by Scott Howard | Oct 24, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
For most people who see, hear, or read your advertising, The Answer is No.
And that is okay.
Today we are going to talk about realistic expectations when it comes to advertising and marketing. Some of the people who sell advertising are not going to like what I am about to share, but that is okay too.
By the way, this article was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Dennis last week and also by an article by Seth Godin, where he talks about why negative reviews are sometimes okay.
Often advertising sales people will tell you about how many people will see or hear your advertisement, which may have an element of truth to it, but you need to understand what that number represents and what it really means in relationship to your business.
First some numbers:
Those people in the outdoor advertising business that sell billboard signs that you see along the side of the road usually use the estimated traffic count of how many vehicles drive by that section of road per day. They then do some math and multiply that number of vehicles by 1.5 passengers and tell you that your ad will be seen by all these thousands of people.
Television stations, radio stations, they both get ratings numbers from an outside company that estimates how many listeners or viewers a station has. Again, there are hundreds, even thousands of people that are watching or listening, right?
Some media and advertising companies use a different kind of method, like the phone book companies would say that they reach the entire population of your city. These days we know from our own behavior, that the percentage of people who take that phone book and immediately toss it in the trash grows every year.
Digital advertising has some track-ability to it but it’s a flawed system too.
But I’m not here to discourage you from advertising, so I better return to the topic, the headline of this piece which is The Answer is No.
What in the world am I talking about?
I’ll tell you.
For the majority of the people that your advertising message is exposed to, the answer right then and there is no. They are not going to buy your stuff at that moment. Just because I see or hear an advertisement or marketing message for you and your company, I am not going to immediately react and spend money with you right then and there.
And that’s okay.
Your business is not capable of handling all the potential customers that your advertising reaches at the moment your advertising message is seen or heard.
Can your restaurant handle 30,000 customers at lunch today?
Can your auto repair shop take care of 100 new customers tomorrow?
If everyone that sees or hears your advertising this week wanted to become your customer would that be a blessing or a nightmare?
Fortunately only a fraction of the people will become your customer at any given time.
Each have their own reason too.
I went thru this exercise with my friend Dennis who owns a service business. Dennis has a goal of how many customers he wants to add to his business this year and he’s a little short. And he also has a couple of slow months coming up where his main goal is to stay in business. He’s pretty smart about it and knows the up and down months so he plans for them. That’s part of his success.
I presented him with an idea using my radio station, WOWO radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that can help him fill up the rest of his year and also transform those slow months into busier months. I wrote three words on a paper and asked him where he was right now with my idea.
Those words were:
Yes
Maybe
No
Yes meant we would take the next step to implement my idea.
Maybe meant there were still questions and things to consider.
No meant no way.
Then I added a few letters to the word no on the paper and changed the No to
Not Yet
That’s where Dennis really is right now.
There are a couple of items that need to be taken care of first, like adding to his team and training his new employees. Then we will look at the timing and see if my idea can be implemented.
Consumers go through this all the time.
Just because someone who sees or hears your ad doesn’t say Yes right now, you might think they are saying No.
Some of them are really saying Maybe or Not Yet.
And that’s okay.
The reason you need to advertise long term or more than once is to continue to reach those who are saying Maybe, and Not Yet, because they will often say Yes one day.
Want help with your marketing plans and advertising? Let’s connect.
by Scott Howard | Oct 17, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Fort Wayne, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
The concept of How To Conquer The World is pretty vast and could apply to a multitude of applications, so I’m going to limit this article to the stuff that I’ve learned for 50 years, since I was a 7 year old kid.
I’m also going to talk about the world of business and relationships.
I’ll even narrow it further and limit this to marketing and advertising.
So if you want to know how to conquer the world with military power, this article isn’t for you. Or is it?
First off, you need to pace yourself.
The overnight success stories of others are not what they appear to be. Before the so called overnight successes we see in the world around us, there were plenty of days and nights that did not look like success. 
Set your expectations in proportion to the work you put in. There are 168 hours in this week. You need balance between the things your human body needs and your business passions. Simple things like sleep, food and non-work related activities will help you become stronger, or if you ignore them, that can destroy you.
Would you rather be a big flash in the pan and get 10 minutes of fame or build a long term success? Depending on your age and experience you may answer differently. It’s taken me some time to realize that it’s the long term that is more meaningful.
As I share my story, feel free to picture your own life story too.
When I was a 7 year old I was starting 2nd grade at a new school where I knew no one. Most of my classmates had known each other from kindergarten and 1st grade and I was one of the new kids. Over the next 5 years, I became friends with many of my classmates, but not all. I gained a few close friends out of that initial class of 25 and some of those I still have friendships with due to the connectivity of social media.
7 years later, I went through nearly the same experience as an awkward 14 year old starting at a new high school filled with hundreds of students. I knew 2 of them when I walked in and not that well. Over the course of 4 years, I developed relationships with several, but again most of my classmates had friendships that were 8 years strong before we met.
After my formal education ended, my career path took me to new towns and radio stations where I worked on the air. Some relationships developed and some remain to this day, mostly thru reconnecting online because we all went our own separate ways career wise. Back then, my idea of conquering the world might have been to be a top 40 disc jockey in Chicago or New York. Turns out one of my co-workers got that gig in New York and yet he often recalls his days of working on the air in Fort Wayne Indiana as some of his favorite times.
You really don’t need to conquer the world. Instead you need to build relationships.
In the business world, it’s a matter of connecting with the people who want to either buy what you have to sell; can sell you what you need to buy; or who can connect you to those you need to connect with.
I’m in the advertising and marketing business. Primarily with WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The same city I was in when I was starting 2nd grade and my freshman years as the new kid in school. I left and returned. Not on purpose, at least the returning part, but here I am 19 years straight as a citizen of Fort Wayne, longer than I have ever lived anywhere.
The long term relationships that you can develop in your life are also the relationships that will help you in business if you treat people with respect and honor. Be true to your word and when you screw up, admit it and apologize.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Learn from them. Learn from others too. Find a mentor and mentor others. Read, talk and most important… listen.
Ask, explore, make changes as needed but remember the only way to conquer the world is one relationship at a time.
The world of advertising and marketing is continuing to evolve.
The mass media outlets like broadcast television networks, ABC, NBC and CBS attract less of the masses as other forms of entertainment and news on different platforms have become available. Similar patterns have occurred in other traditional mass media vehicles. Fort Wayne had two newspapers for decades and now we have just one due to declines in circulation. The number of local radio stations tripled in Fort Wayne from my youth to today and there are plenty of other options to get what radio stations used to offer exclusively.
Fortunately, my radio station, WOWO continues to attract a healthy sized audience with listeners who develop a “relationship” with our on-air personalities, and ours is a good business model for the listeners, the businesses that advertise with us and for the station itself. WOWO is not always the answer, but it might be.
You as a business person, need to determine how to find those individuals that will help you and your business succeed. The advertising and marketing options are nearly infinite compared to a few decades ago, however there are some guiding principles that you should follow that involve relationships that will never go out of style.
Contact me for help to conquer the world, or at least your corner of it.
by Scott Howard | Oct 10, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Let’s talk about your brand and reputation because Marketing Perceptions are Messy.
I am currently working with a local branch of an international organization that understands the importance of being accurate in their marketing messaging. So much so, that they have a compliance department that reviews all of their marketing and advertising outreach including what we, WOWO Radio are going to be doing with them this month.
I usually don’t need to jump through as many hoops as I have with this company to put together an advertising campaign for most of the people I work with, but this is fine. They understand the power of bad publicity and in this social media world how bad stuff can go viral.
I sometimes wish my local business owners were as aware of this and so that’s what we are going to talk about today.
You can control the content of your paid advertising messages because you approve those ads ahead of time.
But what about the other marketing messages that are out there?
The way your drivers behave when they are driving your company vehicles for example?
The words and actions of your staff when they are at a customers home or business?
The words and actions when your people are enjoying lunch at their favorite restaurant?
Here’s one that I take into consideration every week:
The words that are spoken that are not necessarily the words and policies of your company, but are said by a representative of your company?
Do you have a policy in place for any of this?
When I began the podcast version of my weekly website articles, I decided to play it safe and every recorded version includes the following disclaimer:
THERE IS A ROUGH TRANSCRIPTION OF THIS PODCAST ONLINE AT THE WEBSITE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME. IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK AND READ OR CHECK OUT THE LINKS I MAY MENTION, YOU’LL FIND THEM THERE. SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME.
I WILL BE UPDATING THIS PODCAST EVERY WEEK HOWEVER IS ADDITIONAL MATERIAL THAT I WRITE THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT IN THE PODCAST VERSION BUT WILL BE ON THE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME WEBSITE.
AND EVEN THOUGH I AM RECORDING THIS AT THE FEDERATED MEDIA STUDIOS IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA AND I WORK FOR WOWO RADIO AND THIS IS BEING PROMOTED BY MY EMPLOYER. EVERYTHING I SAY OR WRITE IS STRICTLY MY OWN THOUGHTS AND NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINIONS OF FEDERATED MEDIA OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATIONS AND OR ADVERTISERS.
Click above for the link to the podcast
I wasn’t asked to include that disclaimer, but I did it as a “just in case” preventative move. I’ve been writing and publishing these stories and articles every week for years, over 6 years now at the ScottHoward.me website and other sites before that.
When I joined the WOWO advertising sales team 4 years ago, I asked and received permission from my management team to share the stuff that I write and talk about publicly. I don’t have a compliance department overseeing this before it’s published and my radio bosses don’t ask for preview copies either. They simply trust me to have the common sense to do what is right and appropriate.
Last year they came to me and asked if I would consider doing a podcast version of my website, and that’s how the Genuine ScLoHo Media & Marketing Podcast came about. There are links to it on the WOWO.com website. It’s a win win situation for them and for me because of the trust factor.
That trust factor is what I want you to consider as a take away from this article and podcast. You really need to let your staff know what is expected of them when they are representing your company. Put it in a company handbook, make it part of their employment contract, or what ever is most appropriate. Don’t bury it the fine print either.
You need to trust your staff to be responsible and that starts with letting them know what that means. Your customers and potential customers are watching and this is even more powerful than your paid advertising messages. Marketing Perceptions are Messy. Your job is to do your best to keep it clean.
Want help? Let’s talk.
by Scott Howard | Sep 26, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
What is the very best form of advertising? I was asked a similar question recently.
I belong to a business networking group that limits membership to just one person from each business category and I sort of occupy two categories. Radio Advertising with WOWO Radio & Digital Marketing with Federated Digital Services.
If I had to choose just one, not both of those categories, which one did I want to hold onto, is what I was asked to consider. I was even told that I don’t need to decide now, but in the future that might be a choice I have to make.
I knew the answer without hesitation and this may surprise you.
But before I share with you, what I told them, I’ve got a little story that demonstrates the why behind my answer.
The purpose behind your advertising and marketing is to build profitable relationships.
I have a retail store that has consistently used my radio station, WOWO for three years. Before I met them, they would never commit to any advertising to more than 2 months. This business is over 40 years old, but moved to a new location a few years ago. So why do they advertise with WOWO every month? Because our listeners tell them that they were told by Pat or Charly to visit their store.
Here’s another story:
I work with a Doctor who took over two practices last year. We started by using a Custom Audience Targeted Digital Display advertising campaign and he saw his practice grow. I could show him the number of visits to his website that were produced by his digital advertising campaigns. Then we decided to expand and add a few ads on WOWO radio. I visited him 10 days after his radio ads began and his first words to me is that he has people telling him that they heard about him on the radio.
I could tell you a few more stories but I think you are starting to catch on.
If I had to pick between selling only radio advertising campaigns on WOWO or selling only digital advertising campaigns online… I pick WOWO Radio for the Win.
This is not to downplay the power of the digital marketing campaigns that I’ve run for some of my advertising partners. Earlier this year, one of my advertising partners was able to track 482 leads in just a couple of months that were generated from the Custom Audience Targeted Digital Display advertising campaign we created. This was more than they could handle and leads were not being handled properly. That company wasn’t prepared to take care of the business we were sending their way. Digital can work when properly executed from beginning to end.
But let me remind you:
The purpose behind your advertising and marketing is to build profitable relationships.
And for some businesses, getting clicks and leads online is exactly what they want. However, most local businesses that I work with want reassurances that their advertising investments are good investments and when you get people telling you they heard your name on the radio, that is reassuring.
Face it, most of us are not going to tell a business person that we are in their store because we saw their digital ad. Digital ads aren’t personal in that way. At least yet. One day, I’ll probably get served a digital ad that says something like, “Scott, are you ready to buy this phone? Click here.” That will be kind of creepy.
The reason for the success of many advertisers on WOWO is the human relationships that are developed. Our loyal listeners feel a fondness for our talk show hosts who are on the air every day. They connect because they are what we call actively listening which is different than passive listening like you often do with a music radio station that is simply playing in the background.
That fondness matures into a trust factor between the WOWO listener and the radio station and the station personalities. On a scale of 1 to 10, our WOWO radio personalities score 7’s, 8’s sometimes 9’s or 10’s with listeners on the friendship and trust factor. That’s higher than some of the people you have as Facebook friends, right?
Every other form of paid advertising simply doesn’t rank as high in creating trust. Television could come close if the local personalities could create an authentic advertising message, but that is rare. Newspapers don’t connect and bond, neither do most magazines. Billboards are just signs but rarely do they make a human connection that includes an emotional bond that happens with our WOWO radio hosts.
The answer to the question of what is the very best form of advertising, for all the reasons I just mentioned, I firmly believe in most cases it’s a message on WOWO Radio for local businesses in the Fort Wayne area.
Digital advertising is growing, it’s the bright and shiny object that more and more businesses are pouring money into but as you see, there are plenty of challenges.
And there’s more to your advertising success than just running ads on WOWO.
Here’s what I told my friends last week. In my left hand I held my smartphone which represents digital advertising. In my right hand I held a piece of paper with the WOWO logo, to represent the radio advertising options I offer.
If I had to choose, please cut off my left hand (digital) and leave my right hand (radio). I’m right handed and to be forced to write with just my left hand could get messy.
Fortunately, I can offer both hands.
But more important than what I have in my hands, the radio and digital advertising options, is what’s in my head and heart.
That’s where I have the knowledge, wisdom and hands on experience of the last couple of decades to help craft a marketing plan designed specifically for your success. And that’s the heart of it all.
Want help? Ask me.
by Scott Howard | Sep 19, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
A new survey of nearly 5,000 Americans sheds some light on where we get our news.
Comparing 2017 to 2016, we see some slippage and some increases.
Not surprising to me is that the increases are related to our pocket computers, those devices you and I call our smartphones.
News Websites or Apps grew 8% in the past year and is now tied with Local TV which lost the most ground (7%)
Social Media grew slightly too by 3%.
I was happy to see that local radio news is still strong in the survey, as I work for WOWO radio, our local news talk radio station. There was another talk station in town but they switched format this month to rock music. And we have our local NPR affiliate that provides news and talk too, but has a fraction of the listenership that WOWO has.
(WOWO’s website also gets the most visits of all our Federated Media stations, company wide, so we are on top of that trend too.)
Also on the survey, was cable TV news like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News; national TV news like ABC, CBS and NBC; and print newspapers, but all showed year to year declines.
None of this is surprising to me. What does surprise me is the local businesses that continue to use some of these media for advertising. But I’ll talk about that some other day. I’ve written a couple stories recently about local news changes in the Fort Wayne area and also about the status of radio listenership locally. You can click on those links if you missed them.
Which reminds me, the phone book arrived this week. My wife took care of it before I got home. I found it in the recycling bin waiting to be hauled away on trash day.
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