“We tried advertising - it doesn’t work!”
An article by Jim Connolly

Over the years I have helped thousands of small and medium sized business to sell or market their services.  One of the most common problems to these businesses was advertising.  Typically, small and medium sized businesses tell me; “We tried advertising – it doesn’t work!”

Advertising actually DOES work (really well too), but only if you use it correctly.  Here, in this article, I am going to show you one of the secrets behind all successful advertising!

Firstly, there are two types of advertising

ACTION ADVERTISING 
Which can be very effective for small and medium sized businesses.

BRAND ADVERTISING
Which is ineffective for small and medium sized businesses.

If you are advertising in order to win more business, I suggest you invest in action advertising and NOT brand advertising.  By the way, in the USA, action advertising is known as ‘direct response advertising’ and brand advertising is known as ‘institutional advertising’.

So, what’s the difference between these two and why is one so much more effective than the other?

ACTION advertising is designed to make the reader take action; to call you, to visit your store etc.  An action advertisement does the following:
It tells the reader who you are.
It tells the reader what the benefits of your product or service are.
It gives them a good reason to ACT NOW – to call, visit or e-mail you.
It tells them to contact you.

Here’s an example of a simple action advertisement:
“ACME Widgets can save you an amazing 45% on your annual widget costs; that’s why we are inviting you to attend our wine and widget evening on 24th May at 7pm. To reserve your place, call now on 012345 123123.  As places are limited, please call now to avoid disappointment!  Acme Widgets, 22 High Street, Sloughton.”

BRAND advertising, in contrast, creates no motivation for the reader to take action! 
Brand advertising does the following:
It tells the reader the name of your business.
It tells the reader about what you do or the benefits of what you do.
It usually gives the reader your contact details.

In short, brand advertising provides information about who you are and what you do BUT no reason for the reader to contact you.  Guess what – generally, no one does!

Here’s an example of a typical brand advertisement:
“Acme Widgets have over 20 years of experience and our customer service is second to none.  Last year our widgets were voted ‘Best Value Widget’ by What Widget Magazine.  Acme Widgets, 22 High Street, Sloughton Tel:01234 222333”.

When I started out in sales and marketing, back in the 1980’s, brand advertisements in the press were known as ‘flick-through ads’; because people would literally read them and just carry on flicking through whichever publication they were in; without doing anything.

Fully 75% of the advertising I read in the press or in trade journals are brand advertisements; even though the advertiser is trying to generate sales!  If you get a moment, grab a local paper or trade paper and you will see exactly what I mean; stacks of advertising that has absolutely no chance of working.  It’s shocking and totally unnecessary!

These poor advertisers will be sat there now, wondering why nothing has happened; even though they have not actually given anyone a reason to contact them, e-mail them, phone them or visit them!

The bottom line: You must motivate the reader to take action
If you want the reader to; pick up the phone and call you, visit your premises or email you, you MUST give them a compelling reason to do so.

A motivational message in a publication that is read by your target clients is the secret behind success in written advertising.

To your success,

Jim Connolly
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