Infomercials are the bane of most advertising agencies. We can’t believe the things work. They make the skin crawl with their crass, carnival like sales pitch.
…And they work like gangbusters.
Years ago, local markets were covered with terrible, grating ads for local car dealerships. Pitches that embarrassed Detroit and Madison Avenue alike. Took the wonderful brand and sold it like magic ointment at the state fair.
…And they worked for the dealership like gangbusters.
I once sat over coffee with an artist friend who was complaining about having to ‘touch-up’ a greeting card we knew as ‘The Pansy Cart’ at Hallmark. “It’s old fashioned — I want to be working on bigger things — It will never go in my portfolio…”
…And it sold like gangbusters.
So often we trick ourselves into thinking old fashioned ways of doing business don’t make any sense simply because we don’t like the way they look or sound.
Then a Snuggie or a sham-WOW comes along and we can’t believe anyone would watch such an ad, let alone snap up the product.
Rohit Bhargava posted a nice, simple slideshow at The Influential Marketer blog outlining the 5 reasons why those late night commercials work. He distills it into 5 straight forward steps that hopefully any marketer or salesperson will recognize immediately.
So, should all your advertising look like late night TV infomercials? Probably not, however, there is a reason to remember those 5 steps to making a sale. Turns out simple messages that have worked for generations still work and should be incorporated into any sales program.
…simply put, it will help your product sell like gangbusters.