How Western is Your Appeal? Or, how to write a heroic solicitation that sells.

In the world of marketing and communications, I think we can all agree that the best appeals tell a story. Stories engage the reader; and an engaged reader is more likely to be persuaded by your "ask" than one who is not engaged. Right? And--without going all MFA on you--stories have plot.

Let's talk plot. My seven-year-old sons and I have. Actually, the plot conversation started in their first grade classroom, where they discussed the elements of story. (Yes, in first grade.) I supplemented that beginner conversation with a little more detail. What is plot, really? I asked. Just a series of events?

Hopefully not. Plot--even in a story presented in a direct mail solicitation or email appeal--should be based on conflict. My boys and I talked about how conflict is created: human vs. human; human vs. nature, etc. (Anyone else having English Composition 101 flashbacks?)

Which brings me to my misty cowboy image, above. Conflict makes the story (as does character, setting, and more...for future posts.)

As the result of a conflict, somebody or something comes out on top. If you're asking for money for it--that should be the thing that prevails.

Marketing and communications solicitations don't have the luxury of 80,000 words to fully develop character, setting, theme, tropes... The form demands a concise message, and, if you follow my logic, a clear winner (hero) and a clear loser (antihero--or antiheroes.)

Who is Clint Eastwood without the bad guys? Just an empty white hat. Which is why, when I begin to write an appeal, I want to know who the hero is that I'm touting but also who the antihero is that we can take down (with the reader's buy-in, often, participation or donation.)

If you check out the appeal I wrote for Perrone Group client Arizona State University--first in my portfolio--you'll get a clear picture of the hero and the antihero. The bad guy in this appeal is clearly drawn: a shortage of college grads. No mealy-mouthing it here. This is a crisis, which is even more dire than a plain old problem.

Then, we double down on the crisis, with yet another antihero: a financial hurdle made even taller by dwindling public support.

And here we have the university solicitation version of "The Good (the university) the Bad, and the Ugly."

A conflict of this magnitude allows the reader of the appeal to become more than a participant. He or she becomes nothing short of a hero. Because the stakes are high, so too are the rewards. So too is the feel good-edness. (Yep, new word.) And a reader who feels good is more likely to give.

So, the next time you sit down to write an appeal--or ask your favorite writer to craft one for you (ahem)--do what I do. Whistle a Spaghetti Western tune, don your white hat, and make a list of the enemies that are preventing you and your organization from riding off into the sunset.