to buy products that they really don’t want or even need.

Out of sheer self-preservation, customers block out the majority of sales pitches, and only open up to the ones that engage them personally within the first few micro-seconds. It is critical that we find a way to infuse our marketing with our passion. Without that emotional connection, we will miss that tiny window of opportunity to engage our prospective customers or donors.

Fear is the third barrier to making an impact. Most people have been burned numerous times by shoddy products and false advertising. They are more than a little hesitant to commit to a purchase, even when they find our marketing appealing. To overcome this barrier, we need to find a way to prove our trustworthiness. We have to demonstrate that what we are promoting will do what we claim it will, and that we back it up with our company. Testimonies from happy customers and a bullet-proof, money-back guarantee go a long way toward reassuring potential customers.

Whether we are promoting a service, product, or cause, or are starting up a website or selling our book, the barriers are the same. By cutting through the clutter, emotionally engaging numb prospects and building trust to overcome their fears, we will stand out from the competition and elicit a positive response from our prospects.

How Can We Accomplish This?

It’s not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it. The way you word your marketing and how you lay it out visually for your prospects determine whether or not you can overcome the barriers of Clutter, Numbness, and Fear. Approaching your potential customers with the old “Hard Sell” will probably send them running in the other direction. Today, high-pressure “Hard Sell” has morphed into the pop-up ads that annoy consumers as they surf the Net. This type of ad tends to create the impression that the company is either a scam or a false advertiser.

Today’s customers are savvy and well-informed. They have the entire Internet at their fingertips and can research a product with a few clicks. They check out the online reviews, so building your credibility and trustworthiness is paramount. It will separate you early on from your competitors.

Wording is the Key

Your marketing has to be worded to solve the problem that prompted your prospects to start shopping or searching in the first place. They may be looking for clothing, appliances, computers, contractors, medical or health advice, encouragement, or a cause to connect to. Your marketing must identify that need and immediately demonstrate how your company, product, book or website will meet that need. How you word your marketing must accomplish three objectives:

  • Make you stand out from the crowd (cut through the clutter)
  • Engage the prospect emotionally and logically (overcome the numbness)
  • Prove that you are trustworthy (dispel the fear)

Too many businesses fail to clear one or more of these hurdles. If you want to write effective marketing, you need more than sales talk. You must also be able to word it so that it inspires people. They have to catch your passion! The goal is to make them see how what you are promoting will enhance their lives.

If you are struggling to get the wording just right, a solution could be to bring in a ghostwriter. Your ideas and vision coupled with a ghostwriter’s unique skills can infuse your marketing with exactly what you need to make that impact.

Have an Appealing Layout

Your potential customers want to be able to quickly scan your marketing or webpage and see if you are answering their questions. They don’t want to be forced to sift through pages of print.

Lay out your message in a clean, uncluttered way. Include eye-catching pictures and intriguing videos that enable customers to experience your passion more deeply. This will visually attract potential customers to your product or cause. Keep paragraphs short and insert bullets with key points whenever appropriate. Use sizes and styles of fonts that are comfortable to read. Intersperse some color and emphasize with bold lettering and underlines. For websites, you can use website creation software or WordPress to do this on your own, or hire a web designer. For printed brochures, go with a print shop or online printing service.

If you want to make an impact…

Your marketing needs to overcome clutter, numbness and fear. These barriers keep your customers from purchasing your product or committing to your humanitarian mission. By simply tweaking how you word and present your message, you can make that impact on the hearts and minds of the people you are trying to reach.

 

 

 

How to Make your Online Video WOW Customers

ID-100185968Image courtesy of twobee/freedigitalphotos.net

Whenever we surf the Internet, we are assaulted by thousands of YouTube videos begging for our attention.  Unfortunately too many of them have been literally thrown together—and consequently are painful to watch.   The self-made “producers” of these disasters hope to get their 15 seconds of fame, but if you are promoting your business, you want your company’s first impression to last a lot longer than that.

Your goal is to brand your company name.  You want to strategically promote your products and services to bring in long-term, loyal customers.  Slapping together a quick video just won’t cut it.  You have to be sure that the way you come across in your video reflects your company’s integrity and mission, as well as the value of your products and services.  If you whip up a video out of thin air, you risk this backfiring and leaving a bad taste in the viewers’ mouth.

Effective podcasts, online videos, webinars and even YouTube videos, start with a solid script that catches viewers’ attention by presenting a very specific need that potential customers may have.  It then demonstrates how your company can solve that problem with your product or service.   Your video needs to become an interactive ad that draws in the potential customer and engages him or her both logically and emotionally.

Every word of your script counts.  If you are too wordy, you will lose your viewer’s attention a few seconds into the video.  Your script has to be concise and, at the same time, have a personalized impact on your potential client.

How do you come up with a script that can accomplish this?  The key is to visually and verbally present a situation that the viewer can identify with.  If your company does accounting services, show a scene where a person is overwhelmed trying to sort bills.  If you are a contractor, portray a ID-1001268homeowner trying to decide on which countertop to put in his kitchen.

 

By presenting a problem and solving it in your video, you enable your potential customers to perceive your company as the one that can get them out of their dilemma.

Image Courtesy of James Barker/freedigitalphotos.net

The information you share in your video must be genuinely useful and practical—whether or not the prospect goes with your company.  This way, you start to create trust in your company.  People appreciate being given free helpful tips.  Some of these viewers will come back later and do business with you because of this generous gesture.

Use dialogue in your video script to set the scene for the problem that needs solving.  On-screen conversation brings your video alive and makes it believable.  Moreover, it holds attention longer than merely having someone stand in the middle of the screen doing a monologue.  Use narration to bridge the moments you want viewers to remember with the key points you are trying to make.  Casually integrate how your company can help the client with his predicament.  Close the video by personally reminding your potential customers that you are dedicated to making their lives easier.  Include a valuable offer or special along with your website URL.  Also place a live link to your website under the video so that interested prospects can get to your website with a quick click.

If you prefer a more low-key approach, create three or four videos with each portraying a different problem that your company can solve, and only insert your sales pitch into the final one.  Link the videos together into a set so that prospective customers get several practical tips from you before being prompted to buy.  Having a set of videos enables you to let them know the range of services or products you offer, and there will be a greater likelihood that one or more of these will match what the prospect needs.  This increases the chances that the viewer will buy from you.

If writing a video script is a little outside your comfort zone, or you are worried that it might be too time-consuming, consider jotting down your ideas and having a ghostwriter write the script for you.   You would oversee the script.  All you would need to do is lay out the overall concept and key points of the video, podcast or webinar.  The ghostwriter would take care of making the script flow and encourage prospects to buy from your company.

Having a video on your Facebook page, Twitter feed or other Social Media can make all the difference in attracting new customers to your business.  Static advertising can’t compete with YouTube videos, podcasts and webinars in today’s sales environment.  “Wow” your potential customers by taking advantage of this powerful interactive tool.