It’s reality check time for your business. You’re coming out of one of the most brutal winter seasons in recent memory, and unless your business is built upon profiting from snow and cold weather, it’s likely that you’re gearing up to take advantage of the potential for increased sales and profits from the summer months ahead. Don’t look now, but so are all of your competitors.
Don’t panic.
We’re here to help you get the advantage over them by utilizing door hangers to bolster your marketing campaign and boost your bottom line. Let’s take a brief look at what conventional wisdom prescribes, and then see how our customized door hangers will help you save money and increase profits.
Thirty years ago there were seven basic avenues available to marketers and advertisers: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, door-to-door, and billboards. Each of these mediums had their advantages and disadvantages, yet the overarching appeal of each method was its ability to reach vast numbers of potential customers. And although reaching huge numbers of consumers was preferable, the means to that end were often expensive.
Whenever any business or corporation considers any approach to marketing, the operative question is, “What are we getting for our investment?” Experienced marketers know that when they spend money on a marketing campaign, they must realize profits in order to win buy-in and approval from upper-level managers and business owners. Advertising budgets are leaner and consumers are more savvy, so maximizing ROI is essential to continued business success. In order to better understand this concept, let’s look at some advertising options to see how their costs compare to our door hangers.
According to an advertising executive with a local cable company, a basic ad campaign that runs a thirty second television commercial two to three times each day, in a random rotation would cost approximately $2,000.00 to $2,500.00 every month, and that price is available only with a one-year contract. If the advertiser opts for a month-to-month arrangement, the cost is at least 50% higher.
Furthermore, the ad would run between the hours of 6:00 am and 12:00 midnight on one network at a time, and the business has the option of switching between networks after each week of airing, to reach a broader audience. The problem with this approach is that there is no guarantee when the commercial would be seen and whether the target audience would be reached.
According to an advertising executive with a local radio station, radio spots operate much the same way, providing the same type of coverage. A basic campaign that runs a thirty second ad three to four times each day, also in random rotation, would cost approximately $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 per month, and that price would be only be guaranteed by a one-year contract, with the same cost penalty for a month-to-month arrangement.
The ad would also run between the hours of 6:00 am and 12:00 midnight on one radio station at a time, and the business has the option of switching between stations after each week of airing, to reach a broader audience. And as with Cable advertising, the problem with this approach is that there is no guarantee when the commercial would be heard and whether the target audience would be reached.
E-mail advertising campaigns are one of the most used options, but with more and more advertising messages being sent out, consumers are being bombarded with up to twenty ads each day, and their attention to and patience for these messages is wearing thin. If the consumer doesn’t recognize the name of the advertiser, the message is likely to be deleted before being opened.
Additionally, in order to be effective, e-mail advertising must reach large audiences and this requires a large list of recipients. There are two avenues available to advertisers to reach their targeted market: lists rented by brokers, and opt-in lists built by the advertisers themselves. There are problems with both options.
Lists rented from brokers are expensive and often aren’t maintained or updated. Lists can be customized to specific demographics, and can be purchased in lots in increments of 1,000 names, with 5,000 names being the minimum number to be rented. The cost for these lists varies between brokers, but the average is $2,000.00 to $5,000.00.
Another avenue available is that an advertiser can build an e-mail list of their own, but the process requires that they obtain these names by allowing the customer to opt-in to their list. The problem with an advertiser building their own list is that it takes time, often months and even years. Most advertisers must utilize other advertising options while building an e-mail list, and there is significant cost involved in doing so.
Another aspect of these advertising options is the constant need to reinforce the message with consumers in order to have any impact. Marketing studies have asserted that consumers must see an advertisement at least seven times in order for the message to become relevant and actionable.
So that means that utilizing the above mentioned options, advertisers would need to spend on average between $25,000.00 and $100,000.00 per year to make their ads meaningful and profitable. At best, it’s a crap shoot for most businesses.
In Part Two of this article we’ll explain how you can utilize door hangers to build an effective advertising campaign that is highly effective and far less costly than the conventional options.
Visit our Web site fdadvertising.com to view our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or call us today at 1-888-754-4111 for a FREE quote on how we can help you develop new leads to boost your bottom line!