Do You Market for Applause or Revenues?

To oversimplify, the world of marketing breaks down into two camps, those that market for applause, admiration, and awards, and those that market to generate revenues.

Make no mistake about it, the two are very different.

One of the founding fathers of modern advertising, Claude Hopkins, wrote the seminal book on the topic, Scientific Advertising. The book gave birth to modern direct response. You could apply it to Internet Pay-Per-Click advertising and it's dead-on accurate in its conclusion.

The fascinating thing is that Scientific Advertising was written in the 1920's. To have a work that is as relevant today as it was nearly 100 years ago is brilliant and amazing!

Legendary ad man, David Ogilvy, was once asked about the best way to prepare for a career in advertising. He said without hesitation, "Read Scientific Advertising 7 Times."

The second chapter of Scientific Advertising alone is quite frankly more useful than any marketing MBA degree. It's titled "Just Salesmanship." Here are a few excerpts.

"Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship… Thus every advertising question should be answered by salesman's standards. Let us emphasize that point. The only purpose of advertising it to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales."

"Advertising is multiplied salesmanship… Therefore every ad should be a super - salesman."

"There is one simple way to answer many advertising questions. Ask yourself,… "Would it help me sell them if I met a buyer inperson?" A fair answer to those questions avoids the countless mistakes. But when one tries to show off, or does things merely to please himself, he is little likely to strike a chord which leads people to spend money."

"Some argue for slogans, some like clever conceits. Would you use them in personal salesmanship? Can you imagine a customer whom such things would impress? If not, don't rely on them for selling in print."

"Some say 'Be very brief. People will read for little.' Would you say that to a salesman? With a prospect standing before him, would you confine him to any certain number of words? That would be an unthinkable handicap."

So it is in advertising. The only readers we get are people who are interested in our subject. No one reads ads for amusement, long or short. Consider them as prospects standing before you, seeking for information. Give them enough to get action.

(From Chapter 4 on Mail Order)

"The motto there is, 'The more you tell the more you sell.' And it has never failed to prove out so in any test we know."

These are brilliant ideas that are as applicable today as ever. So the lessons are:

1. Market to sell something
2. Ask yourself, if it were read out loud face-to-face with a prospect, would your marketing work?
3. Tell a complete story in your advertising to get the buyer to the next step in the sales process