It Better Work!

I am in media sales. I know. I could tell you I sell “certain ruin” and evoke warmer feelings. Advertising, in general, has a bad reputation. This is because most people, in general, don't like the feeling of "disappointment". Believe it or not, there are media reps who do not set client expectations correctly. It is easy to make a sale when you promise that what you are selling will work. I can’t promise you that. I can promise that if you follow my recommendation of frequency, consistency and a strong message, what I’m selling has a good chance to work. And, that it will work a lot better if you do it than if you don’t. Any media rep who tells you otherwise, is just trying to…well…sell you something.

I sell radio (insert sound of business owners running and screaming away here). I know. Sadly, radio is a misunderstood (and often misused) medium. It reaches hundreds of thousands of people every day when other mediums just can’t: in the car, at work, during leisure time. It has amazing powers of implantation. Sound (how you learned your ABC’s or know that boloney is spelled B-O-L-O-G-N-A) is the most powerful tool you can use to teach potential customers about your business and to remember your name. But, because it is often used incorrectly, many businesses say “it doesn’t work” or, even that “It better work”...because they just don't understand HOW it does.

But. If I told you it always did…I would just be trying to…well…sell you something.

Please repeat after me: No matter how many it reaches, no advertising medium will make people buy or need your product or service. You heard me. Any media rep who tells you differently, is...you guessed it. There is no ad in the world that will make people come into your store, call you or go to your website.…unless they need to. Triggering events make people come into your store, call you or go to your website. I’m pretty good, but, I can not make someone buy a car, a house or life insurance from you. If I could, I would be very rich and would probably no longer need to be in media sales.

Again, with the repeat after me. Here we go. The goal of advertising is: To put a compelling message into the market in the hopes that your prospective customer remembers you and can find you when they need what you sell.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard: “We are going to conduct a poll, use a different website, call to action or offer in each of our media to see which one is working best”, I would, yep, no longer need to be in media sales. Please forgive me…but, that is, and how do I say this nicely? Redonkulous. There’s no such word as redonkulous? There’s also no such thing as a customer who remembers HOW they heard about you. Unless you are only advertising in ONE place. If you are advertising in multiple media, you are going to confuse the hoozle out of your prospective clients. No one consumes just ONE medium. Do not put conflicting messages and/or offers into the marketplace. You want to make sales, don’t you?

Keep in mind that your customers are bombarded (yes, bombarded!) with over 5,000 ad messages per day. Not to mention the emails, text message, phone calls that they have to remember. How the freakin-frutter can they remember if they heard about you on a billboard, a radio ad or a saw your name on a pen at the bank? I know you want to know the money you are spending on your advertising is not wasted. But, instead of spending precious resources figuring out which medium is working (which, by the way, every medium has an audience or it would not exist), spend time crafting a strong message and advertise with frequency and consistency in the ones you choose.

Do you know each medium you use serves a different purpose and that certain mediums actually get the credit for the heavy lifting of others? Here is a scenario to demonstrate that:

You sell houses (a high dollar item with a long product cycle). You have invested in: radio ads, print ads, a website and street signage.

Suzy Homemaker is not in the market for a house but hears about your company on her favorite radio station every day. She hears a compelling emotional message about "community" and “views that go for miles”. Suzy has no idea that your message impacts her because she is not currently in the market for your product. Still, you speak to Suzy every single day for 2 years. One day, Suzy and her husband get a divorce (TRIGGERING EVENT!). Suzy needs a new home. Not only does Suzy need a home, she needs one that makes her feel comfortable and safe…in a community. She could also use some sweeping mountain views to lift her spirits. One day, at her favorite deli for lunch, Suzy picks up a Homes and Land magazine and pages through it while munching a pickle. She sees your company’s listing. For reasons she doesn’t quite understand, she feels good about your company. She dog ears the page. Once she gets back to the office, however, she forgets about the magazine, and your ad, and it eventually goes in the trash. Late one night, a few weeks later, Suzy Googles “new homes in Asheville”. She scrolls through a few listings, clicks on your link and spends a few minutes browsing. That weekend, Suzy goes for a drive and comes across your directional billboard. Again, for reasons she does not understand, she feels good about your business and decides to follow the sign. When she comes to your road sign (which says: “Community Living and Sweeping Mountain Views”), she is convicted and makes the final decision to turn in. She meets with an agent who shows her the home of her dreams and…then shoves a comment card in her face and says “So! HOW did you hear about us”??

Let’s break it down. Radio and TV (both intrusive media) work by implanting your name and creating a relationship in your prospective customer’s brains before they need you. With a strong message, frequency and consistency, you can use these mediums to “tether” to the public, every day. Print (passive media) works by targeting people in the “bullseye” for your product. Suzy did not pick up Homes and Land until she needed a new house. Internet (passive media) works much the same way. Suzy did not search new homes or go to your website until she needed you and knew who you were. Billboards (passive media) work best for directional advertising. Suzy followed your billboard when she was ready. Lastly, your road signage (passive media) gave Suzy the final push she needed to turn in.

It all works together. No one lives in a “radio bubble” or a “tv bubble” or a “newspaper bubble”. How can you ask Suzy to pick just one? It’s not fair to your advertising efforts…or to your “comment card stats”….or to Suzy….or to your bottom line. Would you cut the linebacker because the quarter back scores all the touchdowns?

Choose at least one intrusive and one passive media and stay dominant and consistent in those for as long as you plan to stay in business and your advertising will work…eventually. For the intrusive medium, craft a strong, emotionally compelling message. For the passive, use strong images and give clear information about your product and direct information on how to find you. This is your simple, easy “10-year marketing plan”.

Lastly, whatever you do, never say, “This better work” or “We want to say which one is working”. For, from now on you know, that is just…well....redonkulous.

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.

Relational vs Transactional Advertising-You Can Do Too Much Of One

Article by Roy H. Williams to Entrepreneur Magazine

In any product category, roughly half the public will be in relational shopping mode, while the other half will be thinking transactionally. A customer in transactional mode:

A. Thinks short term.
B. Cares only about today's transaction.
C. Enjoys the process of shopping and negotiating.
D. Fears only paying more than he had to pay.
E. Is willing to spend lots of time investigating.
F. Considers himself an expert.
G. Hinges every transaction on price.

Consequently, transactional customers are always the quickest to respond to advertising. And what they respond to is predictable. Although I usually advise against targeting customers in transactional shopping mode, I figure if you're going to do it anyway, you might as well know how to do it well. Here's how to write the ads that trigger instant traffic:

1.Begin with a product that has wide appeal. Transactional ads don't create desire; they merely capitalize on a desire that's already there.
2.Reduce the price below what is considered the typical discount. The more desirable the item and the lower the price, the faster the traffic will come.
3.Explain why you're offering the price reduction. Your volume of quick-response traffic will be directly tied to the credibility of your desperation.
4.Create urgency by having a time limit. "Everyday low prices" may be a reasonable brand position in the long term, but it's no reason to rush to your store today.
5.Discount a highly respected brand that isn't usually discounted. A low price is unimpressive when there's a question about the quality.
6.Use specifics, which are more believable than generalities. Avoid ambiguous claims such as "up to 70 percent off" and vague disclaimers like "on selected items."
7.Schedule a high frequency of repetition for your TV or radio ads-or use a second color (like red) in key lines of your newspaper ad-to support the perception of urgency.
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Leverage these seven factors and you'll increase your store traffic quickly. But be aware: The more often you use these tips, the less well they'll work. Consider the dwindling response to Little Caesars' initially successful two-for-one "Pizza! Pizza!" campaign.

You'll know your company is addicted to transactional advertising when customers begin asking, "When does this go on sale?" The price of this strategy is that you train your customers to wait for the next sale. Their sense of urgency is diminished with every new "Sale!" ad you write. In the end, the brand you're building will be weak. A number of studies on customer loyalty have clearly indicated customers that switch to you for reasons of price alone will switch from you for the same reason.

Style vs. substance: There's a big difference between saying something powerful and merely saying something powerfully. What message communicated in your ads doesn't expire? Is the most powerful part of your message true "for a limited time only" or "while supplies last"? Are you training your customer to wait for the next sale?

Unlike the transactional customer, a customer in relational shopping mode:

A. Thinks long term.
B. Considers today's transaction to be one in a series of many.
C. Doesn't enjoy comparison shopping or negotiating.
D. Fears only making a poor choice.
E. Hopes to find an expert he or she can trust.
F. Considers her time spent shopping to be part of the purchase price.
G. Is likely to become a repeat customer.

The goal of relational ad campaigns is to become the company that customers think of immediately and feel the best about when they-or any of their acquaintances-need what you sell. Customers in relational shopping mode are impressed by:

1.The owner as spokesperson. Think of Dave Thomas for Wendy's, or George Zimmer for Men's Wearhouse.
2.An unaffected, natural style, tinged with vulnerability. Your willingness to share your hopes, dreams, shortcomings and failures will endear you to relational shoppers. Let them feel as if they know you.
3.Genuine statements. Hype and self-aggrandizement are simply not acceptable.
4.No time limits. "Here today, here tomorrow, here when you need us" is a powerful message, no matter how you say it. Relational customers pay little attention to ads that expire.

5.Statements that indicate honesty. Never claim to be honest. Just make the kinds of statements that only a person of real integrity would make. The public isn't stupid. After awhile, these ads will begin paying off better than you can imagine.

6.Statements that indicate competency. Don't use the word "expert." Just make complex concepts easily understood, and the relational customer will say "expert" in his mind.

Remember, the fear of the relational shopper is that he'll buy the wrong one.
Ads that target the relational mindset seem to do nothing at first, but they work better and better the longer you run them. Ads that target the transactional mindset work miraculously at first but less and less well as time goes on.

Which type of ads will you choose?

Roy Williams is the founder and president of The Wizard of Ads, a company serving the advertising and marketing needs of business owners around the globe. Williams is also the author ofThe Wizard of Adsand Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads.

If You're Not Online, You're Really Kind of Nowhere

"Tech geek" Chris Pirillo on internet radio advertising:

The Secret to Good Advertising

The secret to good advertising? (lean in....I'll whisper it)

What you say x how many times you say it.

What you say - as with any advertising medium, if you actually want people to buy your widgets or book your widget-cleaners, you need to give people a good reason to do it. People won't flock to your store, or jam the phone lines, just by hearing you're a "family firm" and offer "good service".

Try to beat the "So what?" factor. The best way to do this is to come up with something unique about your business, your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).

Then say it over and over again.

What you say x how many times you say it.

Done.