advertising

Don’t Say THAT! How to Improve Your Image by Keeping Your Mouth Closed!

by Carolyn Higgins on August 4, 2011

One thing I realized during my 9-5 career is that the things you don’t say can oftentimes be way more powerful than the things you do say. I remember telling my boss, the VP of Sales, a story about a how another VP of Sales in a past job took a huge account that I had landed away from me and transferred it to a senior rep because he felt I couldn’t handle it. I told this story as a way to prove that I was capable of bringing in big accounts. But as I told it, I realized that what I was really doing by telling the story was instilling doubt in his mind of my abilities to effectively manage a large account. If another person in his position had made that call, then maybe there was some validity to it.

I vividly remember sitting there after having spilled the beans, immediately regretting it; realizing that although I was trying to make myself look capable it really did quite the opposite… It was a valuable lesson and I learned to be a lot more mindful about what I say – and don’t say! And that is a skill that is definitely useful in developing marketing communications….

Now cut to yesterday…. I stole a couple of lazy hours on a Saturday afternoon to watch some mindless TV. And on comes a Nutella commercial. I rarely watch commercials these days, but as a marketer when I do, I pay attention. In this particular Nutella commercialI noticed how they positioned the product as a fun, easy, and healthy choice. I didn’t quite buy the “healthy” claim so I went to my laptop to look up their ingredients. Guess what??? No so healthy…! But it got me thinking again about Marketing and Advertising and clever big corporations are with their messaging – like politicians, they are great at focusing on the good and ignoring the “bad”. So I thought I’d point out what Nutella did in their commercials to help small business owners know what to say – and NOT say!

Here are some lines from their commercial that I thought were interesting uses of marketing messaging. I also included lessons that all small businesses can learn from them.

“Serve it on whole wheat toast or even whole wheat waffles.” – I love this line. Without saying the product is healthy, it leads you to believe it’s healthy simply by associating it with something that is healthy! Using this strategy, you can slap 20 tablespoons of sugar on whole wheat bread and voila! It’s healthy! Lesson: In your business, what can you associate your product or service with to make it more appealing to consumers?

“My kids love it and I feel good about serving it.” - Translation: I don’t have to force my kids to eat healthy stuff they hate- yet, it’s healthy enough that I don’t have to feel guilty about feeding them junk. Lesson: What emotional affect does your product or service have on consumers and how can you make them feel good about using it?

“Nutella is made with Simple, Quality ingredients; like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa” –How can you go wrong with nuts and skim milk and just a ‘hint’ of cocoa??? Sounds so nutritious and wholesome and good, doesn’t it? What they don’t say is that the first ingredient is sugar and the second is palm oil (which is proven to increase bad cholesterol). Lesson: How are you showcasing your best qualities (and down-playing your not-so-great qualities)?

“No artificial colors or preservatives” – What they don’t tell you is there are artificial flavors, but because they say “no artificial colors or preservatives” you forget to ask about artificial “anything” and assume it’s “artificial”/junk free! Lesson: As small business owners we sometimes feel the need to apologize for the little things we don’t do- or the services we don’t provide… but instead of apologizing for what you don’t offer, focus on what you DO – and more often than not, people won’t even notice what you don’t do!

I’m not writing this to pick on Nutella or to tell you shouldn’t smother it all over your whole wheat toast for breakfast. I wrote it to use a real world example of how an effective marketing strategy and careful marketing messaging can transform your product or service. Happy Marketing !

(And one more thing, can you really call it a Hazelnut spread if hazelnuts are only the THIRD ingredient? Wouldn’t it be a sugar spread?” – I guess it’s all about packaging!)

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! Leave your comments here.

By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.

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2nd Quarter = Prime Time Public Relations

A Little Known Media Exposure Tip

by Todd Brabender on April 25, 2011

As the year moves forward, many businesses and entrepreneurs continue to tweak marketing plans and budgets for the months ahead. When it comes to setting up your public relations/media exposure plan, WHEN you launch your campaign can be just as important as what and how you launch.

In the last 16 years of generating media exposure for our clients, my research shows that 41% of the media interest and exposure we generate in a year happens in the second quarter – that’s almost double the amount of any other quarter of the year:

1st quarter = 18%
2nd quarter = 41%
3rd quarter = 21%
4th quarter = 20%

So what does that mean? If you are planning to implement a PR/media exposure campaign for your business or product in the coming weeks – congratulations. Your timing is ideal.
Continue Reading »

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Marketing is NOT Advertising, Emails and Postcards!

by Carolyn Higgins on December 1, 2010

Article by Carolyn Higgins

If I were to ask 100 people to define “Marketing” I’d probably get 100 different answers. The problem is “Marketing” has become a nice little euphemism for dirty words like “advertising”, “sales”, and “direct mail”.

I’ve also noticed that all a sudden everyone is a Marketer: I met a guy the other day who makes signs – he introduced himself as a “Marketer”. Then I met a woman who sells online ads, she also identified as a “Marketer”. Everywhere I go I run into people who at first- glance do what I do, but when I dig a little deeper I learn they’re really selling some marketing tool; not actually engaging in the bigger picture – or the process and planning of Marketing.

I’ve been able to forgive sellers of marketing tools for calling themselves Marketers – I mean, everyone is doing it. But then I read an article by the CEO of a very well-known company that is a provider of Marketing tools (they call themselves “Marketers” too). In his article he addressed the question, “Isn’t Marketing and Advertising the same thing?” His response was, “Well, not really. Let me explain the differences. Advertising includes: commercials, billboards, radio, and newspapers. Marketing includes: emails, letters, postcards, and fax.” WHAT??? (Ok, in all fairness, he wrote Marketing “includes” not marketing “is”, but still, he used this example to answer the question, “how are Marketing and Advertising different?”, which leads me to believe that’s the basis on which he differentiates them.)

OK – clearly there is a lot of confusion out there. Marketing and Advertising are NOT the same. Advertising is NOT Marketing. Post cards are NOT Marketing. Signs are NOT Marketing. Emails are NOT Marketing. These are tools used in the process of Marketing. They are NOT, in of themselves “Marketing”.

So then, what is Marketing?

Wikipedia - Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development.[1] It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.[1]

American Marketing Association (AMA) – Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Notice that neither of these definitions includes the words “email”, “advertising”, or “post cards”? That’s because those things are merely the tools used to create customer interest, engage them and get them to want to buy from us. Take a look at the AMA definition, they state that Marketing is more than the activity of marketing (i.e.: emailing) – it is the set of institutions and the processes for generating interest.

I want you to be aware. We all know we need Marketing, but be smart; learn what that really means and don’t just trust any salesperson who calls themselves a marketer and walks into your shop selling the marketing idea of the week. Marketing is a process – it’s not a one-time deal. Buying an ad or a sign or an email campaign without an overall strategy or plan is simply a waste of time and money. Educate yourself – take the time to learn and invest in your business wisely.

Bottom line: Marketing is strategy. It’s an all-encompassing, planning, scheduling, studying, figuring-stuff-out, researching, testing, and practicing strategy. And I don’t mean a strategy for getting a 20% response rate on an email campaign, 100 coupons from a print ad, or 20 referrals from your referral group. Marketing is bigger than that – much bigger. And when done right it will give you bigger results than you’ve ever imagined!

For more information about marketing strategy and planning, visit http://FortuneMarketingCompany.com.

ducttapemarketingbadge Carolyn Higgins is the President and founder of Fortune Marketing Company. Her personal mission is to help small businesses stop wasting money on advertising and promotions that don’t deliver and help you implement an effective marketing system that will bring you more customers – consistently.

For more information about Carolyn Higgins and Fortune Marketing Company please visit http://www.FortuneMarketingCompany.com.
Email chiggins@fortunemarketingcompany.com or call us at 707.718.4489.

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Why advertising doesn't work fortune marketing

Why Advertising Doesn't Work for (Most) Small Businesses

by Carolyn Higgins on June 24, 2010

Article by Carolyn Higgins

Pick up a newspaper, magazine or advertising circular and look at the ads. What do you see? A whole bunch of the same thing: a list of services; a company name; a tagline; a pretty graphic; and maybe an offer.

Why advertising doesn't work fortune marketing Most businesses think of advertising in one of two ways: 1) Put your company name in front of enough people enough times so they’ll remember you when it’s time to buy. … or 2) Put an “amazing” offer out there and people will be compelled to respond (whether they’ve made the decision to buy or not).

The first scenario is called ”top of mind” advertising and unless you have a multi-million dollar marketing budget it’s very difficult to buy top of mind brand awareness. In the second example advertising sales people want their advertisers to see results (because results sell more advertising), so they recommend you put an offer in your ad: Get 10% off service, $5.00 of a product, buy one get one free, etc. And sure, that works - sometimes.

Let’s Analyze the “Compelling Offer” Approach:

Does putting an amazing offer in front of people influence them to buy even if they don’t have an immediate or compelling want or need? Does an amazing offer force someone to buy if they don’t have a budget? No, it doesn’t. So your ad gets completely ignored and you don’t get any response. (Ok to be fair – best case scenario – someone may clip it, stick it to the fridge where it will hang for a month or two before it ends up in a drawer or in the trash).

How an Ad Gets Seen….or Not.

Consider this scenario: I’m looking at an ad in the free local magazine that comes in the mail every month; it’s an ad for a $75 carpet, tile or grout cleaning. Well, my tile and grout happen to be pretty clean- well clean enough for me right now. So I’m not interested in spending $75 to get it cleaned, even if it is a great deal. I ignore the ad and move on.

Now let’s think about this… I am a tile owner. At some point in my life I may need tile cleaning services. However, did I notice the name of the business offering the deal? NO. Do I know how they are different from every other steam cleaning company out there? NO. Has this ad given me a reason to remember them when I am ready to get my tile and grout clean? NO. Has this ad engaged me in any way? NO.

Old School Advertising Doesn’t Work!

And what’s the traditional reaction when advertising doesn’t work? Ask any advertising rep and they’ll tell you - you need to advertise MORE (i.e.: spend MORE money), so that when your prospect is ready to buy they will see or remember your ad and call you. But how much are you willing to spend to make a sale?

So let’s say you spend $175 / month on the ad and it takes me 6 months to decide I need to clean my tile. Let’s say I happen to choose you because I remembered seeing your ad in the magazine for the past six months and because your offer is better than the other guy who is doing it for $100. You’ve just paid $1050 to get my $75 sale. Sure, you may up-sell me, I may become a regular customer and my life time value may be in the thousands – but those are big “ifs”. Think about that: you are spending hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars hoping to reach a prospect at exactly the right time in their buying process. Doesn’t that seem like a pretty large gamble to you? No wonder businesses think advertising doesn’t work!

A New Way to Advertise.

What if, instead of advertising with the hope of making your phone ring off the hook and breaking sales records immediately, you take a different approach! What if you try something Duct Tape Marketing calls the “2 Step Approach to Advertising”? What if, instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on print ads trying to find that needle in a haystack – that rare person who is ready to buy what you are offering the second they see your ad – you find potential prospects and get their permission to market to them on a more consistent basis and with more targeted offers while spending less money?

Here’s How 2 Step Advertising Works:

Create an ad offering a free report: “5 Easy Things You Can do to Keep Your Tile and Grout Clean”. Or better yet, “How to Remove Tile and Grout Stains Yourself”. OK, I know what you’re thinking… you’re thinking this is crazy and it’s going to cost you business –right? Well, you’re wrong. It won’t cost you business; in fact this approach will accomplish three things. It will:

Get people to your website where they can learn more about you.
Attract people who actually own tile and who will give you permission to market to them on a regular basis.
Prove that you care more about helping people than making a sale (prospects love that).

The goal of marketing is to get people who have a need to KNOW, LIKE AND TRUST you so when they are ready to buy, they buy from you. Offering helpful and useful information helps build your KNOW, LIKE and TRUST factors and yes, increases sales.

The goal of 2 Step Advertising is to get prospects to your site and get their permission to engage them by collecting their email addresses. Once you have their permission you can email surveys, newsletters, tips and offers geared specifically to their needs on a monthly or bi-monthly basis for about a penny an email.

Think about how powerful that is: You get to communicate with a prospect who has given you permission to market to them for one tiny penny! That’s HUGE!

Your New Advertising Strategy

How many more responses do you think you can get when you stop selling in your advertising and start offering helpful information? People hate to be sold. And that’s what traditional advertising is all about. What if you can get 10 new people on your email list from each ad? What if 1 of those people eventually buys from you at full price – or close to it? What is the cost of that one customer compared to the one you got by practicing traditional advertising? I guarantee that if you implement this approach as part of your marketing strategy you will get results and begin to see your business grow.

For more information about Carolyn Higgins and Fortune Marketing Company please visit http://www.FortuneMarketingCompany.com.
Email chiggins@fortunemarketingcompany.com or call us at 707.718.4489.

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What's your advertising IQ?

by Cidnee Stephen on November 23, 2009

Ready for a pop quiz?

Answer the following questions with a True or False and then check your answer below.

Your ad needs to be large to generate a good response.
Use a lot of “white” space because people will not read crammed copy.
Ads with black text on a light background get a better response than white text on a black or coloured background.
The best section for your ad is always where your market is seeking this type of product or service (e.g. travel section for holiday packages).
Long copy is better than short copy.
Watch what the big guys are doing and follow their techniques

popquiz1

Answers to Advertising IQ

Your ad needs to be large to generate a good response.
False. Some small ads dramatically out pull the big ones. Many of the most successful ads in history were quite modest in size.

Use a lot of “white” space because people will not read crammed copy.
False. Some very effective ads are packed with so much information that they look pretty awful – yet they make the telephone ring and they sell a lot of products and services.

Ads with black text on a light background get a better response than white text on a black or coloured background.
True. Ads in reverse print, when tested against traditional layout, generate significantly less interest (and fewer calls).

The best section for your ad is always where your market is seeking this type of product or service (e.g. travel section for holiday packages).
False. Some of the highest quality leads you can generate are from people who are not actively looking for your kind of service or product. While it is good to have some ads in a relevant section, sometimes it can also get lost in the clutter!

Long copy is better than short copy.
True. People who are not interested in what you have to offer will be bored, but those who are interested will read every single word, even if it is long copy (unless it is boring copy).

Watch what the big guys are doing and follow their techniques.
False. Large companies have different objectives and quite often expect different results from their advertising than do small businesses. Small businesses must generate leads and should be using creative approaches and 2-step advertising techniques.

ducttapemarketingbadge Cidnee Stephen is the owner of Strategies for Success – a marketing company that focuses on the needs of budget-minded small businesses and professional services. She has helped hundreds of small businesses get out of their peak and valley ruts to finally achieve that next vital level of success. Cidnee is also a sought-after speaker, writer and blogger on marketing topics that affect small businesses and B2B service based operations.

If you would like to build a system to reach those goals quicker, check out Cindee’s Speak for Leads & Expertise Program.

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For New Marketing, Follow the Eyeballs

by Tim Berry on October 26, 2009

There’s no question that marketing is changing. Advertising is dying and getting reborn all over the place, and word-of-mouth is leveraged by technology tools. The problem is how, how much, how fast and how does it affect your business? It’s a new world, with a changed landscape.

For idea leadership in this realm, look to Seth Godin: his books and his blog. He’s redefining advertising as “shouting.” And he looks to a new kind of marketing built on being remarkable, in a very literal sense of the word: remarkable, as in something that people will talk about. And for practical how-to leadership, I recommend John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing founder, redefining marketing as getting people to know, like and trust you.

And for actually working rapidly changing marketing assumptions into your own business plan, frankly, it’s hard these days. It’s complicated because the landscape is built on sand mines; it crumbles fast.

I recommend you use a methodology somewhat akin to following the money for the financial portions of your plan. But for the marketing portions, you follow the attention. You could call that eyeballs (a popular web term), or mindshare, if you prefer.

Start with attention. Ask yourself what makes people aware of a need, a problem or a want that you solve. You could call that an itch, because need is misleading: People buy a lot of goods and services they don’t really need. So you want to understand what gives people the itch that leads to you when they scratch it. And then you understand how to scratch the itch: Where do they look for solutions? Is it habit, the shop next door? Do they look in some repository in their mind or memory, like some ad they’ve got stored in the back of their mind? Or do they open a web page and do a Google or some other search?

I read about an IBM study called The end of advertising as we know it on Michael Glass’ Fuel Lines advertising blog. This is very interesting stuff. He quotes the IBM study:

Imagine an advertising world where … spending on interactive, one-to-one advertising formats surpasses traditional, one-to-many advertising vehicles, and a significant share of ad space is sold through auctions and exchanges. Advertisers know who viewed and acted on an ad and pay based on real impact rather than estimated “impressions.” Consumers self-select which ads they watch and share preferred ads with peers. User-generated advertising is as prevalent (and appealing) as agency-created spots.

And Glass adds his own commentary, from his advertising professional’s point of view.

There is no question that the future of advertising will look radically different from its past. The push for control of attention, creativity, measurements and inventory will reshape the advertising value chain and shift the balance of power.

And what can you do about it? Follow the attention. Follow the eyeballs.

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Great New Superlatives Needed

by Steve Lange on September 3, 2009

We need to start using some new improved superlatives in our marketing copy. “Great!” you say. Yes, that’s the one. Great really grates on me. Great is so overused that it may as well be blank space. Great carries all the impact of a cotton puff.

Now, there was a time when great really meant something. Take Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, conqueror of lands, founder of cities for example. Now, he is great. Somehow I just can’t see Product XX’s great online resources changing the political and demographic history of three continents.

Or maybe Ramesses II, Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty, known as the Great. Can you imagine the great new flavor of Processed Food XXX ruling unchallenged for 66 years, causing the building of cities and monumental sculptures that survive for 3,500 years? Or inspiring poetry such as P.B. Shelley’s Ozymandias “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”?

OK. Actually, I CAN look on Processed Food XXX and despair. But Processed Food XXX great?!?! Not a chance.

The Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s east coast is truly Great. The reef system is thousands of kilometers long, and hosts a diversity of corals and sea life unmatched on the globe. Somehow it just seems insulting to compare it to the great customer (dis)service system of Company XXXX.

So let’s stop claiming every new and old product or service is great. After all, when every thing is great, nothing is great.

There are plenty of under-utilized superlatives available. Pick up a thesaurus or a dictionary and take a look. Click over to Thesaurus.reference.com, Merriam-Webster.com’s Thesaurus or any of the other online thesauri and peruse some of the

august, capital, chief, commanding, dignified, distinguished, eminent, exalted, excellent, famed, famous, fine, glorious, grand, heroic, high-minded, highly regarded, honorable, idealistic, illustrious, impressive, leading, lofty, magnanimous, main, major, noble, notable, noted, noteworthy, outstanding, paramount, primary, principal, prominent, puissant, regal, remarkable, renowned, royal, stately, sublime, superior, superlative, talented, able, absolute, aces, adept, admirable, adroit, awesome, bad*, best, brutal, cold*, complete, consummate, crack*, downright, dynamite, egregious, exceptional, expert, fab, fantastic, fine, first-class*, first-rate, good, heavy*, hellacious, marvelous, masterly, number one, out of sight, out of this world, out-and-out, perfect, positive, proficient, super-duper, surpassing, terrific, total, tough, transcendent, tremendous, unmitigated, unqualified, utter, wonderful, abundant, ample, big, big league, bulky, bull, colossal, considerable, decided, enormous, excessive, extended, extensive, extravagant, extreme, fat, gigantic, grievous, high, huge, humongous, husky, immense, inordinate, jumbo, lengthy, long, major league, mammoth, mondo, numerous, oversize, prodigious, prolonged, pronounced, protracted, strong, stupendous, terrible, titanic, towering, tremendous, vast, voluminous,

alternatives to great. It is time to spice up and enliven our marketing language.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

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The Never-Fail Recipe for Ads That Work Like Crazy

by Guest Author on April 15, 2009

It’s always surprising to us to see so much advertising, especially in print, which does not work. It simply doesn’t contain the ingredients needed to successfully communicate with customers.
If you make a cake, you don’t leave out any ingredients — right? Then why leave out an important part of your advertising message?

With a small budget and not a lot of space, many people run so called “business card” ads. The ad consists of the same elements that are on a typical business card: business name (usually a logo), your name, telephone numbers, and address, email address and website. Sometimes a catchy slogan too!

But where’s the offer? Where’s the call-to-action? Business card ads simply don’t do anything but take up space.

Think of your ad as a “salesperson in print.” What would happen if your salesperson dropped by a prospect and said, “Hi, I’m Ned from the ABC Company. Here’s my phone number and address. Hope you call sometime. Bye!”

Would that work? Nope, and it’s the same with ads.

If you want your ad to get results it must contain six key elements. Here’s the recipe:

One: make it crystal clear who you are talking to, e.g. “Small Business Owners” or “Sports Enthusiasts” or “Golfers” or whoever your prime target group is — get their attention by putting this at the top of the ad.

Two: use emotionally strong words to outline a concern, need or frustration this group has that your product or service satisfies, e.g. “Tired of staying up late doing your bookkeeping?” or “Are you worried about data loss, security, viruses, and keeping your network safe from hackers?”

Three: offer a solution. “Our easy-to-use bookkeeping system lets you keep track of your business without losing sleep.” Or “We can analyze your computer network, diagnose any problems you are currently having, and look for hidden problems.”

Four: offer something they can get free that doesn’t present a risk. — Visit our web site” for a downloadable sample, a report, or tips and tricks. “Drop by the store for your free whatsit.” “Call me by five pm on Friday if you want your very own free whatever.” “Get our free computer system audit.”

Five: sign the message with your contact info — your name, phone, fax, email and web address, and, of course, your logo and tagline.

Six: have you got a good picture? Include a product shot, or a picture showing the situation prospects are facing because they do not have your product or service. Here’s a secret: often the most powerful picture is one of you! Now readers can put a face on your company.

There, that was easy wasn’t it?

Next time you are putting an ad together, in a place where you are sure your Ideal Clients hang out, you will communicate far more effectively than you’ve ever done, and yes, the phone will ring.

ducttapemarketingbadge Ken Burgin and Elizabeth Walker are the Marketing Masters (www.MarketingMasters.ca), a full-service marketing and advertising partnership that helps build busy businesses. Send your ideas on How to Thrive in Times Like These to liz@marketingmasters.ca or ken@marketingmasters.ca, or call 1-866-908-5720.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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Connect the dots—Use Your Web Site to Make Your Ads Work Harder.

by Guest Author on March 23, 2009

Right now in Canada, almost 85% of the population uses the Internet and it’s safe to say this number will continue to expand. So why wouldn’t you use your web site to support the advertising you do in all other media? You do have a web site, right?

Here’s the scoop: If you read our article last week on “Two Step Direct Response Advertising” you know we recommend ads that ask the reader/listener to make a specific response or action.

If you have, and use, a web site, the action requested may be to go to the web site to get more information; download a coupon; buy on line; join a “preferred customer” group or whatever will further, or complete, the transaction process and establish a relationship with that most valuable person, a customer or potential customer.

Your web master, or increasingly, you yourself, can easily create a new “landing page” that is specific to your current offer e.g. – your web site is www.abc.com and you create a new page called www.abc.com/offer. Feature this address in your ad to create a super highway right to your specific offer page—most people who are interested will go there within 30 seconds of seeing your offer and you can watch the visits add up as they happen!

Customers have now driven right up to your site and you can bet they will also browse whatever else you have on the site while they are “in the store”—you have just given them another way in.

Why do this? Because whether newspaper, magazine, radio/TV or billboard, the space/time you buy is limited—on your web site, the space you need is almost limitless.

You can add all the details, all the pictures and all of the downloads you want—and what’s more, you can make it transactional! That is, in many cases you can make the sale right on the page by adding a PayPal link—how great is that!

It goes without saying that the way we buy has changed radically in the last decade. According to Internet World Stats: In 2008, Canadian retail e-commerce tallied its fifth straight year of double-digit growth. Online sales more than doubled in Canada from 2003-2006, and nearly half of Canadian retail firms now have a web site, compared to the 42% that did in 2005.

It is expected that the average amount that Canadians spend online will grow strongly over the next three years. Canadians are already either on par or ahead of their US peers in purchasing electronics, travel and event tickets online.”

So get with the program—put that web site to work in your advertising.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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Use Two-Step Direct Response Advertising and Stop Wasting Your Ad Money

by Guest Author on March 16, 2009

Many business owners say things like, “We seldom advertise because it doesn’t give us any results —it’s a waste of our money.”

And you know what—for these people this is probably true. The ads they are running are not designed to produce tangible results.

Most advertising does nothing to motivate a prospect to act—it’s simply “image” or “awareness” advertising. If your marketing budget is on par with that of Coke or Nike that’s fine, but the rest of us expect a return on those ad dollars.

What you need to do is turn all of your ads into “direct response.” These are ads that are designed to generate a very specific response or action. You can apply this approach to any ad, in any kind of media, whether newspaper, magazine, TV or radio.

The purpose of these ads is not so much to “sell” but to generate a list of qualified leads—people who may be inclined to do business with you in future and, most importantly, have given you permission to market to them.

Step one: Create one or more valuable reports, workshops, evaluations, trial products, checklists, newsletters, courses or tip sheets. You know, something like, “How To Tell If Your Contractor Is Lying To You” or “What Every Senior Must Know About the Canada Pension Plan” or “101 More Things You Can Do With Your iPod.”

Now that you have your value packed written report, every bit of your advertising— whether Yellow Pages, direct mail, back of your business card, letterhead, email signature, web site— should focus on getting people to pick up, request or download that report.

Don’t try to do anything else with your advertising, let the report sell you.

Step two: Send the report or sample to all who respond and then begin marketing to them like crazy!
Why is this approach so much more effective?

Now you can demonstrate your expertise in a non-threatening way, on the prospect’s own terms, even if all you can afford is a small ad.

Nobody likes to be sold to, but if they take the time to read your report, understand that what you do that has value, and have an 8-10 page conversation with you, the relationship and trust have begun.

People who have requested your free information are officially a hot lead. They are identifying themselves as someone who is very interested in what you do. Half of your sales job is done!

And now you can measure the response to your advertising! If one offer falls short of your expectations, change something the next time you run the ad and see if the results improve—you are now in control.

Meanwhile you will be building a database of people who you can market to—so send them a newsletter. Invite them to sale events. Offer them incentives. Put your advertising dollars to work and check the results.

web: http://www.marketing,masters.ca
blog: http://thebuzzwithkenandliz.blogspot.com/

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