Page 169 - Duct Tape Marketing

153Chapter 10: Mastering Advertising Basics and Media Planning

Generating ad responses

The easiest way to monitor ad effectiveness is to produce ads that generate
responses and then track how well they do, following these suggestions:

ߜ Give the prospect a reason to respond. Offer a brochure, a free estimate,
or some other reason to contact your business.

ߜ For ads that will be evaluated based on phone activity, create an ad that
presents a reason to call, along with an easy-to-read, toll-free number.

ߜ If you plan to evaluate based on increased foot traffic or cash register
activity, present a compelling and time-sensitive offer and be prepared
to track which media worked to originate customer activity.

Keying responses

A key is a code used to facilitate an advertiser’s ability to track the ads that
produce an inquiry or order. Here’s how to key your ads:

ߜ Add a unique extension to your phone number, keyed to indicate
response to a certain medium or ad concept. Train those who answer
the phone to record the extension number as they process the inquiry.

ߜ Add a key to coupons that you include in print ads and direct mailers.
For direct mailers, the key might indicate the mailing list from which the
inquiry was generated. For print ads, the code could match up with the
publication name and issue date. For example, BG0214 might be the key
for an ad that runs on Valentine’s Day in The Boston Globe.

ߜ Feature different post office box numbers on ads running in various
publications or on various stations. Alert those who open your mail to
attach all envelopes to inquiries so that you can monitor not only the
number of responses per medium, but also the effectiveness of each
medium in delivering prospects that convert to customers.

Here are ways to use ad keys to evaluate advertising effectiveness:

ߜ Test headline or ad concepts by placing several ads that present an
identical offer. Track responses to measure which ads perform best.

ߜ Compare the cost effectiveness of various media buys by measuring
the number of responses against the cost of the placement.