Laura is going to KILL me for this subject line 😂

So, before I officially cement my place in the guestroom for the next few nights…

Let me go ahead and explain what I mean. 

It’s no secret between my wife and me that Selena Gomez is one of my celebrity crushes…

And occasionally, she’ll come up in conversation… or I’ll see her in a movie… or hear one of her songs…

And I’ll tease Laura about how in love I am with Selena. 

Of course, I’m not actually in love with Selena Gomez…

It’s just fun to tease Laura…

And I do think Selena is very talented. 

So anyway…

This morning, as I was drinking my coffee and reading the Wall Street Journal…

I came across an article titled, “The Ballad of Selena Gomez.” 

It’s a long piece about Selena and the things she’s been through…

And it had a lot of stuff about her that I didn’t know. 

For example, I remember hearing that she had lupus for a while…

But I didn’t know that it developed into a more serious condition that required her to get a kidney transplant in 2017. Or that there was a complication during the surgery and it ended up lasting 9 hours and she almost died. 

I also didn’t know that Selena has suffered from various mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. Or that she’s seen numerous therapists and gone to multiple in-patient treatment facilities for these issues. I was especially surprised when she said: “I got on the right medication, and my life has completely changed.” 

I’ve dealt with depression (never super severe) at various times in my life too, so I could relate to that….

But, what really resonated with me is the part about getting on the right medication. 

In November of 2018, I got re-diagnosed with ADD and decided to go on Adderall. It was a big and difficult decision for me – because I really try not to take “drugs.” But it has absolutely and utterly changed my life. I’m on a relatively small dosage, but it’s made a night and day difference. I’m more pleasant to be around, more attentive with my family, and have dramatically less social anxiety.

I need to write a whole article about my ADD in the future. But the point is, when I read that quote about medications from Selena, I totally got it. 

Also, while I knew Selena had a lot of Instagram followers, I didn’t realize she’d taken a year-and-a-half break at one point because: “I’d rather stay away from anything that’s going to make me feel like shit.” 

And I found it interesting that Selena’s not religious in the traditional sense, but does say of her spirituality that, “it’s about my faith and connection to God.” That’s how I approach spirituality too: I don’t go to Church, but I do cultivate a personal connection with God.  

Oh, and finally…

I liked hearing how Selena needs alone time, ideally a few hours each day, to fully recharge. Personally, I’m probably about 55% introvert, 45% extrovert. So I’m fine in social situations (especially now that my ADD is better managed), but it’s also very important that I get some downtime each day. 

Okay, so what’s my point?  

Well, as I was reading this article about Selena Gomez…

And learning all of these things about her…

I found myself thinking, “man, I love Selena Gomez!” 

But I didn’t mean this in a romantic way.

Or even in the sense that I was attracted to her.

She just seems really cool…

Like a badass…

Like someone, I could admire, because she’s gone through a lot and has a unique perspective on things…

She seemed like someone I could relate to.  

Now, here’s the part where I wave my magic wand and tie this all back to marketing and copy.

This article about Selena Gomez, and my response to it…

Reminds me yet again of why personal stories are so effective in our copy and marketing. 

Getting personal and vulnerable…

Being authentic and honest…

This is what allows our audience to truly become connected to us. 

If we tell our story well…

Then the reader will see parts of themselves in us…

Which, in turn, makes them feel less alone. 

That’s a powerful thing…

And when your audience truly feels understood…

It becomes so much easier for them to want to take action.

In fact, they’ll want to take action…

You don’t even have to ask them – they do it proactively because they like you. 

For me personally…

When I read this Wall Street Journal article…

It made me want to listen to Selena Gomez’s new album. 

Normally I would never do that since I don’t really listen to pop albums…

But now that I’ve read about Selena’s experiences……

And learned the stories behind some of her new songs…

I probably will put her album on at some point today…

Because now I’m curious and feel connected to her story. 

And, make no mistake about it…

That’s really what the point of this Wall Street Journal article was, to begin with.

It was to present Selena in a certain light…

And to expose her to an audience beyond her core demographic…

With the goal being that people would read this article and find Selena interesting…

And then go stream her music… or attend a concert… or watch one of her movies… or engage with her in some way.  

For me personally, at least, the article was effective…

But there was never any call-to-action in the article…

Nothing that said: “Click Here to Listen To the New Album NOW”…

And truthfully, there didn’t need to be… 

Because now that I know about Selena and her story…

It’s easy for me to want to support her. 

I’m going to be wrapping this up here in a second…

But the last point I want to make…

Is that this whole experience I’ve described…

Of reading Selena’s story…

Feeling more connected to her…

Then wanting to take an action…

It goes back to a concept I posted about a while ago in the Justin and Stefan Talk Copy Facebook Group…

Something I refer to as Emotional Response Marketing (ERM). 

This is marketing where, instead of getting people to take an external action (aka click here)…

We’re focused on getting them to have an internal reaction (a feeling). 

It can be hard for Direct Response Marketers to believe that feelings can be more important than clicks…

Yet I would argue that the former is much more valuable over time.

Because when it’s done right…

It leads to people taking an action not just once…

But over-and-over-and-over again. 

I’ll write more about ERM in the future…

But wanted to make a note about it here as well.

Okay, other than that, time to jump into my day. 

Doing some copy tweaks for the next hour…

Then I have some meetings with members of my call center…

And then this afternoon, I’m going to be spending some time working on my RMBC Course…

Which launched at the end of April.

Hope you all have a great day 🙂

 

– SPG

P.S. Laura’s celebrity crush has been Leonardo DiCaprio since she was 13 years old and saw Titanic.

In addition to Leo, she also likes James Franco.

And then on the flip side, she’s also into pro-wrestler looking guys with long hair and unshaven faces. 

It’s quite the contrast…

But, the point is that all of her crushes look NOTHING like me at all…

Which is another thing I frequently enjoy teasing her about.

P.P.S. This post originally came from an email I sent to my private list. If you want to see more stuff like this from me, you can apply to join my list using this link.