In real life we all hate bores who talk about themselves – unless they are amusing. Why should marketing be any different?
In the last 24 hours I’ve received two messages from marketers which revolve around themselves.
One begins by telling how long he’s been in business and how many brands he has created. He mentions none I have heard of, just three of his own, quite unknown in the big wide world.
Would you suggest that “established in 1923” is a great opening to an ad?
The second begins his spiel as follows:
Hi Drayton
I managed to stay up very late last night to upload the
whole recording of last night’s awesome webinar training
‘How To Make $100k+ A Year Online Working Just 6 Months,
Creating and Selling Online Coaching Programs’ which received
some fantastic feedback from my LinkedIn associates
Then we have the usual guff about how you can be a genius in ten minutes even if you can’t spell your own name.
But bizarrely enough the awesome (what else) thing he says he had time to listen to was his own damn webinar.
So after he’s finished he sits and drools at the sound of his own voice.
There are plenty of people out there who seem to think boasting pays.
Claude Hopkins said it was the kiss of death. Ogilvy talked of flatulent puffery.
What do you think?
Hi Drayton,
As you say, amazing how many professed marketing/business experts make the fundamental mistake of focusing on themselves rather than the prospect/customer.
However…where’s the line between boasting and what we might call appropriate self-promotion?
Kevin Francis
My view is simply based on the good old AIDCA. Tell them what the benefit is; develop interest; instill conviction (which is where I think the boasting comes in) and get action.
It is always, in my view, better to get someone else to sing your praises through testimonials.
Two thoughts:
1, Ocar Wilde was right about two kinds of people.
2. Prostitution, not Ogilvy, taught me to focus on the sustainable product or service benefit, not the pimp.
Lovely
I really can’t stand boasting. There are ways to disguise it and make it more palatable… but blatant chest-thumping is a turn-off. I can think of a couple marketers off the top of my head who seem to do little else but boast.
Yes; there is an oversupply of self-proclaimed geniuses -in an activity that only requires a modest talent anyhow.
Hi Drayton,
Boasting is simply self-aggrandisement, which often borders on untruthfulness (lies).
I believe honesty in copy, like most things in life, is essential. Not only for your target audience but for yourself whether you’re a copywriter/marketer or not.
Apologies for the couple of long words – I usually like to use shorter words in my writing.