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How to paint your heaven & customers’ hell

How to paint your heaven & customers’ hell

Shane McLendon
August 30, 2024

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🖼️How to paint your heaven & customers’ hell

Fall, football, and fantasy league widows are in the air. Good time of year for non-football guys needing female company. Though adultery’s riskier than drafting Lamar Jackson as your QB.

Quick thought on how to paint a literally unforgettable picture with your marketing messages (with 3 examples). Then we’ll feast on This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up.

Get the Picture

Let me tell you something most of you already know. You’ll get more conversions by presenting the clearest vision possible for the hell you want your audience to avoid and the heaven your brand can lead them to.

What you may not know is the best way to accomplish this.

First of all, you must truly know the detailed pain points of your audience. Same goes for knowing exactly how your product/service relieves that pain.

Once you know both sides of the coin, you can get to work on your masterpiece that people won’t be able to shake from their minds.

First example…

The nastiest injury I ever saw in sports was Anderson Silva’s lower leg getting broken in half as it wrapped around his opponent’s leg like a piece of rubber. Toes pointed toward the mat, knee pointed the other way, and one of the greatest fighters in history screamed like a 4-year-old in a fire ant pile. I did not know the human leg could twist in such a fashion.

That scene will never leave my head.

Business use: Were I advertising calcium supplements for bone strength, I’d paint a picture like that in everyday situations. Cycling, walking down stairs, car accidents, youth sports, etc.

Another scene stuck in my brain is…

Life-flight at Base of Snow Tube Mountain

Happened years ago. The moment we arrive to let our young kids slide down this little mountain on a tube, a helicopter is airlifting someone to the hospital. No idea the details but the only picture I needed was that medical chopper.

The poor soul in it was just like us. There for a good time. But ended up with something awful.

I didn’t need a medical report or eyewitness account. That chopper scene told me all I needed to know. That we’d better keep our heads on a swivel so none of us ended up injured.

Business use: Were I selling helmets for any fun activity, I’d paint a similar picture.

Now for a heaven-type scene.

Dad’s Antidote to Crying

If you’ve got a daughter, she’s probably gonna marry someday. Hopefully you won’t cry - during the ceremony, at least. My advice on how not to cry?

Slowly walk the venue at sunrise, way before anyone else arrives. I did this for my oldest daughter’s wedding day.

The island was perfectly still as I walked it. Thousands of people still asleep on our cruise ship. I’ve never seen water that beautiful before that day. The cool breeze felt good on my face as I thought of the 26 years I’d had the pleasure of knowing one of the best people I’ll ever know - my kid. I recalled her looking up at me in an old baby photo, enough to make a grown man cry.

That picture often has, but not that afternoon as I walked her down the aisle. I got ahead of that by soaking up the scene beforehand, walking the island alone.

Business use: Were I selling vacation packages or wedding venue bookings, I’d paint a vivid scene that pulls people into a moment in time they can’t wait to never forget.

Idea for this post seeded by Ben Settle, and Larry Munson—play-by-play football announcer who missed a lot of technical details but fans SAW the game through the radio with his words. Take a listen.