Critical Marketing Mistake #1: Putting Out Institutional Instead Of Direct Response Messages

Institutional advertising is a very common part of most businesses marketing strategy. It is also EXTREMELY ineffective. Many business owners have unfortunately bought into, (literally) or been coerced into believing, that if I throw enough of it ‘out there’, then something’s got to stick! Very often this mis-information has come from people who simply don’t have a clue how about advertising, but just simply want to sell you ‘white space’: advertising in the local paper being a classic example.

Most advertising I see is nothing more than a larger version of a business card: name of company at the top, then a few lines about what the business does, then their contact details. Or worse still... Falling into the trap of believing ‘branding’ is a means in itself of attracting clients. I will always maintain that branding -- as a starting point -- will never work for SMEs, unless... You either have 1) the kind of marketing budget afforded to the likes of Coca Cola, or 2) you simply don’t mind throwing good money away!n n ‘Yes, we recently did a 5,000 flyer drop locally, and so far... Well, we’ve had no response... But I’ve been told that very often the first time doesn’t make much of an impact, it’s only after several attempts that you may get some response’. The number of times I’ve heard this from a client tell me this, or variations on a theme, is unfortunately common place. It also makes me angry, as especially for the small business owner every pound counts. n
Let me tell you this... If you didn’t get a response to your advert/flyer/letter the first time, it doesn’t matter how many times you keep rolling out the same version. Listen... Your audience are trying to tell you something, ‘it ain’t working!’. So don’t keep throwing good money after bad!

Instead... Always use DIRECT RESPONSE messaging.

You need to start using messages that elicit a response. A blown-up version of your business card, will do nothing to compel me to want to contact you, or discover more information. n
NEVER start your advertising pitch with your company name, that’s not going to get my attention. I don’t care what you’re called, so why start the message this way. Instead... Begin with a COMPELLING headline; one that speaks to me directly, and that draws me in to the rest of your copy. n
Then offer a call to action... Get me to respond... FASCINATE me into wanting to contact you!

Naturally there’s much more to effective copywriting than this, but this strategy alone, will not only save you thousands, but more importantly, will help you get a response to your marketing efforts.

To claim your free copy of my detailed-rich white paper “The 7 CRITICAL Marketing Mistakes Nearly Every Business Owner Makes... And What YOU Can Do To Avoid Them!” (Value £30.00)visit www.maverickmarketingconsultancy.co.uk and subscribe for free to the Maverick Marketing Newsletter.