When Your Advertising Doesn't Work, is it the Media or the Message?

If you listen to the pundits, when it comes to advertising you’ll get scores of opinions on what works and what doesn’t. Some people will tell you that newspaper ads don’t work; others will say that radio doesn’t work; still others will say that flyers don’t work; and so on. THE FACT IS….EVERYTHING WORKS!

The real question should be, “What is the most effective and efficient media for YOU at a given point in the growth of your business and based on the resources you have available to advertise."

Secondly, when a particular media doesn’t get the results you desire, you need to ask yourself…”Is it the media or the message?” Let me give you an example:

Several years ago in the auto appearance business, I directed a high-power Toronto advertising agency create an ad to sell popup sunroofs back in the days they were in vogue. This agency came up with a full page ad that we placed in the Toronto Sun newspaper and we ran it on the back page of the first section of the newspaper – a very expensive position to buy. The results were abysmal, to say the least.

I didn’t fire the media; I fired the agency! We then created a new half page ad in house with the headline that read: TIDY CAR SUNROOFS ARE GUARANTEED FOR LIFE! HERE’S WHY! The copy included 10 bullet-point features of the sunroof. We ran this ad on an inside page and wound up selling over 100 sunroofs on the first day it ran! Obviously, it wasn’t the media that didn’t work; it was the message in that media that made the difference.

The Headline is the "Ad" for Your Ad.

Regardless of the media you choose, you only have a matter of about 3 seconds to grab the reader's, listener's or viewer's attention. In print advertising (newspaper, flyers, brochures, Yellow Pages, billboards, etc.) the headline needs to appeal to the immediate interest of the reader. Of course, graphics can also help in this cause and, with television, the screen animation serves this purpose (as evidenced by the fact that many people tune in to see the big budget commercials during the Super Bowl).

For example, the headline "HOUSE CLEANING BY JENNY" does not have the attention-grabbing impact of "NEVER CLEAN YOUR HOME AGAIN!" Professional advertising copywriters often spend as much or more time thinking up the headline as they do in creating the copy for the ad -- and so should you. Your headline needs to STOP the reader and stir an interest in moving on to the content of the ad or brochure itself

The Body of the Ad (or Commercial) Needs to Convey the Benefits

Most consumers know something about house cleaning, but they usually know little about the "business" of house cleaning. For example, when a client calls you inquiring about your service, what's the first question they normally ask? "What do you charge for a "X" square foot home?" Right? Why? Because they don't know what else to ask you. They don't know (or even think about) the importance of you carrying $1 million dollars of general liability insurance, that you carry a third-party bond on your employees, that you use green cleaning products, that your employees are trained and supervised, that you pay all payroll taxes, etc. -- all for THEIR protection.

Remember the Sunroof Ad When Designing Your Advertising

I used my experience with the sunroof ad to illustrate the fact that when the first ad didn't work, it wasn't the fault of the media; it was the fault of the message. Now, I am not suggesting that you rush out and buy 1/2 page ads in a major metropolitan newspaper! In fact, in large urban centers display newspaper advertising would be prohibitively expensive. But you should consider these factors when advertising with other media, such as door hanger and direct mail campaigns. Our suggested NEVER CLEAN YOUR HOME AGAIN brochure (illustrated in our House Cleaning Biz 101 materials) has been tested and proven effective and efficient for many years now. Like the sunroof ad, it has a provacative headline and contains 9 bulleted reasons why prospective clients shoud hire YOUR COMPANY to clean their homes. There's nothing wrong with being creative, but you should study the elements in this piece and other samples of advertising illustrated in the program.