| |
| |
|
Advertising Information - YourOnlineClassifieds.com - Home |
|
|
|
The Only Bad Advertising Is No Advertising - Or Is It?
Depending on whom you ask, you will get told many "truths" about advertising. The question I have for you today is this - "Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?" Before we begin, it might help us to agree on what advertising is, so here's one definition: "Advertising is the non-personal communication of an individual's paid persuasive information regarding products, and or services via various media." In other words, someone is trying to "sell" us on something - be it a product, or a service, or just picking up the phone. Advertising is all about getting people to do something - well, for the majority of us, it should be. So, if advertising is about selling stuff, then perhaps we can answer our question now: "Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?" Of course not! You could create a really bad advert that did a terrible job of selling? and that would easily be a bad advert. "Repetition, repetition, repetition!" Is the battle cry of the ardent advertiser. "You must have repetition to have an impact." Do you believe this? A healthy dose of scepticism is always handy at a time like this. But before you start patting yourself on the back thinking that you're right I think you might want to hear this. Repeating an advert works. Studies have shown conclusively that a 'sale' regularly occurs between the fifth and eighth exposure to a sales message (sure it can happen sooner, the point is that one-hit-wonders are rare). So repeating an advert works - BUT? and this is quite an important "but"? the advert must be having an effect (or working) for the repetition to be meaningful. Flogging a Dead Horse Permit me to explain. If your advert tanked on the first run you may have a bad advert on your hands. You will need to think carefully about what you do next. Experience tells us that this might be a fluke or a freak of circumstances so it warrants at least another run - may be two. However, if the advert is not performing at all well after a couple of exposures to your market place, exposing that advert continuously will NOT (I repeat NOT) improve it. In this instance, repetition is quite simply a waste of time and money. However, if your advert worked well then keep running the advert. For how long you might ask? The answer to that is actually very easy. Keep running performing adverts until the numbers tell you to stop. That's right, let the sales numbers tell you when that advert needs a rest. Great Adverts Need A Vacation Too Adverts are like people, they get tired and need a break. Just because an advert eventually loses some steam doesn't mean that after a suitable 'rest' it cannot go right back to work - performing flawlessly.So how do the numbers tell you when to pull the advert or give it a rest? When all the costs of running the advert outweigh the sales the advert is bringing in. Remember to take a more pragmatic view and consider the long term sales value of a new client. In a previous article I explained that a client you acquire has a 'lifetime value' not just a 'now-time value'. Include the future sales this client will bring you when deciding if the advert is no longer effective. Size Does Matter! So how big should your advert be? That's easy, it should be 'dominant'. After all, your advert is trying to do its first job - CATCH ATTENTION! This is easier to achieve with a larger advert. All things being equal on the page, the bigger ads get more 'eye time' than the smaller adverts. As with all things though, there are exceptions to the rules and a small advert developed properly will outperform a big advert that is poorly designed. There are other advertising 'secrets' we copywriters have learned that help us gain the edge when writing adverts. For instance we know whether colour makes a difference and when to use it, we know which single colour out performs all other colours and why, and we know which fonts (yes fonts) make a difference to an advert? but sadly I'm out of space again so we'll have to save those tidbits for another time. JAMES C. BURCHILL is a 20-year veteran entrepreneur and information technology executive who now provides strategic marketing consulting services to a select group of clients. He is a published author, a passionate advocate of technology and the Internet, as well as an avid study of classical advertising and marketing strategies (which he uses during 'Internet alchemy' experiments.) James is an expert in information and data management, Internet marketing and online networking. A self confessed 'information and technology enthusiast', James brings a wide range of valuable skills to any venture. Of singular note is James' ability to assimilate complex subject matter and produce clean clear 'easy-to-understand' messages. James has been interviewed many times and caused quite the media buzz when a client 'double-dog-dared' him to prove you can get front page coverage for $0. The details and that 'dumb stunt' are now part of EBay legend. Currently James lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife and family, their Siamese cat and one very nervous fish. Visit http://www.JamesBurchill.com for details.
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Secrets of Getting Free Advertising The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your own objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them. Why Hire an Advertising/Marketing Consultant? As a business owner, you have the option of taking several different approaches to handling your Marketing and Advertising. You may choose to handle the responsibility yourself, with the idea that no one understands your business quite the way you do. Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time you invest in your mailing to almost nothing.So, you have a list of hot prospects in hand; you need a way to get your marketing message in front of them with the hope that a reasonable percentage will call you. 3 Simple But Powerful Off-Line Advertising Strategies There are several ways to advertise and get the word out about your business online and the best of them include f-ree search engines, pay per click search engines, writing articles, utilizing press releases, doing joint ventures/ad co-ops, and posting to message boards and forums related to your target market.But one advertising method that's neglected by most online marketers is off-line advertising. When Times Get Tough... or When to Really Advertise The Pundits say the economy is slowly, but surely, recovering. Maybe not at the rate of the mid-90s stock boom, but recovering nonetheless. Create Your Dynamic Elevator Speech So, what's an elevator speech, and how do you get one?What Is It?An elevator speech is a short (15-30 second, 150 word) sound bite that succinctly and memorably introduces you. It spotlights your uniqueness. Dont Put All Your Eggs in The Same Basket Solution: You can protect yourself by partnering with other lead sources because it is unlikely that they will all have a problem or technical issue at the same time.Other alternative: It doesn't hurt either to use a few marketing tools to generate leads for your business. Indoor LED Displays To promote the audience, staff, customers and other people the Indoor LED displays are most widely used. By incorporating the latest technology Indoor LED displays provide exceptional service for a great value. The Graphic Problem Digital printing has revolutionized the sign industry. Current printers can reproduce an image at 1440 dpi (dots per inch) at virtually any size. Finding Your Target Market Achieving sales is probably the biggest challenge a web business owner has. It requiresa balanced mix of the right products, competitive pricing, optimal web design, aggressive advertising and attracting the right online visitors. Diamonds Are For Evil The task of executing successful advertising campaigns for products made exclusively for women is understatedly tempestuous. Any Average Joe consumer would relay the message that feminine product commercials put him under a great deal of stress and discomfort. Using The Popularity of Celebrities and Currrent Events to Promote Your Business In this article, we want to explore the idea of using the popularity of celebrities and current event (news) topics to help market any internet business.The IdeaCelebrities and news events are not only popular topics, they are also popular "keywords" in the major search engines. How to Write Great Headlines According to experts, just changing the headline of an ad or sales letter has been known to dramatically improve the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter by up to 1700 percent! Yes, headlines are that powerful--and that important!An effective headline will do many things at once. It will attract the readers attention, convey benefits by appealing to the readers self-interest and it will set the stage for what is to come. Top 9 Reasons To Advertise Advertising is not for every company. But some require it because their market is big and constantly changing and evolving. Why Not Use the Humble Fax in Your Advertising Strategy? When my daughter complained recently about the prohibitive cost of news media advertising, we had a discussion about the ways in which she could sell her range of body products (hand creams, lip balms etc). I explained to her that huge firms like K Mart wouldn't spend millions of dollars annually for advertising if it wasn't necessary. Placemat Ad Advertising Starting a placemat ad business can create more business for you; free advertising and income all while helping other local small businesses advertise their business all at a reasonable price.This is an idea not new by any means, but it can prove to be very profitable to you if done right. Heard A Good Radio Ad Lately? Neither Have We To many ad agencies, radio is considered advertising's ugly stepchild. It's not sexy like television and is treated as a necessary evil with little effort put into it. B2B Marketing Health and Elder Care Services Quality Care Options is an established company advocating for the right of all seniors to receive excellent service and product. The organization recommends Certified Senior Approved Services to its elderly clientele. Improve Your Promotional Flyers And Improve Sales Admittedly, I have not seen your advertising flyer. Then again, I probably don't have to. The Only Bad Advertising Is No Advertising - Or Is It? Depending on whom you ask, you will get told many "truths" about advertising. The question I have for you today is this - "Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?"Before we begin, it might help us to agree on what advertising is, so here's one definition:"Advertising is the non-personal communication of an individual's paid persuasive information regarding products, and or services via various media.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
youronlineclassifieds.com - home | site map
üClick Here to Earn - an ongoing, monthly residual income - a very SUBSTANTIAL monthly income - even if you don't have a website! |
| © 2006 |
