| |
| |
|
Advertising Information |
|
|
|
What Do Your Ads Say?
Make a list of everything you think should be included at one time or another, in one of your ad, be it radio, newspaper or Little Jimmie's class play program. Everything. Experience, staff, facility, product. The list will be quite long. Take the time to do it now, before you read the rest of this article. Next, take a hard look at your list, pencil in hand, and cross off all items that are about YOU (including YOUR staff, YOUR building, YOUR ranking, awards etc). Now, x-out all the FEATURES of your products or service. The number one rule, the only rule, for great advertising is "Sell the Benefits". Take a poll, people don't care if you have the largest selection in town. It means nothing that "New Stuff is arriving daily". They want to know what you or your product can do for them. WIIFM or "What's In It For Me?" Ease pain and you gain. You see and hear ads everyday that miss the point entirely. Giant billboards with pictures of the medical clinic staff standing in front of a wall of awards. Picture of a guy with a wrench and the words "See me for all your plumbing needs." Three little girls on TV yelling an unintelligible slogan about their daddy's store. It's all about them. It should be all about the customer. Did you see the one on TV where a guy gets the water cooler dumped on him because he bought the good software? What picture does that tell? It would have been better if the guy told me (from a sunny beach location) the boss gave him another week of vacation because the new software saved the company 40 million bucks. Benefits. How about the newspaper ad with the picture of the funeral home building and how they have been around for 85 years? Benefit? Ads about "you you you" can look and sound really great, to you, you, you. We all love to talk about ourselves. Where are the benefits? What hook does your face on a billboard use to bring customers through the door? Your face is NOT a benefit. We all grew up thinking "me me me". Remember how excited you got when you first saw your name or picture in the newspaper? Even the school paper. It was a BIG deal. "Me me me." Great for your ego, but take that thinking to your advertising and it flops. The first time you make the list and cross out the me me mees and all the features, you may have only one or two points left to promote. Make a new list and think "them them them". Think benefits. The ads that stick in your head are the ones that promise to make your life easier. The appliance store promising to deliver at the appointed time. You don't have to stay home all day waiting for the truck. A real benefit. It makes no difference if the TV is made by Acme or Zenith? They will deliver on time. Let's go there. Benefits. The company that says their plumber will show up clean, on time, and not smell. Another benefit! Who cares what a financial advisor looks like, but tell people they can retire and not eat dog food and you get their attention. Benefit. Funny thing, the ads about benefits are the ones we make the mental note to remember. Hmmm. Sell the benefits and you don't have to sell yourself. For more about advertising, get my article "What's Your Selling Sentence?" Send a blank eMail to MailTo:SellingSentence@BigIdeasGroup.com ©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights Reserved Mike@BIGIdeasGroup.com BIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and Small Business Consultant with over 30 years experience, http://BIGIdeasGroup.com Subscribe to "BIG Mike's BIG Ideas" Newsletter MailTo:subscribe-956603364@ezinedirector.net
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
What Colors Make Your Services Most Attractive? This information is based on the principles of Laws of Attraction, Law of Allowing and Law of Deliberate Creation. And the Universal Laws of Energy (like attract likes) proven by Quantum Physics. Successful Print Advertising Designs Do you often see print advertisements outdoors, as much as you see Web advertisements when you surf through the Web? I'm pretty sure that you have entirely different views and reactions upon seeing and actually taking notice to these two different kinds of advertising. The differences may vary in their use of color, typefaces, and space. How To Write Kick-Ass, Profit Pulling Adverts For Your Business? Doesn't that just grab you by the eyeballs and make you stop dead in your tracks? I mean it's a little harsh - grammatically speaking - but holy smokes, it does it have 'stopping power'.. Placemat Ad Advertising Starting a placemat ad business can create more business for you; free advertising and income all while helping other local small businesses advertise their business all at a reasonable price.This is an idea not new by any means, but it can prove to be very profitable to you if done right. Advertising on a Budget -- Part 2: Thinking Small This is the second article of a three-part series. I'm illustrating the marketing challenges of a small business, PrescottWeddings. Electronic Score Boards Wide range of electronic Key venues around the globe has turned to Electronic score boards that not only look breathtaking from every angle and distance, but provide consistently reliable performance year in and year out.Different type of sports including athletics, track cycling, running events, street cycling and mountain bike, swimming, synchronized swimming, diving as well as inline skating, water polo, ball spots, motor sports, alpine skiing, cross country and biathlon are some of the areas where Electronic score boards perfect fits solutions for. Fax Advertising : Hitting Your Target Immediately In the business of marketing and advertising, it used to be that companies that wanted to get the word out quickly to key customers on a new development would rely on email with follow-up phone calls. But with the new technologies available in fax broadcasting, fax advertising has taken over as the advertising medium of choice when it comes to contacting your customers at the speed of light. The Importance of Your Business Card What are you trying to say with you business card?We have talked about collecting other people's business cards and also about how they are often tough to differentiate from one another. These are things you should avoid for your own business card. 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. Imprinted Promotional Items - Their Many Marketing Applications There are many uses for promotional items. This means that they are just not used as freebies for a grand opening special. Why People Fail in Mail Order Mail order is a very complicated business. Every phase must beplanned, analyzed and tested. Using Flyers to Advertise Your Online Business Using flyers is one commonly overlooked method of advertising offline. Flyers are extremely easy to create. 7 Tips for Better Ads The content of advertising is basically the same no matter what the media. It is good and it works, or it is bad. What Makes A Winning Online Ad? Most people who have been involved with sales & marketing for any length of time have heard the axiom, "Sell them what they want. Then sell them what they need". Is Your Yellow Pages Ad Putting Cash in Your Pocket... or Sucking Cash Out? Any idea? It's a question that more than a few Yellow Page advertisers ponder. If you are currently spending money every month to run an ad in your local directory, you don't want to wrestle with that question. 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. Boost Headline Believability With Specifics Don't use vague generalities in your headlines. Be as specific as possible. The Motivational Triggers That Make People Buy In order to sell more products and service, you need master customers' mind. Put youself into customers' shoes and think what customers want. A Quick And Easy Way Of Getting More Customers From Every Single Ad You Write... Guaranteed! FACT: Most people don't spend anywhere near enough time on creating a strong, compelling headline.Which is why many copywriting experts. 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.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
