You want to remain credible?
Be consistent.
I mentioned yesterday – after I shared the radio ad that’s working so well for one of our clients – that, even if you decided to steal it, it might not work for you.
Why not?
Because, week after week for three years this month, my client has been coming onto the radio with kindness and warmth and telling stories about comfort and customers.
His campaign’s response and results have grown steadily throughout that time, and I believe we’re just reaching breakthrough.
Why has it taken so long? (I told him it would at the very beginning.)
He owns a heating and air conditioning company.
How often do you buy a new central air unit?
So, even though consumers may want to do business with my client because they trust him, they have no need to do business with him. It’s a looooong product-purchase cycle.
People do business with companies they trust.
People do business with companies they like.
People do business with companies that echo their own thoughts and mirror their own values and convictions.
Should the goal of advertising, then, be to make you the company consumers think of first and like the most when their need arises for your product or your service?
We think so. That’s what’s been working for us for years.
But, wait – doesn’t that take an awful lot of time, Tim???
Yep.
It requires consistency, frequency and relevance.
And hard work. Lots of it.
And there are no shortcuts to long-term success.
Anyone who tells you otherwise is a thief or a fool.
Couple other ends-of-the-week-things:
* I spoke Thursday to a couple hundred people. The audio didn’t work. My mic was shorting out and feeding back. I eventually took it off and did my best to project to the back of the room. Also, the audio embedded in my presentation wouldn’t go above a whisper through the facility’s speakers. They couldn’t fix it. If you speak enough, this happens. The day before, in St. Louis, everything went perfectly. The trick is to behave the same way whether things are perfect technically or not. Your audience deserves it.
* The Leaders Help eBook is changing, but I’m not sure how. When we started getting replies to our questions, we realized we had something special on our hands – something that deserved a little more time and effort to make it as helpful as possible. I’m just not sure what it is yet. But I’m still thinking. If you’ve already replied, thank you. The response has been amazing and enlightening.
* Big sisters rock.
* I hit a personal highlight Thursday. Do you use Zite, by any chance? I do. Every day. It’s a content-curation app for iPhone and iPad that pushes things toward you that you would like and want to read. I came across one of my own articles for Under30CEO – right there between something from Harvard Business Review and a feature on Craig Newmark. Me. Dude. Wow.
Have a great weekend.
Leave a Reply