How to Make Your Audience Care

Joyce C. Hall was a young entrepreneur who set up shop in Kansas City with two shoeboxes filled with postcards. He and his brother sold postcards until a fire destroyed their inventory, which inspired the brothers to expand their business offerings.

In 1928, Hallmark Cards was born. They were the first individuals to sell cards by displaying them, and in 1944, they made a brilliant marketing move by adopting their long-time tagline: “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best.”

They were selling cards AND emotions. They were selling an opportunity to be thoughtful by celebrating a birthday, anniversary, birth, etc.

When we communicate, we often forget emotion. In fact, 95% of buying decisions are based on emotion – and justified with logic later.

Rather than announcing something to your audience, figure out why they would care about your change.

My local bakery put up a sign telling people they were now closing on Sundays and Mondays to give their staff rest. As a patron, I appreciated the prioritization of employees' health and would adjust to their new hours. They could have posted a sign that said their hours were changing, but their explanation did so much more. It communicated the emotion behind the decision.

My dentist switched his role in the practice. Rather than introducing the new staff, he explained that some medical issues were causing him to step back. I appreciated his honesty, and I decided I would stay with his practice even if I saw someone else.

Communicating change can be hard, but it doesn’t always have to be sterile and cold. Your audience is human – and they understand the emotional reasoning behind decisions. Don’t be afraid to pull back the curtain!

"Creating a Moment" and Improving Engagement

Magic Castle Hotel is ranked No. 7 out of 363 hotels in Los Angeles on TripAdvisor, yet you’ve probably never heard of it. However, if you have had a friend stay there, you know all about it – specifically the popsicle hotline!

The Magic Castle Hotel offers fun amenities like a free 24/7 snack bar, soft-serve ice cream, free laundry service – and a popsicle hotline.

If you are by the pool and craving a popsicle, you simply pick up the red phone and order some free popsicles!

What Magic Castle Hotel has managed to do is “create a moment.” You might do a million things while you are in LA, but you will probably remember the quirky, fun popsicle hotline.

My son loves his middle school gym class on Tuesdays. Why? Because they have Tag Tuesdays! Every Tuesday, they play tag, and the kids love it! (Anyone who can get middle schoolers excited about gym class is definitely creating a moment!)

One company I worked at always gave employees a unique plant on their first day. If you walked around the office, you’d see those plants on people’s desks. They created a welcoming moment.

Whether you are onboarding new clients or employees, teaching a new course, or launching a program, think of how you can create a moment. It doesn’t have to be big or expensive—just something that elevates the mundane and sets the experience apart. You’ll be surprised how engaging and memorable the experience is! And, that’s our goal – to communicate in such a way that it’s memorable!

If you want to learn more about creating moments, I highly recommend “The Power of Moments” by Chip & Dan Heath.

The Importance of Knowing Your Path: Communicating Goals

I jumped out of my car, locked the door, and jogged toward the running group. I was late, and the leaders were sharing the directions for our run.

I caught seven words: “…run up the parking garage deck twice.”

Not knowing the entire course was unnerving, but I figured I’d just follow the runners in front of me.

What I didn’t realize was how much my motivation is connected to knowing my running route.

As we approached familiar intersections, I would assume we’d be following a route we’d run before. But, after the third time of mentally guessing the route – and being wrong, I began to see my motivation tank. My pace slowed, and I realized I wasn’t enjoying the run as much.

I felt pressure to keep up with the group in front of me, which wasn’t my normal pace. Before long, I was annoyed with the run. (And, I LOVE my Saturday morning runs.)

Finally, as I passed another runner, I asked her for the route. As soon as she told me, I focused on the route and picked up my pace.

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between my run and when we don’t know what success looks like in a work setting.

If employers and supervisors don’t share goals or give us a target, it’s easy to lose motivation or experience burnout. We get motivated and throw ourselves into a campaign or task, but if we don’t know the end result, we can’t maintain our pace.

Once I knew my course, I could adjust my pace and energy levels.

An added bonus? My running group has a culture of cheering one another on. So, every time you pass someone or a runner/walker passes you, you say, “Good job!”

Imagine knowing what success looks like and having colleagues and supervisors cheer you along. That is an ideal situation!

How about you? Do you like to know the course or direction before you start a project or task?