What some people forget in Advertising
 

:) This is something even Jim Straw has seem to forgotten. When You advertise your customer may have to see you ad more than 3 times more like 12 times according to some of the great guru's of the past. And they knew better than the current Guru's.

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

I know I personally have to see an ad many times before I buy. Although at times I have impulse buying too. But in expense ones I think for a long time.:mad:

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Joe,

I really doubt that Jim Straw has "forgotten" anything about how advertising works. He's been doing this far longer than you and I put together, and I've got 30+ years in it!

In the "real" world, the number is more like 7 times to get the sale if you're talking print advertising.

Pete

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Which is why I believe in and sell promotional advertising. When a client drinks from my customers auto mug, and refers to his calendar every workday, he won't be likely to forget my client.

Dennis

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

I posted before registering on the new board.

Dennis

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Your right about the the mugs and calendars. Not a bad idea. I still think it is about 12 times, and that is according to some of the great guru of the past. That is all on things. Print, classifieds, and other media. People do not have a large span for ads, that is way you need about 12 or even more. Look at Radio and TV ads, You see the same ones every day again and again.

Just 3 might work on occasion but that does not mean 12 is not best. You have test and test and test and see what works for you. I have had display ads work great for free stuff. But paying is something else. The display ads for free work in day one. But that shows nothing. Even a newspaper editorial by me worked the first day with the phone off the hook. That was again FREE. Did not have anything to follow through at that time. Kept the names and numbers thought. That was for bars. Bars are always looking to make more money. Some don't make much at all.

:confused:

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Nope - you don't need a repitition of 12 times... if you blow them over in your first attempt.

Here's a formula:

Power of an ad = Impact * Frequency

The stronger impact your ad makes, the fewer times you have to repeat it (frequency).

What does that mean? It means that you can save mucho money by reducing the frequency of your ads if you spend more time in making your ads and sales pieces more impactful.

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

yes, Your right in one sense but that is very hard to do. Give me some samples of doing that my friend. I told you free can do it, but the follow up for money is hard. :)

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Here is the piece I read so long ago about ads. It is from the 1800's
need for repetition when advertisting. This was written in 1885 by Thomas Smith: That is not 12 but 20 times seeing an ad. How true it is only testing for each product or service you have can tell.

1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, "Oh brother!"
8. The eighth time, he says, "Here's that confounded thing again!"
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.:)

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Greetings Joe,

It's amazing how advertising was conducted back in the pre-radio, tv, and internet days. I believe that back then 20 times was probably considered conservative advertising.

It's been my experience, that 3-7 times, get's the client looking your way and you make the conversion, the first time. It's the 8, 9, 10, & etc.... times, that has them coming back over and over.

Retaining a customer, is a never ending process of advertising, over and over and over again. Look at your retail establishments. Month after month, it's this coupon sale, and that % off sale. Only to be started all over again the next month with different coupon sales and "X" amount off bargins.

Thanks for the history lesson.

Woody Quiñones
ImpactYourArea.com

Re: Back to Advertising Basics
 

The whole trick is making the prospect not only see the ad the first time, but be impressed by it, remember it - and maybe even buy the product now if he likes needs it.

The bigger the impact you make with your ad, the better your chances of prospect buying your product after the first time.

But creating "impact" is not an exact science. And thats because an ad that had a strong impact on me could have none on you. It differs from person to person.

Your job as a promoter is to find "triggers" that create strong impact in the highest number of people it possibly can.

It's very helpful to refresh your mind with copywriting 101. The AIDA principle.

A = Attention
I = Interest
D = Desire
A = Action

(GJA has a few more alphabets... but I'll keep it simple here.)

All ads should try to have all 4 of these AIDA factors in it. And take people from noticing you to buying from you now.

Ok - so how do you win people's attention?

By being unusual or outrageous. By doing something people don't expect.
By "associating" yourself with a celebrity.
Or maybe by creating a "friends-help-friends" campaign - a viral campaign. When a friend talks to me recommending something, he has my full attention (most of the times.)
By using props.
By using smell, sound, lighting effectively.
By faking your sales pitch as an important news item or a story.

How do you make people interested? And build their desires?

By making sure you pinpoint the problem they have. And provide a solution.
By creating barriers to exclusivity.
By comparisons.
By providing people with testimonials and case studies.
By showing best-case-scenarios to people.

And how do you make people act?

There are 2 types of action you want people to take - depending on their situation.

i. buy now if they need your product
ii. remember and recall you for when they need your product

You use scarcity and bonuses to get people to buy now. You "build" your offer to become irresistible. You show them what they will miss by procrastinating.

You add "anchors" to your ads so that its easy for people to remember you.

All this AIDA is relatively easier to do in long sales letters. It is much harder to do in 10-15 second spots.

And usually - these stories about getting people to see your ad 20 times before they buy originate from radio and TV - where salesmen make more money by selling on frequency. And where very few people create very strong impactful 10-15 second ads.

But - you can incorporate the entire AIDA in 10 seconds too. Spend some time on it. Learn from the masters. And you'll save a lot of money in reducing the frequency of your ads.

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

You are so right. Especially when you test it and test it for yourself what works.

Yes, I The AIDA principle, It is probably as old as the article I wrote up on the forum from the 1800's. I don't know. But that has worked a long time too.

I have no problem with FREE it is the paying that is hard. I wrote an editorial that my home town paper printed for bars with my office phone. I had it ring off the hook for several days. But because I had no desire to create a product for bars I made no money. That probably was my fault. I gave them a free report from information I got from forums about bars and a study about bars. I probaby could have gave them part of the forums stuff then sold the study. But I did not want to bother it was close to tax season when I did that. And that where I make most of my money so far.:)

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

While 12 exposures may be required to motivate some buyers to pick up the phone or stop by the store, in many cases it won't be cost effective using mass media.

That is where promotional advertising can beat the CPI (cost per impression) rates used by ad agencies and mass media.

If it takes a person hearing your radio commercial 12 times in a month, you have to either pay for a targeted ad that hits them twice a day with the placement reaching the target audience, or triple the number of spots with run or play.

The same holds true for newspaper. How do you know the target clients and/or prospects will see the ad in a specific section if you run it daily or twice a week. It may takes several weeks of insertions to expose the prospect to that ad 7 to 12 times.

And there are a lot more options for putting you ad in the market today than in the 1800s. No radio, TV, bench stop or highway billboards in those days. And no computers, internet, or cell phone instant messaging.

And there weren't 3 to 6 phone books, as well as two or more shoppers (those smaller classified ad papers - Thrifty Nickel, Quik Quarter, GreenSheets, etc. to compete for the market.

Then consider whether the advertisement is received by the prospect in passive mode or active mode. The client sitting in front of the TV, may be on the phone or in conversation with others during YOUR commercial. The listener to your radio spot may be at work, not focused on the radio music and commercials in the background.

Many people pass the same billboards during their commute for a month, yet can't recalled the product or company named in the ad. Again, they are actively engaged in driving, and possibly on the phone only seeing the billboard subconsciously.

At the same time, the mass media is targeting everyone who listens to their station, picks up their newspaper or magazine, or passes their billboard. That is the reason why virtually every company on the Fortune 500 list, as well as Mom & Pop businesses invest a portion of their Advertising and Marketing budget into the one media that guarantees their ad reaches specific companies or individuals - Promotional Advertising.

Yep, I'm biased and I admit it, but I have seen results gained by my clients, some who have been ordering from me for 15 to 22 years. With targeted distribution, they can know that their ad will be in their client's/prospect's home or office for extended periods, with multiple exposures per person.

It works for me. I believe in my products, and sample them extensively, giving out thousands of ink pens, calendars, coffee or travel mugs, and lots of specialty products every year.

My next order will be for USB memory sticks (flash drives, thumb drives, or whatever name you prefer). With 256MB of capacity, I don't expect too many recipients will toss my ad into a drawer, never to be seen again.

Just my view on advertising in the 21st Century.

Dennis

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

Dennis Thank you for you input. It seems yours works because you tested and tested. That is the real key. I know sometimes it is not cost effective to put it in only once. That is hard on the person with no money. You have to have 3 or more impressions at the very least no matter what it is. :)








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Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

One thing about it Joe, if someone is building a marketing plan and they base their expected returns on 20 exposures instead of 1, 3, 7, etc. they won't be disappointed if it takes less than 20 to make a sale.

We usually underestimate on the optimistic side and just HOPE things work out.

Re: What some people forget in Advertising
 

I think you got something their my friend.












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