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In other words, if you’re a car salesman, the newspaper is still a great place to attract the attention of someone buying a car today. Why? Someone looking to buy a car today is most likely looking in the newspaper to find a car to buy. However, when it comes to getting the business of those people who will be buying cars next week, next month, next quarter, etc., radio and the internet are by far your safest and surest bet.
Television is a great advertising tool. But who can afford it? It’s just too expensive. And worse yet, fewer and fewer people are watching television every day. When you consider the fact that people tend to get up and go to the kitchen or bathroom during the commercials, it’s becoming riskier and riskier to throw your hard earned money in that direction, even if you can afford it.
Also remember that most T.V. viewers, powerfully armed with remote control firmly in hand, simply move on to another station the very moment the program that they’re currently watching goes to commercials.
These days, many shows are being recorded. We both know the commercials are being zapped through at the speed of light, never making a dent in the consciousness of the viewer. Besides, couch potatoes have a new favorite sport called “CHANNEL SURFING”. The poor TV advertiser just doesn’t stand a chance anymore.
Cable has all the same problems that TV has, though it’s not as expensive. However with cheaper prices comes severely limited reach. Face it, most people still watch the major networks, even on cable, so you’re right back in the “Who can afford the network slots?” situation.
Remember too that cable is extremely compartmentalized, with narrow niche segmentation. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re selling camping gear on the Nature Channel or a low fat cookbook on the Food Channel, cable can be the next best option, after radio and the Net. There are definitely circumstances to use cable, and if it’s right for your unique circumstances, you would be wise to use it to it’s fullest potential.
Billboards are expensive and quickly going the way of the dinosaur. Besides being an eyesore, they’re a tremendous disappointment to advertisers around the country. Unless you have a huge war chest of money to saturate the market on long term basis, this is a costly and ineffective way to expose your message to your waiting market. Most companies just don’t have the kind of money or the short, concise message to get their benefits across with any efficiency.
“Institutional Advertising” still works on the old billboards, just ask McDonalds, Ford, and Budweiser. But unless you’ve got a bank account near the size of them good ole boys, you might as well just flush your hard earned cash right on down the toilet.
Can you tell me the benefits of doing business with your organization in 6-10 words, if not, please, don’t waste your money. Speeding down the highway, drivers are listening to the radio with their kids screaming in the back seat and their spouse cutting in and out on the cell phone. They aren’t inclined to make the effort to figure out what that blurred image was supposed to signify, and with room for only a very few words, it’s all just a passing swirl of yuck.
What about direct mail and flyers? Can you say “minimal response ratios per necessary investment?” I thought you could. Next…! Seriously, even the greatest direct response campaigns only bring in 2-4%. A 5% response is considered an absolute killing in D.M.
Radio and the Internet are where it’s at, and where it’s going. Radio is by far the best and wisest investment any marketer can make. It is the champ of today, teaming up with the Internet, the champ of tomorrow.
While TV, newspaper and cable consistently lose audience, as they continually take hit after hit from the expansion and popularity of the Internet, it seems that radio is the only competitive medium that has somehow managed to hang in there, and even grow, as it picks up those people now abandoning the other dying advertising options. As it turns out, most Net surfers actually prefer listening to the radio while online. Cool!
I truly hope you’ve fully caught onto the concepts being expressed in this article, because, this isn’t just what’s happening now. No, far from it, what we are now discussing is just the very first swells of the waves of the future.
Remember, 90% of all buying decisions are made on emotion and then later, rationalized by using whatever facts and reason can be relied upon to legitimize the decision made in the heart. This might very well be the single most important marketing fact that you absorb from this entire article. Once you’ve thoroughly understood this concept, you will truly be on your way. Suddenly all your business efforts will begin to easily and quickly pay off and people will begin to think that you’re some kind of a genius. Who knows, you may even end up being proclaimed a financial GURU if you play your cards right.
Radio massages the mind with wondrous sounds and bathes the inner decision maker with “visual images” and feelings. Since we remember what we “hear” 5 times longer than what we see, the full affect of the message splashes across the emotions, making their lasting impressions.
Meanwhile, the Net appeals to our more intellectual, visual, and rational side. We can read and re-read the text of an interesting message over and over again, taking in every morsel of relevant data.
We can actually see the very images of the item being described; some of these pictures are now even moving, morphing and changing, as electrons dance seductively across your monitor. Our vision and reason are subtly drawn into the realm of this electronic “EYE CANDY.” One can research further and further as interest in the subject is piqued, and the conscious and subconscious attention is subtly awakened.
Yes my friends, there’s not nearly enough space available to even scratch the surface of the advantages of utilizing a web site / newsletter / radio combination, as the most important part of your marketing strategy.
If you’d like to know more, please feel free to contact me with any questions that you might have, by sending an email to LNichols@WriteForMe.com
Let me know what you’re doing currently and what you’re looking to accomplish. Every worthwhile project and venture needs a tailor-made plan that is uniquely created and considers the specific needs of each campaign. Any such conversation is strictly a “No Pressure, No Strings Attached,” friendly chat. You got my word on that!
Looking forward to talking with you soon!
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Copyright © 2003 Larry L. Nichols
Ventura, CA
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
PUBLISHING GUIDELINES:
This article may be reprinted without modification, provided that the copyright notice remain completely intact. Email notification of your intent to publish would be sincerely appreciated.
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