Residential Real EstateHow To Know If Your Advertising Is Really Working
There"s an old saying with which most advertising hands are familiar: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I just don"t know which half."
Short of throwing up your hands in frustration, what can you do to test the efficacy of the advertising you place? While there"s no cut and dried answer, there are many ways in which you can determine which ads, and more important, which media are working for you. Here are some measures you can implement right now to determine where your ads work best.
Fundamentally, you should ask every caller and visitor if and where he or she saw your ad. It"s your responsibility to do so, because many consumers don"t volunteer that information, and you need to know which media are generating responses for you. You and others who answer your office phones should each have at the ready a sheet that lists all the media in which you advertise. After a caller tells you which medium prompted the call, place a mark next to the appropriate publication on that sheet. Continue this process for a month, and then compare the responses to what you"re spending in each medium.
If one medium costs $500 a month to advertise in and generates 50 phone calls, while another costs $250 a month and also generates 50 phone calls, then both are working, but the latter is working twice as well, because the cost per lead acquisition is half the more expensive publication. If you encounter a situation in which you"re paying more but getting the same or less response, you have two choices: Demand that the $500 a month publication cut its ad rates in half, or withdraw your advertising from that publication and increase your advertising exposure in the less expensive, more effective publication. (You might be surprised to find that the publisher of the more expensive publication will be willing to cut his rates, just to retain your business.)
What type of advertising is effective but a bit more difficult to measure? Outdoor advertising. Outdoor (billboards) can be a great marketing tool that supports your other advertising initiatives. When people see your ads in print, they will likely be reminded of the billboards they"ve seen, helping to reinforce those print ads. Still, try to get a gauge on the number of people who remark that they"ve seen your billboards. And if your photo does not appear on a billboard, you may wish to think about putting your smiling face up there for all to see. Your face alone fosters a personal relationship with prospective home buyers and sellers alike.
Testing your advertising – finding out what really works for you – takes some effort, but not all that much. Remember that the vigilance you exercise over your ad spending and ad response should result in one of the following:
You"ll spend less and achieve the same response levels
You"ll maintain but re-allocate your spending and enjoy greater response
You"ll decide to spend even more on advertising with the confidence of knowing that your investment will pay off in spades.
Bruce Mishkin is a sales and marketing consultant specializing in the media business. He was a publishing executive with ABC and The Walt Disney Company, and later president of the New York-based advertising agency, Itwerx. He may be reached at (732) 316-1144, or via e-mail at bmishkin@optonline.net.