Bake Better Bread!

I love making bread - it's a real Sunday treat for our family - I'll get up early and as the rest of the house is waking, the intoxicating smell of freshly baking bread, often parmesan and sun-dried tomato flavoured, is meandering it's way up the stairs!!

It's not always been good bread though.

A few weeks ago, I had an aberration and completely forgot to put the yeast in - I then tried to add it after the bread had proved - horrible mistake that I won't ever make again (hopefully)!

The incident reminded me of the Morecambe & Wise sketch from the early 70's when they had, as their guest, André Previn. Eric Morecambe was trying to demonstrate his musical prowess and when Previn complained that Morecambe was playing the wrong notes, he famously retorted that he was playing all the right notes, just in the wrong order!

The same is true in the business world. There are 5 key 'ingredients' required for any advertising message to be impactful - and there is a correct order for those ingredients to go into the marketing mix.

They are:

• Commanding Attention
• Showcasing the Benefits of Products/Services
• Proving those Benefits
• Persuading People to Embrace the Benefits
• And, of course, a clear and compelling Call to Action

It's worth remembering that advertising is simply sales in print.

So, you need to think about the unique benefits your products/services offer and showcase that in a persuasive way. That's not always easy, especially as many markets are becoming increasingly commoditised, so you might ask your existing customers what your products or services really do for them. The point is that, it is critical that you emphasise results, not features.

So, let’s just take a minute to talk about each of these 5 ingredients:

1. Command Attention: This is usually accomplished with a stand-out headline. You need an attention-grabber that makes people want to know more about your products/services. The best headlines give a vivid portrayal of the benefits or show how a problem can be avoided with your products/services. The headline is the advertisement for the advertisement. It tells the reader why they should pay attention.
2. Showcase Benefits: You have to showcase the benefits of your products and services and, more importantly, show how they will solve or prevent a problem. Remember, this is not about how long you've been in business or that you might or might not be family owned! They need to know what’s in it for them. Include useful, factual and clear information to show precisely what the benefits are and how they are going to help the customer.
3. Offer Proof: This is where you prove what the advertisement is offering. You need to establish you have a method to deliver. Consider information that establishes credibility and past performance.
4. Persuade: You need to add compelling and reasons for your potential customers to purchase your products/services. Use a hard sell approach and create a feeling of scarcity (limited availability). This will enact your potential customers to feel like they have to act now. Which leads into the last component.
5. Call to Action: You need to compel your potential customers to DO something. Raising awareness is good, but if you need sales, encourage an action. They need to check out your site, sign up for your newsletter, purchase your products, contact you about services…something.  Offer a freebie - perhaps a booklet, sample, product, bonus, demo, consult, limited time price…the list goes on. There are lots of ways to get potential customers excited about ordering from you, many of which you may not have thought of, and help them feel like they are getting an amazing deal.

Good adverts include all of these components, positioned and delivered in the right order and an advert is not complete without any of them. You can sit down and think through any one of these components, then figure out how to best place them together for the most effectiveness.

And, in case you haven't got the message, if you want to make better bread, don't be like me! Make sure that you use the right ingredients in the right order ... then you'll make plenty of great bread!

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At the Imora Marketing Academy, we can help you with this too. Try our FREE test drive to learn how to put together great advertisements from some of the best in the business.