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The Power of Why: Your Psychological Ally To Marketing Success!
By Sean D'Souza
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Here's why ‘WHY’ is such a profit-making marketing trigger.
“Stop taking two and three plates of food,” my mother said to me
angrily. I was at a wedding and seven years old. Back then, at a lot
of the weddings we used to go to, the food would be pre-served on a plate.
I could never get enough of those calorie-ridden platters. Waylaying
different waiters, (so I would not be recognised), I’d polish 3-4 plates
without blinking an eye.
Mum wasn’t impressed, and told me to stop and desist.
“Why?” I’d ask. Her stock reply was always, “It’s bad manners to do
that.” This Dustbin Hoffman act obviously got her goat, but it left
me unfazed. It must have bugged her more than I expected though, because
in a short while Dad was peering down at my food-stuffed face.
My question remained unchanged. “WHY?”
“If you invite a hundred people to a wedding, how many would you
cater for?” he asked. “A hundred,” I answered, proud of my analytical
genius. “If you ate four plates,” he continued, “how many would remain?”
He prompted quickly, “Ninety-six right?” I nodded vigorously. “That means
some people don’t eat. If you’re so hungry, we can go out after the wedding
and get something to eat, but don’t deprive others.”
Dad Made Sense, Do You?
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Dad understood psychology. He had to sell my brain an idea that my rumbling
stomach didn’t want to understand. And he did it by answering the question,
'WHY?' How many of us ignore this powerful trigger in our marketing because
it seems too obvious, almost too simple?
Why 'Why?' Puts Elvis’ Shaking and Moving to Shame
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Let’s examine the six honest men. What, How, When, Where, Who and Why. Which
one of these is the most powerful psychological movers of them all? This would
be better answered with an example.
Let’s assume you needed to go to the supermarket. All the other triggers
(how, when, where, who and what) would make absolutely no difference if you
didn’t know ‘WHY’ you were headed there. Everything else would be totally
irrelevant. Once you know WHY you’re doing something, everything else is
just a matter of logistics.
Why Does 90% of Advertising and Marketing Communication Go Down the Drain?
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Simple. Look for the WHY in advertising and scarcity pops up instantly.
All the fancy layouts and the smart headlines can’t quite compensate for
the niggling question that goes unanswered. All your customers want to know
is, Why should I choose you? Why should I take this decision? Why should I
spend this money? Why should I look at your website? Why should I read your
brochure?’ Why should I listen to your speech? ‘Why? Why? Why?’
Dump the cotton woolly fluff. Get your customer’s brain to go scrambling
like an over-enthusiastic pup after a Frisbee. Once you have enough WHY
factor built into what you’re selling, everything else is just clip, clop,
fall in place stuff.
Be an Accountant, Do an Audit
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Look at your communication. Like reeeeeeeaaaaally look at it! What about
your website? Does it answer the question WHY straight up? And does it do
it on the first page? How about your brochure? Does its headline make it a
cinch for dustbin land? What about your speech? Do you have enough beds to
compensate for your lack of WHY?
I could go on, but I suspect you get the message.
Be merciless. If the WHYs don’t stack up, dump the communication. Or chop
and change it till it does.
Finding the Right Level of Why Power
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If you noticed, Mum actually answered my WHY question. She just didn’t
answer it to my satisfaction like Dad did. Herein lies a subtle, yet
formidable difference.
It’s not enough to simply have the WHY question answered. It’s got to
be the most ‘Rambo in your face’ answer, or it will bounce higher than
a defaulting cheque. Let your WHYs loose on each other, and let only the
one with the most testosterone come out shining.
Aristotle -- Man, Was he Smart or What?
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All communication must lead to change.
That’s what the old wise man said over 2300 years ago. Not some or most
communication.
All.
Yet we are dealing with customers that inherently detest change. WHY
is the only motivator that allows them to make that shift. Change is
still a scary word, but at least the justification sits nicely in their
cranium.
In fact, if you look closely, even a WHAT question like, What’s in it
for me?, is really a "WHY" issue. All it is saying is ‘Why should I pay
attention?’ Give your customers the WHY factor and their buying sprees
will reflect nicely in your growing bank account.
This is simple, down to earth advice. Yet it represents one of the most
powerful psychological triggers why people buy. WHY on earth would you
ignore it?
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Have you seen a customer back out of a deal at the very last minute?
Do you know specifically why that happens? Learn the power of psychological
marketing strategy and the predictability of the human brain,
that goes back thousands of years. Go to http://www.psychotactics.com
