Past few nights I’ve gone to bed annoyed.
90 minutes of my life, wasted. My mind occupied trying to figure out what happened.
it sucks, because I’m a picky movie watcher.
I can’t understand anyone who would watch the same movie twice. Makes no sense to me. There’s no suspense.
Also, I’d never watch a movie in cinema unless it really needs the big screen for maximum enjoyment. Comedy … I’d rather watch at home.
Romantic comedies in general; can’t stand em.
Horror films, not my cupa tea. They’re full of gore and little actual “fear”.
But most of all, I hate film festival style movies.
You know, the kind trying to make some kind of stupid artistic statement while ignoring the most basic requirement of a movie…to tell an enjoyable story. Not to stroke the ego of the “artist”.
So why have I gone to bed annoyed?
The movies I watched had decent-enough story-lines…but mostly they also had dumb endings.
“WTF just happened? I don’t get it,” is usually my reaction at closing credits.
It bothers me so much I can’t sleep.
I get on Google to see if anyone has an explanation that my little brain might have missed. Not that it helps. All I find is cheerleaders for the artistic performances and how amazing the director was.
But here’s the thing…
Good stories are incredible learning examples for marketers.
You’d be dumb to ignore them.
People watch a movie because they want to be entertained.
They have no other need, desire, or pain when they start watching. Aside from wanting to see a good story.
But a well-told story begins to create an ARTIFICIAL pain; a need to find out what happens next. What happens to this character. Who is the criminal? Why did she say that? Who “done” it?
As the story unfolds, you’re pulled from one scene to the next with an artificial desire to know more.
Systematically, a good story-teller uses one scene to make you “need to know more” ensuring you watch the next scene.
Your desire to “know more” becomes so strong you don’t want to get up to take a piss.
You don’t want to pick up the phone when it rings.
You don’t want to move from your spot.
You’re overcome with an overwhelming NEED to know what happens next!
But in the end, after the story-teller has created all those pains inside you…they MUST relieve them completely and wholly. What’s more, they need to do it in an intelligent way that makes you go “AHA!” now that was awesome!
If you’re going to create an artificial NEED, make damn sure you satisfy it.
It’s what I love about that Sherlock Holmes TV show called “Elementary”.
It makes me want to know more in each scene…and it unravels in a complex multi-layered way until the very end. The conclusion wraps everything up and makes sure you understood all the mysteries in that episode.
In its closing scenes, I always feel a sense of satisfaction and confidence that I had completely comprehended everything I’d seen.
But if the answer was obvious or simplistic…I wouldn’t feel so satisfied.
If it were too difficult to understand, I wouldn’t like it either. I want to be sure I “got it”.
Well that’s exactly why I’ve been going to bed annoyed.
Because in these recent movies I’d seen, the story-teller either had no point to telling the story (eg, the Bourne Legacy wtfffffff! Or Killer Joe wtf!!! x 10000)
Or because the story-teller forgot to finish the story properly (eg, The Words).
By the end of a movie, I want to know every scene I saw had a purpose and explanation. Everything needs to FIT.
Even if the story line was amazing…it pisses you off if you can’t be certain that what you saw was exactly what you THINK you saw.
And that’s a really important point for us marketers to learn.
Don’t assume the audience is intelligent enough to connect the dots the same way you do as the “story teller”. Even if you assume a VERY smart audience, they are only human.
They want to be sure they “got it”.
So make a point to re-word things, re-iterate them, and say them in different ways.
For example…
When I tell you I want to show you how to make your affiliate offers “convert” using my new Super Traffic Machine training program…
I could assume you understand that getting a LOT of traffic needs a LOT of money. (maybe you don’t know or believe this)
And if you convert a small amount of traffic well, you have sales that bring in money.
Then I could further assume you know that you should take your earnings and use them to get more traffic. (you might have never done this before, so you won’t realise it on your own)
And if you have more traffic, then you’ll make even MORE sales, more commissions, and get more money.
Then you can use that money to get more traffic for more money.
And hey, along the way, you can keep some of that money you’re making to get your life back together.
But even if you “got it” all by yourself from a little statement like “get more traffic” or “get more sales”…
…you’re never sure that I’m proposing what you’re thinking. Maybe you thought I meant something else altogether.
In that case, how will you confidently know this training program is right for you?
You won’t.
So go study your favourite movies and see how the conclusion iterates and re-iterates the goings-on of the movie … with multiple vocal and visual, cues to ensure you got it.
Learn how it’s done.
And use that in your marketing to make more sales. Use the money you make to fund more traffic, and get more money.
~jim
p.s. the Super Traffic Machine is not ready yet, but when it’s released, I’ll let you know…as long as you join the Early Bird list below:

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Here’s how to get big money from little traffic – so you can finally buy all the traffic you want.
And I’ll even show you how to make your audience artificially feel they NEED your products!