Are your ad dollars in focus?

 By Brad Achtemeier – Local Sales Manager

 
I’ve worked hard over the last 17 years to understand what makes advertising work.  I wish I had the magic bullet but, I don’t.  However, I have noticed some interesting trends that our best customers have in common.  (Best customer is defined not by how much they spend but by how happy they are with the station.)

• Trend number 1:  Your advertising will work better if you work it… it’s just like taking care of customers.  Use your rep’s skills to get you connected with the public.

Our best customers don’t give us total control to do whatever we want with their advertising nor do they keep all the control for themselves.  It’s more like a friendship.  We’ve come to a place with mutual respect and we test ideas off each other and then come to somewhere in the middle.  I think the important thing here is to spend time with your rep to figure out what is working and what isn’t.  Don’t just let a commercial run for months if it isn’t doing what you want.  

• Trend number 2:  The nickel and dime syndrome.

Alright I have to admit that there are times when any media will be offering you a product just because they need the money.  We all have goals.  We all want a job tomorrow.  So, we sometimes have to try and get many people to do small amounts of ads to get us to our goals. 

We do it, the paper does it, cable does it, and big city media does it.  It’s a part of the world we’re in. 

  I have, however, noticed that advertisers who set down and make a plan that doesn’t include all the nickel and dime stuff but, rather includes campaigns that are designed with specific sales goals in mind get better results, complain less and in general have a better flow of customers.

  These people work their newspaper with their radio with their television or other media.  They coordinate their efforts.  It kind of goes back to trend number one. 

  I’m not saying that doing little things here and there is entirely wrong.  It’s just better to keep track what you’re doing so you can keep your focus on a plan that is headed the right direction, and prevent yourself from going over your advertising budget. 

  I’ve seen that sponsorship advertising can benefit you by increasing your name awareness… however, if it puts you in a pinch and it isn’t directed it can be wasteful. 

  It may be best to figure out how to optimize each medium and then pick the ones you can own and leave it at that.   Twenty to a hundred bucks at a time doesn’t seem like much but if you do that with 2 or 3 media a couple times a month you added a considerable amount to your bill without gaining as much as you could. 

• Trend 3:  Ads that sound like ads.

  I notice that many advertisers want their commercials and advertisements to look and sound like advertisements.  I gotta tell ya that I think that’s crazy.  You are advertising to stand out.  Don’t let your precious dollars blend in with the rest of the world.  We are exposed to over 4,000 advertising messages everyday… from the ads on our cereal box, toothpaste, the car we drive and on and on… If your advertising doesn’t reach into someone’s mind and shake ‘em up a little bit… it won’t do a thing but add to the clutter. 

  Happy advertisers take risks.  Calculated.  But they still don’t mind trying to be funny.  They don’t mind if a commercial sounds like a movie instead of an announcer.  If you’ve seen a movie before do you want to see the remake if the only difference is the actors?

  Our marketing consultants are highly trained to know what kind of risks pay off.  Don’t run away from an idea just because it makes you nervous.  It may be the one that makes you rich.