[0:00] - Today you're gonna learn how
[0:01] to capture your audience's attention
[0:03] in a noisy online world.
[0:05] It's actually a very simple
principle I used for decades,
[0:07] writing for television networks
like NBC, CNN, CBS, and MTV.
[0:12] And it's the very same concept
[0:13] that's help build some
of the most successful
[0:14] online content platforms in the world.
[0:17] Now I should warn you, this
simple concept can be used
[0:19] to earn your audience's
attention and build trust,
[0:22] but the very same psychological
phenomenon you'll leverage
[0:25] can be used to do the complete opposite,
[0:28] to destroy your audience's
trust over time.
[0:30] I'm gonna show you how it works,
[0:32] the psychological
phenomenon it's based on,
[0:34] and even reveal to you
the one online platform
[0:37] that's created a generation
of content skeptics,
[0:40] all of that and more on
today's Loyalty Loop.
[0:44] (upbeat music)
[0:52] Here's the deal, a couple of years ago,
[0:53] a psychologist decided to run
a very interesting experiment.
[0:57] What he decided to do was post
a trivia question like this
[1:01] at the bottom of the stairs
in an office building
[1:04] just like this one.
[1:05] My trivia question says:
[1:06] which common word
changes its pronunciation
[1:09] when the first letter is capitalized?
[1:12] Hm.
[1:13] And below this question,
he hung another sign
[1:15] that said the and answer is
at the top of the stairs.
[1:19] Do you know the answer?
[1:20] - No.
[1:22] - You curious?
- Yeah.
[1:23] - Then, he and his team sat back to watch.
[1:26] You see what Evan Polman wanted to know
[1:28] was whether he could
influence people's decisions
[1:30] by invoking a deep
desire to find the answer
[1:33] to just a very simple trivia question.
[1:35] Could the simple quest for
an answer entice people
[1:37] to make healthier choices?
[1:39] Most people take an elevator
in buildings like this,
[1:41] but studies have proven
that just taking the stairs
[1:44] can make you healthier.
[1:45] But as all good marketers know,
[1:47] giving them a mountain of
facts and a bunch of studies
[1:49] that prove it makes them healthier
[1:51] won't get them to change.
[1:52] What we've gotta do is
connect with them emotionally,
[1:55] invoke and emotional
reaction that gets them
[1:57] to change their behavior.
[1:59] Remember, Dr. Donald Kahn says
[2:01] that emotion leads to action,
[2:03] while reason leads to conclusions.
[2:06] What Evan wanted to understand
[2:07] was how to invite people
to embrace the search,
[2:11] which we talked about
just a few weeks ago.
[2:13] And he's using a really
powerful psychological force,
[2:16] curiosity.
[2:17] Curiosity is a complicated concept
[2:19] and we're gonna covering it
more in the next few weeks.
[2:22] But what we're gonna focus on today
[2:23] is what's sometimes referred
to as the curiosity gap
[2:26] or the information gap.
[2:28] But basically we can boil it down
[2:29] to the simple idea that
we love to fill the void
[2:31] between what we know and
what we want to know,
[2:34] or even what we need to know.
[2:36] So what happened in Evan's study?
[2:37] Well some people still took the elevator,
[2:39] but some people took the stairs
[2:41] and just posting a simple trivia question
[2:44] can increase the number of people
[2:45] who take the stairs by 10%.
[2:48] Now 10% might not sound like a lot,
[2:50] but imagine if you increase your leads
[2:51] or prospects or sales by
10%, that'd be amazing.
[2:55] Now before you get too excited,
[2:56] let me warn you about the consequences
[2:59] of misusing the power of curiosity.
[3:02] If you've ever clicked on
one of these headlines,
[3:04] then you know exactly
what I'm talking about.
[3:07] Clickbait.
[3:08] By the way clickbait is
not a new phenomenon,
[3:10] in fact it's been around as long
[3:11] as we've been printing newspapers.
[3:13] Yes, platforms like BuzzFeed and UpWorthy
[3:16] have built their entire
businesses on the idea
[3:19] that they can make money
[3:20] by taking advantage of our curiosity gap.
[3:23] But here's the thing,
[3:24] so often the pay-off didn't
match the expectation
[3:27] set by the headline and you
walked away feeling cheated
[3:30] and manipulated and dirty.
[3:31] That's why your pay-off
must be proportional
[3:33] to the void you create
[3:35] when you're manufacturing a curiosity gap.
[3:37] So, what's the answer
to our trivia question?
[3:40] Well, it's right up there.
[3:43] But before I show you the answer,
[3:44] maybe it's time to embrace
the power of the curiosity gap
[3:48] and instead of using it to
undermine the relationship
[3:51] we have with our audience,
[3:53] let's use it for good.
[3:55] Let's use it to tell better
stories and foster deeper trust.
[3:58] Let's use it to ask the right questions.
[4:00] Let's use it to make the
world a better place.
[4:03] Just like this little trivia question
[4:05] got me to climb those stairs,
[4:06] let's use our marketing
for good instead of evil.
[4:10] Do you know of a great brand
[4:11] that's leveraging the curiosity gap
[4:12] for good instead of evil?
[4:14] Well, please share it
in the comments below,
[4:16] like the video if you enjoyed this
[4:17] and don't forget to subscribe
so you don't miss next week's.
[4:20] In the meantime, I'll see
you on my Loyalty Loop.
[4:27] (sighs) I know, you're still here
[4:28] and you wanna know what the answer is
[4:30] to that trivia question,
[4:32] well here you go.
[4:34] (upbeat music)