#008: The Best Podcast Episode Ever Recorded

Who should we interview next?

Send nominations to MattWillis@WizardOfAds.com

Transcript

Matt Willis 0:04

Welcome to the two a Million and Beyond podcast. This is Matt Willis. The best podcast episode ever recorded. In the five years I spent living in Los Angeles, I drove past a place called Best China Restaurant. Hundreds of times instinctively I knew this was not in fact the best Chinese restaurant out there. And subconsciously I began to assume it actually must be pretty terrible if it has to call itself the best in order to get people to come in and dine. The majority of those five years passed by without me ever eating at best China restaurant until one day my friend, who was the one driving, stopped the car and insisted we go, well, it's no surprise my intuition was right. Their food tasted almost as awful as we felt in the hours following its consumption. We are taught from a young age to doubt people's motives if they are too forward or too altruistic in their presentation. Do you remember the first time you received a call letter or popup ad saying you've been selected to win a free vacation? Or how about that scene from the movie? Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Where the Child Catcher offers Children Free Candy? That scene terrified me as a child. While not every good offer is hiding something as heinous as a kidnapper when it comes to doing business, we've learned if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So what does this mean for your business? Do you promote your business as having the best product, warranty people service support? You may well exemplify these things, but there are two main issues. As with the examples above. Potential clients will often see yourself promotion as manipulation, potentially because your product or service cannot stand on its own. Second, you have nowhere to go but down if your product has the slightest flaw. If your employee doesn't greet the customer with a warm enough smile, your clients will leave with unmet expectations. Then when they need your product or service, again, they'll remember the feeling of disappointment and choose your competitor instead. But isn't this how I make my company distinct from others? Maybe. But you don't say you're the best in your marketing. Everyone else does and no one believes them. Instead of telling potential clients to trust you, that you'll take the best care of them, that you'll serve them with integrity, show them. This is an area where traditional marketing stands head and shoulders above digital marketing. Digital struggles to tell enough of your story in just a photo, caption or short clip to set you apart. Traditional media, however, allows you to imply things through story without saying them directly. For example, you can avoid a red flag of saying, we operate with integrity by casually telling a short story in an ad about a time when you went out of your way to do the right thing for a customer. This is more of an art than a science. If you're too obvious, red flags will be flying for your potential customers. If you're too vague, you won't imply the right things or leave an impression.