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 This is a Message You Can Absorb and Convey to your Clients:
Most businesses fail or go broke – and yours can, too. Surveys indicate that 90% of all business started in the U.S. have failed or gone broke. This means that, literally, 9 out of 10 of your competitors will go broke. When a business or organization is promoted successfully and efficiently, it sets up a business environment that favors longevity.
Why Promote Your Business?
The old theories taught in business schools indicated that if you “build a better mousetrap, customers will come running to your door.” Well, guess what? Today’s customers are spoiled and will not automatically come running just because you may have the best products or services. You need to get to your customers and prospects and figure out how to break their concentration, awe them with your message, and somehow get to the cores of their soles.
What Do You Expect From Your Advertising?
Most ad agencies indicate that repetition is the all important component of effective advertising. Repetition can work, of course, but it is certainly not always the efficient choice. Blast enough people with your ad enough times each day and you will win some converts. Pepsi and Coke do it, but it costs them billions! There are more efficient ways to deliver your message, enhance your image, and create environments that make it comfortable for your prospects to choose you.
What Does Your Advertising Cost?
Who knows what his or her advertising actually costs? I’m sure you can find your invoices somewhere, but who knows what it costs to actually change a potential buyer’s attitude and create the actions you look for and your organization must have? How do you measure its benefit? What do you expect from your advertising investments? New clients? Increased loyalty? Employee motivation? Knowledge of your new service or location or product or website? Do you expect the same type of advertising medium to accomplish all of these and more? I don’t think it’s possible.
A Plumber’s Story:
A new plumber opened up shop in town and wanted to attract business from the very large factory located just on the edge of the city. He diligently made an appointment with the factory president and explained that he is the best, most talented plumber to be found, and that anytime the factory required plumbing work, the president would be foolish to call anyone else. “You may have seen my brand new shop in town,” said the eager plumber. “Well I have made a slightly smaller version of my big neon sign for you. Here it is, only two feet long. I’d like to have you place it here on your nice desk in your office to remind you to call me whenever you require a plumber, because I am the best you’ll find.” You’re crazy,” exclaimed the president, “I’m not going to ruin my beautiful executive desk with your sign. Get out of here!” “O.K.,” said the plumber, I can understand your not wanting to use my neon sign. I’ll tell you what, here is my business card. Can I borrow some tape? I’ll just tape my business card to the corner of your desk right here so you remember to call me whenever you need a plumber.” “You’re nuts!” exclaimed the frustrated president. “Well I understand your hesitancy to have me tape my card on your desk, but I want you to remember that I am truly the best. Here, I’ll give you $50.00 to let me tape my card to your desk.” “I’m not letting you tape anything to my mahogany desk for any amount of money. "Get out of my office!” And the president kicked the plumber out of the building.
One week later, the plumber returned and gave his advertising calendar to the president. Do you know what happened? The president said “Thank you” for the beautiful calendar and proceeded to place it right on the wall of his beautiful office!! When you use any type of promotional product imprinted with your message, you own valuable real estate (office walls or desks for calendars, pockets for pens, desk tops for coffee mugs, the automobile for key holders, etc., etc., etc.), that you could not pay for if you wanted to.
In the Mind’s Eye:
When I travel and visit homes and offices, I often find examples of imprinted promotional products in use from all sorts of advertisers. And I perform a fun experiment. I cover the advertising message with my hand and ask for the name of the advertiser. I have yet to find someone who cannot readily recall the name of the business or organization that is emblazoned on the promotional product.
Clean Your Filter:
When most of us see or hear ads-on T.V., billboards, radio, newspapers, magazines-we are very aware that we are being advertised to. So, we put up mental filters that cloud the messages, because we know that some big ad agency is employing underhanded psychological tactics to get us to purchase or want something that we probably do not need. When you give a promotional product, however, the recipient is put in a good mood (we all love to receive gifts, even small ones) and we internalize the message-our advertising filters are turned off, and so we actually receive the message at deeper subconscious levels and reaffirm it each time we look at or use the promotional item. At the same time we remember the good feelings associated with receiving the gift and briefly relive the experience. Your name becomes implanted indelibly on the minds of your clients in ways that traditional media cannot begin to duplicate.
Your Existing Advertising:
Who sees it? How often? You can only hope that your current expensive advertising gets seen or heard by exactly the right audience. If someone’s on vacation on the day you advertise…you lose. If someone is distracted and misses your ad, or flips through the paper too quickly, you lose. In fact, the best you can hope for is that someone appropriate will glance at your ad once, or see it once on T.V., or hear it once on the radio. Of course, you can attempt to have your audience hear it or see it multiple times, but that will cost you each and every time, all over again. The best and the worst of advertising.
Remember the old Wisk detergent ads: “Ring around the collar?” Studies showed that, while nearly everyone could recognize this memorable ad, it did not drive increases in sales. Do you remember being entertained by Super Bowl ads? It turns out that roughly 45% of viewers remembered the themes of many Super Bowl ads, but couldn’t remember what products or services were being advertised. What a giant waste of promotional funds!
Smile…It’s Your Competitor’s Ad!
So, every time you see your competitors’ ads on traditional types of media, you can smile broadly at how wasteful they are being and at how many members of their target audiences are being completely missed. Ad Agencies believe in repetition. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of working with an ad agency, you begin get the sense that you have hired creative artistry geared toward making you feel good. Sure, it’s impressive to see your firm’s or organization’s name so beautifully displayed across periodical pages or on electronic media. But how will your ads actually change your audience's opinion of your company, its products, and services? If you want to impress yourself, buy expensive media advertising. If you want to impress your clients, offer them something of real value that they will keep and refer to and use over and over and over again.
Reptiles Belong in the Zoo.
Budweiser is credited with one of the recently most successful advertising campaigns…you know the ones; they feature frogs or iguanas or other bizarre reptiles. These ads do a good job of interrupting the attention of the viewer, which puts each one in a position to listen to an upcoming message. “That’s cute,” we think. A talking iguana. I’ve got to listen to this.” Then we soon realize it’s an ad for beer. Our logical brains take over. “What does a reptile have to do with drinking beer?” The fact is, it has nothing to do with beer. Once we recognize this, our minds stop listening and go back to filtering out the blatant, unveiled attempt to get us to buy something we may not want to buy.
What we tend to consider as the best advertising is expensive and can typically perform least well for the investment made. Put the malls out of business. Every fall season in every shopping mall in the U.S., we see special kiosks popping up selling all sorts of fun products: travel mugs, key chains, calendars, baseball caps, you name it. What does all this retail activity tell you? It indicates that if you do not provide a drinking mug or key chain or pen or calendar to your clients, they will actually go out to the mall and pay good money to get one of their own. How many other forms of advertising are so vital to the recipient, that if you don’t provide it, folks will actually go pay for some themselves? Did you actually say, “Thank you!”?
When was the last time someone phoned you to say “Thank you” for placing an ad in the local newspaper or yellow pages? Guess what? Distribute a good looking promotional product to your audience and you will hear “Thank you” over and over again. Imagine; you’ll actually be thanked for your advertising! What’s more, some clients might even ask for the opportunity to have one more of your give-away item (practically begging you to allow them to distribute your name even further). How many of your existing clients have ever asked you to “Please place another ad in the newspaper or on the radio?” I’m certain the answer is “never.” Can it really be this easy?
It is easy. That’s where I, your promotional consultant, comes in. I have direct access to the nation’s finest sources of promotional items available anywhere. It is my special clout with these factories that can help me to help you find precisely the right products to solve your greatest dilemmas – and at costs that will make you smile – especially compared to some of the traditional advertising media you may currently be using. And what better way to draw intensified attention to your expensive web sites than by using inexpensive promotional items designed to remind and draw clients to your site to learn more about you?
I am interested in one thing. Helping you make the most effective use of your advertising budget. Thank you for listening!
Ron Baron is a popular industry educator who speaks at all the Showtime Traveling Trade Shows. |
