Small Business Today Magazine MAY 2014 CUSTOMIZED REAL STATE SERVICES | Page 28

EDITORIALFEATURE Too Much By N. D. Brown There is just too much. R emember the scene in “Moscow on the Hudson” when Robin Williams, a newly defected Russian émigré, walks down a grocery aisle completely mesmerized.  He is so overwhelmed he actually keels over in a dead faint. We live in a land where plenty is an understatement. Your neighborhood grocer stocks over 250 types of breakfast cereal.  250!  An entire aisle devoted to one product. It would take all day to read all the boxes to make a decision which one fits what you want. Yet your customers and the ones you want to be customers wade through hundreds, perhaps thousands, of choices every day. You think whatever you are selling is so distinct it sells itself. I wish I had a buck for every time I’ve heard that phrase. Even a few coins! You and your company are probably at the bottom of that purchase chain. How do you get noticed? How do you make the phone ring, the website click, and mouths say the right words that send customers your way? Advertising is but one answer to help the customers find their way through this self-inflicted maze of too much. Advertising helps the decision process make at least a partial answer before the customer ever gets to the selection process.  And think about this.  How many decisions do shoppers have to make before they even get to the brand selection decision? They have to decide if they even want what you are selling.  Then they have to decide if they have the money to afford it or if they can arrange the financing.  Next, they have to decide when they are going to buy it and where they are going to go to buy it from. Are they going on the internet? Are they driving to a brick and mortar location? Or are they picking up the phone? You think whatever you are selling is so distinct it sells itself. I wish I had a buck for every time I’ve heard that phrase. Even a few coins! Your eyes are probably getting tired reading this, so imagine how the customer feels. I have spent a long and successful career helping marketers lead customers through this complicated maze. After my many years of making ads, it is no surprise I think it a critical part of any marketing plan. I know advertising is not cheap and I know it has to be result driven. Research has clearly shown there are tight windows of opportunity for each of the decision points a customer will evaluate. If the customer you want has not been exposed to your message or explained the reason why your stuff is the better choice then, poof, you just lost. 26 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ MAY 2014 ] On top of the myriad of complicated choices the customer you want has to wade through, research shows that people are exposed to 2,000 or more messages on a daily basis.Talk about too much! No wonder people say they hate advertising. Here are some tips: •     Set aside an advertising budget. Look at your competition. Spend at least what they are spending and if you are a start-up, think of it is an investment so budget a little bit more. Spending less than you should is as bad as not spending at all. No matter what it is, it will NOT sell itself. •    Every dollar you spend has to have a return so discuss with media sales people what kind of return you should expect and measure the result. •      Talk to your customers to learn what they are seeing and hearing about your messages. •    Test and learn As you develop your advertising message, keep in mind that your advertising is not in the entertainment business, it is in the selling business. Customers want information. They are looking for reasons to buy. They are NOT looking for reasons not to buy. N. D. Brown is a Principal of brownchild ltd inc, 3754 Sunset, Houston, TX 77005. You can reach him by phone at 713-807-9000 or cell 713-822-8370, by email at [email protected], or visit the web at www.brownchild.com.