The most important aspect of any ad content has very little to do with the product. If you’ve ever approached the task of creating an ad of any kind, I guarantee you’ve thought something like “How can I make this product sound awesome”. And that’s your first mistake.
I know it seems reasonable though, you are creating ads to help sell right? Of course, but no one likes to be sold to. If that’s what your first impression of something is, I guarantee you move on 99% of the time.
So do your potential customers.
It’s a disconnect
You may be doing a good job of catching people’s attention with fancy pictures and banners. What good is that if they look, and immediately lose interest because “it’s just another ad trying to sell me something I don’t want”.
Don’t get me wrong, a picture is worth a thousand words and I’m in no way downplaying their value in the equation.
The point is there has to be an immediate connection to the reader and once that’s made, it has to carry them in that direction. Once you catch their attention, you have to start offering value right away.
The law of reciprocity.
When you give someone something that they want, they usually want to do something in return. Have you ever heard the phrase “You reap as you sow”? There’s an order of events in it. Just as in planting a garden, you first have to sow the seeds, then you reap the harvest.
How this relates to ads is simple. Think of the flow of events for a puppy training ad. Your ad catches their attention, and the first thing they read is your headline and subheading text: “Is your puppy stressing you out?”, “This free ebook will show you how to train your puppy out of bad habits in 1 week”, “Enjoy their cuteness, without the messes and destroyed items”.
Anyone who’s had a puppy knows how stressful they can be, especially without proper training early on. What this ad is doing is immediately making a connection with the reader, and then offering a solution. Since it does that, the reader knows you’re offering something they want and will be inclined to give more of their attention.
The little voice inside.
We all have them, and I don’t mean hearing voices literally. If that’s you, please seek help, it’s not normal. What I mean is our mind is constantly evaluating the information it’s confronted with and makes decisions based on what it wants and doesn’t want. If the value of continuing to spend brain calories on a particular thing is deemed low reward and high cost, your brain says no and moves on.
If on the other hand there is a significant value reward for spending the brain calories, it will proceed. Your ads need to offer value to the reader. Their first thoughts are “what’s in it for me”.
When you approach your ad writing from this perspective you’ll start to see how your product is not what they are interested in, it’s the results it can bring them. They care about bettering their lives, simplifying their daily responsibilities and struggles. They want comforts and enjoyment, just like you. Frame your product as the solution, the thing that gives them the end results they want. Explain how great it will make their lives once they have it.
So if you want to have ads that produce results, keep these things in mind. If you have any questions about how to implement this concept or any other marketing related challenges let us know. We’d be happy to help get you to your business goals faster and with less effort on your part.
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