With the focus on getting high rankings – SEO, keyword density and proximity - we seem to be missing the forest for the trees when it comes to online advertising.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the legendary ad man David Ogilvy said, “The consumer is not a moron. She is your wife.” With the almost fanatical focus on getting high search engine rankings – SEO (search engine optimization), keyword density, keyword frequency, prominence and proximity - we seem to be missing the forest for the trees.
Today, there is almost no discussion about the consumer. How can we please her or him? What makes her or him tick? What are her or his dreams, desires, hopes and fears? What motivates her or him?
Truly, the consumer has become another keyword. But the reality is that they are humans. So while your website may win the attention of the search engine spiders, your customers may dismiss your web content as being too mechanical and boring.
To advertise to your customer, online or offline, you must start by mentally discarding your own identity. You have to become the people you are communicating with. Internalize their joys, interests, tastes, even prejudices. Be an incessant people watcher.
You must learn to speak the language of your prospect. Often it means emotionally becoming someone you would never in a hundred years be like yourself. In many ways, creating advertising is the same discipline as acting.
This is why advertising so tricky to practice, yet at the same time so rewarding. Online advertising is a bridge between the worlds of art, business and technology. It must intrigue, entertain, and emotionally move people if you’re going to get their attention, yet it must meet its marketing objective and hit the top of search engine charts.
Those advertising clients and creatives, who learn how to cross back and forth between these three worlds, are the ones who produce good work and get great results.
