How to put your customers in a “buying mood”

4-minute read • 556 words

I have one in my kitchen, and one on my bedroom wall.

My brother-in-law has one, and last Christmas my best mate got his second.

And if you live in or near Sheffield and don’t have one, I can almost guarantee you know someone who does.

I’m talking about a ‘Pete McKee’.

A print. A figurine. A set of coasters. An apron. Just something, anything, featuring the uniquely bright, smooth characters and settings drawn by the Steel City’s best-known artist.

Whether you own one of Pete’s pics or not, there’s no denying how popular they’ve become around South Yorkshire. And that’s no accident…

The reason Pete’s artwork is so successful is simple: emotion. His pieces make you feel something, and one thing in particular:

Nostalgia – “An affectionate feeling you have for the past, especially a particularly happy time.”

From scenes of busy parks and rundown pubs to lovers holding hands, Pete McKee’s a master at weaving nostalgia, happiness, emotion into his art. Looking at Pete’s images puts us in a certain mood, a little trick that’s helped him sell plenty of products. And here’s the good news:

You can do it too.

If you’re a small business owner or startup, there’s an effortless way to use emotion in your marketing, and it’ll almost always make you more sales.

You just need to put your customers in a ‘buying mood’. And to do that, follow the advice of a legendary copywriter…

Victor O. Schwab, called “the greatest mail-order copywriter of all time,” knew a thing or two about making a sale. He said that when promoting a product or service, you should highlight, either positively or negatively, the ‘rewards’ customers will get from using it:

Positive:

• What a customer can save, gain or accomplish by using your product or service

• How your product or service will increase their stimulation, satisfaction, wellbeing or security

Negative:

• How a customer can avoid, reduce or eliminate risks, worries, losses, mistakes or embarrassment by using your product or service

• How your product or service will decrease their fear of poverty, illness or accident, discomfort, boredom or loss

That’s all well and good, but how exactly does it work?

Say you run a building company, specialising in garage conversions. When selling your services, there are 3 routes you could take:

1. Neutral promotion

2. Positive promotion

3. Negative promotion

Let’s take a look at the difference:

Neutral promotion

“Transform your old garage into a new, useful space with our expert building services.”

Positive promotion

“Be the envy of all your friends and neighbours and transform your old, unloved garage into a new, impressive space with our expert building services.”

Negative promotion

“Your old, poorly built garage could collapse at any moment, so transform it into a safe, useful space before it’s too late with our expert building services.”

See what I mean?

There’s nothing wrong with any of these methods. Even the first, ‘neutral’ one tells customers about the services you sell. But…

…using the right emotion to promote your product or service shows your customer how they’d be better off by using it, or worse without it. It paints a picture in your customer’s mind, and like a ‘Pete McKee’, a picture that makes you feel something is hard to forget.

So don’t just sell to your customers. Move them.

Until next time,

Adam