Today is Valentine’s Day. It brings to mind an old quote from one of the fathers of advertising…
“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.”
David Ogilvy said that in 1955 (also published in his 1963 book, “Confessions of an Advertising Man”).
He was responding to the blatant hype and exaggeration he saw in ads throughout the 1950’s.
I’d wonder what he’d say to many of the ads we see online today?
How about the emails we receive in our inboxes?
In many ways, it seems like it has only gotten worse.
Let’s turn these questions on ourselves.
Are we treating our prospects and customers as intelligent and worthy of our respect?
Good marketing is simply a conversation.
Get to know your customers.
Speak to the problems, needs, and desires that are important to them.
Our need to be ‘understood’ is just as important as our need to be loved.
Show them you understand. Not by using the trite expression, “I understand”, but by actually demonstrating it.
Tell your story if it resonates with your audience. Share stories from others just like them such as client case studies. Go deeper into the problems they face…to the root of the problem they may not even understand themselves.
Paint a picture of a better future. Give them new hope.
The stronger the promises you make, the more you need to back them up with proof.
Make your ads themselves useful but incomplete as a form of credibility.
Put together the most irresistible offer possible. And give your audience a reason to act now.
The whole process starts with empathy.
It’s about making that real connection with your ideal customers.
Treat them the way you’d like to be treated.
That doesn’t mean you only communicate using the methods you’d personally prefer. For example, I can’t stand long videos or webinars, but those often perform when done right. You are not your customer when it comes to the delivery method.
Instead, treat them the way you’d like to be treated in regards to the message you share.
It’s not about you. It’s about them and their desires.
Don’t speak to down to them.
Be a friend and a guide. Be their advocate.
Run everything you publish through the lens of respect.
