Why People Hate to Advertise

I’m going to write two words, and in your mind, I want the first words you think of when you read them. Two words – ready? “Advertising.” Here’s the second word: “Sales.” Quickly, what is the first word or set of words that come to mind?

I’ll wait.

When people say they hate advertising, it usually boils down to one of these four things:

1. They don’t know how to do it. 2. When they do it, they don’t know how to measure it. 3. They’ve tried it before, and it didn’t seem to work. 4. They don’t have the patience to let it work. The truth is, it isn’t advertising that we sell – it was cars, boats, banking services, kitchen remodeling, steaks at a great restaurant, etc. Claude Hopkins writes in his 1923 book about advertising: “advertising is multiplied salesmanship.” I was helping my clients make more sales calls.

David Newman, in his book Do It! Marketing: 77 Instant-Action Ideas to Boost Sales, Maximize Profits, and Crush Your Competition says in his experience, there are 10 reasons that entrepreneurs fail. Five of the 10 relate to marketing/advertising:

1. Delivering a great product or service, but being terrible at marketing and sales 2. Not getting the right kind of marketing or sales help in time, or at all 3. No differentiation – trying to market “me-too/same-o/lame-o” boring stuff 4. Over-investing in fancy business cards, websites and overly broad advertising 5. A lack of expertise and thought leadership in their marketing focus

Advertising and sales are not dirty words. They are the driving forces of economic growth and prosperity in our world today. Without advertising, sales are sporadic and left to chance. Without sales, businesses fail and people lose jobs. Advertising is the glue that puts buyers and sellers together and keeps the economy running.