I’ve got news for you.. if you think this is the case for your business… you are widely mistaken. This may sound blunt, but sometimes everyone needs a little brutal honestly to get their attention.
Advertising is not a scam. In fact, if advertising didn’t work, the gig would be up by now.
So…. if the thought has crossed your mind “I don’t get anything from advertising,” here are a few things I’d like to ask you…
Are you tracking the performance of your ads?
How are you tracking the performance of your ads?
Are you using custom URLs or phone numbers in your ads?
Are you using Google Analytics to track the performance of your website?
Do you understand how to use Google Analytics?
Do you research where the traffic to your website comes from?
Do you research within Google Analytics what sites are linking to you, what people are “googling” to find you and how often people come to your site by directly typing in your website address?
Did you even know you can do all those things?
Do you have a custom contact form on your website that lists all the places where a potential customer may have found out about you?
If you did not answer YES to every. single. one. of those questions… you simply cannot speak intelligently on the matter of whether or not your are “getting anything from advertising.”
To say you are “not getting anything” from a specific media is a direct insult to the work that media does to generate a community around itself for their advertisers. It’s time to take control of your marketing and put yourself in the driver seat before you put the blame on anyone.
What do you think?
_julieleah_
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Let me preface my answer with this: I completely understand where you are coming from and agree with your mindset in that someone was simply saying the standard line to not advertise while making themselves feel better – as that answer usually does. However, you as an advertising engine, must understand that there will be businesses that do not suceed in advertising with you. As you said in your Facebook post, it’s hard to NOT take it personally, and that it is – it’s hard not to. Or really as you put it “impossible”. Don’t make it impossible. Because it is possible. And it’s not your fault. There are companies that will not do well in certain demographics and/or advertising campaigns and it’s for many reasons. But what is that reason? Is it because they don’t track their advertising??? OR, is it because they don’t follow through? Following through is a MAJOR aspect of advertising that a lot of people don’t grasp. We can all have ads of all shapes and sizes; whether it be billboards, radio, tv, mag, mailers, out-of-home, etc. etc. BUT, they are failures from “jump street” if we don’t know how to close!!!! And if we, as advertisers, don’t close then we fail everytime. Thus blaming this on our ad campaign. So yes, tracking is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, but you and I both know that 7 out of 10 companies don’t do this. Not a big deal? Take 7 of your 10 advertisers out of your next quarters sales and see how important this is!!
More than anything, as an advertiser, it’s important to make sure your advertiser is being placed in the right place at the right time. Further, it’s an obligation to both your advertiser and YOU because every marketing campaign is an investment. And if you honestly can not see your advertiser doing well in a campaign that YOU have sold them, then save yourself the hassle and keep your brand strong by not attempting to sell/allow the ad to be placed in your piece.
To anyone reading this, make no doubt about it, marketing is a science. It’s a big lump of variables that have to be placed in the perfect place and the perfect time to make it work. And if you don’t understand that, it’s ok. But it also means you’d better wait before you spend more $ on doing so.
Finally, there’s no way to predict that perfect place & perfect time. I’m no marketing “guru”, but I can tell you that I come from the marketing world. I’ve put my hands on radio station campaigns (not the ads, but the actual station), as well as companies such as Domino’s, Geico, Met Life and Coke, to name a few. The best thing I’ve every learned…”don’t throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks”.
Put your time in where you put your money and really figure out what is working. You know what… you can learn a lot of this by asking your potential client ONE SIMPLE QUESTION: “How did you hear about us?”. THEY WILL ANSWER IT!!!! I don’t mean ask this via an email form on your website or email, but actually ask it in person/on the phone!! And best of all, they’ll tell you in detail. That question may actually tell you more than you ever realized. Here’s a perfect real-life example:
Bill visited our website and his response on how he found us was “Google”. Towards the end of the phone call (upon responding to his inquiry) I asked Bill, “how did you hear about us” (even though I knew he put “google” as his answer), he said “well my friend Cathy had a birthday party and when I was there I knew this is what I wanted for my party. She told me your company name and I “googled” it to get your phone #”. WOW!!!!!!!! So, you found us on Google right??? WRONG! We were “googled” for a phone #, but it actually came from a previous gig.
There’s PLENTY of examples as to how your lead generation can be misconstrued!!! No matter what it is, I assure you that physically asking your client and building a relationship with them is bar-none bullet proof.
Get busy. G’night, I’m going to bed