Advertising to Motivate Your Target Market

There's just no time to waste in a cyber day; competition for your target's attention has always been stiff, but now it's just killer. There's less time and more to do, more to see, more to read--ad infinitum. What can you do to attract attention to your clients' message? Here are a few tips and techniques that motivate your audience to want to know more about your product or service.

"The free time I used to spend watching TV is now divided between shopping and blogging online," remarked one corporate executive, "it allows me to relax physically and it's certainly more entertaining than an episode of Law and Order." What was once a minor distraction is now a formidable competitor demanding its share of the market. How can direct mail compete with the dynamic web, traditional print media, and titillating TV or radio (satellite, broadcast or cable)? The most effective advertising demands target participation; it removes the "will I or won't I" part of the equation and turns it into "I MUST". Can you make them say "Man, look at that. What's that about?"

Here's an example: When asbestos removal was a big concern in the mid 1980's, a commercial building owner had no greater fear; not that he had asbestos, but that someone would find out. The ad campaign for my asbestos removal consultant was a gut wrencher for anyone with commercial real estate leasing in a highly competitive market. The headline ran over a photograph of a high dollar broker working the phones at night with a view of the city skyline in the background:, "I can get you out of your lease in a snap with the hazards clause." No one in the business could turn the page without reading the rest of the ad because desire was created in the viewer's imagination. They wanted to know more and provided the impetus to continue reading on their own. Here's a simple 3 step check for effective advertising, no matter what the media.

1) Create Motivation: There is a way into the heart of your prospect. What emotion can you instill to motivate them to want to hear what you have to say? Make it something they can't ignore, like Guido making them an offer they can't refuse.