The six stimuli that generate action

Best products don’t guarantee buyers; not even the latest technology. It is how you communicate your product information that raises the chance. Unfortunately most marketers create marketing messages for the product and not for the users. But people don’t buy products and services; they buy benefits.

For all we know, buyers are impulsive; they make decisions based on their emotions and instincts. And simple words do not trigger conversion; only words that prompt emotional reaction persuade people to take action.

Studies have also demonstrated that our brain processes six stimuli while making decisions. Marketing messages designed to trigger these stimuli influence buyers. These stimuli are universal and powerful. Incorporating them can highly improve your ability to sell, market, and communicate.

1. Self Centered: Your marketing message should focus on your audience and not your product. The first thing your customer looks for is benefit. They have no interest in your brochures, history, your values and your mission statement-what they want to hear is what you can do for them.
   
2. Contrast: Contrast allows the brain to make quick, risk free decisions. Words like before/after, risky/safe, with/without, or fast/slow create contrast and help your audience to quickly, sort out information triggering a decision.
3. Tangible Input: Written language especially the complicated one slows down the decoding of your message. It automatically shifts your audience to thinking mode, postponing the action. Concepts like “a flexible solution,” “an integrated approach” or “scalable architecture require a great deal of effort and skepticism. Whereas simple, easy and concrete ideas like “more money”, “unbreakable”, “24 hour turnaround time” generates action quickly.
4. Beginning and End: Most people remember only the beginning and end of the movie. Placing the most important content at the beginning is a must, as is repeating it at the end. Anything in the middle of your message will be mostly overlooked.
5. Visual Stimuli: The visual processing capability of the brain is much faster than it takes to process the information. Its impact is so quick that the higher functions of the brain are simply not informed. We are naturally hardwired to make decisions that are mostly based on visual input.
6. Emotion: Experiences like sadness, anger, joy or surprise, floods brain with hormones that generate response much faster and stronger than before. So brain remembers events which are connected with stronger emotions. If your message does not evoke strong emotions in your customers, then how can you expect them to choose your product! Ignoring their emotions is not an option.