A few years back I wrote about how many impressions it takes for a prospect to recognize, ponder and eventually take action on your marketing efforts. In it I told the story of a gentleman who had taken up to 20 ad impressions to register, consider and finally, ask his wife to buy the product in question. (It was 1885 after all.)

Reading through the gentleman’s emotional response after each impression was a bit like watching paint dry until some momentum was gained. This is the marketer’s job: Just how long does it take to get the prospect to move?!

And then you begin asking: What do I have to do to get them to move faster? Buy faster?

You’re hoping to find a magic formula that will reduce the number of impressions required to get the job done. But guess what?

It takes many more impressions than it did a hundred plus years ago to move the needle. Ugh!

The good news?

The number of impressions may have gone up, but the speed with which you can convert the cold lead to a hot potato customer may be much shorter than a century ago. Thank you, Technology.

Now, it’s highly likely you need hundreds of impressions. Every post on Facebook can count towards your total number of impressions. Same thing with the number of tweets. Instead of running an ad every week in the local newspaper (as you had to do a century ago because it was the only advertising venue besides your store front sign), hoping to convert a few readers, you can now deliver these impressions across myriad platforms to multiple devices over hours instead of weeks. But volume isn’t the only answer.

Sooner or later you may catch that ideal prospect at just the right moment to convert her into a closed sale.  …But you’d rather it’s sooner and not later.

How do you do that?

Finding a Wormhole in Marketing Time and Space

Cue Seth Godin with a succinct post explaining it in a nutshell: Create a vacuum.

Huh?

I always get a good chuckle over what appear to be fairly home-made ads. You’ve seen them yourself: Chock full of a zillion bullet points (none of which are pertinent to you), it’s everything but the kitchen sink. (Oh, yeah, it’s in there too over on the side! I couldn’t see it with all the clutter on the page.)

Hoping to reach as many potential prospects as possible, these ads do an excellent job of driving the viewer away from the ad since there’s no focus. It makes it the viewer’s job to find (with difficulty) what’s important to him or her. It’s the vacuum running the opposite direction, driving away prospects.

So how do you create a vacuum of interest, Seth-style?

Present only enough information to grab attention. Throw in the tease and then hit ‘em with the call-to-action. Always leave ‘em wanting more!

That’s the vacuum. Pulling them in. Teasing them with tantalizing appeals that make them stop in their tracks. Not bamboozling them with every feature, benefit and trick in the book. That’s not appreciated.

Your prospect’s time is valuable. Show her you recognize and respect her time by not blasting out too much information.

I think that means it’s time for me to close too!

My recommendation: For every impression you wish to make on your prospect, ask yourself if it’s creating a vacuum or merely blasting out data. Fix it if it’s the latter.

Marcia Macomber is Creator-in-Chief at Cornucopia Creations. Her goal is to ensure you’re creating a great vacuum with your marketing efforts to generate more revenues!

To reach a wider audience with your product or services, launch a new product line, or attract a more appropriate clientele, now’s the time to find out if she’s got a cornucopia of ideas for achieving your goals or creating the perfect holiday greetings. Call 707.721.1095 or email Marcia today to find out!