It may not seem like it at first, but the following is one of the most powerful marketing tips you can use if you run advertising in any way, shape or form.
Check this out:
So I’m sitting in my car in the grocery store parking lot yesterday, waiting for my wife to grab some goodies, when a certain ad comes on the radio.
An ad that made a HUGE (but common) blunder.
Even amongst copywriters and marketers who should know better.
Let me explain:
In my little “jerk-water” town, there’s this very popular eye doctor who’s caught the advertising “bug” and is now running ads on the local radio station.
Which is GOOD.
But instead of selling, persuading or trying to, you know, make a profit… this ad is teaching us all about the benefits of having good eyesight. Like how good eyesight will make us better drivers, athletes, etc.
And that’s BAD.
Why?
Because it all goes back to the old adage:
“Don’t tell me about your weed killer,
tell me about my crabgrass!”
In other words, instead of selling us on why we need good eyesight… what he SHOULD do is describe a list of common eye problems people can relate to.
Maybe like this:
“Do you see little ‘sparkles’ sometimes and not sure why? Are your eyes sensitive to bright light? Do you have trouble seeing at night when driving? Do your eyes twitch while watching TV or staring at a computer screen? Any one of these symptoms may seem innocent… but could also mean you have a very serious eye disease that can hurt your vision or even blind you…”
OK, I know nothing about eye problems and made that up.
But do you see how that works?
And then, after scaring the crap out of us… a call to action:
“The good news is, most of these problems can be fixed if caught early by a professional eye doctor. And if you make an appointment with the Eye Center between May 18 and June 1 we’re giving free eye checkups… yada yada yada…”
Pretty simple, eh?
Hey, a little salesmanship goes a LONG way these days.
Especially in a world awash in bad advertising.