Whenever I’m called upon to offer a critique on or advice about a company or consultant’s copy – whether it’s on a web site, in a brochure, an ad, a blog, or whatever – the first thing I do is read through the copy to see whether the focus is on “we/me” or “you/your.” Most of the copy I look at is the former. A quick, easy and relatively painless way to improve it (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Advertising’
When You Make It All About You, You Lose
Tuesday, June 21st, 2022Challenging the Notion of TOFU, MOFU, BOFU – What Does Today’s Buyer’s Journey Really Look Like?
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
First there was AIDA, then the notion of a sales “funnel” emerged and the concept of a buyer’s journey that began at the top of the funnel (TOFU), moved to the middle of the funnel (MOFU) and ultimately ended with a sale at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). But is this concept too simplistic—and too linear—to truly represent today’s buyer’s journey? Was this model ever relevant in a business-to-business environment? Are content marketers wasting their time attempting to create copy that focuses, discreetly, on TOFU, MOFU, BOFU?
The Blurred Lines Between PR, Marketing and Advertising
Friday, November 13th, 2020
There’s a raging — and quite interesting — debate that I continue to see taking place in various online forums about the relationship between PR and marketing. I’ve found it especially interesting because I recently was engaged in the same debate while teaching PR courses at a local university. Surprisingly to me, there is a group that believes quite strongly that PR is not part of marketing: that it is a separate and distinctly different function within an organization.
Frankly, that’s just “crazy talk” to me. (more…)
Time-Tested Tenets of Effective Marketing Haven’t Changed in 100 Years
Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
In the digital age of rapidly increasing technology and here-today-gone-tomorrow fads in fashion, popular culture and consumer tastes, it can seem like the rules of marketing are constantly changing, rendering obsolete what may have been sound advice just 10 or 20 years ago. But despite the near-constantly changing winds at the edges and frontiers of the marketing industry, the vast majority of the core principals remain unchanged and have stood the test of time. (more…)
Peloton: The Latest Example of Consumer Outrage Over Ad Content
Tuesday, December 17th, 2019
Occasionally companies and their advertising teams will find themselves in hot water for controversial advertisements or campaigns that set out to be edgy or funny, but push the envelope a bit too far. Consider, among the many examples, Bacardi’s “ugly girlfriend” ad, Burger King’s sexually suggestive “Super Seven Incher” ads and Dove’s “Before & After” ad showing a transition from a black to a white woman.
Likely these companies knew they were taking a risk in putting those ads out there but didn’t fully appreciate the likelihood of the level of potential backlash. But sometimes ads not intended to contain any type of offensive content still manage to offend. (more…)
What Are White-Glove Advertising Services and Should You Be Using Them?
Thursday, January 24th, 2019
Publishers have a lot on their plates these days—from fraud and ad blocking, to Facebook’s recent News Feed changes, to GDPR, increasingly rampant technological innovations and more. On top of the traditional issues related to publishing, publishers also have increasingly been pulled into generating ad revenues through ad tech—a constantly shifting landscape that can certainly be a diversion from creating quality content to meet audience needs.
How are they managing? In some cases, they’re outsourcing this aspect of their ad operations (ad ops) to white-glove consultancy services. (more…)
Do Buyer Personas = Stereotypes? Yes, but…
Thursday, March 8th, 2018
We recently responded to a reporter’s question of: “Are buyer/audience personas just a better way to say ‘stereotypes’?”
The answer:
Yes, but…
Advertising Isn’t About Entertaining Unless it Also Drives Sales!
Tuesday, March 6th, 2018
“Dilly, dilly!” It was the marketing catchphrase of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal. And it’s definitely catchy. I love the commercials and the catchphrase and smile every time I hear it. I’m not alone.
Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the company’s new ad campaign, sales are slumping. (more…)
Should Manufacturers Think More Like Pharmaceutical Companies When it Comes to Marketing?
Thursday, February 22nd, 2018
When you think about the types of companies you typically see ads for, manufacturing firms don’t typically come to mind. That’s because, historically, manufacturing companies haven’t invested a great deal in traditional marketing. They tend to be focused more on business-to-business (B2B) sales, than business-to-consumer (B2C). Their business focus has typically been on achieving operational efficiencies to drive down costs and increase profits. They set themselves apart from competitors by providing higher quality, faster turnaround or lower cost, and they haven’t typically spent much time thinking about the end user consumers of their products. (more…)
They Hate Your Ads! Creating Marketing Communications That Resonate
Tuesday, March 7th, 2017
41559931 – advertising word cloud, business concept
AJ Agrawal recently wrote an article for Forbes titled “Inbound Marketing: How To Advertise To People Who Hate Ads.” Agrawal correctly notes that successful marketing “all comes down to one principle. People don’t like to be sold to.” What do they want? They want to be helped to by. “In other words, you are a shopping assistant not a greasy car salesperson,” says Agrawal.
Agrawal offers three strategies for marketers to get their message across to those who hate ads. (more…)
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