This Is The 3rd
Part Of A Three Part Series On Adverting
For many of us, we
think that advertising should produce instant results. In some cases it does; when you send out a direct
mail postcard or letter and ask for someone to email or phone or take some
action, you would usually see immediate results. If you sent out an email and asked for a “call
to action”, you might see instant action.
On the other hand,
old school advertising like cable TV, radio, Billboard and Newspaper/magazine
is not only far more difficult to track, but to expect instant results is only
setting yourself up for failure. And
those that do, put a stake in the heart of their future marketing plans.
The purpose of
advertising is to create a sale; however, before advertising can create that
sale, it has to emotionally change your perception, inclination, propensity and
desire for a specific product either from neutral or negative to a positive in
order to generate an “I want this product”
moment in the prospects heart and head.
One of our problems is that we never give these advertising “flights”
enough time.
We say that
newspapers don’t work, but then again we expect one little ad to create a run
on the center. We say TV didn’t work because well, candidly, you placed the media
on the wrong networks and you didn't get enough frequency to make an impression. You pulled the radio off the air after a
week, because you didn't see a lot of people coming in. Congratulations, you wasted your money. You need to invest monthly or every other
month on radio and cable for a two week minimum. That’s Fred’s rule # 117 on
advertising. “Commit to frequency
and commit to consistency or don’t do it.”
Or worse, you just did not bother to advertise.
Too many proprietors
are using email as their one trick pony and forgetting about everything
else. Every time you send out an email, remember
about 10% will open it and only 2% to 3% of those people will click through to
the offer. So why aren't you
disappointed with email as an advertising medium. Simple, you think it doesn't cost anything so
any customer you get is a PLUS. There’s
always a cost and the cost is you might be sending too many irrelevant emails
to the wrong audience, especially if your data base is not segmented properly.
Finally, many of
you just won’t spend the money it takes to invest in the marketing of the business.
You’ll spend it with the lawyer, the accountant and even the electrician before
you’ll spend advertising dollars.
And I just can’t
figure out why you would have a couple of million dollars tied up in asset that
you don’t bother to tell anyone about?
Why
are we one of the only industries that does not market itself, locally,
regionally or nationally?
Somebody help me. What am I
missing?
