How to own your market...

Here is a classic example of the power of creating a ‘reason for being’.  This case study is from our archives.  The concepts are as relevant today as then.  The client, of all things, was a grave headstone mason.

He'd approached us with a problem.  His Yellow Pages ad, he felt, did not do justice to his business and his life mission.  His ad was just like all the others ... page after page of sameness in the classification ...  Big logo up the top, the same bullet points as everybody else and a big phone number at the bottom.

It didn’t tell the full story ... his special story.

And when people called, what do you think they focused on?  Not surprisingly they tended to focus on PRICE.  Obvious when you think about it because all the ads were fundamentally the same, so price was the only thing they could focus on ... John Smith (not his real name) was convinced we could help him tell his story so he could break away from the 'price trap'.  And to be honest, the more we probed him about his business, the more fascinating the story became.  Our resulting headline read:

‘When you want a monument to your loved one that’s as special as they were ... speak with John Smith’

This ad created a very special personality around his business.

• It spoke of the fact that his monuments ‘are cut from stone, rather than pre-made blocks’ ...
• That ‘you must be 100% delighted with the finished work or you don’t pay’
• That you get to approve the layout BEFORE work begins ...

Compelling reasons to commission him.

But here’s the interesting part.  Do you think the OTHER stone masons listed in the Yellow Pages cut from stone as opposed to pre-made blocks?  They might …

Do they guarantee their work or does the client take the risk?  Do they let you see the drawings before work begins?  They might …

The point is, their ads DON’T SAY if they do or they don’t!

And what that means ... the one who DOES say these things, ‘owns’ those ‘reasons for being’.  The unique selling proposition of cutting from stone ... and the unique selling proposition of having a 100% delight guarantee.

This ad superbly pre-empted the market ... and positioned this company perfectly in that niche in the market that HE wants to serve.  (Below is a reproduction of the ad.)

 

Two things happened after this ad appeared ... first, the number of calls from the Yellow Pages increased.  Not dramatically, but they did increase.

Second, and FAR more importantly, the people who rang as a result were a different type of person ... they didn’t focus on price.  They simply asked, “When can you start?”.  They had been educated to what this remarkable stonemason is about ... creating beautiful monuments.

The Truth About Advertising

For years decades there has been a debate as to whether ads must be kept brief with lots of white space and few words.  The reasoning being that 'people won't read all those words'.   The other side of the debate, advocates insist that ads with a LOT of words, almost no white space and maybe even no photo will work many times more effectively.  So which is right? ...

Well, to answer that, we need to go back to the very basics and ask: What IS advertising?

First, here's what advertising is NOT.  Advertising is NOT 'getting your name in front of the public'.  If anyone tries to tell you that, they're wrong.

Advertising is 'salesmanship'.   It is the act of selling a prospect on what you have to offer.  That 'sale' may be to call your office and make an enquiry.  Or to walk into your business and browse.  Or send off for information.  Or agree to make an appointment.  Whatever the 'sale' is for your business, it IS a sale.  And to achieve that sale, your advertising has to SELL.

Often in my seminars, someone will insist vehemently that the brief copy or 'bullet point' form of advertising is the ONLY way to go.  My response to that is to invite them to the front of the room, and allow them to convince the audience to buy from them.  BUT with one important caveat they must only use 100 words or less.  They simply can't do it.

You see, when we SELL in person, we tell our 'magic story'.  We unfold our benefits, use persuasion, and show passion and enthusiasm for our service or product.  To try to put that passion into 100 words, or clinical bullet points completely stifles the power to communicate.

So why we give ourselves that handicap when we advertise whether in print, in a sales letter, or on a website, or in a brochure?  Especially as these are far less effective and engaging forms of communication than in person.

You know, I've been direct marketing for well over 25 years.  Direct marketing is a discipline where the ONLY 'truths' are the RESULTS.  And I've proven time after time that, when a product or service has to be 'sold' when presented in person, it needs to be sold in an advertisement or other promotional communication.

Not so long ago, I delivered a workshop on advertising, where I invited participants to submit their ads prior to the event, with an offer to re-work them as part of the seminar.  Here one of those 'before' and 'after' examples.



This ad (or flyer in this case) above on the left was submitted by one of the attendees.   It had lots of white space and no 'selling copy' and a giant logo as the 'headline'.  And it wasn't working.

My re-write on the right is copy intensive.  MOST IMPORTANTLY, it has a compelling headline.

Let's get this straight.  Your logo is NOT a headline.  It does absolutely nothing to give a prospect reason to read on.

FACT: The headline you write for your ad can impact the response you get up to 19 TIMES. Look at that another way.  Write a powerful compelling headline and it's like having as many as 18 more placements of your ad.  For FREE.  That is how important your headline is!

And what about the copy intensive copy?  When you read the copy in the re-write, you get absolutely drawn in to the 'story'.  And you feel more and more compelled to do something about avoiding those toxins in your body.  Never ASSUME the reader will KNOW all these things.  They DON'T!  And when they don't have reasons to act, they'll simply flip the page and get on with their lives, oblivious to your 'magic story'.

Now, if you're thinking, "Sure it all sounds good, but I can't write like that. I'm not a copywriter", I've got some good news for you.  I didn't have to write most of this copy either.  I simply went to the A&B Water people's own website, and it was all there!  Hidden away.  When they were gathering and presenting facts on their website, the 'pressure' to write an ad was off them.  And they've written some very compelling copy.

You see, if you know your business, and you have a passion for your product or service, you CAN write compellingly.  It's just that most people TRY TO WRITE AN AD, and freeze.

Here's some of the compelling copy that I 'borrowed' for my re-write ad:

Ironically, in order to kill some of the live micro-organisms in our water before we drink it, even more dangerous chemicals are added.  What may shock you though, is that perhaps the most troublesome is chlorine this potent chemical reacts with organic material in water, such as leaves and other decaying vegetation, to produce hundreds of chemical by-products known as "trihalomethanes," or THMs.

These are suspected of causing birth defects and certain kinds of cancer if consumed regularly in drinking water.  Then there is fluoride.  Fluoride is a very potent poison that is suspect as a factor in bone diseases, including cancer.  New studies are also beginning to surface that seem to indicate that long-term, low-level consumption of fluoride in drinking water may be linked to increased susceptibility to hip fractures in older adults.

Well, you get the picture!   You'll see there is a vast difference between this thought provoking and compelling 'reason why' copy, and the previous brief copy that is passive and does nothing.

When the owners of this company saw how I'd re-done their previously unsuccessful ad flyer, it was an absolute revelation to them.  They couldn't wait to get a copy of my mock-up version.  It had hit them that they had been missing out on communicating their true reasons a prospect should buy.  And that meant they were missing out on a LOT of sales.  Maybe 18 out of every 19.  Who knows?

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