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Creating an effective 30 second infomercial

An engaging 30 second infomercial is a necessary business tool and is just as important as a business card, email address and plan for success. It can leave a lasting impression.

Storytelling is key. An effective infomercial embeds a product in a tale of hope and transformation that entertains, delights, and persuades.

A good example of one that produced results is as follows:

"Harvesting apples on my family's orchard taught me to know which ones were too green, which ones were ripe for the picking and which ones were rotten to the core. Now I do the same when choosing stocks and commodities for my clients."

Instead of presenting a laundry list of information, this broker created a story that captured the attention of everyone she met-and eventually clients and prospects referred to her as the "pick of the crop."

The goal is to keep your infomercial simple, which, in this world of multitasking and being everything to everyone, is far from easy. If you can't boil it down to 30 seconds, you don't know the essence of what you're selling.

When it comes to creating your infomercial one should convey three basic elements:

A problem or need
A solution to that problem or need
The product or business name

Filtering down all that your business does into a problem and solution can be challenging, but it's essential for getting noticed.

Once you've chosen your elements, you need to channel your inner advertiser and use them to create a captivating story. One that hits home with your clients and paints a picture in their minds of why you're the person they need to call.

Before you start to put it all together, take everything you've learned about communicating in a corporate environment…and toss it out the window. Don't use big words that really don't mean anything, because people tune that out.

Use metaphors, visuals and words that speak to a benefit people can connect with-as that's what will bring anything you say to life.

Follow these guidelines for creating an effective infomercial:

Speak in visuals; don't use words that you can't see
Talk to people in payoff/impact terms
Communicate as you would talk not as you would write.
Leave the list for the groceries and remember your three elements
Don't rehearse it to death; if it's memorized instead of improvised, it will lose its spark

Most important, expect trial and error as you craft your words with care. But not using any infomercial at all as you wait for perfection isn't recommended. Try them on to see if they fit, just like items you want to add to a wardrobe.

Leaving this tool sitting in your proverbial business toolkit means missed opportunities and little chance of generating buzz. When a infomercial connects with people, they get it, remember it and pass it on.

Without your 30-second speech, you do not have grassroots marketing, and you do not have word of mouth working for you.

In contrast to the campaign-driven techniques that prevail in mainstream advertising, infomercial marketers combine rigorous product development, exhaustive consumer targeting, and daily scrutiny of advertising rates to create pitches that can be refined to maximize sales. Combine that with the opportunity to boost margins by selling directly to consumers, and you can see why both entrepreneurs and name-brand firms like Land Rover and Disney are creating their own infomercials. Last year 2,036 infomercials ran in the United States, and of those, 714 were new shows. Fortune 1,000 firms now produce an estimated 20 percent of all new infomercials.

Creating an effective infomercial is hard work-about one in 60 turns a profit-but the rewards can be spectacular. Successful pitches can generate annual sales of as much as $50 million, and breakout hits become gold mines: Ron Popeil has sold $1 billion worth of Ronco rotisserie ovens, while the Tae-Bo Workout infomercial netted $300 million in its first year. Other benefits include phenomenal brand awareness: 92 percent of consumers have heard of the Nautilus Bowflex home fitness system-about the same number of folks that recognize the Nike brand.

The typical infomercial viewer is a mass-market consumer between the ages of 30 and 50 with some college education and an income of about $50,000 a year. Sixty percent are women. Most important, they're willing, even happy, to sit through a blatant advertisement. "Just by watching, they've raised their hands and said, 'Yes, I'm interested in your product.'

Research shows that only 30 percent of all TV viewers will buy anything sold on the tube. Just one in 100 will dial the phone number, and viewers will generally watch for 13 to 15 minutes before calling. Track every ad to get consumer feedback on what's pulling the sale.

By monitoring what works and what doesn't, infomercial marketers zero in on the most promising consumers. Yet good infomercials also drive traditional in-store sales. Retail revenue from a hit infomercial (think George Foreman's ubiquitous grill) can be many times higher than actual infomercial sales.

But not every product is right for an infomercial. You've got to solve a common-denominator problem. That's why the most successful spots speak to universal desires: fitness and diet, health and beauty, home convenience appliances, and business opportunities. Standard formats range from in-studio demonstrations to Larry King-like sit-down interviews,
60 Minutes-style "documercials," Oprah-type "rally" shows, Tony Robbins-style stand-up lectures, and fiction-based "storymercials." But regardless of category or format, every product should feature "a magical transformation."

The bigger the change, the more dramatic the impact. And drama motivates buyers. That's why diet infomercials feature "then" and "now" photos. It's all about action: Ron Popeil stuffs a chicken, pops it into his rotisserie oven, and carves up juicy, delicious slices. The Little Giant collapses from a 12-foot ladder to a stubby kitchen stool. Real people" testimonials, the backbone of all successful infomercials, add credibility.

Price is another consideration. A rule of thumb: The product should sell at five times its direct cost. Whatever the final sale price, the product must seem like a bargain-all the better to trigger impulse purchases. Infomercial marketers know which consumer hot buttons to hit. Quick, easy, greed, new, fun, vanity, the infomercial needs to keep pushing as many of these as are relevant.