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Validate Your Customer’s Worldview

Everyone has a different set of values, beliefs, assumptions, biases, and experiences that affect the way they see the world. Our parents, our schools, the social organizations we are a part of, our neighborhoods, ethnicity and culture… all of these things create a unique lens—or worldview—that each of us sees and experiences the world with.

That worldview helps determine whether your prospect will be receptive to your copy and offer or not. 

If you (or your prospect) have ever purchased a weight loss or exercise program before, and it didn’t work, your worldview may make you question whether a different program will work. If you’ve failed with more than one of these programs, your worldview probably tells you that none of these programs work as promised. And the next person who pitches you on a product like this isn’t likely to make a sale.

On the other hand, if you or your prospect has joined a program like a mastermind (like The Copywriter Think Tank) or a business accelerator and had some success, your worldview probably tells you that with the right combination of hard work and expert guidance, you can succeed in a similar program.

Vegans have a very different worldview than barbecue enthusiasts. Some people love cheap, assemble-it-yourself furniture, while others want handcrafted heirloom type furniture that will last for generations. Some people value lush green lawns, while others practice xeroscaping or move into apartments or condos where lawns are tiny or non-existent. 

Here’s the thing… even if you have a great offer, you probably won’t sell meat to a vegan. IKEA can design 10 different shelving systems, but they’re not likely to sell any of them to the heirloom customer. And you’ll struggle to sell grass seed, fertilizer, or weed killer to a person without a lawn.

You can’t change someone’s worldview.

Smart copywrtiers don’t even try.

Instead, they’ll look for prospects and customers who’s worldview already includes the products they sell.

Seth Godin has said…

“Marketing succeeds when it taps into an audience of people who share a worldview—a worldview that makes that audience inclined to believe the story the marketer tells.”

Seth goes on to say that your customer’s worldview affects their attention and what they are able to see (if you don’t have kids under three, you’re not likely to pay attention to marketing messages about baby food or diapers).

It affects their biases (when we see a new product, our worldview instantly colors what we think about it… for example, a new Apple device will almost certainly be loved by Apple fans no matter what and derided by PC users who think Apple is too expensive and exclusive).

And our world views also affect the vernacular we use to talk about it… that is, our customers care just as much about how something is said, as what is said.

Let’s talk just a minute about each of these. First attention.

Decades ago, when there were just three television channels and 2-3 magazines like Life and The Saturday Evening Post, you could run an ad and capture the attention of most of America. Other countries were similar… just a few media outlets informed just about everyone.

That’s no longer true.

Today there are no mass markets. Some people pay attention to the stock market. Others to NASCAR. Still others to the latest beach reads and best sellers. By the very fact that you are watching this Personality and Persuasion Masterclass, you clearly pay attention to copywriting and marketing techniques—things that hundreds of millions of others have no interest in.

You can’t force an audience to pay attention to what you have to say. It’s far better to capture their attention with tactics like novelty and curiosity in ways that fit with the things they are already paying attention to.

And what about biases?

We all have them. No marketing message or piece of copy is ever seen or read by an unbiased person. There’s no such thing. So you need to craft your copy to fit your target customer’s world view.

Quoting Seth once again, because he said it so well…

“It’s tempting to be a crusading marketer. To set out to turn coffee drinkers into tea drinkers, vodka drinkers into teetoltalers, Republicans into Democrats. And every once in a while, you get lucky and succeed. But this is a difficult and challenging path.

People don’t want to change their worldview. They like it, they embrace it and the want it to be reinforced.”

And finally vernacular…

The words, fonts, colors, images we use to communicate all communicate something to your customer. Let’s compare two similar business websites to show what we mean.

Panera Bread is bakery/cafe with more than 2,000 stores in cities in the western hemisphere. Their website is full of images showing good food and happy people. It’s a little corporate… that is it doesn’t exactly feel like your local neighborhood bakery, but it serves it’s customers well.

Now compare that to Zingerman’s Bakery. Unlike Panera, Zingerman’s has made the decision not to expand beyond Ann Arbor Michigan. Their website is full of quirky illustrations—some of them picture the foods you can get at the cafe. The copy is also a little quirky and fun. They’ve done a great job of showing off their personality to connect with their customers.

And that cherry chocolate bread. So good.

You can compare all kinds of popular brands and identify the different worldviews of their customers. Ben & Jerry’s versus Haagen-Daas versus Baskin Robbins versus Skinny Cow versus Halo Top and so on. Each one has a different brand personality that appeals to different worldviews.

Copywriter Robert Collier is famous for saying you need to join the conversation that’s already happening in your clien’ts mind. That is exactly what we’re doing when we validate our prospect’s worldviews.

One of the best examples of advertising targeted at a distinct worldview is the campaign created by GSD&M for the state of Texas’ Highway Department. They were paying more than $20 million a year to clean up litter on the highway. And that expense was rising about 17% a year. Most of the litter was dropped by teenagers and twenty somethings who simply ignored the highway signs that said, “Keep Texas Beautiful.”

The agency proposed the tagline: Don’t Mess With Texas. The members of the Department of Transportation were older and pretty conservative… they didn’t like the theme and almost killed it. One of them suggested that the agency add the word “please” to the slogan. It didn’t fit their worldview of what polite people should say.

But the agency won out… and an ad ran featuring Stevie Ray Vaughn playing The Eyes of Texas in front of a giant Texas flag. The voice over said “messing with Texas isn’t just an insult to the Lone Star state, it’s a crime. Don’t mess with Texas.”

The message was so popular that dozens of Texan celebrities volunteered to take part in the campaign. After just 3 years, 98% of Texas residents knew the slogan. But more importantly, littering dropped 71% over the first 4 years of the campaign.

Why was the campaign successful? Because it appealed to the worldview of the young men who were causing the problem… in a way they would respond to. 

How does this tactic appear in other copywriting examples?

Sales pages for financial newsletters are often targetted at older white men who have money. This group is generally conservative politically—there are exceptions, but for the most part, this is their worldview. So these sales pages often start with a lead that matches the reader’s politics… even though it may have nothing to do with the actual offer. The copy starts by capturing the attention of this group and appealing to their existing biases.

Check out this almost ancient ad from Joe Karbo with the headline… The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches. Talk about tapping into a worldview… who doesn’t want to make a lot of money doing little to nothing?

The copy reads… I used to work hard. The 18-hour days. The 7-day weeks. But I didn’t start making big money until I did less—a lot less. And it goes on to create curiosity around Joe’s system for making money the easy way.

This copy for Amy Porterfield’s List Builders Lab taps into a unique worldview as well. She’s stepping into the world of the course creator and sharing something they all feel and can relate to… the embarrassment of a small list.

Notice Amy isn’t trying to change anyone’s mind here… she’s tapping into what her customers already feel and believe.

Check out this copy from the launch page for Hey, the new email service for people who don’t like the features and lack of privacy from email clients like Gmail and Outlook and now feel like email is a chore…

Hey’s website even includes a manifesto…

Anytime your brand has a manifesto you are practically shouting a worldview for everyone to hear and respond to.

Hey is a great example of stepping into a customer’s worldview with a product that fits. They’re not trying to convince gmail users to change. They’re directly appealing to the people who are already looking for something better than Gmail Outlook or Yahoo.

And here’s a great example of appealing to a customer’s worldview from Rachel Rogers. The copy resonates with the experience she shares… if you are a woman—espeically a woman of color—who feels like she’s been kept from accomplishing her best, then this message will ring true.

Farther down the page, she intensifies the problem her audience feels…

Finally, check out this Facebook ad copy by our friend, copywriter Justin Blackman aimed at women who are going through a divorce:

This wasn’t how I imagined life after 50.
Let me know if you can relate.
Because when I said “I do” I thought it would be forever.
And I gave it all I could.
Just like I’m sure you did.
You tried to make it work.
But for one reason or another?
It didn’t.
And now you’re alone.
And if you’re anything like me (or most women I know)…
You’re:
> Feeling lost
> Scared about your future
> Unsure who you are
> Fearful of starting a new relationship
> Embarrassed of your failed marriage
And wishing you had a bit of your old life back.

There’s no preaching. No “buck up camper” or encouragement to think differently about the situation. Justin is simply writing out the shared experience that so many of these women are feeling… tapping directly into their world view.

How do you put this technique to use? You’ve got to understand exactly who your customer is… you need to talk to them, stand in their shoes, experience what they have experienced. Then reflect back their exact words and experiences in your copy. Find a place in their world for your offer and you’ll find more than a few will say yes.