Getting the most out of your advertising dollars

There are three key elements to getting the most out of your advertising dollars: The right audience, the right message and the right environment.

If you have the right message paired with perfect audience, but you deliver it in a place or at a time when they are not open to it, your message will be lost or ignored. You probably have received a phone call just as you sit down to a nice dinner with the family only to realize it is someone trying to sell you a new credit card, upgrade your cable or some other product. You may already have relationship with that company, maybe you have some interest in the product, but not at dinner time. (right message, right audience, wrong environment)

Now say you buy time on a local radio station to market a new homes development you represent. The station shows you their reach demographics and hits your market of age 35 to 55 perfectly. They are the number one station in that age group and the household income means this audience can afford the homes you are selling. Best of all the radio station offers you a "sweet" package deal. You will get 40 spots per week for the same price as 30, but as you look closer, half the spots are between 8 pm and 6 am. Radio listeners drop off significantly during that time. So, what you are really getting is 20 spots for the price of 30. You would be better off just buying the 20 spots outright for a lower total cost. The other option is the radio station will also put your ad on their sister station who has good numbers in the 25 to 40 range, which is actually heavily skewed to the 25 age side, in prime driving time, but the station is heavy metal. They tell it is like getting these ads for free and you figure it can't hurt. But, actually it can, because reaching the wrong audience not only wastes your money it confuses your consumer if the happen to be flipping through the channels and hear your ad aimed at 35 to 55 year olds on a heavy metal station. Now they are sure if the development is for them or not, it may be too loud. (right message, wrong audience, right environment)

Another issue is that we all get hit up for sponsorship advertising. Let me rephrase that, we are guilted into sponsorship advertising for one cause or another. You want to be a good community steward, but your market is starter homes for young couples, sponsoring a high school theater production probably does you little to no good. But sponsoring a child seat safety check, probably hits right in your market with the message you care about families at a time and place where families are interested in advice from businesses who care.

Advertising homes in a real estate guide makes perfect sense. The consumer who picks that up and reads it has some interest in homes and is receptive to the message. Before you spend your advertising budget ask is this going to my market, do you have the right message, and will this be received in the environment. If you can answer yes to all three, it is a good spend. Two out of three might as well be zero out of three as it will not connect and therefore it is a waste of money.

For a more in-depth analysis of this concept visit http://www.stuckydesign.com/StuckyDesignapproach.html