Monday, December 22, 2008

Best Pool Shot By A Naked White Chick

This is the power of the mighty headline.

You did a double take, didn't you?

In radio, the headline is the ad for the ad itself.

With better headlines, you'll get better results. Enjoy the naked white chick. :)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

What About Results Right Now?

A few blog posts ago, I espoused the value of targeting those who are "ON" for what you sell. Focusing on those who are active in the market will immediately increase your cash flow.

And in this day and age, immediately increasing cash flow is on everybody's radar.

But as one of my blog readers pointed out, there's another aspect of your advertising campaign that you must also consider.

Face it. Most people are not in the market for what you sell today. But many will be in 3, 6, or 12 months down the road.

What are you doing to make sure you get these people when they become ACTIVE for your product or service?

Case in point ... I have listened to baseball on my hometown radio station for years. And for years a collision and body shop has advertised. I was not in the market UNTIL I had a wreck on the way home from work earlier this year. I really banged up the Copee car.

I immediately thought about the collision and body shop that I had heard for years advertising on the radio. They got my business. 5 other body shops in close proximity did not.

If that collision and body shop based the success of their advertising program on whether or not I responded last year or even 6 months ago, they would have deemed their radio advertising a complete failure.

But because they continued month-in, month-out to expose me to their message, when I needed a collision shop, theirs was the first I thought of.

So how long does it take for you to get results?

It all depends on how long your sales cycle is.

If you are a restaurant and you're advertising a dinner deal, chances are you'll get results pretty quickly.

But if you are an insurance company or a car dealer whose sales cycle is much longer, it could take some time before the net you have cast lands you some new fish.

Will you be brave enough to stay long enough for someone to enter into your market?

And how difficult are you making it for people to do business with you?

I can make it easier for your customers to find out who you are, what you do, and how to get in touch with you.

Give me a call and we can talk.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Actual O C Welch Ford Commercial "Wake Up America"








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This is the actual controversial radio commercial that's causing some stir in Savannah, GA. The dealer is getting results with this campaign. What do you think about this approach?

Not afraid to say what you mean

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Talking to People Who Are ON

You don't have to reach everybody for your advertising campaign to be effective. The term broadcasting really is a misnomer. What you are truly doing is "narrowcasting," looking for the percentage of listeners who are ON for what you are selling this week.

Take my friend, James, for instance. He's a professional who listens to the radio at his office. The other day he heard a commercial for Kroger, a grocery store in Atlanta, for a 10 for $10 special. Specifically, he heard his favorite ice cream brand, Mayfield, being promoted during this sale. The offer was 10 pint size ice creams for $10.

James was ON for buying ice cream so the radio commercial reached him and re-directed his buying pattern. He went to Kroger and took advantage of the offer. This campaign succeeded in doing two things: (1) it reached someone who was ON for what they were selling, and (2) it created a value proposition for Kroger in the mind of the consumer (what some like to refer to as branding).

Many advertisers make the mistake that they have to reach everyone to be effective with their campaign. The fact is you could not handle the volume if each of my 420,000 listeners were in the market for what you sell. The reality is even if 1% of my audience responded to your campaign, you'd be out of product or unable to provide the service. When you get down to it, even if 1/2 of 1% responded, you'd be overwhelmed.

Do you see why it's not that important to reach EVERYBODY?

We just need to reach a percentage of those listeners ON for what you sell and you're in the $$.

Just like James and the ice cream, your product or service will be bought by somebody this week. The question is will you get your unfair share of the business?

Business is still being done and there's not as much advertising clutter right now making now a great time to be advertising your product or service.

You could dramatically grow market share and position your company for big gains if you act now. If you'd like to find out how we are helping others, drop me a note and we can talk.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Bad Word of Mouth Gets More Airplay

If you've followed this blog, you will remember that I had an issue with Sears over the last month over a purchase and delivery of a mattress and box springs. We finally got the issue resolved over the weekend with Sears coming to pick up their merchandise and my Sears charge card being credited.

How does this impact your business you may be asking?

The overarching implications are huge.

Do you realize that NEGATIVE "word of mouth" advertising gets more airplay than POSITIVE "word of mouth?"

Over the years, I've talked with advertiser after advertiser who says "word of mouth" works best for them. Not if it's this kind of "word of mouth." And the problem is many businesses don't realize how infectious a strain of NEGATIVE "word of mouth" can be to their overall business health.

You need to have an ongoing advertising campaign to combat NEGATIVE "word of mouth" advertising.

Let's face it, even the best companies drop the ball now and then. What are you doing to make sure that your one "OOPS" doesn't act like a cancer on your company?

I can't tell you how many people I've told my Sears horror story. Now I've done business with Sears for years with no problems but I haven't been telling everybody about how wonderfully Sears delivered my Craftsman mower. There is a BIG difference between positive and negative "word of mouth." Negative gets lots more airply than positive.

Now do you see why NEGATIVE "word of mouth" is so dangerous.

With radio you get the power of "word of mouth," the spoken word. And YOU have control over what is said and how often it is said. That's the power of radio!

If you're wondering how you can turn the tide on some NEGATIVE "word of mouth," just give me a call and we can get together to talk strategy.