[AdultB2B]

We're a Nation of Lazy Communicators - Part 2

Last week we talked about why we're such lazy communicators. Today we continue on that subject.

Communication autopilot can serve us well in many situations. Don't think. Don't reason. Just talk. Ever heard this one before? You say to a guy, what's happening? He says, "Same old, same old." What a great answer! Same old, same old. Or maybe he says , "same stuff, different day." Ever heard that one? No thinking involved.

The problem is that these lazy communication habits spill over into marketing and advertising all the time where they can kill your chances for success. Show me 99% of advertising and I'll show you a huge jumble of hyperbole, fluff, platitudes, and yawnably unbelievable, black hole nothing words. Words like cheapest, professionalism, service, quality, speedy, convenient, and best are littered throughout advertising with reckless abandon. These empty words are the tools of the lazy communicator; they do absolutely nothing to communicate why you're the best deal. Why you're an exceptional value. Why or how you solve the problems that nobody else solves. They build no believable case for your product or service. Regardless of your product or service, you must build a case. But the fact is most businesses go on year after year spewing out the same junk that does nothing more than get their name out there if that. They just create NOISE that adds to the confusing mass of information flooding consumers.

Advertisements written using lazy communication are what I call "same old, same old" ads or "different ad, same stuff" ads. You've probably written a few of them yourself. Heck, we all have. You have to learn how to overcome these lazy tendencies. Start by writing effective headlines. The headline is the ad for the ad. It's what makes a person decide if he or she wants to invest any more time in your advertisement or not; it's the single most important part of any advertisement. You also have to judge whether or not the "things" in your advertising are powerful. Most of the time you will find that they are not. You also have to understand the nuts and bolts of effective ad writing like word choices and punctuation. Avoid the tiresome junk that English classes force students to endure - instead meticulously choose words that sell, educate, and eventually make you money!

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[AdultB2B]

Writing Evaluation - Who Else Can Say That?


"Who Else Can Say That?" Is an excellent question you can use to evaluate your writing - especially your headlines. Pay close attention to this one though, because the question is NOT, "Who else can do what you do?" The question is, "Who else can say what you say?" And the answer usually is...anybody and everybody.

For Example - There's an auto repair facility that was by FAR the most awesome auto repair facility you could find. They had 11 ASE certified mechanics, twice as much hi-tech equipment as any dealership, 63 bays, and floors you could eat off of. Do you realize how many ELEVEN ASE Certified mechanics is? It's a ton for one shop. Most have one, maybe two. Do you realize how many bays 63 is? It's a lot. Most BIG shops have less than 20...and small ones only have 4 or 5 or LESS. This company had the ability to start and complete 95% of all jobs in less than 24 hours - the only exceptions were transmissions, engine replacements, and differentials - and every repair job was absolutely, 100% guaranteed. If you called in to check the progress of your car, they would send your call straight through to the TECHNICIAN who was working on your car within 10 seconds. Every mechanic carried a cordless phone at all times. This place kicked some serious butt. They put three or four competitors out of business every year, and as a result, they literally own the marketplace in the city where they're located.

But even though their Inside Reality was great, and even though they were very successful, they still had a big marketing problem: Although nobody could even come close to performing at their level - i.e., nobody could match their Inside Reality - their yellow pages ad, where a good portion of the new business was generated from, looked virtually identical to all of their less-competent competitors. It used the same generalities and platitudes as everyone else: it said things like "ASE Certified Mechanics. Foreign and Domestic Cars Serviced." And then the usual long laundry list of services performed...ranging from air conditioners to brakes, to transmissions and more. So ask this question: "Who else can say that?"

When the service manager was given this evaluation on his ad, he got really upset. He started ranting and raving; "There's nobody else that can say what we say. They can't even come close to touching us. Even the dealerships bring their cars to us when THEY can't fix them. Our mechanics are far and away the best in the state. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can say what we say."

For companies that aren't extremely marketing sharp, the Inside Reality and the Outside Perception often have very little to do with each other. So finally, to try to prove the point in a nice way, the owner was told to pull out the yellow pages and see what all of his competitors were saying in their ads. He pulled out the book, and sure enough, he looked at the ads and stood there in silence for about two minutes. Finally, he pointed at the page and said to the service manager; "Look. I know this guy. He's terrible. His ad says the exact same thing that ours does. And look at this guy. He's a rip-off artist, and his ad reads just like ours too. In fact, I think he copied our layout and verbiage word for word." That's what we call, SELF EVIDENCE. See, if you've got a great Inside Reality, but don't exploit it in your advertising by Saying It Well, then anyone can say what you say...whether or not they can perform at your level.

More on this subject tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

Who Else Can Say That - Part 2

Yesterday we discussed the writing evaluation "Who Else Can Say That".

Here are more examples of this:

Another example is a box company that could turn a custom box order in just four hours or less. They started using a slogan and a logo that read "Custom Boxes on Your Dock In Just Four Hours...Guaranteed." What about that? Do you think any of their competitors would even dare put that slogan on any of THEIR promotional materials? Not on your life. Why? Because there's no way any of them could perform at that level. Not even close. Their competitors Inside Reality could not support that kind of Outside Perception. Although the box company could turn four hour orders long before they started using the slogan, they weren't using that slant in their advertising which meant they weren't taking advantage of the opportunity, and that unique thing about their business. They used to just spew out the same junk as everyone else. "We have boxes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Not anymore.

Here are a couple other examples: A big barbecue catering company stated in their advertising that: "The flavor and taste of our quality meats gives you the best BBQ you've ever eaten." Yeah, that's really believable...Who else could say that? Only every other barbecue company on the planet, and anyone who's ever fired up the backyard barbecue.

Guess what industry this is:

"Experienced staff; Company in business 35 years. Research &
Development of New Technology. Customer service always available."

Who else can say that? This could be any company...in any industry.

Here are a couple more "Who Else Can Say That?" examples: Here's a chiropractor with a headline that says, "Gentle Techniques To Relieve Your Back Pain." That's original. Who else can say that? What about this ad for computers: "We've got the lowest computer prices in town." Lazy communication at it's worst. Everyone else could certainly say that...and most of their competitors DO say that.

Are you seeing how this evaluation could potentially expose gaping holes in your current marketing efforts? Take a moment to review your marketing, if it fails the evaluation...change it.

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[AdultB2B]

Writing Evaluation - Cross Out Write In

There are many different ways to evaluate your advertising. Of them, this is one of the easiest evaluations to do, and possibly one of the most revealing. Pull out one of your advertisements and take a look at it. Now, grab a black marker and cross out your name Everywhere it appears in your ad and write in the name of one of your competitors.

Here's the important question: With Your Competitor's Name In The Ad, Does The Ad Still Read Accurately? If it does, then you Fail the evaluation.

Yellow Pages ads are notoriously bad for having identical-looking ads. Frequently, all of the Yellow Pages ads in a given section look very similar. Let's take a section for an example - how about attorneys. You would think an attorney would be fairly proficient at building a case for his or her services. After all, that's what attorneys do, right? In the Portland phone book, there are more than 1100 attorney advertisements. And they all look exactly the same. The only thing that differentiates them is their specialty in law. They all fail the Cross Out Write In Evaluation.

Let's look at a couple of ads: Okay, the first ad is for a law firm that specializes in Bankruptcy. The headline reads "Bankruptcy", and then there's a picture of a guy sitting with his face buried in his hands like he's really sad or something. Next to the sad picture is a red stop sign that says, "Federal Law May Allow You To Stop Foreclosures, Bill collectors, Repossessions, IRS Seizures, Lawsuits, and Chapter 7 & 13" Then there's a picture of a nerdy looking attorney, a distinguished looking attorney, and a pretty female attorney. "Phone answered 24 hours, Habla Espanol" then the phone number and their name. That's it. A full-page ad at a cost of $71,160 a year! What do you think? Could you take out the name of this law firm and stick in the name of any other law firm and the ad still be accurate? Sure you could.

More tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

Cross Out, Write In Writing Evaluation - Part 2

Yesterday we discussed the writing evaluation, "Cross out, Write in". We used as an example a law firm who's ad was full of generalities.

By way of comparison, let's take a look at one of their competitor's ads. One page over there's an ad with a headline that says, in really big font, "Bankruptcy". This time there's no guy, but there's that familiar stop sign again. "Stop Foreclosures, Repossessions, IRS Garnishments, blah blah blah blah blah." Different ad, same stuff. This ad has a picture of an attorney, and he looks pretty friendly. But do you think you could cross his name off this ad and put in a competitor's name and the ad still be accurate? Of course.

Why is passing this evaluation so important? Because your marketing should build a case for your business that definitively and conclusively allows a prospect to draw the conclusion, "I would have to be an absolute fool to do business with anyone else but you...regardless of price." If your marketing builds that kind of case, then there's going to be things you do that are unique, that are different, that are better...and that your competitors just couldn't and wouldn't say. In other words, your marketing needs to communicate your company's Inside Reality. If you remember, the Inside Reality, has to do with all the things your business does that actually makes it valuable to your customers - from a product, operations, and management standpoint. It's what gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It's the instantly recognizable things that make your business great. It's your 'Something Good To Say.' And if you truly have something good to say, and you can say it well, then there's no way you'd be able to fail this writing evaluation.

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[AdultB2B]

Use "The Educational Spectrum" And You'll Increase Sales

Do you ever notice that when you're in the market to buy a car, you notice almost every advertisement for cars on TV, radio, and in the paper? You even notice all those cars with prices shoe polished on the windshield in supermarket parking lots. You buy Consumer Reports and Auto Trader and read classified ads. You become the expert on whichever car you're interested in.

After you scout the entire marketplace for just the right balance of price, condition, mileage, options, etc., you finally buy the car. And chances are you will be convinced that you got THE BEST DEAL available to mankind. You probably even brag about the deal to your friends. "This baby's only got 17k miles on it...but I picked it up for about what everyone else wanted for the same car with twice as many miles." What a deal.

What about when you're not in the market to buy a car? You don't notice any of that stuff. Let's assume you're not in the market for a new Hyundai right now. I'll bet you haven't seen or heard a single ad for Hyundai lately. You might not even be aware that Hyundai still sells cars in America! Mentally validate this point: All prospects you contact in your marketing efforts will have different levels of interest and understanding about your product based on their circumstances.

More tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

Use "The Educational Spectrum" And You'll Increase Sales - Part 2

Last week we started a discussion of the educational spectrum. Here's more:

I was talking to a client some time ago that used telemarketing as a major source of driving in new business. He wanted to increase his telemarketers' closing ratio, so he came to me for ideas. After reviewing the pitch they were using, I concluded that it was fine...no major changes needed to happen. Frustrated, the client threw up his hands and said, "That's it, then? I'm getting all the possible sales? I sure thought that my product had a lot bigger market potential than the results we're seeing now."

So I asked him the same question I always ask every client: "What are you doing to follow up on the prospects that 1) don't buy now and 2) aren't interested?" The response was equally as familiar. He said they put those that don't buy now in a database and call them every 30 days for 3 months...at which point they get dropped if they don't buy.

As for those that just aren't interested..."Nothing. They're not interested! Why would I waste time on them? There's an old saying that you should spend time polishing cherries, not pits!" Let me add one comment: my client's average customer was worth thousands of dollars in profit per transaction. Just improving the telemarketer's pitch was not where the effort needed to be spent.

What my client needed to understand was why customers were not buying....why they were saying no. The answer is what we call the "educational spectrum." There is an educational process from the moment a prospect begins thinking about buying your product or service to the point when he actually puts out his hard earned cash.

Most marketers concentrate 99% of their efforts on finding and selling to prospects that are at the very end of the spectrum and ready to buy right now. These are what we call ripe cherries. You can attract them to your business by placing ads where hot prospects will be going to do their comparison shopping. Just remember that all of your competitors will also be there with their buckets looking for big, fat, red cherries.

More tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

Use "The Educational Spectrum" And You'll Increase Sales - Part 3

Here's more on the educational spectrum:

Telemarketing and direct mail are the worst methods of finding hot prospects. It's like fishing with a spear. You look and look and look for that one prospect that just happens to be to the end of the educational spectrum - one who just happens to be ready to buy. Can you imagine trying to sell your car by telemarketing? "Hello, my name is Bob. I've got a beautiful 1994 Cadillac STS for sale. Low mileage. Great condition. Only $27,500. Have you been thinking about a Cadillac?" Now that would be an exercise in futility!

I know what you're thinking now. "But lots of people use telemarketing and direct mail very successfully. It can't be that bad, can it?" I just said it was the worst way to find hot prospects. These two marketing methods are, however, highly recommended for another reason: you can target your market very effectively. In other words, you can choose a list of people or companies that are likely to be current users or potential users of what you're selling.

Here's how to weave your telemarketers' efforts into a big net - keeping in mind the idea of the educational spectrum. Use this telemarketing pitch (for business to business): "Hi, this is Bill over at Widget & Digits. We've got a special on Widgets this week, but I know you probably hate to talk to telemarketers. So if you don't mind, I'll just email you over some information real quick so you can get back to what you were doing." Use this pitch to gather the names and e mail addresses of every single possible prospect you can think of.

Now you can own your marketplace. Don't worry about those who aren't interested right now. Your job is to periodically send these people email or direct mail that do what? Educate. Over the course of time, you will get enough fish in your net that you'll find plenty of keepers. The key is to consistently keep feeding them new and relevant information. Example: Why do you think you are getting our tips every day or our newsletter every week? This stuff works.

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[AdultB2B]

You're Not Microsoft, McDonald's, Or Coca-Cola - So Don't Emulate What They Do

The key to their success isn't necessarily based on how good they are (Inside Reality), but rather on massive advertising repetition. Microsoft, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola advertise for the sole purpose of building distribution and BRAND awareness. They do Image Advertising. Their ads attempt to marry a lifestyle feeling to their product so you'll get that same feeling when you buy.

For example, in 1997, Pepsi spent $1.24 billion in advertising, while Proctor & Gamble spent $2.743 billion. McDonald's spent $1.041 billion and General Motors spent a whopping $3.087 billion! That's why Chevy could hum the tune "like a rock, like a rock, like a rock" and it worked. If you spend over a BILLION dollars, you'll get stellar results too! Here's a stat that might surprise you: Do you know how many billboards Coca Cola had along American Roads way back in 1930? A thousand? 10,000? 100,000? Try 300,000! That same year they also had over 20,000 building walls painted with their logo, over 5 million soda glasses with their name printed on them, and over 400 million newspaper and magazine advertising impressions...in 1930! See, it takes time and money to really build that kind of brand awareness and it can work great for your advertising and marketing if you are fortunate enough to have a marketing budget of over $100 million a year.

99% Of Most Advertising Is Nothing But A Huge Jumble Of Hyperbole, Fluff And Unbelievable Platitudes With Black-Hole Nothing Words!

You'll hear words like: best service, biggest, most professional, highest quality, most reliable, speedy, convenient and lowest prices. And you'll hear phrases such as: "We're number one"...well, Whoop Dee Do. Number one in whose eyes? These mindless words and phases do absolutely nothing to communicate why you're the best deal. Why you're an exceptional value. Why or how you solve the problems that nobody else solves.

But most businesses go on year after year yawning these verbal platitudes that do nothing more than get their name out there, if that. Why would anyone want to waste marketing dollars that hardly says anything to anyone? It's because the majority of us have been obediently trained (from the wrong sources) on how to advertise.

We'll get into this subject more tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

You're Not Microsoft, McDonald's, Or Coca-Cola - So Don't Emulate What They Do (Part 2)

Yesterday we talked about big businesses, how they advertise and why you shouldn't advertise that way. Here's more on that subject:

In the past 50 years, providing for the needs of people has been split into three groups. We now have three types of businesses that give people what they want.

Level ONE Business, surprisingly, is the biggest provider of services and products in this country - our government. Some of us would adamantly argue that our government has taken over our education system, transportation, safety & protection, our savings for retirement and distribution of food and clothing for over 15% of our population. Even many of the medical and legal services are closely controlled/provided by our government. Average business owners cannot compete in these markets, which control as much as 40% of our gross national product.

Level TWO Businesses are what we call the Fortune 500, which includes the top 1 to 5 thousand companies in the country. They're comprised of premier global majors with diverse growth portfolios such as Google, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Coca Cola, etc. Some of the top Fortune 500 companies have portfolios of high quality assets and capabilities, and financial strength to generate enhanced value for their shareholders. We've been indoctrinated by years of advertising and social acceptance to buy from these companies. Any product or service that can be standardized and distributed to 80% of the population without changing the design or concept has been converted to a national brand name over the last 50 years. They have the financial resources to advertise all over the place; a million dollars here, half a million there. It takes a lot of money and time to build that kind of brand equity.

Level THREE Businesses include everybody else. Everything from start up businesses and mom and pop's, all the way up to companies that do hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales. Level 3 companies cannot rely on broad based repetition-oriented advertising that builds brand awareness. It's not that Level 3 businesses can't or shouldn't build brand awareness. And it's not that they can't spend a lot of money on advertising. They just can't do it nationally on Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS at $50,000 to millions per 30-second spot (you may remember that many of the dot com's tried and failed miserably). Level 3 businesses need to be more frugal with their marketing budget in order to create successful action-oriented advertising.

We'll continue this discussion tomorrow.

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[AdultB2B]

You're Not Microsoft, McDonald's, Or Coca-Cola - So Don't Emulate What They Do - Part 3

The last couple of days we talked about big businesses, how they advertise and why you shouldn't advertise that way. Here's more on that subject:

Because of the integration of advertising into our daily lives, we are constantly exposed to Level 2 advertising (the Fortune 500). And everyone assumes, based on years of passive observation, that's how marketing and advertising is done. That probably explains why so many people consider themselves advertising experts. People say, Hey, I've been submersed in it my entire life, so I certainly must know something about it. If you go to college and learn how to do advertising, you will be taught Level 2 advertising. And that's fine if you're working for a Level TWO business.

But Here's The Problem: most of the students who graduate with all these degrees in advertising and marketing don't know how to make money in the real world. You stick them in a Fortune 500 company's marketing department, and they might do okay, but if they don't have the 20, 50, or 100 year history of the company backing them up, along with the multi-million dollar or billion dollar advertising budget, it's more of a challenge for these young graduates to make money for the company. They don't know how to attract prospects in such a way that they take action. And that's crucial in getting the prospect to crossover the "Confidence Gap." They need to realize you offer a superior value. You need to make them come to this one conclusion,"I would have to be an absolute fool not to do business with anyone else but you regardless of price."

The rest Monday.

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[AdultB2B]

Build A Case For Your Product or Service

You know that in order for your advertising to be effective, you need to think of your ads as an army of tiny salesmen that work on straight commission. In order for this to work though, your ads have to be properly structured - from a selling standpoint - to get the biggest impact. When you go to write an ad, you probably ask yourself, "What should I talk about? What selling points should I bring out, given my time or space restraints, and the competition I've identified?" The answer is - as much as you can - to build a case for your product or service.

Think about your marketing and advertising strategy this way: Your product or service is on trial. The consumer is the jury. You're the attorney, and you must prove to the jury that they should buy from you - and it's a life-or-death sentence. Your job is to come up with all the proof and evidence needed and then present it in a way that the jury believes you.

But if you look at the way most businesses advertise, they build no case at all. Instead, they just carelessly spout off the same old stuff that all of their competitors are saying. Here's an example of ad for a franchised auto repair facility - it says,

WE DO IT ALL,
OUR HOURS ARE DESIGNED AROUND YOUR HOURS,
WE USE HIGH QUALITY PARTS,
WE HAVE FRIENDLY PROFESSIONAL TECHNICIANS,
AND WE GIVE FREE ESTIMATES.

Does that build a case? If you were in the market for auto repair, has their mail piece convinced you that you'd be an absolute fool to take your car anyplace else? There's no claim, no proof that they're any different or any better than any other place. Just the same old meaningless advertising babble. No argument, no evidence, no proof...no nothing.

Just imagine what it'd be like if an attorney did as poor a job arguing a court case as most advertisers do in their marketing. I know it's been a while, but remember the OJ Simpson murder trial? What if OJ's attorneys had said, "Come on...he couldn't have done that! He's OJ! The Juice! He runs through airports! He's the 2,000 yard Buffalo Bill! He's an actor! Everyone loves him! There's no way he did it!" As ridiculous as that sounds, that's about as good of a case as most advertisers ever prepare to defend and sell their product. "It's better, we're cheaper, we're professional, we've got better service," and so forth. Remember what OJ's attorneys DID do? They researched and prepared all kinds of forensic reports, alibis, and expert witnesses... everything they needed to prove he couldn't possibly have done it. I guess he could have used better attorneys this last time around.

More tomorrow.

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