How to Write More Effective Ads – By Pushing Emotional ‘Hot Buttons’
June 28th, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized — Advertising Author
One of the most powerful truths about advertising and human behavior is that people make their buying decisions based on emotion, and then justify their decisions with logic. To make your ads more effective, make sure your ads are pushing your prospect’s emotional ‘hot buttons’ or they will lack the magnetism to compel your prospect to take action.
How do you do that?
This is where market research and knowing what matters most to your prospect comes into play, because in order to push someone’s emotional hot buttons – which are linked inherently to their most deeply-rooted desires – you first need to know what they are.
Let’s use the men’s razor industry as an example to illustrate what we mean:
The men’s razor industry is notorious for a distinct advertising style which pushes the emotional triggers of their target quite blatantly. In this highly competitive industry, the hot button is almost always the desire for sex or attention from beautiful women.
A typical ad like this might start with a man standing in front of the mirror, shaving his face and looking impressed with the close shave he just got, and how good he looks as a result. Next, for one reason or another, the man is often shown being rather suggestively admired by a gorgeous woman because of how irresistible he now is because he used this particular razor.
Words such as ‘look your best’, ‘a cut above’, or ‘the best a man can get’ aren’t so much suggesting this man will improve his business performance at a meeting he is about to attend, but rather his success he’ll surely have with his very attractive female colleagues who will be there with him!
Does one particular razor manufacturer really make a man look more attractive to gorgeous women than other brands?
Not likely.
But what all razor, beer and even car manufacturers know for sure is that by showing images of what men desire most (normally sex, and being desired by beautiful women) in their ads, they effectively link fulfillment of this powerful emotional desire to their product. And by doing so, their ads achieve better response rates and ultimately sell more razors.
Does this mean that in order to sell more of your own product or service you need to use images of beautiful women in your ads? Not necessarily. But it does mean that you have to pay very close attention to who your target audience is, and what emotions they naturally associate with your product.
For example, if you’re selling infant car seats you might appeal to a mother’s need for her child’s safety by describing the material as “protective and crash resistant”. If you’re selling a sports car to a young man, one of his emotional triggers might be a need for admiration from his peers so you might use words like “the envy of every road warrior…”
But on the other side to the decision coin is always ‘logic’.
Although people are driven to their decisions by the emotional attachment they have to certain products, if they can’t find logical reasons to back up their decision they still might walk away.
Why? Because although people all love to buy, nobody likes to be sold. That’s why having other logical reasons to justify the decision and prove it makes practical or economical sense too is critical to closing the sale. People need logic to finalize their emotional buying decisions.
So when writing any kind of sales copy, remember these two proven copywriting tips:
1. To make your ads more effective, push your prospect’s emotional hot buttons by highlighting specific benefits of your product and positioning them in a way that emotionally links your buyer’s desires directly to your product. And then…
2. Back up the emotional decision your prospect is coming to with a healthy dose of logical reasons why they should buy.
** Want to learn more about how I do it? I reveal it all here: http://www.KathyGyimesy.com
Kathy Gyimesy is a Marketing Creative Consultant and Online Marketer in Toronto Canada. She has studied with, interviewed and worked with several of the top experts in the fields of direct marketing, internet business and alternative healing modalities.
She leverages powerful online systems to maximize her own time and revenue, and enjoys teaching others how to succeed online in record time.
Have a question for Kathy about online marketing or how to create a passive income stream? Submit your question here: http://www.AskKathyNow.com
