Effective marketing & advertising follows the same principles as effective salesmanship. Success and failure in both are due to similar causes.

To produce effective marketing & advertising, you use the same methods and rules that make a salesperson successful, and accountable for results.

The Only Purpose Of Advertising Is To Make Sales

Marketing and advertising is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales. It's not for general effect. It's not to "get your name out there." It's not to support some other effort.

Treat your advertising and promotions like a salesperson. Force it to justify itself. Compare the results of each ad, promotion, and campaign. Measure the costs, sales, profits, and results. Expect profitable sales results, just like you would from a salesperson.

Advertising Is Multiplied-Salesmanship

The only difference between a salesperson and your marketing & advertising is its magnitude. Advertising is multiplied-salesmanship. It can reach and appeal to thousands while the salesperson talks to one.

A marketing & advertising mistake can cost a thousand times more than a mistake made by a salesperson. So, you have to be careful and exact with your marketing.

People Don't Buy Because You Entertain Them

Some think advertising should be entertaining with clever concepts, bold graphics, slogans, and fine writing in a unique literary style. Would you use any of this in face-to-face, personal selling? Can you imagine customers who would buy from you just because you entertained them?

Would you put a comedian or clown or poet in front of your prospects or customers and have one of them try to make sales for you? If not, don't use entertainment to try to sell your products or services.

Some say, "Keep it short. People won't read long marketing copy." Would you tell a salesperson standing in front of a prospect not to use too many words? That would be an unthinkable handicap. Plus, testing has proven again and again that long, information-packed copy outsells short copy by a huge margin.

Effective marketing and advertising only attracts people interested in what you're offering. No one looking for a solution to their problem reads for amusement. Consider them prospects standing in front of you asking if you can help fix their problem.

How To Put Salesmanship Into Your Advertising And Marketing...

Use relevant and benefit-packed headlines that hook your reader into wanting to learn more. Follow that with a clear opening paragraph that ties in your unique selling proposition (USP). And be sure you include a benefit for every feature, lots of "you" copy (and no bragging), testimonials and a call to action...

... just like an actual sales pitch.

What most businesses don't realize is:

• People don't buy because they like your fancy slogan
• People don't buy because you're funny, or clever, or a good artist
• People don't buy because you brag that you're the best in the world
• People don't buy because you have a really good product

The marketing graveyard is filled with great products and services that failed because their marketing & advertising could not make the sale.

Fact is, the only reason people are "sold" by your marketing and advertising is because it's actually...

A Master Salesperson On The Page

It's a salesperson that has a solution to your biggest problems. A salesperson that can educate you about the advantages and benefits of buying, and compel you to choose that product or service over the competition.

One of the biggest mistakes copywriters and marketers make is they forgot what they're supposed to be doing. Some forget they're salespeople and try to be performers. Instead of sales they're looking for applause. Many just don't know anything about salesmanship. Either way, your phones aren't ringing and the orders aren't coming in.

At Big Idea the marketing & advertising we produce is tested and measured, held accountable, and proven to produce results.

We have extensive first-hand sales experience, and we work directly with our clients' sales teams. So we know salesmanship and how to put it to work in your marketing & advertising. Plus, our copywriters are veteran direct-response marketers whose words have proven to consistently deliver profitable sales results.

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