Psychological Trigger 1: Curiosity

Curiosity is a powerful motivator. That’s because when you inject it into your content, it’s like creating an itch that your readers need to scratch. And the only way they can scratch this itch is by taking some specific action (such as joining your list or buying a product).

Do you ever remember the original BluBlocker sunglasses and their advertising? Marketing expert Joseph Sugarman eventually took over the marketing for these glasses, and they sold tens of millions of pairs. One thing Sugarman did was create curiosity in the original TV ads.

How?

By showing the reactions of real people as they looked through the sunglasses for the first time. They usually exclaimed, “Wow!” And then they’d go on to talk about how everything looked so amazing, and how they’d never worn sunglasses like this before.

Sugarman admitted that they could have slipped a BluBlocker lens over the camera lens to show the home audience what it’s like to look through those sunglasses. But they didn’t do it, because they wanted arouse the audience’s curiosity about what it’s like to look through those glasses.

The only way to scratch that curiosity itch was to order the sunglasses by mail. It worked! The BluBlocker company sold millions of pairs of sunglasses in their first few years.
Now you too can use curiosity. Let me give you a few examples…

Example 1: Use curiosity to ensure people keep reading.

Whether it’s a blog post, email, report or even a sales letter, you can evoke curiosity in the beginning or even the middle to keep people reading until the end.

Let me give you a few specific examples:

• Build anticipation in the introduction. This works really well for content such as blog posts, newsletter articles & reports. Simply tell people what they’re going to learn in the report or article, and arouse curiosity in the process.

For Example: You’ll find out what exercise the world’s most elite militaries have used for 500 years to train their best soldiers!

• Tell a story, but don’t quite finish it. This arouses emotion, which is a good thing. But if you don’t finish the story right away, it also arouses curiosity.

For Example: So you’re probably wondering if Jane met her goal and lost 50 pounds. You know what? I think the results are really going to surprise you. I’ll tell you all about them in just a few minutes. But first, let me share with you the #1 mistake dieters make that stalls your progress…

• Whet their appetite for what’s coming. You can do this anywhere in a sales letter, article or report.

For Example: Jane got amazing fat-loss results using the same secret your favorite Hollywood celebrities use when they need to shed fat fast. You’ll discover this secret in just a moment. But first…

Example 2: Make people curious about a product.

Let’s say you’re selling a book about how to get traffic. You might arouse curiosity by saying something like this:

For Example: You’ll discover the closely guarded traffic source that’s never been revealed before – just wait till you see how much traffic it brings!

You can bet anyone who is interested in getting more traffic will be a bit curious about this little-known traffic source.

Here’s another example that would make a great benefit statement in a bulleted list:

For Example: You’ll find out which common herb reduces fine lines and wrinkles – you may already have it in your cupboard! (See page 15 to find out what it is.)!

So you can see how this all works. Make people curious, and you’ll keep them hooked on your content, joining your list and buying your product just to satisfy their curiosity.

Next we’ll cover possibly the most important sales trigger, getting people to accept you…