We’ve been talking about “media not marketing” in this broadcast quite a bit … but what does that actually mean, what can it look like?
As you’ll hear in this episode, examples of a media-first approach done very well are all around us, it only takes a simple shift in thinking to see them.
But can this approach to building an audience have an actual effect on the bottom line revenue of your business, or is it just more philosophical wordplay?
In this 17-minute episode you’ll discover:
- The neuroscience behind one of the most powerful influencers
- The evil Megamind trick to getting your message heard
- How two brands increased sales by over 50% with smart media plays
- The psychological basis of how things spread through social media
- Why people prefer product placements in entertainment media
- How media influences behavior in ways that marketing can’t
- The two keys to building likability for your brand
- Why teachers can become powerful business builders
Listen to New Rainmaker Episode No. 6 below …
8 Ways a Digital Media Platform is More Influential than Marketing
Robert Bruce: We’ve been talking about “media not marketing” in this broadcast quite a bit … but what does that actually mean, what can it look like?
As you’ll hear in a few moments, examples of this done very well throughout the history of media are all around us, it only takes a simple shift in thinking to see them.
But can this approach to building an audience have an actual effect on the bottom line revenue of your business, or is it just more philosophical wordplay?
This is New Rainmaker, from newrainmaker.com. I am Robert Bruce and today Brian Clark lays out eight tenets of creating a digital media strategy — based on storytelling, trust, and teaching — that works to build your business much more powerfully than mere marketing.
Stay tuned …
Brian Clark: Imagine this scenario.
Two attorneys are chatting against the beautiful tropical backdrop of the Cayman Islands. The elder lawyer suggests to the young rising star that he “grab a Red Stripe,” which leads to the selection of the Jamaican-brewed beer from an ice-cold fridge.
So simple … but it’s a powerful association between the “good life” and a particular brand of beer. Did it work?
Within a month, sales of Red Stripe in the United States increased by over 50%. Within a few weeks of that, the company collected a $62 million payday by selling a majority interest in the brewery to Guinness.
That would be a pretty effective commercial, if it was one. After all, who can afford Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman for a beer commercial?
The scene I described is from the film The Firm, an adaptation of the John Grisham novel of the same name. This was not a commercial, but an example of product placement, and a highly effective one at that.
Clearly, American consumers have been hoodwinked into buying expensive Jamaican beer against their will! Except … the science indicates that’s absolutely not true.
Early studies on product integration in entertainment media from the 1990s found that the majority of people are not deceived by the practice, and do not find it objectionable. In fact, compared to being interrupted by a “commercial,” people preferred product integration in content.
Recent studies confirm the earlier findings, but go a step further in favor of the practice. Consumers see product integration as providing more realistic narratives, compared to the former practice of props for generic soda, beer, sneakers, and what have you.
Product integration is just one example of a subset in the bigger picture here. Taking a media approach – compared to traditional marketing and advertising – is more influential and effective, not because it tricks anyone, but because it gives people what they want in a format that they prefer.
For starters, you avoid the automatic “tune out” of your commercial message – but it goes much deeper than that. Let’s dive in, and look at eight ways your own digital media platform is more influential than more traditional concepts of marketing.
1. It’s All About the Presentation
Brian Clark: When the main character from 2010’s animated film Megamind confronts wannabe bad guy Titan, he taunts him by saying:
“Oh, you’re a villain all right, just not a SUPER one!”
“Oh yeah?” responds Titan. “What’s the difference?”
“Presentation!” says Megamind, with Guns n’ Roses blaring as he emerges from a giant hologram … of his own head.
Megamind may be a super villain who ultimately turns good in the end, but his answer is correct – even for consistently “good guy” marketers and digital media producers.
Put simply, media content influences perception and behavior in ways that marketing often can’t … simply because the commercial aspects are presented differently.
There is ample evidence showing that people psychologically process narrative and educational content differently from promotional and rhetorical information.
In other words, trying to overtly persuade is less persuasive than more subtle forms of influence that are presented within content that people want to pay attention to instead of wanting to tune out.
This leads to blurred lines between entertainment, education, and persuasion. I would suggest that entertainment and education have always been highly persuasive, and it doesn’t take too long to realize that for yourself.
Some of the things I consider to have had the most influence on how I view the world and make decisions are works of fiction.
What about you?
2. Demonstrate Authority, Don’t Claim It
Brian Clark: I’ve been seeing some low budget commercials on cable lately from a company claiming to be the “small business authority.” Call me crazy, but I’m not convinced.
That’s like seeing “Social media expert” in the Twitter bio of someone who has 17 followers. If you have to claim it, odds are you aren’t it.
That said, actual authority is one of the most powerful forms of influence.
Social psychology studies have long demonstrated the potentially abusive power of authority, and neuroscience reveals the somewhat frightening reason why. Brain scans show that the independent decision-making parts of our brains often shut down when we encounter authoritative advice or direction.
Creating media content establishes authority and expertise by demonstrating it for all to see. Even better, as we’ll see with the next section, you don’t have to claim your expertise – because other people will do it for you in a much more credible way.
3. The Social Proof is in Social Distribution
Brian Clark: Traditional media is all about distribution. The number of theaters, bookstores, or international markets your intellectual property makes it into makes all the difference – and this is usually a function of money, not necessarily quality.
It’s long been known that word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, family and news articles are highly trusted. Even the comments of strangers on review sites and online forums are seen as credible sources, rivaling paid advertisements.
Our tendency to follow what others are doing or saying is called social proof, and it’s the basis of how things spread via social media. It’s also another of the most powerful influencers on how we perceive quality, credibility, and propriety.
You don’t have to go wildly “viral” in order to benefit from social proof and social distribution. Your content turns you into a “social object” that spreads, and that’s often more powerful than a network television deal – because the crowd spreads what it likes and finds useful, rather than the best guess of a sheltered media executive.
4. The Give and Get
Brian Clark: Let’s say you and I are strangers stuck together doing some task. I excuse myself for a few minutes, and when I return, I’ve brought you a soft drink.
After we’re done with the job, I ask you if you’ll buy some raffle tickets from me. Are you more or less likely to comply?
A famous social psychology experiment by Dennis Regan showed that most people would not only buy the tickets, they’d pay more than the value of the free drink they received.
Sounds like a bad deal, but that’s how we’re wired. The experiment demonstrates the powerful cultural force known as reciprocity.
Sociologists maintain that all human societies subscribe to the principle that we are obligated to repay favors, gifts, and invitations. It makes sense, really; reciprocity is at the root of what makes us human, and has allowed us to adapt and progress from primitive tribes into a complex global economy.
You may think that free online content is so ubiquitous that it doesn’t spark a feeling of reciprocity. But what we’re doing by building a media platform is creating an ongoing relationship with an audience, and that’s a very different dynamic.
Regan’s experiment further showed that we don’t even necessarily need to like the person in order to feel obligated to reciprocate. So imagine if they do like you!
5. You Really, Really Like Me
Brian Clark: In my previous life as a litigation attorney, I recognized early on the truth in Clarence Darrow’s famous quote: “The main work of a trial attorney is to make a jury like his client.”
I saw first hand that how the jury felt about the client was more important than the law, the evidence, or even the objective truth. You’ve likely witnessed the same thing yourself with a few infamous celebrity trials.
Simply put, we like to do business with people we like. And there are multiple reasons why we like people – physical attractiveness, similarity, familiarity, and even simply because they give us compliments.
With that I’d like to pause for a moment here and say that you’re all smart, wonderful people. Thanks for listening.
When creating media content to grow your business, the key to likability comes down to two things:
- A relentless focus on helping them.
- A relatable, even fallible human voice.
That’s not to say that everyone will like you. They won’t.
But that’s a good thing … because that gives you the opportunity to be really well liked, and even loved, by a smaller and much more enthusiastic audience.
6. The Digital Foot in the Door
Brian Clark: Leonardo Da Vinci said, “It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”
Let me give you an example of that.
Author Richard Wiseman tells the story of researchers who asked homeowners if they would place a huge sign in the front yard that said “Please drive carefully.” Everyone said no.
The researchers then asked a second group of homeowners if they’d place the same message in their front yard, but this time on a much smaller sign. Almost everyone agreed.
Two weeks later, the researchers returned and asked those agreeable homeowners to switch out the small sign for the huge one. 76% said yes!
This is the psychological influence principle known as commitment and consistency, or the “foot in the door effect.” Essentially, we tend to act consistently in light of our prior commitments and actions.
It’s hardly surprising that people strive to appear consistent, especially in social, political and business contexts. A high degree of consistency is associated with intelligence and character, while a lack of consistency indicates flightiness and a lack of integrity.
This is important when you think of the successive conversion steps that a prospect takes by coming into your audience on the way to customer or client. Each of these steps is a further commitment of trust and belief in you, and each satisfactory step in turn transforms you from a choice to the only logical choice.
7. Tell Me a Story
Brian Clark: Storytelling is one of the most amazing forms of influence. Tell the right “big” story (which is a story your prospect wants to hear, but doesn’t know it yet), and your business takes off.
Granted, advertisers use storytelling all the time. That’s because at the neurochemical level, fascinating things happen during the experience of reading, hearing, or watching a story.
During the conflict stage of a story, cortisol is released, which causes distress and heightens attention. Then, Oxytocin is produced, which intensifies feelings of connection and empathy.
Powerful stuff. Psychologists have long known that storytelling mentally takes people to another place, which is referred to as transportation – and the characteristics of that transport are exactly the effects of cortisol and oxytocin!
Stories capture attention and allow people to persuade themselves, and that’s what it’s really all about. You might say that we never convince anyone of anything—we simply help others independently decide that we’re right.
Do everything you can to tell better stories with a media-first approach, and you’ll find that you are a terribly persuasive person. And unlike advertisers, you have permission to contact your audience with a new story all the time.
8. Educate to Influence
Brian Clark: When you think about it, teachers are some of the most influential people on the planet. Anyone who teaches you something by creating understanding and knowledge has changed the way you think forever.
When creating content that builds a business, you’re naturally educating. You’ll definitely throw in some entertainment for engagement, but haven’t your best teachers always done that?
But think about this – the way you treat your “students” will also influence how they ultimately utilize the information you provide. A landmark study from 1964 showed that if teachers had been led to expect greater gains in IQ from certain students, then increasingly, those kids gained more IQ – because the teacher treated those students differently in subtle ways.
What if your “marketing” strategy is essentially to become the best teacher possible? Wouldn’t that be the better way to be regarded, as opposed to the person who “sold” the other person something?
Transparency For the Win
Brian Clark: When you take in the eight items above as a whole, it seems like there is a whole lot of potential for under-the-radar, super villain evil. Is that the goal?
No, because what I’ve been talking about here is all about trust. You’re doing this not to deceive, but to get prospects to trust you enough to believe your promises.
Some of the most successful content marketers (including us) around are highly transparent … instead of trying to pretend they’re not ultimately selling something. Because people aren’t stupid, and as long as you’re providing value in the process, they don’t mind.
Let’s come full circle with an example, this time about one of the earliest, and most successful product placements in film.
In 1982, the producer of a little film in development called E.T. contacted Mars, Inc. The idea was to have M&Ms become a certain extraterrestrial’s favorite Earth candy. Mars, despite its interplanetary moniker, infamously said no.
So, the producers went to Hershey, who smartly said yes for its Reese’s Pieces, which was far from a “thing” in the world of candy at the time. What you may not know is that Hershey didn’t pay a dime for Reese’s Pieces to appear in the film.
Rather than fly under-the-radar, however, Hershey’s agreed to something else. The candy company staked $1 million to advertise the film, while celebrating the alien’s choice of candy.
In other words, Hershey made sure that everyone knew about the deal. Sales of Reese’s Pieces shot up by 85%.
___________________________
Note: Unless indicated otherwise with a link, references to studies and examples come from The Psychology of Entertainment Media, Second Edition, 2012, Edited by L.J. Shrum.
Robert Bruce: Thanks for listening to New Rainmaker.
If you like what you’re hearing, please let us know by heading over to iTunes, and leaving a rating or a comment there.
And, if you found this broadcast independently floating around somewhere else out there on the Internet, go ahead and sign up to get everything … free e-mail updates for future episodes, transcripts, videos, and upcoming live shows at newrainmaker.com.
I liked your broadcast. Being able to follow along down the page was nice too.
Enjoyed the logical explanations of why certain aspects work and others don’t.
Great podcast! I am really enjoying the information and the music, your show is thought provoking and encouraging. The stories used by Brian to get his point across are awesome. Keep’em coming.
For some reason these podcasts really hit home with me in a way that even a great article can’t. . I cannot wait for the next one and im really excited to see what you guys plan to do with the new rainmaker in the future.
Props to you both for coming up with something special, informative and so captivating.
Paul
Thank you Paul, much appreciated.
I loved the example you gave about fiction being one of the most effective forms of persuasion. Marketing often gets a bad rap because it’s meant to be persuasive. But isn’t all media meant to persuade you of something? I suppose that’s why transparency in marketing is so important these days. Your audience is aware that you’re ultimately trying to sell them something. It’s better to face their preconceived notions head-on and show them that selling is not all your about.
Exactly!
I am also loving the audio format!
I really enjoy audio-books, so this is awesome. The content is also very valuable, so I’ve just caught myself looking forward to the next episode as if it was NCIS.
One of the things I try to do is a Lunch & Learn. If I’m not meeting a client or business associate for lunch, I make the best use of my time and learn something useful during my quick meal.
17 minutes is perfect. 🙂
Respectfully,
Chris
Haven’t listened yet but have been anxiously awaiting the email with this new episode. I really like this format.
In response to the behind the scenes episode, I do kind of chuckle when I hear Robert’s voice – it is so NPR – in an obviously good way. We take great pains to “write” so our readers enjoy reading our posts – no reason we shouldn’t make every effort to “talk” so our readers enjoy listening. Edutainment.
Maybe you’ve mentioned this already but I’m really hoping you’ll offer an affiliate program for the Rainmaker platform.
Great stuff. I look forward to listening.
A very informative podcast! Thank you. As Daniel Pink says in his book To Sell is Human, we are all in sales in one way or another. What I most like about this is that, as a result of information being so readily available, building trust has become the focus of many marketers.
Did anyone else immediately grab a pen and take notes?
I was multitasking in the kitchen while listening to this, full blast, from my home office several feet away, so I can hear it. I’m sure my next door neighbors are “gonna” be as well-versed in Episode No. 6 as I am.
Thanks, Brian.
Very interesting podcast.
I especially like the examples and experiments part.
By the way, Robert Cialdini’s books have more experiments like that.
Yes, Cialdini’s Influence should be required reading for everyone. I wrote an entire series on Copyblogger back on in 2006 applying the 6 elements of influence to blogging.
https://www.copyblogger.com/blog-triggers/
Thanks for the link, Brian!
Impressive! I’ve been following all the episodes and they’ve been highly educative.
The like the analogy on the Digital foot in the door approach, among others. It vividly explains why purposeful content creation works.
Thanks for impacting your knowledge.
Ikenna
I love this format and have listened to the podcasts several times. Would you guys consider doing a feature podcast on content promotion via video. I have built a sizeable resource of written content for my websites. Now after hearing this excellent series of podcasts. moving into the production of podcasts. What pointers, advice, methods for video? ~ Ange Fonce
Awesome podcast guys 🙂
Listened to this on the way to work today in the car.
I am excited to see what format your “upcoming live shows” will take
Thanks for being great
James
Little Blue Ninja
All of these episodes have been highly educational and thought provoking. I’ve been taking notes on how to implement media into my current model of persuasion. It’s also occurred to me that there’s a reason I get so much value from these episodes. Would you mind doing an episode outlining the psychological strategies you use in putting together such valuable episodes? Taking a look under the hood so to speak, so we could replicate this in other mediums.
Thanks,
Mitchell
I just did. 😉
Excellent as always.
I’m wondering at this point where this is going. I presume that it’s not just a podcast for the sake of it.
Maybe it’s just the pace/tone of the podcast but this project/brand has a slightly mysterious feel to it. So, let me guess, based on the kinds of things I’ve learned from you fellows, where it could go.
The podcast would serve extremely well, as the prelude to a paid offering down the road – a course or some other paid product.
I think that would be highly consistent: You create a media brand, build an audience, then establish relationships, and communicate the value of your paid solution. Etc. Then comes the product.
So, what kind of product? Well, the audio adds a great deal to just blog posts. There’s a powerful familiarity there that I’ve never had from just reading your posts. An extended version of this content would make a great audio course in entrepreneurship – the entreproducer thing, for example. (Entrepreneurship is implied in all the podcasts.)
Or a movie. Why not some kind of documentary movie on Rainmakers? (If you need help with your content marketing fir the movie, I know someone who could probably help – That was a joke.)
Just trying to put what I’ve learned from you to use. This is leading somewhere. Or am I way off?
Brian, this was so funny to me! Last weekend myself and 3 others had the 3rd installment of a series of Hangouts On Air talking about Psychological Warfare and how to apply it to business. In it we talked about the Principle of Reciprocity and I even told the story of the Dennis Regan study. We also talked about the Foot in the Door concept and my friend Nick gave the example of the signs in the yard study.
It would seem that this is more proof that great minds really do think alike. Thanks for the awesome work you’re doing in this podcast Brian, it has quickly become my favorite!
Hey Dustin! Yep, as I mentioned in my reply to Tony, the things that influence human beings (technically called judgmental heuristics) are fundamental and unchanging. The only thing that’s changing is context, and the Internet has been the most radical change in context we’ve experienced, especially when compared to being at the whim of mass media.
I wrote this series in 2006:
https://www.copyblogger.com/blog-triggers/
I love your content usually, however I can’t help but think that this episode was just a summary of Cialdini’s books?
On one hand, yes — although many of the examples come from more media-specific examinations than Cialdini talked about. When it comes to influence, the six factors Cialdini identified are the things that we respond to as human beings. That hasn’t changed, and it’s not going to change.
I see people say all the time “This is just Cialdini, where’s something new?” There is nothing new, there is only evolving context. The main point is that these influence factors are more effective when presented in the form of useful content than in obvious promotions or advertisements.
On that note, see this series I wrote in 2006:
https://www.copyblogger.com/blog-triggers/
Pure genius. These are the key points which are floating around separately, but are now here in once place. They even replace Cialdini’s “Influence”, while augmenting it. Just doing a study of copywriting/marketing right now, and these update the classics. Thanks again for all you do…
You two are an awesome team! Really love what you are creating here and am really starting to consider myself a fan! Can’t wait to hear your next episode!
Nice work guys!
Thanks,
Michael
This was my first time listening to the New Rainmaker, and I have to admit it was well researched. I enjoyed the comprehensive eight step advice you gave. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a good voice either! It was so good that I signed up for your e-mail newsletters afterwards. I’m looking forward to more great content like this in my inbox.
This episode is a monster! Between this and the Moz webinar this week on Psychology behind persuasive content, I’m so much smarter. Brain chemicals dictate that which we do. I especially liked the arc of the story from a chemical standpoint.
There could be a product in this for you somewhere. Something like http://www.markiter.com/ with more emphasis on scientifically based emotional response. Good stuff. Thanks
Hello,
I just want to say thank you for sharing!
I used the content you shared to write my article and also, it inspired me more to read about Marketing in general. Because before I always had this idea of forced advertising…:/
All the best!