The secret to social marketing is below...

“Here are seven free ways to make a difference in two minutes…”

When you read this sort of headline, or if you heard someone start their speech with it (as I did at a recent Ashoka event), aren’t you compelled to listen to what comes next?

Of course. It is irresistible.

This is the tone of a teaser that direct marketers love. Except in this case, there is a difference: this is a call to do something positive, not a call to purchase some product or open a direct mail appeal.

If we break it down, this phrase uses some key marketing concepts. “Free” is always good. Everyone has “two minutes” to spare. Cheap and easy and still make a “difference?” Why not at least listen to what is being offered, right? These sorts of concepts are the hallmark of late night telemercials and internet splash pages. Something free that makes our life easier/better and only takes a second? Sounds too good to be true.

In spite of ourselves, when we hear these sorts of promises, we can’t help but be lured into them.

For social marketing, the “hook” needs to be extra strong and indeed, the call to action absolutely needs to be simple. For products, the actual product may be sufficiently interesting to maintain a person’s attention and attract their consumer side. For a social message like this one, the seven ways absolutely have to be free and should absolutely take 2 minutes. If not, then the promise is immediately broken, and the chance of someone taking action is (next to) zero. (and the audience may well be peeved for having been lured to a lie).

When I heard this teaser, I sat rapt with attention to the next two minutes of the speech, only to be sadly disappointed that the speaker never actually shared with us the seven free ways. I heard the man across the table also say under his breath, “why doesn’t she tell us the ways?” The speech ended without the information. The promise was broken. The teaser was useless.

The Secret? People will listen to engaging language, even if the tricks are as old as marketing itself, but the marketer has to deliver credibly on the promise to actually get people to act.