Why Your Advertising Is Not Working

I often talk with people who tell me that their ads are not working. Their Facebook ads, their Google ads or whatever else they are using.

It usually goes something like this. “It doesn’t matter what I do, I just can’t make Facebook ads work for me.”

It’s a similar story for video sales letters (VSLs). I hear all the time that the VSL is not converting or the conversion rate is so low they can’t make money.

Well, a lot of the time it’s because the person is designing the ad or trying to sell a service or product based on what they think is right and not what their audience wants.

After many years of running copy teams, I can tell you this. The desires, dreams, hopes and ambitions of your audience is what determines what they will buy.

If there is a disconnect between what you are saying and the conversation that is going on in the prospect’s head, you will lose every time.

Even though I am a big believer in the power of copy. If you gave me a choice between the best copywriter in the world or the right audience. I would take the right audience every time and twice on Sunday.

Think about this. Imagine that your wife is pregnant, and she goes into labour early. You are traveling so you can’t be there. Your mother and a few friends are at the hospital and keeping you posted via SMS.

Do you care if there are typos in the SMS? Do you care if the grammar is correct? No, you don’t. You’re just desperate for the information.

It’s the same with your audience, whoever they may be. If you are using the right language to the right people, they will recognize that you are one of them, and what you say will be important to them.

As my father used to say, “A fisherman can always smell another fisherman.”

So how do you immerse yourself in your audience’s culture? Well, hopefully you should be interested in the topic yourself. You can also:

• Join Forums where your audience hangs out.
• Read Amazon reviews on the products that your audience buys. This is a great way to find out what they like and what they don’t like.
• Join Facebook groups where your audience is discussing products similar to what you sell.
• Join Linkedin groups.
• Buy books & magazines that your audience would buy.

In other words, do the things you would do if you were really interested in that topic.

If you go through that process, you will see your ads and your product with different eyes. You will see what they see as insincere. You will also see what they see as right on target.