Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Advertising and Public Relations

That is the kind of ad I like. Facts, facts, facts. - Samuel Goldwyn (1882–1974), U.S. film producer.

Advertising is the paid form of a non-personal message communicated through various media. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the target audience.

The most powerful advertising is advertising that can accomplish two things effectively. First, it must remove all of the risk from the prospect's side, thereby making it risk-free for the client/customer to respond to your ad. This is critical because most of the people who will answer you ad have never done business with you before!

When you assume the risk FIRST, you make it easy for your prospect to pick up the phone or come in and begin a dialogue with your company… all without risk. The next thing that is important is that you must offer something of value to the person who makes the effort to visit or pick up the phone and call your company. Use videos, special reports, booklets, newsletters, fact sheets, or other "free" items that appear to have significant value to the prospect. This is especially effective if the information is not available elsewhere.