Like all tools, advertising can be used for some jobs,
but not for others. For example, you can use a hammer to pound in a nail;
it does this very well. You can also use a screwdriver handle to pound
in a nail – it might work, but why not use the correct tool and save yourself
the effort and avoid the possibility of unknown results?
Advertising is a tool that, if used correctly, is very powerful. Advertising is very good for creating an image, for getting a consistent message out to many people at one time, or for showing how one product differs from another. It’s also good for promoting products over widespread areas.
But there are some things that advertising, by itself, can’t do. Let’s dispel a few of the most common misconceptions. We’ll call them “Advertising Myths.”
MYTH
#1: IF A PRODUCT ISN’T SELLING WELL, ADVERTISE IT.
Advertising–even the most clever, funniest, most expensive advertising
– can’t make people buy something they don’t want.
It can create awareness of your offerings; it can even get people to come check out your business. But if people know that they don’t like or need what you have to offer, advertising won’t help sell it. In fact, advertising can backfire: You could end up drawing attention to the fact that you sell unwanted goods!
For example, look at tanning lotions. Should you advertise your selection of new, hot, high-end lotions? Or, should you advertise those slow-moving products from last season that are still gathering dust with the hope of finally unloading them? You’re already taking a loss on the purchase price of the older merchandise; should you then advertise these “losers,” and thus increase losses of both money and your image as the salon with the best lotion selection in town?
Why not advertise the best items you carry – the product leaders that will draw people in. And, maybe some of the older merchandise will be seen and picked up, too, at no further expense to you!
MYTH #2: ADVERTISING
CAN CREATE SALES.
Many business owners think that advertising is marketing. Or that advertising
is selling. Or that they are all the same thing!
If you understand marketing, you know that marketing encompasses all activities – from research to packaging – to move a product from creation to purchase (or use). Marketing looks at product, price, promotion and placement factors; you’ll hear these referred to as the “4 Ps” of marketing.
Advertising is one way to “teach” people about the services and products you sell. You can use it to communicate what those products and services are, how they will fill a need or enhance life, how much they cost and where people can get them. You can use it to differentiate your business or develop an image.
But it’s good marketing – the overall
strategy that might include advertising – that can (and should) produce
sales. Good advertising can create traffic, interest or an image. It can
even position your business in relation to the competition. But, by itself,
advertising can’t create a sale.
Why not? Because the other marketing components have to work with it.
People may want something they heard advertised, but they won’t buy it
unless they:
1. can afford it,
2. find the place they can purchase it, and
3. like it!
(But what about those ads on TV that say “Call now to order!” This could, arguably, be an exception. But don’t forget that people who order something just because of an ad will still go through an evaluation of the product once they receive it and if the product is not liked...back it goes!)
MYTH
#3: ADVERTISING CAN MANIPULATE PEOPLE TO BUY.
If this myth were true, then some ad executive somewhere would have the
secret to success. If a secret to success exists, why do 80 percent of
new products fail? Why do established products drop from sight?
People have needs for products and services, but they also have choices on how to fill those needs. Their decision to be your customer will be based upon their readiness to buy, but it will be primarily based upon their belief that what you offer satisfies their need.
