To properly understand advertising or to learn even its rudiments one must start with the right conception. Advertising is salesmanship. Its principles are the principles of salesmanship.
There is one simple and right way to answer many advertising questions. Ask yourself, "Would this help a salesman sell the goods?" "Would it help me sell them if I met the buyer in person?"
Claude C. Hopkins, Scientific Advertising (1923), Chapter 2, Just Salesmanship
Hopkins wrote this in 1923, when an ad meant a newspaper page or a poster. Swap in a LinkedIn post, a landing page or an email, and his test still works.
His point is simple. The only job of an ad is to sell. Clever lines, fine writing and keeping your name in front of people all come second. He says fine talkers are rarely good salesmen, because people can feel the effort and back away.
A previous coach of mine, Rachel, put it in a way I've never forgotten. "Neil, do you know what the one thing is that's worse than having halitosis? Commission breath."
People can smell it when you're chasing a sale rather than really trying to help. It's what happens when people try too hard to impress, and stop being impressive as a result.
So picture the person across the table. You've met them, you know their problem, and you're explaining how you help. Would you say what your website says?
Most small business owners would never talk to a customer the way their marketing talks. The words go stiff the moment they're typed.
The way I like to think of it is this. Imagine your next prospect is someone you already care about deeply, a family member or a lifelong friend. What would you say to them, and how honest and transparent would you be? They already know you. They already like you.
People buy from people they know, trust and like, in that order, by the way. If we don't know you, we can't buy from you. If we don't trust you, we're unlikely to buy from you, certainly not for anything significant. If we like you, it's a bonus, and it's also key if there's an ongoing relationship after the sale.
One of my rules for years has been this: don't say anything online you wouldn't say offline. And don't say anything on stage you wouldn't say off stage.
I've seen many speakers ask a question and put "yes, or yes" on the end of it. Can you imagine saying that sat across the table from someone? "Do you agree with me? Yes, or yes." You've just taken their choice away and made it embarrassing for them to say no. And yet, in that very moment, you're also encouraging them to say no. If you wouldn't do that one-to-one, why would you do it one-to-many?
Everything we do online is just a one-to-many conversation. All marketing is just a conversation, whether it's in print, on video or on a podcast. The medium doesn't matter. Keeping it conversational does.
Hopkins gives you a quick check for anything you put out. Pick one of your old posts, or the page on your website that matters most, and read it out loud as if your client was sat across the table from you. Anything you wouldn't say to their face, change it.
