How to Use Curiosity to Make Your Marketing More Engaging

0:00Hello, this is Mark Satterfield and welcome to the Velvet Rope Playbook. Tonight's chapter, How to Use Curiosity to Make Your Marketing More Engaging. A few years ago, I was at a dinner and found myself talking with someone I'd just met. He was perfectly pleasant, interesting background, successful guy, but after about five minutes, I noticed something. I wasn't particularly interested in what he was going to say next. There was nothing wrong with the conversation. He wasn't boring. He wasn't talking too much, but there was nothing pulling me forward, nothing making me think, wait, tell me more about that.

0:39And it occurred to me later that this is exactly what happens with lots of communication. You can be intelligent. You can have something worthwhile to say. You can even be talking about a subject someone cares about. But if you don't create curiosity, there's no reason for them to lean in. And that's really what curiosity does. It creates that little moment in someone's mind where they think, wait, what does he mean by that? Why did that happen? What's the answer? Where is he going with this? That's engagement. And whether you're having a conversation, giving a presentation, writing an email, creating a video, or trying to attract a prospective client, that little desire to know what comes next can make all the difference.

1:28There's an old saying in direct response marketing that the purpose of the headline isn't to sell the product. The purpose of the headline is to get you to read the next line. And the purpose of that line is to get you to read the line after that. The same principle applies today, except that now we're competing with someone's inbox, Instagram, YouTube, text messages, news alert, and probably a dog doing something ridiculous three posts down. You don't necessarily need to be louder. You need to make them wonder. That's the power of curiosity. When you introduce an idea that feels incomplete, unexpected, or slightly contrary to what someone already believes, their brain naturally wants to close the loop.

2:16They think, wait, Why is that? What's the answer? Could I be doing that? What's he talking about? And now you've brought yourself something incredibly valuable, another 10 seconds of their attention. So, this leads to the next question. How do you create curiosity? Here's a simple exercise I use when thinking about content. Before you write the headline, the email subject line, or the opening of a video, ask yourself, what could I say that would make my ideal prospect need to know the next sentence? Notice I didn't say, what information should I give them? That's a completely different question.

3:01Information satisfies curiosity. Great marketing frequently creates curiosity before satisfying it. And there are several questions you can ask yourself to fill those curiosity gaps. Question number one. What does my prospect believe that might not be entirely true? This is a terrific place to start because people are naturally curious when someone challenges an assumption. Suppose you're a financial advisor. Instead of five retirement planning strategies, you might say, why having more money may not make retirement easier. Now I want to know why. Or if you're an architect, instead of how to plan your custom home, you might say, the decision you make before designing your home that can affect almost everything that comes afterwards.

3:55What decision? That's the curiosity gap. Question number two. What does my prospect not know that could hurt them? This is particularly powerful when you're selling an expensive service because affluent prospects are often less concerned about finding the cheapest option and more concerned about avoiding an expensive mistake. Instead of questions to ask before hiring a wealth advisor, try the question most people never ask a financial advisor until it's too late. Instead of things to consider before renovating your home, try one decision that can add months to a major renovation before construction even begins.

4:40You haven't given me the answer. You've given me the reason to want the answer. And that's an important distinction. Curiosity isn't about withholding useful information. It's about creating enough interest that people actually want the information you're about to give them. Question number three. What specific detail makes the story impossible to ignore? Specificity and curiosity work beautifully together. Compare, I learned something interesting from a wealthy client with, a client worth more than$20 million once told me the reason he fired his previous advisor, and it wasn't performance. Now we've got a story.

5:26And more importantly, we've got an unanswered question. Why did he fire him? That's what keeps somebody engaged because you've created a piece of information they now want to have. So here's a simple test. The next time you create a video, email, or social media post, write your opening and then stop. Cover up everything that comes afterwards. Read only the first two sentences and ask yourself, If I knew nothing else, would I feel compelled to find out what comes next? Don't ask, is this clever? Don't ask, does this sound professional? Don't even ask, is this informative? Ask yourself something much simpler.

6:11Do I want to know what comes next? If the answer is no, you don't necessarily need to rewrite the entire piece. You may just need to find a better curiosity gap. ask yourself what would surprise them what don't they know what do they believe that might not be true what have i seen that they haven't what's happening behind the scenes and what can i reveal without immediately giving away the answer because you may have the most useful information in your industry but none of that matters if people never get past the first sentence your first job isn't to explain everything. Your first job is to make them curious enough to stay engaged, and then you've earned the opportunity to show them how much you know.

7:02And if you're struggling to figure out exactly what to say to get the attention of affluent clients that you want to attract, that's something I can help you with. In less than an hour working together, we can create messages specifically for the business that you run that are compelling, curiosity-driven, and designed to make the right prospects want to know more about you and what you do. We'll work on the ideas, the hooks, and the language that give people a reason to lean in rather than simply scroll past. If you'd like to work with me one-on-one, comment, coach, or visit the link in the bio, and I'll send you the details.

7:43This is Mark Satterfield. Thanks for listening to this chapter of the Velvet Rope Playbook. I'll talk to you soon. Bye for now.