Think for a moment some day and consider the kind of advertising you see in your post box, on the TV, on your computer, on the radio, etc. Then ask yourself this question, “Would I buy this or not?” If you say “No,” then ask yourself why. If you say “Yes,” then ask yourself why.
Consider what is it that makes this advert attractive or what is it that this person’s offer is deemed to be unattractive. By carrying out this exercise regularly you will be surprising yourself with what you will notice about advertising.
Most advertising you see today is written poorly. It confuses the potential customer, it does not paint a desired picture in their mind, it does not give him or her a good reason to order the product now and, it focuses on features rather than the benefits of products/services. Many businesses failures can be tracked back to poor advertising although it should be mentioned that there are many other reasons for failure.
If you want to stay in business, you must learn how to advertise effectively and how to produce orders NOW! The aim of this article is to help whoever operates a business to improve his or her advertising technique.
No matter what business you do whether it is as: a shopkeeper, a sandwich bar operator, a business consultant, a window cleaner, or a mail order business, you must learn to create advertising that gets results. If you don’t, your business will be painful and short-lived.
Exposure:
First of all, let us look at one main reason for advertising. This reason is called exposure. Most television commercials and many newspaper and magazine adverts are made for this purpose. The advertiser wants their name exposed to the public and for the potential customer to think of them next time they are ready to make a purchase. Large companies are the ones who will do this kind of advertising. They have an advertising budget for the purpose of constantly exposing their name to the public and wait for their orders to come as people become more used to them and their advertising. Typical examples of this type of adverts are those by Coca Cola and Nescafe.
Direct response advertising:
The type of advertising the man/woman in the street is interested in is completely different. It is called direct response advertising. In other words, we are advertising and are motivating our readers to order now, to call an order telephone number and order, to mail a coupon (though this is not so common in Cyprus) and order, or to fax in an order.
We advertise a product and service and seek for people to make purchases now. As a small business, a quick way not to succeed is to place full page adverts costing hundreds of pounds without asking for an order NOW! You must cause the person to order today if you want to stay in business in any type of display advertising or direct mail.
Classifieds adverts are of a little different nature, but they work on the same premise. You don’t ask for a sale right from the classified (Which would be a large mistake because there just isn’t enough room in a classified to make sales).
Even asking for one pound in a classified advert reduces your response greatly. You will have them call your telephone number or your e-mail address in which they will receive an offer and a chance to order NOW! In all advertising it is important to ask for the order NOW.
Many people have contacted me and said, “I know that I have a wonderful product, but I just can’t figure out why I am not getting any orders.” You may be the same way. The simple reality is that it does not matter how fantastic your product line is. What matters is if your advertising for the product causes people to see themselves using it and that it will benefit them significantly.
Your advertising, not your product in many cases, will determine the success or failure of your business. Whilst it is true that your product needs to be very effective (or else you will experience a large number of returns and a short-lived business) your advertising will make or break your business.
