Did The Advertising Work?

A recent conversation I had with a new advertising partner included a variation on the question, Did The Advertising Work?

It’s not an easy question to answer if you don’t know how to measure and that’s why I ask questions that pertain to expectations and responsibilities.

Let’s take a moment and talk about this in more depth.

Advertising is limited in what it can actually do.

Advertising is about the invitation.

Any advertisement, I don’t care if it’s online, on the radio, TV, a poster in the coffee shop, a billboard, a magazine ad, they don’t sell stuff.  They are only invitations.

And everything I just mentioned, those advertising mediums, radio, TV, online, a poster, a billboard, and magazine ads are simply delivery vehicles of your ads.  Each has a different audience that they can connect your business with.

So what is it about advertising that makes money?

Advertising is not really a money machine, it’s simply the beginning stages of your money machine.

And what is this money machine I’m talking about?  It’s you and your business.

I’m going to a real life example.  A few years ago, on WOWO radio, I started a campaign for a coin and jewelry retail store.  Over the years we expanded and grew their advertising and these days their name is on WOWO every hour in the morning and every hour in the afternoon during our live shows.  That’s 7 times per day, 5 days a week.  35 times per week.  When we began, we were only doing about 10 or 15 times per week, but because they believed the advertising was working, we grew to the level that we are at now.

But as I mentioned, the advertising is just the invitation, WOWO is the connector between our listeners and the business, the real selling occurs when people come to the store and talk to the staff.  This is true with nearly all of my advertising partners.  Most of them cannot measure exactly their return on investment for the dollars they spend on advertising, but when we look at the big picture and anecdotal information, they know the advertising campaigns are bringing people to them.

The real answer to the question, Did The Advertising Work? is did the invitations to your business go out properly?

However, I personally go a step further then just making sure your ads ran… I also function as a marketing coach and consultant.  Marketing includes the advertising, but it can also include everything else that involves connecting with potential customers and converting them into happy buyers of the stuff your company sells.

The new advertising partner I mentioned at the beginning of this piece is going to get my help in converting potential customers.  I will be meeting with them to find out exactly how they interacted with the leads we sent them and give them some tips and tweaks for how to convert more of these leads into happy buyers.  I actually already did this last week when we were discussing pricing and profit margins.

What are the right questions you need to ask about your advertising?  Perhaps this piece has given you some insight on the subject.  Contact me directly if you would like my help with a personalized consultation.