In order for your advertising to be illustriously effective  your ads need to be properly structured. From a selling  standpoint, they need to achieve the highest impact. When  you go to write an ad, you probably ask yourself, "What  should I talk about? What selling points should I bring out  - given my time or space restraints...and my competition  that I've identified?" Well, what you need to do is build a  case for your product or service based on the competition  that you've identified. Let me give you a quick analogy.

Think about your marketing and advertising strategy this  way: Your product or service is on trial. The consumer is  the jury. You are the attorney and you must prove to the  jury that they should buy your product - and it's a life or  death sentence. Your job is to come up with all the proof  and present it in a way that the jury believes you. You  must present evidence.

But if you look at the way most businesses advertise, they  build no case at all. Instead, they just mindlessly spout  off the same old stuff that all of their competitors are  saying. A perfect example would be an ad for a franchised  auto repair facility. I've had work done on my cars at this  place before and I can tell you that they're pretty good.  But listen to what their mailer says. It says, "We do it  all, our hours are designed around your hours, we use high  quality parts, we have friendly professional technicians,  and we give free estimates." Does that build a case? Let me  ask the question differently. If you were in the market for  auto repair, has their mail piece convinced you that you'd  be an absolute fool if you took your car anyplace else? I  don't think so. There's no claim, no proof that they're any  different or any better than any other place - just the  same old mindless advertising babble. No argument, no  evidence, no proof...no nothing. Their only hope is that  their ad happens to arrive when you're in need of auto  repair. Their entire strategy is based on luck.

You need to build a case for your product just like an  attorney would. Just imagine what it'd be like if an  attorney did as poor a job arguing a court case as most  advertisers do. Remember the OJ Simpson trial? I know it's  been a while, but it was a high profile enough case and it  dragged on for so long that most people remember it pretty  well. What if OJ's attorneys stood in front of the jury and  said, "Come on...he couldn't have done that! He's OJ! The  Juice! He runs through airports! He's the 2,000 yard  Buffalo Bill! He's an actor! Everyone loves him! There's no  way he did it!"?

As ridiculous as that sounds, that's about as good of a  case as most advertisers ever prepare to defend and sell  their product. It's better, we're cheaper, we're  professional, we've got better service, and so forth. Look  what OJ's attorneys DID do. They researched and prepared  all kinds of forensic reports, alibis, expert  witnesses...and everything they needed to prove that he  couldn't possibly have done it. Remember how strange that  case got? They found a guy who was a glove expert and  another guy who was a blood splatter expert? "This glove  couldn't possibly have fit OJ; it's too small. If OJ had  stabbed somebody, their blood would have splattered in that  direction, not this direction." Where do they get these  guys? Who knows? Maybe glove experts and blood splatter  experts make good money. They probably have a lot of free  time between cases though.

So here's what you need to do in terms of your advertising  strategy. You have to determine what points your case is  going to be built on. There's a three-step method for  building confidence. Step 1: find out what they want. Step  2: give it to them. Step 3: say it in a believable way.  That's what we're back to again when building the case.  Building the case, building confidence. See the parallel?  Let me give you another example.

If you're going to build a case, you need to know what  points the case is built upon. When the attorney begins the  trial, he or she addresses the jury and says what? "Ladies  and gentlemen of the jury, in this trial, I will prove to  you that so-and-so committed such-and-such crime. I am  going to prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that this  occurred and I'm going to do it based on the following  evidence, 1, 2, 3, and 4. I am going to bring out three  witnesses that all concur that it happened in this fashion.  I will present 2 expert witnesses that will testify that  these things happened this way. When you have seen this  evidence, you will have no option but to conclude that he  is indeed, guilty."

Again, remember the comparison. Your customers are the  jury, your product or service is on trial, you are the  attorney, and it's a life or death sentence. Here's a way  to find out what your customers need to know when doing  business with you - the points that your case will be built  upon.

Here's an easy way to come up with these points to build  your case. I'll assume that you already know quite a bit  about whatever it is that you're selling. Fair enough? So  now let's say that one of your best friends is considering  buying one of what you sell and they're asking you for  advice on how to evaluate their various options. What kinds  of things would your friend need to know to make the best  possible purchasing decision? What things would you tell  your friend to look out for? What specific pieces of  information would your friend need to possess to make a  fully informed buying decision?

Whatever these things are, those are the points for your  case. For instance, I recently had my fence rebuilt in my  backyard. I don't know a thing about fences except that my  wife kept bugging me to replace ours. So finally, after six  months, I broke open the ol' yellow pages and called around  using the usual ridiculous process - asking for bids. I got  bids from about 4 different companies and the prices varied  from about $2,500 to $3,300. So who do you go with? The  lowest price, right? Well, that depends.

I called back one of the contractors - the lowest priced  one - to ask about their time schedule and told him that I  had gotten bids from 4 companies and that I was strongly  considering using him. He then proceeded to give me a short  but thorough education about what you need to know about  building a fence. He said to make sure, when I was  comparing bids, that the price included pressure treated  rails and posts, that the rails were 2 by 4s instead of the  standard 2 by 3s, and that the gates would have 4 hinges  each instead of just 2 or 3. So I called back each of the  other 3 companies and found that none of them had quoted me  on pressure treated rails or posts, 2 by 4 rails or 4  hinges per gate. They all wanted an extra 300 to 400  dollars for those "upgrades." Guess who I bought the fence  from?

The company that had the ability to delineate what things  were important when building a fence was the one that got  the business - the company that built a case.  Unfortunately, they had no ability to communicate this in  any of their advertisements. They had to wait until a  second phone call from me to educate me.

Uncover what's important for your customers. Evaluate their options. Say it well.