The Four "I's" of Advertising

The task of your company's marketing program is to create opportunities for you to sell your products and service. A vital part of this marketing effort is an advertising component that not only supports your sales force, but actually precedes the sales effort.

An effective ad campaign produces four "I's" for your company: Interest, Image, Information and Inquiries.

1. Interest
The first job of any advertisement is to grab the attention of the audience. If an ad does not have "stopping power," it is a waste of space or time. Potential customers must have a reason to become interested before they will read or listen to your ad.

Bold graphics, intriguing headlines, informative photographs or illustrations and attractive layouts are all ways to make readers stop, look and pay attention. Ads that are thrown together with little regard to these important elements deserve the fate they receive-fading away into the background. To be sold, you must be bold.

2. Image
Your advertising is the public face of your company. Potential customers may never meet you, may never visit your gleaming offices, may not even see your delivery truck!

But, like it or not, they will form an opinion of your company through the only means available-your advertising. Obviously, the version of your company presented in your ads should be the one most likely to elicit a positive response from the audience.

Look at your advertising with a customer's eye. Is your ad sloppily produced? Crammed with copy? Run on a spotty and irregular schedule? Readers (or listeners) will notice these details. They will equate "sloppy and irregular" with your company.

On the other hand, an ad that is clever, clean and attractive will serve to show the world that you take pride in your work and your company's image. Now, which ad will "turn off" a potential customer, and which will make them sit up and take notice?

3. Information
Now that you have their attention and good will, what will you say to your potential customers? Tell them what they want to hear.

"How can your product or service save me time or money? How can it solve my problems? Why will I be better off if I buy from you? Don't sell me on features, sell me on benefits."

The key is to ignore what you see as features and concentrate on what the customer needs in the way of benefits. Deodorant makers don't sell dry underarms-they sell social acceptance. Family restaurants don't sell good tasting food-they sell convenient fun for all. Automobile manufacturers don't sell transportation-they sell excitement and status. You do not sell oil-you provide comfort, convenience and safety.

4. Inquiries
A good salesperson always "asks for the sale," a function too often overlooked in advertising. While you can seldom close the deal in the newspaper, every ad should attempt to make a connection between your company and the audience.

Ask the reader to call or write to order or to get more information. Offer free literature. Invite the customer to visit your office. Use a toll-free telephone number or postage-paid reply card to make it as easy as possible for the customer to connect with you. Get that name, address and phone number!

This is called a qualified lead. Here is someone who has taken the time and effort to express an interest in your product or service. This is a bona fide opportunity to sell. By creating an atmosphere in which a potential customer makes the first move, your chances of actually selling to this person are four time greater than if you had approached them via a "cold call."

Now follow up as if your business depended on it. Return the call, send the brochure, make the appointment. Advertising's "Four I's" have put you in an enviable position.

Points of Contact, Points of Influence

“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”

This is especially true when it comes to marketing your business. Making a good impression is the first step in promoting your company to prospects and customers alike. Letters, telephone calls, postcards, newsletters, client meetings, social events, the way your receptionist greets visitors—these and many other occasions are valuable “points of contact.”

These points of contact are also “points of influence.” Each offers an opportunity to affect the perception of your company—either positively or negatively. How your company is represented at each and every one of these points of contact plays a key role in influencing how others think of your business.

Try to make every point of contact a point of positive influence. The first step is to make sure every employee in your company understands that they represent the business at all times. That includes those parts of the day and week when they are “off the clock.” Foolish behavior and loose talk can be just as devastating to your company’s image in a social setting as in a boardroom.

Next, establish standards. A part of every job description should include standards of dress and behavior that are expected. Start with key areas that are part of every business day, such as telephone etiquette, correspondence, fax procedures and customer hospitality. These are areas where “little things” mean a lot.

Standards must also be applied to all printed materials, from business cards and letterhead, to brochures and newsletters. The printed materials that leave your office serve as silent envoys for your company. Make sure they represent you favorably. Don’t settle for “good enough.” Put your best face forward in all of your marketing and business paperwork.

Every day, you and your employees make contact with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of customers and potential customers. Making the right impact every time requires discipline, training and practice at all levels of the company. Make each opportunity count. Turn these points of contact into points of positive influence.

Understanding PR

I was recently floored by an otherwise intelligent (or so I thought) business person who told me that, with the economy in its current state, his company simply cannot afford PR.

This is a person who does not understand what public relations is, or what it can do for his business. He probably thinks PR is just a way to get "free advertising." It is not.

Here is what PR is:

- Public relations is not a luxury, it is a strategy that is key to the success of your business.

- Public relations is the way to manage key messages about your company, both good and bad.

- Public relations supplies credibility for your business by connecting with important audiences through channels that are not seen as paid advertising or promotion.

- Public relations is a two-way street, providing feedback from customers, prospects and the wider market that can help you further refine products and services - IF you take the time to listen.

- Public relations is a dialogue established between your organization and the world.

So, if "free advertising" is all you are after, PR is not for you. But if you want to help manage how your company is viewed by customers, prospects and other key audiences, take PR off the "luxury" list and put it where it belongs - under "essentials."

The Recovery Begins Right Here

If you are following the ups and downs of the stock market in order to gauge the condition of the economy, you may be looking in the wrong place. Let me tell you why.

I recently asked a client, "How's business?" "Good," was his tentative reply. But then he amended it to, "surprisingly good." It seems January has been a productive month for his company. And, while he admitted the orders were not flying in like a few years ago, he was pleased with the way things were going. Maybe even a little optimistic.

Thus, the recovery begins. Not on Wall Street, but on Main Street. If you are hoping that the infusion of billions of dollars of our money into the financial system will eventually trickle down to help you out of the doldrums, don't hold your breath. Look where the first $350 billion went - nobody knows. (Although my guess is that most of it is now in private accounts in the Cayman Islands.)

No, the strength of the U.S. economy is not centered in the money shops of New York. It is in the small machine shops, local retail stores, local banks, farms and business offices just down the street from where you are. WE will be the engine that drives the recovery, not the socialization of America.

The client also shared the fact that much of his current business is coming from repeat customers. That is always nice, but never an accident. Such support and loyalty is the result of treating customers fairly and staying in touch with them.

I have always said that the most important marketing you can do is not to prospects, but to existing customers who already know and understand you. But they can easily forget about you unless you make the effort to keep the channels of communication open.

The Miracle of Good PR

Kudos to US Airways on how they handled themselves during yesterday's airliner crash in New York. First to the pilot and flight crew for their decisions and actions that saved so many lives. But also to the company who showed how a good crisis communications plan works.

What am I talking about?

Look at the clutter of all the politicians (mayor, governor, borough president) pushing each other aside to get in front of the cameras. Yet the only public comment from US Airways was delivered by a spokesman in Phoenix. Nothing from local (New York) US Airways representatives.

And that is how it should be, especially in a time of crisis. US Airways executed its crisis PR plan to perfection, with all communication funneling through a single spokesperson who was well prepared and provided enough information, but not too much. One message, cohesively delivered.

Every company should have a written crisis communications plan in place to help them deal with critical audiences (employees, customers, media, investors, regulators) in the event of a disaster or emergency. Once the goose hits the engine, it is too late to start thinking about who is going to say what, and to whom.

The World Has Not Stopped Turning

So we are in the middle of a recession. (Or perhaps we are at the beginning, or nearing the end. We won't really know until it is long over.) What is clear is that fewer homes are being purchased, fewer automobiles are being sold, fewer appliances are being delivered, fewer dollars are being spent across the board.

Please note one very important word in the preceding paragraph: "fewer."

I did not write that NO houses or cars were being sold, or that NO money was being spent. The economy has certainly slowed, but it has not stopped. Business is still being conducted. But many people are acting as if they must hide in the bomb shelter until the big, bad recession goes away.

That's bull****. It is a weak excuse for not being willing to compete for business. Too many people in business today have grown fat and lazy during the last ten years of prosperity. They think that customers and sales should magically drop into their laps in ever increasing numbers.

New reality, folks. We have returned to a time when you have to earn every dollar you make. When you have to do what it takes to steal market share from your competitors, and to fight for every customer.

Some businesses remain unable or unwilling to go on the offensive. They will fail.

Those that adapt and get aggressive with their marketing and sales efforts will survive, and then REALLY make hay when the economy climbs back up.

"Tightening your belt" has two connotations. You can cinch it up to try to hide your hunger pangs. Or you can gird your loins to do battle.

Which will you choose?