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Marketing
How To Make A Funny Voicemail To Surprise And Delight Your Customers
Let’s be honest, you can’t always answer the phone and that is especially true if you are a small owner-operated business.
Let’s be honest, you can’t always answer the phone and that is especially true if you are a small owner-operated business.
We work with a client just like this in Canada. Stadium Property Stars. The owner is awesome, works very hard, and loves his customers. He makes every effort to answer every single call without letting it go to voicemail. God bless him, he tries. Unfortunately, he misses some. He always feels like he lets his customer down a little when it goes to voicemail.
Wizard of Ads™ Partner, Mick Torbay, has a solution for those times when you just can’t make it to the phone, but want to keep your customer thinking and feeling positive about you. Mick writes and records magical outgoing phone messages.
Each one is a mini, completely made up story that shows off the lighthearted side of Stadium Property Stars. They tell everyone about Mick’s crazy messages. The best part is they have people calling now that hope the phone doesn’t get answered so they can listen to the newest one. Many of these callers have even become new customers.
Mick’s storyful messages are keeping customers happy even though their calls were not answered. So happy in fact, that those that hear the voicemail are sharing them with others and laughing along with the owner when he calls them back.
Take a listen, you won’t be sorry.
Advertising
Scientific Advertising Advice You Really Wish You Implemented Earlier
When a direct-response offer generates big money quickly, you can be certain that the longer you do it, the less well it will work.
Isaac Newton discovered that force – impact – is the result of mass x acceleration. This is why the impact of any statement you make = the size of the idea x the speed of successfully transferring it from your mind to the mind of your customer. Newton also discovered, “For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.” The faster an advertised offer produces big results, the less well it will work over time. EXAMPLE: When a direct-response offer generates big money quickly, you can be certain that the longer you do it, the less well it will work. To gain attention, a thing must be new, surprising, and different. When it becomes old, predictable, and the-same-as-before, we turn our attention elsewhere. You already know this.
Advertising is, in at least some aspects, a science. But systems-focused business owners are demanding that advertising become a science in all its aspects. They say, “Give us fast-acting, reliable advertising that drives ever-increasing sales opportunities,” and the sellers of advertising are saying, “You got it, boss! Coming right up!” I am reminded of the quest for a perpetual motion machine. The first documented claim of perpetual motion was made by Bhaskara of India in the 12th century. It has been followed by countless others. But not one of them has ever worked, and science has proven that none of them ever will. In his book on the subject of Perpetual Motion, Henry Dircks wrote, “A more self-willed, self-satisfied, or self-deluded class of the community, making at the same time pretension to superior knowledge, it would be impossible to imagine. They hope against hope, scorning all opposition with ridiculous vehemence, although centuries have not advanced them one step in the way of progress… The history of perpetual motion is a history of the fool-hardiness of either half-learned, or totally ignorant persons.” When you spend all day, every day talking with enthusiastic young advertising professionals, you meet a lot of people who fit that description.
But I promised you a lesson on the Physics of Advertising. Here it is.
Newton’s first law of thermodynamics is a version of the law of Conservation of Energy, which tells us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can only be transformed from one form to another. EXAMPLE: The chemical energy contained in gasoline can be transformed into kinetic energy, light energy, heat energy, and the percussive energy that you and I call sound, but those energies were there in the gasoline all along. When it is expended, the energy stored in the gasoline is gone. You cannot burn the same gasoline twice. Goodwill, reputation, share-of-mind, and other forms of “buying energy” can be stored in the mind of the customer in 3 different ways.
- The Performance of your product or service. When you deliver or exceed what the customer expected, you store “buying energy” in the mind of your customer. If you fall short of their expectations, gasoline is burned.
- A Referral from a friend or an online review. Word-of-mouth is when the buying energy stored in the mind of one customer is shared with another customer. When that word-of-mouth is negative, more gasoline is burned.
- Stories told in Advertising and by salespeople. Relational energy is built in the mind of the customer when your beliefs are aligned with their beliefs. Some people call this “branding,” but I prefer to think of it as customer bonding. When you create urgency with a limited-time offer, you force your customer into acting “now or never” and gasoline is burned.
“Big Money Quickly” happens as the result of urgency; usually a shortage of time, or product, or opportunity. But shout “wolf” too often and the villagers no longer come running. Your gasoline has all been burned. Do you now understand why the faster an advertised offer produces big results, the less well it will work over time? When you allow your short-term metrics to dictate your marketing decisions, you will soon be crying “wolf” with every breath you take. But there is a healthy and sustainable time to harvest.
Advertising is like farming. You cannot harvest what was never planted.
- Planting a seed in the mind of the customer is where every good thing begins. The customer has to know you exist.
- Nurturing that seed through the growing cycle is essential. Stories told in advertising, by salespeople, and by customers are the water and sunshine that require time to work their magic.
- Harvest time is when it is. Every jeweler knows that Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day are predictable buying occasions, but no jeweler knows when a couple is about to get engaged or celebrate an important anniversary. And that’s where the big money is. Every air conditioning company knows more systems break down and need to be repaired during extreme weather conditions, but no one knows when a system is going to be replaced. And that’s where the big money is.
The goal of the intelligent advertiser is to store enough “buying energy” in the mind of the customer to become the provider the customer thinks of first, and feels the best about, when their “harvest time” finally occurs. Quick-acting advertising works less and less well the longer you do it. But the continual storage of “buying energy” – (1.) performing what you promised, plus (2.) the stories told by your ads and your salespeople and your customers – are like eating right and exercising; they work better and better until you are finally operating at peak health and efficiency. This is when all your metrics go through the roof. Google is simply the new phone book. Online click-through and conversion rates measure your offline marketing and reputation-building as much as they measure your online efforts.
Never let anyone tell you that their special method of “metrics measurement and optimization” is going to “hold your ad budget accountable” and allow you to “constantly improve the efficiency of your marketing.”
They are trying to sell you a perpetual motion machine.
Marketing
3 Easy Ways To Make Your Social Media Videos Tantalizing
The average time somebody holds their attention on a single post in their feed is around 1.7s. If your video requires sound to view, then...
Remember that time you were in public, browsing social media to avoid boredom? Maybe you were standing in line for a coffee. Maybe you were sitting in the waiting area at a doctor’s office. Perhaps you were being sneaky and trying not to get caught on your phone (it’s okay, we all do it). Then all of a sudden, you accidentally tap the wrong thing and “HOW’S IT GOING GUYS WELCOME BA一”…Everyone looks at you, shameful stares from across the room. You can imagine what they’re thinking: “Why would they do that?” “What were they watching?” “Really? Now? Here?”. Congratulations, you have officially become **“that guy.”**It is because of this exact situation that 85% of people browse social media without sound. Oh yeah, that’s a large percentage.**The nightmare of social embarrassment.**If you make a potential customer become “that guy,” they’re going to blame you for making them a social outcast一bye-bye sale. Here are three tips you can follow to avoid embarrassing your prospects while they’re scrolling through their feed.
Tip #1: Add subtitles to your video.
The average time somebody holds their attention on a single post in their feed is around 1.7s. If your video requires sound to view, people will innocently forget about you and continue scrolling. By adding subtitles to your video, prospects can quietly read your message, saving them the social embarrassment of watching it with sound. On Facebook and Instagram, videos autoplay without sound. You are shooting yourself in the foot right away by forcing prospects to watch with sound.
Tip #2: Leverage screen real estate.
Screen real estate is the amount of space your post takes up on someone’s screen, measured in pixels or ratios. Your goal should be to take up as much screen real estate as you can. Most social media recommend posting videos at 16:9 but not every social media uses 16:9 for their regular posts. The reason 16:9 is bad for social media like Instagram and Facebook is because their mobile apps are built vertically (portrait). YouTube, on the other hand, promotes horizontal (landscape) viewing experiences for video. Here are some ratios:
- A standard YouTube video format is 16:9
- A default Instagram/Facebook post is 1:1 (square)
- A taller Instagram/Facebook post is 4:5
Since [83% of social media is consumed on mobile devices](https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/mobile-desktop-internet-usage-statistics#:~:text=About 83 percent of social, use it on their phones.) (I know, another big percentage), you should tailor your video to the vertical viewing experience of mobile applications. The best way to take advantage of Instagram and Facebook is by:
- Shooting your video at 9:16 (the portrait version of 16:9), or
- Adding black bars on the top and bottom of your 16:9 video
Option A is good if you only intend on using that video for social media like Instagram or Facebook. But option B is far more versatile. You can shoot in 16:9 and format it to the proper dimensions of the media in question. By adding black bars (or company colors) you can use that space as a billboard on your video. If you’ve been paying attention, you might want to use these black bars as an opportunity to add subtitles to your video. *wink wink*
Tip #3 is to chameleon-ize your video
One thing I see far too often is an ad that opens with the company logo… Hello?! Dead giveaway! People will see the logo and be gone before you even have a chance to sell them something. If you can slip past people’s ADS (Advertisement Detection System) in their brain, you have successfully passed step one of advertising on social media. You need to chameleon-ize your video. Make it blend into its surroundings. You should target your video at the right demographic, yes, but you need to know what kind of things they regularly see in their feed. This way you can make your video blend in, and they will not know it’s an advertisement until actually putting in a little bit of thought. When people are browsing social media, they want to be entertained.
“Entertainment is the only currency with which you can purchase the time and attention of a too-busy public.” – Roy H. Williams, Wizard of Ads™
We use social media to escape boredom. That’s why advertisements are glaringly obvious. Most advertisements are boring. So if you’re advertising on social media, consider yourself a part of the entertainment industry. To avoid turning your prospect into “that guy,” be sure to add subtitles, chameleon-ize, and format your video appropriately for the next time your prospect is browsing social media in a public place. If you need help chameleon-izing your content or need the technical help to reformat/ subtitle your content, then give us a call.
Lead Generation
Customers Buy Things That Tell The World What Kind Of Person They Are
People are multi-dimensional. We make decisions to purchase based on a variety of criteria, but two of the big ones are Time and Money.
Amateur ad writers assume everyone makes decisions based upon the same criteria they use. This causes them to unconsciously frame their messages to reach people exactly like themselves.
Professional ad writers frame their messages to speak to the felt needs of a specific consumer. People are multi-dimensional. We make decisions to purchase based on a variety of criteria, but two of the big ones are Time and Money.
“Time and Money are interchangeable. You can always save one by spending more of the other.”– Pennie Williams
- A person who feels they have no money and no time is buried in financial and relational obligations.
- A person who believes they have more time than money is a bargain hunter.
- A person who has more money than time is overworked and highly paid.
- A person with lots of money and time is looking for something to do.
Consciously or unconsciously, every ad is framed to speak to one of those four perspectives. It isn’t really about whether we can afford to spend the money. It’s about whether we FEEL we can afford to spend it. A person may feel they have the time, but not the money, to purchase a product in one category, but later that day feel they have the money, but not the time, to purchase a different product in a different category.
We evaluate messages – news, information, and advertising – based on Relevance and Credibility:
- Relevance: “Does it matter to me? Do I care about this?”
- Credibility: “Do I believe it?”
A message high in relevance but low in credibility is hype. “I would be interested if I believed you.” A message low in relevance but high in credibility is a tedious waste of time. “I believe you, I’m just not interested.” Are you speaking to the felt needs of your customer, or are you speaking only to yourself? Are the things you’re saying believable, or do they sound like unsubstantiated hype?
Identity Reinforcement and Self-Expression:
We buy much of what we buy to remind ourselves – and tell the world around us – who we are. A surprisingly high percentage of purchases are about self-expression. We bond with organizations that show us a reflection of our best self-image. When we perceive that an organization shares our outlook and our beliefs, we prefer them and their products. Win the heart and the mind will follow. The mind will always create logic to justify what the heart has already decided.
Advertising
An Awesome Masterclass In Advertising Math By Roy H. Williams
Using radio as our primary driver of new business, we did nearly $250m in 2020 and are tracking to surpass $300m in 2021.
Two weeks ago, one of my clients asked me to explain our marketing strategy to a guy from a private equity firm that is hoping to buy a chunk of my client’s company for a few hundred million dollars. When we were retained 7 years ago, the company was bringing in barely $9m a year. Using radio as our primary driver of new business, we did nearly $250m in 2020 and are tracking to surpass $300m in 2021. So far, so good, right?
The private equity guy suggested that we should redirect our radio budget to online advertising because, “no one listens to the radio anymore.”
I said, “You’re a numbers guy, right?” “You could say that.” “Have you ever heard of the Gallup Poll?” “Of course,” he said. “Are you familiar with the math that determines the sample sizes required for statistical accuracy?” “Only the little bit that I was taught in college.” “So you understand the margin of error depends inversely on the square root of the sample size. The smaller the universe of people, the larger the percentage of that universe must be queried to achieve statistical accuracy. If you want to measure the opinions of 10 people, you have to ask all 10 of them. You can’t ask just 5 and then extrapolate.” His noncommittal grunt made it obvious that he knew none of this, so I continued. “But the larger the universe, the smaller the percentage you have to poll. You have to query 250 persons to measure a universe of just 700 people with a 3 percent margin of error, but a sample size of only 384 persons will measure the opinions of one million people with that same degree of accuracy.” Another noncommittal grunt. I continued, “When they want to get blisteringly accurate, The Gallup Poll will have 1,500 persons in final tabulation, but they typically use just 1,004 respondents to measure the entire population of the Unites States. Nielsen, on the other hand, polls 1,011 persons_per day_ just to measure the radio audience in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dallas, Denver, Tampa, and Phoenix each receive sample sizes of 1,200 per day, and Nielsen samples 4,494 New Yorkers per day just to measure the city of New York.”And then I dropped the technology on him. “Nielsen respondents carry an electronic device called a portable people meter that detects an electronic watermark identifying the radio station a person is listening to. These electronic devices don’t lie. They tell us exactly how many people are listening, and when.”
But the P. E. guy didn’t give up. He said, “The online budget rises and falls seasonally with the sales volume of the business, but the radio budget remains the same every month. How do you account for that?”
Fortunately, my client has an in-house employee who manages the online budget and she was on the phone with us. I said, “The objective of a radio campaign is to become the name the listener thinks of immediately and feels the best about whenever they need what we sell. Today’s ads aren’t meant to sell customers today. Today’s ads are just one more tap of the hammer as we drive our message into their minds. We want to achieve automatic, involuntary recall. Scientists call it ‘procedural memory.' ”That’s when I asked the digital manager, “Do you agree that Google is the new phone book?” “Yes, absolutely.” “How many search strings account for most of the clicks that send people to our website?” “Just 10 search strings are responsible for most of our clicks.” “And how many of those search strings include the name of our company?” “The top 9,” she said. “So the radio ads are selling the customers, then they go to our website to retrieve our contact information?” “Exactly.” “Search string number 10 – the one that doesn’t include the name of our company – what percentage of our clicks does it get?” “About 5 percent.” “So without the name recognition and goodwill built through radio, we would have done only 12-and-a-half million dollars last year instead of 250 million dollars. Is that what I hear you saying?” “Yes.” And then I wrapped up my conversation with the private equity guy by saying, “Roughly 50 percent of America spends enough time listening to the radio each week that you can easily reach them with sufficient repetition to become a household word. The other half listens rarely, if ever. But it’s amazing how much you can sell to half the population of America.” Let's connect when you're ready for this.
Customer Journey
Zero Moment Of Truth And Other Destructive Lies That Are Killing Your Business
Marketing’s oldest ideas are getting repackaged. Among these new names are Transparency, Engagement, and the Zero Moment of Truth.
You hear a lot of talk these days about transparency, engagement, and the Zero Moment of Truth. My friend Dewey Jenkins says the most dangerous statement a stockbroker can make is, “But this time it’s different.” Dewey has been around long enough to know that ideas and concepts don’t really change so much as they get repackaged and renamed. A number of marketing’s oldest ideas are getting repackaged and renamed. Among these new names are Transparency, Engagement, and the Zero Moment of Truth.
What is Transparency?
One clothing store says, “We have the biggest selection, the highest quality, the best service and the lowest prices. ”Yawn. Another clothing store says“ Sure, we’re more expensive. But looking good _costs money. How good do you want to look?” Which clothing store do you believe? The more expensive clothing store admitted the downside and won your admiration and your trust.
Transparency = They’re not going to believe the upside until you admit the downside.
Do you have the humility and the courage to let the public see you real? Few companies do. None of this is new.
Winning a customer’s attention is easy. Hanging on to it is called “engagement.”
What percentage of your selling opportunities become sales? This used to be called your close rate. Now it’s called conversion. Yesterday’s loss leader is today’s tripwire. Use the wrong word and you’re a dinosaur. None of this really bothers me much. The thing that makes me look at the ground, shake my head and sigh is the dangerous myth of the Zero Moment of Truth. But then again, Google is the new Yellow Pages, so it shouldn’t surprise us that they’ve repackaged and renamed the old Yellow Pages scare tactic. The fundamental premise of the Zero Moment of Truth is that the customer is going to go online when they’re ready to purchase what you sell. I have no argument with that. But the dangerous, underlying assumption is that all contenders are equal during the Zero Moment of Truth.
But that simply isn’t true.
The company most likely to get the click, the call, and the sale is the company the customer has heard of and has good feelings about. The tortoise patiently wins the hearts of the people long before the race is begun. He says he’s “bonding with tomorrow’s customers.” “Stupid tortoise,” says the rabbit, “he still believes in branding.” Have you heard how that race turned out? Take a look. I dare you.
“Knowledge is power” is another dangerous myth.
It doesn’t matter what you know. What matters is what you do with what you know. So what are you going to do? PS - The old Yellow Pages scare tactic adopted by Google is basically this: “No one pays any attention to ads until they’re in the market for your product or service. And in that moment – the Zero Moment of Truth – they’re going to go to the Yellow Pages. Consequently, the only advertising you need – indeed, the only advertising that matters – is a huge presence in the Yellow Pages. ”Replace “Yellow Pages” with “Google Adwords, Google Remarketing, YouTube pre-roll, etc,” and you have the new, updated myth of the Zero Moment of Truth.
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Why Wizard of Ads®?
Are you ready to transform your business into a distinctive, emotionally resonant brand? Here's why hiring Ryan Chute and Wizard of Ads® Services is the game-changer your business needs:
Distinctiveness Beyond Difference: Your brand must be distinctive, not just different, to stand out. We specialize in creating emotional connections with your customers to make your brand unforgettable.
Building Real Estate in the Mind: Branding with us helps your customers remember your brand when they need your service again, creating a lasting impression.
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Who Should Work with The Wizard of Ads®?
Wizard of Ads® offers services that start with understanding your marketing challenges.
We specialize in crafting authentic and disruptive brand stories and help build trust and familiarity with your audience. By partnering with Wizard of Ads®, you can transform your brand into one people remember and prefer. We understand the power of authentic storytelling and the importance of trust.
Let us elevate your marketing strategy with our authentic storytelling and brand-building experts. We can take your brand to the next level.
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Our strategy drives everything we do, dictating the creative direction and channels we use to elevate your brand. Leveraging our national buying power, we ensure you get the best media rates for maximum market leverage. Once your plan is in motion, we refine our strategy to align all channels—from customer service representatives to digital marketing, lead generation, and sales.
Our goal is consistency: we ensure everyone in your organization is on the same page, delivering a unified message that resonates with your audience. Experience the power of strategic alignment and watch your brand thrive.
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Once we sign the agreement, we visit on-site to uncover your authentic story, strengths, and limitations. Our goal is to highlight what sets you 600 feet above the competition. We'll help you determine your budgets and plan your mass media strategy, negotiating the best rates on your behalf.
Meanwhile, our creative team crafts a durable, long-lasting campaign designed to move your brand beyond mere name recognition and into the realm of household names. With an approved plan, we dive into implementation, producing high-quality content and aligning your channels to ensure your media is delivered effectively. Watch your brand soar with our comprehensive, strategic approach.
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The Power of Strategic Marketing Investments
Are you hungry for growth? We explain why a robust marketing budget is essential for exponential success. Many clients start with an 8-12% marketing budget, eventually reducing it to 3-5% as we optimize their marketing investments.
While it takes time to build momentum, you'll be celebrating significant milestones within two years. By the three to five-year mark, you'll see dramatic returns on investment, with substantial gains in net profit and revenue. Discover how strategic branding leads to compound growth and lasting value. Join us on this journey to transform your business.
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