How advertising opens doors and leads to sales
For those of you who have read this column, addressing advertising might seem strange. I focus a great deal on the value of relationships, and advertising seems to be somewhat clinical in comparison to relationships.
But not all things are so cut and dry. Advertising does work, and knowing where and how it works can help build relationships.
First, it's necessary to begin with an appreciation of how customers buy. On the simplest level, there are four steps: awareness, comprehension, conviction and order.
Awareness is just that: The customer is aware of who we are. Our name might ring a bell, or they've seen our product or service somewhere, and it stuck with them. Awareness is a marketer's job. Marketing professionals need to create awareness; it's a crucial stage that cannot be left to chance.
Once aware, a customer needs to comprehend. Comprehension is an understanding of what's offered and potentially received through use of the product or service. Comprehension does not usually translate into an order. Rather, it's an intellectual position, and buying is an emotional decision.
Conviction means that the customer not only comprehends what the product or service can do, but is also convinced it can do it. Conviction is an investment of emotion. To have conviction about something means you take a position. You've considered the situation and made a decision about the probability of a result.
Finally, order is commitment. Conviction leads to a decision and a purchase. The customer is not only emotionally invested, but becomes financially invested.
So, back to where advertising works. If you look at the four stages, advertising is most appropriate in the first two stages, and contributes to the third. Advertising can create awareness. A full-page ad with nothing but a logo and a website address creates awareness (think Nike or Apple).
Moving further into the buying process, advertising can build comprehension. Good advertising can create intellectual understanding. A well written ad with clear, concise information and possibly some testimonials reasonably informs a potential customer of the capabilities and benefits of a product or service.
Advertising to this point has worked because it invites potential buyers to explore further. Awareness and comprehension of something represent an invitation to explore the opportunity of using the product or service.
Advertising also works on building early levels of commitment because it can stir emotion. Good advertising stimulates an emotional reaction, and a relationship with a customer is an emotional bond. Good advertising creates the potential for this emotional connection and conviction on the part of the customer.
Why marketers use advertising
Good marketers use advertising to open doors of opportunity for those emotional bonds to occur. Great marketers inject emotional connections into their advertising, and invite prospects to invest. Be a great marketer by understanding who you want relationships with among potential customers. Then, use focused advertising judiciously to create emotional connections with them. n
Ken Cook is co-founder of How to Who and co-author of How to WHO: Selling Personified, a book and program on building business through relationships. Learn more at www.howtowho.com.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments