Research into what factors actually change behaviour (i.e. getting people to buy your stuff) has discovered that modern marketing has more in common with science fiction, than with traditional advertising methods.
It turns out that marketing is more time travel than persuasion and influence.
Yes. Time travel.
I am sitting here telling you that good marketing involves time travel. In all seriousness.
Here is why using the time travel principle is important
I want to help you to get more attention, more engagement and more sales from your audience. But to do that I need you to understand that people are not static in time. What we think we want and even who we think we are changes over time.
Simple question. Do you want your life to be better or worse tomorrow?
EXACTLY!!
You are reading this in the hope that it will help you become a better version of yourself tomorrow. And, it will, I promise.
If you are thinking of the pains of your audience as static in time and still using those traditional approaches above you may be getting to the party a little late in terms of getting people to take you up on your offer.
How about I show you what the hell I am talking about?
…and more importantly what changes you need to make to what you do, to get more people to do whatever it is that you want…more of the time (please use responsibly – or not…you are a grown ass human, you decide).
How humans make decisions.
We are very evidently not machines and almost always think things will get easier or better in the future and use those assumptions to make TERRIBLE choices.
Humans are absolutely not logical (as is evidenced by the continuing existence of Love Island). We are irrational, emotional and inconsistent. I think the recent European Football final showed us that, both in the most positive and negative terms possible.
Reason is not where Humans excel. That we are rational is a lie we tell ourselves to feel more grown up….so how do we actually make decisions?
We ALL make decisions on feelings, possibilities, desired outcomes.
This is why simply solving the problems we think our audience has now wont cut it. Problems are effectively in the past, they have already happened to us.
What we are very interested in is what is GOING TO HAPPEN (which is why astrology, palm reading, the I-Ching and all the other predictive technologies based on hard science exist). We try and predict the future so we can ‘make the best of things, for ourselves and for our families.
We are all trying to make ourselves feel better and build a more fulfilling life for ourselves going forwards.
More. Better. Sexier, Richer etc
Solving Problems is time travel in the wrong direction
You have probably heard that you need to solve problems for your customer, maybe highlight a pain or two and yes…that is the basic stuff…but lets look a little deeper.
As I mentioned earlier, problems have already happened to us. We are getting our audience to think about the past…whereas behaviour can only be changed in the future.
New actions. New results.
We want to feel better, to DO better.
NONE of that happens in the present.
We are taking action in the next second, so that we will benefit in the future.
So by your marketing your audience needs to clearly grasp:
Only then will they buy into the offer you are making them…
They buy because they believe you…
At some point you need to get your audience to leave where they are now and travel to a point in the future where they can FEEL the difference your offer delivers.
Unless you can get them to leave the now and see what you are offering as a desirable part of their future story, they HAVE NO REASON to make the changes you need them to make to switch to what you are offering.
If they…
Then they won’t change their behaviour.
Fuel or Friction?
People are not comfortable when things aren’t predictable – this is why reviews etc are useful – predictable outcomes
However, your punter already has a current solution – so talking about now is literally wasting your time. The whole point of your marketing is to get your audience to do something new and better.
Changed behaviour lives in the future, where we are MUCH more able to
…and the way we will feel when we get them.
We make decision Inside the ‘stories we believe that could be true about the future’.
That is why:
Vote to leave the biggest friction-less trading block in the world
Because we believe things will be better when we do.
What is happening now, at this moment is MUCH less convincing….because we are already unhappy with what we are getting.
How to Create Time Travel Marketing
Buckle up! Some heavy thinking ahead!
All the journeys you have ever taken have two definite points in them. Your Destination and your Starting point.
Obviously, this is not ‘data’ or number based, it is about using your messages to help your audience to feel different…more about this in future posts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I understand that this may be off the reservation for some of you, but ask yourself, how do you make decisions?
Are you convinced by evidence…or do you see a potential desirable future state for yourself and work to achieve that?
Now. What kind of difference would it make to your business, if your audience saw you as the best possible bridge to a future them that they really wanted?
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