Just last week I got a request to do a voice over for a fitness facility/gym/whateveryouwannacallit. (Is it obvious I don’t work out?)
One of the “new” features of this particular facility is a barefoot workout routine – complete with a spring-loaded floor. The script read:
“Jump into a new barefoot workout that’s complete with a soft spring loaded floor! This workout program is the change you’ve been waiting for.”
Ummmmmmm…I don’t think so.
According to US News & World Report, the top 10 excuses people use to avoid exercise are:
- I’m too busy.
- I’m too old.
- I hate going alone.
- It’s boring.
- My kids get in the way.
- My back hurts.
- I’m too fat.
- I’m thin already.
- I’m not a gym rat.
- I have arthritis.
Notice: “I’ll workout once I can do it in my bare feet on a spring-loaded floor” is not one of them.
YOU (the gym-owner) might think working out barefoot on a spring-loaded floor is a game-changer, but I guarantee you, not one single person avoiding exercise today had that cross their mind.
I see/hear statements like this all the time on the radio:
- “It’s the sale you’ve been waiting for!” No, people aren’t waiting for your sale. If they were, you wouldn’t have people coming in the other 364 days of the year or going to your competition.
- “You don’t want to miss it!” I don’t want to miss the birth of my child or my favorite team play in the championship. Does your sale really rank that high in my book?
There are probably great benefits to working out in your bare feet, on a spring loaded floor. I’m sure it’s a valid point to make in your advertising. I haven’t heard of it anywhere else, except at martial arts studios, so for a general workout place, this is probably unique.
Now, tell me why.
And not just the “brochure” reason why, tell me why for my sake. Why is it important to me? Why is it going to be so great for my workout? What kind of results will I see that I’m not going to see anywhere else? How is it going to help me reach my fitness goals, look better, be a better dancer, make me rich, or more appealing to the opposite sex?
Your radio commercial needs to speak to the root of your customer’s reason for buying: their personal “why”, their reason to purchase, their desire to own, their expected outcome.
Broad generalizations that assume what your customers want, are insulting. They know when they’re being manipulated and will tune you out.
Seduce them on their terms, and they will follow you anywhere.