I guarantee this has happened to you quite often since you’ve been in business:

Someone does business with you based on the flimsiest of connections.

I’m talking not only friend-of-a-friend referrals, but, such Six-Degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon connections like:

  • The friend of a sister of some guy you know at the gym…
  • The cousin of a lady from Church…
  • Your sister’s old roommate’s little brother…
  • A friend of a friend of a fishing buddy…

You’ve benefitted from those connections and dozens of others like them. Here’s why:

Some connection always beats no connection.

Doing business with — making yourself vulnerable to — a complete stranger feels bad.

Nobody wants to put themselves in that situation.

And the bigger and more important the purchase, the more this is at play.

So customers search their memory or ask their social connections to see if they have some kind of an “in” or connection to somebody “in the business.”

Ideally, they themselves or a close friend will “know a guy.”

Or an immediate acquaintance will provide a powerful referral or recommendation.

But even a connection that’s three or more degrees out will inherently feel better than hiring a perfect stranger.

Again, some connection always beats no connection.

Amplifying and Multiplying This Effect for Fast Growth

Now, you could embark on a mission to actively network, and thereby “organically” increase your social connections.

Join more social clubs, country clubs, charities, etc.

And that can certainly work — IF you’re good at socializing and networking.

But the organic nature of it means it won’t scale and can’t be accelerated.

The better way is to use mass media advertising to rapidly foster a sense of social connection with a large audience.

You want everybody who hears you on the radio or sees you on TV to feel as if they “know” you.

That way, they’ll choose YOU over your competitors, who will feel like strangers in comparison.

Even if they’ve never met you in person.

The Only Kind of Ads that Work This Magic

No audience will ever feel as if they know you unless your ads:

  1. Present yourself to them as a definable “character” they can get to know.
  2. Share your stories that act as windows into your life experiences, values, and worldview.

In other words, your advertising needs characters and storytelling.

Only ads with both elements will foster a feeling of social connection with the audience.

Announcer-driven ads won’t do. Neither will copy-points and fact or offer-driven ads.

Origin Stories to Turbo-Charge Your Results

Stories that establish character for an audience are known as Origin Stories.

Every franchise film — especially superhero franchises — kick off by telling the character’s origin story.

So if you want to play the game of “Six Degrees of Benjamin Franklin,” where large-scale, felt social connections lead to rapid business growth and fatter profit margins…

Start by launching a mass media branding campaign, kicked-off with your Origin Story.

And if your current ad team ain’t up to that challenge, go find one that is.

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