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Why Your Ad Failed
So you spent good money on an ad, put it in a magazine or newspaper, and waited patiently for phone calls that didn't materialize. You're upset: you feel that you've wasted money and time, and now you're convinced that advertising doesn't work. Advertising does work. Every day. So before you kick away advertising (or websites, or brochures, or any other marketing medium), first consider which of these four basic reasons applies to your effort: Your ad wasn't created to appeal sympathetically to the correct customer need. You can't force a sale, as much as you might want to. Your best, most reliable, most profitable customers come to your business because you meet particular needs that your competitors don't. Simple as that. These needs may be material, psychological or emotional, but when they present themselves, their owners come to you. The goal of advertising is not to pitch a sale, but to establish name and brand recognition for your company by associating your name with your ability to meet special customer needs. This helps promote that "good gut feeling" that your best customers have about you but can't really explain. If your ad isn't built around the right specific customer needs - not wants, not desires, not self-image, but needs - then it's almost doomed to fail. Your ad doesn't establish your own credibility for meeting customer needs. Etch this on your forehead: Credibility begins with evidence of understanding. It's not enough to hit on the right need. You have to demonstrate in some way that you truly understand and can meet it. This step doesn't have to be fancy, and is often very subtle, sometimes involving no more than certain writing, visual design or layout decisions. If your customers need a strong, professional company, your ad should reflect that. If they need to know that you come highly recommended, or that you have a certain degree of experience, or that your services are unique to your area, that should somehow be a part of your advertising. Just don't overdo it, turning your ad into a sales pitch. Provide just enough credibility to satisfy those customers looking for it. Save the rest for your other marketing efforts. Your ad wasn't placed in an appropriate medium that offered regular exposure to the specific customers you serve. If your business sells luxury cars, the most carefully designed ad in the world won't accomplish a thing printed in a free newspaper that specializes in thrift classified ads. That's not an appropriate medium for your service, and your best customers aren't looking for you there. If your ad properly recognized and appreciated your customers' needs, consider the possibility that the ad appeared where it wasn't appropriate. Why were your best customers looking for you there? How does your choice of medium speak to your credibility for meeting your customers' needs? Consider time as well as position: a swimwear ad would face an uphill climb if it ran in a Michigan newspaper in December. Remember that customer needs often change as the seasons change. You expected too much from your ad. If the ad is solid, and the medium is appropriate, then the problem is you. Advertising alone doesn't revolutionize profits. Like all marketing tools, advertising is a precision instrument, an individual tool designed to perform a specific task. Relying on only advertising - or only networking, or only cold calling, or only a website - to promote your business makes as much sense as an auto mechanic who uses only a hammer to fix your car. Since human beings are complicated, so are sales problems. Complicated problems require the skilled collaboration of multiple tools, of which traditional print advertising is only one. The role of advertising in a modern marketing campaign is to establish name and brand recognition for your company, not to pitch a sale. The idea is to make sure that your prospect has already heard of your company - and has a favorable "feel" about you - by the time customer need presents itself or your salespeople come calling. Advertising helps pave the road for your other marketing efforts. If you expected sales to double last month because you ran an ad but did little else, you probably expected more than reality could provide. It's in fact possible that your ad did work, but that it provided benefits that your business didn't capitalize on because you expected different results. Next time you run an ad, do it as part of a coordinated marketing effort that includes the ability to follow up with the audience that was exposed to it. Take advantage of the good will that your advertising helps generate. If your ad is written to appeal sympathetically to the correct customer need, establishes your credibility for meeting that need, and is placed in an appropriate medium that offers regular exposure to your most likely customers, your ad will do that job. Every time. About The Author Robert Warren (www.rswarren.com) is a Florida-based freelance copywriter specializing in the unique marketing needs of independent professionals.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Game news: 'GTA IV' hits 10 million, EA meets ESPN (AP via Yahoo! News) Real news from the virtual world: News and notes on the PGA Tour's top 20 golfers (USA Today) Get the latest news and notes on the top 20 golfers on the PGA Tour. These rankings are based 2006-07 PGA Tour results. UAL shares walloped by new posting of old news (Reuters via Yahoo! News) A nearly 6-year-old news story on the 2002 bankruptcy filing of UAL Corp resurfaced on the Internet on Monday, clobbering the airline's shares briefly as some traders mistook the report as current and plausible news. Asyncast delivers custom news to hands-free mobile devices (CNET) The company's Rocketron service allows users to set preferences for the kinds of news stories they want to hear, as well as filter controls for news they don't want. Young adults want less election news (UPI) EVANSTON, Ill., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. young adults say there is too much election-related news on Internet news sites, a university study indicates. CNET News Daily Podcast: The new Zune plays its tune (CNET) Microsoft lets "slip" Zune news one day before Apple's big shindig. Big ad group says Google-Yahoo is a bad idea. Who says real spies don't dig social networking? Game News: 'GTA IV' Hits 10 Million, EA Meets ESPN (CBS News) Real news from the virtual world: ABC News gets first Palin interview (Reuters via Yahoo! News) ABC News' Charles Gibson has snagged the first interview with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin since she was named the GOP's vice presidential pick on August 29. United Airlines hit by 5-year-old news (UPI) CHICAGO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- United Airline's stock value plunged Monday after a 5-year-old news story was posted on a Florida newspaper's Web site. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Spears wins 3 MTV Video Music Awards ... 'Wrestler' wins Golden Lion in Venice ... Report: MSNBC shuffles election anchors ... Iconic Astroland park closes ... News from United Press International. Site: news - Google News A roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News ... - CBS News
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for advertising Ad-averse Mobile Users Will Pay to Avoid Advertising (Cellular-News.com) Mobile providers looking to boost their revenues through content downloads and advertising are in for a rough ride, according to a new study by market researchers TNS. A Web advertising dark horse goes on the offensive (Market Watch) While its rivals have been fetching multibillion-dollar acquisition offers from the likes of Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., online-advertising firm ValueClick Inc. has been busy digging its way out of a legal mess. Intergi's Video Game & Entertainment Advertising Network Has Largest Potential Reach in U.S. According to Newest ... (Centre Daily Times) Intergi (www.intergi.com), a leading video game and entertainment site representation company and advertising network, today announced that it now has a total potential advertising reach of 52.4 million unique visitors in the United States, topping other targeted ad networks - including bellwethers such as Advertising.com Games and Yahoo! Games. Based on the latest data from the August 2008 ... Largest ever advertising billboard at London Bridge Station (London SE1) A huge advertising billboard has been unveiled at London Bridge Station to promote the NSPCC and brighten up hoardings on the concourse. Online Brokerage Sites See Increased Visitors With Ramped up Online Advertising Efforts (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of the online trading and brokerage industry showing strong visitor growth to online brokerage sites coinciding with heavy online advertising efforts by several of the key brokerages. Advertising spend in Qatar crawls (MENAFN) Advertising spend in Qatar crawls Intergi's Video Game & Entertainment Advertising Network Has Largest Potential Reach in U.S. According to Newest ... (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla.----Intergi , a leading video game and entertainment site representation company and advertising network, today announced that it now has a total potential advertising reach of 52.4 million unique visitors in the United States, topping other targeted ad networks - including bellwethers such as Advertising.com Games and Yahoo! GCC advertising expenditure rises by 23.6% (MENAFN) GCC advertising expenditure rises by 23.6% NeoMedia and Format Dynamics Join Forces to Integrate Innovations in Online & Offline Advertising (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance) NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (OTC.BB: NEOM), and Format Dynamics, Inc., today announced a strategic alliance designed to accelerate innovation in both online and offline advertising. Bald Is Beautiful (Advertising Space) (CBS News) New Zealand's national airline is offering to pay bald travelers to use their heads - literally - in a new advertising campaign. Site: advertising - Google News US court upholds LA ban on billboards - Los Angeles Times
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