A shabbily dressed man steps through a conductor’s door on Chicago’s “el” train that rattles on in the evening hours.
“Folks, I hope you can help me out,” he implores. “I just need a little money for a cup of coffee.”
Passengers warily glance up from their ipods and earbuds. The man talks more and slowly ambles down the aisle, pausing between each person for an individual pitch. “Can you help, sir?” he asks. “God bless you,” he says to a woman who gives him some coins.
If he doesn’t get a response right away, he simply moves on.
He’s got his delivery down pat. It takes about two minutes to get from one end of the car to the other, before he steps through to the next car. He will collect maybe twice among the 15 passengers — about a 15% response. Not bad.
And if he gets fifty cents, he might ask for more, and tell you why he needs it.
There are certain people who are predisposed to give to him. Those are people who give again and again. He knows, however, that most people won’t give, and he just moves on. Not worth the time. Maybe he customizes his pitch to the type of person he pauses by. (By the way, I don’t believe giving money like this is the best way to help these people.)
The beggar’s pitch is much like the ads delivered through Facebook or Google. The ads are small, simple, and when clicked on, cost anywhere from 50 cents to several dollars or more each.
The ads are sent to thousands of people, like the “little salesmen” that ad pioneer Claude Hopkins talks about. You know that some people are disposed to your offer, and some aren’t.
Your online ads are similar. You try different wording, different concepts on each ad. Your customization depends on keywords, if on Google. And if on Facebook, interests and demographics.
And when you get a taker, you put them on a special list. So you can ask for more next time.
Advertising — the art that imitates life.
