How do you create advertising that works? I’m talking about the kind of advertising that gets thousands of people to buy. Or take some kind of immediate action. Whatever that may be.
Imagine this: You run a profitable company and decide to hire two salespeople. Each is given a trial period of 90 days to put up or shut up. In due time, you notice a big difference between your new employees.
Salesperson “A” is rather passive in his efforts. He confuses prospects. His presentation focuses on product features. Yet he never connects those features to the benefits customers seek. Worst of all, 
you can’t track how many prospects he’s pitched. Nor can you track the sales he’s made. In fact, you’re quite sure he hardly ever makes a sale. But you don’t know for sure.
On the other hand, Salesperson “B” is the complete opposite. He is clear and to the point. His presentations compel action. He offers prospects riveting reasons to purchase. He focuses on the benefits customers want. All of his efforts are accountable and easy to track. And, most important of all, he makes sales consistently. And you know it.
What I just described above is the difference between traditional image advertising (a.k.a. Salesperson “A”)… and… direct response advertising (a.k.a. Salesperson “B”).
The difference between the two is like night and day. To prove my point, here is a typical image advertisement. It ran recently as a full-page in a copy of “Money” magazine…
Dear Ketel One Drinker
Whoever said you have to
take the rough with the smooth
clearly wasn’t a Ketel One
drinker.
Interesting… huh?
Problem is no one has a clue what the ad is talking about. Do you? I’m guessing it’s some kind of drink. Maybe an alcoholic beverage. Who knows? I sure don’t.
The above ad – if you can call it that – probably cost an arm and a leg. Yet I doubt if it had much of an impact. Like our fictitious Salesperson “A” it lacks all the elements of an ad that gets response.
Now, here is a true direct response advertisement. It’s running all over the country in various real estate markets…
How to Sell Your House
Without an Agent
FREE Report Reveals…
“10 Inside Tips to Selling
Your House by Yourself”
Free recorded message
1-800-000-0000
ID #0000
Do you see the big difference?
This ad promises a big benefit. It offers a free valuable incentive for immediate action. It provides an easy and risk-free way for people to respond. And the ID# is how response is tracked.
Let me tell you a little secret. I know the above ad works because I used to run one almost exactly like it when I sold real estate. Before using direct response advertising in my real estate business I was lucky to get 30 or 40 leads a month.
After placing ads similar to the one above, the phones didn’t stop ringing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Lead counts went up to an average of 300 to 400 a month. It was a good problem to have.
If you would like to get a higher response from your advertising then the moral is quite obvious. Stop running institutional ads. Replace them with direct response advertising.
By the way, another side benefit is that you can usually run smaller (much smaller) direct response ads and save a bundle on media costs.
What you could not accomplish with a full-page image ad, you can accomplish with a 1/16-page direct response advertisement.
One last thing: Lest you think this kind of advertising only works in certain industries you’d be wrong. Attorneys, chiropractors, accountants, florists, carpet cleaners, salespeople in all kinds of industries and anyone else you can think of uses response-driven ads.
They work for low-priced impulse items and high-ticket products and services. The strategy is slightly different at different price points. But the effect is the same. Higher response and lower ad cost is what you can expect.
– John
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