How to get past your audience’s “self-defense mechanism”

Inside today’s episode:

• Free LinkedIn video guide

• How to get past your audience’s “self-defense mechanism”

• Join the waitlist for my new LinkedIn program

Together with Goldcast

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• Video on LinkedIn gets 5X more engagement 

• People are 2X more likely to share video content

• Users spend 3X longer watching video than other types of posts

(That’s why I’ve been doubling down on video lately.)

The best part? You don’t need a big budget or fancy production. 74% of LinkedIn users prefer raw, authentic videos over polished ones.

Goldcast’s free LinkedIn Video Strategy Guide gives you tips, tools, and best practices to start creating video that converts.

Get it here.

Eugene Schwartz is my favorite copywriter. 

In the 1960’s he popularized the “A-list, B-list” concept. 

At the time, Eugene was writing direct response offers through the mail. He knew that his success was dependent on his envelope being opened. Otherwise, no one would see the sales copy or the offer inside. 

No opens, no sales.

Shwartz realized something that made him wildly successful: people have a natural “defense mechanism” when it comes to advertising. 

Specifically, people sort their mail over the trashcan—important stuff stays, and junk goes straight into the bin.

To overcome this, Schwartz tested multiple variations of his mailers to get past that defense mechanism and avoid the trash bin.

He tested all sorts of things from envelope size, envelope color, fonts, font color, images, no images, “stamps” that weren’t really stamps, and all sorts of copy to incite curiosity and drive urgency. 

It worked.

But that wasn’t his true genius.

The most interesting part is that Schwartz understood market sophistication—how aware and resistant people were to being sold to.

He adjusted his offers and tactics based on his audience's familiarity with the product or the competition.

In other words, he knew

1. His competitors’ tactics

2. How his audience responded to those tactics

This is what made him a copywriting legend: his ability to create something different, something that stood out.

But here’s the kicker:

The tactics that worked best were often the least polished.

Here’s why this matters today:

Our market is more resistant to traditional marketing than ever before.

It’s why I insisted on using plain text when I ran email marketing at Gong. 

For years, I almost never used HTML because it looks like marketing.  

(It’s also why this newsletter has very little branding and is mostly “no frills.”)

Kyle Poyar smartly made his article image in Canva in what I assume in less than 3 minutes.

That’s no diss. I like it.

Heika Young found content-market fit in like two months simply using point-and-shoot videos.

Israa Nasir uses simple notepad screenshots on Instagram and gets 4,000+ likes

We stop and watch because they are familiar. 

We get emails from friends in plain text.

We FaceTime our family from that vertical view.

We write notes in basic apps.

I’m pushing myself, my clients, and my reeders to do it too — because it works. 

But here’s the rub…

Most execs HATE this.

Creative directors do, too. 

They dismiss it because it’s “not on brand.”

It’s no secret as to why. 

They love polish. 

They think being the smartest and most “buttoned up” wins. 

(You know, because “We’re going on the market.”)

So you might get some resistance.

But know what is on brand? Sales. 

And this approach works at the psychological level. 

Another truth bomb:

Being the “smartest in the room“ doesn’t work in the attention economy. 

(Unless you sell to academics, I guess. But even still…)

Being the most relatable wins.

If you get pushback from your CEO or manager on this approach…

Tell ‘em this isn’t just a here-now, gone-tomorrow fad (hi Club House! 👋🏻).

This is a trend that will only continue to gain popularity.

This means you can be early and enjoy first-movers advantage. 

But you might get some resistance from internal skeptics and nay-sayers. Just tell ‘em:

Yea, let’s just wait until our biggest competitor does it first, soaks up all the attention in our market, and then we’ll copy them in a desperate game of catch-up…

Yea, I laid it on THICK.

And yes, I have said those exact words internally.

But for good reason:

I don’t want my marketing to end up in the godforsaken “B pile” and trash bin.

I’m not saying throw away your brand guidelines.

But I am saying we need to adapt.

Take a page out of Schwartz’s playbook and get comfortable with being different.

Because if you don’t, you’re gambling that your polished, perfect marketing will stand out in a sea of ‘sameness.’

And let’s be real… no one remembers ‘same.’

Your choice.

Make it matter, or make it invisible.

Holler at you next Saturday,
Devin

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Join the waitlist for my new LinkedIn Program

I’m still refining the details, but here’s what I can share so far:

This is a live chort training program that shows leaders — and the marketers who support them — how to use their LinkedIn profiles to grow awareness, authority, and inbound pipeline.

It will include

• 4 Live workshops where we build together

• Slack channel for on-going hype and tactical support

• Playbook & templates so you’re successful after the training

I’m going to limit it to 50 people for the first one.

So if you want in… 👇🏻