Freestyle Blog: Getting no response from your print advertising? There may be a very simple reason!

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

Getting no response from your print advertising? There may be a very simple reason!

How often do you see business-to-business (B2B) adverts in which the advertiser simply says, "I have this product/service for sale - to buy it contact me"? Typically there may be a product shot, backed up by a dubious headline, as many bullet points as space allows and a logo. From the point-of-view of the advertiser these ads assume that the reader is looking to see what's on offer. This is a dangerous assumption, as most advertising is viewed passively - if at all.

1. Engaging the Brain

The natural reaction of the human brain to advertising is to screen it out; confronted by hundreds of different messages during the course of the day, it would be impossible to live a normal life if we stop to consciously react to every ad put in front of our eyes or ears. The few advertising messages that do get through will be viewed both rationally and emotionally - even for B2B products.

2. Emotional Appeal

It's commonly thought that B2B advertising has little room for emotional appeal; business decisions are totally rational, aren't they? But all B2B decision-makers are consumers when they’re not on duty and are used to unconsciously evaluating ads both rationally and emotionally (left brain and right brain).

Successful B2B or B2C advertisements engage the potential customer - and engagement is an emotional response. Of course, many of the readers will believe they are making a logical response to an ad. But the fact is that we need to make people like us, trust in what we sell and believe it will do them good - all of which are emotional responses.

The problem we face is that the person looking at the ad will probably start from a position of not paying much attention.

So we must seek to engage them by getting them interested in what we are talking about. Either by asking them an interesting open question, by intriguing them, by being funny, by focusing on the benefits that accrue to this individual, or by focusing on how the recipient feels.

3. The Question

"Would you like to double your sales?"

…is not an interesting question because it does not engage. It is a closed question (yes/no answers only) and that in itself stops engagement. And it is a boring question because it leads nowhere.

"What is the most effective way of doubling your sales?"

…is more engaging, because it is more specific and it opens a debate.

Engagement can be as simple as that - as long as you can keep it going through the piece - and can make the difference between a potential client simply scanning your ad or emotionally responding to it.