Every brand marketer expects their campaign to build awareness, drive traffic and increase sales. But very few campaigns actually do.
Research from comScore indicates that 54 percent of all digital advertising goes unseen by consumers. With so much media fragmentation and so little interest among consumers in watching, listening to or reading ads, it’s not surprising that most brands struggle to see a return on their advertising investments.
So what’s a brand marketer to do? How can you engage your audience and get people to pay attention? It’s really not that complicated. If people don’t want to watch, listen to or read ads, don’t create an ad campaign. Instead, tell consumers a story and share content that they will find interesting.
Letting go of old and outdated advertising practices can be a tough thing to do. For many brand marketers advertising is all they know how to create. So they keep following the traditional advertising formula which is to talk about their products and services and all the benefits and value they deliver.
But when you talk all about yourself, what your brand does and how great your brand is, nobody cares. To help brand marketers avoid using these tired and ineffective advertising tactics I’ve developed a simple advertising success “litmus test.”
Here are two simple tests you can use as a surefire way to see whether the brand messaging you have put together is a good story that will engage consumers or the kind of traditional advertising tactics that rarely work well anymore:
Read the Message Out Loud
When I do messaging workshops with clients the first exercise I ask them to do is to pretend they are reporting the nightly news and read the copy from their current website, TV commercial or print ad out loud. It only takes about a minute or two for people to realize how bad their story sounds.
A well told story is conversational. It speaks to the audience rather than shouting at them to grab their attention. Advertising pretending to be a story talks all about a product or service. Why me, look at me, give me a try …
If the message your brand is putting out doesn’t make good conversation, then there’s no reason to believe it will be something your audience will be able to follow or understand.
Don’t let this happen. Always read your marketing and advertising messages out loud to people first. This will ensure it sounds like a conversation and not the kind of advertising people ignore.
Watch the Story with the Sound Off
While “silent” movies are a thing of the past, they offer a valuable lesson about storytelling. Really good stories are easy to follow even when you’re not fully listening.
Great stories use images to stir emotion and communicate what’s happening. Visuals contain the expressions and non-verbal references that elicit instant understanding, without the need for detailed explanation or narrative.
Ninety percent of what people understand and take away from what they see and hear is non-verbal communication. Advertising that shows nothing but product images, and presents visuals with the sole purpose of grabbing consumer attention, is just a selfish appeal for attentions sake.
Ask people to scan the visuals and images you’re using to support your story without letting them read copy or listen to audio. Can your audience understand the story you’re telling? If not, it’s time to rework the photos, illustrations and visuals your brand is using to eliminate confusion and make your message easier to see.
If you’re looking for ways to engage your audience more effectively, try my advertising success litmus test and apply these ideas to your brand’s marketing efforts. I think you’ll find it’s a helpful way to get consumers to pay attention to your story and stop tuning out your brand message.
