Irresponsible marketing?

The other day, driving down I-95, I noticed a sign for a jewelry store. Young couple, nice ring, some hearts. It had a headline that read: “Love is in the air“. Very good, but I was wondering who the advertiser was. I didn’t see a store name, a website, an address, nothing.

The next time I passed by, I looked up the name of a store. Lo and behold, there it was, in white output font (on a gray background), small and in a corner.

Why would anyone spend a ton of money on a billboard that people can’t read?

And what ROI did they expect?

The ad looked good, even attractive, but what good is that when no one knows who the advertiser is?

Lately, I’ve been paying more and more attention to this kind of thing – irresponsible marketing is a good way to describe it. Glamor magazine has lots of ads with no website, no phone number, no offer, and certainly no way to track results. The exposure is great, but how does anyone know if the investment was worth it? If I removed the ad and saved the money, would there be a difference in sales?

Marketing should focus on tracking results.

Unless the advertiser is extremely well known and has a gigantic budget, irresponsible marketing shouldn’t even exist. If you can’t track the results of your ad, you should think twice before running it.

Clients come to our agency because they know we can deliver results. It may take several trials of a marketing program before it becomes profitable, but in the end the customer knows where their dollars and ROI have gone.

Just like holding your employees accountable; make sure you keep your marketing accountable, also.

Here are two things to remember about keeping your marketing”responsible“:

1. Try to keep track of the results. This can be very simple: Start by engaging prospects and then moving them to a landing page (or microsite). A specific phone number, email address, or QR code. That way, you’ll at least have an idea of ​​where your customers are coming from.
2. Creativity is not everything. Yes, it’s great to have an attractive ad, but it’s not the most important thing. If your client can’t read it, it’s a wasted effort. Remember the 40-40-20 rule, a direct marketing principle that certainly applies here. Success is 40% bid, 40% ready (or average), and 20% due to creativity. Our creative director tells me that the real formula is 100-100-100. Everything has to be 100%.

If you have any thoughts on the topic, please comment below. I would love to hear what others have to say. Thank you!