Where Should I Advertise For Most Effectiveness?

Reader Question...

I don't know where to spend my advertising dollars. Is it better to spend it on newspaper or magazine publications that might stay around longer?

callrox.com's Answer...

The answer is, it depends. What are you selling and how often are you willing to advertise it?

If it’s a product or service that’s easy to order by phone or stop by, then sure, go ahead and advertise in the newspaper. But be sure to give incentives within your ad for people to actually take action. That could be a limited time coupon or discount just for “call now!”

If it's a magazine, is it one that gets circulated a lot and if so what can you offer that will cause a person to tear out your ad and take action? Is it a lot more expensive or a little more expensive? How many people will see it?

The reason it matters is that effective advertising is FREQUENT advertising. Can you afford it?

Industry studies have show that it takes people 5-7 times of seeing your message to begin to even recognize the name. It’s the rare bird who buys on first glance. More often, people have to get the idea in their head, mull it around, hear it again and again before they will take action. Therefore, if you commit to advertising anywhere it is not going to work unless you set up a program of doing it frequently and at least 5-7 times.

It doesn't have to be all in the same place either. Set up a campaign where you can be seen multiple times within a short period of time. For example...you can set up a scheduled campaign to insert an ad in the regional magazine, submit press releases to the largest newspaper, submit a story or press release to other publications like "widget today" if that's your market and send a note to your prospects with a copy of something that got published. Plan it, then coordinate the timing to release all this within a few weeks time and take action.

If you're really ready to rock, also see if you can get set up as a speaker or event coordinator for an organization where your prospects will see you. You can then suggest to the local radio station that they interview you for a few minutes to promote the event. Send email audio postcard to everyone you know including your prospects who are on the membership list to promote it further!