#1  You think that the more places you advertise, the better your advertising results.  You equate good advertising with “reach”.  You feel that if you advertise in many different mediums, you’re reaching more people. The problem is, you’re probably not reaching that many more people since we all watch, read, and listen to multiple different mediums, not just one. By spreading your budget too thin across too many ad mediums, you’re not putting your ad message in front of people enough times to make an impact and be remembered by them. Too much “reach”, far too little “frequency”.  You’re trying to reach 100% of the people, but you’re only convincing them 10% of the way. 

​#2  Your advertising message has no impact on the audience you’re trying to convince to do business with you.  You think that results come from the advertising medium you choose.  That couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Your advertising will only work when the words you convey to an audience are relevant, entertaining, and memorable. If your ad message doesn’t resonate and get attention, then your advertising won’t work, no matter where you place your ads.

#3  You believe that anything “visual” is the best way to advertise.  The truth about advertising effectiveness is that sound is more easily remembered than visuals.  It all has to do with how our brains our wired.  All of those big national companies with huge budgets that moved the majority of their dollars from TV and Radio into online advertising are finding out that it was a big mistake.  Is there a place for online advertising?  Of course.  But the bigger chunk of your advertising budget should be put into “sound media”… and the online or “visual only” should be a support media for the “sound media”.  There is way too much money being wasted on the new and shiny things in advertising.  But that is happening mainly because those advertisers haven’t figured out how to get consistent advertising results.  So, you’ll try anything hoping that something will stick… instead of getting to the bottom of how to make advertising actually work.

#4  Your advertisements and marketing (even your social media) only talk about what you do and who you are… instead of talking about what your products and services do for your customers.  Your customer doesn’t care about you.  They don’t.  They only care about what you do for THEM.  So, your ads must talk about the benefits of doing business with you.  How can you solve their problem?  How can you improve their life?  Also… why should they buy from you instead of your competition?  You want your prospective new customer to subconsciously think that they’d be making a mistake if they didn’t buy from you.  And that’s not done by presenting them a laundry list of your products and/or services.   When your ad message only conveys “who, what, and where” you are… then, you’re allowing people to dismiss your ad completely.  It’s not memorable.  It won’t move someone closer to doing business with you.

#5  You’re too “logical” with your ads.  The questions you should ask yourself when creating or evaluating your ad message is “Does this evoke emotion in people?  Will they ‘feel’ something?”  Emotion is the key.  If you don’t “move” people in your ads, then, they’ll never be as powerful as they could be.  Do you know what causes people to listen and remember what you’ve told them?  Tell them a story.  And that’s what most of your advertising should be doing.  Put your ad in story form and it will make a much bigger impact.

#6  You only think short-term with your advertising instead of long-term.  If you only advertise for brief periods, or only for special events and sales, you’re missing out on the bigger portion of the population.  Think about how many people need you right now.  Not very many.  So, as soon as your ad is done, you’re easily forgotten or not even considered because most people weren’t currently in the market for your product or service.  How long do you plan on being in business?  Then, you have to think long-term.  Remind people frequently and consistently with a strong ad message and a story… and guess who people will automatically think of when they NEED what you offer?  YOU.  That’s the power of branding.  When you “stamp” your business name and “what you stand for” on the brains of the public with emotional messages that make people like and trust you before they even meet you… you’ll win this game of marketing by a landslide.

Duane Christensen

9 Yards Marketing

605-940-7984

duane@9yards-marketing.com

Image by Intellectual from Pixabay