I thought this had been lost forever in the great ezboard attack of 05, but I found it using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, just substitute Yuku for ezboard and Promote for PCS and the information is a applicable
today as it was 12/27/01
http://promote.yuku.com/topic/102850
Silver Dollar wrote:Just today, I read an ad here at Promote that illustrates selling the dream.
Please take note that this is not a rule, it's just a suggestion. Let it also be clear that this is not advice from ezboard, it's just a suggestion from me.
Recently, I heard a lecture given by a friend who owns an advertising agency. In that lecture, he said something that struck me as very able to be adapted for use here at the Public Showcase. Some of you are, in fact, already doing this, but many are not.
My friend said, in effect, When you advertise, don't sell the product. Sell the results.
I'll use the example my friend used.
I'm sure some of you have seen Pillsbury's famous, extra-cute Doughboy and the products he represents in Pillsbury's television commercials. What does Pillsbury make? Flour. Do they advertise flour? No. They show you the result of the flour. They show you the pie... the biscuits, rolls, brownies, cake. Then they show you the happiness of the people who made these wonderful convenient things, and of the people who love them for making them. What they really advertise is an emotion, a need, and a dream.
Why does this work? Because, more than anything, what most of us want, in life, is to feel that someone cares about us. What you want to do, then, is show your customers that you care about them enough to give them something that satisfies them. In that way, you build their confidence and loyalty, and they become customers who stay with you, even when times are hard.
Think about this in terms of promoting your ezboard. Your "customers" are your members and potential members.
When you advertise by saying only, "This is my board," or "My board is the coolest," or "My board has a great design," what are you selling? The product.
When you say, "My board gives you a place to talk about your personal problems," or "We'll help you design great graphics," or "Our members will help you choose video gaming system that's best for you," or "At my board, we play all sorts of fun games," you are selling the dream.
If you really want to promote your board and draw traffic to it, think about what is the best thing your board has to offer. What dream (no matter how small) will it fulfill? What is it about your board that will give members a feeling of satisfaction or happiness?
When you decide what that is... sell that.
Whatever the dream may be, sell it truthfully. If you want loyal members who will stay with you and make your board live, they need to be able to trust you. If you exaggerate what your board can do for them, it won't be long before they realize they've been deceived, and they will know they can't trust you. If they don't trust you, they won't be loyal. And if they don't trust you... you will never be able to trust them.
Something to think about.
http://promote.yuku.com/topic/102850
