If you’re looking for a surefire way to sink your personal business, ignore each one of these tips.
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1. Your company name is not your headline. You are proud of your company name, but a headline’s purpose is to attract attention or make people not turn the page. A unique or dramatic image should accompany your headline. Place your company name at the bottom of your print ad. People care about your unique offer or special position in the marketplace. Yes, you want name recognition and brand awareness, both of which are directly associated with your unique offer or special position in the marketplace.
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2. Nobody needs or cares to see a picture of you in your ad. Think about it. If a person is buying a car/shoes/watermelon/desk/house/industrial item or anything else—why would seeing a picture of you make them want to make a purchase? Feature what the viewer/listener really desires.
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3. No wife or children in your advertising. They are your loved ones and not objects to be displayed. Of course your employees will all say that members of your family look or sound great, but employees want to keep their jobs. Feature an image of your product making somebody happy.
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4. Don’t be your own spokesperson in your TV or radio ad. Your family and employees will all tell you that you look or sound “great”, but they have a vested interest in your happiness. Hire an actor for TV commercials and a quality “voice over” person for your radio commercials.
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5. Don’t feature the front of your store or business in your ad. The front of your business is not the most important reason why a person does business with you. What is your Unique Marketing Offer? Feature it.
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6. Don’t have/mention your college or high school logo in your ad. People who went to the other school will avoid your organization.
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7. Don’t show how smart you are by offering long winded explanations, graphs or pie charts in your ad. Be precise and stay with “less is more.”
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8. Keep your political, social and religious positions/feelings out of your advertising. Advertising is designed to help sell stuff, not to market your beliefs. Why give people a reason not to like your company?
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9. Don’t blame the media that you use for poor results. Examine your ad and look for weak spots.
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The author of this article owns hundreds of letters of recommendation and a national ad agency that engages advertising formulas used by Fortune 500 organizations.
To argue with the author of this article, please visit www.tvradioprintweb.com and go to the contact page.
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