Or – are you actually saying something?
We’re bombarded daily with hundreds of advertising messages. It starts when you fetch the morning paper (filled with the expected ads hawking everything from banking to pet-sitting services). The onslaught continues to play during your morning news show with every product placement, commercial break and weather update brought to you by Bob’s Breakfast Breads of Burlington. You’re not safe in the car either: the radio, bus benches, yard signs, billboards, bumper stickers and point of purchase displays at the fast food drive through – they all speak for someone. And don’t think your computer provides a moment of solitude. You’re reminded when you turn it on what brand it is. Then comes the email ‘alerting’ you about the hot new toys at Amazon, the dancing cowboy offering you a low mortgage payment, the rateable ads on your Facebook page, the movie trailers running next to the funny YouTube video your brother sent…all that and it’s not even 8:30 in the morning yet! (And to be completely forthright – this too, is advertising.)
Sheeesh!
As an advertiser, you step onto this crowded field every day…locking yourself into in a fierce head-to-head for one simple thing – attention. Because before you can convince them to buy what you’re sellin’ – you must push your way upfield, through the mass of noise blocking your path, and force your way into the consumer’s zone of awareness. No easy task.
A quarterback gets less than two seconds to decide what to do after the snap. For some advertisers, that’s an eternity. So when you earn the attention of a reader, it’s imperative your message ring out loud and clear.
To do any of this effectively a few things need to always happen.
> Know who you’re talking to. Speak to your audience in a way they understand.
> Engage them. Find a way to peak their interest, ie. humor, sarcasm, straight facts, imagery, etc.
> Be consistent with your brand. This breeds recognition. You want them to remember you next time they see or hear you.
Now get back out there… someone’s message is just waiting to be heard.
Tags: advertising
