Do you want to get people’s attention? Start by talking about them.
There’s a series of park benches and garbage receptacles around where I live that says, “You just proved these signs work”.
The goal of these signs is to try to sell ad space on public benches, garbage receptacles, and wherever else these kinds of billboards are sold.
And for whatever reason, they’re impossible to ignore when you walk or drive by. They make you think, ‘wow, these ads much actually do a great job if I seem to read them everywhere I go.‘
But the odd thing is, when there are actual ads on them, I almost never notice them. It’s like they become invisible.
Billboard advertising can be a tough place to get results. And I’m not going to go into detail—nor am I an expert—on all the factors that might make them successful.
But there is one element of this specific ad example that makes it work in some cases and invincible in others: the use of you-centric language.
When you use the word “you” in your headlines and ad copy, you naturally perk people’s ears up.
Subconsciously, we read the word “you” and think, “this is about me, I better listen up”.
There are all kinds of reasons for this. But I think it stems from our biological need to look after our own best interests, either by avoiding threats or capitalizing on opportunities.
If you want to get people to read your marketing copy, talk about them and use the word “you” as early and often as you can.
Yours,
—k