LOYALTY TCURLT IYGOUGR BERARNDS - Cult Your Brand · Instead, you must create a persona. Your...

LOYALTY TRIGGERS

CULT YOUR BRAND

The Quick Reference Guide

IntroductionIt starts with reflexes - physical and emotional reflexes. We all know that humans have physical reflexes. The “funny bone” in your elbow. The patellar tendon in your knee. If you hit your funny bone just right, you automatically experience an extreme and powerful sensation. You can’t help it. You have no control over it. And you won’t be able to function again for a while. Until the nerve that you hit settles down, you can’t do anything.

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Humans have emotional reflexes too. Those reflexes affect our emotions the same way getting hit on the elbow affects your funny bone. The particular set of emotional reflexes I’m going to discuss are the Loyalty Triggers.

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The Loyalty Triggers

Humans have 5 different reflexes that trigger the emotions that create feelings of loyalty. I use an acronym to help me remember the 5 loyalty triggers: PORML. (It rhymes with “normal.”)

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Each of these 5 stimuli will trigger the emotions of loyalty in any human being. When you use these stimuli on your target audience, you will get an automatic, reflexive response. They can’t help it. Each of these triggers will work alone. However, you will get the best and longest lasting response if you deploy all five of them together.Let’s look at each Loyalty Trigger one by one.

P O R M LPersona Origin Story Ritual Manifesto Lingo

PORML stands for:

Persona

Human beings form strong emotional attachments with personalities.

We don’t form the same sort of emotional attachment to things. The bad news? Companies are things. Businesses are things. Organizations are things. Products are things. Even services are things. People are personalities. “Wait a minute”, you might object. “How can I interact personally with all these people? I’m only one person!” Good news, you don’t have to do it. Instead, you must create a persona.

Your business persona is like a coat rack. When people walk into your business wearing a coat, they want a place to get comfortable and hang their coat. Your coat rack gives them a place to hang their coat. When people encounter your business - in person or online - they are wearing something they also want to get rid of: their isolation. When people come to your business, do they interact with a personality? Or do they interact with a thing? The chances are very good that your company doesn’t have a well-defined personality. Your “persona” is the company version of a personality.

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A well-defined persona gives your public a place to “hang” their sense of isolation. When they encounter that persona, they will feel connected. And connection is one of the most powerful emotional responses you can give your customers. Why? Because loneliness is one of the most common problems any human faces. That’s why you need to give your business a persona. Here’s how to do it.

The Elements of Persona

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A strong persona has three main facets: 1. A recognizable face 2. Qualities we admire 3. Qualities we relate to

A Recognizable Face

Human brains are wired to respond positively to faces. Faces help our brains connect an emotion to an idea. The idea of “mother” probably has a specific face connected to it, doesn’t it? And that face undoubtedly evokes some sort of strong emotion. That’s normal. That’s how our brains work. Your business is also an idea. It’s easier to get people to remember and feel good about your idea when a face is connected to it. For example, if I talk about Geico, I’ll bet you think of the gecko, right? Or when I talk about Jack in the Box, I’ll bet you think of that goofy talking clown head, right? Apple has Steve Jobs. KFC has Colonel Sanders. You get the idea. Your organization needs a face. Whether it is a photo of you, or a cartoon mascot, or an image of your dead founder.

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Your business should be represented by something that has a face.

Research reveals that faces that provoke the strongest reaction have two eyes and a “Mona Lisa smile.”


Qualities we Admire and Qualities We Relate To

Humans brains are wired to form strong bonds with people we like. And that “liking” takes two different forms: 1. People who possess qualities we admire. 2. People who possess qualities we relate to. Advertisers have known for years that celebrities can help people feel good about a product. That’s why athletes and entertainers get paid to represent a product. We admire them, and “the halo effect” spills over onto the product. The second kind of liking is less obvious, though just as powerful: testimonials. In testimonials, a person “just like me” used the product and got good results. We relate to these people, and that helps us to like them.

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Now, when you see a celebrity advertisement, (someone you admire), or a “real person” testimonial, (someone you relate to), that helps trigger positive emotions. Look around and I’ll bet you could find a dozen examples of each in very little time. But I’ll bet you would struggle to find examples of both in the same person: someone you both admire and relate to. And that’s where the power resides: in the combination of relatable qualities and admirable qualities.

Qualitieswe admire & relate to.WHERE THE POWER RESIDES

How to Create the Right Qualities

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1. An obvious physical quality: He’s a gecko. 2. A surprising quality given the physical quality: And he talks, with an Australian accent! 3. A serious weakness, fear or flaw: He’s small and easy to bully. 4. An unbreakable value: He treats everyone with kindness.

How do you give your persona the right combination of qualities? I use a simple technique that has worked for decades. Hollywood screenwriters and novelists use this technique to create believable personalities for their characters. It will work for your business persona as well. The technique is called “The Character Diamond.” You create a character with 4 specific characteristics. These combined characteristics will create a persona that is recognizably human. I’ll use the Geico gecko as an example The four characteristics are:

Combine a Face with a Character Diamond, and your business Persona will instantly be stronger than virtually any other competitor.


How to Create and Use Your Persona

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All your communication with your customers, prospects and market should be conducted in the voice of your persona. Don’t say anything that persona wouldn’t say. Don’t do anything that persona wouldn’t do. And - as much as possible, always present the face along with the voice. For personalized help creating your company or personal Persona, contact us at info@cultyourbrand. Or, you can take our Irresistible Persona online training course. At the end of this 2-hour online course, you will have worked through the steps necessary to create your own powerful Persona.

Origin StoryHumans love stories. For most of our evolutionary history, we didn’t have written language as a way to pass information from one generation to another. So we used stories instead. Our brains are wired for stories The second of the Loyalty Triggers is your Origin Story.

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A well-told Origin Story triggers strong positive emotions in the hearers.

And what are the ingredients to a well-told origin story? There are many types of stories. Kurt Vonnegut famously identified 7 different “story shapes” that virtually all popular stories conform to.

By far the most popular story shape is always a Hero Story. That’s why your Origin Story should be a Hero Story. A great Hero Story will have these elements: 1. A recognizable HeroThe hero of your origin story should be a person very much like your ideal customer. 2. Who faced the same Challenges as your target audienceBecause the hero faced the same challenges, the audience will recognize themselves in his struggle. 3. Who experienced the same Failures as your target audienceThese should be the same sorts of attempts, (and failures) that your ideal customer also endures.

Your Origin Story Formula


4. Who Triumphed over those challengesBecause the hero is recognizable as an archetype of the Ideal Customer, his triumph can also be the customer's triumph. 5. And then Returned to share the secrets of his/her successThe Hero’s triumph would be meaningless if we can’t share in it. Sharing the Hero’s triumph is the whole reason your company or organization exists.

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1. Define the characteristics of your ideal customers.

- What struggles do they face?

- What solutions have the tried that didn’t work?

2. List the main problem your product or service fixes.

3. List the main solutions offered for the problem that don’t work, or don’t.work as well as

.....your solution.

4. Identify the ways in which your real founder was like your ideal customer.

.....If.the real founder isn’t relatable, then create a fictional yet plausible founder who is relatable.

5. On your website, add an “About Us” section that tells your origin story.

......Feature your founder/Hero. Touch on the challenges, failures, ultimate.success and return

.....with solution. Ideally, do this in 300 words or less.

.....(Note: that limitation can be very challenging. But a long origin story is.better than no story.

.....We can help you create your origin story.)

6.Create a video where the same story is told. Try to keep it at less than 2 minutes.

.....(Yes, this is difficult as well. We can help with your video as well.)

7. When you generate your welcome email to new email subscribers,

.....(you do.generate a welcome email, right?), make sure you introduce them to your

.....company’s origin story. You can do this directly in the email, or in a link to.the video or

.....written version.

How to Create and Use Your Origin Story

Ritual

What It Does Shared rituals - performed together - connect people better than almost anything else you can do. Rituals serve the purpose of reinforcing the “insider vs. outsider” dichotomy.

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People who know the rituals are insiders. People who don’t know the ritual are outsiders.

Once you learn the rules of the ritual, and participate in it, you experience a sense of belonging to a group. This effect works whether or not you believe it works, and whether or not you care. The way our brains and psyches are built, the irresistible effect is a feeling of belonging.

The name “ritual” might put you off a bit. Don’t worry, that’s normal. “Ritual” is just the formal name for an informal type of activity almost everyone knows and loves: playing games together. In fact, anywhere you see the word “ritual”, you can substitute the word “game” and it means the same thing. The kinds of rituals, (or games) that make people fall in love you have 4 specific characteristics: 1. The ritual requires the use of specific Objects, Gestures and Words. 2. The ritual requires moving your body, not just thinking thoughts in your mind.- Bodily motion creates neural pathways that aren’t created by thinking.

What It Is


3. The ritual (game) is always performed with other people. - If it’s not performed together, it won’t create emotional bonds. 4. The ritual is performed at regular, predictable times. - If it is not predictable, it won’t create the same emotions of belonging. 5. The ritual has no outside utility.- If it has utility, then it isn’t a ritual, (game). It’s work.

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· First, identify if your target audience is strictly online, or if you interact with them

...in real life.The rituals will need to be adapted for the place you interact with

...your audience.

...If you have a business that is strictly online, your ability to create and observe

...rituals ...with your company is more limited than with companies that directly

...interact with people.

· Next, set a regular time that you will practice the ritual with your target

...audience. For example, you could have an “Every Monday Morning at 8” ritual,

...or an “each time a customer comes in the store” ritual.

· Create the words, gestures and objects you wish to use in your ritual.

· Practice the ritual with some “insiders” so you can get comfortable teaching

...others to perform it.

· Introduce the ritual to your target audience. A playful attitude is essential.

· Stick with it. It will take your audience a little while to adapt to the new

...behavior.

...If you find it difficult to define and execute rituals for your organization, contact

...us. We can provide examples to copy or more hands-on consulting as you

...request it.

How to Create and Use Your Ritual

Manifesto

A manifesto challenges the status quo, casts a vision for a glorious new future and calls true believers to rally around the cause. A manifesto is unreasonable and unrestrained. It should be idealistic and bursting with the energy and recklessness of youth.

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A proper manifesto will generate one of two responses. Either (1) “you’re out of your mind” or (2) “that is amazing and I’m with you.” This is your line in the sand. It is a declaration of what you believe, why you believe it and – most importantly - what you are going to do about it. The essential elements of a manifesto are Problem, Vision, Action. · The Problem with the Status Quo · The Vision of a Glorious Future When the Status Quo Problem is Resolved · The Actions You Are Taking to Resolve the Problem and Create the Future......In other words, “Things right now Suck. But things could be Awesome. And here’s what we’re doing to go from ‘Suck’ to ‘Awesome’.”

Deconstructing the Manifesto


The Problem with the Status Quo What is the exact problem with your world right now? Highlight that problem. Amplify it. Shine a searing light on it exposing every crack and wrinkle, every ugly scar. In other words, even if the problem is a molehill, it is your job to turn it into a mountain.

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The Vision of the Glorious Future Once you have declared the intolerable situation of the present, you must paint a vision of the glorious future when the problem is resolved. The Actions You Are Taking You’ve named the problem and described the future state once the problem is solved. Now you must declare the action you are taking to create that future vision. And you must call others to join you. This part does not have to be detailed, specific or even rational. But it must be action oriented.

1. Imagine that the single biggest problem in the world is the particular problem you solve with your product or service. Describe the problem. This is your Problem statement. 2. Describe how fabulous the world will be once everyone adopts your solution. (You don’t have to detail the solution. But you must paint a vivid picture of how much better life is.) 3. Describe the actions you’ve taken to bring about the future. Again, these should be in general terms using emotional language. 4. Finally, if you really want to drive home the point, divide the world into those people who are ready to join you and change the world, versus those who have their heads stuck in the sand and are therefore Enemies of Progress. (Humor is essential. Accuracy is not.) 5. Publish a written version of your manifesto on your website under the headline “We Believe.” Create a video version and publish that as well. Promote the bejeebers out of it. If you need help creating your manifesto, or understanding how to use it in your business to create the strongest emotional response, we can help.

A manifesto is a serious document created in a spirit of fun.

The spirit of fun is essential. So - with tongue planted firmly in cheek:

How to Create and Use Your Manifesto

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Lingo

Lingo is yet one more way to divide the world into “insiders” and “outsiders.” With Lingo, the tool you use to divide is the language you use. The purpose of lingo is the exact opposite of the purpose of normal language. Normal language is created to help us communicate with one another, to connect with one another. Lingo is designed to be hard to understand and to separate those who are “in the know” from those who aren’t. Lingo is words or phrases that only insiders understand. Outsiders should be confused or even a little put off by your lingo.

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The meaning of your lingo should be impossible to figure out from context.

Like spices, a little lingo goes a long way. Lingo can be new words you create, or existing words you repurpose for your own use.

In other words, your lingo should be impenetrable. Only an insider can explain the meaning to you.

How to Create and Use Your Lingo

1. Pick a typical process you use in your business, or a class that you fit your target audience into. Create a new name for that process or class. This is your first bit of lingo. 2. Introduce that lingo into your public communications, whether published or spoken. Do not explain it. Write or speak as if the audience understands. This will increase their confusion. 3. Once a person makes a purchase from you, Reveal the meaning of the lingo to them. Typically you will do this in your Welcome materials. (People who haven’t bought anything from you yet don’t deserve to be “insiders.”) 4. Once you get the hang of it, create a little bit of lingo for every place in your company where customers might interact with you. You can create new classes of customers just to be able to use new lingo on them. Encourage your target audience to use the lingo in their communication with you. Train your people to use the lingo in their communication with the target audience.

Here’s how to create your own lingo

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Summary

We respond in predictable ways to particular stimuli. If you generate the stimulus, the response is always automatic. Some people might object that this is manipulative. I don’t see it that way. I think it is smart. Triggering someone’s loyalty response makes them feel good. There is nothing wrong with making people feel good using these triggers. There is no fraud involved. The emotions people feel are real. The good feelings are genuine. Feelings of loyalty alone won’t overcome poor product quality, lousy customer service or non-competitive pricing. But if you are looking for a way to differentiate yourself from the competition, stimulating the Loyalty Triggers is an unusual and effective way to do so.

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B E C A U S E O F T H E W A Y H U M A N B R A I N S A R E W I R E D

Loyalty Triggers Work

Contact Us

For help creating the loyalty triggers for your own business, contact us at: Email: [email protected]: 480.382.8667Twitter: @CultYourBrandFacebook: facebook.com/cultyourbrandLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cultyourbrand/about/

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