Ad Evaluation -
What Conclusion Do You Want Me To Draw?
MYM Tip #36
You'd be surprised at how many advertisements make claims but draw no conclusion. They give some facts and some information and some benefits then leave it up to the reader to draw a conclusion. Hopefully that conclusion is the same one the advertiser was paying thousands of dollars to get you to understand. In previous newsletters we've talked about building a case for your product or service, right? We've said that your product or service is the defendant, you are the attorney, and your prospects and customers are the jury. Can you imagine an attorney that just got up in front of the jury and started spewing out facts and figures and testimony but never got around to telling you what he was trying to prove? Some jurors might figure it out but most probably wouldn't.
Let me give you some advertising examples that don't draw a conclusion. These ads make it difficult to tell what the heck the real benefits of doing business with these companies are. Here's an ad (above) for something called Computer Sciences Corporation. The ad features a big photograph of a pair of scissors stuck into an electrical outlet. The outlet is black all around it as if to indicate that the scissors caused some kind of a shock or fire or something. So let me ask you this...what conclusion do they want me to draw? After studying the ad for a few minutes, I guess they're trying to say that if you try to do your technology stuff yourself (they never did quite identify exactly what they do in technology) you will probably kill yourself. I'm not sure. Seems like just saying a headline in plain English might have been a more effective route for them. But instead, they let some creative guru at an ad agency put together a picture of cool looking scissors in an electrical outlet. It will get people's attention, the guru probably said. That may be true but once the attention is gained, then what?
One other ad I found is honestly one of the stupidest ads I've ever seen in my entire life (We'll share it with you in our seminars or during a consulting session). We've seen so many stupid ads that for us to make a comment must mean it's really bad. In this ad a headline says "Update your Web Site."Next to the headline is a picture of a computer monitor, with a pair of unclothed, female legs against a black background. Tell me, what conclusion do they want me to draw? Do you even know what they're selling? I'll bet you fifty bucks you don't know. This is an ad for a company that does treatments for varicose and spider veins. Get it? Update your web site. I showed this ad to 10 people and not one of them could figure out what the heck was being sold in less than 30 seconds. And none of them could figure out what the computer with the legs was all about. I had to tell them, "See, web site, spider veins, get it?" What a waste of money. I wouldn't be surprised if you still don't know what I'm talking about. It's a really bad ad.
In another brilliant ad there's a headline that reads, "What if you could use rocket science?" It has a cartoonish picture of a rocket with some stars and the moon behind it. Then a sub-headline reads, "Trying to move a company isn't exactly rocket science. But it can seem that way." What? I read the text and once again, I'm not really sure what the company is really selling. This ad hurts my head too bad to even analyze it any further. So I'll go on to my last example.
Here's one last example. This one is kind of hard to explain, so I'll do my best. Upper left hand corner, it says 43C. Over to the right, and still at the top it's kind of at an angle and it says "Class." Under that are some words that are circled with what looks like a marker. It reads, "New store opportunity!!!!!!! Lease only $21 per month. Built in customer base. Exciting location. Will build to suit. Open 24/7." So do you get it? What conclusion are they wanting me to draw? Oh now I see, it's supposed to look like the classified section of the newspaper and it's an ad mimicking someone offering a retail store for lease, only in this case it's not a retail store at all. It's an Internet store. Get it? Lease only $21 a month. Open 24/7. This stupid ad makes the reader struggle to: a) figure out what's being sold and b) draw a conclusion. I'm going to take a stab at the conclusion - that it's easier and cheaper to run an Internet store than a regular store. I'm not saying the companies in these examples don't offer a good service. They probably do. But they do a terrible job of communicating their "inside reality" to their potential customers in their advertising.
Look at all the ads you write, all the headlines you use, all the body copy you write, and everything you say with this critical thought in mind: What conclusion do you want me to draw? If your prospects can't instantly figure it out, then you lose.
Want to learn how to make sure your ads make the right connection; but can't afford a Madison Avenue budget?
