Super Bowl Commercials Expose a Dangerous Marketing Desire for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

Commercials aired during Sunday's Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots highlighted one of the most over-glorified desires shared by business owners and entrepreneurs who actively market their businesses — attention.

"What's often overlooked is attention alone does not create sales," stressed Tom Trush, a direct-response copywriter and author of "The Reluctant Writer's Guide to Creating Powerful Marketing Materials: 61 Easy Ideas to Attract Attention and Get More Customers." "If getting noticed was all you needed to build a business, then you could create a Fortune 500 company from scratch by simply shelling out $3.5 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot."

As proven Sunday, companies go to extreme lengths to attract attention, even though interest — especially for Super Bowl commercials — rarely lasts longer than a few days.

In a small social media survey Trush conducted during the last two weeks, only 20.8 percent of respondents claimed a Super Bowl commercial ever influenced their decision to buy a product or service. The majority, 66.7 percent, said Super Bowl spots had no effect on purchasing decisions. While the remaining 12.5 percent answered "maybe."

"The most critical piece in the promotional puzzle is trust, which takes time and repeated contact to develop," Trush said. "Furthermore, effective marketing today involves interacting and delivering value to those who need your help."

Trush is also quick to warn business owners and entrepreneurs about marketing to a mass audience, especially when those people haven't expressed interest in what you offer.

"You can't create desire where none exists — you can only deepen a desire that's already present," he said. "Trying to convince people they need your product or service will only leave you frustrated and your wallet thinner."

Tom Trush is a Phoenix-based direct-response copywriter who helps business owners craft lead-capturing marketing materials. He is the author "The Reluctant Writer's Guide to Creating Powerful Marketing Materials: 61 Easy Ideas to Attract Attention and Get More Customers" and the soon-to-be-released "The 'You' Effect: How to Transform Ego-Based Marketing Into Captivating Messages That Create Customers." Several of Trush's educational articles, videos and expert interviews are available on his website at www.writewaysolutions.com.

To interview Trush, call 602-305-6755 or e-mail tom@writewaysolutions.com.