Cancel your advertising - Food for Thought ? - Forum

Interesting read and very, very relevant - from a marketing club I belong to and posted here as 'food for thought'.

You may not totally agree, but it should at least get the "old grey cells" thinking a bit laterally...

Cancel your advertising and throw away your leaflets?

Written by Karen Skidmore on Categories: Marketing Small Business

"When people decide to give up on their business and go back to corporate life it’s not because they prefer PAYE world. It’s usually because they have just run out money. They aren’t able to make enough income to cover their day-to-day costs, let along make a profit.

But these businesses don’t go out of business because of bad service or poor quality products. These businesses are usually run by people who are passionate about what they do and genuinely care about their customers.

So why is it that so many small businesses come and go?

Is it because they had a bad business idea?

Sometimes, yes but more often the real reason is that they have no idea on how marketing works and what are the easiest and simplest ways of attracting customers.

Let me give you an example.

Jane is an ex-accountant who got fed up with the commute in to work every day and because of her passion for colours and interiors, she decided to re-train and start up an interiors business. She now offers a range of services from one-off consultations and personal home styling to project managing big decorating jobs.

Jane is based in a fairly affluent area. The current housing market has meant that more people are extending and modifying their property to get more space rather than move. There is a potential market place for Jane’s service, especially when Jane has worked out that she only needs to be working with a maximum of 10 clients at any given time.

She has sensibly got a 6 month financial buffer, but four months in and Jane is finding it difficult attracting enough clients to her business. She rarely has more than the odd appointment in her diary each week.

She advertises once a month in her local newspaper because she felt she ought to have a presence and get her name out there. And she has also just signed up for one year advertising in her parish magazine as well with a local online business directory. She has even gone round and put a leaflet in every door in her local neighbourhood offering a free consultation, but not one person has called her about the offer.

Selling her business is becoming hard work. It is demoralising and the passion is starting to dwindle. If it carries on like this, Jane will be forced to give up on her dreams and return to her accountancy career to pay the bills.

It’s not fair is it? Especially when Jane is offering a quality and professional service which is backed up by study and training. There is a local market for what she offers and she knows that her knowledge can help increase the value of people’s homes and save them endless of hours of research.

But what she doesn’t know is how to market herself. All her money is going in to advertising that obviously is not working for her and on leaflets that are obviously aren’t compelling enough to make people call.

Jane needs to stop and take the time out to really get to know her target customers.

Targeting the right customers with the right messages is really the secret to great marketing. The better you know the people you want to attract, the more likely it is that you will know where to find them, how to communicate with them and how to make yourself attractive enough for these people to call you.

Jane needs to stop her advertising and go back to basics.

Who are her target customers? What are their worries and concerns? When it comes to home decorating and creating more space, what are their real problems and challenges? How much are they willing to spend for to solved these problems?

By focusing on some simple questions such as these, Jane’s answers will help her work out what her special uniqueness could be to make her marketing activities and offers compelling and attractive.

So, for those of you out there who feeling like Jane, take a long hard look at how you are telling people about your business. If your advertising isn’t working, cancel it. If those leaflets cluttering up your office aren’t working, get rid of them.

Cleanse your business of stuff that you are doing because you think it is the right thing to do. Stop second guessing and start understanding your customers"

If you like what you read, considering following Karen @CanDoCanBe

Andy, yes those forms of marketing /advertising do absolutely work.

As I said above to Stuart they just have to match the service you are offering and the market likely to receive them. Commodity products and services seem to respond well to more 'mass' type marketing. Niche or upmarket products/services will need extremley targeted campaigns to appeal to that sector.

The key thread in the article in my mind was the need to know your market and work around that. I've seen people (and have probably done so myself) go do something just because my competitors are doing it. Not always a good strategy.

I enjoy Karen's articles and have followed here for a long while, helped by the fact I am quite open mined and realise I do not know everything, prefering to concentrate on what I do know well - running a landscape services business.

As my mind is not closed, I will take in best practices, recommendations in other areas to keep the business running well in hard economic times...

Andy Kenney said:

A good one Gary and some interesting opinions on methods of effective marketing and advertising. I feel that there is a place for leaflets and newspaper/parish adverts etc. One reason why people may say that they have had little success rates and feedback leading to work is that they put the cart before the horse. What your author essentially suggests is that the business first undertakes a 'needs analysis' of its target customer market. How can this be done? Well, many ways to gain information from people such as questionnaires or feedback forms, simply talking to people to understand their needs and more importantly to create further needs by using your experience and knowledge.

Only after this stage is done, should the advertising now compliment the marketing already undertaken. Wording leaflets and newspaper adverts with what you NOW know is a potential customer need for business. Obviously, it is still weaker (as it is not personable) than word of mouth recommendations etc but it is still a presence - such as a pavement or van sign. A visual presence is a good headline and potential customers pick up on this ahead of the business itself (such as those bloody meerkats - but we all know what company the advert really represents). I remember reading a piece by Phil where he mentioned about his quirky yet noticeable logo on his van back in the 80's - it's a noticeable headline. So in my opinion i would say that good marketing and good advertising go hand in hand.

Replies

PRO

Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance April 4, 2012 at 9:04pm

Thanks Gary, i have found that to be a worthwhile read. I have never done any advertising in twelve years of being in business but as i want to expand into being an employer i have had to think about it. As of this year i now have a website that has cost me nothing but time and is still under development (more of my time). I am also in the process of having some signs made for my trailer. It is really quite exciting but i am not going to do any more than this at the moment. I have tried to choose my advertising wisely and not spend too much - the website and trailer signs are something that will be around for years to come (value for money) unlike leaflets and newspaper advertising. I have also put a listing on most free web business directories but have gained no work from them so far.

I have thought about my target customers and tried to appeal to them the best i can. I want to attract people who care what their gardens look like and wish to improve them, not jobs where you cant make any progress except for a quick tidy up. The economy is not in a good place and it would be unwise to waste money on advertising which is not effective.
Andy Kenney April 4, 2012 at 9:23pm

A good one Gary and some interesting opinions on methods of effective marketing and advertising. I feel that there is a place for leaflets and newspaper/parish adverts etc. One reason why people may say that they have had little success rates and feedback leading to work is that they put the cart before the horse. What your author essentially suggests is that the business first undertakes a 'needs analysis' of its target customer market. How can this be done? Well, many ways to gain information from people such as questionnaires or feedback forms, simply talking to people to understand their needs and more importantly to create further needs by using your experience and knowledge.

Only after this stage is done, should the advertising now compliment the marketing already undertaken. Wording leaflets and newspaper adverts with what you NOW know is a potential customer need for business. Obviously, it is still weaker (as it is not personable) than word of mouth recommendations etc but it is still a presence - such as a pavement or van sign. A visual presence is a good headline and potential customers pick up on this ahead of the business itself (such as those bloody meerkats - but we all know what company the advert really represents). I remember reading a piece by Phil where he mentioned about his quirky yet noticeable logo on his van back in the 80's - it's a noticeable headline. So in my opinion i would say that good marketing and good advertising go hand in hand.
PRO

Brian www.mibservices.co.uk April 4, 2012 at 9:55pm

Hi Stuart, if you havent done so make sure you have your own website link up on all the free business indexes and back link your own web site to them for maximum google exposure. Back links to these website is invaluable SEO.

Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance said:

Thanks Gary, i have found that to be a worthwhile read. I have never done any advertising in twelve years of being in business but as i want to expand into being an employer i have had to think about it. As of this year i now have a website that has cost me nothing but time and is still under development (more of my time). I am also in the process of having some signs made for my trailer. It is really quite exciting but i am not going to do any more than this at the moment. I have tried to choose my advertising wisely and not spend too much - the website and trailer signs are something that will be around for years to come (value for money) unlike leaflets and newspaper advertising. I have also put a listing on most free web business directories but have gained no work from them so far.

I have thought about my target customers and tried to appeal to them the best i can. I want to attract people who care what their gardens look like and wish to improve them, not jobs where you cant make any progress except for a quick tidy up. The economy is not in a good place and it would be unwise to waste money on advertising which is not effective.
PRO

Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance April 5, 2012 at 8:10am

Thanks for that. I made sure my free listings had a link to my site but i have'nt back linked. I will look into that soon. I have one review on free index and will try and get a few more of those. Its early days for me as regards evaluating the effectiveness of the advertising i have started so i will have to wait and see how it goes.

www.mibservices.co.uk said:

Hi Stuart, if you havent done so make sure you have your own website link up on all the free business indexes and back link your own web site to them for maximum google exposure. Back links to these website is invaluable SEO.
Claire Brown April 5, 2012 at 9:01am

not a load of Rubbish, - Karen does have something to sell, - her knowledge of how to use marketing tools including social media,

and what she teaches people is that you Can make money out of doing something that you love and have a passion for, - you don't have to be the "lucky 10%" if you know how to market yourself properly.

People only reluctantly spend money on things they Need.

They want to spend their money on things they Want

You may think it's unethical, - but actually it's business.

Duncan said:

Load of rubbish, hehe.

I wonder how much 'Karen @CanDoCanBe' makes in a year, selling the promise of something that people think they need (her advice)? She isn't a televangelist too is she? ;-)

She does highlight one major mistake that so many people make though. Starting a business doing something that they love, or have a passion for. Probably only a lucky ten percent make that one work, instead of starting a business doing something that people need. People generally only spend money, on a regular basis, on things they need. I don't buy a paddling pool every week, although I do own one..

I just watched some friends over the last year start a gift and craft shop, ran it for a year, now it's closed. I said to the other half a year ago, ''It'll last a year''. It's a shame to see people doing things like that but you can't tell them what they wouldn't want to hear.

Back to the original post, ''Is it because they had a bad business idea?''

Yes. Good business ideas work, that's what makes them good business ideas. I can't see an ex-accountant implementing a bad business idea, unless she was also a bad accountant.

In the words of Bill Hicks, ''If you're in advertising or marketing, kill yourself, it's the only way to save your soul.'' You shouldn't need to force feed the public or sell them things that they don't need, I think it's unethical, they have done quite a good enough job of filling the world with things people don't need already. :-)
PRO

Gary RK April 5, 2012 at 11:16am

Stuart, your are right - the key to effective marketing is always to use youir budget wisely and target your prospective customers rather than a scatter gun approach.

Advertising such as parish mags and leaflets can & do work - IF they are well recieved and relevant to the target market - just look at the lawn care franchises...

Stuart @ Eco Garden Maintenance said:

Thanks Gary, i have found that to be a worthwhile read. I have never done any advertising in twelve years of being in business but as i want to expand into being an employer i have had to think about it. As of this year i now have a website that has cost me nothing but time and is still under development (more of my time). I am also in the process of having some signs made for my trailer. It is really quite exciting but i am not going to do any more than this at the moment. I have tried to choose my advertising wisely and not spend too much - the website and trailer signs are something that will be around for years to come (value for money) unlike leaflets and newspaper advertising. I have also put a listing on most free web business directories but have gained no work from them so far.

I have thought about my target customers and tried to appeal to them the best i can. I want to attract people who care what their gardens look like and wish to improve them, not jobs where you cant make any progress except for a quick tidy up. The economy is not in a good place and it would be unwise to waste money on advertising which is not effective.
PRO

Gary RK April 5, 2012 at 11:24am

Andy, yes those forms of marketing /advertising do absolutely work.

As I said above to Stuart they just have to match the service you are offering and the market likely to receive them. Commodity products and services seem to respond well to more 'mass' type marketing. Niche or upmarket products/services will need extremley targeted campaigns to appeal to that sector.

The key thread in the article in my mind was the need to know your market and work around that. I've seen people (and have probably done so myself) go do something just because my competitors are doing it. Not always a good strategy.

I enjoy Karen's articles and have followed here for a long while, helped by the fact I am quite open mined and realise I do not know everything, prefering to concentrate on what I do know well - running a landscape services business.

As my mind is not closed, I will take in best practices, recommendations in other areas to keep the business running well in hard economic times...

Andy Kenney said:

A good one Gary and some interesting opinions on methods of effective marketing and advertising. I feel that there is a place for leaflets and newspaper/parish adverts etc. One reason why people may say that they have had little success rates and feedback leading to work is that they put the cart before the horse. What your author essentially suggests is that the business first undertakes a 'needs analysis' of its target customer market. How can this be done? Well, many ways to gain information from people such as questionnaires or feedback forms, simply talking to people to understand their needs and more importantly to create further needs by using your experience and knowledge.

Only after this stage is done, should the advertising now compliment the marketing already undertaken. Wording leaflets and newspaper adverts with what you NOW know is a potential customer need for business. Obviously, it is still weaker (as it is not personable) than word of mouth recommendations etc but it is still a presence - such as a pavement or van sign. A visual presence is a good headline and potential customers pick up on this ahead of the business itself (such as those bloody meerkats - but we all know what company the advert really represents). I remember reading a piece by Phil where he mentioned about his quirky yet noticeable logo on his van back in the 80's - it's a noticeable headline. So in my opinion i would say that good marketing and good advertising go hand in hand.
Fenlandphil April 6, 2012 at 8:19am

To take a pont Claire made.

"People only reluctantly spend money on things they Need.

They want to spend their money on things they Want"

This in my experience is absolutely spot on, the trick is to make sure what you are selling is what people want.
Richard@www.seasons-garden.co.uk April 6, 2012 at 4:12pm

Take from it what you need to. I'll always listen to other opinions and use what I can - all the answers are out there....

IMO most conventional advertising is a waste of money, i.e. leaflets etc. There's some real psychology involved in doing it right and for those of us who are content to sit still then do so at your peril. Things have a habit of changing quickly these days. If advertising didn't work then why would Coca Cola still be doing it?
PRO

Gary RK April 6, 2012 at 6:49pm

The great part of LJN is its openess and the way people can demonstrate their apporach(es) to runing a business.

I think it has to be appreciated there is a lot, lot more to this than one extract posted in one thread, read in isolation.

Running a sucessful business (of whatever size) requires many approaches, much wisdom and knowledge and that the majority of these "approaches" are valid and can work.

If you 'sigh', I have no problem. It is clearly is not relevant for your type of business at your level at the moment. Nothing wrong with that, but when trying to expand a business or keep a pipeline of business to give long term business security it may be wise to look at things differently.

How much you are willing to "pay" to gain knowledge, experience and ideas is a very personal decision.

Finally, as an aside I provide small business mentoring, so I do know it can work.....:-)

richard davenport said:

I sigh every time I read stuff like this, I really do. Karen tells us why things went wrong for Jane but neglected to tell us what she could do differently.

For me, this kind of guff is no better than all that American "believe in yourself and work hard enough and you'll have everything you ever wanted" nonsense.

Please tell me you don't pay for this Gary?