Lesson Sixty-Two: How to Improve your Marketing Results

The direct response marketers say, "Image isn't important, it's all in the appeal of the copy." Ad agencies and graphic designers tell us, "Image is everything. It's all about perception." They are both wrong, here is why:

95% of advertising doesn't work. And the advertising that does work often fails to make the sale. The reason for this becomes apparent when you look deeply into the emotional world of your customer.

We all walk around living our lives with the utmost concern about only one thing: ourselves. Our own worries, stresses, beliefs, and dreams. Self-interest is the one true constant you will find in every consumer.

If your advertising does not engage the self-interest of a prospect with an immediate, actionable, irresistible message it will fail to generate any substantial returns. That's why direct response advertising always outpulls image advertising. Direct response is all about the prospect, image advertising is all about the advertiser. Who do you think the reader is more interested in?

But here is where it changes.The moment you have engaged the interest of the prospect, the moment his mind and heart have opened up to the idea that he will benefit from what you are selling, then it stops being about his self-interest and it becomes all about you.Who we buy from is a reflection of who we are. To that customer your business is a reflection on him. Your credibility, your appeal and the likelihood that you will deliver as promised. To complete the sale you must pass the critical judgment of your prospect.

Now, whether you win or lose the sale is all about perception. It could be as simple as the business card you hand him, or the sign on your door, or the uniform you wear, or the logo on your letterhead, or the sales material you hand out, or the presentation slides you show. Most likely, it is a combination of these things.

Many marketing people cannot reconcile these two intentions. They get entrenched in a point of view and cling to their side of the fence. But here is the truth: Image doesn't work in advertising, but image is critical to completing the sale. If you view the sale as anything less than a two step process of generating the lead, and then converting it, you are over-simplifying the process, and will experience more failure than you need to.

Follow these principles and I guarantee you will see dramatic improvements in your sales.