Some ads are terribly offensive but not intentionally offensive.  And some ads are designed to annoy everyone.  I am thinking of a TV commercial where the salesman is shouting at us that he is crazy to be offering whatever he’s selling at such low prices and finally someone carts him off in a straight jacket.  Not soon enough for my tastes, however!  The entire commercial is based on being as offensive as possible in order to get viewers’ attention. Well, this one got my attention but it went too far and I would never, ever buy anything at that store.  Never! 

UNINTENTIONAL OFFENSIVENESS

I am not sure whether or not mouthwash commercials that show some man or woman using the product at the bathroom sink are intentionally or un-intentionally offensive but either way, I show my reaction to the product by not buying it. 

WHY OFFEND?

In the AIDA rule, A stands for ATTENTION.  The first step of any advertising or marketing is to get the attention of the prospects you are targeting.  And being offensive is a sure way of getting that attention, however, I believe it is a dangerous tactic and can easily be counter-productive.  Advertising that offends may be useful when there is simply no other way to call attention to oneself but in today’s world, especially with the magic of Website design, there are many ways to obtain the attention you need without being offensive.  Now, I can almost hear you asking: “Can a Website be offensive?”  And the answer is YES they can and many of them are.  However, if you want a Website that is good at capturing prospects’ attention without being offensive, visit http://www.sellrealestate.net/
FreeWebPlan.asp and I’ll show you how to do it.

NAVIGATIONAL NIGHTMARES

Navigational Nightmares continue to abound on the Internet ranging from dead links, misnamed links and hidden links to pages that take forever to download. Speaking of Hidden Links, I was talking with a frustrated real estate agent the other day who took offence when I pointed out that his site lacked any kind of contact incentive at all.  He insisted that he walk me through his Website and had me scroll and scroll and scroll down one of the inside pages to find an offer for a free newsletter buried in approximately 1500 words of text.  Which brings up another MAJOR TURN OFF…too many words on the page, especially when those words tend to be mainly about you and all the wonderful things you do for your customers.

OVERPOWERING GRAPHICS

Overpowering graphics detract from your message.  Too many things bopping around on the page as well as Flash graphics that unfold slowly are simply darn right annoying to most people.  You don’t want to annoy the people who visit your Website, do you? 

ANNOYING POP-UPS

Have you ever clicked on a Website but instead of getting to the page you want, some abrasive ad pops up instead.  Now you have to wait for the ad to download and delete it before you get to where you want to go.  Even worse are sites where pop-ups appear every time you click on a link.  When this happens to me, I’m outta there!  What about you?