Why do Established Companies Insist in Writing Shoddy Amateurish Ads?

Anglian is a very well known Home Improvement brand.

Great quality products.

Yet, are more than amateurish with the way they write their ads and how they communicate their offerings.

Why would they put up with that?

Why would a marketing person worth their worth, put their name to this, like Andrew Knight, Marketing Manager for Anglian did, regarding this piece you see on the left?

The only reason I think he did is because he doesn't know any better, or he'd have tossed this into the bin.

There's no obvious measurement standards in place as to what constitutes a good, effective ad as this one wouldn't have made the grade.

How it did make the grade, only the Marketing department at Anglian, know. And THAT is mightily worrying if you own the company.

So what's actually wrong with it?

Plenty.

We'll go through a few of the bleeding obvious ones.

Well, how about the opening - Dear Sir/Madam?

Dear Sir / Madam!

Who talks like that? I mean, who actually talks like that?

How about... Dear Homeowner, Dear Proud Homeowner, Dear Home Improvement Buff, Dear Resident?

It seems any of those would be more endearing than dear Sir/Madam.

What's next?

The Headline - Can You Help?

That's actually not a bad headline, if they followed up more intelligently on that headline.

What they've done is they've created a message that's all to do with their benefits and their results, and not so much on the benefits to the reader or potential customer.

Look at the copy to do with that;

"... we are currently looking for further properties within this postcode area to install our stunning new range of Conservatories, Windows and Rooftrim products."  

That's the core of the help they want.

Misleading?

Possibly.

And, it's all about them and how great they are and stunning their products are.

They've missed the most basic of fundamentals - speak to the 'what's in it for them'.

And in this case, it's the what's in it for the potential reader --  (except of course, the obvious and  boringly stated money savings - "the finest products available at the fraction of the cost", message)?

The message launches into the ludicrous 'we've got the best products at the best prices angle' which really creates no distinction and no differentiation for the reader.

Anglian haven't even enquired if at all the reader is at interested in what they sell. They've just assumed and jumped right on in without ever finding out.

A more interesting way would be for the communication to send the reader to a short online survey/questionnaire to elicit pertinent answers to a number of carefully crafted questions.

Not only can this be used for immediate follow up and tailored customised conversations, but having an email address is crucial because this is where delightful fascinating stories interesting facts and customer testimonials can be sent on a regular basis, and can revolve around how a house will feel and look better, the leaving of a legacy to others in their family, how the social aspect of living will be enhanced, how valuable of an investment it is, how aesthetically pleasing it looks and feels...

Regular connection and communications that are charming, captivating and engaging will build a connection and a relationship with a potential customer like nothing else will.

And so when a person is ready to upgrade and enhance their property, who are they going to call - someone who sends a weak sloppy and amateurish flyer or brochure (no matter how successful the company appears to be), or, a company who followed up, who were respectful, who communicated regularly with fascinating and interesting facts and stories and who weren't pushy and treated everyone like they'll be customers for life... who you gonna call!            

If Anglian had to live and die based on their messaging and communications (unlike like many small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures who actually have to) then they'd have been buried ten feet under many moons ago if the piece you see is the best they've got.

If you're responsible for signing your name against the communications you send out into the marketplace, at least have the professionalism to check what exactly you're signing your name to.

And if you have little to no discriminating factors to aid and facilitate your decision making, you need to go get you some, or... go find a different profession where there's less at stake for the business or company you represent.

Go be an Anglian Marketer or Copywriter. 

Raja.Hireker@gmail.com





 

Here's How You Commit a Sustained Marketing Assault on Your Biggest Marketing Problem

"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking."
Voltaire first said that. (Google him if you want to fact check)

I've said it and applied it, many times over. And not only for solving business and marketing problems.

So how would YOU solve your biggest marketing problem, using sustained thinking and then... acting on the solution... how would you do that?

First and foremost, you've got to accurately define the problem. Because without an accurate diagnosis, you'll be like a mad back alley Doctor, applying untested nonsense and quackery to a mis-diagnosed problem. The patient complains of a pain in the head. You carry out a kidney removal with no anaesthetic. It's not going to end good.

So, what's your biggest marketing problem?
Let's say it's not getting enough qualified leads who turn into paying customers and clients - let's have that be the problem.

So without any kind of new thinking on that problem, it'll be what it is. That same thinking will create whatever current half solution it provides to that same problem. And the half solution is not a full solution because the problem still remains as a big problem.   

So, what kind of sustained thinking is required, what kind of assault needs to be committed, and in what area?

Well, the first area we can dig into is the quality of new prospect. 

• Are they a fit based on your required client criteria (you DO have a qualifying prospect checklist, don't you?)
• What are the reasons those who come to the cusp of buying, whether that's in a consultation or purely through an online sequence, what are the reasons they don't buy? (You have asked, or you have done some fact finding, haven't you?)   
• Where can we go to get MORE of the SAME kind of prospects who behave like our current happy customers?
• Of those who we don't want to serve, what is it about them that makes them bad prospects for our business?
• Of those prospects who then DO become clients, what did they tell us was the reason they became clients? (You did ask them, didn't you?)
• Are we aiming our prospecting marketing arrows in the wrong field? (And if yes, you want to stop doing that immediately or you'll dry your business up in no time flat)    

Those are a few ideas for you to see how you commit a marketing assault on one area or problem.

Ah, but the detective work and the investigative work doesn't stop there. Not at all. 

Another area to close in on is to check all current advertising

So how shall we begin our work here?

• Is the advertising speaking directly to the problem our product or service, solves for our speciic type of client?
• Where in the copy are we talking only about us us us... and not about our prospects and clients and their problems?
• Where exactly are we advertising and is it in a place where our profile prospect hangs out, reads, meets?
• What different versions of our advertising have we tested recently and what did we discover?
• Are we sending a one-size marketing message that fits all our target market profile? (It's infinitely more profitable to create customised communications and advertising to each specific target market, if indeed we have more than one target market. 

I could go on and get into a deep dive thinking assault on all those micro areas that impact and affect leads, conversions from prospects into paying clients, cashflow.

This is what YOU should be doing if you really want to make sales happen and have clients rave about you and what you do and what you solve for them.

Of course, many business owners, entrepreneurs, Professionals of all kinds, stripes and levels, will poo poo all this and go straight into reactionary mode when the business is buckling and leaking money.

They do almost zero of this essential Sherlock Holmes detective work and that's why they're looking for the next shiny object or the next self appointed marketing guru who believes their own manufactured PR and who'll willingly pop another dose of that instant magic money madness into those owner's brains, and so... the delusional cycle continues.

If you have an existing business that's been going for a few years, I'd say you're probably sitting on 4, 5, even six figures of business inside your current way of doing things. And, it's most likely you just don't know about where and how to get it. Of course, I've given you a taste of what kind of detective work you need to undertake and then follow up on and yet, you might find that you're all over the place and not that committed or disciplined to work this all out yourself.

If that's you and if that's really the problem you're coming up against time and time again, then I suggest we have a conversation to see what we can do to fix things for you

Unless you commit a sustained thinking assault on your ads, your marketing, your business and all its moving parts, you are wasting and throwing away a huge amount of time, money and energy.

How big an amount is that for you?

I can't guess.

That's what this conversation will do -- to weigh up exactly how much you've wasted, and, how much you'll continue to waste and throw away if you don't do anything different to what you're currently doing.

Send your email with "MARKETING ASSAULT" in the subject line to raja.hireker@gmail.com and then let's see what we see.

It's 2019.

You may as well launch it in the way you want the whole of the year to go - with clarity, with action and with cutting edge help.

Problems?

Commit a sustained thinking assault on them and then solve that damn problem so it never shows up as a problem for you ever again because you'll then have the skills and the smarts to sort it all out... in double quick time.




Raja
http://rajahireker.com/who.html
07903 905 802