Selfies suck. They’re even worse as advertising.

What are the two biggest mistakes in advertising?

Depends on who you ask.

My partner, Roy Williams, has a list of The 12 Most Common Mistakes in Advertising that’s awfully hard to argue with. But they’re the most common mistakes, not “biggest.” Plus, they are 12 of them.

For me, the biggest mistake is creating great advertising for a lousy product. By putting the advertiser out of business that mistake will have the biggest negative repercussions.

Once you take that off the table, though, then I’d list:

  1. Not saying anything that’s worth saying (let alone advertising), and
  2. Boring your audience with ignorable and forgettable ads

Ira Glass’s Two Biggest Mistakes in Advertising

But if you ask Ira Glass, he’d tell you the two biggest mistakes are:

  1. Using an inauthentic, over-hyped “voice” or presentation style, and
  2. Keeping the focus on yourself instead of the customer

Don’t believe me? Check him out:

 

In other words, respect your audience.

Respect them by talking to them like a friend, one sitting right next to you at the bar. And respect them by keeping the focus of the ad on them and what matters to them, rather than on yourself.

Use Real People Language. Talk Like a Friend

Here’s how all-time copywriting legend Bob Levensen says to do it:

“Start off with ‘Dear Charlie,’ then say ‘this is what I want to tell you about. Make believe that the person you’re talking to is a perfectly intelligent friend who knows less about the product than you do. Then, when you’ve finished writing the copy, just cross out ‘Dear Charlie’.”

This is the same guy who told us that most intelligent people ignore advertising because most advertising ignores intelligent people. And he was right.

So skip the hype, the pre-amble, the hemmin’-‘n-hawin’, and just say the thing.

Instead of wasting your creativity on witty, charming, and clever language, save it for figuring out how to be believable and credible and to best substantiate or dramatize your major claim.

Ditch Your We-We: Keep Your Focus on the Customer

Most advertisers try to stay credible by focusing on why they’re better than the competition. Not a bad thing to do.

Unfortunately, they forget to tie those differentiators back to benefits that the customer will actually care about. Instead, they just thump their chests and make We-We claims:

  • We’re the best at this,
  • We’re number one at that,
  • We’ve been in business since 1893.

We this, we that, and they we-we-we all the way home, and all over themselves in their ad copy.

Everyone’s Favorite Radio Station

Ditch the we-we and take up the you-you. Make the customer the hero and the focus of the ad. Remember your copywriting basics: always answer “What’s In It For Me?” for your customers.

WIIFM: everybody’s favorite radio station, playing 24–7 in their heads.

The good news is that ditching the we-we, switching to you-you, and answering WIIFM makes it a lot easier to talk to your audience in a human voice.

And getting back to my list of mistakes, it’ll also ensure you have something worth saying and keep you from boring your audience. Way to go, Ira. Thanks for your wonderful, wonderful radio show, and all the great storytelling (and advertising) advice.

Now all you have to do is make sure your product lives up to its advertising ; )

Check out parts 1, 2, and 3.

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