Marketing Contest: Can You Identify These High Impact Marketing Strategies?
In the past, I’ve shown several advertisements for the Jitterbug cell phone because their ads typically follow good direct response marketing laws and design techniques and this recent ad is no different.
This ad in particular, does two very smart things, which both represent powerful strategies for you and your business and rather than just share them, I want to get you thinking and seeing if you can figure out what they are.
Click on the above image to enlarge the ad so you can read it easier and see if you can figure out one or both of the key marketing strategies this ad showcases.
Three tips for those up to the challenge:
- One of the strategies is something I talk about on a regular basis and is something every business owner should be doing with every one of their marketing campaigns.
- The other strategy is an engagement technique.
- And finally the two strategies are NOT design or layout strategies. So while this Jitterbug ad does a lot things right when it comes to making it readable and easy-on-the-eyes, these are not the techniques I want you to grasp from it.
I have two valuable prizes for the first two readers who correctly identify the two strategies. I will update this article later this week on Thursday and highlight the best suggestions from readers and give you the final answers (along with my analysis).
To play along, simply type in your answer(s) below and check back this Thursday.
Thursday Update and My Analysis:
First off, thank you to everybody who submitted their answers to this contest. There were a lot of smart insights and feedback on what makes this ad from Jitterbug so well done and worthy of your study.
However the two BIG takeaways I wanted you to see (and hopefully figure out how to use in your business marketing) are:
1) The clarity Jitterbug has on “who their who is.” Answering this question should be the starting point for every one of your marketing campaigns and Jitterbug has clearly done their homework. They know exactly who they are trying to attract with this advertisement – the frustrated, senior/boomer cell phone user who just needs and wants a simple phone that works.
2) The engagement strategy of writing the marketing piece in the voice of their targeted “who.” 85% of the copy in this ad appears to be coming from people Jitterbug’s who can relate to. This technique of “seeing the world through the eyes of your prospects and customers and communicating with them in their language” is powerfully engaging and this advertisement does a great job of using this technique.
Jitterbug has crafted several “pain points” as if they were coming from Jitterbug converts. Statements like “Cell phones have gotten so small, I can barely dial mine” and “I had to get my son to program it” are not coming from specific people, but can be related to by their ideal target recipient.
You too can use this strategy if you know the various points of pain associated with your product or service, articulate them from the voice of your ideal who and then wrap your solution around them. This is easy and effective for just about ANY business owner to accomplish.
For example an accountant could craft a headline like,
“Many business owners aren’t happy with their accountants… I love mine! Here’s why”
and then proceed to craft client-centric BEFORE stories of frustration or incompetence that appeared to come from happy AFTER clients. Make sense?
CONGRATULATIONS TO readers Jim Hart and Jack Morrison, who both correctly identified BOTH key strategies. I will be following up with you and sending you your choice of gifts!
Use of objections stated and the reply of how this is better.
Visual image of options available- side by side comparisons
to help prequalify.
Hi Mike,
Jitterbug lists common problems so the reader can identify and then lists a solution.
Also gives away a free git (car charger) to sweeten the pot and make the reader feel he is getting more
Am I right?
Mike…
I love that they have multiple ways to contact them, repeated in a couple of places on the ad, and a FWP offer that is married to their call to action. (And the response tracking number is a very wise thing to do, as well!).
The headline ‘enters the conversation taking place in the targeted prospects mind.’
The ‘questions’ answered in the copy are clearly the concerns of that target market. They’ve clearly identified their target market. boomers/seniors. No contracts, big buttons, big text, loud speakers. The product is designed to fit the overall target and conversation as well.
1 Testimonials
2 Call to action with bonus offer
Hello Mike, this is a great ad.
One thing I notice is that they use a tracking code (“47832”). Thisis a simple way to track where they found your ad.
They also do a good job of engagement by asking the caller to “ORDER NOW” in order to receive a FREE valuable gift with a Dollar value attached. This is followed by “CALL NOW!” With a simple reb box around the this area to draw attention to the readers eyes, is simple, but effective.
Thanks for sharing this with us as always Mike.
Two big things in this ad:
1). Uses TESTIMONIALS to sell
2) engages using a comparison chart that shows features exclusive to Jitterbug
Right? Thanks.
Mike:
It appears that this marketing piece is targeted to older individuals. Jitterbug has identified a niche. I see this by the size of the numbers on the phone and the screen and the questions that senior citizen would have about using a cell phone. ( they identify the word cell phone. Most commonly referred to as mobile phone but identified as cell phone by older individuals, their talking the prospects language)
Jitterbug designed the ad with having a conversation with the prospect in mind. What the prospect is thinking… what going on in the mind of the individual. Senior citizens. The identified the questions that senior citizen have concerning cell phones…I can’t see the numbers on the phone, I’m hooked into a long term contract, What if I don’t remember my number,
The headline sets the tone for the ad. What you don’t like about cell phones, It goes on to explain why Jitterbug is different. Jitterbug has identified their unique selling proposition. Jitterbug is not like all of the other cell phone companies. Its designed for the senior citizens.
Those are my 2 observations on this ad.
Jack Morrison
Mike of course the testimonials are KEY here, but it’s also formatted well. The testimonials more or less do the selling for the person, but Jitterbug is for the older crowd, and they want ease of use, because they’re not like the other cell phone companies, so the headline is really important because it does what all the greats tell you to do, and that’s get inside the other person’s mind and say what they are thinking. Great post by the way.
Dr. Carney
Mike: This is a good one.
1. Clearly identified problem that the well identified target market experiences with the existing product is solved here.
2. Clear call to action with trackable PROMO code.
3. Great headline and sub head that clearly set up the enemy (the usual phone) and the cure and great use of images to drive it home.
4. The large no contract “johnson box” also answers another strong objection of this companies demographic.
Be well.
Dave
Free gift with purchase – great strategy to create action
High Impact #1….The testimonial headline and body copy appeals to the target audience by listing their common frustration and problems with their cell phone…And making a comparative list of the NEW cell phone benefits as a solution. (NLP )
High impact Strategy#2…. offering an irresistible bonus offer to induce Action Now!.
wow..too many to list.
Top 3 IMO….
1. Uses the markets voice. Their words….their objections. It’s a dialogue, not a saleletter.
2. Clear USP/ value proposition. The opposite of everything you hate about cell phones. …and everything following supports it.
3. Comparison table to offer 2 options and boost value of the higher priced option.
Mike,
In #2 of the article, you state “one of them is an engagement technique.” Do you mean writing in the voice of the target… that is engaged them by talking with them as opposed to at them, like a more traditional sales letter might?
Thanks for clarifying.
David, exactly. Rather than use a lot of “I/me/we” type copy, this ad engages readers by sounding like it’s coming from others just like them. BIG DIFFERENCE and very smart.