2-12-2014
Listeners will automatically position your advertiser in their minds whether you do anything or not. You can help influence their perceptions by linking your advertiser with something familiar. You can call it creating an image or identity in the minds of the target audience.
Build it around the benefits customers get from the advertiser. Are there characteristics that make the advertiser?s product or service different from those of their competitors? If not, you may want to rethink putting them on the air.
If so, which ones would the target audience relate to? Create a link to the lives of your audience with comparisons, which we call similes.
A simile is a comparison of two unlike things, typically marked by use of "like", "as," or "than". Examples include ?the streets were like a maze? "the snow was as thick as a blanket," or "the atmosphere was more somber than a funeral."
Remember, your audience is already buried in a sea of offers, so make the message simple and consistent with what the audience already believes.
Use similes as opening lines. They?ll help you write the rest of the spot. They can also make client-positioning statements.
What niche in the mind and heart does the advertiser fill? Here are some suggested ways to construct similes. Just fill in the blanks with the appropriate nouns, adverbs, or adjectives.
It?s like a turbo-charged?
It?s like?on?
It?s like a?for your?
It?ll feel like?
It?s like the?version of?
It?s like?on steroids
It?s as relaxing as?
It?s as fresh as?
It?s as funny as?
It?s as exciting as?
And they cost the same as ?ordinary??
You?ll ?as?as a?
It?s stronger than?
It?s smoother than?
They?re?than ordinary?
You?ll feel?than?
We?re?than?
It?ll?you?than?
So whether you?re advertising a search engine that?s like Google on speed, a day spa with a one-hour treatment as relaxing as a week?s tropical vacation, or a loan process that?s quicker than making a cup of coffee, give your audience a simile to grab.
Jeffrey Hedquist is like a doctor for copywriters, prescribing techniques that are as easy to use as breathing and more necessary than a good night?s sleep. To get your free copy of ?Hedquist?s List of 238 Cliches,? email me jeffrey@hedquist.com and I?ll send them.
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