Want better advertising? It's not "just the facts."

Every client wants to know how to do better advertising. They ask, "what am I doing wrong?" They wonder if it's the media buy, or the writing, or the graphics, or the Meta algorithm or what.

I usually tell them it's the facts that are the problem.

Then I tell them about Joe Friday and an old cop show called Dragnet. The theme song alone left an indelible impression on me. (And proves the power of audio branding, but that's another story.)

Narration from the main character begins every show: “This is the city; Los Angeles California. It’s 7:18 a.m. I’m sergeant Joe Friday. This is my partner, Gannon.”

Joe Friday means business.

He works his case methodically, interrogating everyone including innocent old ladies. He’s buttoned up so tight he can hardly part his lips to deliver his famous morality lectures.

His favorite line: “Give us the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts.”

That might be an effective approach to police work, but it’s a waste of money when it comes to advertising.

In the Dragnet school of advertising, all you do is list the facts: Who, what, when, where, how much. It’s the preferred approach of business owners who believe, “if you list it, they will come.”

Very few products in the golf industry are that good, or that different.

The fact is, most of the time there’s nothing compelling about the facts. So if you want to do better advertising, you have to move into a world that Joe Friday's not familiar with... a world of emotional storytelling.

People buy because of how they feel, not because of what they think. And stories have always made us feel things.

Here's the key to better advertising: "Facts tell, stories sell."

The fact is, one golf shop's pretty much the same as the next. They all sell the same big brands at basically the same price, it's just a matter of scale and inventory levels.

One putter's pretty much the same as the next. Any of them can work. The factual differences between one "players" iron and the next are miniscule.

So the facts can’t be the centerpiece of your advertising. Facts seldom offer an emotional hook, or any reason whatsoever for the brain to pause and ponder your offer.

In fact, the human brain is hard-wired to gloss right over facts and data, and move on to more meaningful messages.

Messages that make us FEEL something. (It's not about knowing.)

The storytelling approach to advertising is superior in every way.  Whenever there’s a commercial that you recall and talk about, I guarantee you there’s good storytelling involved.

Instead of the droll, Sergeant Friday talking AT people, great commercials connect on a deeper level with beguiling characters, disarming sound effects, and a story line that sucks people in — hook, line and sinker.

But you don't need to be running national TV spots to tell great stories. Print ads, websites, social media posts and even simple direct response post cards can also employ exceptional storytelling techniques.

The Got Milk campaign is a great example. Two words. One simple idea. And endless stories to tell.

You don’t see any facts about milk in that campaign. Not a drop.

The entire idea was built around the emotion of finding yourself milkless with a plate of cookies or a bowl of cereal, or whatever.

The emotional hook of NOT having milk was way more compelling than the facts about milk. The facts, in terms of vitamin content and healthiness, are highly debatable. So they flipped the script.

The client at the California Milk Advisory board was smart enough to recognize that and secure enough to let the creative team do its thing.

On the other hand, business people who insist on the Joe Friday approach to advertising think they have to say everything in every ad. And they justify the excessive bullet points by saying they have to “maximize their ad spend.”

Unfortunately, Friday-style facts actually minimize the effectiveness of your ads. It’s like golf instruction... The more stuff you pile on, the worse it gets.

Let me be clear. I’m not saying you should eliminate facts altogether. If, in fact, you have a product or service that’s truly different and superior to the closest competitor, be overt about it. Absolutely!

You always need some facts, somewhere, to help people justify their gut decision to buy your product.

But if you want to do more effective advertising, don't lead with facts, Dragnet style.

Instead, find an engaging, emotional way to communicate the bigger, overt benefit. Personalize it. Emotionalize it. It'll work much better.

That’s a fact.

Need help translating your boring golf business facts into great stories that'll move product? Contact me here.

I'd love to hear more about your golf business, and help however I can.