How do you write content that attracts readers to your products and services?
I read somewhere that most of what goes into our brains never reaches our conscious mind:
Our five senses are processing 11 million pieces of info per second. Of these only 40 enter our conscious awareness.
Which means our subconscious mind does a terrific job of filtering what we need to pay attention to.
And…which is why there is new research about how to reach consumers based on how the brain works: neuromarketing.
The brain is made up of three parts, the old brain, the mid-brain, and the new brain. The first two are operating out of our conscious awareness, and they help decide what we need to become aware of.
What this means is that most of the time, we’re operating on auto-pilot. Especially when it comes to TV, but maybe we’re cruising when we’re online and even reading. We scan while thinking of other things.
It’s probable that we do this when reading our inbox emails. What has to be done to grab people’s attention so that they open up an email, or an e-newsletter, or go read your blog?
Answer: not just a lot, but a helluva lot! There’s only one brain that’s attracted to rational logic, and that’s our new brain… the one that we’re aware of.
Two-thirds of our mental powers reside in our mid- and old brains, however, and we’re mostly not aware of them coming into play until after the fact, when the new brain kicks in to analyze and interpret.
Here are the three brains and the things that get their attention:
- New brain: rational, logical facts, curiosity, imagination, new ideas
- Mid-brain: emotional words, nostalgia, memories of childhood, love, anger, regret, frustration
- Old brain: sex, food, alarm, danger
Good content, especially when it is delivered into environments where people might be on autopilot (email, sales pages, TV, any advertisement, web pages, etc.) must include words and strategies to appeal to all three brains.
And yet, most of us, since we pride ourselves on our rationality and logic, only write to attract the new brain. Which means we’re missing some good opportunities.
What do you think?
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