The reason why 85% of all advertising fails to reach the attention threshold is not because of the ad creative itself.
It’s also not because of the ad platform
So it doesn’t matter if the ads were promoted with Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Facebook (META) Ads, and so on.
So what is responsible for so much failure in an industry housing some of the brightest minds on the planet?
Well, that’s what I want to discuss in this article. But first, let us define…
What Advertising Is
According to Wikipedia…
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers.
From this definition, we can see that advertising is an attention game
The success of an advertising campaign is largely dependent on its ability to capture attention; a scarce commodity, and turn that into action
If you are unable to get the readers, viewers, or listeners hooked, your ad will fall flat.
The Biggest Cause of Advertising Failure
I began by telling you that the reason why many adverts are lackluster in performance wasn’t because of the ad creative or the advertising platform.
That’s because the main reason is one step deeper. It is…
FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER
Advertising is about capturing people’s attention and getting them to take action.
I don’t know anyone in the whole world who can grab the attention of another person without first knowing anything about that person.
But in advertising, it’s more difficult.
You need to know several THINGS about, not one person, but a group of people.
This kind of understanding is what will allow you to:
- Choose the right platform to show your ads
- Use the right words in your copy
- Determine the appropriate length of your copy
And so on.
Doing this is tedious work, so many advertisers make the mistake of pulling information out of thin air.
Typically, the majority of this assumed information is false.
Nothing beats spending time with your target before you attempt to sell them
How To Find Your Target’s Dirty Secrets
Here’s a post I made on X that read –
The reason why many ads don’t work is not knowing the customer. If you know someone’s secret, you can get them to do anything. It’s the same in advertising https://t.co/C0IXtu7QhY
— Godson Okorodudu (@GodsonOkorodudu) May 30, 2024
Think about that for a minute. If someone has information about something you’ve done in your past.
I’m pretty sure getting your attention and getting you to do something won’t be very difficult
That’s blackmail.
In marketing, it’s something similar.
Have you ever gotten a cold email or DM that contained something you recently did or said?
Maybe you spoke at a conference or wrote an article and a stranger picks up that detail and reaches out to you with it
I bet it got your attention, and if the rest of the copy did a good job, it may have gotten you to take action.
That’s what I am trying to describe.
Every group has its dirty secrets and with the techniques I am going to share, you can find them
Getting Into Their Flow
The first technique for finding the secrets about your audience is getting in their flow.
Groups like Pastors, Politicians, Doctors, Nurses, Gamblers, etc. all have things in common
They have unique slang and language patterns
They share similar core beliefs
It’s common sense to read blog posts, and books, listen to podcasts and watch videos targeted at those groups
This would get you thinking about the advert you want to create from their perspective, and more importantly, in their language.
Crafting A Buyer Persona
Credits: Customer Avatar sheet – DigitalMarketer
Some people call this an avatar. Both names are fine.
An Avatar is the demographical and psychographical description of your ideal customer.
Forget the grammar, it’s a piece that describes who your target is, their challenges, goals, fears, and desires.
Take note, I said CUSTOMER not customers.
That’s because you need to understand one person, don’t try to understand the group
It’s a lot easier to focus on demystifying a member than the entire group.
Once you understand one person; there are millions of people with those same attributes.
Follow the guide for creating your customer avatar from DigitalMarketer HERE
As Gary Halbert once wrote:
When you’re trying to sell something there is no more powerful piece of ammunition you can have than to know someone’s real deep-down core desires.
Before And After States
As John Caples said;
In advertising, the customer comes first, the product comes second, and your copy comes last.
In the first two points, I focused on the customer and helping you understand them and their dirty secrets.
That’s because it is that important.
In this third step, we want to understand the product but not isolation.
We are going to observe the product we intend to sell under the microscope of the customer.
One of the best ways to do this is by plotting the before and after states from Digital Marketer
Credits: Before and After states – DigitalMarketer
You see, people don’t buy products or services, they buy outcomes!
The before and after states help you visualize the outcomes your customers are going to experience after using your product
Instead of focusing on the features of your product or even the benefits
A properly mapped Before And After state, helps you keep the customer at the center of your advertising campaign even when describing your solution a.k.a. the product.
Summary
Advertising fails when it does not hit the hot buttons of the audience.
People are not interested in buying new products or services
They are seeking to solve problems. To achieve their secret desires.
Every buyer is looking for an outcome.
Creating ads that work requires a deliberate effort to uncover the audience’s dirty secrets
It’s hard work. But it’s important work.
You can discover these secrets by:
- Getting in their flow: Reading, watching and listening to resources created for or about them
- Creating a customer avatar: taking a deep dive into their lives
- Plotting their before and after state: Viewing your products from the lens of the ideal buyer
I hope you’ve enjoyed the read.
To learn more also read: How To Create Ads That Make Money
That would do it for this one.
Have fun!
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