Wesley Day Advertising

ON ADVERTISING
March 2007 issue

BRAND VS. RESPONSE ADVERTISING:
Where should I spend my next advertising dollar?
Here are some “rules of thumb” for achieving the highest probability of conversion:
• Conversions increase with impression frequency but at a
   decreasing rate. Increasing frequency may actually reduce the
   probability of conversion.
• A combination of brand and direct response advertising almost
   always works better than either one alone. You need to find the
   “hot zone” of media mix that delivers the highest conversion rate for
   your product.
• Your “hot zone” will vary by campaign, so you should analyze each
   campaign.
• Your own historical campaign data is usually the best place to
   start to find your “hot zone.” Return to top

CREATE PERSONAS TO FOCUS YOUR ADVERTISING.
Personas are archetypical customers who represent a larger group of customers and should not be confused with profiles.
   Profiles describe people in terms of demographics: 60 percent male, 24-45 years old, college degree, etc. They don’t, however, describe motivations, expectations, and goals.
   Think of personas as “stand-ins” for real customers: Bob is 34 years old, has been a network engineer for two years, is proud of his ability to isolate and resolve complex network issues, is concerned about planning and rolling out changes, etc.
   Once you have developed several detailed personas, you can more effectively develop marketing tools and messages that better resonate and motivate your prospects. Return to top

FORGET ROI. GO FOR PREDICTABILITY.
As marketers move to and beyond CRM (customer relationship management) and CEM (customer experience management), predictability replaces ROI (return on investment) as the marketing and advertising touchstone.
   Achieving predictability requires four key elements:
• Knowing your customers' lifecycle.
• Insightful measurements of customers’ decision processes and
   their outcomes.
• Customer-driven marketing workflow.
• Customer-driven strategic planning.
   It’s no longer enough to know if your strategy made a profit yesterday. Today’s strategy needs to be built on tomorrow’s return. Return to top

THE NAME GAME.
What is the name of the company that makes Crayola crayons?
If you said “Binney & Smith,” you’re one of the very few who knew. This is why they just changed the company name to Crayola – one of the most recognized names in the world.
Does your company name make marketing sense? If you have any doubts, call us today for our free white paper on changing company and product names. Return to top

IS YOUR ADVERTISING ENGAGING?
“Engagement” is more than “being noticed” or “breaking through the clutter.” Real engagement increases your brand equity.
   So what exactly is brand equity and how do you increase it?
   Brand equity is simply the degree to which your target audience believes your brand meets or exceeds their expectations relative to other brands. At its most basic level, advertising can generate greater attention. Coke, for example, does a great job of this.
   To be effective, to be engaging, your promotions need to do more – to build better brand equity and a higher likelihood to purchase/use/behave positively toward your product.
   This means identifying and addressing the specific engagement drivers for your product category. For pain relievers, these drivers might be “relief,” “safety,” and “trust.”
   What are the drivers for your product? Give us a call, and we’ll help you determine them and the best way to engage your market. Return to top

DISPLAY ADS BOOST BRANDED SEARCH-AD RESULTS.
A recent study revealed that a group exposed to online display media was 27 percent more likely to click on a branded search ad and 41 percent more likely to convert on the search click. Conclusion: media channels interact to influence consumer behavior. Return to top

KEEP YOUR WEB PAGES SIMPLE TO INCREASE SALES.
Simplicity is probably the most important underlying factor when it comes to the performance of any Web page.
1. Stick to one topic per page.
    Don't make visitors choose where to focus their attention or you
    might lose them.
2. Minimize the number of columns.
    With multicolumns, visitors have to make choices (see above) or
    get distracted by something in another column and stop reading.
3. Keep your message simple.
    Make your writing focused, linear, and progressive.
4. Don't use too many graphics.
    More than one or two graphics can fragment the reader's eye path
    and distract attention from the sales message.
5. Keep your offer simple.
    Repeated testing has shown that multiple choices reduce
    conversion rates. Determine your best offer and stick with it.
6. Make your forms simple.
    The longer the form, the lower the conversion rate. Ask only for the
     information that is essential.
Final thought...
   Someone will always come up with good reasons for adding elements to a page – whether words or graphics – that are not central to the message. Resist them if you can. Return to top

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