I thought I was safe. And alone. But the policeman had a different view... as I zoomed by his radar gun in a 35mph zone doing a blistering 44mph – admittedly near the speed of sound. It’s a wonder I didn’t explode re-entering the atmosphere.
He was
doing his job. I showed up in court and plead guilty, which carries a $155
fine. The easy way out was to just pay it, but I was offered the interesting
option to perform community service with no fine or points. I like it. I need to get out of my comfort zone. Still
considering how to perform my 5 hours’ hard time and repay my debt to society.
(Taking suggestions at the link below.)
Got me to
thinking. As a “Community Service” to SMI readers, I decided to answer some of
the questions we received before our Video Training Series. There were some
wacky ones, and some winners, 4 pages of them without edits or tasteful restraint…starting right now.
“Dear Adams,
How’d you get to be so witty and handsome? It’s just not fair.”
Right. Now to the real questions, and real
“unpolished” responses.
Q: Our biggest marketing
challenge is what is the best way to
market? We can’t seem to find one that is working right now so anything
would help us and I definitely would mention your videos to friends and others
in my field.
Robin Jackson
Berry’s Quality Services
A:
Hi Robin, as usual the ‘best’ way to market is tied to marketing ‘what’? I presume your question is about which
‘media’, but that’s what KILLS contractor response. You saw in Video 1 and
Video 2 that response is dramatically increased when: 1) Your ad Message is a
“match” for the 2) Market. That combo – and not the media choice – is what
rules response.
So, if “best” to you is “lead generation”,
then use a Direct Response message,
aimed at your customer base and those with demographics “like” your customers (market). Far as media, the choice in
Video 2 was a good one. 1) Email to report and video online PLUS 2) Direct mail
letter. Both point to YOUR PHONE!
Q: We’re trying to determine which venue to use to reach my
target market. Newspaper, getting smaller every day. Radio, which
station? How often? TV, too expensive. Local Cable, which
channels? Direct Mail, becoming less effective it seems. Internet/Web,
older demographic (will they use it?) Current website seems unused by 99% of
clients.
Steve Simmons
Total Comfort
A: Steve, please read answer
to Robin above as a “partial” answer to your query. Specific to YOUR question:
- Newspaper – still read by educated consumers willing to pay for the product. Community newspapers are more focused in target groups. Your competition is likely NOT in them, so you can ‘own’ the relationship. As an advertiser, send Media Releases to them monthly. (You have these in your marketing programs from us.) Great buys for the money.
- Radio – You tell your rep who YOUR target is; they tell you how many listeners they have in that group, at what time of day, how many days a week. Then you decide the MESSAGE to put to that market.
- TV – it’s only ‘too expensive’ if it doesn’t pay a good ROI. A “Free” ad is too expensive if you spent a bunch of brain cells to run it and no one called.
- Direct Mail – kicking bootie again, in a big way. Results shown in Videos 1, 2, and 3, “pro” direct mail. Not a fluke.
- Website – let me rephrase your comment, and pray you don’t throw anything at me: Your website is currently unused by 99% of clients because YOU’RE NOT TELLING THEM about it. It’s the “lets plan a part but forget to send invitations and see what happens” approach. This is a CLASSIC web designer mistake. They “build it”, charge you, walk away. (Remember, “build it and they will come” exposed as a total myth in Video 1?) What do they care if anyone sees it? That’s YOUR job. Video 1 and Video 2 showed the “promo” that most sites – likely including yours – need to generate traffic and ROI.
You are ONE INCH from generating the results you want. You’ve already
done the hard part; you just need the marketing fuel.
(Did you miss the Video
Series? If so, they’re here.
Q: We’re tired of trying all these
different things that don’t seem to work: direct mail, radio, Ad Pages, Money
Mailer, Home Shows, Sports team sponsorship, all perform poorly. What do you
recommend?
Brian
Bullock
Collin
Air
A: Brian, see answers above. Not the media. Those work
fantastically IF you put the right message to the right market.
Personally, I hate
MoneyMailer, and Team Sponsorship is NOT for Lead Generation (it’s for Image
and TOMA only) so don’t worry about that. You can turn it INTO lead generation,
but you must add a step to it.
(EXAMPLE: Add
sequence as shown in Video 1 and 2, such as postcard to team parents; special
offer to them with expiration; $10 per run/touchdown OFF next service call; one
team member per game ‘wins’ $50 coupon per game (random, according to jersey #)
that must be used before final game, etc. Out of room, but not of ways we
handle this. Call or email a coach here.
ALL Media “work”.
It’s WHAT you say to WHO that makes them work. Better ads and better strategy
means better results. This is why we put ad “packages” together for
contractors.
Q: Less than a handful group
of our local competitor in the HVAC industry use television and radio
heavily. It must be working for them or they would not keep using
it. However, they have some of the worst consumer reputations as
reflected by BBB reviews and unsolicited comments we receive. Their web
presence is not as strong as many other competitors. Is this an
indication that, if you can afford it, TV and radio are superior to any other
form of advertising and that shoppers using that media are just suckers for a
well delivered message? Can this be countered with just the web?
Mike Welch
Welch Heating and Air
A: From bottom
up: “NO” this cannot be countered with just web since the audiences are
different.
TV and Radio are highly “absorbed” media, and costly
ONLY IF you waste your money on bad ads in the wrong market.
Their relative “cost per lead” in both can be high,
so many advertisers choose Direct Response (“instant sales”) to extract ROI.
Their offers often appeal to “Opportunity Seekers” (a specific class of
behavioral consumers) who are sadly prone to manipulation and upselling,
resulting is “slightly less than 5 Star behavior” on theirs AND vendors part.
You can – and are advised – to “balance” ALL DIRECT
RESPONSE ADS (and I’m a Direct Response copywriter) with Image and TOMA or you
can PLAN on the associated chink in your credibility. Why?
You can’t be having a “super last time ever sale” 52
weeks a year. But you can flat out do it 2-3 times per peak season and
absolutely rip the cover off the sales ball. We do this regularly, and it’s why
the PowerSuite has that mix of ads already in it.
Q: My biggest question right
now is where do I spend my marketing dollars? I know not to go through Yellow Pages.
I know that it should be focused on line but how? Website, lead generators
online directories? I have been through all of these and the lead generators by
far to-date has the largest return, but I also feel very limited!! I have a
contact list with e-mails ready to go for a constant contact list but haven’t
pulled the trigger!! This is what I’m working with right now.
Gordon Gauntlett
Gauntlett Services
A: First, we offered an HVAC
Marketing Budget Calculator in Video 3, no charge. Make sure you get that.
Yellow Page is still viable for THEIR demographic, (55 year olds +,
readers, stable income, bias toward education, generally owe less as % of net
worth, consider “presence” in YP as credibility indicator) but only worthy of
about 16% of your total marketing budget.
If you are about to send your message to a PURCHASED EMAIL LIST, I
would strongly advise you to NOT do this. Rife with danger, blacklisting, and
spam count over allowed %. If this is YOUR own ‘in house, opt in’ list,
different story.
My answer is so oft repeated I’m starting to bore myself: Message to
market match is THE indicator. Then you REPEAT that message in other media to
dominate (as in Video 2.)
Don’t forget the HVAC Marketing Budget Calculator in Video 3. Easy to
do, takes 20 minutes, can save you thousands, seriously. Call or email if you
need more help on this.
Q: Most opportunities claim great results. Our challenge is to
quantifiably select the best options, substantiate the claims with relevant
results, and finding the best solutions. It is time intensive. I would
bet that is a common challenge.
Jack Andrews
Dallas Plumbing
A: Agreed. It is
for us, for all businesses. That’s why selecting a marketing or ad agency that
has already proven/disproven relevant results is so helpful. Why reinvent the
wheel? The videos show REAL results from real contractors. The Budget
Calculator as mentioned elsewhere (plus the HVAC PowerPlan) shows you THE route
to take, based on your budget, goals, and desires. Get it.
--
Okay, that’s enough answers for
today. I’ve done my Community Service THIS week, and have answers to your
ONLINE and SEO questions slated for the next issue. I’m on a Community Service
roll here! Get your
questions in before I snap out of it… or
get caught speeding again.
(Send suggestions on Community Service same email address above,
Subject Line: Try This You Criminal!)
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