If you’re like many advertisers, you think that all you have to do is put your ad in front of readers and the orders will pour in. You love your product, and you just know that your service is the greatest ever!
You think that if you just tell people about it, they’ll agree with you. Why, they’re just sitting at their desks waiting and hoping you’ll advertise to them.
No, not really.
There’s an ad for BMW on the New York Times web site today. The ad:
- takes over the entire page
- darkens everything else, except the ad video
- prevents you from clicking on the content you came to read
- is on a web site for a newspaper with a large readership in a city where most people don’t have or drive cars
It’s impersonal, irrelevant, and unwanted. Nobody will want to watch your video, read your ad, or listen to your jingle unless there’s something in it for them.
Before you pay for that ad, create that video, or compose that jingle, think about what the customer gets.
Leave a comment and share examples of the biggest advertising mistakes you’ve ever seen.