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I don't have a "success pill" for you to swallow,
but I can describe each of the most common mistakes you will need to avoid:
1. The quest for
instant gratification:
The ad that creates enough urgency to cause people to respond immediately is
the ad most likely to be forgotten immediately once the offer expires. It is
of little use in establishing the advertiser's identity in the mind of the
consumer.
2. Trying to reach
more people than the budget will allow: For a media mix to be effective, each element in the mix
must have enough repetition to establish retention in the mind of the prospect.
Too often, however, the result of a media mix is too much reach and not
enough frequency. Will you reach 100 percent of the people and persuade them
10 percent of the way? Or will you reach 10 percent of the people and
persuade them 100 percent of the way? The cost is the same.
3. Assuming the
business owner knows best:
The business
owner is uniquely unqualified to see his company or product
objectively. Too much product knowledge leads him to answer questions no one
is asking. He's on the inside looking out, trying to describe himself to a
person on the outside looking in. It's hard to read the label when you're
inside the bottle.
4. Unsubstantiated
claims:
Advertisers often claim to have what the customer wants, such as
"highest quality at the lowest price," but fail to offer any
evidence. An unsubstantiated claim is nothing more than a cliché the
prospect is tired of hearing. You must prove what you say in every ad. Do
your ads give the prospect new information? Do they provide a new
perspective? If not, prepare to be disappointed with the results.
5. Improper use of
passive media: Non-intrusive media, such as newspapers and yellow pages, tend to reach only
buyers who are looking for the product. They are poor at reaching prospects
before their need arises, so they're not much use for creating a
predisposition toward your company. The patient, consistent use of intrusive
media, such as radio and TV, will win the hearts of relational customers
long before they're in the market for your product.
6. Creating ads
instead of campaigns:
It is foolish to believe a single ad can ever tell the entire story. The
most effective, persuasive and memorable ads are those most like a
rhinoceros: They make a single point, powerfully. An advertiser with 17
different things to say should commit to a campaign of at least 17 different
ads, repeating each ad enough to stick in the prospect's mind.
7. Obedience to
unwritten rules:
For some insane reason, advertisers want their ads to look and sound like
ads. Why?
8. Late-week
schedules:
Advertisers justify their obsession with Thursday and Friday advertising by
saying "We need to reach the customer just before she goes
shopping." Why do these advertisers choose to compete for the
customer's attention each Thursday and Friday when they could have a nice,
quiet chat all alone with her on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday?
9. Overconfidence in
qualitative targeting: Many advertisers and media professionals grossly overestimate the
importance of audience quality. In reality, saying the wrong thing has
killed far more ad campaigns than reaching the wrong people. It's amazing
how many people become "the right people" when you're saying the
right thing.
10. Event-driven
marketing: A
special event should be judged only by its ability to help you more clearly
define your market position and substantiate your claims. If 1 percent of
the people who hear your ad for a special event choose to come, you will be
in desperate need of a traffic cop and a bus to shuttle people from distant
parking lots. Yet your real investment will be in the 99 percent who did not
come! What did your ad say to them?
11. Great production
without great copy:
Too many ads today are creative without being persuasive. Slick, clever,
funny, creative and different are poor substitutes for informative,
believable, memorable and persuasive.
12. Confusing
response with results:
The goal of advertising is to create a clear awareness of your company and
its unique selling proposition. Unfortunately, most advertisers evaluate
their ads by the comments they hear from the people around them. The
slickest, cleverest, funniest, most creative and most distinctive ads are
the ones most likely to generate these comments. See the problem? When we
confuse response with results, we create attention-getting ads that say
absolutely nothing.
Nicknamed "the
Wizard of Ads" by an early client, Roy
H. Williams and his staff have often been the unseen, pivotal force in
amazing come-from-behind victories in the worlds of business, politics, and
finance. Williams is the author of The
Wizard of Ads, Secret
Formulas of the Wizard of Ads, Magical
Worlds of the Wizard of Ads, Accidental
Magic and Free
the Beagle.
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