Your Ads aren't Being Seen Or Heard

In a recent USA Today article, J. Walter Thompson, head of Yankelovich, the market watch consultancy pointed out that we are currently receiving 3500 - 5000 marketing messages per day compared to 500 - 2000 in the 1970's.

The article goes on to explore how people are avoiding ads.

There is so much talk today about how advertising isn't working as well and many advertisers ROI is proving it.

But here's the thing.

Advertising still works great, don't let anyone tell you differently.

What doesn't work is the KIND of advertising you are doing.

When you are inundated with 5000 messages a day, for something to get through it has to be targeted, it has to be focused on you and it has to speak directly to your needs in a way that grabs your attention.

Oh, and it has to be in a format or medium that you'll actually pay attention to.

Most of us get our news on the Internet, our pictures on our cell phone and our Christmas letters in our email. That being said, you have to ask yourself: What do I know about my customers and where they get their information?

The answer is that they don't get it the same places they used to, but you won't know where they get it until you ask.

You must begin a conversation with your existing customers and your prospects and find out where they get their information. You must then test presenting your information in those mediums.

And when you test you'd better be relevant, you'd better understand their needs, their pains and their desires and you'd better say something very interesting. Funny is funny, but interesting gets attention. Funny is designed to funny and forgotten, interesting is designed to be interesting and explored.

Today is the day that you have to ask yourself, have I tightly focused my message on the group of people who will buy my product or service if they know about it? If not, consider this, you are one of 5000 other pieces of information we are all struggling to ignore.

Here's how to be sure your message isn't ignored.