Do you agree: If you can’t picture yourself with the product being promoted, you will probably not buy it. I say this because, as you know, selling is not mainly about a product and its features. First and foremost, it’s about how your audience “sees” themselves benefiting from having your product.

So what’s one sure way to engage your audience? Make the visual component – whether it be the right image or the right word picture – play a major role in your sell. And beware of any clumsy phrasing that could paint a negative picture. To help you see what I mean, here’s how …

A Restaurant Lost My Business

It was a lovely evening, and my husband and I wanted to enjoy it by dining someplace special. We found a restaurant on Yelp with good reviews, but when I called, they told me, “We don’t have any seating indoors. You can eat at the bar or we can accommodate you outside.” Accommodate us outside? What does that mean? That cold, uninviting word picture evoked this unpleasant mental image…

No thanks, right? So – even though the place had location, food type, and good reviews in its favor – we quickly decided to pass.

Now, if the hostess had given us a more positive word picture by saying, “You can eat at the bar or we can give you a nice table outside on this beautiful night,” that would have created a much more enticing mental image (see below), and I’m sure we would have said yes.

The Lesson: Short attention spans are the norm these days. If the customer can’t picture a positive experience with your product in a split second, that’s it. No sale. Keep that in mind when you’re choosing images or creating word pictures, so you can enjoy more success with your marketing materials.