Newspaper ad for Annuities

[Vaughn Siller]

James, I agree with much of your post other than advertising about service. I think everywhere seniors go they see "buy from me", "We're the best", "We've been around for ever", "We put you first".

You get my point.

In order for seniors to respond they need to be "shocked" by a statement. In the world of advertising it's called a "grabber". You need to grab their attention. I'm not saying lie or be deceiving. There is a big difference. If seniors are not compelled by your statement they are not going to respond. "Shocking" them might sound harsh to some, but you have to understand, 90% of the seniors I work with retired from the BIG 3. They'll have 600k in investable assets and 450k of it will be in Ford stock, and they don't know any better. That person needs to be "shocked" now or they will have a much bigger shock the day they wake up and find there is only 150k left in their retirement fund.

Any "shocking" thoughts??

 

[James]

James, I agree with much of your post other than advertising about service. I think everywhere seniors go they see "buy from me", "We're the best", "We've been around for ever", "We put you first".

You get my point.

In order for seniors to respond they need to be "shocked" by a statement. In the world of advertising it's called a "grabber". You need to grab their attention. I'm not saying lie or be deceiving. There is a big difference. If seniors are not compelled by your statement they are not going to respond. "Shocking" them might sound harsh to some, but you have to understand, 90% of the seniors I work with retired from the BIG 3. They'll have 600k in investable assets and 450k of it will be in Ford stock, and they don't know any better. That person needs to be "shocked" now or they will have a much bigger shock the day they wake up and find there is only 150k left in their retirement fund.

Any "shocking" thoughts??

If I'm not mistaken the key to advertising is consistency or repeating your message over and over, not so much "Shock" statements. Maybe, if you offer a free book about "Investing 101", go with a smaller ad and maybe some radio time. Or maybe even hook up with a Financial Planner that agrees with the usage of Annuities to insure a income stream in later years and split the marketing cost.

 

[arnguy]

Vaughn, I think you have received some excellent advice on this thread. With a product that is subject to review by your state DOI, it is very much like skating on thin ice. In a way, I think that maybe you are seeking justification for some "shocking" advertisement. I don't think you will get that from the senior members on this board. Also, states and the feds are concerned about unwarranted sales of annuities to seniors, so it is an area that is under scrutiny by the authorities.

 

[Vaughn Siller]

Without a doubt consistency is a key to advertising. I am making a 6 month commitment to conduct my campaign.

Again, there is a big difference between deceiving and shocking.

With all due respect, I'm not looking for justification from anyone on this board. What I am looking for is someone in another part of the country that is using print ads for marketing annuities. I was hoping to find someone that was having success in this approach. It's clear to me that no one in this forum is doing this.

That being said, let me say thank you for all the comments. I appreciate your help.

 

[senior-advisor-indiana]

I haven't seen anyone here that sells alot of annuites. I see alot of people here that have doubts about annuities. I wonder what forum all these $1,000,000 annuity producers go to.

 

[arnguy]

Good question, SAI. Let me know when you find out. Maybe this dude named Bill Harris has a website/forum. He travels around the country touting annuities.

 

[Macdaddy]

If I'm not mistaken the key to advertising is consistency or repeating your message over and over, not so much "Shock" statements. Maybe, if you offer a free book about "Investing 101", go with a smaller ad and maybe some radio time. Or maybe even hook up with a Financial Planner that agrees with the usage of Annuities to insure a income stream in later years and split the marketing cost.

You are talking about branding.

Advertising should produce a response. The headline is what needs to grab attention. It is an "ad for your ad" and must be compelling enough to get a lazy couch potato to take action.

Radio is a complete waste unless your offer is compelling, and it is expensive to boot. Radio does work well for branding however.

A good book to grab is by Claude Hopkins called Scientific Advertising.

 

[Vaughn Siller]

Now we're getting somewhere.

 

[James]

You are talking about branding.

Advertising should produce a response. The headline is what needs to grab attention. It is an "ad for your ad" and must be compelling enough to get a lazy couch potato to take action.

Radio is a complete waste unless your offer is compelling, and it is expensive to boot. Radio does work well for branding however.

A good book to grab is by Claude Hopkins called Scientific Advertising.

Yes you are correct, even though Branding and Advertising goes hand in hand. Just tweak the Ad as to make the selling point Personal Service and Education, such as a free Book on the use of Annuities. I don't know what sells better then "Free" and if you can throw in a "Guarantee" so much the better.

Then again I'm not real sure what the exact market these ads are targeting? If it is a local community, such as the greater Detroit Area (such as the Big 3) then I would think local Branding to fit into any marketing plan. I believe some call it Neighborhood/Community Marketing, in this case a free book, report, newsletter would be a great way of getting leads/contacts, well works for me but I do not target Annuities.

Let us put it this way, if you can not come up with a compelling reason why people should do business with you then why should they? The only real question is coming up with how to do that.

Ad: (headline).....90% of all Retire People will Outlive their Savings!

(body).....Now offer a reason why they should call you. Maybe a free book, report or Newsletter on the use of Annuities, such as get the truth about Annuities! What they can and can not do, they can not offer 21% return but they can guarantee a Life Long Income the YOU CAN NOT OUTLIVE.

Ps plus I don't know of many couch potatoes that even read the paper!

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Without a doubt consistency is a key to advertising. I am making a 6 month commitment to conduct my campaign.

Again, there is a big difference between deceiving and shocking.

With all due respect, I'm not looking for justification from anyone on this board. What I am looking for is someone in another part of the country that is using print ads for marketing annuities. I was hoping to find someone that was having success in this approach. It's clear to me that no one in this forum is doing this.

That being said, let me say thank you for all the comments. I appreciate your help.

I understand exactly what you're talking about. You have 3 seconds to grab someone's attention with an ad. You can be shocking without being deceitful. An example would be:

SENIORS: DON'T READ THIS AD IF:

*You are not worried about outliving your money
*You are.....

You get my point. Not that I'm saying to run an ad like that, but you at least want their full attention when they see your ad.