During the past 5 years in business it has been interesting to see one major theme that repeats.
We meet and land new clients generally when they need help. At the time of our first meeting they’re tired, frustrated, and just plain unhappy with the thought of spending any money on advertising/marketing/public relations without a plan. To their defense, they have good reason to be frustrated and here is why.
Our first step of business when getting to know a new client is pretty simple. I need to see their past, their present, and their future from their own perspective. When we create a road map to their future, it’s important we fully understand where they have been.
I ask to see what business owners have been messaging regardless of media, a bare all meeting where every newsprint, radio, point of purchase, billboard, website, and business card is reviewed allowing us to see the big picture of what strategy has been in place prior to that day.
In general we see “here and there” ad placements, but not as a campaign, mostly one time insertions. What’s troubling about “here and there” in terms of advertising is it does not allow the brand room for continuity of message. When I dig further I ask, “Why did you advertise in this way in this media?” A typical answer is “There was a special promotion.” Or, “this was a special section to promote such and such,” is common. This is scary. This type of ad placement is reactive to media running promotions versus the business deciding which direction they would like to advance.
The point underneath all of this is why my headline today reads, “Just because it’s cheap, doesn’t mean it’s good.” The first step to breaking free from the need to advertise in every section of every media is understanding what media actually is listened to, read, or seen, and why, when, and where our brand needs to be part of it.
Case in point, if you want to get a ton of radio ads for very little money, just place them all from 11:00pm – 3:00am. Sure, you’ll get a great deal on the ads and feel like you are getting a ton for your money, which you are, but you’re not getting the most important thing for your money, value. (Unless your area has a dynamic amount of overnight shift workers)
Next time you want to run a radio campaign do this. Ask for the most expensive ads. Why? These are the best ads available. They run when the radio station has the most listeners listening. Meaning, in regard to numbers, your chance to land new business also increase. Sure these ads cost more, but you get value in the quantity of listeners, not just airtime.
Same goes in the outdoor world. In the exact same area of road one billboard costs $350.00/month and another just up the road costs over $900.00/month. Why the difference? The $900.00/month billboard can actually be read at 70 miles per hour, and it’s not competing with another billboard positioned directly above it. Here again, in the outdoor world, I encourage our clients to purchase only the billboards that offer premier sight lines and easy to read efficiency. I would much rather forgo billboard placement than to place a message on a board that offers our clients absolutely no value in terms of people reading it. The main goal in billboards is to be read and understood, not just seen.
Newsprint is in this game as well. Newsprint is famous for special sections galore. There is always a special section, why? Because it’s a great opportunity to create editorial content to create a buzz in which to sell ads. But here is where my love affair with special sections end. When the editorial (the story) is so hard to read because all you can see is page upon page of ad wells after ad wells. Readers go to the newspaper for the content only the local newspaper can provide, local content. Place your ads in the local content consistently and the local people will see your brand. It’s that simple. It might be less expensive to advertise in a different section of the paper, but we must remember, does anyone, or more importantly, does your target customer read that section consistently?
This entire dilemma is the same on every ad placement media available, from bathroom ads, to tv ads, to vehicle graphics, to direct mail. Each ad media placement and buy needs to be looked at through the same lens. Does this placement offer us a fighting chance to position our message in front of our target audience to predispose them to think about our brand? That’s the bottom line, no more, no less.
In closing, here’s a few tips for placing ads that really stand out in the markets we serve throughout Minnesota.
• Place radio ads in between 6am – 10am, and 4pm – 7pm. In between 10am and 4pm is hard to quantify who is hearing ads as the work day is in full process. Even with businesses who have radio playing in their workspace, it’s just too hard to track for my money. Following 7pm, a good number of people are heading to the next media of influence, that being TV for their update on their favorite sitcom and the local news.
• Place newsprint ads in your local section. Don’t be afraid of going too large either, but be sure you have enough dollars in your purchase to run more than one ad in the course of a month. I’ve seen 3 ads in three back to back weeks with additional ads running on the radio are a must to gain the attention you demand. Remember, local people like knowing what is going on in their community, place ads in the media that has this information.
• Don’t purchase a billboard without driving by it, at night, at day. If you can’t read the existing billboard design, most likely you will not be able to read yours either, the billboard just might be too far away. If there are trees blocking the billboard, don’t buy it. If it’s competing with another billboard above it, try to find another option if you can. Right hand read is better than a left hand read. Keep the message simple. This is not the place to say all things about your business. 5 words of less (3 is better), logo, website, visual if necessary. Think of a billboard in the way you think of a bumper sticker. Simple, straight-forward, fun.
When these simple steps (and believe me there are a ton more) are put into place, businesses start seeing the positive effects of advertising. It starts to transition the theory of advertising from being an expense to an investment.
And, if this still sounds overwhelming, drop us a line. We do this everyday, and we quite enjoy it.
Have a great week!
Aaron
About the Author
Aaron Hautala As creative director of RHM, Aaron believes the impossible isn't. The next time you see him, ask Aaron about Helsinki and swimming in the Baltic Sea after an extremely hot sauna. It’s a good story! 
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