As the average person is exposed to hundreds of marketing messages every day, how do you get them to pay attention to yours?

One of the secrets of being able to get your message across to prospects and customers is understanding a little about what is going on inside their head every time they see a message.

That’s what we’ll look at in this step.Remember that marketing messages are only a small proportion of the information that people are being bombarded with all the time.

Everything from the weather outside to the person talking on the other side of the room is information the mind is coping with.

If a typical computer was subjected to the same amount of information every day as the human mind, its hard disk would fill up very quickly.

Fortunately, the mind has a built-in filtering system enabling it to cope.

It’s your ability to get through that filtering system that will determine how successful you are with your marketing.

so, when you know a little about how the human mind works, you have more chance of getting the outcomes you want.

Inside the Human Mind
The reason two people react differently to the same information is that they process it differently inside their mind.

When someone notices a ‘trigger’ - such as your marketing message - it will eventually lead them to carry out a ‘behavior’ such as a decision on whether or not to purchase your product or service. Bear in mind that the behavior may be to ignore the trigger completely.

When two people see the same thing, they will create a different Internal Representation of it based on a variety of personal factors. This is what leads them to make different decisions and to take different actions.

If you can influence this Internal Representation, you will have more chance of controlling the outcome.

So what happens in between the trigger and the behavior?

First we take in information through one or more of our senses - we see it, hear about it or feel it, for example.

Then we process the information very quickly through a series of filters. These filters include:

• Memories and decisions: This enables us to decide very quickly how to deal with a situation. But it can be unhelpful if we have made some bad decisions in the past.
• Values and beliefs: Our values define to us what’s important and provide the drive for us to do something. Beliefs are the ‘spectacles’ through which we view the world around us.
• Metaprograms: These are a set of thought and behavior patterns that operate beyond the conscious level. They control the way we process information, the way we pay attention during conversation, our habits, our body language and much more.

Unconscious communication
If you really want people to act on what you say, you have to communicate with them on an unconscious level. These are some key things to know about the unconscious mind:

• It is the domain of the emotions: The most effective communication and marketing is at the emotional level.
• It needs clear orders: So you need to be very specific in your communication.
• It takes everything personally: That’s why it’s so important that what you say to yourself and to others is positive.

Using the power of the mind to be more persuasive
Although persuasion is sometimes seen as a negative word, it’s really about understanding what people want and delivering it in a way that suits their needs.

When you know how someone is processing the information you give them, you have a better chance of persuading them effectively.

In the next part of this series, we’ll look at how you can use this knowledge to change the results of your marketing.

You can download a free report covering all 7 keys to persuasive marketing power