When I first got in to selling TV advertising campaigns I was surprised at how many business owners would want to buy the TV networks that they enjoyed watching without much thought of who their target market was and if the network they liked appealed to who they needed to reach. Emotions verses logic is not the best way to buy advertising. Though the sales rep might be a nice person or the magazine, newspaper or radio station is one that you really like, you need to determine if there will be a reasonable return on investment for the ads you place. This is when having your own advertising agency or marketing consultant can save you time and money and get you better results. An agency does not benefit by you choosing one radio station or one TV network over another. Their job is to get your company the best results within the budget you give them and if they do a poor job they will no longer have you as a client.
Unfortunately, many business owners wear too many hats and do not take the time to find the marketing help they need. The calls from all the community groups to buy ad space in program books and school calendars, sponsors for chamber events and the local newspaper reps or phone directory account executive appeal to their “emotions” and they find that they have taken a chunk of their advertising budget without much thought other than it is what they did the year before. Every day I meet business owners who have good hearts and struggle with saying “no” when they are solicited to buy sales reps. However, when I share with them what the sum of all their spending would have gotten them with a more directed advertising campaign placed in the correct media they realize that buying advertising with emotion really can give poor results.
Look closely at where you are advertising your business and why you are making those choices.
All my best to your success!
~Charlene
