There are a many reasons why ads don’t get the response that advertisers would typically expect. Today we are going to talk about writing effective ads and the most common reasons why ads don’t get the desired response.

Before we get into the 3 things you are doing wrong, you must understand that advertising is an attempt to persuade someone to take action. If you aren’t trying to get them to take a specific action, why are you even advertising? Now, if you have a problem with influencing people, you have a problem with sales… and if you have a problem with sales, you should go get a job working for someone who doesn’t because you’ll be going out of business very quickly if you don’t sell anything.

Unless you enjoy wasting money, or get emotional satisfaction from having your business poorly represented in the market place, you should invest the time in learning what it takes to craft that highly effective, ad that makes people want to pick up the phone, give you a call, take out their wallet, and spend money with you.

The simplest way to sum up all of these reasons would be to point out that people only care about 1 thing, themselves! As long as every ad you create is designed to the answer the age old question, “What’s In It For Me”, you’ll see a significant increase in clicks, conversions, calls, signups, subscribers, or sales and whatever other metrics you measure to determine success. And if you aren’t tracking and measuring results, that’s an entirely different problem that you can learn about here.

Remember, psychology is the study of human behavior, so sales and customer psychology is the study of what makes people buy things and they thought process they go through to make those purchasing decisions.

So let’s get into the good stuff, and remember; these are only the basics, so if you want more profound information, you should subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll keep you updated with the best of our content.

 

Informative Only Ads-

The first problem advertisers and business owners make is that their ad only contains informational content about the company. Let’s say you own a pizza shop. (The same holds true if irrespective of the business you operate: real estate, physician attorney, roofer, web designer, contractor, truck driver, dentist, wig maker, hair stylist; doesn’t matter). If you really don’t want to persuade any one to buy you pizza this is how you should advertise your pizza:

“Jesse’s Pizza Place: $19.99. 123 Mozzarella Lane
CheeseMeatSauceCircle.Com  800-123-4567”

If you saw that Ad in a group of 10 other pizza place ads, would it compel you to get in your car and driver there for dinner? Or would it persuade you enough to pick up the phone and order anything from them? Not very likely.

“Imagine sitting stuffed full of the best pizza ever. Every bite as good as the first. Favorite toppings, authentic sauce made today from imported Italian tomatoes. Fluffy and crispy hand-tossed crust. Hot and savory, pulled directly from a wood-fire, stone oven. Perfect amount of mozzarella. Stop by 123 BestPie St. or Call us now at 800-123-3210 to order and get free delivery.”

Do you see the difference? You can literally visualize yourself enjoying the pizza from the second place. Remember, no one cares about you or your business.  Though all ads may not be as long as this one, you should help the customer envision themselves with the end result in mind. Which is the second point.

Feature Based Ads-

The second mistake that companies and crappy advertisers make is that they are too busy selling features instead of benefits. Because we are dealing with psychological principles, you have to use the words that trigger the response that you are looking to get. When people have problems, they search for solutions, not products. The products just assists with what people are trying to accomplish.

People don’t buy shovels because they want a nice shovel, they buy the shovel because it will help them dig a hole to plant their beautiful trees and flowers and make their homes look more attractive. If you have shovels, don’t sell the shovel. Sell the hole; give them the shovel. If you sell microwave ovens, people don’t want a big clunky electrical box with all the fancy buttons and the spinning glass plate. They DO want to be able to cook and eat quickly so they have more time for other things.

Remember, if people could teleport, both Hyundai and Mercedes Benz would stop selling cars. When writing effective ads, focus on the BENEFITS of what you’re selling, not the features.

Ineffective Promotions-

The last mistake people make in their ads is just giving a bad offer. In marketing, you should strive to achieve what’s a called a “Message to Market Match.” This concept considers what you are selling, to whom you are selling it, and WHY they want or need it. Many companies approach marketing and advertising as if all prospects have the same concerns.

Imagine you’re selling cars. The customer looking to buy the used Hyundai almost certainly will have a different set of purchasing criteria than the customer looking to buy the new BMW.  But novice advertiser will still take an approach that will treat the two completely different customers the same. Effectively missing the market. So they key to achieve a message to market match, it to KNOW YOUR MARKET. Know who your ideal customer is. Know their pain points.

Even if you have a range of products or services, you need to know what problem each one of your products or services solves. Then you’ll be able to craft a message that will resonate with the ideal client that will relate to that message. While the used Hyundai shopper is just looking for an “A to B” vehicle to get back and forth to work, the NEW BMW shopper is buying because of status. Or he’s looking for a level of quality that is unmatched and price isn’t an option. You must keep in mind that people are looking for different results, and without understanding the psychology of your customer, it’ll be hard to even get their attention, let alone sell them anything.

Hopefully you found this article useful for writing effective ads that convert. If you want more tips and tricks sent directly to your email, just subscribe to our newsletter now.