Geez, Bill's a hard act to follow, and as the saying goes, he's forgotten more than I know.
My first reaction to the ads Mikey posted is they kind of run together. See anything especially appealing to attract your eye, trigger an emotion or build confidence in a consumer? The last one does more so than the rest. The one before it has a pic but it feels an afterthought, another bullet or starburst. It was plopped in rather than using it to set the tone. The biggest hurdle is to be more noticeable than everybody else. If you can't do that what you say in the ad might be moot point.
I don't like to pick other folks stuff apart. YP artists work with time constraints an ad agency doesn't have. They do what they can with the little time they have. But, here's a few thoughts to keep in mind.
Find something that catches your eye and makes you stop and take a second look. A pic, a headline. Maybe something odd or unexpected, something interruptive that makes you go, "huh?" Like this,
If you saw this thumbing through the YP you'd probably take a second look.
There's an emotional component to the act of getting clean carpets. It feels good and most of our customers are women. Emotional hooks are great, whether it's warm and fuzzy like smiles, eye contact, moms and kids, babies, puppies and so on, or something clever and humorous. I've posted this before, but here's something we started sending out last week. It's something someone would hopefully take a minute to read and find cute, clever and funny.
It's gotta make you look professional. When you look professional you also look trustworthy, reliable and less risky than less professional appearing advertisers. It's a message you convey without saying a word and when it works it's believable because the customer comes to the conclusion themselves.
It needs to address more than just carpet cleaning. Of course Mrs. Piffleton wants clean carpets. What other concerns does she have? How about is it safe? Is it non-toxic? Will it take days to dry and will the spots come back like it did last time? Who's gonna do the work, some scary, obnoxious, heavily pierced, sleeved-out 19 year old who's gonna make me really nervous the whole three hours he's here or will it be someone I can trust and relate to? What happens if there's a problem? I'm gonna take time off and move a lot of stuff, are they gonna show up? Do they know what they're doing? Do they care?
There's a lot of stuff, besides getting the carpet clean, that our customers are concerned about. To what extent have you addressed those concerns in your ad? Why not put your picture in the ad? A good picture, not a snap shot. Maybe even hire a photographer.
And, Bill makes a good point, if your guarantee doesn't have teeth, what is it worth? You guarantee their satisfaction or what? Remove the risk, let them know how you're gonna fix the problem if you don't leave them absolutely delighted.
Talk about the benefits of hiring you whatever they are. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Make it easy to find what you do, make sure reading the piece is a pleasant experience. Some stuff is just plain hard, if not painful, to read. Keep plenty of white space. And, please don't check my spelling, but always check yours. lol
