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Consumers Don’t Want "Traditional” Advertising
According to Forrester Research, consumers "hate” advertising. They found that only 13% of consumers make purchase decisions because of advertising and 6% believe that companies tell the truth in ads. That’s a strong condemnation of "traditional” advertising effectiveness.

Competition for consumer mindshare is increasing, but turning up the volume of advertising hasn’t worked. The signs that consumers are sick of "traditional” advertising are everywhere: The National Do Not Call List, the Can Spam Act, and DVR technology. In addition, the skyrocketing popularity of blogging, TiVo, iPods, and peer-to-peer social networks, shows that consumers are taking more control over their information-seeking experience, a phenomenon that contradicts "traditional” advertising methodology.
 

People don't hate advertising; they hate excessive, intrusive, irrelevant and annoying advertising!

Contrary to popular belief, consumers don’t hate advertising. People continue to buy products through catalogs that arrive in the mail; watching super bowl ads have become an annual event; search advertising is booming because people click ads targeted to their interests; and we can all hum a dozen of our favorite TV jingles. However, to be effective, it really does need to be relevant and non-intrusive. Then, there's no problem at all.

Local businesses must shift their approach from "push" to "pull" as consumers begin to "actively” seek out relevant information rather than "passively” waiting to see or hear traditional advertising and marketing messages. So, despite Forrester's claim, people don't hate advertising. They just hate excessive, intrusive, irrelevant and annoying advertising!

Lazy Communication Habits Undermine Success
The most common mistake in advertising and marketing today is lazy communication written by businesses that have failed to take the time to understand their customers and why those customers would want to buy their product or service. Unfortunately, the landscape of business has changed drastically over the last 5 to 20 years and just being aggressive doesn't cut it any more. You have to communicate clearly and avoid the use of platitudes.

"Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck, they leave no impression whatever.”

Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising

Even though most companies are good at what they do, their advertising and marketing messages don't reflect their unique strengths and advantages. Instead, most messages are full of platitudes - words and phrases that are drearily commonplace, predictable and lack the power to evoke interest through over use or repetition. Words like high quality, great service, lowest prices, and family owned since 1431 BC.

Good advertising is effective largely because it is specific. There are two benefits to being specific in your communication: First, it gives your customer the information they need before making a buying decision. Second, it creates believability and trust. As Hopkins pointed out, people are more likely to believe a specific factual claim than a boast, superlative, or generalization.

Bottom-line, it’s imperative for your business to incorporate Disclosure-Based Communication principles into your advertising and marketing communications…because today’s consumer demands it!

Local Businesses NOT Keeping Up with Internet Technology
Not long ago if you wanted to check when a movie was playing, you’d consult your local newspaper. If you wanted to find someone to remodel your kitchen, you’d open the yellow pages. Those days are over! Today, consumers of all ages are using the Internet to find specific information about the products and services they are interested in purchasing. As a result, it’s critical to maximize your resources by building a website that provides consumers with in-depth information about your business…on-demand, anytime-anywhere.

The rate at which new Internet breakthroughs are being made is phenomenal

The evolution of the Internet will fuel your future operations and innovation, especially as new technology becomes more affordable and social networking websites become more popular. These innovations will allow your business to do significantly more with less by maximizing all available resources and helping you adapt to changing customer demands. In a world where employees, partners and customers are increasingly demanding on-demand communication, your website should be the focus and jewel of your communication efforts.

If your local business is not investing in improvements to your website, you are setting yourself up for future failure.

80 Million Baby Boomers Retire and Cut Spending
Modern economies are driven by consumer spending and consumers spend less money after they retire. Collectively, the Baby Boomer Generation represents 80 million people in a population of 320 million. How they WILL or WON’T spend their money…WILL have a major impact on our economy, and more importantly, your business future.

Like all previous generations before them, as Baby Boomers moved into their 20’s and 30’s, they predictably made major purchases on items such as houses, furniture and cars. These purchases, in most cases, were necessitated by the growth of their families. Today, the majority of Baby Boomers have acquired their large assets, no longer have children at home or college, and are moving into the inevitable "savings mode” that is required to thrive in retirement.

How will Baby Boomer spending impact the marketplace? What does this mean to the future of your business?

As Baby Boomers retire in the next 10 years, they will once again radically alter the marketplace by cutting back on spending, demanding greater customer service and accepting their social responsibilities.

Local businesses that successfully identify the spending habits of our countries largest demographic will prosper, whereas businesses that don’t…will fail!