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The Perfect Ad: Leading With Content

By Michael Stelzner

What makes the perfect ad?

When a message meets a prospect where they have a need, the result is often success.

Take a look at this ad:

My pal Howard Sewell recently wrote about this excellent advertisement.

What makes it great?

It pitches content, not the company.

Howard said it well:

Hoovers could have developed an edgy, multi-frame, animated ad and used it to sell you on the virtues of how you should use Hoovers to find names of target accounts.

But no. Instead, they asked the question: why do people need our product? And what is a prospective customer looking to improve that would betray a likely need for that product?

Answer: better cold-calling.

Solution: create a compelling offer (in this case, a white paper) that appeals to the very audience segment most likely to be potential customers for Hoovers - salespeople and their managers looking to improve the effectiveness of cold-calling.

What do you think about advertising the white paper, not the company?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 5:19 am and is filed under Lead Generation, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Hi Mike,

    I've used Hoovers and have not been impressed by the information they provided. Harris Selectory seems to do a better job getting quality data.
    I believe the information provided is the key, regardless of how the product is promoted.

    That being said, a white paper on how to prep for cold calls makes an excellent tool, especially for the new salesperson.

    Dave
  • FYI, I called their media manager and will have more of the story on how this worked for them (hopefully) :)
  • Hey Roger - Thanks for your thoughts on this. - Mike
  • Dear Mike:
    I agree, both with the "content over company" approach as well as the need for a bit more offer clarity. When I first saw it, I wondered if it was "the" vacuum cleaner company, or a consulting firm specializing in sales techniques.

    But, upon reflection, I clicked on the banner out of curiosity, which probably proves two things: a) WIFM, i.e., What's In It For Me, is always a winning strategy, and b) curiosity (probably) killed the cat.

    Either approach, of course, validates the value of following the steps outlined in your Writing White Papers book. Unless white paper writers carefully structure their white papers as you describe, a poorly structured white paper can destroy a prospect's relationship with a firm before it begins--i.e., by promising one thing, but heavy-handedly delivering another.

    Your "about us" arguments have to show up after your white paper has
    prepared the way and offered genuine, interesting, and concise value.

    Roger
  • Hey Tom;

    Thanks for your feedback.

    It seems like your issue comes down to the strength of the copy.

    I agree there could be better copy.

    What I like however is that the call to action is the actual ad.

    I guess I'm gonna have to contact Hoovers and ask them how the ad worked out.

    Best Regards, Mike
  • Gotta say, I'm not 100% on this one.

    Without reading the white paper I'm only guessing at the benefits, but I'd be tempted to shoot for something like "Make 2x the Cold Calls in Half the Time" or "Convert 2x as many cold calls as before" with a "click for a free How to Prep for Cold Calls White Paper" call to action.
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