The Sesame Street Diet?
By Steve Fradkin, President
The Wizard of Adz
The Wizard of Adz
Reliable statistics prove conclusively that people who watch
Sesame Street regularly weigh considerably less than the
population at large. Amazing!
Does this mean you should embark on a Sesame Street
diet? Of course not. People who watch Sesame Street
regularly are four years old, and they weigh 20 pounds — way less than
the population at large.
Just one example of statistics that tell the truth but mean absolutely
nothing.
Another example is when your uncle tells you he loved your
ad, or when your neighbor tells you she saw you on TV. Do these mean your advertising is
working? That it’s effective?
Again, of course not.
We love our friends and family, but they don’t represent a cross-section
of our market. What matters is results.
In order to determine whether your decisions about
advertising are right, it’s important to monitor those decisions and the results
they produce. In general, there are
three types of measurement available for advertising. They are:
·
Pre-testing — testing of concepts or
specific ad executions before publication, using focus groups or other
scientific methods.
·
Post-testing — determination of awareness
and readership levels using studies designed to measure these factors.
·
Results — determining sales increases,
number of inquiries, coupon redemptions, etc.
Testing is expensive.
A single concept test, for example, could cost thousands of
dollars. It probably makes no sense for
you to invest in this sort of testing; the investment simply does not justify
the potential return.
But you can carefully monitor where new customers are
coming from, and determine which messages work best. Here’s how:
·
Ask.
Instruct personnel to ask, “How did you find out about us?” or “Have you
seen our mailing?” and to keep careful record of the responses. A short intake form indicating name, company,
title, town and source of inquiry can facilitate this record-keeping.
·
Key Codes. On response forms or cards, codes can
identify the sources. A key code of B,
for example, can tell you that the response came from the second mailing. For verbal responses, have the respondent ask
for “extension 2” or “department 2.”
Separate email addresses could be used for each ad. Discount coupons in print ads can also be
coded.
·
Electronic responses, such as hyperlinks,
email replies, QRC codes, etc., can be individualized by source and/or message.
·
Specific offers. You can also change the offer in each
promotion (or the way in which the customer asks for the offer), which will
help you identify the source of the customer.
For example, one mailing might feature a promotion called “Business
Success Stories,” and the other may feature the same promotion but called “Keys
to Better Accounting.”
We can help you, too — help you design effective and valid
ways to judge your advertising results, and make adjustments to improve
them. Look at some of the results we’ve
achieved on our new website WizardOfAdz.com
(click on Strategic Case Histories.)
Then, let us evaluate your specific situation with you, and
tell you how we can help you maximize your advertising impact. Call Sharon
at 781-821-1818 or email Sharon@WizardOfAdz.com
today.
