Small Biz Survival

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Advertising: Less is Much More

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A terrific article on advertising, from BusinessWeek, referred by Smallbusiness.com Newswire.

Don’t confuse advertising with journalism. Journalism’s mission is to inform the audience by presenting all the relevant facts about a given topic.
…
But advertising is different. … advertising needs to come across more like theater.

Over the years, an unspoken social contract has developed. Consumers effectively tell advertisers, “Entertain me, and I will give you my attention. Respect my intelligence, and I’ll give you my interest. Do neither, and I’ll give you neither.”
…
Most ads try to spoon-feed people. But nobody past the age of 6 months wants spoon-feeding. Take a different approach.

Draw people in. Tell a story. Encourage them to engage in it, and reward them when they do. If you do it right, they’ll want to see your ads again and again. And then you’ll really start getting your money’s worth.

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

Filed Under: rural

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