Why are you paying for advertising? What is it that you are hoping to gain? You may say, “new clients” or “more sales,” but let’s get more basic than that. Are you trying to get people’s attention? Well, yes, but the media is full of ads that get attention, but fail to engage or change people’s behavior. Aha, “to engage or change people’s behavior.” That’s what you’re paying for…or, at least, you should be!
Too often, businesses buy advertising as a commodity but fail to recognize the importance of the message within the media. You can buy the best advertising and targeted to it the right people, but if your copy doesn’t resonate, you’ve just wasted your money.
To get your money’s worth for the ads you purchase, you first need to know how to kill an ad. Here are three ways to ensure your ads are DOA:
1) Compromise and water down
“Some of my best and most compelling ads never made the airwaves. These favorite campaigns were shot down by the spouse, the partner, the next-door neighbor, or some other well-meaning friend of the client, and the word, statement, or phrase that had to be eliminated was usually the most powerful line in the ad. The result of this ‘editing’ is emasculating advertising…There is no plan so brilliant that it cannot be made utterly ineffective through compromise. ‘Yes, I can soften the ad. I can soften it so that it offends no one, says nothing, and sounds just like every other ad on the air. Please don’t hold me responsible when the ad doesn’t work.” Roy H. Williams The Wizard of Ads
To get your audience to sit up and take notice, you have to depart from the predictable. You have to break through the cognitive filters that allow people to tune out advertising. Don’t be afraid to be bold with your ads and depart from the ordinary. You may have to ruffle a few feathers to wake up the chickens. I’m not talking about shock value alone—which sometimes has its place—but rather the use of compelling thoughts and ideas. This may come in the form of humor, startling statements, irony, or other devices that jump off the tracks of ordinary thinking. How you derail routine trains of thoughts should be appropriate for your type of business, but be willing to push the edge.
2) Create pretty ads with poor copy
“Too many ads today are creative without being persuasive,” says Roy H. Williams. “Slick, clever, funny, creative, and different are poor substitutes for informative, believable, memorable and persuasive.”
Don’t even think about buying ad space until you have a good copywriter on your team! Good ad design is important, as is the overall concept. However, an ad needs to touch what’s important to the listener or viewer, with a thought more interesting than what’s already taking up his or her mind space. Clever design may momentarily grab attention, but engaging messaging holds onto it and leads people to action. Marry strong design with compelling copy, and you will see results.
3) Make your ads sound like ads
For some reason, a lot of business owners get uncomfortable if their ad doesn’t sound like all the others out there. Perhaps it’s the herd mentality, but there’s this bobble-headed mindset that fears sounding different than all the other “advertisers,” when that’s exactly what you need to do! If you are going to break through the white noise, you need to come across as conversational, not slick and polished. Today’s interactive consumer is far too savvy to fall for a 20th-Century “push” advertising tone.
Scores of motels will tell you about their great rates and amenities; only one says, “we’ll leave the light on for you.” Need I say more?
Give your advertising mouth-to-mouth by going back to the creative table. A good copywriter can breathe life into your advertising with messaging that will engage, change behavior and ultimately get you those new clients and sales you’re hoping for.
For more information, contact Kelly Walker at Incyte Marketing: (541) 419-9976. Kelly@incytemarketing.com www.incytemarketing.com www.facebook.com/incytemktg
