Articles

The above headline is a famous quote from John Wanamaker that always struck a nerve with me. Especially back when I was a Dealer Principal myself.

In 1875, Wanamaker purchased an old abandoned railroad depot and converted it into a large store, called John Wanamaker & Co. “The Grand Depot” is considered one of the first true department store chains beginning in Philadelphia, then New York, and even expanding abroad with locations in London and Paris. He went on to become a pioneer in merchandising and advertising and is credited with the invention of the price tag, the money back guarantee, and was the first retailer to ever place a full page newspaper ad. Worth well over $100 million at the time of his death in 1922, Wanamaker was also known for writing his own ad copy, a tedious and under-valued task most retailers don’t fully recognize.

Part of the cause for ad copy not receiving the attention it deserves is the fact that most media providers claim that their delivery method is the Holy grail, and as long as you choose my radio station, TV, billboard, newspaper, email system, direct mail, social media, etc. you will be making the best decision. The actual message (copy) becomes an afterthought.

The fact is our four-legged stool analogy of right message, right market, right media, right time is a requirement for a successful advertising campaign. Take any one of those 4 components out of the equation, take a four-legged stool, and knock off one leg, and the entire stool is broken. I suspect Wanamaker was a smart enough guy he figured this out, but probably the hard way, just as I did, by wasting tens of thousands of dollars on lame branding type messages that generated no quantifiable results. This would explain why he was reluctant to delegate such a critical step in his advertising, creating the message. And this is why I still review damn near every piece of copy that goes out of this building for both us and clients by seeding myself on campaigns. 

The goal of your message is to attract, not repel; to create affinity, not isolate those not in the market today; to generate leads, not build a brand (with proper messages branding is a happy byproduct). Or, as marketing legend Dan Kennedy says, the goal of your message is “to be a welcomed guest, not a nagging pest.” Here are the three biggies I play close attention to.  

Plain Vanilla – The most common challenge with marketing messages created by big corporate agencies is that they are boring, not interesting, and not personal.  Vanilla ice cream is popular no doubt, a good choice if you’re trying to play it safe and appeal to everyone. However, vanilla can have a competitive disadvantage because it is much less interesting than flavored ice creams. Take pistachio for example, while pistachio may appeal to a narrower crowd, those that do buy it don’t just like it, they love it. They’re raving fans, passionate about their preferred flavor. The goal of pistachio isn’t to appeal to the masses, it’s to engage its pre-defined niche really well.

People are interested in people, not brick and mortar. When you send your message from a person to a person (one to one marketing) you can inject personality, which creates relationships. As Gitomer says, make a sale and earn a commission, make a friend and earn a fortune. When your message is being delivered to proven riders in your back yard versus the masses, your message can be more colorful and build affinity which leads to loyalty, which leads to referrals. 

Relevant – Why send out a stiff corporate direct mail and email campaign promoting a finance offer on a single category of units? If your reach is 10,000 people how many do you think are in the market to buy that category today? Less than 2%, right?  You can take that same media, same target audience and create a clear and simple message that is applicable to all on your list and generates quantifiable sales leads telling you exactly what they are currently interested in whether it is new units, used units, parts, accessories, clothing or service. Doesn’t crafting your message to target all recipients make more sense than making 98% think all you care about is trying to sell them the big ticket item?

One and Done – To build a true and authentic relationship you have to be consistent. How do your customers feel about your communication with them? Excited? Eager? Interested? Or neutral, take it or leave it? Bored or Disinterested? I don’t know about you, but when my local car dealer sends me a new car sale mailer once a quarter I’m usually pretty disinterested. Do your messages feel authentic, genuine and trusted or do they feel artificial, self-serving, and contrived? When you commit to touching your buying base with interesting and relevant messages 52 to 104 times per year you will improve retention and grow new market share through repeat and referral business. Guaranteed. 

If you’re tired of wasting half the money you spend on marketing, we’d love for you to join us at our Fall Marketing Boot Camp Oct. 24th through the 26th or call us today at 877-242-4472 and we’ll happily walk you through our secret formula for crafting effective messages.