Im not a team sports guy. So, this time of year my head isnt spinning with Super Bowl afterthoughts or dreams of missed calls and dropped passes. But I did watch the Super Bowl. And I enjoyed it. See, there is a not-so-obvious element of individual competition there that I like. In fact, its probably the part that most of us casual observers enjoy most the commercials. While Super Bowl commercials may not be the most cost effective use of a marketing budget (they have singlehandedly sunk large companies into financial ruin) they do provide good lessons for entrepreneurs like us. How? Well, its hard to squeeze a message into 30 seconds. Near impossible. Yet, as a home business owner you MUST do it. And you must do it effectively if you want to leave a lasting impression. On whom, you ask? On anyone and everyone you meet. So, I always recommend that every home-based entrepreneur come up with his or her own 30 Second Face-to-Face Commercial. Word of mouth is your most powerful source of advertising. And its free. But what better place to take a cue from than the $2.6 million sound bites on Super Bowl Sunday. In 30 seconds you dont have time for detail. Instead, you need to communicate the key messages of who you are, what benefit you provide and how your customers should feel about you. Some commercials do it Take FedExs pre-historic slant on safe, reliable delivery. Some commercials dont Remember the cat in the kitchen from last year. Good. Now, remember what they were selling? NOPE. When youre coming up with your personal commercial, consider these three points: 1) How do I describe what I do in less than five seconds? If it takes longer than that, youre confusing your customer. If you make lawns greener, tell your customer that. If you help people free themselves of debt, say that. Dont bore your customers with details. 2) What is the number one benefit my company provides over anything else? No matter what youre saying, your customer is thinking one thing: How does this benefit me? So, dont forget to tell them that. Volvos are safe. FedEx is reliable. BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine, packed with speed and performance. What are you offering EXACTLY? If you can summarize your key benefit in one sentence, youre doing well. 3) What should your customer do NOW? This is the part most Super Bowl commercials forget. Tell you customer exactly what they should do next. Whether you want them to call you, have one of their clients call you, visit a web site or mail in a form tell them exactly how you can help. Maybe if the big spenders had listened to this advice, there would be a few less teary-eyed ad executives on Madison Avenue this month. By the way, this years winners are FedEx
GoDaddy
And Burger King. I think the Steelers might have won the game. |
