by Sue Mazur, Coffee News AUSTRALIA

What on earth is a Reticular Activator in the Brain? Seriously, do my potential customers have one? Do I? Should I be worried?

Rest assured, it’s perfectly normal - in each of our brains, there is an area known as the Reticular Activator. This is the part of the brain that stays on alert and its job is to make you notice some things, and ignore other things. (If we noticed everything, we’d be too distracted to function.)

This is like a control centre for three categories of information:
(1) things that are familiar or connected to you (ie branding);
(2) things that are unusual, abnormal, shocking or strange;
(3) things that are dangerous, threatening or problematic.

How does this work and what does it have to do with Advertising?
Have you ever noticed that when you buy a new car, it seems like the whole world is now driving your car, because you notice them everywhere. Or if you fall pregnant, you start to notice all the other mums with bubs. Then when your friend refinances to a much better deal - you start to notice interest rates. In these instances, your Reticular Activator is primed and on alert.

The way this applies to advertising and marketing is simple, ie: Jane Smith has a need/void/want and she wants to fill it. For example, let’s say Jane wants to buy a yellow VW convertible. She begins to look out for VW convertibles, maybe checks out the internet, talks to friends and colleagues. Her reticular activator is primed. An ad comes on television about convertibles, but it’s not a VW - so she tunes out. This automatic filtering is done by our reticular activators - Jane is tuned into looking for familiar things associated with VW convertibles.

If you sell that product, have been actively advertising your business, and building familiarity (this is branding) in the community, and your Ad can still be found - you will get that call (of course, this works even better for you if you have found a medium that locks out your competitors and gives you exclusive exposure). Plus those connected to Jane - remember (a) above - will also be looking out for her, and Jane might receive your details via a friend who has seen your Ad.

But I just want sales!
To achieve responses to our advertising, we must ‘poke’ something that is already in Jane’s brain, ie - if Jane is not interested in VW delivery trucks, no amount of VW truck advertising will make her want to buy a truck. This is a huge concept that many businesses miss. We cannot create the desire, we can only influence Jane if she’s already interested. ie, if Jane just ate lunch, no amount of advertising stating “Get a free dessert with your lunch” will get her to respond right now. And that’s another shortcoming of most advertising—it targets only the “now” buyers. Truth is, only about 1 to 5% of any audience is really a “now” buyer. So if your advertising doesn’t allow for “future” buyers, you’re turning away 95 to 99% of your prospects. So you need to find a way to consistently be in the marketplace, constantly creating familiarity (branding) and awareness - in a way that is affordable so you do get those calls and can work on those sales!

Quick Sales vs Business Building Sales - how branding/familiarity changes this!
The business owner who doesn't have the time and budget to develop familiarity (build a brand) can get very anxious for another method of getting prospects to pay attention, and will often resort to short-term advertising with specials - that will attract bargain hunters galore [‘C’ type buyers] that have their reticular activator primed to look for discounts. Unfortunately these buyers aren’t usually loyal and often there is not enough profit in these once-off sales to build a business. Yes, it feels good to make a quick sale. But it’s a hard slog with little profit. Don’t market to these buyers unless you truly have a clearance sale or your market is the ‘super-discount store’ market.

[The customers that build a business are ‘A’ type customers (loyal, full-paying customers that look for your visibility/credibility). Coffee News is targeted to these types. Note - Advertisers receive material about the types of buyers].

The word ‘branding’ in advertising is often misunderstood. We hear “sure Coca-Cola and Nike’ can afford branding, but who has their budget?!”  The truth is, branding develops familiarity of your product or service and this familiarity is a key component on how the human brain makes decisions - to call you or not to call you. One major key to business building sales if finding a medium where you place your message into your local market that develops the required familiarity and is affordable for the long-term (like Coffee News).

Can you really afford NOT to advertise?
 

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