Image: Hersheys.com
Convey your message in tempting mini-candy bar style
What’s your snack of choice these days working from home? For me, I love mini-size candy bars. Did you know the tiny confections have been around since the 1930s?
Let me back up. I can’t say eating a fun-size candy bar is by choice. A more precise phrase to describe my behavior is giving into a snack of temptation.
So why are these so irresistible? What’s their appeal? And why do I bring up the topic?
1) Mini-sized candy bars = bite-sized chunks of information
If you think about it, eating a “junior” candy bar is a complete package. The bite-size sweets still contain the chocolate, the caramel, the peanuts – the value of a regular-size bar — but they’re also encouraging you to want a little bit more.
They’re a ready-made “grab and go” dessert. Tempting to devour. And people do. I do.
So when you’re trying to convince a prospect to buy your product or service, think about conveying your message in a mini-candy bar style.
2) Use “bite-sized chunks of information” to slip through the marketing clutter
Your message is competing with other messages. The more you make your info easier to digest, the more likely your message will be noticed. A reader will first scan the screen to determine if the info is useful. Remember readers are viewing websites, emails, video – practically everything – on a small, mobile device.
Tips on making your website and emails feel clean and streamlined:
- Single-column layouts on webpages and email designs
- Full-width images in email designs
- The right amount of content (not too much or too little)
- Show fewer items in the viewport (framed area on a display screen)
3) The buyer wants delicious information
Offer a friend a snack and chances are, she’ll accept it. We are a snack culture. But if the snack is her least favorite, or one she hates, then she’ll refuse. Even if the content is presented in our favorite way to consume it – like video. The trend is, “More and more people are watching videos!” But will your buyer perceive your videos as must-see TV?
To rouse a person’s tastebuds, the candy needs to taste delicious. One person’s favorite candy bar is not guaranteed to be another person’s first choice. Ingredients in the candy should be yummy. For persuasion, no formatting wizardry can take a dull piece of copy and make the words fascinating.
What information are your customers looking for? If you ask, they may tell you.
Survey your clients, especially the ones you would like to clone. Asking about what they view, read, and care about is super important. You want to know if the conversation you’re having with the reader is engaging them or putting them to sleep, don’t you?
4) The buyer chooses what information is relevant
The reader decides if the bite-sized information is pertinent to him. He may think the snack was satisfying or a waste of calories. Your opinion doesn’t count.
“It’s spam to me.” Spam is in the eye of the beholder. In our research, many users disliked information that was not tailored or specific to their interests. Many times, these types of messages were considered spam and this attitude illustrates the increasing importance of personalization in marketing emails and newsletters.” Kim Salazar, Nielsen Norman Group
You can also provide value to your reader by cutting down the fluff. Whittling down to the essential information.
What information does your decision-maker require to make a decision?
In his book, Essentialism, teacher Greg McKeown shares a story about journalist / screenwriter, Nora Ephron, and how she first learned to determine the lead in the story.
“I realized that journalism was not just about regurgitating the facts but about figuring out the point. It wasn’t enough to know the who, what, when, and where, you had to understand what it meant. And why it mattered,” Nora Ephron said.
As McKeown writes, “The best journalists do not simply relay information. Their value is in discovering what really matters to people.”
If we discern what our readers truly need to know, then we are helping them. Improving their productivity – they’re getting the answers so they can solve their problems. Taking the right actions – so they move in the direction to achieve their goals.
The mini-candy bars style of information can give your potential buyers a reason to want to hear from you. One small bite of information at a time.