SEX, DRUGS & TELESHOPPING: HOW TO ATTRACT ATTENTION IN AN UNCONVENTIONAL WAY

Matúš Elias

You all know it. Sometimes, when you read a text, see a commercial, or listen to a lecture, after a few minutes your eyes hardly take in words and there is a completely different show going on in your head. But this is not just the case with long and (often) boring academic texts full of difficult information. Many journalists, politicians and bloggers have the same problems with their texts – their ideas just don’t hold your attention. It’s because we’re living in a busy age with a massive amount of information around us. That’s why we need a slightly different approach. Who does those things really effectively? Well, you wouldn’t expect examples like these.

PORN AND RESTAURANTS CAN ATTRACT YOU IN THE SAME WAY

Inspiration can appear in places you would never expect it. Take web pages for adults as an example. I know, I know, you don’t visit those pages. The billions of watched hours in statistics are generated by a machine and the billions of dollars in this business fall from the sky.
However, if you are not ashamed to do so, try to recall those annoying commercials popping up at the sides of the video. Those ads are an ultimate example of texts that must grab your attention in a really short time, since people visit those pages mostly just for a few minutes, with one specific goal. The texts are built on the same principles as many copywriters use in their work – even if they are writing about kitchen stuff, or restaurants. Look at this example:
“Meet real girls in your area.”
“Visit a new restaurant in the city centre.”
See? It’s really simple. Now, you can go and find more. And say that you are doing it only for the inspiration.

WHAT DO TABLOID NEWS, DRUG DEALERS AND NETFLIX HAVE IN COMMON?

You are walking through a store and you see the front pages of tabloid newspapers. Who is that famous actor having an affair with? What was that singer doing on vacation? Is this politician getting divorced? The headlines are kind of mysterious, ending on a slight cliffhanger. And naturally, people are curious and want to see more.
Tabloid journalists do an excellent job with this. They are extremely effective at playing on people’s emotions, so making them buy the newspaper, or click on the article’s link.
By the way, this is the same principle drug dealers use (I hope none of us has real experience). They also give a new customer a small sample to taste, because they know that they return for more.
Companies like Netflix and Spotify base their business on the same principle, with their free trials. After one month, most people find that they can’t really live without it anymore, and they start paying regularly.

HORST FUCHS CAN TRULY HELP YOU OUTSIDE OF YOUR KITCHEN

If you have already caught people’s attention, you probably want to keep it that way for some time. And who does that better than Horst Fuchs?
We all remember the teleshopping commercials on weekend mornings. Everyone has a memory of Horst frying an egg on the bonnet of his car, using his new car wax. Or cutting metal nails with super sharp knives. Or doing different weird stuff with a new product you definitely need to have. Horst (or the scriptwriter of the commercial) always knew how to keep the viewers in front of the screen. After all, it wasn’t so difficult. These teleshopping commercials follow one simple principle: “You’ve got the problem. Here is the solution. Do this right now.” Nothing more, nothing less. It’s surprising, but this weird-looking German grandpa has more to offer than overpriced pans or juicers.

WE ARE ALL THE SAME

Many people think they are unique. However, people’s minds work on the same principles and patterns, so they can be deceived by the same tricks. I’ve written about of them here. You can use not only when you write texts. You can use them when you want to promote your product, your event, or you as a personality. There are ever more tricks like this. You can learn how to use them, or you can try to defend against them. But this was only my sample. Do you long for more?