subject: Honest Marketing Techniques - What Is Wrong With Online Advertising [print this page] Honest Marketing Techniques - What Is Wrong With Online Advertising
Online marketing advertising is out of control. I'm sure you've seen at least a few advertisements lately that are so outrageous that the product cannot possibly live up to the advertising claims. You have probably also seen the ones that seem designed to capture you with emotion, without ever saying anything about the product. Unfortunately, these ads seem to be increasing, and it is getting tougher to see through the hype, fluff and bluff to determine what is real and what is not. In this article we will first learn how to detect a bad advertisement.
Most of these misleading ads seem focused on the newbie, the person just entering the online internet marketing arena, or someone that hasn't yet been successful. Some of them are so overpowering they even attract seasoned buyers.
So how did things get this way?
There is no "Sheriff" on the internet. The world wide web (also known to some people as the new wild wild west) has no central authority that is in charge and can create rules and regulations. The internet is relatively self-policing, and reigning in errant marketers is difficult at best because public pressure is difficult to garner. Many scam artists take full advantage of this and are making hay while they can. Eventually, things may change, but meanwhile, they create a virtual black eye for everyone else in the online marketing arena.
Recognizing a bad advertisement:
In the real world, an effective advertisement doesn't need to be yards long, it only needs to communicate the benefits of the product and provide a reasonable argument for its purchase. Typically, with ethical advertisements, lower cost products have shorter advertisements than higher cost products. This is to give the seller time to build the value of the product in the mind of the prospect before revealing the price. Ethical advertisements will also clearly indicate the price of the product so there are no surprises on the payment page. An ethical marketer builds credibility in the prospect's mind through honestly presented information without mind numbing repetition.
Most of the bad advertisements appear to follow a similar template. If you do a quick scan without actually reading anything, you'll notice a long, (often very long) advertisement that has a LOT of big, bold text, and quite a lot of red. There may be several images with screen shots, or perhaps even a video waiting for you. You'll likely see at least one, and perhaps several graphic images with "proof" of the money the seller supposedly made with the product. You will also see several testimonials from supporters. Most of the text in the advertisement is probably a large type font that you could read from yards away from your computer screen.
These are all designed to get your attention but you can see they often go quite beyond the needs of a legitimate product. Many legitimate products use the same elements, but in a much more restrained manner.
Don't get me wrong, there are probably some legitimate products out there that have sales pages that fall in to this pattern. Unfortunately, even an honest marketer can get trapped into poor advertising practices if he feels he has to in order to compete.
With this said, every product I've bought from a bad advertisement was seriously deficient. Part of the reason is that no product can live up to the claims being made. Another reason was that poor marketers just didn't fully develop the product in the hurry to get it into the market.
With blind ads, it's even worse, because you really have no idea what the product should be prior to purchase. I also found out that it is nearly impossible to get a refund from some of the more unethical marketers. If you feel you must respond to a bad advertisement, at least make sure the payment is handled through a service like ClickBank. At least then you have a decent chance of getting a refund if you don't like the product
As you start reading the text, look for concrete statements about the product. Notice if the ad copy has any real information about what they are selling. If there is a series of bullets that detail what the product is not, you may find there are few, if any bullets that indicate what the product is.
As you read the copy, you'll notice the emphasis is not on what problem they can solve for you, it is on how you will feel when you are rich and don't have to work. Rarely is there information about the benefits of the product, only an emotional appeal.
Also, you'll probably see some claim that the product will make you rich overnight, or some other preposterous claim. Even claiming $1000 in 7 days is as silly as becoming incredibly wealthy overnight as it is just as unlikely.
To get more information about ethical, honest advertising, please visit HonestMarketingTechniques.com
