COMMERCIALS THAT CONFUSE, CONFOUND AND SELL NOBODY ANYTHING

Written by Patrick Quinn


I may be missing something, here, but it seems to me that, in advertising terms,repparttar loonies have taken overrepparttar 108143 asylum. What is getting me all lathered up isrepparttar 108144 preponderance of TV commercials that go out of their way, not only to confuse their target audience, but also to project an alarming image of their product.

I'll elaborate. The first example isrepparttar 108145 sad, but fortunately short story of a current tv spot for a company called Debenhams. Now, Debenhams is a large UK department store which has branches in many major cities throughoutrepparttar 108146 country. As such, it has an excellent reputation and an enviable turnover.

Well, this outfit is running a commercial which has two distinct scenes. The first shows a man sitting in a room at a table, and beside him is a back-projection of a pond. As he sweeps an object offrepparttar 108147 table and intorepparttar 108148 pond, we see ripples inrepparttar 108149 water. The second scene is of a young girl in a room andrepparttar 108150 back projection is of some trees, each carrying a profusion of autumn leaves. Asrepparttar 108151 girl moves aroundrepparttar 108152 room,repparttar 108153 leaves begin to fall.

So far so good; and as an exercise in special effects this spot is exemplary, becauserepparttar 108154 last thing you'd expect to see in your living room is a pond or a stand of trees.

Anyway, we are now treated to a voice-over which says, torepparttar 108155 effect, that if you drop into Debenhams you'll find lots more ofrepparttar 108156 same. My question is:repparttar 108157 same what? Throughout this commercial, we are not actually told what it is we are being offered.

I assume it is wallpaper, but I could be wrong - it might be personal back projection.

The second example concerns a new computer from Apple-Mac. The spot opens with an explosion and a man being thrown against a tree. The camera then tracks towards a house, inrepparttar 108158 side of which is a gaping hole. The camera continues through intorepparttar 108159 house, showing us debris falling all around and large holes inrepparttar 108160 walls of successive rooms. We finally track towards a computer, andrepparttar 108161 voice-over says something like: Introducingrepparttar 108162 fastest, most powerful computer inrepparttar 108163 Mac stable.

How To Use Testimonials To Increase Your Sales

Written by Albin Dittli


Testimonials are quotations from satisfied customers and clients. They are one ofrepparttar simplest and most effective ways of adding punch and power to web site sales letter.

How do you get and use testimonials? Here are some tips for using testimonials:

1. Always use real testimonials instead of made-up ones. Evenrepparttar 108142 most skilled copywriter can rarely make up a testimonial that can matchrepparttar 108143 sincerity and credibility of genuine words of praise from a real customer or client.

If you ask a customer to give you a testimonial, and he or she says, “Sure, just write something and Ill sign it,” politely reply: “Gee, I appreciate that, but would you mind just giving me your opinions of our product in your own words?” Fabricated or self-authored testimonials usually sound phony; genuine testimonials invariably haverepparttar 108144 ring of truth.

2. Long testimonials are usually better then short ones. Many copywriters are hooked on using very short testimonials. For instance:

“...fabulous!...” “truly funny...thought-provoking...” “...excellent...wonderful...”

I believe that when people see these ultra short testimonials, they suspect that a skillful editing job has masked a comment that was not as favorable asrepparttar 108145 writer makes it appear. In my opinion, longer testimonials, say two or three sentences versus a single word or phrase come across as more believable. For example:

"I can't say enough good things aboutrepparttar 108146 quantity and quality of products at such a low cost. Not to mentionrepparttar 108147 super service and fulfillment of our purchase requests. I think I'll stay! Thank you again."

Sure, its longer, but it somehow seems more sincere than a one-word superlative.

3. Specific, detailed testimonials are better then general or superlative testimonials. Upon receiving an email of praise from a customer, our initial reaction is to readrepparttar 108148 email and findrepparttar 108149 single sentence that directly praises our company or our product. We extractrepparttar 108150 words we think are kindest about us, producing a bland bit of puffery such as:

“We are very pleased with your product.”

Actually, most testimonials would be stronger if we included more ofrepparttar 108151 specific, detailed comments our client has made about how our product or service helped him. After all,repparttar 108152 prospects we are trying to sell to may have problems similar torepparttar 108153 one our current customer solved using our product. If we let Mr. Customer tell Mr. Prospect how our company came to his rescue, hell be helping us makerepparttar 108154 sale. For instance:

“Hi Brian, I just signed up for your "RESALE RIGHTS COOP". I've been searchingrepparttar 108155 net for almost a year looking for something that combined value and affordability. Your package is trulyrepparttar 108156 best of both worlds. Keep on keepin-on. Wow what a package.”

Again, don't try to polishrepparttar 108157 customers words so it sounds like professional ad copy. Testimonials are usually much more convincing when they are not edited for style.

4. Use full attribution. We've all opened web sites and direct mail packages that contained testimonials from “D.W. in Nevada” or “Ron V., Self-Made Millionaire.” I suspect that many people laugh at such testimonials and think they are phony.

To increaserepparttar 108158 believability for your testimonials, attribute each quotation. Includerepparttar 108159 persons name, city and state, and (if a business customer) their job title and company (e.g., “Ada Dittli, President, Cedar Ridge, Inc.”).

People are more likely to believe this sort of full disclosure than testimonials which seem to concealrepparttar 108160 identity ofrepparttar 108161 speaker.

5. Group your testimonials. There are two basic ways to present testimonials: You can group them together in one area of your web site or ad, or you can scatter them throughoutrepparttar 108162 copy. A third alternative is to combinerepparttar 108163 two techniques, having many testimonials in a box and a smattering of other testimonials throughoutrepparttar 108164 rest of your copy.

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