Easy Ad Hacks — TMI is killing your advertising

Contrary to popular belief, information is the enemy of persuasion, not the friend. Too much information is the number one killer of advertising. So if you’re looking for easy ad hacks, just reduce the amount of information.

As my old Journalism professor used to say, Boil! Boil! Boil!!! Boil your campaigns down to one simple idea.

Most people do just the opposite. They think they can convince, sell or persuade by piling on the facts and data.

But the more information you stuff into an ad, the less response you’ll get.

All the lastest findings from neuroscience and behavioral economics confirm what direct response copywriters have always known: the dreaded TMI disease seriously hurts your odds of success.

Too much information just does not work. The human brain needs context first, details later.

Information is what web sites and info graphics are for. Not advertising.

You can cover all the nitty gritty details on your website or landing page. That’s where you can go deep and write long, convincing copy with oodles of proof points, blog posts and white papers. Don’t try doing that in your advertising.

Effective advertising leads prospects to that information and moves them further down the primrose path to conversion.

Advertising doesn’t change minds, it simply gets people moving in the right direction… from ad, to website, to store and hopefully to purchase.

That’s how it’s supposed to work.

Many people take the short cut, thinking they can do it all in one ad. That’s an easy ad hack that’s sure to backfire…

Just get the word out there!

Hit ’em over the head with product specs and features. Give ’em every detail of the coming event. Show them every product that’s on sale. Baffle them with details and factoids.

There’s no thinking behind it. No strategy. No emotional hook. And worst of all, no story.

Here’s a n example: Several local hearing aid businesses run huge, full-page ads in the paper every week. (It’s a wise media strategy, because senior citizens are the only people reading the newspaper these days.)

Terrible execution though!

The ads are all type and hype… packed with claims about the “revolutionary new technology,” exhaustive feature lists and unbelievable promises. Someone could easily win that marketing battle simply by removing the facts and taking a less-is-more approach.

Nobody likes being bored to death. Plus, there’s a tremendous emotional benefit they’re missing completely.

Advertising is an arena geared specifically for stories and emotional benefits. The imaginative part of the sales pitch, if you will.

Save the product features and details for your website or for the sales pitch once you’re on the phone with a prospect.

That’s the easiest of all the easy ad hacks on earth…

Say less. Use fewer words. Simplify everything.

A Harvard Business Review study revealed the underlying problem with more information:  unnecessarily confusing paths to a purchasing decision.

“Companies have ramped up their messaging, expecting that the more information they provide, the better the chances of holding on to increasingly distracted and disloyal customers.

But for many consumers, the rising volume of marketing messages isn’t empowering—it’s overwhelming. Rather than pulling customers into the fold, marketers are pushing them away with relentless and ill-conceived efforts to engage.”

The study compared the digital advertising of two camera brands. Brand A used extensive technical information such as megapixel rating, memory and resolution details. Nothing about the beautiful images you could capture.

And guess what? All that information didn’t lead people closer to a decision. It led them down a frustrating rabbit hole and drove them to consider Brand B.

(There’s an old saying in photography circles…”the best camera for the job is the one in your hand when the light’s just right.” I snapped this beauty shot with my iPhone.)

“Brand B simplified the decision making process and helped prospects traverse the purchase path quickly and confidently.”

The approach focused more on the end results of having a great photo, rather than the features of the camera. The HBR research showed that “customers considering both camera brands are likely to be dramatically more “sticky” toward Brand B…”

Of all the easy ad hacks, that has to be the most basic and most important: Emotional benefits come before facts and product features.

The marketer’s goal is to help customers feel confident about their choice, not more confused. Just providing more information often doesn’t help.

I’ve had bosses and clients who believe that every inch of every ad should be utilized to its fullest extent. In other words, pack it with facts. Leave nothing out. “White space is for people with nothing to say.”

The underlying reason for that is usually insecurity and/or inexperience.

The results are predictably dismal… You end up with a frustrated creative team, confused consumers and lousy response rates.

So if you’re working on a new campaign and you need some more easy ad hacks, try this: make friends with the Delete button. Delete, delete, delete!

Embrace the white space. Learn when to shut up. When in doubt, take it out!

For more on this subject, check out THIS post