How to create great television advertising

Do you wonder why some television advertising is great and others are horrible? The answer is that some people focus too much on the message and not enough on the presentation. This article will go through the elements of great television advertising. You will be able to watch a great commercial and see the different elements that will be discussed below.

Step 1: Wake them up!
You need to slam into the audience at a million miles an hour. There is not need for an introduction. You hit hard because they are only putting up with the commercial until their show comes back on. If you don't hit them hard enough to keep their attention, then they will spend that time flipping channels.

Step 2: Tell a story
Did you see the movie Titanic? Most people can tell the story with reasonable accuracy even if they have only seen it once and that was years ago. Why? That is because of the story format. You remember things in a story much better than you do random information. Tell a story in your television advertising and people will remember it.

Step 3: Keep the audience hanging, suspense
You could argue that Alfred Hitchcock was the best at creating suspense in his movies. He told you at the beginning who was going to commit murder to whom. Everybody watching the movie knew, but the victim and the hero didn't know.

And that drove you CRAZY!

It kept you on the edge of your seats the whole movie. Have the suspense keep the audience on the edge of their seats during your great advertising.

Step 4: Don't bore with solutions. Bring up the problem.
Most communication you see harps lethargically around the solutions. You definitely want to avoid doing that.

For the most part, people are obsessed with problems. They don't walk around happy and excited all day. They walk with their heads down thinking about their problems. When you bring up their problem, they snap to attention and listen.

You want to bring out their problem. Make them see all the gory details and feel the pain all over again. When they feel the pain, you have them emotionally involved in the situation. Now bring out your solution to the problem and show them how things are resolved. `No pain, no gain' applies in great television advertising.

Step 5: Reduce Risk
You need to make the person you are targeting in the advertisement to feel that there is no risk. You have heard the money back guarantees, trial periods, and free test drives. You want to make your customer feel that there is no risk involved so much so that he doesn't even need the guarantee.

Step 6: Let the audience know they aren't product testers.
You need to use testimonials when you are selling a product. Even if your product isn't on the market yet, it needs to have been tested with outstanding results. This means your customer's can take somebody else's word for the product's success. This relates to step 5, because people see that the product is good and they won't have to take a risk when they try the product.

Step 7: Close the sale!!!
You have gotten to the person's emotions and told them how to solve their problem with your solution and now you have to close the sale. You have to close the sale! That is worth repeating because if you don't close, your advertisement is useless.

You close by ending with a call to action and decision on the customer's part. If possible you should close more than once so that it is firmly in the client's mind.

Step 8: End with a bang!
You started by slamming into the customer at a million miles an hour. You have gone through their emotions and solved their issues. Now end with a bang so that the whole thing stays in their mind. In `Titanic', you knew how it ended. The boat sank. However, you didn't know who was going to live. That was the twist kept you involved and watching till the end.

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How to create great television advertising