Five Tips to Cut Through the Clutter & Win Your Audience’s Attention
It’s estimated that the average person is exposed to nearly 10,000 ads a day. Between digital advertising, email, podcasts, streaming, social and traditional media, your audience is being inundated with constant noise.
It can feel like mission impossible to find the most effective way to cut through the clutter and get your message in front of the right audience, long enough to get noticed.
Marketing to Survive
The human brain is hardwired for survival. It quickly weeds through all of the data, pairing it down to only what matters most. You probably thought 10,000 ads a day sounded high – it’s because your brain filters out most of them, reducing what you notice down to a fraction.
Knowing this information is key for determining how to best position your service or product among your target audience.
The first step in capturing your customers’ attention is to understand what’s most important for them to survive – this translates into making their lives better or easier.
Highlight the Value for the Customer
Buyers gravitate toward products or services that articulate the value up front because they don’t want (or have time) to search for the benefits themselves. Consider these five tips to increase your chances of resonating with your desired audience.
- Focus on the Customer First
Lead with “What’s in it for me (WIIFM)?”
When a customer’s first impression begins with reading through the history of your business, the awards you’ve won or other facts about you, you’re likely to lose their attention. They will automatically filter you out before they reach the relevant information describing why your product or service is a good fit.
Instead, flip the script and focus on the customer first. Use “you” instead of “we” and speak to the solutions your customers need to “survive.” Supplement your message with further social proof including case studies, reviews, and logos of past clients to boost your credibility and positively influence their buying decision.
- Speak in the Customers’ Language
Every industry has its own jargon. Save the acronyms for internal meetings, you never know what your buyer’s familiarity is with industry terminology. You don’t want them to tune you out because they don’t understand the lingo.
In the same vein, steer clear of using big words for the sake of using big words. Research out of Princeton University found that writers who unnecessarily use long words are seen as less intelligent than those who stick with basic vocabulary.
When in doubt, write for a sixth-grade reading level. Since the average person scans vs. reads text, it’s easier for the human brain to digest the key takeaways when the vocabulary is simplified.
- Communicate the Pain Points That Your Offering Alleviates
The best marketers infuse empathy into their content. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and understand the challenges they face on a daily basis. Once you identify how your product or service can alleviate some of those pain points, you can speak directly to the obstacles they face. Position your offering as the solution that will simplify their life allowing them to focus on other priorities.
This step often requires talking to your customers to truly understand what value they perceive. You can ask them in conversation, request feedback following a transaction or project, or read through your reviews. Avoid making assumptions about what the customer values as you may miss out on a distinct opportunity to differentiate your offering.
- Research the Competition
Knowing what the competition is up to is important, but not for the reasons you think. If your goal is to stand out, then looking to your competitors for inspiration is counter productive. Resist the urge to follow in their footsteps. Instead, review your competition to identify opportunities to set your business apart. A simple Google search will often provide enough insight on how they present their offering.
Once you’ve done your due diligence, lean into the factors that differentiate your business and add value to your customers. Tap into the human instinct to survive and focus on the end goal you help them to achieve, such as:
- Gain (insert benefit)
- Protect (insert what’s important to them)
- Reduce (insert what’s holding them back)
- Become (insert what’s aspirational or desirable)
- Avoid Fluffy and Generic Descriptors
With marketing, it’s important to keep in mind that the more generic the message, the harder it is for the reader to make the association of what’s in it for them. While it may be tempting, avoid using adjectives such as top-notch, best-in-class, award-winning or anything similar. They are overused and won’t help set you apart. Most of these descriptors have lost their meaning and don’t tell the customer much about the problem you solve.
Don’t write for the sake of keywords and search engines, Google has caught on and is now favoring content that is written for the end user. Use customer-centric, solution-based messaging. Consider what the customer would want to learn about and craft your content accordingly.
Remember, it’s About the Customer, NOT You
Your customers are busy people who have very little time to research new purchases. Ensure you’re making the most of the small windows of opportunity that open. Grab their attention with an easy-to-understand message that’s focused on them and their challenges vs. sharing your company’s overview and accolades.
Developing compelling messaging requires a deep understanding of your target market. Tap into their needs, wants, challenges or desires and position your offering as the path of least resistance to an ideal solution.
If you’re not sure where to get started, reach out to RAD. Our team of storytellers and strategists specialize in content strategy and can craft the perfect message to help you stand out! Contact us today to schedule a discovery call.