by Scott Howard | Oct 13, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
This week we are going to continue our deep dive into the Timeless Marketing Rules I shared last week and today we’ll look at Timeless Marketing Rule #4: Reach & Frequency.
Most media salespeople worth the time listening to will use Reach and Frequency as a guideline for success. I’m not talking about salespersons success, I’m referring to the success of your advertising campaign.
First let’s define the two terms:
Reach. This is the total number of different people your campaign could reach.
Frequency. This is the number of times each individual person will see or hear your message.
Here’s an example of how this can work using WOWO Radio:
Reach & Frequency on WOWO example
For this example I told my software program to use certain limits, such as adults age 25 and older who listen between 6 and 9 in the morning to Fort Wayne’s Morning News which airs Monday thru Friday on WOWO. The total number of people who listen who fit that criteria is 68,963. Using the schedule of 10 commercials in one week, 44,694 will hear your commercial. That is the reach for one week. Over the course of a year, that reach increases to 66,261. The Reach of your advertising campaign cannot exceed the total number of people who listen, which is that 68,963 number for this example.
Frequency is also mentioned in this illustration. If this campaign were to run for one week, the average person (all 44,694 of them) would hear your ad an average of 3 times. Over a year, that number also increases. The average person (all 66,261 of them) would hear your ad an average of 106.7 times.
Please don’t confuse Reach and Frequency. Both are important but a balance is needed.
Too often I see businesses try and reach too many people without enough frequency. Last week I was talking with a business owner who told me about this great advertising package that was supposed to reach well over 100,000 people that he bought. When we looked at it together, we were able to see that his ad may have been seen and heard by over 100,000 people, but there was not enough frequency of exposure to have an impact on any of them.
Besides, he couldn’t handle all of that new business. Ten new customers a week would be tops. We’re going to talk next week about balancing the reach and frequency numbers in his favor. And I’ll have more or this tomorrow.
by Scott Howard | Oct 9, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
The timeless marketing rule that we’re going to look at today is so basic, yet so many business owners miss this.
3. If you want people to show up at something but you don’t invite them, they won’t show up. This is one huge principle I preach about advertising. You have to invite people to become customers.
In conversations with business people I lay out the following scenario:
You’re getting married. You pick a date, get a dress, order flowers, notify the bridesmaids and groomsmen, reserve the church, the minister, plan the reception, order the cake and food and even make a guest list. You do everything right except one thing: You never send out the invitations. How many people do you think will show up?
Now most business people see the problem right away, no one is going to come to your wedding unless you mail those invitations. It doesn’t matter that you planned for 200 or 1000 guests… the answer is still zero.
What a waste. All that planning, all that food, all that money. Sure you can still get married but…
Transfer this line of thinking to starting a new business. You do everything except invite people with an advertising and marketing plan. You open the doors on your first day and there is no one waiting to do business with you because you didn’t invite them.
The invite is critical. Your business will close if you have no customers. You will not have any customers if you don’t invite them.
Marketing and advertising isn’t an extra expense, it’s as crucial as any other part of your business. More on this series next week. In the meantime, if you want help, contact me.
by Scott Howard | Oct 8, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Digging deeper today into Timeless Marketing Rule #2: Don’t Sell, Help Them Buy.
This is the 2nd of the Timeless Marketing Rules I mentioned this week:
2. People don’t like to be SOLD something. But they usually will accept and welcome help BUYING something. Big Difference.
Here’s where Human Relationship Principles come into play. We are annoyed by pushy salespeople. Even when we are ready to buy something, if the salesperson is a jerk we lose trust and may even delay buying.
Sounds Like a Good Deal?
There are some stores I refuse to go to because the salespeople are too annoying. That act as desperate vultures who see me and anyone else as fresh meat and they are ready to pounce on to see how much money they can extract from me.
Or so it seems.
There are other stores that you walk in and are desperate to find someone to help you find what you need. This is the opposite problem. Sometimes I want advice to decide if I should buy this or buy that. But they only have know-nothing clerks or order takers who are clueless about this, that and everything!
Apply this to your marketing and advertising outreach.
If you and your company are truly experts and knowledgeable beyond knowing how to read the label on the stuff you sell, then you can help people buy. That’s what we want.
by Scott Howard | Oct 7, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
I mentioned yesterday that I would dig deeper into the 7 Timeless Marketing Rules and so here we go with #1:
- People like it when you talk to them. Better yet, talk with them, not at them. If your advertising is yelling, shouting, screaming, or simply annoying, stop it and get real with people.
The best marketing is word of mouth. But that is also slow and uncontrollable. So you pay money to advertise. Your advertising outreach can mimic and emulate word of mouth. 
In the radio world I work in, live endorsements by trusted air personalities are often the most powerful way to use your 60 seconds of advertising time. I saw this was an excellent way for ads to stand out when I worked in music radio.
With our news/talk format on WOWO radio, it’s even more impactful. This is word of mouth with a bigger mouth because instead of reaching one person at a time, there are thousands who are hearing about you and your business by people they trust. And it is done in a no-hype, conversational manner.
With WOWO we also offer some exclusives for those advertising partners that are buying testimonial style ads. Charly and Pat will only endorse one business in each business category. Not every business automatically qualifies, Charly or Pat have final say on whether or not they will do live endorsements. It’s their reputation on the line along with WOWO’s reputation.
Another way to use word of mouth marketing is in business networking groups. Not all are created equal. I recently rejoined BNI. I was a member for three years between 2004 and 2006 and then was a regular sub for that BNI chapter. My only reason for leaving was my position changed and I was not available to meet every week.
But I saw the value and when I was invited to join a local BNI chapter this summer again, I signed up and made the investment. Our chapter is larger than any of the others in Fort Wayne with over 35 members which is about double the number of members other local chapters have. BNI offers category exclusivity and has high standards that members must meet. BNI is a true word of mouth business networking organization. Interested? Contact me and you can be my guest at our next meeting and see it in action.
Word of Mouth also works on social media but not in the way that companies like Facebook are trying to push. Facebook earns it’s money from advertising. That’s why we see ads in our timeline. But there is also a more trusted form of word of mouth that occurs organically on Facebook. Just update your status with a request for a recommendation for something you need. I saw this in action several years ago when my friend Heather was looking for a dentist. Over 25 of her friends responded with recommendations of who to use and who to avoid.
Back to the concept of talking and not yelling, shouting or screaming in your advertising. There are lots of businesses that will continue to yell, shout, and scream in their radio and tv ads, so when you present a more human, relationship friendly message, it will get attention and stand out. Want help? Contact me. More on this series tomorrow.
by Scott Howard | Oct 6, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights
Last week I gave a presentation to about 40 business people and I mentioned the phrase, Timeless Human Relationship Principles. So today I’m going to share with you some of those but rephrase them as Timeless Marketing Rules.
They are based on Human Relationship Principles.
- People like it when you talk to them. Better yet, talk with them, not at them. If your advertising is yelling, shouting, screaming, or simply annoying, stop it and get real with people.
- People don’t like to be SOLD something. But they usually will accept and welcome help BUYING something. Big Difference.
- If you want people to show up at something but you don’t invite them, they won’t show up. This is one huge principle I preach about advertising. You have to invite people to become customers.
- There is truth to the concepts of reach and frequency. Reach is how many different people will see/hear your message. Frequency is how often each individual person will see/hear your message. One day I’ll write about this again, or you can ask me about how to apply reach and frequency to your marketing.
- However, one tip on frequency right now: One invitation is rarely enough. That’s why we don’t sell one commercial and expect results. That’s like going on just one date and expecting them to marry you then and there.
- People want to trust other people. They want to trust you and your business and the stuff you sell. Your marketing and business practices need to consistently build trust.
- You need to communicate with people using the medium they prefer. Some people like texting, some never leave a voicemail. Others use twitter, some rarely read their email. These human relationship principles and timeless marketing rules don’t change with technology. That’s why they are timeless. But you need to be aware of individuals communication preferences.
I’ll dig more in depth into each of these in the days ahead. Your Comments and Questions are always welcome.
by Scott Howard | Oct 2, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World
As soon as I wrote the title, Remember the “Social” side of Social Media, I thought of a different topic than what I really want to share with you.
So let’s get that other topic out of the way, Be Nice. In an increasingly hostile online world, please return to kindness when you are online. Don’t say things on social media or in the comment section somewhere that you would not say to that same person face to face.
Got it? Great.
Now the original topic for Remember the “Social” side of Social Media.
It’s a marketing tip that I see too many businesses neglecting.
Make sure you engage in conversations on Social Media. If you post on Facebook, YouTube or anywhere, keep an eye on the comments that you get and respond to them. Too often I will see someone wanting to get more information or thank you, or that have a complaint and there is no response.
Last weekend my wife and I visited some bed and breakfasts and restaurants and I reviewed all of them on TripAdvisor. One of them sent me a private message via TripAdvisor that read:
Scott,
Thank you for the great review. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed your dining experience at The Real Seafood Company. We hope to see you again soon!
Kind Regards,
Sergio P.
Guest Services Supervisor
That’s what it’s all about on Social Media and similar sites, so be social!
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