Are you a gambler? Would you roll the dice with a 3 million dollar stake hoping it’ll pay off in spades?
No? Didn’t think so.
Sounds like madness for most of us, yet that’s exactly what advertisers do in the NFL Super Bowl finals.
The ads will be clever and funny. The ad agencies will get awards. The CEO’s and boards of the advertising businesses will revel in the glory and feel really good.
But will it bring in any business? How much bang for your 3 million bucks do you get?
Transcript
Are you a gambler? Would you roll the dice with a 3 million dollar stake hoping it’ll pay off in spades?
No? Didn’t think so.
Sounds like madness for most of us, yet that’s exactly what advertisers do in the NFL Super Bowl finals.
The ads will be clever and funny. The ad agencies will get awards. The CEO’s and boards of the advertising businesses will revel in the glory and feel really good.
But will it bring in any business? How much bang for your 3 million bucks do you get?
If past history is anything to go by, probably not very much.
Any business, especially a small to medium sized one should be asking, “Exactly how many clients am I getting per marketing dollar spent?” “What’s my return on investment?”
You goal is to generate a steady stream of new, good quality prospects who are likely to become good clients.
So the question is, could that sort of one shot spend generate enough good clients to get a decent return on investment?
The answer is usually no.
Here are some sobering facts.
Post super bowl surveys show that the vast majority of viewers will laugh and enjoy the ad. They might remember the ad, but won’t remember what was actually being advertised, who the company was or even what the product did.
Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
So instead of blanketing the masses with expensive one shot advertising, the secret is in really understanding your market and targeting only the people likely to be interested in what you offer. Your only goal is to get your message in front of the right prospects, at the right time and have them raise their hands and express interest.
And once you have their details you can start an engagement process which moves them down the sales funnel at their own pace, allowing them to buy from you when they’re ready.
Slick ads, full of double meanings may well be entertaining. And while people remember the ad, they often don’t remember the product you’re flogging.
Keep your language simple and straightforward. Don’ try to be “clever” and make your audience think hard.
Create ads which directly speak to your prospects on two fronts. Their pain and frustration and what they want instead.
Your ads need to arouse your prospects’ curiosity so they contact you for more information.
Offer to give away lots of good quality information in return for their contact details. People want to get a sense of who you are and what you could do for them. Giving away good quality information in the form of white papers, free reports, checklists, calculators etc, builds trust.
And if you’re thinking, “I can’t give all my stuff away”, yes you can. Most people think, “Gee, if they’re giving this away, what else have they got that would help me” and tend to trust you even more and want to work with you.
Remember, not everyone will want to pick up the phone and call you. Many will not want to be “sold to” and feel calling is too premature a step. They want to get a better sense of who you are and what you can do for them from a distance.
For these people it’s vital you drip feed them with ongoing information that adds value keeping you at the top of mind so they’ll call you when they’re ready to take next step.
Realise that marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.
Don’t throw all your advertising dollars into one big basket.
Now, if you’d like help putting together a system that drip feeds your prospects bringing them into the funnel so that when they’re ready to take action they will contact you – give me a call.
Till next time, this is Rashid Kotwal.
