I took a direct marketing mail order course back in the 1990s when I started selling BiaB styles.

I remember that there were a few approaches to advertising, among them
  • Looking 'hip' like everyone else
  • The contrarian approach, looking different from everyone else
  • The retro approach
  • Luxurious look
  • Beautiful models
  • Celebrity endorsements
and a few others that I'll probably think of as soon as I click "Submit".

They couldn't tell what would work best for your product, but they offered a lot of food for thought about the subject. What is your audience? What is going to get their attention? Will looking like everybody else get their attention or get it ignored? Is it a predominantly male or female audience? This can go on and on and on and there were never any answers, because there is no definitive answer.

The thing it illustrated was to think about your intended audience. What kind of people are they? What will appeal to them?

The ad with a cowboy riding a bull appeals to a much different audience than a guy in a tux getting out of a luxury car in front of a mansion. Two young women grinning and sipping drinks with umbrellas in them appeals to a different audience than two young women in gym clothes sweating while they are exercising.

I'm not about to tell Peter what will work for his company, but if I knew for sure, I'd definitely share it.

In the old mail-order days, it was simpler to see what worked. Add some different codes to different ads or in different magazines (slight variation of the addressee, or Department #___, etc.) so you can measure which ad pulls better.

I did that with the same ad in different magazines and found which magazines my little classified ad worked better with than others.

Now you have to do other things to test the ad. Different URLs? Different codes for the same special offer? And so on.

I think this thread shows our loyalty to the BiaB community and our willingness to help it grow. That says a lot about PG Music and our BiaB 'family'. And I like what it says.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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