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.