Why Are You Constantly Flushing Ad Dollars Down The Toilet?
We really need to talk about how you draw people to your business - and it can't delay any longer.
Do you spend any money on advertising?
If the answer's 'yes', what's your return on investment for those ads?
Don't have an answer to that question?
Then you'd better read on.
First, let's pull back
the curtain on a dirty, shameful secret...
"Conventional" media such as the local papers and radio stations do not want you to figure out how to optimize your ads.
I know this because I used to work on the inside and was repelled by these how these big players nickel-and-dime their advertisers by encouraging them to flush their ad dollars down a black hole and never question how effective their marketing campaigns are.
I'd get the old wrist-slap from the up-aboves whenever I'd try to show business owners how to "key" their print ads to gauge how effective they are.
I'd also get wrist-slapped for proposing digital solutions that actually BUILD businesses instead of wastefully depleting their precious cashflow.
When if comes to email marketing Owen Sound business owners need more than a consultant - they need an agent they can trust.
Big media wants to sell you ad "solutions" that
DO NOT produce profitable results for your business.
Example #1 - Facebook 'likes'. Why would you even consider paying for this? Paying for a Facebook Like is the equivalent of paying someone to smile at you.
You do not get to keep the info of the person who "liked" your ad - so it's pointless.
Further, with today's attention spans being what they are, people mindlessly "like" things on social media without feeling any connection to what they supposedly "like".
Example #2 - "Awareness Campaigns". These are equally as corrosive to your bottom line as Facebook Likes. All an awareness campaign does is throw your name around Google's massive engine for a short while.
You pay by the thousand views (doesn't matter if people reacted to your ad or not) and what your paying for is the hope that each time your ad appeared in a search, the person who "saw" it actually retained your business name.
Why You & All Other Local
Advertisers Need Email Marketing
Return on Investment.
It's that simple.
Look at the products you sell - if you order Widget X from a wholesaler for $X then mark it up by $X then
subtract your operating expenses, you are tracking the return on investment for that piece of inventory.
Why is your ad budget any different?
How you approach what you spend on advertising should be no different than your approach to managing your inventory costs.
Email marketing is what is not only what makes your ads more valuable than before, it's the key to bringing your ad spend DOWN, while your business continues to grow.
Here's An Example of Email Marketing in Action:
Let's say Business A spends $500 a month on a radio ad.
In their ad, Business A mentions what they offer or specialize in, repeat their name a couple of times and give directions to their location.
What did Business A do wrong?
Well, first of all, no one at their store location is asking how the customer found them or what drove them to come visit the store.
Business A is paying the radio station $500 a month, but has ZERO idea how much value they're getting for that sum.
Now Let's See What Business 'B' Is Doing Right...
Business B is advertising on the exact same radio station and they know exactly how effective their initial $500/month is to their marketing budget.
Aside from talking about their offer, Business B did the following - they bought a website domain exclusively for that one radio ad.
They encourage listeners to go to that website to claim some kind of special offer, coupon or other exciting incentive.
In order to claim this incentive, listeners have to sign-up by email.
BOOM!
Business B just achieved two things:
1) They got concrete data on how useful their ad dollars are
2) Now that they have their prospect's email address, that's one less person they have to advertise to.
Business B has figured out that they get about 110 email subscribers per month from the radio, which means
THEY KNOW that it costs them $4.54 to capture an email address.
By month four, Business B notices their radio ad is starting to draw fewer email addresses and cancels.
Business 'B' Versus Business 'A'
When all is said and done, Business 'B' has built a list of over 500 potential customers at a cost $2000.
Business 'A' on the other hand continues to pay the station non-stop, with nothing measurable to show for their efforts.
Their ad could be a winner or a flop - no one knows.
With their email list, Business B can email prospects at a frequency of their choosing and bring them into the store without paying for that additional contact.
"But I Heard Email
Marketing Is Dead"
Yeah, I've heard that one too.
But rather than doing what Business A would do (argue with assumptions and feelings)...
...I'm going to back up my argument that email marketing is alive and well with heavily researched data and proven facts:
- 73% of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email. (Adestra, 2016)
- 99% of consumers check their email every day. (DMA Insights, 2017)
- 40% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are critical to their content marketing success. (Content Marketing Institute, 2017)
- 80% of businesses credit email marketing for increasing customer retention. (Emarsys, 2018)
- For every $1 you spend on emails marketing, you can expect an average return of $32 (DMA, 2018)
- Adding videos to your email can increase click rates by 300% (Martech Advisor’s 2017 data)
How Can We Make
Email Marketing Work For You?
Every business is different and we will have to take a look at your individual needs, however, there are some email marketing tenets that apply to all markets:
- Conversational commerce via email will always get the best results. We've studied and pioneered what we call "barstool marketing".
- Building a loyal client base by using what is referred to as 'infotainment' to turn your brand into a culture.
- Mastering the subtle way of plugging your business's products or services in every email you send out… without sounding obnoxious or turning people off.
There are several options available to help you grow your business according to your needs.
For more information contact us directly to set up your business needs testing to determine what solution is best or fill the form below.