Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Hehehehe... and I wrote that on two sips of coffee.... ;) Watch out when I get to a full cup! Beth :cup: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony G 14 Report post Posted October 30, 2006 You are correct that in your face advertising gets your product or service remembered. I have seen these and have remembered them for years. "Your Sh** is our bread and butter" or "A royal flush is better than a full house" for plumbers. They stick in your head which can be a good thing. Does anybody remember the young and old man in the hearse listening to "Another on bites the dust" ........this was an ad for AIWA radios and stuck in my head. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grime Dawg 14 Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Question....Which restaurant would you be most inclined to dine in.... Restaurant A have an ad with a very appealing photo of a steak dinner, taken with a nice background....perhaps a frosty drink next to it... OR.... Restaurant B which has a meal on a plate they have use for years, taken under fluorescent lights, making it look more like diner food than steakhouse food. Now before we debate text vs. photos, I will say that a good photo can and will sell your work. Text can be an important ingredient don't get me wrong, but it is not the whole enchilada. People want a "look" and there is no getting around that. Beth :cup: OK Beth. So take a really seductive photo of some mouth watering juicy food, put it on a postcard with a typical (lame) headline like..."Are you hungry?" -Vs- An OK photo of a clean restaurant with smiling customers and a more effective headline like... "The Secrets Out! Our Food Makes You Smile (and laugh, and giggle and awe). Come Dine With Us Today For An Enriching, Savory and Memorable Dining Experience!" You get the idea. The point is that although pictures are very important (especially when marketing to certain markets), the use of effective 'copywriting' will make the difference between a non-responsive ad to one that produces killer results (for the same investment in printing and mailing costs). And there is NO debate over text -Vs- photos. That has been resolved years ago, by those with many years of high level marketing experience, and deep pockets to test those same theories. My point earlier about the importance of 'text' is that much more thought needs to go into an ad campaign than the 10 minutes or less that most put into it. Words sell, pictures support. What is the biggest reason for failure amongst new businesses? Is it lack of knowledge on the 'application' of the skills of that business or the lack of skills and knowledge in marketing? If all it took was a pretty picture...then all newbies would be rich in no time. I'd much rather compete with 'skilled pressure washers' -Vs- marketing savvy 'pressure washers', because they are my REAL competition. -Todd- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HotShot 34 Report post Posted October 30, 2006 Todd...just to play devil's advocate. If I go on ebay to look for something like say a pw. I don't give it the time of day if there are no pictures. It could have the greatest headlines, but if there are no pictures, I'm not even gonna click on it to read how wonderful the machine is. I know you said that words sell and pictures support and I think that you exactly right. You have obviously done your homework in this area, I'm just trying to throw some kind of monkey wrench in there somewhere to pick your brain some more...:D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PressurePros 248 Report post Posted October 30, 2006 There has to be a synergy of wording and graphic display. My belief is that you really need to research all aspects of marketing before you can take one stance or another. You have to relate what works for large, well funded campaigns versus more down to earth campaigns that for most of us are under $10k for the year. Wording is good, yes. Some keywords to remember are finite, concise and interesting. If the only thing that was important were words, a guy that lists every single service under the sun, mentions his insurance and tells about all his references would have the perfect campaign. If the only thing that were important were photos we could put our logos, a 50/50 before after pic and our phone number and we would also have the perfect campaign. Anthony to play Devil's Advocate back at you.. what if you were searching and I had five professionally done photographs of my machine from every angle including the hour meter. Not one written word about it though. Would you buy it? In a particular ad is up to you to control the pace. Get their attention. Make your pitch. Call them to action. Follow the rules finite, concise and interesting and you may have second thoughts about the effectiveness of postcard mailers or phonebook ads. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mas3372 14 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 To me, a picture tells me what I think says, text leaves little room for interpertation and therefore I must read what is there. While a picture is important to help draw the eye to piece, I believe the text is what gets the point across. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grime Dawg 14 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 Todd...just to play devil's advocate. If I go on ebay to look for something like say a pw. I don't give it the time of day if there are no pictures. It could have the greatest headlines, but if there are no pictures, I'm not even gonna click on it to read how wonderful the machine is. Anthony, This marketing stuff can get complicated. Every market is different and every marketing medium is different. eBay is a marketing medium that requires photos if you want to sell anything. I can assure you that I myself won't buy anything on eBay without seeing a picture of the item. But that's a different animal and I won't get involved in that discussion here. However Ken hit it square on the head...Words and Graphics must work together. SYNERGY! This is also what Beth was eluding to. And I'm certainly not saying to run your advertising without supportive photos and graphics, that would be dumb. That's also what sets professionals apart from the others. A great before and after photo is powerful. The old saying 'a picture paints a thousand words' is accurate. It just can't do a great job selling by itself. I think some of the confusion is the use of words like; words, text, etc. When I say 'words or 'text', I'm talking about the use of effective selling text or words...not just any words or text. You saw some examples of this in my previous posts. And remember, those were thrown together in about 30 seconds with very little thought. When you study your market and understand what their hot buttons are, you can exploit (uh oh) that in your marketing. And although I didn't make this clear earlier, when I say your ad must 'sell' what I'm saying is that your ad must effectively reach your audience and grab their attention enough for them to call YOU versus your competition. If you're mailing postcards and they don't have synergy and reticular activators working...they get tossed in the trash quicker than you can say sh--! BAM...that money's gone for good. If you can increase your ad response from say .5% to 1.5% think about what that could do for your bottom line. Again from KEN... "Some keywords to remember are finite, concise and interesting." Put some thought and real effort into your ads and you'll see your hard work pay off. -Todd- P.S. I once ran an 'all text ad' in a small local weekly for my clinical massage practice and only got ONE responder. She came in for an $80 weekly appointment every week for over 8 years! The ad cost $45.00! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grime Dawg 14 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 To me, a picture tells me what I think says, text leaves little room for interpertation and therefore I must read what is there. While a picture is important to help draw the eye to piece, I believe the text is what gets the point across. Well said Mike! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mas3372 14 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 Thanks Todd. Think about it. If you get something in the mail that look like junk and is all words, you are not going to exhaust any energy reading it. Even a good bold title will have a hard time keeping your energy. A picture grabs your attentions and lets you imagine or think for a bit, then follow that will a powerful written message to get your point across and make it stick. This is how my mind works. I love getting junk mail now because I play a game with it. I flip through and see what gets my attention the most and the least and rank them and then figure out what sent the most powerful message. This 1 minute game a day has opened my eyes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HotShot 34 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 Mike...what are you findings? Please share...what gets your attention best and least? I think that game is a great idea and I'll start tomorrow :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beth n Rod 1,279 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 Words and Graphics must work together. SYNERGY! Bingo! Beth :cup: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mas3372 14 Report post Posted October 31, 2006 Anthony, Great colors with glossy clear pictures jump out at me but just for a second. I find that I then need a good catchy slogan or text to keep me there and to read it. If it is wordy, I won't finish reading. Short and to the point is what works best. Skip wasteful words and extra adjectives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
