Dough Can Only Be Stretched So Thin

October 23, 2012February 7, 2022 / Duane Christensen / 1 Comment

A business owner in Sioux Falls asked me for some advice the other day. It was about the ad they place in one of the free local magazines every month. He said a quarter page ad cost him $400 that he’s never seen any response from…and he wondered what he could get on the radio for $400.

I asked him if he was spending his ad budget in any other places. He said yes. So, all-in-all, his budget is about $2000 a

month for advertising right now…spread over about 5 different advertising mediums. And all in print.

I asked him what he was trying to accomplish with his advertising. He said “I just want more people to know about our business and to consider buying from us instead of someone else.” I said, “So, you’re trying to use your $2000 to reach as many people as possible in the most effective manner to help attract new customers and increase your sales?” And he said, “Absolutely!”

I told him that spreading his budget around to different places wasn’t doing him much good. It was too thin. A very few number of people are exposed to his different print ads. He admitted that he thought that’s how he was supposed to advertise. I explained to him that people are people. It doesn’t matter really WHERE you advertise…just as long as you’re making an impact on a decent-sized group of people with your advertisements. He also admitted that his ads didn’t seem to be making any impact at all.

So, here is my recommendation to him. Take that $2000 per month and put it towards a long-term ad schedule on a large radio station. The listeners are there. Tens of thousands tuning in every day. And you’d be able to run many ads every week ensuring that people heard the ad. So, you have the “reaching people” part covered.

Then, we get to work on creating ads that are dang near impossible to be ignored. It’s easy to miss a print ad. But if you have an engaging, creative, smart ad airing week-in and week-out…your message WILL be getting into the EARS of a heck of a lot of people.

I said we also have to think of our ad strategy. What makes his business better? How does he treat customers better? What kind of experience does he provide that his competition would find it tough to match? You have to look at the whole competitive picture. And you have to always focus on what a prospect would like to hear…not necessarily what YOU would like to tell them.

We want people to think of his business FIRST when they need what he offers. And a good, focused radio campaign can achieve what he had hoped was possible, but he just hadn’t found the solution yet.

I’m excited for him. He got it. He called to cancel some of the little advertising expenditures he was doing in other places around town. When he added them all up, he came to about $2000 per month…which can now be invested in a more planned and strategic manner. AND start seeing an actual response and return from his investment.

So, if you’re stretching your dough too thin, and not seeing a lot from it…I have a better way to help you start growing consistently. Year after year.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day! I’d love to help you out when you’re ready.

Duane Christensen

Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog

Crankin’ on all Cylinders

October 15, 2012February 7, 2022 / Duane Christensen

Good radio advertising helps businesses “crank on all cylinders”.

“Crankin’ on all cylinders” is just a phrase that a client of mine used recently. It was nice to hear. Actually gave me a nice boost that day. This business has made mistakes in the past and learned from them. They’ve taken chances and done things out of the ordinary that their competition would be afraid to implement. They’re proactive in standing out and doing things differently. They’re smart with their investments. They think things through…and then act. It’s so fun to write a radio campaign for a business like that!

But good radio advertising can’t fix a business that doesn’t have everything right on the inside yet.

Bad character: For some reason I give a lot of people the benefit of the doubt. But then I run into a business owner or a salesperson with too much “shady” inside of them. It’ll catch up with them fast.

Employees with no direction: You can’t have employees that just “do their job”. They need to be part of your big goal. They need to be on board with you on delivering an outstanding customer experience.

Not in business for the right reason: You have to be in business to help people. Yes, you need to make a profit, but profits come faster and easier when you help people and they love you for it.

You may try to patch holes in your sales inconsistencies by throwing good money at advertising…but you have to right the ship within before you can expect advertising to do you any good. For example, I have one client spending a little bit on advertising with me. We’re in the process of talking about repairing some things within his business. I’m recommending he puts his ads on hold for a few months until he can deliver a better customer experience. Doesn’t that make more sense?

Let’s get more cylinders crankin’ inside the business before we try to attract more customers. Because wouldn’t you want those new customers to tell other people about how nice, fair, helpful, honest, and genuine you are…instead of the opposite?

Now…if you’re all set…let’s work together to make your 2013 and the next 5 years better than you thought was possible.

Duane Christensen

Passionate about helping businesses grow.

Sioux Falls Radio Advertising blog

You Can Start Small

October 5, 2012February 7, 2022 / Duane Christensen

You don’t have to have $100,000 a year to start advertising locally on the radio. Not even $50,000 or $30,000.

You can start smaller. You just have to find an audience you can afford to advertise to week in and week out, consistently. And then, Voila!

Ok… it’s not exactly that easy. But close. The most important thing to remember is to have a good radio ad STRATEGY before you start throwing radio ads out there into people’s ears.

Not sure what an ad strategy is? Not many people do. Not many advertising people even do. Let’s sit down and discuss that.

THEN… we can start putting your ads out there to people. They’ll be like an “army of tiny salespeople”. And it’s ok to start smaller and grow from there. I’d love to help you advertise better. And help your advertising bring you a consistent flow of buyers. The best part… you don’t even have to have a sale – or give any coupons out! : )

One other thing – there are a lot of Results Radio clients who spend the majority of their ad budget with us. The reasons?

1) Audience. Ears. Wallets.

2) Strategy

Give me a call or shoot me an email. Have a great day!