MARKETING MAGICIANS-1

If you think that magicians and neuroscientists have very little in common, you’d be wrong: both deal with issues like attention and consciousness, maybe just in different ways. Marketers can learn a lot by observing both professions and, particularly, from understanding how magicians can fool us even when we are trying to pay attention. Here are a few ways that magicians influence them on a subconscious level that can also be used by marketers — not to try to trick customers, but hold their attention longer and increase your engagement.

AVOID ANALYSIS PARALYSIS:

Every businessman or entrepreneur will consider themselves as a pro in multitasking. But the reason why stage magicians are so successful is that we can only really pay attention to one thing at a time. Many illusions are based on the magician showing you something with one hand while doing something you don’t notice with the other hand. Neuroscientists compare our attention focus to flashing a torchlight on an area on the wall: we see what is lit when the light flashes on it, and we lose focus on everything else. The term tunnel vision is particularly apt to describe how people zero in on one small area at a time.

Marketers need to be sure they have focused their target’s attention where they want it. If the customer is distracted by something external, or worse, by something else the salesperson is doing (or that is happening in an advertisement), the key point of the pitch will be missed. Every advert or post that you put out and every campaign that you run must have a primary objective and action that the audience must take after watching your advertisement.

Magic Strategy #1: Don’t let your customers multitask when you need their attention on your message! Focusing on a primary consumer action improves your conversion rates as does having a clear CTA.

MOVE IT, MOVE IT:

Ever wonder why doves are such popular props with magicians? Their docile nature and the ability to stuff them in small spaces are contributing factors, I’m sure, but the explosive burst of white, flapping wings as they fly off is guaranteed to draw every eyeball in the audience. The ability of the birds to hijack the viewers’ attention gives the performer a window of opportunity to set up the next stage of the illusion. Our brains are wired to respond to motion — after all, in prehistoric times, movement might be a threat, or perhaps food. Magicians exploit that response in many ways, and you can too. This is the real life equivalent of a video ad. Video is the future of advertising especially in top of funnel advertising. Use vibrant videos which are scroll stoppers and either intrigue or dazzle the audience enough to make them click on your link.

Magic Strategy #2: Whether you are presenting to a group, selling one-on-one, or building a digital campaign use motion to grab the attention of your audience and focus it where you want it. If there’s one thing that’s moving, that’s where the audience will look.

GO BIG OR GO HOME:

If you were watching a magician standing on the stage and he or she made a small, quick move to his or her pocket, you would likely notice it. That would be because there is not much else happening apart from the particular action that the magician performed. Magicians know that and prevent you from seeing their small moves by distracting you with a big move, such as pulling a colorful scarf out of a pocket in a sweeping gesture with their other hand. They know the audience will tune out the small move in favor of paying attention to the big one. The same can be used in marketing and advertising too. Use big transitions to snap the audience back into attention.

Magic Strategy #3: If you are dealing with an audience who is distracted or who may be losing focus, use big motions to snap them to attention. This will engage your audience for a longer duration and hold your audience’s attention to your messaging.