(Tim Miles is reliving the best and worst parts of the summer of 1977 – attempting to visit 14 states in 14 days with his family and only Pringles, Hawaiian Punch, and spray cheese for provisions. He’s banned iPads and is forcing his family to enjoy car bingo, the license plate game, AM radio, and the occasional 8-track tape. In his absence, Ryan Patrick has the conn.)
“Listen, I want this ad to really stand out. It needs to get people’s attention. So I want you to start the ad by shouting ‘ATTENTION!!!’ That oughta do the trick.”
Uh … no. No, it won’t.
Honestly, would you instruct your staff to welcome every new customer by screaming “CAN I HELP YOU?!?” Of course not. It’s offensive. It’s rude. It’s annoying.
So why are you shouting at me in your ads? Do you truly believe that’s gonna get my “ATTENTION”?
A friend told me, “I will specifically avoid advertisers (mostly car dealerships) that do this- I’ve even been known to drive hours out of my way to prove my point.”
Yep. You got her attention, all right.
Do you really want to know how to stand out, get noticed, and capture the listener’s attention?
Here’s the secret:
Say what she wants to hear.
Speak to her felt need – the desire in the heart of the customer. When you speak to an unfelt need, you’re answering a question she’s not asking.
When you strike up a nice, quiet conversation with a prospective customer about a problem or crisis she is facing and how your product or service can help her fix/manage/overcome that problem, trust me my friend, you will have her full attention.
photo credit: Steve Rhodes via photopin cc
Except for Gates Bar-B-Q. “HAIMAYIHEPYOU?!” I love that.
I absolutely could not agree more!
If it is a radio ad, the most important line is the first line. It has to be more interesting than what the person listening to the radio is thinking at that moment. Yelling ATTENTION in a radio ad is not interesting at all.