Why Most Ads Don't Work

Why Most Ads Don't Work
By Roy H. Williams (The Wizard of Ads)

I’ve said many times, “Most ads aren’t written to persuade, they’re written not to offend.”

This goes back to chapter one, “Nine Secret Words” in my first book, The Wizard of Ads. Do you remember the nine secret words? “The Risk of Insult is the Price of Clarity.”

Clarity. Ah, there we have it.

Rare is the ad that makes its point clearly.

The customers who cost you money are the ones you never see; the ones who don’t come in because your ads never got their attention.

I was writing an ad this week and decided to insert a word flag. I chose a phrase of declarative rebuttal; “And to that, we say, ‘Piffle and Pooh.’”

Obviously, ‘Piffle and Pooh’ is just a whimsical way of saying “Poppycock.”

My client was worried that people might be offended, so he asked me to change it to something else. I hung up the phone and yelled at the walls. If you’re curious what I said, just walk into my office. I’m pretty sure it’s still echoing in there.

Would you like to know the 4 Biggest Mistakes made by advertisers?

Mistake 1: Demanding “Polished and Professional” Ads
If you insist that your ads “sound right,” you force them to be predictable.
Predictable ads do not surprise Broca’s Area of the brain. They do not open the door to conscious awareness. They fail to gain the attention of your prospective customer. This is bad.

Mistake 2: Informing without Persuading
Study journalism and you’ll create ads that present information without:
(A.) substantiating their claims,
“Lowest prices guaranteed!” (Or what, you apologize?)
(B.) explaining the benefit to the customer.
“We use the Synchro-static method!” (Which means…?)
“It’s Truck Month at Ramsey Ford!” (Come to the party, bring my truck?)

Mistake 3: Entertaining without Persuading
Study creative writing and you’ll draft ads that deliver entertainment without:
(A.) delivering a clear message.
“Yo Quiero Taco Bell” (Dogs like our food, you will, too?)
(B.) causing the customer to imagine themselves taking the desired action.
“Yo Quiero Taco Bell” (I should buy a taco for my Chihuahua?)

The best ads cause customers to see themselves taking the action you desire. These ads deliver:
INVOLVEMENT: Watch a dancing silhouette ad for the iPod and mirror neurons in your brain will cause part of you to dance, as well. This is good advertising.
CLARITY: The white earphone cords leading into the ears of the dancing silhouette make it clear that the white iPod is a personal music machine.

Mistake 4: Decorating without Persuading
Graphic artists will often create a visual style and call it “branding.” This is fine if your product is fashion, a fragrance, an attitude or a lifestyle, but God help you if you sell a service or a product that’s meant to perform.

“Do you like the ad?” asks the graphic artist.

“Yes, it’s perfect,” replies the client, “the colors create the right mood and the images feel exactly right. I think it represents us well.”

Sorry, but your banker disagrees.

Hey, I’ve got an idea; why don’t you and Artsy go home and redecorate the living room at your house? Me? I’ll stay here and ruffle some feathers and sell some stuff. I hope you don’t mind.

But you probably will. Because you worry needlessly when people don't like your ads.

Ninety-eight point nine percent of all the customers who hate your ads will still come to your store and buy from you when they need what you sell. These customers don’t cost you money; they just complain to the cashier as they’re handing over their cash.

Do you believe the public has to like an ad for the ad to be effective? You do?

To that I say “Piffle and Pooh.”

Yours,

Roy H. Williams

Conventional ads get conventional results. Are you sure that's what you want?

Speaking to audiences on 4 continents for 15 years I've said, "Raise your hand if you think your ads ought to be producing better results." The hands and arms always remind me of a field of wheat at harvest time. Then I say, "Raise your hand if you believe your ads are doing all they're supposed to do." I've yet to see my tenth hand in all those years.

I don't write conventional ads because I don't want conventional results. Do you?

Test the Offer-Not the Medium

This is the best advice I can give you about advertising: Test the Offer, NOT the Medium.

So many times I have heard clients say, "I tried newspaper, radio, tv, print.....and it didn't work. There must have been no one listening/reading/watching".

My first response is to gently remind them that every medium has an audience or it wouldn't exist and then I ask, "What were you trying to accomplish?" and "What was the offer"?

There are just 2 types of advertising: POTUA and Branding. POTUA is a formula for "Immediate Traffic" advertising. It stands for Price, Offer, Theme, Urgency, Action. Branding is a formula for long term, consistent, slow-and-easy-wins-the-race, Top of Mind Awareness, you will see results over time advertising.

If you are expecting (or needing) instant results with your advertising, you must run a POTUA campaign. And with POTUA, you need an offer. A good one.

I recently helped a client sell $14,000 in gift certifcates in one day as the result of a radio campaign. This client has a small spa business that typically does $10,000-$20,000 in sales in a week. How did I get her a week's worth of revenue in one day? With a good offer.

Here is the formula we used:

Price: A $100 Spa Treatment for $50 (She covered her costs in the hopes that the offer would prompt additional purchases....it did)

Offer: Downloadable half-off gift certificates

Theme: Target busy, working women. The ad highlighted the fact that women take care of everyone but themselves. The spa offered woman a chance to remedy that, affordably

Urgency: The ads ran with high frequency on a female targeted radio station Monday to Friday with a purchase deadline of that Friday at 6:00pm

Action: Log on to a website, purchase a half price certificate with a credit card and print it out (make it as easy as possible for people to follow through with your offer)

In one day, the client sold 302 certificates and surpassed her wildest expectations.

Had any part of the above formula not been followed, the promotion would not have been as succesful.

Use this formula yourself when you need a little instant gratification advertising. When combined with good frequency/repeptition, it works every time.

Just remember to put every offer through the filter of, "Would I do this"..."Would this offer be enticing to me"..."How many people need this product or service right now"...."Is this offer good enough to get a noticeable response"?

Also remember that the higher the price tag of the item or the longer your product cycle (how often people need your product or service), the more shallow your response pool will be. For example, you can offer me a $10 King Sized Mattress set but unless I am the Princess and the Pea or currently in the market for a mattress, I will not respond.

Lastly! POTUA should not be abused. Too much of anything is...too much. Offering a sale every week, even every month, is the fastest way to deminish the perceived value of your product or service. Reserve this type of advertising for once-max twice-per year.

Now go on...get some results!

Social Media is NOT Advertising (Whaa...??)

Phew! Aren't small business owners lucky these days? With so many free online resources available to get the word out about your business...Facebook, Youtube, Twitter...all you have to do is put yourself on each one, update daily and the customers will find YOU! Right? (insert buzzer or wah wah sound here). Unfortunately, social media is just one small piece of the advertising pie. Read on....

From "Social Media is not Advertising and Other Words to Live By" December 2, 2009 by Sara Barton

Sara Barton is a copywriter, social media strategist, and avid blogger.

I have been around the marketing and advertising block a time or two, and I've seen some changes -- some great and some not-so-great changes. However, with the advent of social media, I have seen a series of trends I find truly disturbing: overestimating or underestimating social media's importance.

As a public service, here are three trends to avoid:

Scary Trend #1: Not Giving Social Media Enough Credit.

While I think it's great many companies are jumping into the social media fray, some companies think social media is "for the kids," so they underestimate its importance as a communication tool. They hand over the social media reigns to an intern in order to provide some "busy work," rather than realizing the ramifications of a social media strategy that is not carefully planned. If you're going to incorporate social media into your marketing campaign, do so deliberately. Don't blow it off or do it halfway.

Scary Trend #2: Giving Social Media Entirely Too Much Credit.

Some companies (and I'm not naming names!) have decided that since social media is so popular, it should take the place of an integrated-communications strategy. They eliminate the rest of their marketing plan and hire a social media guru to do what an entire marketing department has not been able to do, thus setting up said guru for failure. Social media is merely one tool in your arsenal; it does not take the place of an integrated strategy.

Scary Trend #3: Too Much To Soon.

If you're active in social media, you know this scenario all too well: You start following a company on a social media site because you like the brand. The next thing you know, you're bombarded with promotional messages, product information, and generic messages, much like getting stuck in the corner at a party, talking to some blowhard who only wants to talk about himself. If you don't want to engage your customers in a dialogue, then skip social media and buy some spots already.

Asheville business owners: Would you like a free advertising consultation? Murphy will come and learn about your needs, your advertising objectives and then design a customized campaign specifically for your business. Complete the form below and she will contact you within 24 hours.