I have been asked several times this month about those "Cheap" radio buying services that business owners are seeing on the internet after doing a google search: "How To Buy Radio Advertising". It frustrates me that the first potential piece of information that a business owner recieves after trying to educate themselves on using radio advertising as a viable media to advertise their business is information on how to "NOT" to buy radio advertising. Radio Advertising is not "CHEAP". Here is a definition of "cheap" as defined by dictionary.com ;
1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive: a cheap dress.
2. costing little labor or trouble: Words are cheap.
3. charging low prices: a very cheap store.
4. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy: cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.
5. embarrassed; sheepish: He felt cheap about his mistake.
6. obtainable at a low rate of interest: when money is cheap.
7. of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.
8. stingy; miserly: He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.
The problem with putting the word cheap and radio together is that people have the perception that they can buy an effective advertising while buying the cheapest commercial inventory. Here is an inside secret into what is know as "traffic" in radio stations. The cheapest spots or commercials get the lowest priority. Your commercials will get bumped off, switched around, thrown out, or put into placement from Midnight to 5am in the morning. Yep! You heard me, those cheap spots are useless when trying to reach your target audience. Trust me, if you are considering Radio Advertising, their are plenty of professionals who can help you do it the right way.
For more information about how I can help you, visit
San Francisco Radio Advertising Professional, Bay Area Radio Advertising Guru, and East Bay Radio Advertising Solutions ----- Click Here
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Upside Of A Recession: 'The Dumbbells Cut Back... The Smart People Don't'.
The market drops 370 points in a single day, corporate earnings disappoint and housing prices continue to sink.
We are in uncertain economic times. We may be in a recession right now, or could slip into one next week... or next month.
As optimists, we don't like forecasting difficult economic times. But, even optimists have to come to grips with the realities of our uncertain marketplace.
With economic anxiety looming, many of our clients are asking: how should I position and market my firm in the year to come? Assuming yours is a healthy company, here are our general recommendations.
The Cumulative Power Of Marketing
The laws of marketing never change, even in a recession. In fact, if played correctly, they can compound in your favor. Marketing, in any economic environment, is about sustained and integrated activity.
Like the principle of compound interest, a little investment, applied consistently, will pay great dividends down the road. There are of course short term benefits – marketing assists in generating immediate sales – but the real power of your marketing program is cumulative. This cumulative effect drives awareness and ultimately preference in your service so, at the elusive time of need, your prospect thinks of you first.
A sustained marketing effort will help ensure that your pipeline is consistently replenished, leads are properly nurtured, and your market presence is maintained.
The advantages to continuing your marketing in uncertain economic times go far beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The reality is many of your competitors are going to pull back their marketing. As a result, your dollar is going to go further than it is now. Your share of voice will grow. This represents a great opportunity for forward looking firms that are committed to growth because there are still lots of buyers out there.
The Reactionary Response
Many service firms automatically cut expenditures, and marketing is often on top of the list. It's an instinctive response to difficult economic conditions. Almost universally, this response will lead a company to have real trouble in the coming years, recession or no recession.
We can understand why firms think they need to cut back. The sensationalistic media attention given to the economy creates a quiet panic in all of us. We run all sorts of scenarios through our head: clients are going to brace for hard times... they will take longer to make purchases... perhaps they'll even cut service providers. As you think of sales cycles stretching, client retention diminishing, and project size shrinking, you may find yourself looking to cut costs.
Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It's hard to measure and you aren't quite sure if it's needed when it's time to hunker down. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? It's easy to justify: "We'll go full force once the market turns, it won't hurt a thing."
The Facts
Study after study demonstrates why this is not wise. Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend.1 Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.
The study also pointed out that those who increased their marketing efforts during a recession gained market share three times faster in the two years following a recession than businesses that cut their marketing. While service firms don't play the market share game, this does illustrate the cumulative effect of marketing and the opportunity for advancement in a recession.
While the work PIMS did is compelling, it's hardly the only material on the subject:
McGraw Hill found that business to business companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the 1981-82 recession grew during and after the recession at a far greater rate than those who didn't maintain or increase marketing spending.2
The research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith studied all post World War II recessions and found that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but it also increases profits, and at a far greater rate than those firms that cut back.3
American Business Media found that maintaining share of mind during an economic downturn directly related to current and future sales and that maintaining share of mind costs much less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity.4
According to Coopers & Lybrand, marketing during a time of economic difficultly solidifies your client case, portrays you as stable, takes business away from less aggressive competitors and positions your firm well for post recession growth.5
We could go on, but we're sure you get the point – this storyline, and the research behind it, is compelling.
The Silver Lining
As legendry ad man Ed McCabe puts it, "All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move back. The dumbbells cut back...the smart people don't."
Be one of the "smart people." Whether there will be or won't be a recession, maintaining a healthy marketing program will only build on what you have already developed. And maintaining and growing what you have toiled long and hard over requires careful planning, decisive execution, and plain old guts. Now more than ever the money you spend now on marketing matters. Not because dark times loom, but because there is real opportunity out there right now.
We are in uncertain economic times. We may be in a recession right now, or could slip into one next week... or next month.
As optimists, we don't like forecasting difficult economic times. But, even optimists have to come to grips with the realities of our uncertain marketplace.
With economic anxiety looming, many of our clients are asking: how should I position and market my firm in the year to come? Assuming yours is a healthy company, here are our general recommendations.
The Cumulative Power Of Marketing
The laws of marketing never change, even in a recession. In fact, if played correctly, they can compound in your favor. Marketing, in any economic environment, is about sustained and integrated activity.
Like the principle of compound interest, a little investment, applied consistently, will pay great dividends down the road. There are of course short term benefits – marketing assists in generating immediate sales – but the real power of your marketing program is cumulative. This cumulative effect drives awareness and ultimately preference in your service so, at the elusive time of need, your prospect thinks of you first.
A sustained marketing effort will help ensure that your pipeline is consistently replenished, leads are properly nurtured, and your market presence is maintained.
The advantages to continuing your marketing in uncertain economic times go far beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The reality is many of your competitors are going to pull back their marketing. As a result, your dollar is going to go further than it is now. Your share of voice will grow. This represents a great opportunity for forward looking firms that are committed to growth because there are still lots of buyers out there.
The Reactionary Response
Many service firms automatically cut expenditures, and marketing is often on top of the list. It's an instinctive response to difficult economic conditions. Almost universally, this response will lead a company to have real trouble in the coming years, recession or no recession.
We can understand why firms think they need to cut back. The sensationalistic media attention given to the economy creates a quiet panic in all of us. We run all sorts of scenarios through our head: clients are going to brace for hard times... they will take longer to make purchases... perhaps they'll even cut service providers. As you think of sales cycles stretching, client retention diminishing, and project size shrinking, you may find yourself looking to cut costs.
Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It's hard to measure and you aren't quite sure if it's needed when it's time to hunker down. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? It's easy to justify: "We'll go full force once the market turns, it won't hurt a thing."
The Facts
Study after study demonstrates why this is not wise. Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend.1 Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.
The study also pointed out that those who increased their marketing efforts during a recession gained market share three times faster in the two years following a recession than businesses that cut their marketing. While service firms don't play the market share game, this does illustrate the cumulative effect of marketing and the opportunity for advancement in a recession.
While the work PIMS did is compelling, it's hardly the only material on the subject:
McGraw Hill found that business to business companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the 1981-82 recession grew during and after the recession at a far greater rate than those who didn't maintain or increase marketing spending.2
The research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith studied all post World War II recessions and found that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but it also increases profits, and at a far greater rate than those firms that cut back.3
American Business Media found that maintaining share of mind during an economic downturn directly related to current and future sales and that maintaining share of mind costs much less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity.4
According to Coopers & Lybrand, marketing during a time of economic difficultly solidifies your client case, portrays you as stable, takes business away from less aggressive competitors and positions your firm well for post recession growth.5
We could go on, but we're sure you get the point – this storyline, and the research behind it, is compelling.
The Silver Lining
As legendry ad man Ed McCabe puts it, "All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move back. The dumbbells cut back...the smart people don't."
Be one of the "smart people." Whether there will be or won't be a recession, maintaining a healthy marketing program will only build on what you have already developed. And maintaining and growing what you have toiled long and hard over requires careful planning, decisive execution, and plain old guts. Now more than ever the money you spend now on marketing matters. Not because dark times loom, but because there is real opportunity out there right now.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Top Keyword Results For May 2008, Keyword; Advertising
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web site advertising,
web advertising,
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pay per click advertising,
marketing and advertising,
marketing advertising,
direct mail advertising,
banner advertising,
specialty advertising,
advertising mlm business opportunity,
promotional advertising,
advertising job,
yahoo advertising,
email advertising,
advertising company,
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ppc advertising,
advertising clipping services,
e mail advertising,
newspaper advertising,
outdoor advertising,
tv advertising,
internet marketing advertising,
aerial advertising services,
free online advertising,
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advertising balloon,
radio advertising,
free internet advertising,
internet advertising agency,
search engine advertising,
online advertising agency,
advertising pen,
business advertising,
pixel advertising,
yellow pages advertising,
advertising space,
promotional product advertising,
what stick why most advertising fail and how to guarantee yours succeeds,
mortgage advertising,
think two product ahead secret the big advertising agency don t want you to know and how to use them for bigger profits,
advertising sales
classified advertising
advertising slogan
advertising software
local advertising
business marketing advertising internet marketing general,
print advertising,
advertising firm,
television advertising,
mobile advertising,
orlando advertising,
advertising agency and services,
billboard advertising,
crayon direct advertising,
internet advertising company,
advertising directory,
served advertising complex,
ezine advertising,
advertising product,
advertising campaign,
tv commercial advertising,
pay per click banner advertising,
internet banner advertising,
advertising school,
advertising idea,
web banner advertising,
car advertising,
restaurant advertising,
advertising agency web site,
advertising sign,
free web site advertising,
advertising job chicago,
advertising agency software,
super bowl advertising,
google advertising tool cashing in with adsense adwords and the google apis,
robbie williams advertising space,
pace picante hispanic advertising agency,
television advertising commercial,
business marketing advertising general,
advertising photography,
advertising age,
advertising design,
online gambling advertising,
direct response advertising,
magazine advertising,
advertising inflatables,
advertising outdoor billboard,
cable tv advertising,
advertising links,
small business advertising,
advertising media,
pay click advertising,
post card advertising,
real estate advertising,
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