Buzz Marketing

How to Use Marketing Triggers to Boost Leads
By Adams Hudson 

If you understand the very basics of profitable marketing, you know that Direct Response advertising is a great tool for generating leads. 

Direct Response ads go “direct” to a prospect and ask for a “response.”  With attention grabbing headlines, they speak to a prospect about his problem or need and propose a solution right then and there.

There is no mystery that the prospect is supposed to respond – immediately if not sooner – to the offer. He usually gets a little bonus for responding quicker, but that’s not necessary.

Like I said, that’s the basics.  But there’s a way to make this great tool even better. 

The experienced marketer can take the concepts of Direct Response one giant step farther and make the ads too powerful to resist.  The experienced marketer uses strategic “triggers” to motivate customers – usually without them even realizing it. 

A trigger is a response mechanism wired to each of us.  Behaviorists have conducted many tests to determine what makes people respond the way they do. 

Do you remember Pavlov?  A century or so ago, he studied “conditioned reflex,” which is a scientific term for figuring out what makes a dog drool.  Marketers use the same sort of theories to figure out what makes customers drool, and they gear their ads around those needs or desires. 

In other words, a trigger is something that stimulates a customer to action, and that’s what you want to use in your ad copy. 

So, what are the triggers? Here you go. Copy this list. Recite the triggers ‘til you know them by heart. Use them for everything: Getting your hotel room discounted or seeing why your teenager is a great manipulator or how to sell in less time, with less resistance…

The 7 most powerful sales triggers are:

Fear, Guilt, Greed, Anger, Exclusivity, Vanity, and Salvation. Hit on 1 and you'll get attention. Hit on 3 and you’ll get leads. Hit on 5 and you’ll get sales. Hit on 7 and you’ve got my job!

Triggers can translate into actual copy in lots of ways.  For example:      

“With outdoor security lighting, criminals can’t hide in the dark in your own backyard.” (Fear)

• “The first 50 callers get a free – absolutely free – home wiring inspection.” (Exclusivity, plus a little bit of Greed) 
• “Have you had your home wiring inspected lately?  Your family’s safety could be depending on it.”  (Fear, with Guilt added in.)

So, is all this starting to make sense?  Hope so, because when you take what you know about triggers and use them to build your ad, you can reap powerful results in lead generation.  Here’s how: 

Start by headlining a customer’s strongest, most immediate desire. Then move to why the offer exists, why it’s an opportunity, and – if it’s hard Direct Response – why it’s limited. The price is mentioned early if immediately valuable or late if it requires building. If there’s a guarantee, put it nearest the price. Why? To minimize the fear and risk at the point anxiety is highest.

It goes in that order, because this is how you “pull” the trigger. Sound simple? Eighty percent of the ads I critique start with the company’s “greatness”, rarely build value or real benefits, throw prices out randomly, and fail to “call” to action. If any room is left over, a picture of a truck or an electrified light bulb is tossed in just so everyone will KNOW it’s an ad. And we wonder why it fails.

Bottom Line: As human beings, we’re very predictable. For the marketer, that’s good news.  Repeatable behaviors make it easier for us to systemize our marketing and sales approach.

Use triggers to cause response from your prospects, instead of “hoping and waiting”. I’ve used them for 25 years and rely on them to immeasurably increase response. You can too!