3 Tips for Creating Ads People Actually Want to See
Published May 25, 2009 by Michelle Greer
At one point in time when I was freelancing, I hated my job. I was underappreciated, underpaid, and totally miserable. My friend suggested that I go to tech happy hours to network and let people know I was an online marketer for hire. There, I could meet CEOs, coders, designers, and other people who could help me find a better job.
As a somewhat shy female in a male dominated field, I needed something catchy so people would actually remember me instead of toss my card in the trash. Ironically that's how I landed the gig of community/social media manager for Interspire, but I digress...
I bought a Canon 5D digital SLR camera and decided I would take pictures of people. After all, it's hard to come up to someone just to pass them a card. It's easy to introduce yourself when you have a camera and you can take a nice photo of someone. I would then post the photos to Flickr under a Creative Commons license.
People could use them as avatars, tag their photos so that other people would know who they were, and get to know people around town. I'd post the Flickr link in my blog along with a summary, so people started to get to know my blog as well.
Sure enough, people started to know who I was and what I did. Eventually, I established enough of a name that I could throw my own events and hire a professional photographer instead.
I could have set up a Google AdWords campaign or designed fancy business cards that people would remember. I could have spent thousands of dollars on a meticulously built website or gone to every headhunter in town. Instead, I actually gave people something they would want and could use, and it cost me a little time and money for something I wanted to buy anyway. I made them feel important, because they are. You probably aren't appealing to a tech crowd, but people aren't all that different.
Your customers are important. Theoretically, your product helps them achieve a goal. Instead of pummeling them with messages of how great you are, how can you best express how great you think they are? After all, selling isn't about telling people how great you are -- it's about giving them a product or service can help them be great and even your advertising can do that. That's why they come to you in the first place.
Here are some basic tips for "advertising people actually want to see":
- Figure out who your target audience is. Perhaps a better term? Who is my "community", as you are not only selling but can buy from your customers too.
- Get to know people and be a participant first. Whether your offering is a useful blog, a skate ramp for teenage boys, free samples or whatever, if you build it, that doesn't necessarily mean they will come. People want to get to know that they can trust you and that you aren't just trying to scam them. Tap into existing communities rather than always trying to build them from scratch.
- Always provide value, no matter what form it takes. When you provide value, people provide money. It's never the other way around.
Is an ad useful to an audience? Sometimes, it really is. Just remember that it can be interactive and can take many many forms. If your budget is strapped, get creative and be useful. Be an accessible person rather than some faceless company. You'll be surprised at what can happen.
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