| |
| |
|
WebsiteAlways |
|
Bad Seduction - Advertising Techniques That Dont Work
I just read some advertising suggestions on an Internet marketing site that are beyond annoying. They are flat-out bad advice. They illustrate a complete lack of understanding of the whole persuasion process. First, small business owners are told that advertising often has a cumulative effect, so ad-driven sales may not be immediate. Then, they're told how to measure and track the immediate response of their advertising. Reading past that little dichotomy, some of the suggestions included: · Use magazine response cards. Remember to code the cards if you use multiple publications. · Use a coupon in your newspaper ads. Code the coupons so that you can tell which publication generates the most sales. · Put a line in your radio scripts to "Mention this ad and get a 10% discount." · Ask all new customers how they heard about your business. Make no mistake. These are all bad suggestions. Very bad. In addition to being very poor persuasion, each of these strategies assumes that your prospective customers are paying very close attention to your ads. Trust me, customers don't. Good advertising is seduction. Pretend with me for a minute that all advertising is an attempt to get a "date" with your prospect. How do these recommendations hold up under that scenario? Would you, for instance, send a response card to anyone you could possibly be interested in dating, which says "If you'd like to learn more about me, fill out your name, address, and your specific areas of interest in me, and apply your own postage to return it to me?" No, I didn't think you would. The advice contained in these recommendations also suffers from major misunderstandings in the motivations of customers. Coupons assume that you have nothing to offer but a better price. Think about the implications of that for a moment. It implies that after you've spent the money to advertise your discounted (and minimally profitable) price, that the customer has no reason to ever come back to do business with you again. Or at least, until you drop your price again. Mention this ad? In three decades of mass media experience, I've never heard of a single person saying "I heard your ad. Give me the discount." Smart radio stations will never allow this on their air. Does that mean people don't respond to advertising? No, it doesn't mean that at all. It means that they won't embarrass themselves by parroting your line. Not surprising, is it? Most people won't admit that advertising affects them in any way. Ask new customers where they heard about you? They don't know. Oh, they'll try to give you an answer. Really though, your advertising isn't important enough for them to remember exactly what they learned about you, let alone the source of that information. But because they'll want to be helpful, they will guess. They'll usually guess wrong. There are two major problems with any of these "track your response" strategies. · They provide bad information. Bad information is worse than none at all. It gives you a distorted view of reality. Which leads to the second problem: · You'll be tempted to make decisions based on this bad information. You will frequently make the wrong decisions. Consider this, instead. Send the object of your affection an "I love you" message. Does it matter whether your "I love you" comes in a telegram, an e-mail, a card, or over the phone? Or is the expression of love the most important consideration? Does it matter whether your ad message is delivered in the newspaper, over the radio, on cable TV, or by direct mail? Or is the message the critical part? Your advertising will improve by orders of magnitude when you spend less time attempting to find the most effective medium, and more time searching for the most effective message. Chuck McKay is a marketing practitioner specializing in small retail and service businesses.
Mr. McKay is available as a guest speaker or seminar presenter.
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
See How to Advertise and Gain More Money to Blast Another Project We have a Great News that we think that may interest you as a Business owner. It is about a Advertising Agency that are preparing to launch and incredible system to help business to earn constant cashflow. Business Plan Appeal - Five Rules For Writing Attention Grabbing Headlines The success of a business plan stands or falls on its ability to get potential investors to take a moment to read it. Nothing works better for doing this than well-written headlines designed to interrupt and engage investors. Can I Write and Print My Own Business Brochures and Business Cards? If you have a computer and a printer, preferably one that can print in color, then you can make your own brochures and business cards that are very professional-looking! Be sure to use good quality paper (that is available at any office supplies store like Office Depot or Staples) for anything that you are going to hand out or send to potential customers and clients.Writing Text for Your Brochure and Business CardThe very best thing to do is to get a few examples of business brochures and business cards, preferably from the same type of business as the business you are starting. Womentisements The unnecessary and extensive use of female models in advertisements is common not only in America & Europe, but also in Pakistan and rest of the world. Women are used to sell everything from cars to cigarettes. Do I Need Raised Letter or Full Color Business Cards? If you've been searching around for business cards that will best represent the image you want to portray for your business, then you've no doubt encountered many options. The Big Two, as I like to think of them, are "Raised Letter" and "Full Color. Take Advantage of Your Foes Let's take an example that is easy to check: I am French. Among the readers who reacted while reading that, an half felt their painful stomach ulcers starting up again while the others remembered their burning desire for visiting France. The Graphic Problem Digital printing has revolutionized the sign industry. Current printers can reproduce an image at 1440 dpi (dots per inch) at virtually any size. Imaging Isnt Everything Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand their client base and increase profits. Whether it be yellow pages, mailers, ads, or valpak; for many it's a total waste of time and money. How to Breathe New Life into Your Advertising Campaign If you haven't made many sales or perhaps none at all, don't be discouraged. Use this 10-point checklist to breathe new life into your advertising campaigns and improve your response rate. 3 Simple Steps to Getting Thousands in Free Advertising Many entrepreneurs believe that they understand what public relations is, but very few do. Publicity and public relations can be used to boost your business by thousands of dollars a week or kill it; the trouble is using it to your advantage. How to Write Ads that Pull Orders If your ads aren't paying off then you need this quick method in writing ads that get orders. Step 1 - Write a headline that will draw attention to your product or service. Does Your Brochure Pass the Test - Or is It Headed for the Trash? Part Two In part one of this article we discussed the importance of the look or appearance of your brochure.The look or image that your brochure conveys is vastly important. B2B Marketing Health and Elder Care Services Quality Care Options is an established company advocating for the right of all seniors to receive excellent service and product. The organization recommends Certified Senior Approved Services to its elderly clientele. The TV Shoot, The Spoiled Brat, And A Painful Lesson It was two days before our shoot. I was in the office with the client going over the story boards and filling him in on all the details for his latest television campaign. Crazy Ads? Maybe Youre Just Out of The Demo! My father called me to complain, again. He's 82 and he's angry. Science of Advertising and How to Benefit From It It is very important to realize that persons buy from you. It is the mind at other end of the internet who will decide a sale from you. Effective Promotions Through Local Classified Sites Today's online marketplace is extremely competitive. People want to market their products and services with the most cost effective manner possible. 10 Tips to Use Giveaways Effectively Walk around any trade or consumer show and you will be able to collect a bag full of advertising specialties, or giveaway items all designed to promote. But look a little more closely. Get Better Results from Your Advertising with a Disruptor When you spend money on an advertisement you want to get the best return possible. To do that you need to get people to STOP and LOOK at your ad. How to Write Ads that Increase Your Business I caught myself wracking my brain over what kind of article I should write for newspapers that would be useful to business people. It struck me that I was making a solid effort to get into the mind of my target market.
|
| Interesting articles | Home | site map | Link |
| © 2006 |
