Direct Response Marketing vs. Brand/Image Advertising…Which is Better?

Effective Marketing & Advertising Always Promotes Solutions to Your Prospects Problems

Here’s a topic that will deliver real nuts and bolts insight for coaches, consultants, and independent professionals on how to grow a business in any economy…sometimes on a shoestring budget.

I’ve sold yellow page advertising (both online and you traditional print directory), pay-per-click advertising, register receipt advertising (many many moons ago), and websites. One thing is for sure. ALL of those mediums CAN deliver a very targeted and ready to buy prospect to your business when you employ the right methodology. However, use the wrong marketing method, and you might as well be using your money to make paper airplanes, because it’s certain to fly away.

Traditional Advertising

Brand or image advertising carries with it the thought … ‘get you name out there’. It’s the kind you normally see on TV and in magazines. The company will typically show a picture designed to grab attention, and then come up with some sort of catchy slogan or phrase that either makes the person listening/watching laugh and (hopefully) remember the company favorably when they are in need.

This is the kind of advertising that big companies use when they have a lot of money to burn. I realize that 95% of those who are reading this blog are solo-preneurs like myself. We do not have thousands of dollars to experiment with. In many cases, the mortgage payment, car note, and possibly your children’s college tuition for the following semester is on the line. Therefore, my commitment is to provide you with insight that makes a real and measurable difference to your bottom line in the short run. Like in 48 days or less.

Direct-Response Marketing/Advertising

Direct-response marketing/advertising is completely different. This approach is far more scientific, formulaic, and measurable. My three years of working in the yellow page industry taught me that most small business owners do not think in terms of measurable, and cost-accountable advertising. Yes – it does exist. You can measure what works, so that you can eliminate what doesn’t. Claude Hopkins, author of Scientific Advertising, made it very clear that the job of advertising is to sell. Just like a salesperson is hired to sell. If they don’t produce, they should be let go (I didn’t want to say ‘fired’).

Any advertising campaign that is not producing a positive ROI for your company needs to be eliminated. If you consider using my company to develop a marketing strategy for your business…I start out by let you know that I want you to hold me accountable. If I don’t perform, I don’t have the right to stay on your payroll.

More specifically on direct-response marketing…this approach starts out by considering the needs of those who are in your target market. What pains them? What keeps them up at night? Why are they stressed out? Once you have clear answers to those questions (which comes from market research), you’re ready to begin taking stock of your assets to see how you can solve their problems. If you have what it takes to solve their problems, you are ~15% of the way toward being successful.

Take your proposed solutions and begin thinking about how you are going to communicate your value to the marketplace. This is where the rubber meets the road. Effective marketing is where the other ~85% of success comes from.

Consider the following statement from one of the most respected business consultants of our time:

Peter Drucker on Marketing

Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.

When you make an offer to a specific market about the solution that you have to their problem or concern…now you are cooking with grease. If you identify your market properly (more on this in the next post), half the battle is already won.

Tell your prospects what you have to offer that will solve their problem, and what they have to do to get it. Give them a specific course of action to take…like…Register for this Free Teleseminar and I will provide (Benefit, benefit, benefit). Or, Call us Today, and we will send you a report, booklet, ebook, or something else that has problem solving information included. People are more apt to respond to problem solving information (if it is properly presented), than they are to buy your product or service outright.

Direct response advertising is first measurable. Second, it always asks your prospect to take action of some sort. The action might be that of making a purchase, or signing up to receive additional information. In either case, both of those actions are measurable. If 1,000 eyes view your advertisement asking them to sign up for your newsletter, and all 1000 decide not to sign up – SOMETHING IS WRONG. If only 5 out of 1,000 (0.005% conversion rate), there’s still a reason for concern.

Statistics say that conversion online ranges between 1-3% when it comes to buying behavior. Opt-ins for free reports tend to be higher. Some report conversion rates of 15-20%. The key is to focus on getting a response.

Here’s a proven and time-tested formula for direct response advertising. It’s AIDA. That’s an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Your number one objective in all of your advertising and marketing is to grab the attention of your prospect, keep and maintain their interest, arouse their desire for what you are offering (something that speaks to their need, want, or desire), and to encourage favorable action. If you build your advertising/marketing on those pillars, and test the results relentlessly, you cannot go wrong.

If you would like a more detailed explanation of AIDA, just complete a one question survey by clicking on the link below, and you will get a brief report (free of charge) that goes into more detail about how to put AIDA to work immediately within your existing business. AFTER COMPLETING THE SURVEY, CLICK ON THE LINK THAT SAYS ‘CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE’, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR FREE REPORT.

Click Here for the One Question Survey

Thanks…and make it a great day!