Advertising can be extremely effective but it has to be done properly. Often it is dismissed as being an ineffective medium but this is usually because the rules have not been followed. The key is in testing to find advertisements that work and measuring their response.
Is Advertising Relevant For Me?
I guess the first question to ask yourself is, ‘Does advertising have a part to play in my armoury?’ The answer is a qualified ‘Yes, but it depends.’ And it depends on whether you make the positive decision to undertake a logical, well thought-out campaign, or you respond to any one of the multitude of phone calls you get everyday offering you a ‘fantastic advertising opportunity’.
The answer to these is most definitely, ‘No’. The sales executive is only phoning you because they are desperate (you can probably hear all the other desperate sales executives on the
phone in the background!). I know it always sounds like a worthy cause but you must stay focused and commercial. Anyway, how are you going to measure the results of a small ad on that free giveaway wall planner or the half page in the police diary?
The problem with all advertising is making a direct connection with your potential customer. There is so much ‘clutter’ and everyone is bombarded with so many non-relevant messages that they find it difficult to sort out which messages to view. How do you get people’s attention? Anyone involved with TV advertising must be very fed up with hearing how many people use the ad breaks as an excuse to leave the room.
The advent of the internet and the possibilities of pay-per-click advertising have made advertisers focus on ways to replicate this direct approach in the media world. The focus seems to be on the mobile phone, which is seen as the ideal vehicle for reaching identified people with targeted messages. Luckily, to receive the benefit of messages directed straight to us we have to opt-in!
With GPS tracking, it is possible for us to be sent an advertising message just as we are walking or driving past that new restaurant we have been meaning to try.
For the last few years there have been dire predictions about the imminent collapse of conventional advertising. It hasn’t happened yet. Indeed there are still new publications being launched on the back of advertisers’ demand for more specialist and targeted opportunities. This is really the key. Trying to find small, discrete groups of people with similar lifestyles and then seeing how to reach them. Until we can beam our message to prospects just at the point that they are making a relevant choice we will have to rely on local papers, school and village magazines and specialist magazines.
Is Your Advertising Working?
If you don’t know the answer to this, then cancel everything! If you are running advertisements in directories, guides or in local papers and you are not sure about their effectiveness then you really should stop them. If everyone involved in advertising, from the client to the publication, were entirely honest they would admit that much advertising doesn’t really work! Remember the childhood story of the emperor’s new clothes?
Maybe you are advertising because your competition does. How do you know that it is working for them? Sometimes publications give space away just so that they can tell you that their medium is an ideal vehicle. Be very sceptical about claims from advertising representatives and do talk to your competition: if you all acted together you might save all of you a lot of money. Don’t follow the herd.
What Type Of Advertising Should You Do?
Many publications, particularly trade or specialist ones, are totally supported by hotel chain advertising. It is likely that this is ‘image’ advertising. The objective for this advertising is often not directly related to business development but to support the franchise. Indeed many hotels have to pay a portion of their revenue to an advertising fund specifically to promote the brand.
As an independent hotel you will very rarely find yourself able to justify such an approach, except maybe in a launch phase. You will be mostly involved in ‘direct response’, where you can measure the results.
The vital element is to make a clear distinction between the two. Don’t try to promote your image and at the same time clutter the advertisement with a coupon. Be very clear about your objective.