Advertising Books and Seminars by Kirk Donovan

That sentence sums up Kirk Donovan's approach to advertising. This page covers two of his books, one on advertising and one on relationships, and how to ask about a seminar for your company or organization. If advertising is your interest, start with AdSense2; if relationships are, start with Where Did The Love Go?

AdSense2: The Digital Revolution is “the study of advertising through the eyes of a behavioral scientist.” Its lessons are about moving beyond the usual advertising rhetoric to bring in the customers a business needs, and about reaching advertising and marketing decisions the way a behavioral scientist would.

The book is sold through Lulu. An earlier book, AdSense — the Behavioral Science of Advertising, came before it.

Advertising rhetoric is the stock language of promotion: the familiar promises that sound the same from one company to the next. Audiences meet a great deal of it and have learned to discount it. Getting past it starts with the person rather than the pitch: who the customer is, what that customer is trying to do, and what would make acting on your message the easy choice.

The book's own contents are described above. As a general illustration, applying a behavioral view to your own advertising comes down to questions you can ask before spending anything:

• What exactly do I want this person to do after they see or hear the message?
• What is getting in the way of that action, and what would make it easier?
• How will I tell, from what people actually do, whether the message worked?
• What can I change one piece at a time, so that I learn something from the answer?

The same questions apply to radio, television, outdoor, search, social media and email, which is why a behavioral view carries over easily between traditional and digital media.

It also changes how a message is written. Copy that tries to say everything usually prompts nothing, because the reader has to decide which of many claims matters. A message with one clear next step, such as call, visit, search or sign up, gives the audience something specific to do and gives the advertiser something specific to check afterward. The about page has more on Kirk's background.

Where Did The Love Go? is about relationships rather than advertising. Its subject is the nonverbal communication signals that make up a relationship, and how those signals can be used to lead a happy life. Nonverbal communication is what people convey without using words.

Kirk Donovan is available to do seminars for companies and organizations. To ask about availability for your company or organization, contact the office. When you get in touch, it helps to say who the audience would be, what they do and what you would like them to be able to do afterward.

A seminar is easier to judge when the audience is clear. A sales team, a board, a membership group and a staff meeting each need a different conversation, so the more you can tell the office about the people in the room, the easier it is to see whether a seminar fits.

If your question is about your own advertising rather than a seminar, a free consultation is the better place to begin.