Powerful ads don’t have to be filled with sales copy

Advertising is often necessary when running a buisness. There are a lot of ads surrounding us these days that you don’t even realize. Almost anytime a product is mentioned in a TV show or movies these days, it is a paid ad. Even when it is in the background of a scene as on a billboard the characters are driving by.

People don’t believe most ads anymore and have blinders on when the advertising is in their face. So, more subtle methods are used also. When something is advertising a product or service that you need, and it is a good product, an ad can be useful. It is when it is shown to the wrong people, or for a bad product that advertising is a bad thing. I’m sure you’ve seen ads, then later on wanted something like that product, and gone back to wherever you saw it to look for the ad again. Not such a bad thing when that happens for you or for the advertiser.

The ads that seem to often work best these days are the subtle ones. For example, if you can give out information to your clients or prospects that is useful to them, it helps advertise your business. You don’t have to be selling anything in the information. And it can be really powerful because it positions you in their minds as the person who knows the most about the topic. So, when they have a need for what you sell, they are likely to remember you and come to you for it, even if your price is higher than the competition.

This information can be given out as a handout in your office, an article you write for a newspaper or magazine or as a newsletter. Handouts will only get to a limited number of people. Newspaper and magazine articles you don’t really have control over. Newsletters are generally the best method, as you keep complete control. Not only of the content, but when it is delivered, the look of it, and the frequency. If you don’t have a newsletter for your business, you should consider starting one. It can give a great return on the money spent.

Drowning the competition 16.9 ounces at a time…

I’ve been working on a project for a while now, which is just about to launch.  Today, I got an email from another company that has had a similar product, but without a couple major features of mine.  And, a much lower price.  At first, I had the usual gut reaction most people get.  Darn!  Am I now going to have to slash my prices?

Then I realized that their product is not nearly as good as mine in several ways.  It is going to require a lot more work on the part of the customers to use, and it just looks sort of cheesy in comparison.  I’m not going to mention what it is, as I don’t really like bashing competition.  There is a place for them.   It’s a big enough market to support more than two companies.  So, they can have the lower end of the market.  Those are usually the most problematic customers anyway.

And, I’ll be taking the cream of the crop.  Yes, my product will cost about 8 times what theirs does, but I’m predicting that I’ll still manage to be the top dog in the marketplace.  Why?  Because, my product will simply do a better job with less effort than theirs.   Convenience is king these days.  And perception is queen.

Twenty years ago, who would have guessed that single serving bottled water would be a massive market, competing with soda at about the same price.  There’s really nothing special about it.  Most of that stuff is tap water!   I have ice and water coming out of a spout in my fridge at home, but my kids still go out to the garage and grab a bottle of water.

Convenience?  Let’s see, I go to the store, lug it to the counter, pay for it, lug it into the car, drive it home, stack it in the garage, they have to go out of the kitchen to get it, then take the bottle to the recycle bin, which then gets put out separately to try to help the environment.  Yeah, that’s so much more convenient than grabbing a glass from the cabinet next to the fridge, pushing a button and drinking.

They just love for me to spend about 50 cents per bottle instead of way less than 1 cent.  Gotta love ’em.  And, we live in a town (Saratoga Springs) that is famous for their water!  Guess that H2O from next to the New Jersey landfill is just so much tastier!  Sheesh.

Anyway, in this case, my product is more like the sparkling water from our local springs, with the competition dredging their stuff up from the muddy river next to the landfill.  There will be so many more benefits to my product that anyone would be making a big mistake to go for the other.  And, I’m going to make sure my clients and prospects realize that with every communication I make with them.