Advertising

Why “Word of Mouth” Advertising Sucks

No Comments
January 27  |  Advertising, Customer Relations  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

Over the past 30-plus years of working closely with small businesses of all sizes, from “Mom-and-Pops” (some were so small they were just “Pops”) to businesses with several locations, one of the proclamations I fielded with great frequency was, “Word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising.”

“Word-of-mouth doesn’t cost a dime” they would boast.

“Word-of-mouth brings in customers.”

Word of Mouth Advertising Sucks

“Word-of-mouth is the only advertising that we get feedback on.”

Or, “Word of mouth gives me better results than all the advertising we’ve purchased.”

What could I say? I couldn’t argue with any of their claims.

Continue Reading

An Open Mind About a Closed Book

No Comments
January 20  |  Advertising, Media  |   VCoker
Van Coker, Vice President of Marketing Firepower

By Van Coker

How many business owners have you known that thought yellow pages “advertising” was money well-spent? That’s what I thought. Not very many, if any.

Yellow Pages

Not long ago I was visiting with a business owner who had been looking for “a better way” to attract people to his business. He was bemoaning his recent annual meeting with the yellow pages sales rep. Nothing new. It was the same old song I had heard so many times before. Every year he wanted out. Every year they “talked him into” maintaining or buying even more space.

Continue Reading

Why “Waste” Your Money in the Yellow Pages?

No Comments
January 13  |  Advertising, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

A universal chorus goes up from small business owners everywhere: “I hate spending money in the yellow pages, but I have to.” Do you? I don’t think so. The top three emotions used to sell space in the yellow pages are as follows:

1. FEAR OF LOSS — You are told you must have a big ad to be near the front of the category or our competition will get all your business.
2. EGO – You are told that with a big ad you will appear to be a leader in the community and your competition will see that you are a force to be reckoned with.
3. HOPE FOR GAIN – You are told that if anyone needs your service, you must hope they will find you and that having a big ad will make it easier for them to do so.

Yellow Pages Advertising

So think about your yellow page purchases. Did you or do you fall into these three traps laid out for you? The yellow pages are a directory. Not an advertising medium. Have your name listed or have a small in column listing but don’t spend hundreds and thousands of dollars a month on something that is not actively telling people why they should be doing business with you.

Continue Reading

Diet pills or Marketing Firepower — You decide.

No Comments
November 26  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing, Media  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

A friend of mine was telling me about a new diet he started a few weeks back. He was pretty excited that he had lost a few pounds already and that he “didn’t have to do anything to lose the weight”. The magical pills worked overnight melting his extra pounds away.

Small Business Marketing Diet

I told him about something I had recently started doing. It was a workout that took me about 10 minutes a day and I was eating smarter. I told him I had lost about 15 pounds in the last few months.

Continue Reading

Word of Mouth – Will it put you out of business?

No Comments
November 20  |  Advertising, Customer Relations, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Ask almost any small business owner what the best form of advertising is, and you’re likely to hear, “Word of mouth.” “It’s the cheapest form of advertising” they’ll say, “And the most effective.” And they’re right. Sort of. If you have customers singing your praises and referring you to their friends, family, co-workers and neighbors, word of mouth can be a

Word of Mouth Advertising

powerful and inexpensive advertising tool. But let me ask you this. How often do you tell others about a business exchange you were involved in? How often do you go out of your way to urge others to do business with someone?

Think about it. When you thrill your customer with that “magic moment” experience…they might tell a few others. Might. Provide average service or an average experience…they won’t be talking to anyone about you. But, fail to put your best foot forward. Fail to provide exceptional service. Fail to do the little extras many customers have come to expect and allow your customers perception of their experience with your business to be a subpar one….

Continue Reading

Your Formula for Success

No Comments
November 12  |  Advertising, Business, Marketing  |   JDostal
Jeff Dostal, President of Marketing Firepower

Ask + Tell = Sell. Does that sound too simple? Small business owners around the world seem to want to make the process of turning consumers into customers much more difficult than it needs to be. This simple formula (Ask + Tell = Sell) is the direction you need to take to be effective in the world of advertising and marketing.

center-of-influenceMost businesses waste money on advertising each and every day. It’s not that the advertising they are doing is wrong or won’t work, it’s that the message they are communicating doesn’t say anything. The message doesn’t give the consumer any good reason to become a customer. You have to think like a customer, not a business owner.

Continue Reading