Design & Marketing Blog

J. Paterson - Every year, we all strive to improve our business goals, and marketing/advertising is always at the top of the list.

With technology growing faster than most of us can catch up with, it’s become increasingly important to utilize this technology to improve efficiency, make smarter advertising decisions, and improve our bottomline.

For the longest time, advertising decisions were made based on the pitch of the ad-rep, mixed with a few recommendations from colleagues/friends, and by simply following what your competitors are doing.

Let’s shoot a hole in each one of these angles, just for fun

• The ad-rep has to eat… so he/she is going to tell you what you want to hear.
• If your colleague/friend owns a flower shop, and you own a car dealership… is there recommendation necessarily a good one.
• By following your competitor(s), you’re basically admitting to yourself that they’re smarter… and your advertising dollars are being spent, based on their decisions.

Gone are the days where you throw an ad in the newspaper, stare at the phone and assume that everyone who calls, noticed your ad beside the article on high gas prices.

Technology allows us to measure each and every activity, relevant to any/all of our advertising efforts. Whether it be a newspaper/magazine ad, direct mail campaign, tv/radio campaign, or online ads, if you’re not effectively tracking these ads, i promise you, you’re wasting money.

Measuring your marketing efforts provides you with valuable answers, to help you make smarter advertising decisions moving forward.

Let’s say you’re meeting this afternoon with a local magazine representative, whom you’re interested in placing an ad in their upcoming issue.  You agree to drop $1,500/issue for 3 issues… equaling a total investment of $4,500.

You provide them with the artwork (or they develop it)… using your phone number, website, and some catchy little tagline… Sounds great right?

Well, now the magazine goes to print, you get your copy… and you start cracking your knuckles waiting for the phone calls to pour in… And maybe they do. The question is, how do you know what drove these phone calls?

Sure, you can tell your staff to ask the “How did you hear about us?” question… But in reality, if you’ve tried this before, you’re well aware that this tracking method isn’t worth squat!

Now, it’s 3 months later, you’re $4,500 deep in an advertising decision that ultimately, you have no idea how effective is was/wasn’t. The ad-rep comes calling again, and you’re stuck with another decision, without the proper tools to help you make a smart one.

Using technology to effectively monitor your marketing activities isn’t difficult, you simply have to team up with the right people (like us), before launching that new advertising campaign… We’re able to tell you, whether or not you just threw away $4,500 (so you dont do it again), or that it was money well spent.

Sure, stats are nerdy and boring… but what’s worse is blinding advertising, when all the “eye-opening” tools you need are readily available.

So, before you spend another dime, let’s open those eyes!