It’s the holy grail of marketing

What does engaging mean? It’s the secret elixir of the marketing people – they spend millions of dollars trying to dream up adverts that will …

  • Challenge
  • Amuse
  • Reinforce
  • Motivate

AND then they try to achieve even deeper threads …

  • Develop trust
  • Develop a sense of ‘belonging’
  • Develop a sense of uniqueness – their customers are more than just numbers

Phew! That’s a big ask – all that in a single page. How is it done?

Integrated design + words

Think of a clever advert you might have seen – often, it will use a generally accepted idea, and then attach the ‘product’ to the idea – called ‘piggy-backing’. The use of humour is vital, too – its been proven, over and over, that if you can get people to laugh, you’ve made a sale. Especially women – girls just love to laugh.

What do women want?

Top of the list ALWAYS is honesty and sincerity – they HATE the idea they’re being lied to. If you can reach their feelings, you’ve made a sale. And as mentioned, humour. If you can work in a story about travel, great … and a link to fashion and shopping.

Is this hard, for say, a motor mechanic? Not really – your car is many things; it takes you shopping, transports the family, provides status … and all those hilarious stories about people parking – you know the ones.

But Men are different .

Men like logic and deduction. They like features and benefits, so they can work out whether it’s right … and then they like their ego stroked. They like to feel in command, and are alert for manipulation.

This requires a close integration between the words and the images. Some things are best left unspoken, but can appear in the images – think of all the car ads that appeal to fashion, or status, or practicality, or family – all without saying a word.

Headlines

These are critical. These days, a visitor scans the page, trying to locate what they are looking for. So why make it hard – give them the details in a reduced form, in the headlines. And no long paragraphs – they should be no more than 50 words – about this paragraph.

Do you want an unbiased appraisal of how your site stacks up? Call Sue Cooper on 1300 853 155.