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Next time you’re at your local mega-super-multiplex cinema, watch the movie patrons as they walk out of whatever film they just finished seeing. What do you expect to witness? Stunned silence from the audience of a grim war drama? A throng of kids bursting out the door, zapping each other with imaginary ray guns after an afternoon with a sci-fi action flick? Smiles, laughter and hand-holding between couples as they exit a top-flight romantic comedy? That’s what I would expect from a movie that has done its job well and entertained in the way it meant to entertain. (If you ever see stunned silence from an audience as they file out of a romantic comedy, you may safely take that movie off your list of things to do.)

A successful movie or play takes pains to make sure its audience leaves the theater in a specific emotional state. Even after weaving a powerful spell for two solid hours, however, the movie can still falter if the ending doesn’t follow through. Either the viewers immediately forget what they just experienced, or they walk away frustrated and confused. Either way, they don’t return, nor do they tell their friends to go see the movie, and so the movie tanks.

You and I face the exact same challenge with our website or print-marketing content — only for “ending” substitute the term “call to action.” You can lead your reader by the nose all the way from the opening header to the closing paragraph, but you’ll still lose the sale without an inspiring finish.

An effective call to action is consistent in tone with what came before (no jarring shifts that wreck the mood), clear (because an ending should feel like an ending) and commanding (“Laugh! Cry! Think! Buy something!”) Do it right, and your audience will go forth doing what you want them to do. Do it wrong, and they’ll just go forth.

May your next marketing venture earn four stars from your most demanding critics — your target market!

For information about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

The curtain rises on a murky, foggy night in Elsinore. A man atop a platform stands watch nervously, his lantern the only point of light in the gloom. He hears a sound, leaps to his feet and demands that the semi-obscured figure identify himself. The figure replies with the same demand. Fortunately, it’s only his friend come to take over the watch, but something’s clearly got everyone spooked. Why all the unease? Because of the ghost, of course — a dreaded apparition that haunts the castle.

Yes, I’m describing a play — Hamlet, to be precise — and not a brochure, website or print ad. On the surface, in fact, this scene would appear to have nothing at all to do with marketing or sales copy of any kind. After all, Shakespeare’s not selling anything here, is he?

Sure he is. He’s selling Hamlet.

An arresting opening to a play, film or literary work sells interest in the rest of it. It must hook its audience quickly and strongly if the author wants to see warm bodies in the seats for Act Two. Similarly, a great opening to a gigantic epic novel can persuade a reader to wade several hundred pages deeper than anyone expected. (“Call me Ishmael” has a lot to answer for.) Raising a brilliant opening curtain is like casting a magic spell — it may not hold for very long, but it’ll do its job long enough for you to strengthen and reinforce your command over those people for the period of time you need it.

The beginning of your marketing piece must command the “stage” — in this case the inner stage of the mind — just as firmly. This is especially, brutally true on the Internet, where we all have the attention span of a gnat with attention-deficit disorder. When someone lands on your homepage, you have a precious few seconds to cast your spell. So hit hard and aim true. Whether you open with an entrancing mood, a vivid depiction of a painful moment, a hearty laugh, an astonishing concept, or any of the other weapons in your mage’s staff, make sure you point that initial moment straight at the heart, mind or funny bone of the specific people you want to enthrall. Ask yourself, “What will get my ideal customer’s attention right now and hold it long enough for me to keep them from mousing away?” Then fire away.

The same principle holds true for print marketing as well, though generally readers will give you more time as they take in the pretty pictures or the nice slick paper. Even so, they want to encounter the good stuff ASAP, because they’ve got other things to do. So tell them in a big way, right from the opening header. Then follow up on that initial promise with more goodies as you guide them through the piece.

You don’t have to be a Shakespeare to grab your audience’s attention. You just have to know what will make their collective heart skip a beat, and then put it in front of them as the first thing they encounter.

Curtain up!

For information about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.