Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Andra,
Well, now we get into the whole philosophy or advertising. Certainly you need some call-to-action and your last ad didnt likely contain it.

A coupon works best in print ads.

Now to the interruption, or how you draw people to your ad. You have to ask a question that is already on their minds.

Ex: Are you the only one who likes your website?
or
Is your website a websplat?

Think about the problems you've solved for your clients. You'll be able to come up with more.

Michael

Dear Andra,

Randall is right.

To care market share for yourself you need LOTS of repetition, particularly for press ads, and one little ad wishing people Merry Christmas might look nice, but it won’t drive much traffic your way.

Newspapers are NOT dead, but they ARE hurting, particularly for ad revenue.

Why?

Because generally, newspapers ads that don’t offer specific calls
to action, benefits, value, offers and deadlines lack reader significance. And when an ad lacks significance it’s often because what it’s offering isn’t not compelling enough. So the ad fails to produce a result, the advertiser blames the publication, and the publication suffers because the presumption is that advertising
doesn’t work.

Advertising DOES work. But to create a return on the investment the ad in question has got to be compelling enough for the reader of that ad to WANT to take action.

So, why are you advertising?

If your ad is simply to wish people Prettig Kerstfeest you’ll be wasting your money, wasting paper ink, and trees, and adding to the visual clutter of the season.

So your ad, well-intentioned though it may be, will fall flat and offer zero in terms of a return. True, the ad may “get your name out there”, but much like visiting friends who are not at home, what’s the use of banging on the door and ringing the bell if no one is there to hear you, let you in, and welcome you with open arms?

Before you place your ad you need to ask yourself the following question:

“Of the 65,000 readers of this publication, how many of them need or want our services right now?”

If you say “All of them” you need your backside kicking.

Ever heard the phrase “Sell the sizzle, not the sausage!”?

If your ad goes out to everyone, then everyone will be offered
the sausage. The problem is that not everyone WANTS sausage. Not everyone NEEDS sausage. So why offer sausage to everyone?

Why not offer sausage ONLY to those people who WANT sausage?

When you sell the sizzle, you offer the smell, the taste, and the impression of sausage and all the delicious things that go with it: beer, mustard, sauerkraut, café life, sunny days, hot toddies.

You get the idea.

You’re offering sausage AND all the added benefits associated with the sausage. With Web services you offer, design skills, appeal, social recognition, the chance to make an impression, the chance to make money through e-commerce, the chance to have an online presence where values, benefits, and company ethics can act in unison to tell people: “We worked with Andra’s Web service and this is how good we look.”

That’s what you need to consider doing: selling prospects and leads the benefits of working with your web company, not the web company itself.

The best way to paint this vivid picture is in an editorial piece, not in an ad.

Editorial is NEWS, it’s CONTENT.

Editorial has appeal because it is story driven, not sales driven. The trick is to create such a compelling story that readers are
driven to read until the end of the piece, whereupon they find your great offer of a discount, or of a free trial, or of a free consult if the reader takes specific action: visits a certain landing page, or watches an online video that tells even more of your tale, and that directs them to your blog, or to your sales manager’s e-mail.

The point of all this is to create relationships and to show yourself off as being the go to people for your specific service.

When you offer something of interest you establish rapport.

When you establish rapport, people begin to feel they know you and when they think they know you, they like you more.

When people like you more they are far more inclined to trust you.

And when someone trusts you they are FAR more likely to spend money with you.

I hope this helps you. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA
Follow me on www.twitter.com @GaryBloomer

Is the newspaper (especially a free one) really the best place to advertise your services?

It doesn't matter how good you are if you're playing to the wrong audience. For example, two years ago, world-famous musician Joshua Bell took his Stradivarius to the Washington DC metro station and played all morning. He normally commands hundreds of dollars per ticket. That morning, he earned $32.17.

So, context matters. Audience matters too. It doesn't matter how good you are if you're talking to the wrong people.

Put your message in a place where it's relevant, and where people who want and need your services will see it. Otherwise, you're just spraying and praying, hoping to hit something.

Jodi

I find most peoples ads fail, be it editorial or standard display ads, is because they have not taken the time to learn proven ad strategy and creation methods.

As you mention in your opening question, you have two weeks. To me that's a rush job. Rush ads of any type are usually bad.

So my advice to you is learn about creating display ads for any future ads. If you want to email me, I'll recommend a good guide for you to start with.

To go forward with this ad, create a compelling headline that promises a big benefit to the readers you want to reach.

As an example: "Website sales double for small businesses that use this new web trick!"

Your headline is the most important component of the ad. Then you tell how your company can fulfill the promise of the headline. Then tell them what you want them to do next. i.e. Call for a free report, call to have their website reviewed, etc.

As others have mentioned, I'm not sure how many of the people reading the newspaper are truly your customers. If you're convinced that you want to try the ad, do something different. Take your ad space and make it look like part of a website (if you have a full page ad, create a full page web image, if you have only room for a button, create a web-button). By reading the ad, it's unlikely someone will call you...but they may be interested enough to check out YOUR website. So, make URL they enter simple, and provide the reason to visit TODAY (a chance to win $1000? A free iPod?).

A B2B sale, as yours is, is much more carefully considered than a B2C sale. Because someone's job may be on the line if they fail to make a good decision. I doubt that a coupon would be effective for your business. For this reason I would strongly recommend that you incorporate some of the excellent ideas above- I especially like Jay Hamilton-Roth's idea of a web like image.
But in addition I would suggest that you negotiate a multiple placement over time rather than a single appearance for your ad. You need to build up your image in the mind's eye of the customer. You can do this with a repeating ad over time. As others have said before, repetition is the key in print advertising. 1/4 page over 4 weeks will be much more effective than a single full page advertisement.

Chris Kieff
Marketing Consultant
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