“FOR DECADES, BUSINESSES HAVE SHOVED their marketing message and sales offers in our faces. Every single day we’re hit with dozens of video ads on Youtube, Facebook, TV, Instagram, etc. Many, ad agencies, marketing, and video production companies claim to have answers to your advertising needs.
Most people blast their video ads out to the world, HOPING for ATTENTION. But there is a major problem with that. Do you want to build your brand on ATTENTION and HOPE? Or on ATTENTION and TRUST?
For startups and small businesses, ATTENTION ALONE DOES NOT EQUAL TRUST!
Just because someone is aware of your product or service doesn’t mean they trust you, and it sure as heck doesn’t mean they want to do business with you.
In my last blog post, I mentioned how visibility is more important than ability, right?
Fine, so if you’re visible how can you then gain trust?
You gain trust simply by focusing on your message.
“What? That’s it?”
Yeah, that’s the magic bullet.
Focus = Trust.
You want to be seen as a “welcomed guest” with your video ads.
Think of it this way. It’s 1994, your name is Jeff and you’re throwing a house party. It’s full of friends that trust you can throw a good party. Then in the middle of the party you turn the music down, stand up on your chair and tell everyone you have an online business and you want to sell them shares for $25 apiece.
What happens? The party is over. Most people don’t want to hear your stupid online company idea anymore. They came to the party! And you have lost trust in your friends that you can throw a party without you trying to sell them something stupid like an online store. Why go online when you can get in the car and drive to the store and get what you want right away?
This is why you have a dinner party instead of a house party when you want to convince
some of your friends that buying things online is way better. So, you invite a handful of guests who you know would be interested in your idea. They like books. They’re into tech, and they are looking for someplace to put their extra money. They like what you are saying. You seemed focused on these people and they feel “special” in this intimate setting. So, they lend you some money to start your company you call “Cadabra” which later would be called “Amazon”. Yeah, that Amazon.
You repeat this process a few times, focusing on a select group of people to come over for dinner. See, people want to feel you’re speaking directly to them. Laser-focused on your dinner guests not your crazy house party guests.
When you create a video ad, it’s got to be laser-focused.
That’s why the YouTube ad “skip” button works. If your audience doesn’t care they will click the “skip” button 5 seconds in. If they watch 10 seconds of your ad. You get charged. And that’s OK because you have weeded out the nonbuyers. They all went to the house party across the street and you are left with a hand full of people at your dinner party. Why? Because they feel you are speaking directly to them and they TRUST you.
This seems so simple, right? Because even though this seems like common sense. People still don’t get it and make video ads that are not geared toward their target audience. They still can’t help it and create a video ad that’s too broad.
“HEY EVERYONE! LISTEN TO ME!”
No!
You’ll never be all things to everyone, so don’t even try.
When you try to let your marketing message hit everyone, it becomes watered down and has little to no impact. You must focus on those that matter. The ones that matter are the people most likely to become a customer.
So how do you focus on your audience, and ignore the rest?
Define who your target audience is then focus all of your attention on them. Build a profile of what your ideal client looks like. What problems do they have that you can solve? Who are the people most likely to have those problems? Here are 3 easy steps to accomplish this.
STEP 1
Write down on a piece of paper who your 5-10 favorite clients are. Now, look at those 10 and evaluate what made them your favorite. Were they respectful? Were they fun to work with? Did they pay a lot and pay on time?
STEP 2
See what all these 5-10 clients have in common. Are the majority of them female? Are they all in the same age group? Do they live in the same geographic location?
STEP 3
How did you serve them? What problems did they have that you solved?
The answers to these questions help you identify who that ideal client or customer is. Once you know, you can target all of your efforts toward them. Your video ad can focus on solving their problems and showing them that your brand is the perfect fit for them. This results in TRUST. And trust results in sales.
By speaking their language and addressing their needs, they know they’ve found a business they can trust.
Always keep your target market in mind when writing and creating your video ads. You must communicate as they do. Understand how they think and talk.
They find comfort and trust when you speak their language.
The key to earning trust is that your video ad doesn’t need to mean something to everyone. It only needs to mean something to the right ones, the people who are most likely to turn into your customer. They are the people that matter; the rest are irrelevant. Let them go to the house party across the street and trash the pool while you have a few people over for dinner.