Six Tips to Make Your Messages Sticky
By John Gumas
When it comes to advertising campaigns, some of you forget as soon as you see them and others you can never forget. The ideas that you never forget are sometimes referred to as "sticky ideas," simply because they stick with you over time.
There's a process that can be used to craft ideas that will "stick" with your intended audiences. Here are the key elements:
1. Keep it simple. It's hard to make ideas stick in our chaotic environment. Strip your idea down to its most critical essence.
2. Do the unexpected. Break an obvious pattern. Communicate your message in a way that breaks your audience's guessing tendencies.
3. Get to the point. Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it. Be specific and to the point.
4. Establish credibility. Earn trust by talking the talk. Show your expertise. Details matter.
5. Appeal to the emotions. Appeal to your audience's self-interest, but also appeal to their identities — not just who they are, but who they want to be.
6. Tell your story. Stories are the culmination of the other five criteria outlined above. Weave a simple and credible story. Use the juxtaposition of concrete facts plus the unexpected to trigger an emotional response.
The next time you need to make your advertising ideas stand out and become "sticky," try this system. It really works.
October 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue