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I have been talking a lot about a trade.
A trade that is made every day of our lives.
Marketers trade us VALUE for our ATTENTION.
Is Humor Valuable Enough?
The most common value that Interruption Marketers (those that run ad campaigns through television, radio or print) bring to the table is HUMOR or ENTERTAINMENT value.
For example, this 30 second beauty from H&R Block is a great example of an attempt to trade HUMOR for our ATTENTION:
Although that commercial will get a few chuckles, it isn’t what I would call valuable marketing. But the real point of the commercial is not necessarily to provide tremendous value. The humor exists only so that you will tolerate the commercial long enough to see their branding (green square logo), hear their value proposition (we found errors on 4 out of 5 returns) and endure their logo (You’ve got people.) The idea is to build trust through repetition and branding.
Your Tiny Business Is No Joke
A tiny CPA firm can’t compete with H&R Block at this game — for obvious reasons.
But I would argue that this type of marketing has very low returns even for H&R Block. It may be funny, but will it cause me to buy? Maybe. But I will be much more likely to buy from someone that I know personally and that has provided me REAL value.
I would be more likely to buy from a CPA that did more than make me laugh.
Here are some other values that a CPA could provide for me.
Make Me More Money — A blog post on the CPA’s website that explains “10 Costly Tax Deductions That Most Businesses Miss”
Save Me Time — A product review (located on the CPA’s website) that shows me exactly how to use Neat Receipts to organize my receipts and business cards.
Educates Me — A 5 minute screencast video (located on the CPA’s website) that shows me exactly how to set up payroll in Quickbooks or Peachtree software.
Protects Me — A downloadable ebook (located on the CPA’s website) entitled “Legal and Lucrative: How To Keep Every Dime That Is Entitled To You At Tax Time”
What about you? What could you do to provide value to your market in exchange for their attention? Is a humorous commercial enough to make you buy?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Good points here, Russ.
The ad got a chuckle, even tough the cyclops actors probably scared your kids!
H&R Block might get clients from the clowns who dress up in Lady Liberty outfits and try to flag you into their office, but they won’t take a client from a true professional who solves their problems.
A professional business person needs professional services.
I’d buy TurboTax before going to H&R Block. Who will be there next year to help? I doubt if it will be the same person who prepared your return this year.
@Fred — love this point you made
There is a whole book to be written just about that statement.