High Stakes vs. No Brainer: Speaking Your Audience’s Language

Think of the energy you put into choosing what you are eating for lunch, not too long, right? Now think about how long it takes to choose what hotel you will stay in for your vacation. Take a little longer, right? This is what we call involvement in the marketing industry, how important or risky a purchase is to a customer. 

High involvement are decisions that require consideration and deep thought; things like risk, price, priority, and relevance need to be weighed to make a good (profitable) decision. When deciding what educational degree/program to do, what car or phone to buy, or what your next vacation destination is are all considered high involvement because they require close participation from the purchaser. 

Low involvement decisions are the contrary. These purchases are usually made out of habit or impulse; customers just need to be reminded the product or brand exist. These require simple marketing strategies, like ‘BoGo’ stickers and eye level shelf placements. Customers don’t need to be convinced, brands just need to stay visible and relevant. 

But then how do you make your brand stand out? Make sure the brand message and media are aligned with the product’s involvement level. Create guides, how to’s, breakdown videos, reviews/testimonials, and warranties for high involvement products/services. These help build a sense of trust so the customer can feel safe by being informed. On the other hand, create fun, trending, and vibrant content for low involvement products. From catchy jingles, to fun slogans, the imprint the brand can leave will impact the customer’s decision-making process (whether they realize it or not). 

For example, when signing up for a streaming subscription (Hulu, Spotify, etc.), most people do it out of convenience or use a free trial so there is not much thought that goes into it because with most, they are guaranteed they can ‘Cancel Anytime’, or were reminded by a simple ‘Play It Now’. But, when you are buying a car there is a lot of research, comparisons, and warranties that come into play. Companies use ads, customization, and even test drives to help persuade shoppers and assure them they are making ‘the right choice’.  

So, when you are writing your brand narrative think about how important the purchase decision will be to your target audience, and make sure the message matches that energy.