People are different.
Duh…
But listen for a minute.
Different people have different needs when it comes to being persuaded.
And it doesn’t stop at the type of messaging they need to read or the words they need to hear.
Every single one of us, also has a different preferred “mode” that we use to take in a persuasive message.
You’ve probably heard of NLP.
A lot of people dismiss it, but I think there are a couple of concepts that can be incredibly helpful for writing copy – without manipulating people.
An interesting theory that I heard a guy named Alen Sultanic (in my opinion a hidden gem online) talk about, is the “#[[Convincer mode]]”.
You can learn about it online, but basically it tries to explain the different ways people use to become convinced of something after gathering enough information.
These are innate ways, somehow imprinted in our subconscious through experience and likely environment, and can vary based on the topic or subject.
Your market and target personas probably use a [[Convincer mode]].
In the book “Words that change minds” the author outlines the top 4 modes:
- Automatic [[Convincer mode]]
- Period of time [[Convincer mode]]
- Number of examples [[Convincer mode]]
- Never (or consistent) [[Convincer mode]]
In short, our process for getting convinced by something might depend on either: how long it takes and how many examples we need to experience. Or it can default to always being skeptical or always believing.
Interestingly the majority of people in the world falls under the number of examples [[Convincer mode]] (52%). Reason why social proof is so powerful in general.
Now, to my point…
What if you knew exactly where the majority of your (or at least your best) prospects falls within these 4 modes?
You’d know how to and how often to present your information. Or you’d know whether you need more or less proof, making your copy longer or punchier where needed.
I love it.
So here are a couple of questions you can ask your prospects in interviews and surveys to find out:
5 questions to find out what people need to trust you:
- How long do you have to consider [product category] before it’s the right time to [buy/sign up]?
- How often do you have to see a particular [ad, social proof, badge etc.] before you feel that maybe it’s worth a go?
- How do you know [someone/product] is good at [what your business/product does]?
- How many times does [product] need to demonstrate [how they gauge success] before you are convinced it’s the right choice?
- What do you need to be convinced that [product] is right for you?
Go ahead and try these.
Tomorrow I want to go deeper and look at the different “channels” people use to absorb a message.
If the [[Convincer mode]] is the How and the How often, this is the Why and the What.
Stay tuned.
In the meantime, in case you’re struggling to get people through the door, you can book a [quick website teardown](get in touch) here where I use some of these techniques to diagnose the problem and more.
