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I spoke to a well known writer and consultant last week who didn’t have a particularly high opinion of how “marketable” using psychological triggers would be – the senior marketers at the conference he spoke at “already get that stuff,” he said – but when I told him the story of the campaign aimed at Fortune 500 CIO’s where we saw a 33% response rate, his opinion did a 180 degree turn.
“Wow.” I got a one word response. When I told him we launched this campaign in New York and New Jersey, shortly after 9/11 when no one was supposed to be buying, he said it again, this time a little louder. But the real “wow” here isn’t the big results. It’s that we did this by making very subtle changes to what we already had in place. We started with a campaign that would have provided a respectable 5% to 8% return. We ended up with something more.
And that’s the whole point. Much like the difference between owning a bible and being a saint, “already getting that stuff” is never enough. Knowing how to apply the right principles at the right time is the difference between theory and practice. At Decision Triggers, we make subtle changes so that your efforts tap your audience’s “decision triggers,” – those “if/then” mental processes that instantly route requests to the “hear more” or the “mental spam filter” parts of the brain. It isn’t a magic bullet. People are smart. But if you could stack the deck in your favor and ensure that more people heard your message, I’m guessing you probably would.
That’s what we do at Decision Triggers. We help you stack the deck.
Here’s an example that you can put to good use right now – this is one big take away lesson from the story of our CIO’s. Meet the principle of reciprocity. You’ve heard of it, I’m sure, but we’re going to do more than just talk about it – we’re going to show you how to use it:
Reciprocity: We feel social pressure to give back when we have received. Reciprocity works when you deliver an unexpected gift – just prior to asking for what you want. Consider the most important marketing campaign you have on your desk right now: how do we employ reciprocity?
- The Easter Egg – When was the last time you got an unexpected gift? Give your audience something unexpected first – then, after they’ve received your gift, present them with your request. This can be a sneak peak at something before a launch, something you know they want because you know what they’re interested in, or something else. Think hard about this and lay the ground work ahead of time so that you have prepared your audience for your real request.
- Eye Contact – When was the last time you had a program shot out from under you by someone other than your intended target? Start building a bridge to those stakeholders you need on your side to win – influencers, gatekeepers, peers, approvers, and anyone else. Gifts aren’t always tangible. But you have to do it first – before you need them.
- The Strategic Retreat – A concession is a gift. In our Fortune 500 CIO campaign, we had research proving our product increased productivity by 23%. Instead of trying to win the argument that would have certainly have begun surrounding the validity of this extraordinary claim, I immediately backed off. I gave my customer a gift by cutting the 23% in half. And in half again. And again. Am I being reasonable now? Believable? Yes. Giving your customer a concession allows you to retreat to a place where everyone’s comfortable. Prepare the path you plan to retreat on well, before you start.
Reciprocity is a chess match. You need to plan your moves well in advance. The best use of reciprocity happens before you do what you think you have to do first.
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When we set out to launch a vital marketing program, we can either do our best, delivering clever work carefully done – or we can use the best possible tools (like reciprocity) and knock it out of the park. Like we did with the CIO’s above, for example.
Let me close the discussion here. I could go into more detail, but let me offer you a look at a write up of the entire campaign I discussed above - download it at www.decisiontriggers.com and understand how we used not just one but nine different principles. This campaign was a few years ago but the lessons remain vivid for us. Today, we’re working with consumer brands and e-tailers on some “easy to test, easy to measure but hard to improve upon” programs, and we’ll fill you in as we go forwards.
Let’s talk later!
Regards,
Stephen Denny
DECISION TRIGGERS
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