How to make people care about the stuff you say

A friend of mine is going through a break-up.

He tells me it was amicable (it wasn’t). He tells me it was the best thing for both of them (she doesn’t think so). He’s also furnished me with a looong list of reasons as to why there's no going back.

The truth is, my friend has been wanting to break up with his partner for a while. He just doesn’t feel the same way anymore, so he bit the bullet and ended things. Then he proceeded to come up with a list of logical reasons as to why it was the right decision for both of them.

Thankfully, this friend is entirely fictional. I made him up for the purposes of this newsletter. (I’d have no friends left otherwise, even if divulging secrets would make my newsletters far more interesting.)

My point being, have you ever done this? Made a decision based mostly, if not entirely, on feels, then tried to justify it with logic?

We all do it. It’s incredibly human.

We make most of our decisions based on how we feel, even if we like to come up with logical reasons later (for the benefit of ourselves as well as others).

And nowhere is it more rampant than when we buy things.

When I bought my home, I wanted to put an offer in before I'd even seen all the rooms. I fell in love with the view from the lounge, you see, and literally had to be restrained by a friend before offering the estate agent my kidneys (both).

So, how does this fortnight’s silly anecdote apply to you?

It’s the reason we use the 60/40 rule in marketing.

This is where you spend 60% of your marketing making people feel things: with stuff like storytelling, emotional brand-building, and showing how you live your company values.

You use the other 40% on the more rational stuff: things like your price point and telling people the steps to take to buy your thing.

It’s particularly crucial for writing copy. If you’re writing a sales page, for example, connect with your audience first using empathy, show them you understand their problem. Then you can get into the details of your special offer and why it’s a great idea.

If you skip straight to the pitch, people will skim right past you because you’ve given them no reason to engage with you. It's the sales equivalent of asking a stranger to sleep with you before you've even asked their name.

Taking the time to connect with someone emotionally is always going to pay huge dividends, in business relationships and personal ones.

It feels good, too. Unless you are using your powers for evil, in which case I refer you to a blog I wrote about empathic marketing and why it’s never a good idea to be a dick.

But you’d never do that. You’re lovely ☺️

I hope this was helpful. And feel free to chuck this newsletter at anyone you know who you think might get a kick out of it.

In the meantime, I’m off to reassure all my friends that I would never use their personal lives as newsletter fodder…as tempting as it may sometimes be.

TTFN x

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