TRACKING YOUR ADVERTISING

You’re a local business. Maybe you’re a plumber, dentist, jewelry store, restaurant, sporting goods store, or windshield chip fixer. You’re a business that relies on local customers picking up the phone or walking into your store. Let’s talk about how to track your local advertising.

Do not obsess over TRACKING. Well…not the way you do it now anyway. Online, pay-per-click advertising gives you nice numbers which feeds your obsession with metrics. It’s not a healthy obsession. You LOVE to see stats and numbers so you know exactly whether or not your money is being spent wisely. But do those clicks or “impressions” tell you if that person actually did business with you? Online tracking is totally different from offline tracking. Especially, with any advertising that is of the “branding” nature.

For example, you don’t know exactly when a particular person heard your radio ad. And people can’t carry your radio ad with them when they walk into your store or when you visit them for a service call. They carry the IMPRESSION you made on them with your radio ad…in their mind. Now, I’m not talking about crappy, cliché, un-memorable radio ads…I’m talking about “Non-Fat” radio ads like you have now because you’ve actually taken some of my advice in the past.

Most local advertising doesn’t come with easy tracking built-in. But that is OKAY. Tracking your advertising isn’t always black and white. Remember, you’re a local business with lots of competition. You’re trying to be remembered so when people need what you offer…YOUR business pops into their head automatically (along with a good feeling about you). That’s when your advertising is working at full throttle.

Someone may not have recently seen or heard one of your ads. So, when you ask them where they heard about you…you’re not always going to get the honest answer. But they’ll try to help you out anyway, even though they might not know exactly. I’ve even heard about customers saying, “I saw you on TV.” Even though the local business didn’t advertise on TV.

I know you do more than ONE thing in an attempt to attract new customers. It should all work in harmony together towards the common goal.

Here’s what you should do…

Track your advertising through the number of calls you get, your foot traffic, website hits, or better yet, your increased sales. NOT by asking people where they heard about you. 

Of course, it’s nice when a new customer tells you they saw or heard your ad…but that’s just a bonus for you. Everything you do to attract a new customer should work together. What if a customer hears your radio ads over and over. They also drive by your store periodically. Then, one day, they just “decide” to shop at your store for the first time. But when you ask them how they heard about you, they tell you, “Oh, I drive by your store all the time and decided to come in.” You’re thinking, “Great…my signage is working.” But nothing is ever mentioned about the message you’ve been sharing with them on the radio. It happens all of the time!

When you advertise in a way that brands your business well into the minds of those you’re trying to reach…the ad medium you use will rarely get the credit. If you track your radio advertising (or any local offline advertising) by monitoring things you can easily determine (like traffic, calls, sales, etc.) and compare with your past numbers…you’ll be better off for it. You’ll sleep better by not obsessing over tracking the wrong things. You won’t give up on certain means of advertising prematurely.

Here’s the dealio…  When you say things in your advertising that people care about and that “moves” them, you’ll be surprised at who becomes your next new customer and what it does to your bottom line. If you feel like you absolutely have to ask people WHERE they heard you…go an extra step further – ask them which day and at what time they heard you as well. Do you feel they’ll have a solid answer for you?

Again – I know you do more than one thing to attract a new customer…and one method can easily get credit while the other doesn’t…even though both methods contributed. And vice-versa.

Of course you want to know “what works and what doesn’t.” But if you’re advertising to a large audience (like on a reputable radio station), there are a lot of people listening. So, then, all you have to do is SAY the right thing to those listeners…and watch your sales increase.

Have a great day! If you have any other questions about this, give me a shout.

Duane Christensen

I love to help businesses “say it better” in their advertising. If you have wimpy ads that just suck money from your bottom line…I wanna help you make them better…and start bringing you new customers – like they’re supposed to.