Mortgage Think Tank

Too often, business professionals look at something as mundane as writing a press release with an odd mix of disdain and misunderstanding.

This stems from the fact that writing a press release is not something the typical executive wants to be doing with their day.  Also, and my wife, college english professor, can attest that the majority of people are unable to write.

But, there are certain firms in the mortgage space that make a living of exploiting this weakness. Before you sign a contract with a firm to provide marcom services, ask yourself.

What does my organization need to accomplish with their marketing and pr efforts?

How often does my organization have ‘news’ worthy of a press release?

How many industry publications and web sites do I need to have cover my news?

Do I really need help with marketing strategy, and not execution?

So often, I have talked with firms that have huge retainers with firms that provide little more than boilerplate press releases written by college graduates. No offense to college graduates.

If you need only the occasional press release, why not hire an executive admin who would write the piece, follow up with the press and make you available for interviews.

I would say one of the biggest mistakes that b2b marketers make, besides not believing in the value of brand and advertising, is that they believe creative doesn’t need to be pretty as long as their message is there, slotted in like a memo amongst some pretty clip art.

Are c suite professionals not human? Do they perceive ads differently?

I don’t think so. What is a c suite professional going to do when he see’s your ad?

Is he going to stop doing what he is doing, and call you?

I don’t think so. Eighty-five percent of the time he is going to respond to that print ad by going to your web site.

What does that mean?

Your ad could have all the information you think your buyer/prospect needs to make a decision, and he is still going to go online and check your site out.

Two things you should do with your ads, both print and online:

Direct Response

Branding

That is it. And do ugly ads get noticed? Does anyone want to marry an ugly spouse? If your ad is ugly, what does it say about your product or service?

That’s right- its ugly!

So when you are thinking about what you want your ads to look like- don’t look at what endemic advertisers are doing. Go out and pick up a general consumer magazine- perhaps something like Q or Wired. And go through and see what advertisers that play on a larger field or doing- their stakes are higher. They need to reach millions and get consumers to act when they don’t need to. You need to reach hunderds, perhaps thousands and you need merely to influence them to consider your service when they are ready to buy.