Each day I talk with businesses that make choices about advertising without any information at all. Rather than waiting until you are desperate for customers, find time to learn about the advertising options that are available for your business.

The best time to learn more – when you don’t feel the need to advertise

1) The best time to learn more about various advertising options is when you don’t need to make a decision. When I call businesses and they say, “we don’t need anything right now”, my response is, “that’s great!” Why, because that takes the pressure off the appointment. If you don’t need to make a decision NOW, then that is one of the best times to get better informed about what various advertising options have to offer. I find that after an appointment such as this many businesses find that they have learned significant things about what is working for similar businesses, about things not to do and why, and about things they should consider and why. When the time comes, they can make a more informed choice about the options before them.

Ask other people about what is working for them

2) Network with other similar businesses. The key here is that these similar businesses need to be in different markets from you so that you get good information. When I go to a presentation for REACH I usually bring samples of similar businesses from some of our other markets. If I can show that these businesses use REACH magazine on a regular or seasonal basis, that is testimony that REACH is working for them, but a few phone calls can be effective in learning more.

Recently I left several examples with a restaurant and the business owner called each one. He explained that he was in the Dayton market, not Cincinnati, and he asked how REACH had worked for them. In each case he asked to talk with the business owner, explained where he was located and asked for the straight scoop on how REACH works for them.

When I returned for another visit, he told me they had all given him good reports about REACH magazine and he was prepared to give it a test for his business. You see local competitors are not likely to give you the straight scoop on their results from any advertising they do. Even if you feel you know them to some degree, they are likely to slant their response….well, it works Okay.

I have another company that I am working with that closely consults with the franchise headquarters to keep up with seasonal influences on his business. There are many of these franchises throughout the country and at training meetings he made connections with several so that they could continue to talk with each other about what is working and when. He also calls the original franchise business which has years of experience to discuss ideas and find out what has and what has not worked for them.

Be willing to test various advertising options

3) Don’t wait to test various options. Don’t let #2 keep you from testing things when you can. In one case, I worked with a company which is a franchise and the franchisor was opposed to any sort of incentive marketing. They considered it below them because they were uninformed about who responds to incentive offers. In this particular case, the new owner of this franchise had experience with REACH magazine in the company they had previously worked for and was willing to test REACH for this new product line. Where is REACH most responsive? In middle to upper income areas. These are people that know that if they get $300 off and the next guy didn’t get that, they have $300 dollars more in their wallets than they guy who called from the yellow pages and did not get the incentive. People who have money are smarter about how they spend it and can recognize a value. People who do not have money to spend tend to also make uninformed and poor choices about how they spend the money they have and are generally less responsive to coupons and incentive offers.

Don’t forget the cost of not knowing? And the cost on not doing?

4) There can be a cost to not using effective advertising. If because you did not do something, you gained less, is that not a lose to your business. An experienced sales executive should be able to present you with examples of similar businesses using their product to effectively grow their businesses. One thing about REACH magazine is that it is fully accountable for the results that come in. You can count the dollars associated with the people who redeemed and incentive offer. For example: This $20 off coupon resulted in a new regular customer that has now purchase over $900 in the past 6 months or perhaps this $300 off coupon resulted in a contract for a home improvement costing $40,000.00.

Unlike many other forms of advertising, incentive advertising is accountable. But, even with these measurable results there is also the marketing result of all the people who saw your ad, but did not yet redeem your offer. You are helping them to choose you when they go to the yellow pages and say, let’s see…I’ve heard of this company…I’ll call them. I can also make your other advertising accountable using CALL TRACKING. I can assign several phone numbers to you for a test period to use not only in REACH magazine but for you radio, TV ads and newspaper. You will know exactly how many calls and of what quality come in from each venue using the data that is collected. You can even see how your customers are being treated and how your phones are being answered (this has been extremely valuable to several companies that have used this service).

Give advertising a fair test

5) If you are going to test a form of advertising, be willing to give it a fair test. I see many businesses that try something ONCE. They say, I’ll give it a try, but they are unwilling to give something a fair test. Generally from what I have seen, three months seems to be a fair test for any form of advertising. After the first month evaluate the results. If the results are not there, talk with your account executive about making changes in the promotion, then give them the chance to show you what they know. With REACH magazine there is a chemistry between target area and an effective offer that has perceived value among consumers. If the perceived value is not there, the response will not be there. Other factors that come into play is company reputation in the community, and even how the phone is answered or not answered.

I’ve worked with and am still working with companies that did not have success at their first “at bat” in REACH magazine. After some tweaking of their ad, or perhaps changing the way the phone was answered or other factors, they found success and are continuing to grow there businesses with REACH magazine advertising. At the home show at Hara last weekend I was talking to a contractor who explained that after one month of TV advertising he had gotten nothing back, but that on the 2nd and 3rd month it turned around an he continues to get good results with TV advertising. My challenge to him was that he does not know what other advertising has to offer unless he is willing to give it a fair test as well.

If you not in the market for advertising, this is your best time to explore your options and learn more. Do not make your choices based on a lack on information or hear say. Your uninformed choices could lead to loss in the future as you are locked into choices based on your current and limited knowledge.

One last story. Last year I worked with a company that had not found any effective advertising to date. The first time that I ran an ad for him it did not do well, however the next time I was able to change his ad in a significant way. It was not something that he had tried before and I urged him to go with it. He had never spent more than several hundred dollars at a time in the past, but this time his ad was just below $1000. The results were outstanding as he explained that his phones seemed to be ringing off the hook and he had to get help from someone he knew in Cincinnati to keep up and accomplish the jobs that resulted from his ad. One job alone was over $5,000.00 even though his average jobs were in the $500 t0 $900 range.

This year he came in off season and signed up for every mailing throughout his entire season. We discussed how he would handle the flow of business and his plans for growth. We also worked out a plan, that if he could not keep up, he could skip a mailing if need be. Not every client has this experience, but I suspect in this case, he may have been out of business were it not for being willing to give it a fair try. As his REACH rep I will be able to see his business grow and flourish. That’s what I like most about my career as a REACH magazine executive.

Peter DeMott • 937-478-6222 • peter@photosbypdemott.com • REACH magazine • Dayton, Ohio