It’s good to remember we humans are irrational.

There is still a commonly held belief that we make rational decisions.

Most of the time, we do not.

But you see it in advertising all the time. 

Give folks many rational reasons why we're good, and they'll buy us. 

A quick sidebar.

Much respected research has shown that the more you say in an ad, the likelihood that anything will be remembered goes down with each additional message or point you try to make.

The more messages an ad attempts to communicate, the lower the likelihood of any single message being communicated strongly and remembered.

If you make likeable ads, you will be liked.

And that’s great.

Because of how the brain works, viewers who like the ad will like you and assume you're good at everything you're supposed to be good at because they like it, and their brain has told them so.

After all, they wouldn't like something their brain didn't think was good.

The subconscious is beautiful and does so much of the work for us.

If you make likeable ads, you don't need to say more than one thing.

And that’s great.

The less you say, the more that is remembered.

And in the world of brand management, we are in the memory-building business.

The more potential buyers remember and like you, the greater the chance they will buy you and, hopefully, buy you again.

Bloody marvellous.

The details can be provided later when they want them.

Being likeable and saying much less when doing brand communications is the way to go.

Remember the 95/5 rule in B2B categories (95% not in the market and 5% ready to buy now).

Depending on your B2C category, you could have anywhere from 50% to 90% of buyers who are outside the market to buy now.

So, likeable (single-message) ads will work great for priming those who are not ready to buy now. You can give them the details when they are ready and want more details.

Simple.

This is a good life lesson for brands, communications (and yourself).

Be likeable. 

Humour helps, too. 

And make sure that one thing you say is relevant to your audience.

Just be sure you deliver and meet, or even better, exceed customer expectations once they’ve bought you.

No one wants you to be all talk.