Bam!!!! We’re back. Picking up on where we left off las time….Here we go.

The missing ingredient and key to the success of any of your marketing and advertising whether print or online is testing.

I remember a few years back while working with a large Japanese ad agency…I was talking with one of their senior account executives about the need to test every ad we put out.

The exec told me “you can’t test advertising…there are too many factors.”

This guy was a veteran of the industry. Surely he was joking…pulling my chain. But he wasn’t.

He honestly thought that you can’t effectively measure the effectiveness of advertising.

Since that time I’ve met many business owners and executives that firmly believed (or just didn’t know) you can test your advertising to find out exactly what is working and what isn’t.

Online advertising has changed all this. More companies and agencies have started to put their advertising and marketing dollars into online media…where they’ve been taught to look at the number of clicks, leads, aquisitions, etc.

Now that’s great. Finally agencies are having to become more accountable. Their campaigns must get results or else they face losing their accounts.

Thanks to online media the industry is changing.

But what about TV and print? Why do we still see commercials of people acting like cats and men dressed like giant bees…ads that are considered ‘interesting’ or ‘creative’ by some…but surely do little to boost sales or build ‘the right’ brand image.

If these companies started testing their ads they’d quickly see something they wouldn’t be happy about…their work stinks.

Actually, if they are trying to win creative awards…they’re probably doing a great job. But as a business owner or company exec…I’d be gritting my teeth in anger knowing that my company’s marketing dollars are going down the drain because my agency wants to be creative.

Okay I get the picture, you say. So I’ll end my rant there.

What you need to know is this. Every piece of your marketing can be tested. Here’s how:

A print ad can have a specific call in number. When someone calls that number you can track the number of leads or aquisitions you make.

It’s the same with TV ads…you can use a URL that you’ve created special for that ad.

Companies that give their standard corporate URL in their ads are wasting a great opportunity. By providing a different URL they could track many more details and collect valuable data.

You can also split test 2 different ads to compare the effectiveness of different headlines and offers.

The result - you’ll know what works and what doesn’t. You’ll get a much better ROI…and you’ll make a lot more money.

Next week we’ll look at how personalizing your marketing can take your profits through the roof.

To your success,

Michael
Relagy Marketing