It’s natural to want to prove to the audience that your company’s the best. Unfortunately, that inevitably leads to bragging, and**bragging** **ain’t the answer. If you’re cynical, you might say that flattery is the answer. And if you modify that to “honest flattery,”**I’d have to agree that that’s a workable approach. But even better than honest flattery is Bonding. Still… the desire to be seen as the best is both natural and actually true at its heart:**Your company will indeed grow faster if people see you as the best.**So how do you persuade people of that without bragging? Turns out, there’s a deceptively simple answer :Talk more.**New research shows that people view those who talk more as natural leaders.**And that’s irrespective of the quality. It’s not people who say the most compelling or intelligent things. It’s simply the people who talk the most. Intrigued? Keep reading…
Understanding the Research
Lead researcher,Neil G. MacLaren, set out to test the “Babble Hypothesis.”To do so, he evaluated groups of strangers formed into teams tasked with “winning” two different game simulators:
- A military game simulation
- A business game simulation
And as part of these games, every team had to pick a leader. The researchers recorded the team's interactions and evaluated the factors that predicted who was elected team leader. So what determined who got picked?Simply those who talked the most. It wasn’t who had the best ideas, nor who most effectively framed the discussions, or who came up with the winning strategy. It was simply who talked the most during team discussions.
Applying This to Your Advertising
First, this recent study correlates well with50+ years of advertising effectiveness research. Research that shows how_Share of Voice_predicts_Share of Market_with shocking accuracy. Even though I’d be the first to say thatShare of Mind is infinitely more important than Share of Voicethe facts still show that…Simply taking up more conversational space captures more of the market. Businesses that talk more are more likely to be seen as — and to become — leaders. That’s not speculative, that’s proven true in real world advertising. But let’s drill down on what it_really_ means to “talk”
Why Bonding Makes “Talking” More Effective
In order to be really perceived as talking_TO_the customer, you have to…Actually_talk to_the customer. Ads that take a “yell and sell” approach won’t cut it. Nor will ads that use announcer-driven ad-speak. You have to have the business owner or spokesperson talking to the customer, one-on-one fashion.[Of course, there’s alsothe art of making crowd psychology work for you at the same time]Andthe more the spokesperson shares of himself, the more the customer will feel as if he or she knows the owner. That way you’ll have the “talks more” effect working for you_AND_the “Six Degrees of Benjamin Franklin” effect working for you at the same time. So if you really want to be seen as the best — aka, the leader in your industry —**the answer is an effective bonding campaign powered by as much share of voice as you can afford.**And if you’re not yet running a branding campaign,hire yourself an ad team capable of providing you with one.
Jeff Sexton
Businesses either sell $5 haircuts, or fix $5 haircuts. I’m your guy if your company fixes $5 haircuts. Working together, we'll de-commodify your business, make pricing pressure a thing of the past, and grab the lion’s share of customers willing to pay a premium for your service or product.
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