Some of the most effective marketing successes in history, both locally and nationally, have involved capitalizing on the voices, faces, and personalities of charismatic and humble business owners and corporate leaders.
Nationally, you may recall Chryslers’ Lee Iacocca or Wendy’s humble founder Dave Thomas. More recently the spokesperson for Quicken Loans also happens to be their President and Chief Marketing Officer Jay Farner. In these cases, and many more, consumers have responded positively to the credible messages delivered by real people.
Locally, you see and hear business owners voice their own ads, some of which are fantastically real and have moved their business from mediocrity to home town heroes, and from rags to riches.
People buy from people they trust. It’s that simple. But if you don’t come across as real, trustworthy, and humble, the chances of you going from local to national are slim.
Two of the ten tips for being front and center in your campaigns are:
1.) Check your ego at the door. Only voice your commercials or have quotes and photos of yourself in your advertising if it is strategically correct to do so from a marketing perspective. It’s not about hearing your own voice or having mom see your picture, it’s about bringing believability and memorability to your campaign.
2.) Introduce yourself as the Owner, CEO or President. There is NO reason to either voice the ad or be in the video if you don’t introduce yourself.
As the owner or president, you don’t need to be better at voicing the ads than a disc jockey, actor or actress, you simply need to serve the purpose of you doing the ad, and that is to become the voice or face of the company. If you can’t add purpose, hire a Gecko, create a fictional character or let someone else do it!
Nothing sells like the human voice and using your own voice and words can make your campaign stand out against a hoard of ads produced by professional, anonymous sources.