Free resources from Actual Wizards.

There are probably two reasons why you clicked through this link:

1. You were curious as to what content we'll put out based on the headline
2. You're really bent on unhooking your deductive reasoning

Many would probably say, why would anyone want to do that? Well, unhooking your deductive reasoning in this context is not about letting go of all sense of rationality. After all, deductive thinking is necessary because we live in a highly logical world. In a way, you need deductive reasoning skills to navigate through this realm. There's just one problem. Only relying on logic means you're using only half your brain's power (left brain) the entire time. Unhooking your deductive reasoning means tapping into your intuitive, creative, artistic, and emotional self a.k.a. your right brain. Only then can you fully harness the power of magical thinking to give your business the competitive edge it needs. You and I will both agree that the success of your business in your category relies heavily on effective advertising. That's especially true for tight and saturated markets like the residential home service. If you want to come up with killer advertising that sweeps the legs of your competition, use your right brain. It begins with unhooking your deductive reasoning. We'll teach you how you could do that here. Keep reading.

What is Meant by Deductive Reasoning?

For the purpose of this section, we'll define and view deductive reasoning from the angle of business and advertising. Deductive reasoning is a class of logical thinking, that's also referred to as top-down thinking. It often begins with a general idea or fact before reaching a specific conclusion. For example, a consumer reading an offer that says "free in-home diagnostic fee" would conclude it's a good deal. Or a roofing ad that says they use eco-friendly shingles would meet the same positive conclusion from consumers. Deductive reasoning means your logic meets the information first, which then analyzes if they're passable or not. There are three common types of deductive reasoning:

• Syllogism. A conclusion is drawn from two assumed premises. For instance, imagine someone that thinks all things cheap is good. If they found an ad for a free in-home diagnostic test, they’ll automatically assume the offer is good. Sadly, that's not always the case, and nothing ever comes for free.
• Modus ponens. A conclusion is drawn from two premises, with one being the cause, and the other being the effect. For example, you think selling cheaper will make customers choose your solutions. In response, you lowered your prices but your sales remained meager at best. It is true that all things being equal, customers will prefer cheaper prices, but that is not the only factor.
• Modus tollens. The inverse of modus ponens, this is when you reach a contradiction from the two premises. For example, you think that since competitors offer the same products cheaper, you must match them or lose market share. You then lowered your prices but found that not only did sales not improve, they declined.

There’s nothing wrong with deductive reasoning. However, you’re missing the point when you appeal to your market’s logic through your messaging and advertising. Why? Because every consumer, despite all sense of rationality, will always buy based on emotions. In other words, the business that makes them "feel good" becomes the frontrunner among their choices. Only creativity can give you that sort of advertising, and that’s only possible when you unhook your deductive reasoning. Heck, don't even take it from me. Listen to what David Ogilvy, the Father of Advertising, had to say: “Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science, and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.” According to Nobel Prize Winner, Dr. Roger Sperry, your creativity, emotions and intuitiveness come from your right brain. A place where deductive reasoning is absent. If you want to craft the best advertising for your business, use fact-based creative and emotional ads. Wizard of Ads® happens to burst with the creativity to develop the killer, conversion-driven advertising your business needs. Book a call.

Creative Problem Solving

As a residential home service business, you are deemed a problem-solver by the general populace. For an HVAC business, you're a bringer of heat and producer of cold air. For plumbers, you're the magician of sinks and sewer lines. While roofers might not have the same panache as these businesses, people know that they keep houses element-free. The thing is, regardless of your line of work, the way you'll fix problems will generally be similar to competitors. Additionally, the customers will also normally share similar problems within your category. Now how customers choose your solutions over others will depend on how creative and persuasive your messaging is. More importantly, how desirable your value proposition is compared to competitors. You need to create a perfectly fair competitive advantage or an offer that far outweighs competing service providers. Creative problem-solving is about defining the facts surrounding the problems that customers face. This is where "stuffing your conscious mind with information" comes in. Indeed, you have to understand every pain point, pleasure point, and underlying felt need that customers have. This is the only way you can leverage your solutions. "Unhooking your thought process" is what helps you come up with creative approaches to solving your customers' problems. No, it’s not necessarily in terms of service but about how you’ll get your message across. In other words, inform your customers how you plan to solve their problems and explain your valuable offer. Below are some ways you can unhook deductive reasoning and come up with creative solutions for your customers.

Brilliant Ways To Unhook Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning reveals the facts, but it's when we unhook from deductive reasoning that we make our creative juices curdle. Of course, as David Ogilvy recommended, feeding our conscious minds come first. That means embracing all the facts, logic, information and deductive reasoning we can muster. Then once our conscious minds are satisfied, that's when we process the facts to produce the killer advertisement. Here are 5 ways to do that:

1. Arts

Art is in everything. Music, theater, dance, paintings, sculpture and literature. By observing and participating in the arts, we can learn to look at the world from different perspectives. This is not only a personal observation but a scientifically supported fact. In April 2018, the Journal of Business Research published a study on the inspirational power of arts on creativity. Results of the research revealed that participants in touch with aesthetic experiences are inspired and generate more creative solutions. Learning to appreciate works of art enhanced people's creative levels. Even in the business environment, art appreciation resulted in better performance in designing and problem-solving. Art lets people develop a line of thinking outside the box.

2. Humor

Here's what most marketers don't tell you: advertising is business-specific. The way you advertise in the residential home service industry varies greatly from other categories. For one, you're selling externally triggered grudge purchases. That means people don't buy out of an inherent want, they buy from an externally influenced need. That doesn't make them happy, so the only way to appease their raging emotions is through humor. What better way to build our proclivity for all things funny than immersing in comedic reverie? Funny happens when you insert an outrageous suggestion that "doesn't belong but fits" into an otherwise bland narrative. When you make your audience laugh, you tear down their defenses. You soften them up to your business and open their minds to your solutions.

3. Time Pressure

The funny thing about time pressure is that it's all in our heads. Our bodies are perfectly capable of handling way more stress than we give them credit for. It's deadlines that get us all worked up and force us to be relentlessly creative machines. That's one flaw of the logical mind and deductive reasoning. Tight deadlines and steep demands make the logical mind quit. However, when you unhook your deductive reasoning and embrace the panic, you open the floodgates of ideas and creativity. The key is to take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. This will help you clear your head and allow your right brain to do its job.

4. Play!

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." That's one of the most relevant quotes as to why playing is necessary for creative problem-solving. When you engage in fun things, your brain releases endorphins. This then improves your brain's functionality and stimulates creativity. That said, play that sport you've always wanted. Go on adventures with your friends. Climb a mountain. Touch grass. Whenever your play, you let your uptight and rigid minds relax and let loose. Roy H. Williams perfectly summarized the importance of play in a quote:

"Children are happy because they play. Adults are unhappy because they do not."

5. Recovery

When you’re actively using your brain in taking care of your business and coming up with strategies, you get drained. A tired mind will always be less creative. To refuel, you need to take some time off and recover. This can be in the form of a nap, meditation or even disconnecting yourself from work for a while. That's why sleeping on any plan or tactic you come up with is necessary. This gives your brain ample time to go over and refine everything you have in mind. Don't you notice your brain go ballistic on imagination during bus rides? That's because you're in a resting phase. By doing so, you’ll allow your body to recover and also give your brain the chance to generate new ideas. Unhooking deductive reasoning is not about letting go of all rationality nor is it about focusing solely on creative thinking. Logic and imagination are two peas in a pod. They must work together in perfect synchrony to produce the killer ad that’s impossible to say “no” to. Once you’ve filled your brain tank with all information necessary, it’s time to unhook from deductive reasoning. Watch your creative juices flow endlessly. Even with bursting creativity, crafting and articulating the perfect ads still require experience, knowledge, and practice. You can either learn the ropes of business advertising or hire the marketers who can do it for you. Ryan Chute from Wizard of Ads® happens to be that person. Book a call.

Can the brain multi-task? That's an interesting thought, especially as we’re coursing through a highly busy and preoccupied world. Everyone’s multi-tasking nowadays, and people have seemingly succumbed more to the movement during the smartphone age. Therefore, the more interesting question to ask is: "are people made for multi-tasking?" Science suggests that multi-tasking and the brain have an inverse relationship. We only cultivate productivity when we create momentum. One of the harsh effects of multitasking is we impede this momentum when bouncing from one task to another. That's the reason Joe Kraus believes that we live in a culture of distraction. Before smartphones took over the world, we used the internet 5 times a day on average. Now, that number blew up to more than 500 percent, at 27 times a day. This distracted multi-tasking culture became a cause for worry for Joe Kraus. Who's Joe Kraus, you say? Well, he founded excite.com, JotSpot, and DigitalConsumer.org. He was a partner at Google Ventures, has investments on LinkedIn, and is the current President of Lime. In other words, a heckuva' successful entrepreneur, yet he despises all of this connectivity. This culture of multi-tasking meant people are becoming busier and more distracted, but not in any way more productive. That poses problems, especially for businesses, and we’ll tell you why. Here, we'll look into multi-tasking and the brain, and more importantly, how this culture of distraction affects marketing and advertising. Keep reading.

Our Brain vs the Internet

I’m sure you’ve realized by now that the human brain is far less advanced in processing information than computers…Unlike rigs boasting powerful 8-core chipsets that can handle 16 simultaneous processes at once, our brains can only handle one. Neuropsychologists stress that [humans are hard-wired to be monotaskers](https://health.clevelandclinic.org/science-clear-multitasking-doesnt-work/#:~:text=One study found that just, once aren't actually that.). It's how our brain gets things done. When people say they're engaged in a multi-tasking sesh, they are simply doing different actions in quick succession. You know, like 15 minutes of work here, another 5 to talk to colleagues, and 30 scrolling through social media. In other words, people are simply task-switching. You'll notice it even in today's era. How many people within your Realm of Association are active on social media during supposedly work hours? Exactly. DataReportal revealed that social media's share of total online time jumped from 26.3 percent to 35.2 percent in 9 years. Mobile devices' share of total internet time also grew from 27.3 percent in 2013 to 53.5 percent in 2021. Brain multi-tasking is not a real thing. It's a lie we tell ourselves to mask how distracted we really are. At least computers can maintain and switch through an abundant amount of tabs without crashing. Still, even computers stutter when handling data beyond their capacity, how much more do our brains? That said, does multitasking damage your brain? The answer is even more concerning because UK brain research on multi-tasking showed that it makes people mentally unbalanced. Multi-tasking reduces a person’s mental capacity by an average of 10 points on IQ tests. So, yes. Multi-tasking is cognitively damaging and worse, businesses will suffer from this emerging culture of distraction. You want advertising that captivates your audience’s distracted thoughts to help get your message across. Not all marketers can do that, but Ryan Chute of Wizard of Ads® can. Book a call.

The Culture of Distraction (Multi-tasking)

A single Google search reveals the many articles on multi-tasking boasting both the positives and negatives of it. One of the most interesting I've read is the column by Inc. on multi-tasking. They said the effect of multitasking on the brain is like missing a night's sleep. While, for the men, they described it as affecting the brain 3 times more than the effect of smoking weed. That results in 40 percent less efficiency with our daily tasks. Still, there's a special group of people who can execute multi-tasking more effectively than the rest of us. According to APA PsycNet, only 2.5 percent of people can multitask (Plot twist: They're androids). The point is that: there's only a fraction of individuals who can cope with the culture of distraction. Everyone else will inevitably suffer the ramifications of our poor choices. Here's the interesting bit. The more people dwell on the delusion that we're capable of multitasking, the worse they get at it.

“When you practice distraction, which is what multi-tasking really is, you’re training your brain to pay attention to distracting things." — Roy H. Williams

Once distraction becomes a lifestyle, which is what's happening today, people will struggle to focus on more important tasks. You get less done. You throw away money. You waste a non-renewable resource, which is time. In the context of business advertising, this is a huge issue. You want eyes focused on your business but distractions keep pulling them away. If you can't hold people’s attention, how can you get your message across? How will you be able to sell anything? The answer is, you won't and there's nothing we could do to alter our customers' habits. What we could do is cope with reality and find ways to make our message clear to a distracted audience. We'll teach you how below.

What Does our Culture of Distraction Mean to Marketers?

What multi-tasking did to the brain produced a strong ripple effect that has bred a generation of easily distracted individuals. Wherever you go, you'll see people lost in a trance as they scroll through their feeds. This culture of distraction has transcended the realms of business, and this affects marketers in 5 ways:

1. Getting attention is one thing. Holding it is another.

The multitasking brain is less able to focus. This has made it harder for marketers to get people's attention in the first place. In a world where we're bombarded with 4 thousand -10 thousand marketing messages a day, is problematic. It's become increasingly harder for businesses to cut through the noise and reach their target audience. You want to make your advertising as attractive as possible. Make sure you're producing content that's irresistible and hard to look away from. Do you know what advertisements are hardest to resist? Those that tell a story. Wizard of Ads® can craft those for you if you book a call.

2. The volume of information gushing toward your customer is like a fire hose aimed at a teacup.

Every business venture and each solution you're selling is composed of tons of valuable information. It can be tempting to bombard your audiences with information-dense advertising to make them see the incredible value you offer. We get it. But that's not how advertising works, especially today. Nitpick the best value from your solutions and transform them into bite-sized, easily digestible messages. Fill their teacup to the brim.

3. Advertising must embrace a Big Idea or it will be ignored.

David Ogilvy once said that the most creative, innovative, revolutionary ideas (big ideas) come when we unhook our deductive reasoning. Ads made from big ideas captivate people’s attention and linger in their memories longer. That said, keep stuffing your unconscious mind with facts. Then unplug from all rationality as you immerse in creative activities. See the floodgates of your right brain open and big ideas flow through.

"Big Ideas don’t arise from normalcy. Big Ideas are products of audacity. The unmitigated gall of a big idea requires that you be a bit of an outsider. Otherwise, you will never walk the path where it can be found." — Roy H. Williams

4. Attention can be held only by moving rapidly from Big Idea to Big Idea to Big Idea.

Big ideas are the key to capturing and holding your audience's attention. A barrage of advertising forged from big ideas is the secret to keeping your market's eyes on you. Through big ideas, you unmake the culture of distraction that multi-tasking instilled in society.

5. Never in history have we crammed bigger thoughts into fewer words.

It's no secret that people's attention spans have been on the down low in recent years. People are looking to digest information in the quickest and most non-intrusive way possible. That could be a problem. For instance, feature a 60-second ad and see your audience itching to skip the video. Alternatively, create a quick 5-second ad and it goes over your market's head. The best ads strike the perfect balance between word count and ad length. Choosing the right words is also essential.

Big Ideas

“Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science, and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.” — David Ogilvy

You want your brain to be an endless supply of big ideas. That’s the only way to counteract the culture of distractions we’ve all helped create. Stuff your brain with information and then unhook deductive reasoning. You’ll see the facts and figures take an artistic form. Big ideas = great advertising. If you want your advertising to be filled with big ideas, choose the marketers that don’t multitask. We happen to be those people. We’ll relentlessly pursue your business success and won’t stop until we achieve it. Interested? Book a call.

Do businesses still need advertising? Of course. You cannot take advertising away from any industry. As a matter of fact, without any level of advertising, even sales from household brands will plummet. Now making an ad noticeable? That's the more interesting question. Every time you publish an ad, you have one singular goal in mind: to get noticed. Your advertising efforts are your one-way ticket to attracting attention and making a buzz. Getting your message across is key to getting noticed in a world full of digital noise and content overload. I repeat, it’s about delivering your message, never the medium. The truth is, noticeable ads will remain noticeable no matter the medium. Sadly, not every business owner thinks the same. Roy H. Williams has had his moments dealing with people who believe otherwise, like:_ “I work in the furniture industry. Which media should I choose?” “My target audience is people who are afraid of the dentist. What’s a good mailing list company?” “TV ads work very well for my uncle in attracting new customers. He’s made a fortune off them. What's your opinion of TV?” “No one in my town listens to the radio anymore. Everyone has a smartphone.” “Advertising doesn't work for my kind of business.” _These are the kind of questions and statements that leave Roy dumbfounded. Crappy messaging emblazoned on a billboard will still add no sense of value to customers. They will walk past your invisible message without a second glance. To get noticed, you must master the art of crafting provocative, flabbergasting, and stupefying messages in your ads. We'll share that art with you today. Keep reading.

Mastering the Art

We see thousands of commercials every single day. You hear ads over the radio. You read them every time you scroll on social media or those in-video YouTube ads we all hate. But every once in a while, you see that one ad that makes you go, "What the %*$# just happened?" Have you ever had that moment? Weird advertisements make you cringe, laugh, disgusted, surprised, and even question your existence. Yet no matter how dismayed you felt, you couldn't get enough. It’s as if you have to finish the weird commercial; otherwise, the experience is incomplete. Throw in all the flak you could think of, but one common denominator binds them together: they get noticed. That's the kind of advertising you should aim for. There isn't a treasure trove of unusual advertisements scattered all over the internet because most people are not weird. Only a few of them still make appearances on TV. A considerable chunk gets banned. However, they won't fail to induce a good dose of chuckles after a rewatch. Weird adverts or odd-vertising, as I'd like to put it, are not the golden standard to get noticed. It’s not all about how your advertising team writes the ad. Understanding your audience is a significant part of mastering the art of getting noticed.

What do they relate the most to? What sort of value are they looking for? What makes them tick? What infuriates them? What forces them to take action?_Advertising is never about what makes your business happy. It's always been about the audience. You will only master the art of getting noticed when you produce ads FOR audiences. Throw in your values and beliefs, then mix in their pain and pleasure points. Pour a sprinkle of humor, drama, or audacity. Then add a smidge of weirdness. That’s how you concoct a head-turner ad. Keep in mind, industries vary from one another. In the residential home services, you're selling externally triggered, grudge purchases. That means you’re selling solutions people are forced to buy, and this brands your business with a negative connotation from the outset. Comedy is one way to appease your customer's raging emotions, and sometimes that's what your ads need. If you’re looking for killer ads that give your business all the buzz, we got you fam. Book a call with Ryan Chute of Wizard of Ads™, and we’ll hook you up.

Importance of Relevance

“Relevance is what determines whether an ad works or not.

Every media fails when it delivers a message no one cares about.”

— Roy H. Williams

Relevance has always been the foundation of effective communication. Say otherwise and suffer the roars of contempt from the advertising Gods. However, in this day and age, relevance doesn't seem to be as relevant. To be relevant is to appropriately connect with people within the right context. A relevant ad satisfies what audiences are searching for, not what you are selling. Every day, businesses answer unasked questions that nobody cares about in their well-intended and inoffensive ads. _How is this helpful? Is what you’re saying going to make a difference? Does it satisfy anyone's actual underlying felt needs? Will it make your prospect happy or waste their precious time? These questions form the litmus test that examines the relevance of information. For your business to get noticed, you must put out relevant ads. But in the context of advertising, relevance has nothing to do with entertainment or artistic delivery. Being relevant is all about what your buyers actually value. Your set of solutions has a corresponding value, no matter what business you are in. Creating ads that get noticed means leveraging what your customers value. Your customers will only buy based on these motivators. In other words, a tastefully crafted comedy advertisement with lackluster value will still yield mediocre results. Whereas weird ads with great value? Those are the ads that get noticed. Let's look at an example: Old Spice - The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Old Spice is known for the absurd ads that are densely packed with intrinsic value. Take "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," for example. If there were a list of the weirdest Old Spice commercials, this would rank within the top three. Contrary to the deodorant company's market, this 30-second video ad targeted ladies. It featured a handsome man, Isaiah Mustafa, with an oddball sense of humor. The commercial was very effective in generating a lot of social media chatter. Dissecting the ad, you'll notice that underneath the banter and funny quips, Isaiah never stops talking about their value. The transforming landscapes, being on a yacht, pouring diamonds, and riding a horse were all Old Spice's essence metaphors. This ad etched Old Spice as the epitome of scented masculinity. Any woman who watches the ad will desire their partner to smell like a million dollars. Weird, quirky, smooth, fun, and relevant. Good advertising. All in all, this odd commercial is an excellent example of how to get noticed for all the right reasons.

Ads That Failed

You see countless ads per day. How many of those do you actually remember? Exactly. That's what North Americans experience each and every day. You see an ad, you forget the ad. This vicious cycle happens day in and day out. All those unremarkable ads drown in the Sea of Sameness, never to be recalled again. That's the reality, but you know what's worse? Your advertising efforts could be one of those ads that won't sink in and make their mark. For businesses like yours, you can't afford to waste resources on ads that don't generate strong retention and recall. Producing disruptive and attention-grabbing ads delivered at the correct frequency is the only solution when you want to get noticed. However, if you've run ads before that failed miserably, here are the potential reasons why:

1. The ad was so predictable that few people paid attention.

How would you feel if you sat through a movie that has already been spoiled to you? Predictable advertisements follow this same theme. They lack anticipation, surprise, and delight which puts your audiences on edge, looking forward to the punchline. In this case, your only solutions are to get a new ad writer or give the one you've got creative freedom. The best ads pack an unexpected twist that leaves audiences open-mouthed and in complete delight.

2. Prospective customers didn’t care.

This is where relevance comes in. You want ads to be relevant to your market; otherwise, what value are they even getting from you? If you are met with this problem, it's time to dump the irrelevant subject matter. Spruce up your value by discovering what people actually care about and then talk about that instead.

3. The ad’s message is relevant but unclear.

The thing about Old Spice is that their advertising is funny and relevant at the same time. Plus, they conveyed both fronts perfectly. You are doing something wrong when your creativity waters down and confuses your clarity. After all, what’s the point of being cute and clever if your prospect can’t remember the name of your business? Furthermore, tell your layout artist that the prettiest ad is rarely the most effective. You're running a business, not a fashion magazine. Ensure the creative team understands their continued employment depends on creating ads that sell the product.

4. Your ad campaign commitment is shorter than your product selling cycle.

This is a common rookie mistake that dooms many advertising campaigns. The sales cycle for some products or services can be measured in years, yet the ad campaign is only committed to three months. How effective can any ad campaign be in such a short time? It takes time to get noticed, then get remembered, and finally, get liked and trusted. You have to do all of this before they even need what you sell! Your only solution is to commit to an ad campaign longer than your product selling cycle.

5. Ads written from a different cultural perspective than the customer's own are not engaging.

It's crucial to get noticed for the right reasons. Tone deaf, culturally insensitive, or just plain irrelevant advertising will not get you noticed in a good way. Ensure your ad speaks to your target audience in a language and style they can identify with. To solve this, hire an ad writer who understands the cultural background they are trying to reach. This will add a more personal touch that takes your business closer to your market. Always remember that ads fail not because of the delivered medium. **Great advertisements always make the medium work when delivered at the correct frequency.**Here’s the bottom line from Roy H. Williams :“Ads that fail in one media would usually have failed in any other. The media is not the message. The message is the message. And the message is what matters most.”

Noticeable Ads

Noticeable ads appeal to Broca’s Area, the same part of the brain that makes us notice and fixate on something. Think about it this way. What makes you look across a crowded club and see a person you'd like to interact with? There are probably a hundred people inside, but not everyone possesses the quality that makes your eyes linger. To get noticed, your ads need to stand out of the ordinary. They need the element that binds weird, ridiculous, and absurd ads together. If your advertising stands 600 ft. above the competition, only the blind won't see. Always remember that the more disruptive an ad, the higher traction it gets. However, the relevance must never get drowned out by the creativity.

What Makes Bizarre Ads Undeniably Noticeable?

If we try to break down every successful bizarre ad, we'll find four qualities that made them noticeable. We'll discuss them below:

• Visually stimulating

You should design a good ad to get noticed and stop scrolling thumbs. It should be so visually appealing that people can't help but give it a second look.

Anyone who remembers the Squatty Potty understands what visual appeal looks like. Can you imagine showing a unicorn pooping rainbows to promote your bowel movement stimulating brand? Despite the rather distasteful concept, they pulled off a 3-minute ad that got eyes glued to the screen with their visual appeal.

“There is no such thing as an attention span.

All you have to do is leave out the boring parts.” - Roy H. Williams

• Emotionally moving

Do you know the saying, "bad publicity is still publicity"? Well, that still applies to advertising. Ads that get noticed are effective in evoking audiences' emotions. The kind of emotion is irrelevant, so long as it gets under your skin.

When you portray experiences relatable to people or share values that align with them, you can nudge customers into buying. Do you know why?

The part of the brain that controls decisions has no faculty for words or logic. Because of that, you only need to tug the right emotional triggers to convince people to justify the buy with logic.

• Punchy headlines

In terms of written advertisements, your headlines are your sales pitch to an indifferent crowd. Win the headline battle, and you have secured a click that will listen to what you have to say. Your headline is the hook to catch your fish.

A weak headline will kill your campaign even if you offer some of the best solutions paired with a killer advertising copy or a sensational offer. Don't skimp on the headline. It does 80% of the job for what comes next.

• Sense of urgency

Ever notice how online ads have a call to action? This is because you want to inspire action from a sense of urgency in your audiences. Great advertisements without a sense of urgency will not activate people's impulse buying tendencies. That's not good business for you.

Whether that's limited inventory or an offer with an expiration date, urgency pushes people to act fast. Otherwise, you slice a thick amount of leverage from your solutions.

For example, look at one of the most recent controversial ads in the Philippines. It’s about a soda product called RC Cola, as observed below:

For context, the ad follows a student who goes home after being bullied and teased as ‘adopted.’ He goes home complaining to his mom and then exposes his back implanted with four drinking glasses. To appease her son's raging emotions, she takes her head off, revealing that she has a bottle of RC Cola for a head. The ad ends with the entire family drinking the soda from the son's back. The advertisement obviously checked all the boxes that make weird ads, well, weird. Visually stimulating, also a check, the editing was spot on for a commercial. Emotionally evoking, agreed, the acting was convincing. Bizzare, very– in fact, I'm still not sure what the advertisement suggests. While seemingly the perfect ad for getting noticed, one element they lacked is relevance. Your relevance is the value you're trying to convey and convince audiences to choose. Despite artistic efforts, RC Cola failed to explain its relevance over other popular brands. That's where the problem begins. You create a popular buzzing ad but lacked the punchline to make it a head-turner. In the end, all RC Cola had was hype and nothing more. As Roy H. Williams puts it:

• Delivering a pointless message in a powerful manner results in hype.
• Delivering a powerful message in a pointless fashion is the result of weak creative.
• Delivering a powerful message in a powerful style is the ad that gets noticed.

You have an eye-catchy ad, but how are sales? Again, relevance is the lynchpin. When RC Cola evolves this ad into speaking emotionally to the underdog and builds a tribe of raving fans, they will have turned the corner on cute and clever, joining the titans of industry.

Why Showing Reactions and Facial Expressions is Powerful for Ads

All the ads are geared to an audience's rational or emotional sensibilities. On the whole, emotional ads achieve more success than rational ads. You're more likely to get noticed when your ads bank on pure emotions than if it was purely informational. Adding in a sprinkle of sentimentality propels an ad even further. Feelings of pride, love, happiness, loneliness, sadness, nostalgia, and friendships are all great emotional value boosters. Showing facial expressions and reactions in ads is a powerful weapon. It's one of the quickest ways to get noticed. A person's face is an emotional center; by using it in ads, we get a quick connection to the feelings being conveyed. In contrast, bland emotional portrayal compromises the messaging of an advertisement. Look at those ads with silent laughter. A part of us feel uplifted and light when we see people smiling. This emotional connection translates into advertising. Look at those ads with silent laughter.

Are Your Ads Capturing the Attention of Your Target Audience?

Advertising is a tricky business. It's an art and a science that takes years to master. The most important thing is to get noticed by the right people in the right way. Ads can fail for many reasons, but they're often not relevant to their audience or don't stand out. If you're looking for relevant, weird, disruptive, and funny ads that will make your audience say yes, we can help. Book a call with Ryan Chute of Wizard of Ads™, and let's create those mind-blowing ads.

Whether category-focused, product-focused, or client-focused, all of your ads must have a focal point. Focused marketing ensures you understand your niche and the most effective way to reach them. After all, we want your business to succeed and not get trapped in the void businesses long since forgotten. Understanding focused marketing strategies, their uses, and which type best suits your niche will drastically improve your advertising game. Not sure what focused marketing strategies exist, how they differ, or what they could mean for your advertising approach? No worries. That’s why your friendly neighborhood Wizard of Ads® crew is here.

The Good and the Bad Ad

Before we sink too deep into focused marketing strategies, let’s step back and look at the meaning of advertising. Genuinely understanding the purpose of advertising is the difference between making good and bad ads. According to Roy H. Williams, “Bad ads waddle like a porcupine and make lots of little points. Good ads charge like a rhinoceros and make a single point powerfully.” Put another way, poor advertising has no end goal in mind. Poor advertising is clumsy, brushing into anything that crosses its path, but it lacks intent. It doesn’t know what it’s trying to promote or inspire your audience to do. It’s simply going along for the ride and enjoying each moment without a care in the world. On the flip side, effective advertising has a goal in mind. It aims to tell a story that promotes, persuades, and inspires your target audience to take action. Effective marketing works because it understands your customers' needs and sets your services/products as the solution to their needs. If your ad can do those three things consistently, you have an excellent ad on your hands. If your ad fails to do even one of these things, you’ve lost your intention, and the ad will fall flat. We’ll give you good and bad advertising examples to give you a more concrete idea of what works. Wait, what? We’re providing bad examples of ads? Yes, we are. Here at Wizards of AdsTM , we follow a philosophy of one bad, two good. For every two quality examples, we’ll give you one horrid example. This way, you can see both sides of the advertising coin. After all, we believe knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. Book a call with Wizard of Ads® to get started today!

3 Types of Ad Focus

We’re sure this goes without saying, but we’re going to say it anyway. Each ad type is designed to achieve a specific goal. If that goal aligns with your own goal, we highly recommend trying that approach for your next ad campaign.

Category-Focused

Category-focused ads are geared towards the category your business falls into. If you sell skincare, category-focused ads stress that you sell skincare. Put another way, if you’re a dental practice, category-focused ads emphasize your company specializes in orthodontia. If you’re a restaurant…You get it. These ads aren’t designed to help you stand out from the crowd. They’re not intended to help anyone stand out. Instead, the only goal of this technique is to highlight the category your business falls into. Off the record? This is the least effective focused marketing strategy of the three we’re covering today. Yes, you will be given a lovely example of why later in the article.

Product-Focused

Product-focused ads make your products and everything that makes them special the stars of the show. Translation: this advertising technique is great for bragging about your products. Going back to our earlier examples, let’s say you’re trying to promote your medical company. Product-focused ads allow you to stress what’s great about your products and why they’re better than the competition’s. Product-focused ads could highlight anything from the latest techniques your practice utilizes to less invasive ways to perform tests. Let’s say you’re promoting your cosmetics company. Product-focused ads could feature the ingredients used in your eyeshadow palettes or accentuate your humane makeup testing practices.

Client-Focused

Client-focused or customer-focused ads are designed specifically with your target audience, or customers, in mind. Rather than focusing on you and your business, customer-focused ads underscore how you can best serve your clients. These ads address your clients' unmet needs and then explain how your services or products relate to this need. Let’s go back to your pretend medical company. Customer-focused ads could feature customers’ fear of needles. The ad could create empathy by relating the customer’s struggles to a new, painless method developed for others like them. What about your make-believe cosmetics company? Customer-focused ads could stress customers' difficulties in finding the best products for their skin type or tone. These concerns could be followed up by empathizing with these struggles and how they inspired this product’s creation. Understanding your customer’s needs, conveying your empathy, and bridging the gap between them is critical for this strategy to work.

Category-Focused Ad Example

The oh-so-talented Roy H. Williams briefly mentioned a category-focused advertisement script in an earlier blog post. He was very vocal about his distaste for the following ad. However, he didn’t explain why he detested the ad so much. Let us rectify that oversight. The ad in question:

‍MALE: I used to hate going to the dentist, but then a friend told me about Dr. _________, ‘the gentle dentist with the healing touch.

FEMALE ONE: I love Dr. __________. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

‍FEMALE TWO: So you recommend Dr. _____________?

‍MALE: No question about it.

‍FEMALE ONE: Absolutely! He’s ‘the gentle dentist with the healing touch.

‍FEMALE TWO: I’ve had bad experiences at the dentist's office. Dentists scare me.

‍FEMALE ONE: Not Dr. ______________! He (she) is truly concerned about his (her) patients. He (she) cares. And his (her) friendly staff will even fill out your insurance papers for you.

‍FEMALE TWO: Does he (she) charge extra for that?

‍MALE: No! It’s a free service that Dr.____________ extends to all his (her) patients.

‍FEMALE ONE: I’d be willing to pay twice as much to go to Dr. ____________ because he (she) has the healing touch, but he (she) doesn’t charge a penny more than those other dentists!

‍FEMALE TWO: I’m convinced! Do you have Dr.______________’s number handy?

‍MALE: I have an appointment card here in my wallet. [short pause] Dr. ______________’s number is XXX-XXXX.

‍FEMALE TWO: Was that XXX-XXXX?

‍MALE: Yes, XXX-XXXX.

‍ANNOUNCER: Dr. _________________ . The gentle dentist with a healing touch. Call today for your appointment. XXX-XXXX

‍FEMALE ONE: XXX-XXXX. The gentle dentist…

‍MALE:_…with the healing touch.”

So, what about this category-focused ad made Roy H. Williams cringe? Do you want my guess? Well, I’d say this advertisement used many words to tell us a whole lot of nothing. We know there’s a gentle dentist with a healing touch and how to call them. Surely, that must count for something, right? No, my young padawan. Not it does. In addition to not telling us anything, this advertisement misses the mark at a fundamental level. Remember what makes a quality advertisement? It has to promote, persuade, and inspire. Did this ad promote Dr. Gentle Dentist? If name-dropping counts as promotion, then I’ll give you that one. Did this ad persuade you to book a call with Dr. Kind Hands? After reading this ad, you were inspired to face your fear of the dentist by booking with Dr. Healing Touch? Did it, Pinocchio? Hmm? I didn’t think so.

Product-Focused Ad Example

With each Fenty Skin addition comes a new product-focused ad describing what sets Rihanna’s products apart from other skincare brands. Sure, having a billionaire like Rihanna at the helm would instantly draw customers to the product. However, for product-focused ads to work, you need an exceptional product that delivers everything the ad promises. Rihanna has many exceptional products with ingredients to deliver everything her ads promise: “The Fat Water Hydrating Milky Toner Essence. You can feel that milky texture just locking all of the hydration in. You can see my skin plump up a little bit from the tamarind and hyaluronic acid. Another ingredient is niacinamide. This, over time, starts to reduce the look of dark spots. All of you who know(s) the struggle of dry skin: this is for us!” As you saw in the script, she focused on what makes her product unique: its ingredients and benefits. The product delivers as it has the ingredients needed to do everything she promised in the ad. She even dipped a toe into customer-focused advertising with her final shout-out.

Client-Focused Ad Example

Very few things scream customer-focused advertising more than having actual customers tell their stories in your ads. Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry, took this approach with their 2021 and 2022 campaigns. In the ad for the Pnina Tornai newest addition called One, we meet a woman and her husband, Chris. “Wife: Chris got me this ring, and in the back, he added that “love endures all things.” Right after we married, I got very sick, and hospitalized. He would come every day after work to help me walk again. And now I’m back. I walk, dance, and he’s still beside me. This was definitely a reminder…Chris: That love endures all. ”Do you need a tissue after reading that? It’s okay– we definitely did. This ad works because we get a glimpse of the life of an average couple. They’re no different from you, me, or a complete stranger you’d pass along the street. We don’t know Chris and his wife personally, but you definitely feel invested in them. A newlywed wife becomes devastatingly ill. Her new husband works long shifts but never misses the chance to visit and help her regain her strength. Now that she’s better, the ring reminds him of his loyalty to and love for her. No one relates to the customer better than another customer. Hearing what the item means from another customer could make other customers yearn for a similar feeling. Jared should give a raise to whoever created such a simple, yet ingenious strategy. So, with all of these focused marketing strategies, which one do you think best suits your current needs? If you’re still unsure or want to learn more about focused marketing…Book a call with Wizard of Ads® to get started today!

Your business will inevitably use advertising, whether through online channels, a TV ad, or radio. You should be smart and critical in choosing which ad writer to work with. Any advertiser should know the ropes on creating ads for all existing platforms, especially with TV ads. Ad writers come in all shapes and sizes. Some specialize in online, while others are proficient in radio or TV ads. Did you know that [TV ads are more successful than any other media source](https://onlinebusiness.umd.edu/blog/are-tv-and-radio-still-effective-for-advertising-and-marketing/#:~:text=In fact%2C TV advertising displays, as on their mobile devices.)? According to Robert H. Smith, adults watch TV between 13 to 23 times longer than PC and mobile, respectively. There's a reason why big companies still do TV advertising. The question is: How are TV commercials different from good ads on the radio? More importantly, how do you write killer TV ads? Let's dig into that here.

How Do You Write A TV Ad?

The answer to that is simple. TV ads are like any other commercial, except they're produced for television. The key to writing an excellent TV ad is understanding your target audience and what they want to see. It's typically different from one industry to another, but you'll see a pattern in what works for each category. For example, in residential home services, a comedic, funny, and entertaining TV ad usually does the trick. Why? Because when you're selling an externally triggered grudge purchase, a laugh is the only way to appease a raging crowd. You're back in good graces with a long, hearty laugh. Or a chuckle, we can work with that. The point is that your TV ads should be disruptive to help you land in your audience's procedural memory. Unless your ad writer is a comedic prodigy, your TV ad will strike out in the first few seconds. It'll be one of those commercials where families fiddle with their phones while it's on. That's what we're trying to save you from. Wizard of Ads® can make your customers lose their breath in a comedic trance if you want a killer TV ad. Book a call. However, there's more to television commercials than just that. The writing, effects, transitions, colors, etc., converge into a cohesive piece. As I revisited Roy’s old Memos, I learned an interesting story about his TV ads and radio script journey. That is: Go against the tide. I'll share a few lines regarding each below.

Split-page Approach to Writing TV Ads

During the height of the television commercial craze, almost everyone had one format for every TV ad. That's a split-page presentation. Left pane for the camera instructions. Right pane for the demo. There's nothing wrong with a TV ad of the same format. In fact, everyone did it. Roy refused to conform to the culture.

Radio Scripts in Capital Letters

As for the radio scripts, when radio people wanted the lines in CAPSLOCK, Roy went against the tide. When the fast-paced, online era began, and everyone embraced lowercase text, he went full uppercase on them. Nobody had time to press shift, they said, but Roy did. Now, some might read this and interpret it as stubbornness, but that's not really the case. To write awesome ads, you need to embrace change and uniqueness. That extends past the TV ad or radio script you're writing — you embody it. Let's face it. Bad writing results in a bad TV ad or radio script, no matter what you do. When you do things like everyone else, your TV ad becomes boring. The only way for TV commercials to stand 600 ft. above the competition is to go against the tide. In other words, a brilliant TV ad is a product of excellent writing, perfect execution, and a one-of-a-kind presentation.

Tools of Radio and TV Writers

You'll find onboarding a radio ad specialist likely if you're planning to craft the perfect TV ad for your business. However, you should know that a TV ad is not a radio ad on TV. The two are vastly different beasts. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. A TV commercial has to take into account the following:

• The number of channels and the vast amount of content available today.
• People's shorter attention spans.
• The fact that people can change the channel or fast-forward through commercials.
• The need to be visually appealing.

These are extra details that radio ad writers may not consider when formulating an ad for the screens. With that in mind, here are three things radio turned TV ad writers should keep in mind:

1. Bad TV Ads Are… Well, Bad. That seems like a no-brainer. However, you'd be surprised how many TV ads are poorly written, executed, and/or produced.
2. Boring TV Ads Are… Just That, Boring. A lot of TV ads are simply dull and uninteresting. Some of them pack really great offers too. Sadly, they don't grab viewers' attention and pique their interest long enough to make them want to watch.
3. Brilliant TV Ads Are… Well, Brilliant. They're well-written, well-produced, and grab the viewer's attention. They're also engaging and entertaining and make you invested.

Now then, why do successful radio scriptwriters often miserably fail when creating TV commercials? More importantly, how can you ensure your TV ads are one of the latter? The secret lies in knowing, mastering, and wielding the tools available to you. For radio script writers, you have five tools in your toolbox:

• Choice of words implemented.
• Vocal intonation.
• Vocal inflection.
• Background music.
• Special sound effects.

For TV ads specialists, you get the same sets of tools as radio ads but get additional more like:

• Visual appeal (This includes the characters, their facial expressions, gestures, and body language).
• Screen text.
• Special visual effects.

The problem with hiring radio ads gurus to write your TV advertisement is this. They don't utilize the full suite of tools available to them. It often leads to TV ads that appear amateurish or, worse, unintentionally funny. That’s not something you can afford or risk for your business.

Predictable Mistakes Made by Radio People Writing TV Ads

Roy H. Williams shared some of the most predictable mistakes that radio writers turned TV ads creators commit. According to him, there are four common errors:

1. They cram 30 seconds' worth of words into a 30-second clip. They overlook the fact that visual appeal adds more layers of information than words ever could. That is one of the most common mistakes, and it's easy to understand why.
2. They describe things they could easily have shown onscreen. We've all seen TV ads where the voiceover is describing what's happening onscreen. That is a colossal mistake, possibly done by radio ad writers. The whole point of TV advertising is to show, not tell. If your clip isn't telling enough, it will not be successful.
3. They forget screen text is available. Radio ads require words uttered at 1.25 times the speed to cover the entire script. That's not the case for TV. Screen texts reinforce the visual appeal already displayed in the TV commercial.
4. They use an omniscient narrator. Radios are known for using an omniscient voice-over in every ad they publish. That's because it falls on listeners to imagine a commercial's plot, setting, and narrative.

However, this strategy doesn’t work in TV advertising because viewers don't interpret information. They just accept it. TV ads use tools like visual appeal, effects, and screen text to spoon-feed things customers need to know. However, there's a caveat to all of this. You cannot mask bad writing whether or not you produce radio ads or TV commercials. Bad writing will always yield bad ads, no matter what tools you make available.

How to Turn A Great Radio Ad into A Brilliant TV Ad?

Naturally, transforming a bad or boring TV ad into a brilliant one requires the inverse of all errors indicated. Correct the most predictable errors, and you eliminate the blockades from making your TV ad brilliant. Here are the ways:

1. Maximize visual appeal. That means omitting all unnecessary words if your actors or video could convey the information. There's no need to create a description for every action. If needed, you could send clips of yourself performing the role so your director can deliver your vision.
2. Show viewers who are talking. Don't describe the things you could easily show on the screen. Facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language are all instrumental ingredients in inciting emotions from viewers. Not only does this make TV ads more straightforward, but it also saves time.
3. Utilize screen texts. There's no need to reiterate every necessary detail in your ad, like your contact information. That's what screen texts are for.
4. Use special visual and sound effects when necessary. Overuse of special effects can make your TV ads look amateurish. The key is inserting them sparingly and only when necessary if it will make your ads more memorable.

Your TV ads can work well when you establish these things, even when you're working with a radio specialist. It begins with maximizing the tools made available to you. However, there's a caveat to all of this. You cannot mask bad writing whether or not you produce radio ads or TV commercials. Bad writing will always yield bad ads, no matter what tools you make available.

Bad, Boring, Brilliant TV Ad

Producing brilliant TV ads comes has always boiled down to good writing. The best TV ads come down to three things – bad, boring, and brilliant. Understanding what not to do and what works well effectively increases the value of your TV commercials. That will better equip you and your business to get your message across. Just remember that radio ad specialists aren't miracle workers. If they have bad writing, no amount of creative direction will save your TV commercials. With that in mind, ensure your TV ad scripts are on point before anything else. If you want a no-headache, conversion-driven TV ad, Wizard of Ads® can make that for you. All you have to do is book a call and let’s talk about how we’ll get your name out.

What do “I’m Loving It” and “Just Do It” have in common?

People can easily identify the brands behind them without actively squeezing their brains for information. I’m certain you’re not thinking of McDonald’s and Nike in your every waking moment, right? Still, they’ve managed to hit the spot in your brain that activates brand recall on command.

That’s called procedural memory.

If your business advertising doesn’t work, it’s possibly because your target audience doesn’t remember you well enough. In other words, you have no foothold in their procedural memory to make them recollect your business on cue.

As a business owner, your goal is to have your advertising speak to your customer’s procedural memory. After all, the only way you get sales is when people actually think of you when they face a problem. Otherwise, you can spend thousands on advertising and get crickets in return.

So, how do you infuse procedural drama in your ads? That’s what we’ll find dig into in this article. Keep reading.

What is Procedural Memory?

The procedural memory is a concept coined by one of modern psychology’s greatest minds, Dr. Alan Baddeley. If you dissect his scientific research and link them to advertising, you’ll see that there are 4 types of memory. Procedural memory is one of them, and we’ll cover the rest later.

Procedural memory is a kind of long-term memory because it deals with subconsciously recalling how to do things. For example, activities like riding a bike, tying shoelaces, and cooking your favorite dish. Once you’ve learned them, possibly through repeated practice, they become embedded in your system.

Even when not consciously thinking about the activity, you know how it works and do the task on the spot. More often than not, even after a long hiatus, there’s no heavy refresher required to accomplish the said activity.

However, what people often overlook is that procedural memory deals with remembering other things aside from motor skills. This classification of memory is also relevant in involuntarily remembering concepts like:

• Verbal qualities
• Visual images
• Emotional cues

Going back to the example earlier, hearing “I’m loving it” automatically triggers a verbal memory that reminds us of McDonald’s. A short glance at their golden arches also reminds people of them. Everyone knows how emotionally satisfying it is to get a quick whiff of their cheeseburger.

That’s the power of effective advertising and branding. They tap into people’s procedural memory that makes them impossible to forget. While your business may not attain the same popularity as household brands, you can also achieve a powerful brand recall. All it takes is advertising that targets your market’s procedural memory.

Wizard of Ads® can make that happen. All it takes is a quick call, and your business becomes the frontrunner in everyone’s mind. Book a call.

4 Types of Memory

Humans are forgetful creatures. We often take for granted how easily we can recall information. Whether it’s a long-lost friend’s phone number or the words to our favorite song. Though have you ever wondered how we’re able to remember things?

The science of memory is complex, but understanding the basics can help you create better advertising.

Why?

Because whenever you release an ad, you need to consider which memory channel it might fall into. This will encourage you to develop better ads that will engrave your business into a prospect’s psyche– procedural memory.

There are four general types of memory and we’ll explore each of them below:

Working Memory

Working memory is one of the brain’s primary executive functions. This is the type of memory that allows us to remember things for a short period– usually around 30 seconds. It’s also often referred to as our active memory because it’s the information we’re actively thinking about. The best way to think of working memory is like a cognitive sticky note that then gets lost in oblivion.

Working memory is important in advertising because it allows people to process or imagine new information. Ads that are attention-grabbing and incorporate story-telling make people experience the content. However, viewers will likely forget it soon enough.

Semantic Declarative Memory

This type of memory is all about meaning and understanding concepts. It helps us recall facts and general knowledge. However, you don’t remember when, where or how you learned the information stored in your brain.

For example, you might use semantic declarative memory when you remember that the capital of France is Paris. However, where did you acquire that info? The school? The news? Scrolling through social media?

Episodic Declarative Memory

Like the previous point, this memory channel is also about acquiring and understanding facts. Although in this example, you remember when, where or how you learned the information.

One way you achieve this in advertising is when you publish an ad with a moving story. It’s so vivid that it sticks out to your audience and they remember every detail, including your brand.

Procedural Memory

As discussed earlier, procedural memory is involuntary and applies in the long term. It is beyond difficult to achieve in advertising, but when done right, the most powerful out of all four.

This is because procedural memory lasts a lifetime. It doesn’t matter if they see your ad once or 100 times. As long as you make an impact and carve your brand into their procedural memory, they’ll never forget you.

The Law of Repetition

The thing is, procedural memory-hitting ads don’t just happen. They’re often a product of repetition. Repeatedly exposing your market to the exact branding, messaging, value, and culture is the key to accessing procedural memory.

Roy H. Williams had the perfect equation to describe this:

Procedural memory = Salience (impact or relevance) x Repetition

Keep in mind that repeated exposure in itself won’t cut it. Show your audience mediocre and forgettable ads and it won’t get you anywhere. Your ads require salience or messaging that’s impactful enough to remember in order to be relevant.

Here’s the rub. If your messaging packs a solid impact, lesser repetition is needed before it carves into their brain. That’s what you want because repetition costs money. Can you imagine running the same mediocre ad campaign on Facebook and getting little to no engagement?

The goal is to create a message that’s powerful, impactful, and moving enough to be easily remembered by your audience.

Short-Term Goal of the Direct Response Ad Writer

Direct-response ad writers look for one thing: conversions.

That’s good, right? Well, we can’t really say conversions are bad but there’s more to business than just quick wins.

When you’re a direct response copywriter, you’re after immediate actions from your customers. You write ads that speak to their working memory because you’re not after being remembered, you’re after conversions.

When you speak directly to their felt needs (money, energy and time), you get the sale. If your product soothes an eminent pain point or satisfies an immediate pain point, you get the sale.

Basically, you’re reaching out to people for a quick sale.

Short-Term Goal of the ‘Future Needs’ Ad Writer

Future needs ad writers, on the other hand, are investors. They invest in creating tasteful, moving, and powerful ads today so they can be remembered when future needs arise.

What does this mean?

It means ads must not only target working memory but remain long enough for storage in episodic declarative memory. The goal for the short-term of future needs ad writers is to disrupt the audience’s system of belief. If your prospects are devoted to another brand, you need to shatter that devotion and pull them to you.

The only way you could achieve this is by triggering their emotional states through advertisement. You need to make the readers, listeners, or viewers feel all sorts of things like:

• Smile
• Laugh
• Cry
• Nostalgia
• Fear
• Mad

Why? Because…

Emotion Triggers Adrenaline

Emotions make your business easier to recall. Since we’re dealing with the short-term, you don’t have much wiggle room to build rapport. All you can do is tug their emotional triggers and facilitate adrenaline production.

Adrenaline is a hormone that causes your heart to beat faster, lungs to breathe deeper, and brain more alert and receptive. They act as a biochemical adhesive that helps the brain acquire pieces of information more effectively than normal. This helps store vivid memories in long-term memory a.k.a. episodic declarative memory.

There’s just one problem: It’s still not as good as procedural memory.

The Long-Term Goal of the ‘Future Needs’ Ad Writer

A long-term future needs ad writer thinks of tomorrow more than a short-term future needs ad writer. They have more room to build rapport and relationships so they’re willing to play the long game. While adrenaline enhances the memory process, there’s no guarantee that information remains for a long time.

That’s where long-term future needs for ad writers come in. They specialize in creating memorable, and digestible ads that are repeatedly bombarded to customers until they sink in. The more salient and consistent the message behind every advertisement, the stronger its hold in the procedural memory.

Consider Morris-Jenkins’ Bobby and Mr. Jenkins commercials. There was no sense of urgency. You won’t find any hard-hitting CTAs. Just a 30-second ad of Bobby being a bubbly, curious tech and Mr. Jenkins portraying a wise old sage.

However, this type of advertising got them to 4.9 stars and almost 17k Google reviews and counting. I bet you if anyone’s HVAC or plumbing breaks down in Charlotte, they’d call no one else but them.

That’s the power of creating ads that speak to procedural memory.

Procedural memory is like muscle memory. It’s unconscious and effortless, something that’s done without thinking about it.

Procedural ads are all around us. They’re the ads that make us want to buy something specifically from someone, sometimes without even knowing why. Procedural ads are designed to create an emotional response associated with your brand, inviting people to choose you over others.

If you don’t have procedural advertising in your business yet, you need one and I can give you that. Book a call.