Shocked by the title? You should be. Shock sells. (Did you see the title and click to view the blog?)
If you're advertising just like everyone else, your advertising stinks. Before you say to me, “Buzz, what a terrible thing to say” think about what makes you take notice of an advertisement.
Consumers are so media-savvy now that we bypass anything that resembles run-of-the-mill advertising. We just completely ignore it. In fact, I read a statistic in BuzzMarketing that people only watch a commercial once. If they've seen it, they'll turn the channel. This has prompted advertisers to film a commercial and show it only once. That's expensive.
Who else advertises with shock?
Howard Stern is hated by many… and yet has a devoted fan base because of that shock.
The Rich Jerk e-book insults its readers… and outsells most other e-books.
What got me thinking about this was some research I was doing on Google AdWords. I typed “AdWords” into Google and one of the AdWords read “You are Stupid.”
There were ten AdWords on that page (this one was in the second position). It was also the only one I read. I read the whole thing then clicked through. (The ad said something like, “You are Stupid… if you don't use Google AdWords”). It was very clever.
I wouldn't make it a habit to insult your prospects, but a little shock never hurt anyone!
Does your advertising stink?
