Thursday, February 28, 2013

What You Don't Know About Adverting Can Kill You. (Part 3 of a 3 Part Series)


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?