The power of hidden appeals
I’m looking at a quarter-page ad. It begins with the company’s tagline and moves on to a detailed description of the jewelry on display. This “one-of-a-kind treasure” is “handmade in Italy” and features a “touch of sparkle” and on and on.
Yawn.
This is what I call spaghetti content. Spaghetti content is what happens when you throw ideas like spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. Unless you buy your pasta from Gorilla Glue, it likely won’t stick.
The ad misses the mark not because it isn't good copywriting. It misses the mark because it spends too much time telling me about the features and not enough time showing me the benefits of the product.
It tells me how long the company has been around, but it never shows me why I should pony up $150 for the item. In other words, what’s in it for me? Why should I care?
Low conversion rates are common with spaghetti offers.
There are 3 main reasons for low conversion:
One, the offer lacks specificity.
Two, it fails to clearly articulate the benefits and transformation.
Three, it lacks emotional appeal.
We are emotional beings. We buy based on emotion and justify our decisions with logic.
“Most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control,” writes David Eagleman, neuroscientist and bestselling author of Incognito. Our emotional self takes the wheel when we see an outfit that makes us look like a million bucks. We later justify the purchase logically― the outfit was on sale. Or, I deserve this moment. #YOLO
Sometimes, our true motive stays hidden from us.
This is why hidden appeals are so valuable in marketing and advertising. A hidden appeal is an unstated motivator related to your offer. In essence, it’s a silent motivator.
The hidden benefit is a dominant thought in your persona’s psyche. It may be conscious or unconscious, but it's always humming at the base of your customer’s brain.
When crafting an offer, look for opportunities to appeal to one or more of the following hidden appeals:
Wealth
Wisdom
Pride
Here are some examples of hidden benefits:
To have more free time
To be more attractive
To impress friends and family
To make more friends
To live pain-free
To be healthier and happier
Customers don’t always identify these silent motivators as needs. You have to dig to uncover them.
It helps to remind yourself that your customers don't want a product or a service; they want a solution.
As Theodore Levitt famously said, "People don't want a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole." Maybe, what they truly want is the satisfying feeling of having mounted that TV, thanks to the quarter-inch hole...or to relax and enjoy another viewing of Inception...or the camaraderie of friendship during a Super Bowl watch party.
Can you spot the trend? These are all emotional outcomes. And we thought we were selling a quarter-inch drill. The quarter-inch drill is a means to an end. Home Depot is not in the quarter-inch drill business; it's in the DIY business.
The goal is to identify the genuine, unstated emotional appeal that could help round out your offer. This often requires some circuitous messaging, but it will inevitably increase your chances of resonating with your audience.