Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters?

>> Do they have the answers?

No, salesmen do.

The reason was given over 120 years ago by John E. Kennedy.

"Advertising is salesmanship in print," he told Albert Lasker - who proceeded make more money from an advertising agency than anyone before or since.

So if you want to know why your copy isn't working - ask a salesman.

People have been ignoring that sound advice for years, and you can bet they're haemorrhaging money because of it.

So here's a cold blast of sense from a smart salesman called Simon Casson.

So smart that while I labour away to make a crust, he lives the good life in the sun.

Here's what he said recently.

I don't need to edit or philosophise about it for you to see why it makes sense.

* * * * * * * * *

Factor one element of “digital voodoo”, which noted marketer Drayton Bird warns of, and where most marketing stuff seems to be aimed at these days:?Millennials.

Too many modern marketers are falling for drivel about?Millennials…

Reality… they’re the generation who:

Bury their yoga mats in debt

Live in Mummy and Daddy’s spare room (40% aged 18-34)

Hop between Starbucks and Amazon jobs to pay the interest on their PHDs

Luckily a few smart marketers know where the real money is…

… it's with?BABY BOOMERS.

Because they enjoyed?decades?of cheap housing, safe jobs, fat pensions and crazy stock market gains.

Shouldn’t you be targeting them?

They’re the?Gold Rush?generation and they control 70% of all disposable income.

This revelation might surprise you after all the propaganda about digital this, that and the other. Did you know:

Less than?10%?prefer hearing from?a new company?through email?... they respond better to?offline?advertising

73% prefer getting new product/service offers by mail

Only 31% say they discard unopened commercial mail

Baby Boomers have the most disposable income (25% more)

Under 8% trust social media

So, if you're not sending direct mail or doing any press advertising, you could be leaving mega money behind.

And if you?still?insist on putting all your eggs in the digital advertising basket chasing?Millennials?here’s some deadly truths from Bob Hoffman. Consumer interaction with:

Banner ads is 8 in 10,000

Facebook posts is 7 in 10,000

Twitter posts is 3 in 10,000 (among brand fans!)

Videos viewed on a television is 96% – only 4% online

54% of display ads are?never seen?by a human

Those figures make “online conversations" about brands a fantasy.

Let’s cut the crap. Don’t let anyone tell you consumers want to interact, have relationships, experiences, engage and co-create with brands.

They don't. Not in this lifetime. Sorry compadres.

* * * * * * * * *

Later that very day I received this.

It's exactly the kind of hooey he was on about...

So, did those claims to be experts in all the media your best prospects ignore appeal to you?

Or did Simon's common sense hit the spot?

Nobody loves common sense more than yours truly.

I've made a pretty penny out of my book named after it.

If you need common sense applied to your business - get in touch.

What can you possibly lose?

Or more to your benefit, what do you have to gain...

"There are three reasons why we started working with them. Commonsense, experience and technique. They're not 23 year olds in baggy pants with baggy brains to match. They know how to put all the bits together to make a successful campaign, and they work hard at making our money work."

- Oliver Johnson, General Manager, Mercedes-Benz (UK) Ltd

"Extraordinarily good at understanding products, identifying what motivates prospects and, above all, getting more of them to reply and to buy. All I can say is Thank God for Drayton Bird."

- Alex Davies, Marketing Director, Hargreaves Lansdown (UK's largest investment advisors)

"Guys......I'M ECSTATIC! 42% open rate and climbing My sales team literally can’t call them quick enough from landing page and replies."

- Nick Boddington, Managing Director, mib Data Solutions Ltd

"Drayton's a genius you know. Seriously."

- Ken McCarthy, founder, The Internet Gazette, and organiser of the first ever conference on web marketing, in 1994

“The response was 5 times higher than the TV ads, with 60% less cost, but the most interesting part was that the visitors to our website were DOUBLE and we had phone calls to our office. This never happened before ... and all from 5 minutes advice.”

- Jaime Montesinos, Principal, IPM Business School, Lima, Peru

"We needed a direct marketing agency that was capable of directing and strengthening the strategic and creative work of local agencies around the globe. In my experience, few other agencies know as much about direct marketing."

- Alida Catcheside International Direct Marketing Manager, Novartis

“Drayton Bird were extremely reliable to work with, always delivering work on time and within budget, usually hitting the mark within the first round of concepts presented. Their experience in direct marketing particularly shone through with impactful copy that got our customers to take action. I’d highly recommend them for any of your direct marketing needs. Gerald was a pleasure to work with, very responsive to our needs, and always going above and beyond."

- Donna Ede, Marketing Manager, GLL

So - who you gonna call?

Call Drayton.