As a professional marketing producer, speaker, author, and coach, I love torturing myself.
I enjoy watching and critiquing the horrible local television commercials that air during late-nights and early in the morning. Especially on the weekends.
Why?
It’s when the airwaves are flooded with local advertisers’ attempts at commercials that are an absolute waste of money. It also reminds me of the uphill battle I face virtually every day when writing and producing commercials that will bring money back into the client.
We’ve all seen them. The advertisements that feature business owners (and sometimes their families and pets) as the “stars” of the commercial.
As I thoroughly discuss in my international “Marketing Intervention” seminars, here is a hard-and-fast rule that every business owner needs to have pounded in their head:
“Marketing is not about me.”
When you attend one of my “Marketing Intervention” seminars, I have you repeat this out loud.
Twice.
If you’re a business owner, let’s set some ground rules about your marketing (be it on t.v., radio, or otherwise).
- You have purchased precious, valuable air time to reach a lot of people in your targeted audience (hopefully) at one time.
- The job of your advertisement is to convince someone in your targeted audience (who may be ready to go to your competition today) to come to you.
- The purpose of that air time isn’t to introduce the audience (me) to your family. I don’t care about them. Or your pets. Or to fulfill your ego. You want a “cute” or “entertaining” commercial? Make the video yourself and put it on YouTube. It’s free.
If the audience is watching or listening to commercials, I firmly believe they’re doing so because they genuinely want to be sold something.
In other words, they’re looking for help to a problem they have in their life.
When you’re airing an advertisement that you think is “funny” or “cute” (both are highly subjective) and not explaining why someone who is in your targeted audience should come to you…exactly what are you doing with the money that you’ve spent on this precious air time?
I’m 99.9% sure you’re wasting it.
Here’s what any effective advertisement should do: help. Don’t brag. Solve a problem in your targeted audience’s life.
Save what you think is “cute” and “funny” for your personal YouTube channel.
Tim Burt
http://www.CommercialProfessor.com
To see more of Tim’s free marketing videos on YouTube, click here: (http://www.youtube.com/user/CommercialProfessor)
