Tune in to KPEL 96.5 for Brand Buzz at 5:10pm. Each week, we discuss the elements of branding and how you can use social media to connect with brand advocates, build your brand and most importantly be more successful with your business.
Often, marketing directors and business owners think the medium (where the message is placed) is the most important part of reaching consumers.
“I’m running ads in the newspaper for my investment advisory business but I don’t seem to get any calls, what media should I use now?”
“I don’t think radio will work for me because so many people listen to ipods or CDs or satellite in their cars.”
“I’ve had outdoor boards up for the past year but it seems that no one is noticing them anymore. Should I change them?”
“I want to reach people who are shopping for a tux. Do you have a mailing list?”
“Corporate will pay for the advertising as long as I run their radio and print ads. Can you just add our name at the bottom?”
“I tried advertising. It doesn’t work for my kind of business.”
All of this focus is on the medium – but what about the message?
As long as you focus on the media you can be assured that you are wasting your advertising. You have to focus on the message. Your ad is going to work if it connects with the consumer and tells them something that they care about.
Want to know why your message isn’t relevant?
Stop talking about yourself! Your consumer doesn’t care about you. They don’t want a laundry list of your features. They don’t want to hear your empty promises.
The relevance of your message will determine whether or not your ad works. No ad can be successful if it is delivering a message that no one cares about.
There are some pretty clear indicators that your ads will fail even before you run them.
Irrelevant – Are you delivering a message that matters to your consumer. Will they connect and say “that’s me.”
Features – If your ad is a list of the features that your product has instead of the benefit that your consumer will feel then they won’t care.
redictable– If your ad is predictable then no one will notice it.
Confusing – If you are using industry jargon that only makes sense to someone in your business then you are talkign to yourself – not your consumer.
Corporate – If you are getting your ads from “corporate” then how do you know that you will connect with YOUR consumer. Every community is different and consumers are not all the same. Don’t expect generic ads to motivate anyone.
Cultural – If your all male office is writing an ad for a female buyer do you think they really can create a message that will connect?
Boring -Is your ad designed to appeal to everyone and offend no one? Then I can promise you it is boring to all.
Copycat – Does your ad sound like your competitor’s ads? How will the consumer tell you apart?
Everyday people watch television, read a newspaper and listen to the radio. Everyday you have the opportunity to reach your potential consumer. What you say is far more important than where you say it.
To deliver a pointless message powerfully is the definition of hype.
To deliver a powerful message pointlessly is the result of weak creative.
To deliver a powerful message powerfully is the first step to success.
Branding is about building an emotional connection with your consumer. The location of your ad isn’t going to build that connection. What you say will. To change the message, you have to change the conversation. Break away from the “way you’ve always done it” and find your new voice. Say it in a way that your consumer will connect with it.
Be sure to catch Brand Buzz on KPEL 96.5 at 5:10pm while we discuss the message and how important it is to connect with your target audience and build your brand. When you change the conversation then you can get your audience’s attention.
How important is the message? Watch this:
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