When I was working in retail many years ago, I had the displeasure of having to close a high-end electronics outlet. Customers came from far and wide, but many of them had no empathy for the years of hard work and memories. Prices were already slashed by as much as 30 – 50% which didn’t stop the average Joe asking to get a better deal. However, I will never forget the day my co-worker responded to a guy that asked what his best price was in which he replied “Excuse me. Am I wearing a Jacket with question marks all over it?”
If you don’t get the above reference, he was referring to “Matthew Lesko” who airs on Infomercials about how to get free money from the government. I nearly hit the floor laughing because if you have never seen this guy, he is one of the most obnoxious characters you’ll see on TV. Just check out the clip below:
In any respect, I get a kick out of infomercials like these because although you may think that no one would ever buy something from them, consumers love the idea of how something could make their life easier. Additionally, they wouldn’t be around if they didn’t work.
Anyone that has stayed up late at night or has gotten up early on the Weekend can speak from experience. TV infomercials draw us in and we have all fallen victim of one in some shape or another. But have you ever stopped to think what makes these so compelling? Is there something that can be learned from infomercials that can be applied to the online marketing realm?
Sure we can. When you look at Infomercials such as these, they share a great deal of basic fundamental components of a successful online marketing campaign:
- They are short- the Internet is all about speed and if you want your message to be heard, you have to keep it short and simple.
- They sell benefits- in the example above, he talks about what you can do with the money and not how it works. When constructing online web pages, keep in mind that your audience will want to know how it will make their life better and care less about how you have chosen to label features.
- They are engaging- in simple terms, this means that they are able to generate a significant amount of interest in a relatively short period of time. In the example above, the execution was humor (…i think). The web is no different. Advertising creatives need to be compelling and draw a web users attention to click on them. From there, the website needs to provide an “experience” that was in keeping with the advertisement.
No matter how you slice it, Infomercials do work and have been around much longer than the web. And I’m sure you probably don’t have to think too hard to recall some that you have likely have seen. If you stop and think about it, you may realize an opportunity that you haven’t thought of…even if he’s waring question marks on his jacket!
