The Engagement Score - tradeshowtoolbox.net

The ENGAGEMENT Score^TM... Avoiding The DOE-RAY-ME-ME-ME Mistake

Have you ever read an ad, picked up a brochure, or passed by an exhibit that made virtually no impression on your behavior? Okay, so it’s a trick question: Obviously, you wouldn’t remember doing so if the event made so little a blip on your radar screen.

Try this sometime. Read a brochure, look over an advertisement, or consider the message of an trade show display. Much of how you respond to the ad, brochure, or exhibit will depend on just how engaged the advertiser/exhibitor makes you feel about their message.

Why does it work this way?

As you ponder the mass of sales efforts surrounding you, your evaluation of its collective pertinence is instantaneous and probably unconscious. The message either applies or it doesn’t. It is meaningful or it is not.

Hence, when the success of your own marketing is at stake, an examination of whether your message serves to endear your audience or alienates it is vital. Plainly, if your message fails to engage, sales will not likely follow.

The next time you feel involved or alienated by any marketer’s message, consider who it is that is spoken of within the context of that message. Is the message focused on you, or does the message emphasize the seller or the goods & services being sold?

Here’s an interesting challenge: Let’s call it the Engagement Score^TM. It is a simple test you can apply to any marketing message and quickly determine the likelihood of its ability to engage.

Pull out a yellow highlighter or just start counting the number of times a marketer’s message refers to you. Look or listen for words like you, your and yours.

Now, compare the tally of occasions that YOU are mentioned with how many times the seller mentions their company or their offering. Look for words like we, our, our company, our customers or our products. Do the math – I’ll wait. Does the message focus on you or does it emphasize the marketer?

Consider this familiar Apple iPhone message.

Note the frequency of YOU usage. Nine times in just 30-seconds, Apple references YOU! Don’t you feel engaged and a part of the story?

Much like I have written this article in the second person voice, so too must your marketing language speak to your audience if you hope to connect. Too much talk about your company and its offerings combined with too little reference to your audience and their challenges, increases the likelihood that your message will be rejected.

On the other hand, if you identify with your audience and convey that you understand their surrounding experiences; their routine on the job; their technology problems or perhaps their competition, you’ll sow the seeds of credibility. Engage your prospects using the second person voice. They will quickly understand that their concerns are your concerns and in this context, will more likely consider the merit of your offering.

Why not give the Engagement Score^TM a try. The lesson learned from this little test can favorably impact the success of your marketing efforts.

By the way, if these brief remarks have merit – and if you are counting... this article scores with at least 39 references to YOU and but 2 references to me (the aforementioned me and I’ll wait): probably a decent Engagement Score^TM. But, that's for you to decide. How do you feel?