10 Deadly Sins of Advertising (Part 3)

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December 9, 2007 by James
Filed under: Business Development, Classical Marketing, Rants and Raves 

Here’s the last 4 of the 10 deadly advertising sins that we’re covering today:

(7) Making customers work too hard
(8) Failing to explain why
(9) Giving up too soon what works
(10) Forgetting who your customer is

Here’s the link to Part 2… just in case

And so without further ado…

(7) Making customers work too hard

This one is simple. Is it easy for people to do business with you? Do you make ordering easy, do you take a variety of payment types, or do you sabotage your own success? Take a close look at your “buying process” and see if you can make it simpler.

(8) Failing to explain why

Buy from me… Why? Failing to explain WHY is a killer. Why are you offering a special? Why is it that your store is better than someone else’s? Give the buyer reasons why they should choose you. Get creative… and frankly, I don’t mean to be rude… but no one really gives a [#$%^&*] that you’ve been in business since the world began, and that you offer great service [duh... you're supposed too!] The more believable and plausible your reasons are, the more you will sell.

  • [SIDEBAR] I once ran an advert telling people that my wife would make me move furniture and shop for drapes if I didn’t sell enough that day. It worked, and people were laughing at me (with me?) for ages…

(9) Giving up too soon what works

“It’s boring now… let’s change the advert” - Woah there hoss, you only pull an advert when the numbers tell you it’s not working - NEVER because you’re bored. Sure, you see the darned thing everyday, but each day a new customer sees it, it’s still new to them. Business people are forever “getting creative” when they should simply leave well alone until the numbers say it’s time to change.

  • [SIDEBAR] By all means test other adverts too - you can always improve, but don’t pull an advert just because.

(10) Forgetting who your customer is

And last, but by no means least - always send your sales messages to your PRIMARY PROSPECTS. You can’t sell everything to everyone so stop trying. If your product appeals to the over 45 year old divorced women then target them in your adverts. Identify, select, and consider calling them out directly “Attention! If you’re a divorced woman 45 and over then…” You think they’ll pass that over? I think not… Avoid cliches like the plague [*grin*] and avoid headlines and offers that are non specific and vague.

So there you have it, the last part of the 10 deadly sins. There are more… but I’m not being paid enough to give away all my secrets :)

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