AMiable Solution #136: Getting in the Mood

If you want your customers or prospects to respond--which we all do, or we wouldn’t engage in marketing at all--you need to persuade them.  You must convince them that they have a problem and you have the solution.  One of the best ways to do that, of course, is to clearly identify the benefit of using your product or service.

But describing the benefits alone won’t necessarily lead someone to pick up the phone, pull up your website, or mail in an order.  To make the sale, you not only need to focus on what you tell them, but also how you tell them.  You need to give directions.

The best way to do that?  Tell your audience what to do.  Called the “imperative mood,” it’s the practice of using verbs to make requests or to give orders, commands, warnings, or instructions.  For example, using the imperative mood lets you tell your audience to

·        Look inside

·        Call to order

·        Open immediately

·        Detach here

·        Visit online

·        Read on

·        Return this form

By detailing exactly what it is you want your readers to do, you not only make sure your audience gets the information you’re trying to share, but you also eliminate any confusion about how to request more information, contact your organization, make a donation, renew a membership or subscription, etc.  Just be sure to make your directions as specific but also as brief as possible.

Of course, it pays to use your manners, too.  “Please” and “thank you” carry more weight than you may realize.  And coupling “instruction” words with “timing” words like “immediately,” “in the next 10 days,” or “before May 30” will add urgency to your instructions.