Don’t Skip The Commercials!
Four Ways You Can Improve
Your Marketing by Watching TV
by Terri Langhans, CSP
I love to watch people watch TV commercials, or not watch them, for that matter, because you can learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to effective marketing–even though you may never run an ad on TV.
Here’s what to look for. Effective marketing messages are built on a foundation of four critical components, regardless of whether you’re creating a TV spot or a postcard or a flyer. When you build your message on a solid base of all four, your marketing is compelling and has more impact. If you fall short in one of the four areas, like a table whose legs are uneven, your message will be wobbly at best, perhaps even worthless. Your prospect will do the TV equivalent of fast forwarding through the commercials and simply ignore or promptly forget you and your message.
#1 Stand Out
Your marketing needs to stand out in a way that attracts the prospect’s attention. Attracts, not repels.
The message itself needs to be different. Most people tend to show or describe their products, services or offering, which essentially boils down to being boring or boastful. It’s all about you, and people don’t care about you. Connect before you try so hard to convince; demonstrate that you understand the prospect’s world and know how to make it better.
Plus, your marketing must stand out from the category. In other words, look at what most other speakers/consultants/authors do and don’t do what they do. Hint: Have you ever seen a professional speaker’s 1-sheet where the picture of the speaker was the size of a postage stamp?
#2 Intrigue and Involvement
When you watch TV, notice how long it takes you to know who the advertiser is. Sometimes it’s not until the last few seconds, and almost always it’s a powerful device. It’s called the “power of the reveal,” and its power lies in creating intrigue. The mind is a curious thing, and it demands satisfaction. You will stay with a message longer if you are trying to guess the answer, or solve the riddle, or wait for the punch line.
Predictability is your enemy. “Oh, another consultant” versus, “What the heck do they mean by that?” This is why the name of your company, product or program or, worse–your name—rarely makes a good headline. It’s also why your logo should not be the focal point of anything except your business card.
#3 Emotion
Your marketing should not show an emotion. It should make people feel one. When you watch those commercials, did you smile, chuckle, guffaw, gasp, wince or even choke up? Good. During the 2008 Super Bowl®, some level of humor was featured in 83 percent of the ads, according to the New York Times. When marketing makes an emotional connection, it humanizes a company, makes it (and you) more approachable. Think dialogue, not monologue.
#4 Bring the Benefit to Life
We love to explain and describe: Here’s who I am, what I do, what I sell and how it changes people’s lives/behavior/attitude/whatever. Why is any or all of that important, personally, to the prospect? What is the need or the want that is satisfied by the voodoo you do? Answer those questions, but don’t just talk about the answers; bring them to life.
Remember the “Got Milk” commercials? (Not the mustache ones.) The California Fluid Milk Advisory Board tried for 13 years to convince people to drink milk, describing the nutrients and telling people “Milk does a body good.” The message was all about why you should drink milk, and milk sales declined an average of two percent per year for 13 years.
In 1994, when they instead connected to why you love to drink milk—because you just can’t eat certain foods without it—they truly brought the benefit to life. And they reversed the decline in sales to the tune of $100 million incremental increase in sales the first year. They didn’t change the product, the price or distribution system. They only changed their message. Instead of telling you that milk tastes good, they made you thirsty.
Build your message on the same strong foundation, and your marketing will do the same.
About the Author
(If you reprint this article, it must include the following attribution.)
Terri Langhans, Certified Speaking Professional, is the former CEO of a national ad agency and marketing firm and author of The 7 Marketing Mistakes Every Business Makes (And How to Fix Them). She is COE (Chief of Everything) at Blah Blah Blah, where she is relentless about helping business people make their marketing and presentations less ordinary and more effective. Call (800) 207-0015 or visit www.BlahBlahBlah.us
