How To Get Your Competition To HATE You!

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Welcome to a 'Secret' formula called the ‘Marketing Equation,’ or IEEO. Nobody should have anything to do with marketing until they’ve reviewed the formula at least 7 times! Here is the formula:

• ‘I’ for Interrupt 
• ‘E’ for Engage 
• ‘E’ for Educate 
• ‘O’ for Offer

Now, let’s review the steps at a time…

Your customers and prospects are bombarded with messages every hour of every day. An effective Subject Line/Headline Interrupts their train of thought, snaps them out of their mental fog, and gets them to think, “Wow! I might actually be interested in this!” 

Although the right Subject Line/Headline can get readers to open your email or look at your ad, your choice of title and the phrasing is critical! A Subject Line must be simple as well as seductive ... and you must be able to do what you Subject Line/Headline suggests. 

For example, an Interruptthat says ‘Make a Million Dollars In The Next Two Minutes’ will certainly get attention, but is hardly feasible! Keep it real. You may have heard that ‘Sex Sells.’ Actually, ‘Sex’ doesn’t sell - it Interrupts. 

If you own or manage a golf course, a good Interrupter might be ‘Secrets To Becoming A Better Golfer.’ If you are a golfer, this Interrupts. Now you have their attention, but then what? 

Read on…

Here is where most Marketing fails, because the Engage step is rarely used. It is pretty easy to Interrupt, but now that you have their attention, you have to Engage them with something to keep their interest and get them to read more. If you don’t Engage properly, you lose them. This is a simple, personalized ‘something that will be of value to me,’ that makes them WANT to read more. 

In our golf example, you could say ‘How To Par Every Hole Consistently.’ If you want to improve your game (and who doesn’t) how can you resist reading further? (but remember, you must be able to do it).

So, now that you’ve Interrupted and Engaged, what do you do?

The content of your text must be relevant and snappy. You Educate readers through clever use of hyperlinks, headings, short paragraphs, and bold images. 

Think about this … how much time do YOU have to read YOUR emails or junk mail? Attention spans are short, so you must Educate your readers with useful, relevant content. But contrary to popular belief, your article doesn’t have to be short. If you have Interrupted and Engaged properly, your copy can be as long as you want to make it. 

Don’t make them work to find out what you’re offering. It is important to be direct and make it easy for people to want what you are selling through links and images. The purpose of Educating is to give them just enough information that they are ready to take the next step in the buying process. Your wording should never be ‘salesy,’ hard sell’, or ‘pushy’ because that can turn readers off. 

If you own or manage a golf course, you might have an article promoting a series of lessons with your golf pro. 

The Offer is where you get them to take the next step in the buying process. 

Your Offer can take many forms, depending on your business. It could be a coupon, discount, sale end date – something to get them to ‘Buy Now.’ 

• If you run a restaurant it might be a coupon could be for ‘$1.00 Taco Tuesday.’  
• In our golfing example, you could offer a coupon for a free bucket of balls at your driving range, or a FREE drink at your bar with a purchase of 9 holes. 

Most Offers are where your readers simply send for more information. If you have done the first three steps correctly, a very effective Offer can be something they Click on and download (or send for) for FREE! 

Following the Marketing Equation can make a huge difference in your business. Call Gary Willey & Associates today and discover how it can work for your business. 

Still Skeptical? I got you to read this far, didn’t I?