A Lesson on Advertising from Preachers and Teachers

A Lesson on Advertising from Preachers and Teachers

by | May 6, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

For the month of May I’m sharing recent articles from my weekly Sound ADvice Newsletter.  It’s free just for the asking and if you want to be added, drop me a note to Scott@ WOWO.com.

The goal of every preacher and teacher is to grab the attention of the people they are speaking to and make sure that they not only hear the message but also understand and retain the message.

So, what can preachers and teachers teach advertisers about advertising? The answer is a lot, if you pay attention to the formula preachers and teachers use to get their message across and make it stick!

Going back to the very early 1900s, though not taking credit for it, religious figure J. H. Jowett explained the process of preparing sermons, speaking to the crowd, and how to make sure the lesson was not only taught but understood. He said the three-part formula to help prepare sermons so the layperson could understand was this:

1. Tell them what you are going to tell them.

2. Then tell them.

3. Then tell them what you told them.

Modern-day teachers have been taught and still use this same method. They know that if their students do not get the message in this fashion, three times in a seven-day window, they won’t retain what they’ve learned and will probably fail the test.

Research has proven that your advertising must follow a similar formula. If you want your customers and prospects to retain and remember your advertising message, they must hear your message three times in any given seven-day window. In advertising, this formula is known as “a frequency of three” and it’s one of the 6 Steps to Ads That Stick.

If you think about it, advertising really is a little bit of preaching and a little bit of teaching! Use this formula and your ads will have a better chance of sticking in the listener’s mind.

Click here to read the rest of the 6 Steps to Ads That Stick and make your ads stick in the minds of your prospects.
Once in a Lifetime Eclipse

Once in a Lifetime Eclipse

by | Apr 29, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, ScLoHo's Fort Wayne, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

It’s been a few weeks but on April 8th millions of us in the United States were in the path of a solar eclipse.

Here in Indiana, the main event was shortly after 3pm as the moon blocked the light from the sun for a few minutes.

Where I live, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, we were in the 99.9% of total blackout and I was going to attend a rooftop viewing party locally.

However a few days before, my daughter who lives in Colorado told me she and her husband and kids were making the trek back home to witness it first hand and they were going to a rural spot south of Ft. Wayne where her in-laws lived and could we join them?

Yes was the answer and like many others we made a drive to see the world go dark in the middle of the afternoon.

It was a cool experience and likely the last solar eclipse I will witness first hand in my lifetime considering the next one for where I live is in 2099 and I’d be well over 100 years+ old.

There were plenty of crazy people predicting the 2nd coming of Jesus, or the rapture, or other things that most of us ignored.   For the most part, this was an event for the masses without any political division or any other of the things that can divide people.

Instead, it was a day where all people could enjoy the same thing without a lot of spin.  Oh there was a lot of hype and some news organizations went overboard warning people to be prepared for the worst.

But it really was nothing more than a natural, predictable occurrence that was available for anyone to witness first hand either in person like we did or on screens like many others did.

And that my friends, was a refreshing change from the multiple divisions this world seems to foster.

I’ll toss in a marketing tidbit… Be honest about how you promote things in your business.  Once in a Lifetime can only occur once every 75 years or so.  And remember the old adage of Underpromise and Overdeliver.  This year’s eclipse was like that for me and hopefully you too.

Older and Wiser

Older and Wiser

by | Apr 1, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Facts are facts, right?

Yes and no.

When you look at numbers or other facts, it’s often not enough to just look at the raw data.  We can learn so much more by digging deeper and being curious.

Curiosity is a term that came up in a recent conversation with a friend this year and we both agreed that it’s essential to understanding something and avoiding assumptions and dispelling certain biases.

I titled this article Older and Wiser because it’s often the experiences we go through that we learn from.  However there are exceptions to this concept of becoming Wiser as we get Older.

The thirst for knowledge that we have as kids can be squashed if too many grown-ups tell the kid to stop asking questions and just conform.  However conformity does not bring new and exciting ideas, it keeps us stuck in the past.

I know some people my age who are always wishing for the “good ole days” and while it’s fun and interesting to reminisce, it can hold you back if you’re not willing to also look at the future opportunities. I also have a bunch of grandkids and one in particular that I’m thinking about today has always had a thirst for knowledge.  This person has no limits to their learning and fortunately has grown-ups that support their curiosity.

As we age, some of our values change and today I’m specifically looking at relationships with brands and products and how we as consumers change.

Marketing Charts released this study that revealed generational differences in buying decisions. When asked, “which of the following are more important than price when making a purchasing decision, the options included:

  1. Quality
  2. Convenience
  3. Customer Service and Support
  4. Brand Reputation
  5. Brand’s Ethical Values
  6. Consistent Digital Experience

None of these 6 options scored higher than price for Gen Z and there is a sharp contrast between the older generations and Gen Z for Quality, Convenience, and Customer Service and Support.

The last option, Consistent Digital Experience is the only option that Gen Z outpaced the other generations.

It could be easy to assume that Gen Z only cares about buying cheap stuff on their phone, but let’s dig deeper.

From the study:

Perhaps price is more important to Gen Zers than other factors due to their financial situations: slightly more than half (53%) of Gen Z consumers say that the high cost of living is a barrier to their financial success, and fewer than half (48%) of Gen Zers would describe themselves as fully or mostly financially independent.

Gen Z is currently ages 18-26. and compared to older generations, they have the least amount of income, so it makes sense that the price of what they buy is going to be very important.  It’s not because they are Gen Z, it’s because of their life stage that they are more focused on prices than older people.  For the most part, as we get older, we eventually have more money to spend.  We also realize the value to buying good quality stuff instead of cheap disposable stuff.  As most of us become older and wiser, our priorities shift.

This leads me to a huge mistake too many businesses make in their advertising and marketing…  They put too much focus on cheap prices and not enough attention to what grown-ups really care about:

Quality.

Convenience.

Customer Service.

Brand Reputation.

If your advertising emphasis is all about price and deals, you are not communicating to me the real reason I want to buy in most cases.

Want help in creating a campaign that offers more than just cheap stuff?

Do you have the guts to do this?  (Most businesses don’t.)

Contact me and I’ll help.

 

Narrow Minded Marketing

Narrow Minded Marketing

by | Mar 18, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

The goal of your advertising should be to increase both your sales and your brand identity. But all too often we overly focus on analytics or demographics when creating our media plans.  Narrowly targeting often means you are missing the much larger population of people not in your core demographic.

As the “New Media” (digital and social) emerged, many businesses, large and small, made the move to these platforms believing that laser-focused targeting was the answer to their advertising dreams.

Wrong!  In fact, Tide, the #1 selling laundry detergent, found that while they were focusing on the people who fit their “typical profile”, they were missing the much larger target of those who were not using their product. In other words, they were eroding their brand’s awareness and missing the target of “new and future” users. Ultimately, their sales started to decline.

In a swift move, they moved the majority of their budget back to traditional media, and sales and brand identity rebounded.

In another example, it might not seem unreasonable for a baby-products retailer to target “women 18-49 with infants”, but according to the market research firm Scarborough, nearly half of those who bought infants’ clothing, roughly 47%, were from households without children.

The same research from Scarborough found that nearly a quarter of all women’s cosmetics and perfumes, 23.5%, were bought by men.

In Roy Williams’ Twelve Causes of Advertising Failure, #9 is Overconfidence in Qualitative Data. “In reality, saying the wrong thing has killed far more ad campaigns than reaching the wrong people. It is amazing how many people become the ‘Right People’ when you are saying the right thing.”

Being too narrow-minded and focusing on only the core audience is actually eroding your brand. Hundreds and thousands of people are not in the market for your product or service today, or even soon, but someday they will be.

Thinking beyond the traditional demographics your competitors are targeting with their advertising can help you reach untapped markets to increase your sales well into the future.

Click here to read how to reach and influence “purchasers” rather than “demographics”.
 
 
Now I’ve worked in both mass media and niche media.  I’ve done mass appeal and hyper-targeted campaigns.  I would welcome the opportunity to review any advertising proposals that a typical ad salesperson presents to you to see exactly what the focus is and if it’s a good match for what you want to accomplish.
3 Ways To Grow Your Business

3 Ways To Grow Your Business

by | Feb 19, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

Last week subscribers to my SoundADvice email newsletter learned we the advantages of knowing your competitors and finding ways or areas where you can exploit your competitors’ weaknesses and find areas where you can grow your business.

As owners or managers of a business, it’s our responsibility to not only figure out how to keep our business functioning properly and effectively but also how to GROW our business.  Staying even or going backward are not options.  Growth is vital!

Growing a business is not nearly as easy as it may appear and it’s certainly more complicated than just increasing sales.  Understanding that there are only three ways to grow a business is a great place to start.

Regardless of what type of business you have, there are only three ways to grow. They are…

  1. Sell more of what you are currently selling.
  2. Sell what you are currently selling for more money.
  3. Add additional product(s) or service(s) to what you are currently selling.

Regardless of how you slice it, nearly everything you can come up with to grow a business will fall under one of these three headings.

We suggest that you look at each area and identify within your business how you might increase your sales.

  1. Selling more this year than you did last year isn’t as easy as it sounds and simply opening up your doors and hanging a “We’re Open” sign isn’t the answer. What can you do to get the same people, or new people, to buy more of your products or services?
  2. Can you increase prices? If not on every product or service, can you increase the pricing on some of them? Which ones? Identify them!
  3. Adding products or services gets tricky. Think within your business category and then think outside of it. Are there products or services that you can add that won’t distract from or replace your current offerings?

Attracting a customer and getting them to open their wallets can be a difficult and costly process.  But once they’re in your showroom and have their wallets open, an accompanying up-sell is relatively easy.  Once the customer has chosen a new outfit, getting them to consider adding a pair of shoes or belt is relatively easy and it can be a big step towards growing your business.

The formula works regardless of whether your business is retail, service, medical, or professional.

If you would like to see a simple worksheet that can help you start the process of utilizing the three ways to grow your business, click here.

Also if you want to start receiving these Sound ADvice emails free every week in your inbox, let me know.