Advertising: Comparing Your Product To The Opposition. Wise?

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You simply should to run comparison ads when the buyers seeing the advertisement are extremely familiar with the competitor's product. I don't mean that the public is frequently conscious of the brand name, I mean that the prospects all have awareness of the features and advantages of the competitive product. This is very nearly never the situation.

You should recognize that you think about what you market all day. You plan your business around selling your offering. You see it pretty much every day. You handle it, operate it, and possibly find it fascinating. You know about the products that are in your product category. You most likely purchased them to run tests. You can chat about your offering for several hours without repeating yourself. Am I truthful in this? The problem is, your shoppers barely know the basics of what you sell, and this is once they pay money for it. The single expert in the room, on your offer, is you.

You may even think of your competitor as your opponent. So it's natural to enjoy ads that damage your competitor rather than sell your offer. But this isn't selling.

For example; I sell vacuum cleaners. There is a well advertised vacuum cleaner that is lightweight. So another manufacturer, who also has a lightweight vacuum cleaner, decides to run ads with both vacuums featured, and then compared to one another. This is a awfully admired ad, with the sellers. It's very admired with the manufacturer as well. But comparison ads seem to have a "So There!" attitude about them.

Do they work? Absolutely. They are successful on customers who are very familiar with the other product, and have not bought yet. But that segment of the marketplace is really very small.

By making these comparison advertisements, you also are notifying the marketplace that the other offer exists! To a knowledable consumer, it also appears like you are comparing to this other offering because you feel that it's much better than what you offer. Why else would you bother comparing at all?

These ads occasionally have one offering illustrated next to the other offering. Then there are a listing of features. Of course, the features listed will support whatever product the advertiser offers.

Occasionally these advertisements just bring up the other offering, and then list why ours is superior.

The worst instance I've seen thus far is knocking the competitor with an inside joke that only the companies would even appreciate. This ad was very well-liked at conventions. The advertiser's CEO loved it, I'm certain. The merchants loved it too.

But there is a giant cavernous flaw to this sort of ad. The customer does not get the references. They won't have the intimate experience of the comparable features. Practically the whole ad is wasted on them.

I've actually been guilty of running these ads in the past.
The best analysis I've seen, to decide if they are effective or not, is to show the advertisement to a kid. Eight or nine years old is fine for this type of test. Ask them what they think of the advertisement. If they can't instantly understand what you are saying in the ad, it's excessively complicated. The references will be wasted.

Why divide the consumer's concentration between your offering, and your competitor's?

I'm a slow study. You do not have to be.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Local Small Business and Marketing expert Claude Whitacre is author of the book The Unfair Advantage Small Business Advertising Manual. You can purchase the book for $19.95 at www.claudewhitacre.com. You can also download your Free copy of the complete book at local-small-business-advertising-marketing-book.com

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