March 30, 2026
It pays to know what people already care about.
The following conversation illustrates one of the ways in which this pays.
“If I spend money on advertising, what will I get in return?”
It depends on what you say in your ads.
“What do you mean?”
Most ads have no relevance to most people.
“Yes, that’s why you need to target the right people.”
There is some truth in that, but not as much as you think.
“What do you mean?”
You can reach the right person, but if they have no current need for what you sell, you can only hope that they remember you when they do have a need.
“So, what’s the answer?”
The answer is to talk to people about what they already care about. Speak to what currently interests them.
“Can you give me a couple of examples?”
Sure.
- Public Relations experts know that a highly relevant press release will deliver amazing results when it can be inserted into a conversation that people are already having.
- Mass Media experts know that TV and Radio ads deliver amazing results when they:
(A) speak to values and beliefs that already reside in the hearts of the masses
(B) introduce relatable, interesting characters so that people can bond with them
(C) use 40 percent of the total ads to create “sales activation” by making an offer of a product or service during a time when it is at peak desirability.
“But even when something is at peak desirability, don’t I have to be able to reach the right people?”
When you are using mass media, you can depend on the behavior of the masses.
“What do you mean?”
Most products and services will be at peak desirability during these three types of trigger events.
(A) Seasonality.
Every spring, the masses want junk removal, lawn fertilizer, gardening equipment and supplies, home improvement tools and materials, warm-weather clothing, A/C check-ups and a huge variety of other products and services. Each month of the year triggers its own felt needs.
(B) Holidays.
Each holiday triggers its own thoughts, emotions, and desires. New Year’s Day is when people invest in diet programs, gym memberships, and programs to help them quit smoking. Valentine’s Day is romance, and Memorial Day is when retailers have discount events, and then we have End-of-School, Vacation Season, Back-to-School, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. Each of these are each trigger events that every company can build upon.
(C) Personal Trigger Events.
Moving out of a home or into a home is a personal trigger event that cannot be predicted by even the best AI. Likewise, engagement ring purchases, hot water heater replacement, funeral services, and car repairs happen at unexpected and unplanned times. Does it make sense to wait until the “Zero Moment of Truth” and then pay the price to generate an extremely expensive, low-conversion click? Or should you become the company the masses “think of first and feel the best about” when their personal trigger event occurs? Low-cost, high-conversion clicks are the result of people typing your name into the search engine because you have already won their hearts through the ongoing use of low-cost mass media.
CONCLUSION:
What you say in your mass media ads determines whether or not you will own real estate in the hearts and minds of the masses.
BONUS INFORMATION:
Youtube has become a new type of Mass Media.
I decided to start a couple of Youtube channels in February.
On March 4th, I decided to do an experiment. It began to pay off on March 5th.
Twenty-one days later, the results of those two experiments was a combined total of 1,234,238 new subscribers at a total cost of 2 cents per subscriber.
When a person subscribes, they are telling you,
“I love this and want more of it.”
If you want to know how much I spent to gain 1.2 million subscribers in just 21 days, all you have to do is multiply 1,234,238 by 0.02. (If you want to know precisely how much I spent, multiply 1,234,238 by 0.020319090498)
But that does not mean that all you have to do is spend the money.
You can buy views with money, but you cannot buy subscribers.
Subscribers are earned by what you say. You have to speak to a need that people already feel.
Weak, limp advertising tries to convince people that they need something that they do not feel they need.
Speak about what people already care about.
That’s the ticket.
Roy H. Williams
