"Why
Some Ads Fail Miserably While Others Succeed Wonderfully?"
By David Garfinkel
The voice on the other end of the phone was tense
and impatient.
It was a prospective client calling. After we introduced ourselves, he
got right to the point: "Our advertising isn't working and
we need some help."
Who I was talking to doesn't matter very much, because it could
have been almost any of my prospects before they start working
with me. That's because, statistically, most advertising doesn't
work -- if by "work" you mean, bring in new business.
Think about your own ads. Even if they already generate leads
or create sales for you, don't you have the sneakin' suspicion
they could be working a lot better?
Here are two reasons why most ads don't work at all -- or if they
work, why they deliver far less business than they could:
1. Most ads don't get the attention of your prospects. This is
pretty basic. It is physically impossible for prospects to contact you
unless they know about you, and if you're counting on them to
find out about you from your advertising, then step one is for
your ad to get your prospects' attention. Unfortunately, some ads
actually do get attention, but…
2. These ads get the attention of your prospect in the wrong way.
For an ad to generate a qualified lead or create an immediate
sale, it must start off on the right foot. That "right foot"
sets the right tone and invites a qualified prospect to call
you. I just saw an ad in Newsweek that still has me wondering
what it's about and why someone spent tens of thousands of dollars
on it. (Bet it wasn't their own money.)
The ad shows a boy on a bicycle flying through the air, out in
the wilderness. The headline, in a semicircle, says, "They
will always fall before they fly." Since I'm not a kid and
I'm not a parent, it doesn't do much for me.
But wait -- even if I were a parent or a kid, I still don't think this
ad is going to sell me on anything that would make the advertiser
any money. If I were a kid, the only thing this ad could sell
me on is taking these kind of risks to annoy my parents. And if
I were a parent, the only thing I can imagine this ad would sell
me on is making sure my kid never rides his mountain bike in hilly
terrain -- since, obviously, the kid in the picture is on a collision
course with certain death.
I've got to hand it to this ad in one department -- it's interesting.
It got my attention. But that's as far as it got.
The Headline's the Thing
Let's get off this negative track and look at some ads that I
am certain are making money. These are not from a glossy national
magazine, but small ads from today's local newspaper. (By the
way, small ads that run in the newspaper are usually paid for
by the person who wrote them. And these ads get to the point and
are likely to be profitable. Hmmm...I wonder if I'm noticing a
trend here...)
All I'm going to show you are the headlines of these ads. But
I promise you, the headlines are all you need to see. Tell me
if you can guess what each ad is about, and who its target market
is:
1. "Lose 3-5 Pounds Per Week With the System Proven by Over
90,000 Successful Patients"
2. "Up to 40% Savings on Heating and Cooling Costs With a
(Brand Name) Foam Roof"
3. "Men and Women -- Remove Unwanted Hair Today!"
Now, I know what you're thinking. Not very clever. Not very hip.
In fact, those headlines are downright boring!
Hmmm. I have two things to say about that. First, if you have
tried everything under the sun to lose 40 pounds and you are frustrated
to the point of tears, then headline number 1 isn't that boring
to you. (And I would say the same regarding people in the target
market for headlines 2 and 3.)
The second thing I want to say is, yes, and it's also pretty boring
to stand in line at the bank waiting to make a large deposit into
your business checking account.
But you know what?
Once you've gotten past that boredom barrier, it's actually sort
of nice. You know?
And here's some interesting news: A good headline on your ad will
get you 90% of the way from the agony of defeat to the ecstasy
of advertising success -- so you can deal with weighty issues
like the boredom barrier and what to do with all that money.
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