It appears that certain industries understand creative marketing and branding better than others. Here in South Florida, one of the fastest categories of rapid growth is the drug rehab, treatment and recovery centers. These facilities charge thousands of dollars per week, yet spend pennies on the advertising, decor, food and furniture.
Since these treatment centers are popping up on every corner, one would think that they would pay careful attention to their image, message and use of creativity to make the phones ring. From my research, the decision makers of these facilities place heavy emphasis on Search engine optimization and pay per click campaign ads. But forget that besides for the addicts themselves, many family members are the influencers of this family decision. Also, with the major quantity of denial in every family, CPC can not offer the necessary emotion needed to motivate someone to take action.
If it was possible, I would spend a lot of time demonstrating how quality traditional advertising can increase by word of mouth. Think about it this way, when someone tells you abut a product or service that you never heard of,the odds of it sticking in your brain is limited. But when an advertisement has created an impression combined with a referral from a trusted friend, we have jackpot.
The world of substance addiction is absolutely fascinating. There is tremendous stress and chaos for the family member dealing with a troubled,selfish addict. I mention this example to showcase some important points in marketing. Visualize three circles of different sizes. The first one is tiny and that represents the treatment centers new customers. The second circle is 30 times larger and it represents existing clients. Finally, the largest circle represents influencers. Yet the majority of marketers focus all their efforts on the tiny circle being new customers and ignore the largest circle being the influencer. I will go deeper in a future blog. DonTolep.com
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
The merger of social media and traditional marketing
As a marketer I am constantly studying, researching, testing and exploring the most efficient methods of engaging and motivating a new prospect. The terrain is changing so quickly that it is extremely challenging to keep up. Depending on the audience that you are trying to reach, will depend on how best to design a strategy to make the cash register ring, while increasing the likelihood of these new customers to share your message and be an advocate of your product or service.
In order for an advertised product or service to go from zero to hero, many things must occur. Firstly, it sure helps that it is not under a rock and known about. This takes either public relations articles, radio,print or tv ads, along with other ancillary methods such as billboards or in banner videos on the web. This is what I call forced awareness. With enough frequency and an emotional message, a product arrives on the shelf and becomes part of the thousands of other items for sale.
Unless an advertiser is prepared to stick with a strategy and insure they are not haphazardly throwing money around, traditional advertising may not be enough to get you where you want to be.
This is where the merger of traditional campaigns combined with a social media style marketing can be beneficial. Why? When one peer contacts another with either a Recommendation or information, the power of trust engages. When a friend provides a reference of an item that was favorable, their inner circle is most likely going to give it a try. Once advertisers figure out how to drive consumers Through this wave, social marketing will ignite. It amazes me how many major fortune 500 companies embarrass themselves using social media. It really isn't brain surgery, but lots of common sense and creativity. www.dontolep.com
In order for an advertised product or service to go from zero to hero, many things must occur. Firstly, it sure helps that it is not under a rock and known about. This takes either public relations articles, radio,print or tv ads, along with other ancillary methods such as billboards or in banner videos on the web. This is what I call forced awareness. With enough frequency and an emotional message, a product arrives on the shelf and becomes part of the thousands of other items for sale.
Unless an advertiser is prepared to stick with a strategy and insure they are not haphazardly throwing money around, traditional advertising may not be enough to get you where you want to be.
This is where the merger of traditional campaigns combined with a social media style marketing can be beneficial. Why? When one peer contacts another with either a Recommendation or information, the power of trust engages. When a friend provides a reference of an item that was favorable, their inner circle is most likely going to give it a try. Once advertisers figure out how to drive consumers Through this wave, social marketing will ignite. It amazes me how many major fortune 500 companies embarrass themselves using social media. It really isn't brain surgery, but lots of common sense and creativity. www.dontolep.com
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Difference Between Cable and Broadcast TV advertising
I wonder if the typical tv viewer knows the difference between a cable network and a broadcast network. My bet is that they would not know the difference. Is ESPN a broadcast network or cable ? The answer is it is a cable network. If you are watching NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX, those are the four network stations on your dial. Anything else is a cable network or a local origination station.
So who cares? Well when an advertiser decides to purchase a TV media buy, it can make a very big difference. Let's take a look at a small one store Sports Merchandise retailer located in Fort Lauderdale.
If the owner decides to air on any of the above mentioned network stations, people from all over Miami and Broward county will see the commercial. One would think that is great and love the idea of tons of people watching the stores advertisement. But hold the phone....what is the cost per spot for this lovely benefit? The answer is a hell of a lot more than a cable buy. Common sense tell us that a consumer will only drive a short distance for the product or service advertised. Advertisers must be honest with themselves that consumers have many other choice to purchase a similar product/service. Therefore, it is way, way wiser for the majority of advertisers to air on a GEO targeted local area. How great is that fact that this retailer can show his spot to just the viewers of Fort Lauderdale and keep his costs low. Not to mention, push out a lot more frequency to the community due to it's extremely affordable price point.
When I share with new prospects that you can advertise on a major network such as Bravo or the FX network for as little as $5 each, they look at me as if I have three heads. This is how numerous successful advertisers have dramatically increased revenue for their business.
Comcast has built a tremendous advertising machine for the small and medium sized business. They figured out how to deliver mega value to a business, by using the power of TV in a extremely focused methodology. DonTolep.com
So who cares? Well when an advertiser decides to purchase a TV media buy, it can make a very big difference. Let's take a look at a small one store Sports Merchandise retailer located in Fort Lauderdale.
If the owner decides to air on any of the above mentioned network stations, people from all over Miami and Broward county will see the commercial. One would think that is great and love the idea of tons of people watching the stores advertisement. But hold the phone....what is the cost per spot for this lovely benefit? The answer is a hell of a lot more than a cable buy. Common sense tell us that a consumer will only drive a short distance for the product or service advertised. Advertisers must be honest with themselves that consumers have many other choice to purchase a similar product/service. Therefore, it is way, way wiser for the majority of advertisers to air on a GEO targeted local area. How great is that fact that this retailer can show his spot to just the viewers of Fort Lauderdale and keep his costs low. Not to mention, push out a lot more frequency to the community due to it's extremely affordable price point.
When I share with new prospects that you can advertise on a major network such as Bravo or the FX network for as little as $5 each, they look at me as if I have three heads. This is how numerous successful advertisers have dramatically increased revenue for their business.
Comcast has built a tremendous advertising machine for the small and medium sized business. They figured out how to deliver mega value to a business, by using the power of TV in a extremely focused methodology. DonTolep.com
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Who knows better?
When I go to visit my doctor, I listen to his advice and do not act like I know better. You will not hear me say to my internist, "yeah maybe, but I know my body for 47 years and will do it my way". Nor would I state to my nutritionist who reminds and informs me to eat more fruit, for me to come back with a "french fries are healthier". However, after more years than I would I like to admit perfecting my knowledge of advertising, I hear from the chief, cook and bottle washer that they know better in regards to how to develop their advertising strategies and materials. Huh?
There has got to be something wrong with this picture. I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that when a prospect contacts my office requesting to advertise on TV, they are ready to get to the bottom line and move on with their day in just a few minutes. This is way before a needs analysis has been performed, an understanding of their customer base, what works and what has not worked in regards to promotions, public relations, marketing and advertising.
This is what amazes me. These overly busy people are prepared to spend thousands of dollars on a campaign, with out even reviewing the basics of their business plan. If I were to simply offer a cold price out of the blue with zero relevance to how and why I can help, then isn't the price just a number? What if they spent three thousand a month for sixth months, but brought in nine thousand a month in profits, how much did the campaign cost? With a successful campaign, advertisers are not shelling out another cost, but investing in the long term growth of their business with a healthy return on investment.
Yesterday, in a meeting, my prospect shared that a bland, boring voice will not impact the commercial and it would not matter if a professional voice over were to provide the voice of the piece. Since my clients are really important to me, I walk a fine line of not sounding like a know it all, but attempting to increase their campaign ads with common sense and expertise. DonTolep.com
There has got to be something wrong with this picture. I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that when a prospect contacts my office requesting to advertise on TV, they are ready to get to the bottom line and move on with their day in just a few minutes. This is way before a needs analysis has been performed, an understanding of their customer base, what works and what has not worked in regards to promotions, public relations, marketing and advertising.
This is what amazes me. These overly busy people are prepared to spend thousands of dollars on a campaign, with out even reviewing the basics of their business plan. If I were to simply offer a cold price out of the blue with zero relevance to how and why I can help, then isn't the price just a number? What if they spent three thousand a month for sixth months, but brought in nine thousand a month in profits, how much did the campaign cost? With a successful campaign, advertisers are not shelling out another cost, but investing in the long term growth of their business with a healthy return on investment.
Yesterday, in a meeting, my prospect shared that a bland, boring voice will not impact the commercial and it would not matter if a professional voice over were to provide the voice of the piece. Since my clients are really important to me, I walk a fine line of not sounding like a know it all, but attempting to increase their campaign ads with common sense and expertise. DonTolep.com
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
No No No, then maybe Yes
It appears that every week life gets harder. Some say it is due to the economy, some say it is technology, people working longer hours for less pay and many other factors. But whatever the reason why our community at large is cantankerous , we must determine what is the best method to market to these frustrated people.
I find myself reaching out to perfect strangers almost every day. Obviously if it is a phone call, I have no idea what they are being interrupted from when they answer my call, but what happens practically 98% of the time is that they are prepared to hang up on before I even open my mouth. This has nothing to do with me, but the sheer volume of sales calls business owners and decision makers receive throughout the day.
Years ago, people would give you a courtesy 10 seconds of introducing yourself
and your product/service before they would decide whether or not to blow you off. But today, you don't even get the chance to say your name before the recipient is banging the phone down or closing a door in your face.
What made me sit down and write this article was an incident that happened the other day. A friend that owns a restaurant wanted to create a cross promotion with a musical band. The owner of the restaurant was interested in placing the bands info on their website, pay them handsomely for the talents, reward them with a time share in the Bahamas and a few other small perks. So as I was getting excited to create this win win crosss promtion, I picked up the phone for an introduction and set up a meeting. Instead, the leader of the band basically picked up the phone, said hello in a very gruff demeanor and hung up on me with a prepared "not interested in buying anything" routine robotic reply and slammed the phone on me. I stared at the phone for about 20 seconds and started to laugh.
This grumpy person did not know if I was going to drive over with a million dollars in George Washington's or sell him something. My guess is that he is so important, that he didn't need to extend an extra few precious seconds of his hectic life, to decipher why I was calling.
The moral of the story is try and give everyone the benefit if the doubt, even when you are stressed, since you never know what the person on the other end of the phone can offer you.
DonTolep.com
I find myself reaching out to perfect strangers almost every day. Obviously if it is a phone call, I have no idea what they are being interrupted from when they answer my call, but what happens practically 98% of the time is that they are prepared to hang up on before I even open my mouth. This has nothing to do with me, but the sheer volume of sales calls business owners and decision makers receive throughout the day.
Years ago, people would give you a courtesy 10 seconds of introducing yourself
and your product/service before they would decide whether or not to blow you off. But today, you don't even get the chance to say your name before the recipient is banging the phone down or closing a door in your face.
What made me sit down and write this article was an incident that happened the other day. A friend that owns a restaurant wanted to create a cross promotion with a musical band. The owner of the restaurant was interested in placing the bands info on their website, pay them handsomely for the talents, reward them with a time share in the Bahamas and a few other small perks. So as I was getting excited to create this win win crosss promtion, I picked up the phone for an introduction and set up a meeting. Instead, the leader of the band basically picked up the phone, said hello in a very gruff demeanor and hung up on me with a prepared "not interested in buying anything" routine robotic reply and slammed the phone on me. I stared at the phone for about 20 seconds and started to laugh.
This grumpy person did not know if I was going to drive over with a million dollars in George Washington's or sell him something. My guess is that he is so important, that he didn't need to extend an extra few precious seconds of his hectic life, to decipher why I was calling.
The moral of the story is try and give everyone the benefit if the doubt, even when you are stressed, since you never know what the person on the other end of the phone can offer you.
DonTolep.com
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