As we have detailed below; even small budgets, placed strategically and consistently, will return a dramatic (and measurable!) ROI. ------------------
– Keep in mind, effective advertising, in addition to driving sales and building brand awareness, also serves to neutralize the impact of the competition’s advertising and to protect a business from ongoing competitive marketing assaults. It ensures the “worst case” will be a “draw,” with the opportunity to win and win big with the proper creative and media strategies.
– Advertising needs to be viewed as a cost of doing business the same way paying the Electric bill is. Your challenge is to keep as many of your current customers, while poaching the competitions’ potential customers. You don’t compete in a vacuum.
– As crazy as it might sound, advertising can even have done its job when your sales are flat. “Flat” sales don’t necessarily mean that advertising had no impact. It could well have insulated your business from competitive poaching, as well as poached new customers. So it is entirely likely that without advertising and the purchases of poached and retained customers, your sales would have declined.
– It’s the law of the jungle. Never lose sight of the fact that your competition has to steal your customers to grow. Business is generally a zero sum game — a limited number of consumers in need of what you are selling at any given time. You need to effectively and consistently communicate why you are the better alternative.
– Advertising builds up “mental availability” which nudges a consumer toward your business. A business that’s difficult to remember or never been heard of, stays forgotten or lost.
– If you don’t “invite them in,” the chances of them visiting are slim. You have to give them a reason to visit. Do you do anything for no reason? The first place to look for growth barriers is your marketing strategy or, in some cases, the lack thereof.
– Advertising’s impact doesn’t end immediately when the flight ends. Advertising does have “carryover” impact that will last beyond your next campaign. Also remember, it takes time. When you’ve been “dark”, it will take time to generate results. It’s not like turning on the lights.
a) “Legacy” advertising advantage (years of accrued ad spend);
b) “Penetration” advantage (many customers over the years);
c) “Loyalty” advantage (likely many satisfied customers — otherwise they would not still be in business). This requires the “challenger,” to be more aggressive and nimble, commanding a greater share-of-voice, at least initially, to stand apart. Keep this in mind when developing an ad budget.
– Whatever marketing you choose to do, figure out a way to do it consistently. Advertising is like building a large snowball. When you stop building it, it soon begins to melt. When you stop advertising, sales too begin to eventually melt away, melting even faster when your competition two miles down the street is advertising more aggressively.
