{"id":121747,"date":"2024-02-04t13:18:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-04t18:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=121747"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:41","slug":"121747","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2024\/02\/04\/121747\/","title":{"rendered":"ten keys to crafting ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

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and why some ads don\u2019t work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by bruce marcus<\/i>
\nprofessional services marketing 3.0<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

editor\u2019s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert\u2019s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.<\/i><\/p>\n

certainly, the current crop of ads tends to be better than the earlier ones, although we had such weirdies as \u201caccounting is our passion.\u201d (\u201cpassion\u201d is the current fad word). i thought passion to serve clients is more to be desired. how many words will be wasted to explain the link between their passion and their ability to meet your need?<\/p>\n

more: <\/b>eighteen things advertising can do for your firm<\/a> | how hard do you work to keep your clients?<\/a> | when clients think they know marketing<\/a> | how to put target marketing into context<\/a> | everyone in your firm is marketing<\/a> | accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle?<\/a> | professional services marketing requires flexibility<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

then there was \u201cfinancial restructuring without the bitter aftertaste,\u201d for a law firm. the copy\u2019s ok, but the illustration of three executive with faces screwed up (presumably from the bitter aftertaste) looks as if they\u2019ve been drinking doctored kool-aid. pretty inviting, isn\u2019t it? a good rule is don\u2019t try to be funny in public until at least six strangers, none of whom is related to you, laugh at what you\u2019ve written. nothing sours an ad more than unfunny attempts at humor.
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\nanother law firm had a picture of a maze on one side of the ad, with the title \u201clegalese\u201d beneath it, and in the other side, a picture of a bright young lawyer (a real partner), and the caption, \u201cpractical advice.\u201d the message is that you\u2019ll understand what the firm is trying to tell you. surely, the firm has greater and more valuable expertise than that? isn\u2019t being understood by clients a basic in the practice of law?<\/p>\n

a more elegant and effective ad shows a large picture of a go board, with both white and black stones. the caption says, \u201cfinding the right balance between risk and reward isn\u2019t easy. working with your law firm should be.\u201d <\/em>good ad, but when they say, \u201cat winston & strawn our focus is results\u201d (huh?), they move right back into the realm of obvious, lazy and wasteful copy writing. do they expect you to believe that other firms don\u2019t focus on results? that\u2019s missing the point. it also comes under the rubric of telling the reader what to think, without crafting the path that leads the reader to arrive at your intended conclusion. it comes under the \u201csez you\u201d category, which means, essentially, don\u2019t say it unless you can prove it. complex, but more of that in a moment.<\/p>\n

an ad for an accounting and consulting firm shows a new yorker magazine-type cartoon in which three men are standing in front of a desk, apparently being interviewed. one is very tall and gangly. one is a button-down business type. one is a bald little man, barely able to see above the desk. the caption reads, \u201csecretly, dave suspected that only one of the consultants would really fit in with his team.\u201d but which one? and the copy, which is headed \u201cneed deeper understanding?,\u201d gives no clue \u2013 nor does it in any obvious way link to the cartoon. strange.<\/p>\n

it\u2019s interesting to note that these ads no longer appear.<\/p>\n

an ad agency that knows how to do it does the ads for jefferson wells, a finance and accounting firm. a big picture of a real person \u2013 full page. a caption \u2013 \u201cpragmatism shows.\u201d the copy then goes on to describe the fact that the woman in the picture has tackled multiple sarbanes-oxley engagements in the past two years, and has had 15 years of audit experience before that. this is a woman who obviously knows. the implication is clear \u2013 she brings experience and expertise and a pragmatic approach to your problems. another best of show.<\/p>\n

will advertising distinguish one firm from another? not likely, unless, like ogletree, it\u2019s advertising a specialty. nor, i think, is it necessary. just projecting a firm\u2019s capability effectively will make it more competitive, and that\u2019s enough. there are too many law and accounting firms who do essentially the same things to make it necessary to go beyond that.<\/p>\n

the people who did the ogletree and jefferson wells campaigns are rare. generally, ads for professional services fall into two categories \u2013 the story and the boast.<\/p>\n

the story ad describes a situation that demonstrates a distinguishing factor about a firm, or \u2013 without blatantly saying it \u2013 leads the reader to a point of understanding and the conclusion that\u2019s responsive to the important question, \u201cwhat do you want the reader to know, think or feel after reading the ad?\u201d when this is accomplished, the ad is most likely to be successful. a good example of this is the jefferson wells ad. it\u2019s impossible to not be drawn into the ad\u2019s story, and to not grasp the firm\u2019s expertise.<\/p>\n

the boast is the self-serving ad that demands that you accept their claim, without offering proof. the \u201c\u2026we focus on results\u201d is an example. similar ads in this category are those that talk of a firm virtue as if it was exclusive to the firm. there has been a rash of ads that boast of speaking plain english instead of lawyerese, or practical advice, as if these were exclusive virtues. the problem with boast ads is that they tend to be seen as empty promises. they tell no credible story, and in fact, the firms may do better to simply advertise, \u201cwe are lawyers (or accountants). we do good work.\u201d (sez you.)<\/p>\n

why do ads that seem well written sometimes not work? because they miss these points of advertising. because they attempt to merely translate somebody\u2019s idea of persuasive talk into the ad medium, which can sometimes be like wearing a tuxedo to the gym.<\/p>\n

but a product ad, to use the jargon of the ad business, pulls<\/strong>. a professional service ad informs<\/strong>. it will be rare, and perhaps serendipitous, that somebody calls you and says \u201ci saw your ad and want to hire you.\u201d it happens, but you can\u2019t build much of a practice on serendipity. another significant difference.<\/p>\n

how, then, do you measure results of a law or accounting firm ad campaign?<\/p>\n