Imagine yourself walking home late at night. It’s 12mn and there’s nary a soul in sight. Then something cold presses into
your back. Damn. A burly man in a clown mask has a .45 caliber and he’s demanding your cash. Emotions cloud your judgment. You’re an 8th dan blackbelter in Karate and you’ve whipped UFC champions single handedly- on sick days! But somehow, you can’t move. Fear has grounded you. Or could it be the absurdity of his humorous mask? You hand over the wallet and the comedic ruffian blends into the night. You just lost $2000.
Fear drives people to do crazy things. Fear stops the thinking process and channels behavior to preset outcomes. Like with the case above. That guy maybe a high school kid and as strong as your 10 year old brother, but fear killed your capacity to defend yourself. Fear is a powerful tool to make money!
I don’t recommend cashing in on fear to prey on hapless old ladies or shuddering accountants in the dead of the night. I do, however, recommend leveraging fear in your online marketing campaigns. Fear and humor coerce people into crazy things in the real world; and they also compel action in the intangible universe of the web.
Many of you probably use paid ads to promote your products. The two most popular include Adwords and Overture. These ad systems allow you to post a few lines in the hopes of attracting eyeballs which you hope leads into the predetermined behaviour of clickingthrough and visiting your site. Have you been stumped? I’m sure you’ve tried all kinds of cute ad lines but people just don’t click. Here’s why: you’re probably not using fear and humor. Stop for a moment, step back and take this in right now: when you compete against millions of ads, the only way to stand out is to get them wetting their pants or laughing their nuts off.
Consider the following examples.
Make Money Now - You can make $$$ Easily, Best Program in the web!
or
My Friends Lost $3201- Are you being scammed? Don’t pay till you read this!
I bet my socks that the second ad will drive more clickthroughs. People fear loss. They’re afraid of being the next guy run over beneath the massive wheels of a fraudster out to make a quick buck. On the other hand, the first ad resembles every other ad on the web. It fades into the background of the white noise of advertising.
Now consider the next example.
Affordable Domains- It’s only $15. Now you can have one!
or
Your Wife Got Hers Cheaper- If you pay more, We’ll tell her. Idiot.
Like fear, humor has a way of driving traffic. Sometimes, it may not convince people to buy, but it inspires them to satisfy their curiosity and see what you have to offer. So they visit your site. And you hook them and laugh your way to the back. Contrast that with the first ad. It doesn’t matter that you’re selling your domain for $15 or $13 or even $1. Everyone else is. Do you think people will click? No. Your ad fades into the limbo of advertising white noise.
To stand out, hit the emotions. If your an ad man, make people act irrationally and the best way to accomplish that task is to raise their hairs or tickle their ribs. Your ads must accomplish either. Otherwise, you’re wasting your advertising dollars
Now before you get out there and start tweaking your ads, remember one last thing. People are vain. They don’t care about you or I. They care about themselves. Your ads, therefore must answer one single question:
“What’s In It For Me”
Fail to answer that question, and no matter how funny you are, you’ll end up looking hilarious going broke on adwords. Only Goolge ends up laughing.
