advertising
241 posts
How To Avoid Getting Lost In The Crowd
It’s natural to want to create something for the most people we think we can reach. The runaway successes we aspire to emulate seem like they succeeded by appealing to everyone. But if you look a little closer you’ll find that even the big hits started at the edges. Soul Cycle, Starbucks and Secret
3 Things Your About Page Should Do
Writing an about page for your website is hard. The reason we get stuck is because we worry about what we need to write, instead of focusing on why we need to write it in the first place. Remember it’s less about blowing your trumpet or filling whitespace with information and more about helping your
The Marketing Paradox
The goal of most marketing is to get people through the door, bums on seats and products sold. Because much of our marketing effort is front-loaded it’s easy to believe that once we’ve closed the sale, we’re done. And so we latch on to stories of six-figure product launches and multi-million dollar
How All Marketing Should Be
This is the story of two homes that are for sale. “Elegantly renovated, exclusive address. This gracious residence set amid professionally landscaped gardens (approx 600sqm), close to schools and parks, offers formal sitting room, expansive living dining, flowing onto the verandah……” You get the ide
How Will We Get Them To Like Us?
A more important question to ask and answer is: “Why should they like us?” You can’t ask people to believe in your story without giving them something to believe in. Image by Andreas Ivarsson.
What Marketing Is Not: 5 Common Misconceptions
When we think and talk about, teach and practice marketing we are often working on the assumption that marketing is one or all of the following: 1. How we make people want things. 2. Tactics, communications or activities designed to get people do what we want them to do. 3. The way we sell something
No Big Pitch Required
It was nudging 6pm and Kelly was the last customer at the salon on a cold and dark winter evening. As she pulled out her credit card at the point of sale she noticed a discreet, but pretty display of ‘non toxic’ lipsticks and commented on the gorgeous colours. The therapist showed her the colour…
The Ideal Customer
The ideal customer Doesn’t worry about what the product costs. Tells her friends about your service. Gives you her undivided attention. Would never consider switching. Always listens when you talk. Doesn’t question the facts. Has an abundance of time. Believes your story. Shares your values. Never c
The Purpose Of A Billboard
The purpose of a billboard is to interrupt as many people as possible, to create awareness not necessarily impact, to broadcast instead of engage. I’ve passed a lot of forgettable billboards, pleading from the side of highways on my travels this week—maybe you have too. The only ones that left any k
Traditional Marketing Vs. New Marketing
We recoil from the traditional marketing tactics that we are exposed to every day. We install ad blockers and put up barriers that help us to keep interruptions at bay. We recognise poorly thought out marketing strategies in a heartbeat, and yet when it comes to marketing our own products and servic
Reasons To Choose
Reasons are at the heart of all marketing. Our marketing aims to give people reasons to choose—an explanation or a nudge about why they should buy. The biggest mistake we make is failing to match our reasons with the potential customer’s motivations. Your most important job as a marketer isn’t to te
What Does This Advertising Do?
It’s easy to erect a billboard that broadcasts to everyone—far harder to build a bridge to meaningful engagement with the people who matter. If it’s not helping you to get closer to your customers then it’s not worth doing. Image by Daniel.
The Secrets To Consistent Marketing
Consistent marketing… Demonstrates a clear understanding about who the product (and thus the marketing) is for. Focuses on the change being created for the customer rather than on what is being sold. Aligns with and reinforces the company’s purpose beyond a single bottom line. Communicates love for
The Win Loss Mindset
Trade shows are interesting. You pay for the opportunity to set out your stall and market your wares to a generic, gender or interest demographic. It’s a game of hope and pitch, with a lot of waiting and rejection in between. For every person who buys something another ten walk past—unmoved and unca
Marketing Is How It Feels
In a recent article I read that “….aside from a few television spots and billboards here and there, Apple pretty much ignores marketing and advertising.” This is simply not true. EVERYTHING Apple does, from the massive investment in package design that creates scissorless, video-worthy unboxing expe
3 Things Your About Page Must Do
Your website’s about page is the place where prospective customers come to look you in the virtual eye and it’s also the most overlooked marketing opportunity you have. 3 Things Your Website’s About Page Must Do 1. Build trust. Think about the reasons we visit about pages. Mostly we want to get a se
Marketing In The Connection Economy
Traditional marketing, conceived for an industrial age asks us to believe in the wisdom of the funnel. Create something for most people, compete for the interest of some of them and convert a handful to customers. Ironically what works in the connected economy, where our potential customers have acc
How You Market Is Who You Become
“EXPOSE YOUR BUSINESS TO 40,000 CARS A DAY.” Read the big sign at a busy junction that would exposure your business to 40,000 cars a day. The way you tell your story asks people to believe something about who you are and what you stand for. It sends us (and you), a signal about what…
How To Tell The Story Of Your Products
Why is real estate copywriting so terrible? Maybe it’s not that bad in your town or city, but wherever I have lived the copy seems to serve one purpose—to fill the space between the images and the floor plan in the brochure. Here are a couple of examples of copy written to sell million dollar…
Why You Need To Abandon The ‘Everyone’ Mindset
I recently got an email that began…. ‘Hi everyone,’ I didn’t make it past the second word and your customers won’t either. We are too busy, distracted, tired, wary, focused, selfish, savvy or [fill in your blank here], to care about something that’s for everyone. The only messages that get through a
