How to Waste Money Quickly In Advertising



Posted: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

by Glenn Harrington
Articulate Consultants Inc.

Do-it-yourself Pitfalls: How to Waste Money Quickly In Advertising

1. Plant negative ideas into people's minds.

The ad headline Don't waste another dollar plants the idea of wasting money into people's minds. The call to action Don't hesitate is about hesitating. To cultivate more supportive thinking, focus on the positive. Try Save money today and Call now.

2. Send a diffuse message to an overly-broad group.

The risk of an ad that addresses everybody: it appeals to nobody. Even if you offer something for everybody, address the audience so that each individual can easily discern whether you're speaking to them.

3. Publish errors that hurt your credibility.

Inconsistent punctuation, run-on sentences, poor grammar, odd syntax, and spelling errors in the print media get noticed. Make sure that your ads are exempt from their ridicule. Proofing by a sharp-eyed outside party can be invaluable reputation protection.

4. Act like a small-timer.

Many individuals and small organizations invest too little in their ads, run unprofessional ads, or place too little faith in good ads. Some actually pay to damage their reputation through ads that do more to repel business than to attract it. So, project a tested, supportive image consistently.

5. Do it all yourself.

Often, businesspeople get exactly what they want in their ads by doing it themselves or by getting others to do it under their direction. This is the DIY approach. Often the ads fail miserably. Your customer's perspective and an expert's perspective can save you from this. Listen to your customers attentively and pay for advertising expertise. Otherwise, the illusion of thrift with the DIY approach could yield to the reality of high cost and low return.

- Glenn R Harrington, Articulate Consultants Inc.

http://www.articulate.ca/

Glenn Harrington is the Principal Consultant of Articulate Consultants Inc. Since 1996 he has specialized in consulting on authentic key messages as the basis for effective marketing, brand management, and client loyalty.

This Article has been viewed 117 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.