How To Create Advertising That Sells. Five Easy Steps Anyone Can Follow - Step #4 - Benefits.

Furniture World News Desk on 1/5/2014

Advertising pioneer Clyde Bedell once wisely said, “The only advertising that proves to be any good is advertising that serves the customer.”

If we accept that statement to be true (decades of testing and my own personal experience tells me that it is), how do we serve our prospects and customers in our ads?

Here’s what I mean. Last summer, I was looking out my office window into my back yard. I see a crepe myrtle with branches so high they allow the squirrels to get up on the roof. Don’t get me wrong. I love squirrels. I love watching them tear around the yard, playing and eating all the seeds the birds drop on the ground under the feeders. But believe it or not, I don’t want squirrels on my roof. Next thing you know, they’ll be nesting in one of the roof vents.

So I need to cut back some branches. I don’t own clippers that can handle the size of the branches. I'm going to have to go buy some. Believe it or not, I don’t have this burning desire to own clippers. But I do need to get some clippers so I can keep the squirrels off the roof. I need what the thing will do for me, not the thing itself.

I’m pretty sure Mrs. Consumer did not wake up this morning saying this: “Honey, I haven’t been out of the house in days. And you’ve been working so hard. We need to go out and have us some fun. I know! Let’s go buy a mattress.” I guarantee you she is not saying this.

Probably 99% of all furniture, mattress or floor covering ads today leave it to the reader to sell herself because there’s not much, if any, information provided.

Before anyone buys anything, they want to know, “What’s in it for me.” Everybody’s favorite radio station is WIIFM.

Think about this. A prospect walks in the door of your store. After she’s greeted and welcomed by one of your salespeople, she states that she is looking for a new sofa. I'm pretty sure (at least in your store) your salesperson would not say, “They’re all over there. The sale prices are on them. Let me know if you want one.”

But isn’t that what your ads do? “Here’s a sofa. The price is on it. Let me know if you want one.”

Think about this, too. We’re asking a lot of our customers, aren’t we. After reading your ad, they have to make a decision to go to your store. Maybe she has to convince her husband to go along. Maybe arrange for someone to keep the kids. They have to get dressed. They have to pull the car out of the garage. They have to drive to your store. Maybe only a couple of miles, maybe across town. They have to use they own gas. They have to deal with traffic. In some parts of the country, snow and ice and ultimately, a salesperson who may not be the most professional or the most friendly or the most helpful (not in your store, of course).

Salespeople can’t sell with few words and neither can your ads. Shouldn’t your ads serve your readers as well as your salespeople do in person? I think they should.

I just completed a January Sale post card for a client of mine. Here’s what I said about a featured recliner in that ad:

“So inviting . . . so tempting . . . so comfortable . . . so affordable. Sit down, recline, relax, rest, save. Tired when you get home from work? Lavish foam padding eases away aches and pains. Raising your legs aids circulation. Easier on your heart. Was $000. Save $000. Now just $000.”

Not once did I use the word, “recliner.” She can readily see the image. Most consumers are pretty smart. She probably knows it’s a sofa just by looking at it. What she is hungry for is information that will help her make a decision to at least visit your store.

This topic of Benefits is so important, so critical to the success of your advertising, I think I’ll spend some more time on this next week. Obviously these little articles cannot be a course on how to create advertising but next week I’ll give you some important benefits you can copy and use in your ads.

For more detail on all the principles expressed in these articles, go to www.lovefurnitureprofits.com.

PLEASE NOTE: I welcome your feedback. Did you like today’s message? What other topics would you like to see covered? Please let me know at david@lovefurnitureprofits.com. Feel free to forward this to a friend in the business.

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About David Love and Love Furniture Profits. Love Furniture Profits is an advertising consulting and coaching firm that shows retailers how to get more traffic, more and higher ticket sales and more profits using long-lost scientific advertising secrets unknown by about 99% of all of today’s retailers.

David is a 41 year furniture/mattress, in the trenches, industry veteran. His unmatched-by-anyone background includes retail furniture sales. Manager of a retail furniture store. 22 years on the road making money for companies like Sealy Mattress and Best Chairs. His territory and his retailers achieved sometimes remarkable sales increases due to the expert advertising and sales advice he gave. He has also owned and sold his own profitable store and was a highly regarded sales manager of a top 100 furniture store.

With his knowledge and front-line experience he has a passion for passing it on and sharing that experience to help furniture and mattress retailers cut advertising waste and maximize sales and profits.

To find out more, get your free copy ($29 but free to any furniture, mattress or floor covering store) of his just released, breakthrough Special Report for Furniture and Mattress stores, “5 Long Lost Scientific Retail Advertising Secrets that work like magic in today’s economy for any furniture or mattress store to get you more customers, more sales, more profits.” Go right now to www.lovefurnitureprofits.com. David can be reached at david@lovefurnitureprofits.com. Phone: 707-580-3415.

Advertising That Sells

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