Hypnosis and marketing have a lot in common. Both have formulas to guide the process. Both transcend these formulas: they are useful guides, but if you follow them blindly, they lead to disaster.

The PCAT formula underlies all hypnotic change:

You start with the Problem/Parameters, so people have what they want in mind.

Then you skip over the critical factor, a fancy way of saying you put them in a trance.

When you are in tune with your unconscious mind, you activate your inner resources.

Finally, you transform them by applying the resources to the change. Then test to make sure it stuck.

If you stick to it rigidly like a script, you’ll have a hard time hypnotizing someone. If you use it as a framework to build on, then everything flows like magic.

In copywriting, whether it’s via email, sales letters, or social media, there’s another formula: AIDA.

The first thing is to get their attention.

You hold their attention by attracting their Interest.

You then activate their desire for whatever it is you’re selling.

It then ends with a call to action, such as ‘click here’ or ‘buy now’.

Two formulations with two different objectives. Or are? After all, both inspire change in people. You could use either one to fool people, although that leads to a world of pain. Both formulas work best when you really want good things for the other person.

The contexts are worlds apart, but the intent is more similar than you might think.

In fact, not only the objectives are the same, but also the formulas.

There are a few ways to get someone’s attention, which is the first step in marketing. You could write a swear word in big letters and then continue with your offer. It doesn’t work. It attracts attention and loses it quickly. The best way to get attention is to promise a solution to a pain in your life.

Did you promise a solution? Doesn’t that sound like Problem/Parameters of Hypnosis?

Once you have their attention, your marketing has to be Interesting. You have to absorb them. Maybe it tells a gripping story or maybe it describes your ideal future. And what is any of these but missing the critical factor?

Marketers then feed the Desire into an action. And aren’t desire, motivation and fantastic determination the resources that hypnotists activate?

Then there’s the call to action: a transformation and a test rolled into one. Handing over money is the best proof that the process worked, and once they do, the purchase changes them.

Hypnosis and marketing use the same tools to achieve the same results. Not surprising, since both are forms of applied psychology. Keep this in mind the next time you sell your services: As a hypnotist, you are already well versed in the principles.