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Advertising - Part Two

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Tue, 12/07/2010

No matter what medium is being used for the campaign, one of the most common questions a client asks when considering an advertising schedule, is “How long will it take to work?” Generally they are concerned that their dollars are being spent and there is limited return on their investment. You can’t blame them for wanting something to come back to them in the form of sales.

In reality, the client is absolutely correct. It doesn’t really matter what medium is being used for the advertising. It has much more to do with the sales cycle of the particular product or service in question. For example, to go to the extremes, it is a much quicker turnaround for you to fill up your tank of gas than it is to buy a new vehicle. Therefore it only makes sense that advertising a message about better pricing and/or choices of products and services at a gas station will get quicker response than ads for new cars at a new car dealership.

If it is a quicker turn-around item, branding is taking place at the same time the ad is “working” on a high percentage of the target audience, moving the product to the consumer. On a slower turn-around item, branding is also taking place at the same time as it is moving product, but the percentage of the target market who will buy now, is greatly reduced.

So a couple of very important facts to know when developing a campaign for your store, product or service are; the turn-over of the product in question, and what percentage of the target market is in the position to buy now. These two pieces of information will allow you to strategize better in developing an advertising campaign, both for media selection and budget allocation.

What are your challenges when it comes to advertising? I look forward to hearing your comments.

Until next time, and Part Three on advertising and choosing media…