In 2009 the average American took in more than 35,000 ads. Here’s the worst part about that number, only one out of nine ads were ever seen by the consumer it targeted. Think about that, that means that most businesses out there large and small, are throwing darts at a board when it comes to marketing. It doesn’t matter how large of a marketing team or budget your contracting company has, most of your advertising isn’t hitting the sweet spot…the people ready to buy! So, you have to make sure your message is out then when people have moved from the passively engaged stage to the actively engaged stage and are ready to spend. Wanna know how to find that person?
Repetition
Today’s ad message has to be consumed between 7-15 times before the consumer acts on that message. That means doing a one time mail drop or running an ad in the newspaper a day or two is going to get you nowhere! Any results with such short-term campaigns would be by accident, in fact, if what I mentioned above sounds like your last ad campaign and you landed a decent client, then you should go out and play the lottery cause you got lucky!
Why, Because repetition sells. Repetition is what helps build brand awareness in your marketplace, repetition is what differentiates you from your competition who buys remnant ads or spot buys. Repetition is what over time will yield your contracting company the bigger jobs because people will feel comfortable with your firm because they know you because they know your message.
Here’s my point, if you don’t have a long-term plan to advertise… then don’t. If you are in it for the long haul then make sure to run the same ads in the same media long enough to reach your target consumer!
The trick is to not alter that message!
And pay attention because this is the key, after a while you get tired of seeing your ad, ignore that feeling to change it by going fishing or working in the shop or taking the kids to ballgame. Because no one has seen your message as much as you have and changing it now will only force your marketing to reset itself and start the impression counter back to zero.
2 responses to “Contractor Marketing Tip-It’s All About the Reps”
Darren, I agree with the repetition theme. So many small biz out try the one and done, spray and pray, and many others destined to fail. Fact is, they set themselves up to fail. Most campaigns never have any chance to succeed. Like you said, if they DO land a client, they need to try that luck on the lottery.
My only point of difference, which really isn’t a disagreement, is that I think they CAN change the ad without changing the message.
I agree they can change the message, I just think it happens too soon…more times than not. Thanks for stopping by David!