Ad-Speak

One of the worst things that can happen when you run a paid advertising campaign, is that the content of your ad, well, sucks.

See no matter how many times you run a bad ad, it's still a bad ad.

Lately, I have been teaching my radio sales staff how to write commercials that people will listen to. It's not hard, you just have to avoid Ad-Speak.

Drew wrote about this:

Are you real?

Posted: 21 Apr 2009 10:09 AM PDT

How many times have you listened to a radio commercial and started laughing out loud because “no one talks like that!?”

We all have a certain style in how we talk and write. As individuals. As a society. As an age group. As an income bracket. As a profession. Getting the idea?

One of the aspects of social media that I love is that it is making authenticity and being real something that people value and recognize. Advertising in that "false, no one talks that way" style is finally on its way out.

We know authentic works. We know it attracts the people you want to talk to. We know that it's honest.

When you want to talk to your customers, take the time to study them first. See how they communicate.

• Do they speak and write formally?
• In their industry jargon?
• Do they use short, choppy sentence or long, complicated ones?
• Do they use simple, common words or very precise and less common ones?
• Fast? Slow?
• A lot? A little?

We’re all bombarded with messages every day. The messages that break through the noise are the messages that are in our native voice. We don’t want to have to work hard to be communicated to or with. So, we are naturally drawn to those messages that sound and feel most like us.

Am I advocating that you change your native voice to match theirs? Nope. I am suggesting that if you talk/write in your native voice, it will attract those customers who talk that way too. Those are your best customers. Those are the ones who "fit" and who are most likely going to around for a long time.

But...I am suggesting that you be very honest with yourself and check your marketing materials. Do they actually sound like you? Like your best customers? Or do they sound like you just swallowed a thesaurus and a guide for marketing speak?

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