How to Grab Attention

Last week, I had placed a posting on various ASAE listserves (Communications, Marketing, Membership and Executive) asking folks to respond to 3 specific questions, which were:

These 3 questions were:

1. What grabs your attention;
2. What do you read;
3. What do you act on.

I was amazed to see such strong consistency in responses, which came from a good cross section of folks; from consultants to ass’n staff, from trade vs. individual societies, from guys and gals… OK, let’s dive into what I learned.

Responses to questions 1 and 3 are tied together so let’s look at these first.

1. What Grabs Attention:

It came out that familiarity and affiliation are strong factors in what grabs one’s attention. For example, when we receive materials from ASAE, given that we all are both familiar and affiliated, we look at pretty much everything and anything that comes out of ASAE. What wasn’t said specifically but I believe was implied are the information sources’ credibility, reliability, trust, honesty…

This was particularly true in the case of email. It was nearly unanimous that if an email comes from an unknown source and/or if the subject line isn’t clear as to what it’s about, in nearly all cases it is deleted or just goes unread. Lesson here is that when we send out emails to our members, as a thought, it would benefit us greatly say to add initials of our organizations, which is likely to lead to increased open rated, read rates. For example, let’s say ASAE sends out emails promoting an event. If in the subject line they start with the words ASAE, e.g. ASAE Annual Conference, as opposed to just Annual Conference, the add’n of ASAE at the start is sure to contribute to an increased open and read rates. Or let’s say we meet someone through the ASAE and we email them for the first time, by adding the words ASAE at start of subject line when first writing to them, your message is much more likely to stand out and be read.

In the case of direct mail, familiarity and affiliation matter much also. This combined with well done, creative communications, seem to be important. But if something is from an unrecognized source, or it screams junk mail, it seems that it nearly all cases, it too goes into the recycle bin. But if the source is unknown, then a well done large postcard or something that appears to be a business correspondence, it does have increased likelihood of being opened and read. As an aside, few folks even added that they like direct mail as it has longer shelf life whereas email tends to get buried or deleted. Having said this, format is secondary to relevancy. This brings me to next question.

3. What do you act on:

No real surprise here. Relevance is key. It’s about need, need, need. The right offer at the right time. Few also added that the marketers be absolutely crystal clear and direct regarding what they are promoting and their offer. They hate it when the marketer wastes their time and try to “trick” them into reading or buying products by cleverly vague subject lines or catchy layouts, etc. In other words, be direct, be clear and be honest. Then if what they are promoting arrives at time of need, then they are much more likely to read it.

This clarity combined with familiarity and affiliation, the message is sure to get through the clutter and be read. But of course, as assn’s we are not only communicating with our members where we have the advantage of familiarity and affiliation. Therefore, even more so, when communicating with non-members, we must be absolutely clear in our communications. And we must write strong benefit statements that will resonate with the readers right away, who also are very busy. In other words, they are just like us. What grabs us, is likely to grab them. Similarly what we trash, so are they likely to.

Perhaps in our communications, before we finalize and send them out, we ought to do a litmus test. We need to have a circle of friends to whom we can send out our communications in draft form to review. Say to Aunt Betsy type. If she read it, get’s it…then we’re on the right track. But if we loose her, then we need to start over. Just an thought.

2. What do you read:

This is a no brainer. If we cover #1 and #3 above well, then #2 takes care of itself.

Well, this is all for now. Hope this has been helpful. If any questions, etc. pls don’t hesitate to contact me. In closing, to all those who took the time to write, participate and share their thoughts, so that we all may benefit from their input – a big THANK YOU!!!!!

My best,

Vinay

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Vinay Kumar

GRC Direct – Serving Associations and Non-Profits
One-Stop Shop for Graphic Design, Printing & Mailing

www.grcdirect.com
4169 Bludau Drive
Warrenton, VA 20187
T 866-648-0900 x104
540-428-7000
F 540-428-2000
E Vinay@grcdirect.com

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