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Using
Psychology to Improve Seminar Attendance
by Michael Lovas
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If you could name the
most important element in any seminar marketing program, what would you say?
There are really only a few possible elements. The list, the presentation, the seminar
concept - and the one that ties it all together - the psychology.
In the mid-80s, as the senior direct marketing writer for JCPenney Financial Services,
I became fascinated by the use of psychology in marketing. Now, after studying the
psychology of language and communication for years, I know that very few people have
the psychological skills they can use in marketing - even practicing psychologists!
Well, doesn't that make sense, who wants to spend years studying the science of psychology
in hopes of possibly learning something that might relate to marketing? On the other
hand, how many psychologists would rather help you with your marketing, instead of
people with troubled minds? How is a psychologist's knowledge of schizophrenia, neurosis
or dysfunction going to help you marketing yourself? It can't; unless you want to
focus on a target market comprised of mentally and emotionally challenged people.
Still, if you want to use high-level "smarts" in your business, you have
to trust psychology, right? That's where a different kind of psychology comes into
play. It's called, "linguistics." If you can think of linguistics as the
psychology of language, then you can see the truth in this statement: "People
with similar language patterns have similar behavior patterns." If you know
one, you know the other. Once you can see the truth in that logic, it's easy to use
psychology to improve your marketing. All we have to do is figure out what language
patterns your target market uses and we can predict and motivate their behavior!
This is the area I focus on in my work. It's what this article is about.
Before I write any marketing program, now, I develop a psychological/language profile
of the target market. With a psychological/language profile, I know what specific
language patterns to include in your letters. I know if you should include testimonials,
or not. I know if you should use action words or contemplative words. I know if you
should give a step-by-step procedure, or list the options available. I know if you
should speak in "avoidance" language or "achieve" language.
Compare that approach to a traditional letter which focuses entirely on the content
- the facts and features. After having written those traditional letters for about
fifteen years, I can safely tell you, there is a much better way. And when you begin
to use it, you'll see more success.
Perhaps if you see a case study, it will help you understand my point.
One of my clients is a Merrill-Lynch advisor who relies on seminars to drive business
into his office. Let's call him Eddie. Now, you probably know, that's in large cities,
there's a financial seminar on every corner. It's a crowded, competitive environment,
and across the country, attendance has dropped off drastically. How is traditional
direct mail going to work in that "worst of all world's" situation? Typically,
you'd find zip codes where middle and upper-income people live and send them the
same invitation you sent last year. Or maybe you'd make some minor changes to the
invitation. What's wrong with that? Plenty - there's no psychology. It's scatter-shooting.
It's a stamp and a prayer.
In Eddie's case, I wrote an over-sized post card. The most important element was
the psychological language patterns that I built into the message. But the language
had to create a structure around which relevant content was installed. And, relevance
comes from the target market. So, what did I know about the target market:
1. I knew that the people on the list had probably been to several financial seminars.
I knew they would not be interested in attending yet another seminar - unless: a)
I could convince them to trust me, and b) I could impress upon them that this was
no ordinary seminar.
2. Chances were, they had not attended a seminar since the market had started its
skydiving routine.
3. And, I knew that they would want a step-by-step procedure to follow.
Here's what I did.
First, I dealt with the trust issue. I told them several things that were obviously
true. The opening statements must be obviously true, and obviously relevant. That's
called a "Truth frame," and it causes people to start trusting me. Next,
I created a new, improved, different and better concept for the seminar. After all,
who wants to attend the same old seminar that was based on conditions that are irrelevant?
Then, I used specific language patterns to appeal to their mental filters. Finally,
I repeated my hot points three times. That's the number of times most people need
to see information before they're convinced to trust it. (However, I have another
client who somehow attracts people who are never completely convinced.)
How did the psychology work? This single post card drew so many people, Eddie
had to turn people away and schedule a second seminar just to handle the overflow.
Why is this approach successful? Because it allows you to:
1. Speak in the psychological
language patterns of your audience.
2. Avoid words and phrases that conflict with your target market's way of thinking.
3. Give them something that they value, using words that resonate with them.
4. Stop sending them what you want them to know.
5. Give them a procedure that is easy to follow.
6. Use sophisticated formatting with typefaces to imbed psychological commands.
Before you can use
psychology in your marketing, you have to define your "A-level" clients.
Who are they? Find out what they have in common. I can tell you this from experience
- your specific "A-level" clients will have a different profile from most
other groups of "A-level" clients. That's because you communicate differently,
and you possess a different set of values. You naturally attract different types
of people. Those things are vital to people who decide to do business together.
Can you see the difference between psychological marketing and traditional direct
marketing? If you understand the mental filters and decision-making style of
the people you want to attract, you can write a letter to attract exactly those people
- and repel the people who drain your resources. If you don't know who you want to
attract, you're forced to commit one of marketing's mortal sins - scatter shoot.
An invitation written as a scatter shoot cannot be very effective with any group
of people.
When you fill your letter, invitation, postcard or brochure with the information
you want people to know (instead of what they want to know) it's like shooting backwards.
If you don't aim directly at the target, how do you know when you hit something good?
But, when you aim directly at the mind of your target market, your message (marketing
and sales) has a much better chance to hit the bull's eye.
Additional resources:
Seminars - the emotional dynamic by Frank Maselli
The Wright Exit Strategy by Bruce Wright
MICHAEL LOVAS
specializes in using psychology and psychological language patterns to influence
the behavior of customers and employees. Michael is the author of two books on Credibility
in marketing and sales. He is also a marketing columnist, internationally respected
keynote speaker and credibility coach.
Michael is passionate about helping businesses and people communicate at a much higher
level. Some of the organizations that trust Michael for training are: Financial Planning
Association, Million Dollar Round Table, American Marketing Association, International
Human Resources Information Managers, International Quality and Productivity Center
and underwriter chapters all over America.
He has also written major marketing programs in insurance, investments, retail, e-commerce,
oil and gas, health care, banking. A few of his clients have been: Paine-Webber,
Merrill-Lynch, Piper-Jaffray, AFLAC, CIGNA, Mobil Oil, J.C. Penney, Hospital Corporation
of America, SouthWest Bank of Texas and ChaseBank.
Reach
Michael now at:
michael@aboutpeople.com
www.credibilitymarketing.com
10718 Morning Glory Dr.
Dallas, TX 75229
(214) 366-0919
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