Your Ads Are Losing You Money!

I think there is an overwhelming dangerous way of attributing success or failure to our advertising attempts.

Most of us take in account what the ad costs. Most of us measure that against the end result. which is profit after cost.

Almost nobody sees the big picture

While we can call an ad successful if it makes money (or creates more customers at break even), we may be missing out on $1000’s. Let me explain-

Let’s say you do a very affordable ad in the form of a flyer. Maybe you spend a couple hundred bucks and write the ad and create the visuals. Now you distribute those and make a couple thousand dollars.

Now unless the cost of the product or manpower is very high, or your pricepoint is too low you should make a nice little profit.

Rarely do people think about what might have been. What if your same ad was written and presented very well and doubled the response?

Maybe you generate $4000 in sales without spending much more if anymore money.

What is written in your presentation is sink or swim, do or die. Your product or service will not sell nearly as much if presented as just a product or service. You could sell to those that happen to be in need, but far more are in need of their money.

Words need to fill your ad that invoke emotions. I see more ads focused on a price point or coupon more than what they are really tring to sell.

Far too many times people say to me “I sell lawn care dude, not message therapy”. That is where you lose big money! You communicate to yourself it is just _________. Who wants “just”?

By not digging into what people will feel once having their carpets cleaned or their house painted leaves a lot of money on the table.

When your ad finds it’s way to a consumer, they most likely do not want to see it (unless they found it by searching for it). If I am not thinking about getting my windows cleaned and an ad arrives that says-

Spit Shine Window Cleaning- Minneapolis’s #1 Choice

That ad is dead immediatley to those not already in a buying state for that service. It will go unread straight to the trash, no matter how great the offer. Most do not realize the importance of the first few lines and most lose out on LOTS of money and new customers.

There are a million ways to make the beginning of your ad more enticing without mentioning what you are selling. The key is hitting a button to get them to read more-

What Are People Saying About Your Home?

You do not need to go into a negative tirade about how bad something looks, in fact you don’t want to say that at all. You want them to think about it.

This headline could work for any home service. Since we are hitting a nerve with people and their pride and insecurity we have begun their journey into the rest of the ad.

I would likely use a curiosity type of first sentence-

“When looking around your greatest investment, do you notice this?”

Not positive or negative, be interesting. Most will wonder what you are getting at and keep reading. I would finish the paragraph with talking about the problems of have dirty windows/carpets, a brown lawn or paint color that is dating their home. They already notice this stuff, but sometimes mentally block it out.

Your goal in an ad is to create interest in what you are selling- nothing more. If you start to get into explaining out the features in a benefit driven manner, you will maintain their interest.

“With our Deep Clean Method we are able to extract dirt and bacteria festering in your carpets”

Most would simply say- “Truck mounted unit for deep cleaning”

Notice a difference? Now if I happen to get a flyer and I am not thinking about getting my carpets cleaned, which version do you think would make me stop and think?

How many of those people are you missing with every ad?

Here is the beauty of working harder and smarter on the ad (or hiring someone to do it right). You will get all of the customers your normal ads would get PLUS all the customers you are not getting.

In this economy I don’t know how anyone can afford to do it differently.

Go get some!

Paul

Don't Be the Best, Be Different

Here it is on a cloudy and cool Tuesday afternoon. This is the time of day I like to go through emails and work on some of the million things I need to do online.

Every now and then people send me a flyer, postcard or some kind of ad for my opinion. With these I also collect local business ads to examine. (it's kind of a fetish)

When I see the ads sent to me or the ads I collect I notice one common theme, generalized facts. Most small businesses do their own marketing which includes writing the ads. The problem with that is obviously we as the business owner know about what we are selling. We sometimes state things that are obvious to us but a riddle to those not involved.

When we fall in love with our business and lack any real sales skills we can get tunnel vision.

Since most ads in the postcard or flyer format look the same, the consumers stop paying attention; then the ad "fails". Usually when the ad fails we create an ad filled with more useless generalities with a better coupon.

What are useless generalities? Let's take this postcard in front of me- here is their focus as these are the words they used:

Experienced, Dependable, Professional and Detailed. This card is for window cleaning but it really does not matter.

Likely all of you use some variation of the words above. Now tell me what those mean to me, the consumer. I suppose you would say "well it is obvious". I will tell you it looks like all the rest and I would barely glance at it on the way to the trash.

When ads show up and have the exact same formula we stop paying attention. We have fell to sleep 10,000 times before reading this crap.

What you need to do is take a hard look at what it is you are selling and answer one simple question- why. These words- Experienced, Dependable, Professional and Detailed along with best, quality and affordable are meaningless drivel. You said everything that everyone else says.

So why should I pick up the phone and call? Don't tell me, you are counting on the offer/coupon to win the battle. It likely escaped you that people will not read your offer. They see those all the time also.

You may be thinking that most companies in your business basically do things the same way, and you're right. Maybe you are emulating a successful competitor hoping some of that gold will land in your pan.

You will likely help your competition by spreading the same basic message. In order to carve out your niche you need to focus on that niche. Instead of "anyone can use this" you need to boil it down so you can speak to your ideal reader.

I don't care if you are cleaning carpets or own a restaurant, you need to pinpoint whom you want to do business with. Maybe it is young families. Maybe it is seniors. There is no way to advertise to them both effectively.

It can also be said that wealthy people think and buy differently than the middle class. There is no way you can advertise effectively to both. A person that can justify purchasing a $80,000 car does not think the same as the person with the $25,000 Chevy.

If you want to get and keep your ideal customers attention you need to figure out what it is about what you have they want. A great way to get ideas is to ask your great current customers what they like most about what you provide them.

Let's take a carpet cleaner that uses biodegradable products. Let's say his ideal customers are young up and coming families. To simply state he uses green products is not enough. He needs to push that he uses green products. I will show you an example of how an ad might start-

Does Your Home Have Healthy Carpets?

...find out 5 reasons why getting your carpets cleaned can make it worse


With this as my hook I would surely add a picture of a baby sleeping with his face on the carpet. Paint that mental image and provoke emotion. It is very rare you see ads that stop you in your tracks, right? This would jolt a mother who glanced at the ad- guaranteed.

What you don't want to do is deviate from the theme by getting general. You pushed a button now you need to build up a concern they did not have 5 minutes ago. You then need to follow up that concern with a solution to that concern.

Take some of the features and make them a little more interesting and bullet them- (don't go from a headline into the bullets. In this case I would explain 5 things most carpet cleaning companies do/use they should know about)

Here are some of your benefits when we take care of your home:

• EPA approved products (100% safe for your children and pets)
• Truck mounted unit (for a deep down clean and faster drying)
• No worries (Insured to $1 million for your protection)
• Accountability (your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed)

Notice all the "your" in the copy. Keep them involved by not generalizing

There are many, many companies in all different businesses using the "green" angle. I bet you have not seen one doing it right which means it can be exploited. There is no doubt things in your business you are overlooking.

I can do this type of ad for any business. The way I approach it is really take a good look at everything the company does and uses. This is really hard for the owner of a company. You must really step back and see it all.

Go get some


Paul

Where Did Everybody Go?

Today's topic- lost customers.

You have them, you may not realize it but you have money floating around in the abyss looking for a home. Guess what, it does not care where it goes.

If you look at your customer list right now how many people have not bought from you in a year? All too many times I have business owners say "I keep in touch with my customers; they love me!". Then I have them look through their list and 30% from last year has not been heard from.

Here is something you need to know; people can be indifferent. That means that even though they liked your service they really do not care. You have these customers, believe me you do. (look at the list)

Some of the customers for whatever reason may have been underwhelmed with your service. I know, you're the greatest. Let's come back to reality. People are different, some people may find you funny an cute while others find you're sarcastic and you have bad breath.

There is no "one size fits all" situation. There is something you can do to get back the hard earned customers waiting to be snatched up by competitors. Simply mail them something addressing the fact you have not seen them in a while.

Sometimes it helps to show concern. You can say "If there is anything we can do better to serve you please let us know". Give them a special that is not advertised as a "comeback special".

You may think, nah they'll be back... someday.

I wrote a postcard for someone for the spring. It was to all the people on his list that have not been heard from in a year. It was a light hearted theme that included a little kid as a detective searching for this person. I cannot divulge the wording but it was from "Agent Cody". This pretend detective was speaking to them with all sorts of detective speak.

So out these of these "lost customers" we found $60,000. Sixty grand that may not have ever comeback, who knows. We did not sit and wait. The response was immediate and in an uncertain economy, very welcomed.

With these postcards or letters feel free to get creative if you feel uncomfortable. It is natural to feel a little edgy because deep down you know they might not be scheduling because of dissatisfaction. Just buckle down and go for it

Go get some

Paul