15 Things You Can Learn From TV Commercials That Will Greatly Help Your Online Business

Are You Ready For Some Content?

In case you didn’t know, that headline is supposed to be in the voice of Hank Williams Jr. (guy who sung Monday Night Football theme song; they fired him).

The other day I was listening to one of my favorite songs and I hate to admit that I like this song because of what it says… Well I guess it’s not that bad.

It’s called “The Lazy Song” by a guy named Bruno Mars. If you’ve never heard it, he talks about how on that particular day, he doesn’t feel like doing anything; he just wants to lay in his bed.

I didn’t lay in my bed allay but I did become a couch potato for a few hours and watch some TV. While watching a few of my favorite TV shows (I love Grey’s Anatomy), something hit me like a punch from a bully in the 5th grade.

Everyday of every minute on television, you and I are being marketed too; and not just any old type of marketing; I’m talking about the best marketing in the world that has stood the test of time and raked in billions of dollars for corporations.

They dish out billions to advertisement firms that are up on what’s hip and know just how to trigger our actions.

Something that reassured this was after seeing a Subway commercial and that delicious 5 dollar foot long, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The commercial worked.

One thing I’ve learned about being successful online is you MUST become a good marketer. You can’t just write stuff and think people will read it because it’s there.

While watching TV and of course being lazy, I whipped out my ol’ notepad and began to write down what I saw. I watched commercials as a marketer and not as a buyer.

Here are 15 things I learned from watching commercials that we can use to make our online businesses better.

1. Theme Music In Commercials

How many times have you been watching TV and a commercial comes on and you start singing along? Having your own theme song is a great way to set your self apart from other internet marketers. I recently decided to create my own theme song to open up my podcasts and videos. It’s truly exciting to sit back and watch your brand grow.

Check out my post on 9 things you can get done for 5 bucks. Getting a theme song is nowhere near as expensive as some may think.

2. Advertise Your Stuff

I noticed one thing over and over through out commercials. They are advertising even in their advertisements. Sounds redundant but hear me out.

They never wait until the end to tell you to CALL NOW. They have the number to call and their website showing throughout the whole commercial; do this mostly in your videos.

Find a nice spot and plaster your website there. This will burn your website in their brain. They’ll be out grocery shopping and see a color and all of a sudden, think about your site.

3. Creating a Series

I don’t know about you but I love a good series but you don’t see commercials use this because it can be pricey. If you’ve ever heard of Yellow Wood, then you know they have some great commercials that are actual mini-movies.

This ties into both blogging and video marketing. Recently, I typed a 5,000 word article on every aspect I know of social media and realized it was too long. I decided to break it up into a series of posts. This makes it easier to consume for readers and gives me more content for the search engines.

For video marketing, you can get creative and create a series of videos that are relative to your niche. You can show your acting skills or create a tutorial series. This is a great way to show your personality and put your brand on the map. Do it at the right time and you’ll have people waiting for your next series.

4. Sex Sells! Now & Forever…

This is something that will never go away. I don’t know if you heard but the most successful commercial in the history of Super Bowl commercials is from Victoria Secret.

They reported that right after the commercial aired, they got a millions of hits to their website. I’m sure they made their money back that night.

I don’t suggest you go plaster half-naked women or 6-pack hunks on your site to attract visitors though. It’s one of those things where you’ll just know.

In some of my posts on this and other blogs I run, I use images of beautiful women as studies have shown that they attract both men and women. I guess it’s selling sex in its purest (safest) form.

A commercial that displays this perfectly is Liquid Plumbers Double Impact. If you haven’t seen it, search for it on YouTube. You’ll see exactly what I mean.

You may also remember GoDaddy’s first Superbowl ad (above) where a woman’s spaghetti strap snapped and gave the assumption that she was about to expose something. They then told you to go to their site to see the rest. This practically put GoDaddy on the map.

5. Animals Are Popular

Another study has shown that animals in blog posts works like setting a toy in front of a baby. People are going to check it out. Even with the Superbowl, the most popular commercials are usually the Budweiser commercials with horses and dogs.

I’ve done this a few times; not enough to get any specific stats.

6. Show Some Proof

This tactic is great for internet marketing as a whole. You must show proof of what you’re saying.

The most popular are the “get fit in 30 minutes without doing any work” commercials. You know the ones that show this extremely fit person using a product. They are there to sell a dream; not just a product.

They key is to tap into people’s thoughts. Give them a dream of what they’ll look like after they use a product.

7. Kids Are The Cutest…

I personally think smiling kids are the 1 of the 3 most powerful things on this earth. I would often use this as free therapy when I was mad about something. I would search for smiling kids and it would immediately bring me happiness.

You’ll also know that some of the most popular videos on YouTube feature kids just being kids.

This is something I do a lot when searching for pictures for my blog posts. If I can find a good picture with a kid, 9 times out of 10, I’m going to use it because people warm up to kids.

8. Celebrity Look-a-likes

This is one I haven’t seen too much but I know for a fact it works because it got my attention. There is a 1800-ask-Gary commercial that features this young woman who looks just like pop singer Rihanna (left).

This will immediately register with a Rihanna fan. This idea will work great with certain niches; especially if you’re into making people laugh.

Skits with celebrity look-a-likes are extremely popular online.

9. Real Celebrities… Not Like You’re Thinking

This is nothing new. This is how many companies run their advertising campaigns. Proactive is the first one that comes to mind. This doesn’t have to be movie celebs though. It could be a celebrity in your niche.

Let’s say I took a picture with Frank Kern; the most famous and highest paid internet marketer in the business. Many would wonder just who I am. It would immediately make me a star in my niche.

Show your face at seminars for your niche and take some pictures with the big names if they don’t mind. It would help increase your following. Frank even recommended this in one of his webinars as a way to get popular.

10. Seminars vs. Webinars

I don’t know about you but when I first started looking for anyway to get away from working a job, I spent some time at a few seminars. The only thing I learned is they are made to almost force you to spend money at the end.

They market like crazy to get you there (CALL NOW to secure your seat!) and then tell you they’ll give you something free for showing up.

The game didn’t change; it just got smarter. These same seminars are held online as webinars and cost a heck of a lot less money to run.

When I go to webinars now, it’s to get one thing; Information. Once I get that and they start selling, I’m usually off unless it’s a real good product I feel can help my online business.

You should consider hosting webinars as they are a great way to build a following and make some money online.

11. Original Squeeze Pages

If you haven’t noticed, TV commercials were squeezing information out of every day consumers way before anyone ever thought of a squeeze page.

They sell you a dream and soon offer you the first step to making that dream come true; for free.

You’re hooked…

Only one catch. You must call now to give them your information so they can send your free packet.

Companies have been pulling this for years and the reason it will never change is because it works. You give something of value away for free and people will want it.

Sit back and observe these original squeeze pages and you might see something you can bring into your business.

12. Learn How To Sell

Those quick “As Seen On TV” commercials are some of the best forms of selling I’ve ever seen. They are great teachers too if you can watch them as a marketer and not a buyer.

They always show you how the way you’re doing something is totally wrong and could have a big impact on your life.

They then show you the only solution to fix “your problem” and it’s their product.

Next they build up the value of their product by showing lesser quality products at outrageousness store prices and then they hit you with their price which is freakishly low; so low you would be crazy to not immediately jump on this.

But wait… That’s not it…

When you buy now, you get 2 for the price of one and for the next 20 callers, they’re giving a free mystery gift with a $20 value.

If that isn’t selling, I don’t know what is. I’ve probably got you wanting to buy nothing right now.

Those commercials offer a ton of information on how to sell and what marketing trends are working now.

13. Dropping Names…

What would get your attention more than anything on a commercial? Hearing your name being used. It almost makes you think they’re talking about you.

The other day, a commercial for a DriveTime (they sale cars) came on about a guy named Dennis. Apparently, he had lost his job (sound familiar), was having car troubles and his credit was absolutely horrible (I can definitely relate).

Long story short, they offer a way for Dennis to get a nice used car even with his recent downturn of events. With this being a nationwide ad, how many Dennis’ do you think went in to try to get a new car?

Doesn’t work on me because I’m hip to most marketing tactics. I also truly believe car companies get paid when they submit a credit application for you. This is why I’m not to quick to allow people to run my credit. Not going to make a buck off my name and there’s nothing in it for me.

I’m sure many Dennis’ got turned down but the moral of the story personalization really works. This is mainly for email marketing. You should always be looking for a way to add some personal feel to your emails. Once of my most famous lines in another niche used the first name. Got tons of opens every time.

14. Give Away Stuff

Publishers Clearing House is by far the most popular for this area. People 9 times out of 10, don’t even know what they are signing up for. They just see PCH and know those are the people who show up to your door with a million dollar check.

With commercials showing winners, they sell a dream and consumers eat it every time.

Holding a raffle or giving away something like an iPad, is a great way to bring a lot of attention to your brand. This very tactic has been used millions of times over in every niche. This is another one that will never die as long as people want stuff.

Make sure your budget calls for it though. Also be mindful that this is looked at as a business expense for tax purposes.

15. Be The Face Of Your Brand

Finally, we’ve come to my favorite one. I’ve noticed one thing about most lawyers. They’re services are needed daily and the first step to getting a case is building a relationship with their potential customers.

They do this by being the face of their law firm. I’ve seen one particular lawyer in my area, whose wife and son are also lawyers, do commercials also for the business promoting the image of them being about family run business.

For people to immediately be able to see who is behind a company builds instant rapport.

For online businesses, this starts with doing videos, replying to comments and emails. I make it my mission to whole heartedly respond to every single inquiry.

I actually lost a great comment on this blog due to the alarming amount of spam I get and felt bad because that person had spent their time to comment and I didn’t get to pay them back for it.

Put yourself out there so people can see who you are. It will pay off as time goes on.

Conclusion

We’ve just gone over 15 things you can learn from your everyday tv commercials that you can incorporate into your online business. Some are logical while others will take a bit of thought and creativeness.

Commercials are hugely popular in our society. The Superbowl is the most popular event on TV but it’s a fact that many watch it only to catch those amazing commercials.

It the Superbowl were looked at as a blog, it would be the biggest blog in history. They release one post per year and for that post, get billions of views and stay relevant for the entire year until the next Superbowl.

This year I didn’t watch the Superbowl because I wanted to do something different from everyone else. I figured I’d catch the commercials later because they would be the talk of the internet for the next month or so.

I’ve thrown away my buyer goggles and now I’m beginning to see life through the eyes of a marketer. I see how we are marketed to everyday of every hour…

The slick plugs for franchises and brands on TV shows; billboards everywhere in the city; The fact that grocery stores are setup to always make you buy more than you came in for; As I leave my apartment, the signs in the grass for Free rent. I must have missed that deal.

Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; you must become a good marketer in order to be successful online. It doesn’t involve buying courses; it involves paying attention to everyday life.

The trick to doing this is paying attention to what gets your attention and either keeping a mental log of it or immediately writing it down.

Me with bad memory, I have to write it down immediately. Luckily for me, I keep a pen and pad close to me at all times.

With what I know about marketing, when something gets my attention, my next action is to see how can I add this in my business; not buy that product. That’s how you become a great marketer.

This was another long post of mines and I really enjoyed putting it together. Being that we’re talking about Superbowl commercials, I want to end with my favorite one of all-time.

I want to thank you for reading and if you have any input at all, feel come to comment. My comment box doesn’t bite… as far as I know…

Have a better day today than you did yesterday

Tagged As: how to learn online marketing, internet marketing, online business, super bowl commercials