After decades in advertising, I can tell you that business people LOVE commercials. It’s their opportunity to get “face time” with their customers and prospects and talk about their wonderful products.

Guess who doesn’t love commercials?
Answer: customers and prospects.

When is the only time customers love commercials?
During that football game each February.

But this is the online world. And people don’t search for commercials.

And yet, I’m surrounded by materials from video producers trying to sell businesses a :30 second commercial, or an Infomercial, or even, heaven forbid, a Webmercial. And so it bears repeating:

People. Don’t. Search. For. Commercials.

They’re looking for content. If you’re a plumber, it might be: Five Things You Should Never Put Down Your Garbage Disposal. If you’re a dentist, it might be: Meet Our Staff. If you run a pet grooming service, maybe it’s a couple of testimonials from satisfied customers.

That way, when folks search for a plumber, and that video shows up in search, that plumber has a certain amount of expertise in the eyes of that prospect. When someone is searching for a dentist, all of a sudden this one seems nicer and more trustworthy. When my friends tell me to check out the pet grooming service, I see a couple of folks like me talking about what a pleasure it was working with them.

Content like that will keep me on a web page longer. Content like that will build trust in the eyes of a customer or prospect. It’s closer to showing and telling than it is to selling. But it is not a commercial.

It’s better.

–that’s a wrap.