Articles & News About Jobs & Employment

Bad Seduction - Advertising Techniques That Dont Work

I just read some advertising suggestions on an Internet marketing site that are beyond annoying. They are flat-out bad advice. They illustrate a complete lack of understanding of the whole persuasion process.

First, small business owners are told that advertising often has a cumulative effect, so ad-driven sales may not be immediate. Then, they're told how to measure and track the immediate response of their advertising.

Reading past that little dichotomy, some of the suggestions included:

· Use magazine response cards. Remember to code the cards if you use multiple publications.

· Use a coupon in your newspaper ads. Code the coupons so that you can tell which publication generates the most sales.

· Put a line in your radio scripts to "Mention this ad and get a 10% discount."

· Ask all new customers how they heard about your business.

Make no mistake. These are all bad suggestions. Very bad. In addition to being very poor persuasion, each of these strategies assumes that your prospective customers are paying very close attention to your ads.

Trust me, customers don't.

Good advertising is seduction. Pretend with me for a minute that all advertising is an attempt to get a "date" with your prospect.

How do these recommendations hold up under that scenario?

Would you, for instance, send a response card to anyone you could possibly be interested in dating, which says "If you'd like to learn more about me, fill out your name, address, and your specific areas of interest in me, and apply your own postage to return it to me?"

No, I didn't think you would.

The advice contained in these recommendations also suffers from major misunderstandings in the motivations of customers.

Coupons assume that you have nothing to offer but a better price. Think about the implications of that for a moment. It implies that after you've spent the money to advertise your discounted (and minimally profitable) price, that the customer has no reason to ever come back to do business with you again. Or at least, until you drop your price again.

Mention this ad? In three decades of mass media experience, I've never heard of a single person saying "I heard your ad. Give me the discount." Smart radio stations will never allow this on their air. Does that mean people don't respond to advertising? No, it doesn't mean that at all. It means that they won't embarrass themselves by parroting your line. Not surprising, is it? Most people won't admit that advertising affects them in any way.

Ask new customers where they heard about you?

They don't know.

Oh, they'll try to give you an answer. Really though, your advertising isn't important enough for them to remember exactly what they learned about you, let alone the source of that information. But because they'll want to be helpful, they will guess. They'll usually guess wrong.

There are two major problems with any of these "track your response" strategies.

· They provide bad information. Bad information is worse than none at all. It gives you a distorted view of reality. Which leads to the second problem:

· You'll be tempted to make decisions based on this bad information. You will frequently make the wrong decisions.

Consider this, instead. Send the object of your affection an "I love you" message.

Does it matter whether your "I love you" comes in a telegram, an e-mail, a card, or over the phone? Or is the expression of love the most important consideration?

Does it matter whether your ad message is delivered in the newspaper, over the radio, on cable TV, or by direct mail? Or is the message the critical part?

Your advertising will improve by orders of magnitude when you spend less time attempting to find the most effective medium, and more time searching for the most effective message.

Chuck McKay is a marketing practitioner specializing in small retail and service businesses.
He is the author of Fishing For Customers And Reeling Them In.
Chuck's columns appear regularly at http://www.fishingforcustomers.com

Mr. McKay is available as a guest speaker or seminar presenter.
Call Wizard of Ads®
Headquarters:(800) 425-4769.

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

Finding that Work at Home Job - A Job in Itself
The trend of corporate America creating work at home jobs for telecommuters is growing, which is good news for those of you who are looking to do your work in your pajamas every day. Technology has made the work at home job more appealing to both bosses and employees, though it does not mean the trend has hit the mainstream, so a work at home job can still be hard to find.

Work at Home Businesses Versus Work at Home Jobs
Is a work at home business better than a work at home job? You bet. Hands down. But each option has pros and cons. It may be that for right now you're just not ready to start a work at home business. Its a big committment. That's OK. But if you're dedicated, smart and willing to work harder than most, settling for a work at home job could be selling yourself short.

Work From Home - How To Prepare For A Work From Home Job
Surely, you must have already heard about the perks of working from home Not only do you get the opportunity of being with your loved ones, but also the chance of earning good money doing what you like

At Home Work - Find Your Next Work At Home Job
At home work is easy to find these days thanks to the internet Work from home jobs are a form of self employment, which is hitting today's society in huge numbers

On Campus Interviews - A Chance For Your "First Job" As Well As Career Employment
During the course of training or secondary educations some organizations - companies, firms as well as major non-profit organizations of great status and reputation will offer campus interviews to graduating students in such fields as engineering, electronics, business management, law accounting, computer information systems and marketing

Work at Home Data Entry Jobs, Work at Home, Data Entry Jobs
37 Work at Home Data Entry Jobs - The New Age Career Move

Work From Home Jobs For Moms - Jobs You Can Do at Home
A Legitimate Work from home job is a desire that many moms have, and being able to generate a great income while working from home is very possible I created this work from home jobs for moms lens to give you information about legitimate work from home jobs for moms, and for anyone looking to make part time to full time income

Home Computer Work - 3 Ideas For Home Computer Work Jobs
Surely, many people out there have told you about the wonders of working from home and being your own boss Well, not only are you able to save on transportation costs and have more time to spend with your family, you are also able to do whatever you like, whenever you feel like it

Being A Work At Home Business Opportunity Seeker And Finding Work From Home Jobs
The problem with work from home jobs is simply that so many people want to have them Because of this, there are lots of people who want to take advantage of people who truly want to be able to have the freedom of a home business

Job Work From Home On My Computer
In my long quest for a job, work from home on my computer seemed to be the best available option Especially, since I needed to work around the many schedules of my family

Work at Home Agent - Job Ideas For a Work at Home Agent
Are you interested in jobs that require you to spend hours on the phone talking to customers If you like personal relations work and have good interpersonal skills, then do consider the opportunity of being a work at home agent

Legitimate Work From Home Jobs - 4 Important Things to Consider Before Starting This Career Path
When you are selecting legitimate work from home jobs career, money is important, but there are some other factors that should be considered before making the final decision Before beginning even legitimate work from home jobs career, you should think about some of the factors that will help to make your venture succeed or fail

4 Legit Work From Home Jobs That Work
Everybody is turning to the internet to work from home and hopefully leave their day job. This means that finding legit work from jobs has become more popular than ever and you can understand why when hundreds of people weekly are quitting their day job and are working out of the comfort of their home.

Work at Home Jobs Vs Self Employment
Work at Home Jobs vs Owning a Home Based BusinessNot everyone is interested in owning their own home business, but a lot of people are interested in dropping out of the rat race a little bit. More and more jobs are available where you can work from home.