Make your ad (or brochure or catalog, or whatever) about the viewer. People buy things because of what the product does for THEM, how it makes THEM feel. Consumers care about themselves, not about your company. So focus on THEM. Knowing your customer is important, so remember, jargon and metaphors are always for THEM.
2. Hearts, THEN minds:
Appeal to attitudes and emotions first, then intellect. Don’t sell what people NEED, sell what they WANT. Make an emotional connection. Sell the feeling first and create desire. Don’t sell statistics or intellectual concepts until AFTER an emotional connection has been made.
3. Make it SIMPLE:
An ad only has a few seconds to get noticed. Your ad may be pretty, but if it's too busy it won't work. Do you really need to list all 4,700 locations of your franchise? Do you really need to mention that your widget weighs 12.7 lbs? Or that it’s made of polystyrene? Remove anything that doesn’t appeal to emotion and create desire. Trim your ad, don’t add to it.
4. Make it QUICK
5. Make it YOURS:
What is it about your brand that makes it special? How does your brand define who your consumer is? When you think of Volvo, what comes to mind? Not a car, but safety. Compare that to the image of a Mercedes or BMW. Your brand becomes the consumer’s badge. People buy products to tell the world who they are. We are what we consume. And please don’t copy your competition. Think of a new approach and have THEM copy YOU.
6. All five SENSES:
OK, you can’t incorporate all five senses into print ads. But keep in mind trade shows, POP displays and retail outlets. Always remember that people make decisions based on ALL of their sensory input, especially smell. Think of the Cinnabon store in the local mall, or the Tornado pretzel stand at the ballpark. And who wants to do business with someone who has a moist, floppy handshake? Our decisions are often made on sensory input. It’s difficult, but get ALL the senses involved whenever possible.
7. REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT:
This is NOT an excuse to be lazy or boring. And it doesn’t give you the OK to be repetitive. Constantly find new and different ways to present your message.
