An advert flashes onto your screen.
A 15-year-old car, with rust and a dented bumper, is leaking fuel onto the road. A young man stands beside it with a frown.
You are reminded of last week when your own car failed to start in the frost, and you accidentally reversed into the garden wall.
The advert then shows a costly maintenance bill and the young man with his head in his hands.
You think: “I hope that doesn’t happen to me; I can’t afford a hefty mechanics bill this month!”
Then the advert cuts to the same young man – a wry smile on his face – who is now speeding along a Mediterranean coastal road in a reliable, smooth, and stylish new car from ‘X’ brand.
The marketing team of ‘X cars’ have just used the “problem, agitate, solve” (PAS) technique to sell you their latest product.
They presented the problem and then showed how it could get worse if left unaddressed, before finally showing you how their product could fix the situation and improve your life.
This is a fundamental technique within advertising and marketing and one which can be transferred to professional services with just as much effect.
How to use PAS in your advertising campaigns
PAS is a highly effective marketing strategy that copywriters employ to evoke an emotional reaction in their readers.
Marketing that harnesses human emotions is more effective than adverts that just state facts.
To use PAS to your advantage you first need to determine the “pain point” of your potential clients.
In professional services, like accounting, this could be a technical challenge that individuals would struggle to deal with themselves. For example, a complex tax issue or a conveyancing procedure.
To agitate that problem in the minds of your potential clients, you might list the consequences of poorly managing the issue.
Raising subjects like non-compliance, fines, and penalties to make them reconsider handling the matter themselves is usually a good bet.
Then, finally, you offer up an alternative solution: your professional services.
The best advertising strategy
Here is another example of the PAS technique being used to target professional service firms like accountants and solicitors.
- Problem: You are a professional services firm that struggles to do your own advertising because it’s complicated, expensive, and time-consuming.
- Agitate: If your marketing fails to draw in clients you will lose out to your competitors and your profits will suffer. Bad advertising might be putting your business and livelihood at risk!
- Solve: Outsourcing to JE Consulting means you will have experts in advertising on your team who can promote your services to a much wider audience, without taking up your time and effort. In addition, they are cost-effective and offer a great ROI!
Here, we show exactly why outsourcing your marketing requirements is a good strategic move, viewed through the lens of the PAS technique.
As you can see, advertising is best left to the experts, and outsourcing your marketing needs means your firm will have the benefit of the PAS technique and many other marketing strategies without the added hard work.
Contact one of our experts to find out how we can utilise the PAS technique to promote your services and secure you future clients.
