One thing I share with any one of my clients is that we both own small businesses. We all have the same pressures to perform and people depend on us for their incomes. All of this is apparent each day and, of course, there is that thing about our own families’ well being, hopes and dreams. Yeah, that little thing.
One thing I have been hearing a lot lately is that marketing is an investment in the business. Nothing could be further than the truth. Marketing is an expense... not an investment. You must spend somehow on marketing... the key to choosing what to do with that line item has a lot to do with how realistic you are about how you get your return.
One makes an investment of capital or time in an effort to yield a profit. This describes the entire venture of a business. Your total amount of business expenses is invested each year with the goal of making a profit in the business. You invest in people for service, sales and operations. You have expenses in equiptment to allow you to do the necessary jobs to run the business and offer a service. And, you have expenses to attract people to your business. The sum total of all of these elements and more... and your time... is your investment in the business. This is a fact that is lost on many business owners.
Marketing expenses are a necessary line item. You need to make these expenses on a regular basis to build your pipeline of prospects and expand the reach of your brand awareness.
I find it troubling when a client puts a time limitation on a certain marketing expense, expecting a direct return as if the marketing expense is a coin-operated machine. If you think you put in your marketing “investment” , turn the handle and your return comes out... you are simply being unrealistic.
Dog Star Media frequently suggests marketing strategies that take 12 or more months to operate in order to be thorough with your expenses. We recommend means of reducing expenses for any specific marketing task in order to get as many irons in the fire as possible. Then, we recommend measuring the results. However, keeping those results in perspective it important in the big picture. I think back to some clients who quit out of direct mail programs... the most reliable marketing programs of all... after only a few months.... even when they improved web traffic to the clients’ web site. In cases like this, changing your mind on strategy is like throwing money away.
Or worse, I have seen some clients choose to stop altogether. Going without the marketing expenses is a sure-fire way to shrink your business eventually. There is no quicker way to undercut your total investment in the business. Maintaining the outreach is important. It is a necessary expense, proportional to the business. We recommend a standard 3-5% of the gross dedicated to marketing somehow. Maybe it means a new web site or the addition of regular new content to the site, or a direct marketing program that drives traffic to the site or cost per click advertising but it is important to do something.
And, if you are going to do something to keep stirring the pot. Changing horses in mid-stream is a sure fire way to do a lot of things poorly instead of one or two things well.
DSM has been doing a direct mailer since January. We use a tracking number on the mailer and the mailer primarily promotes our web site... which is where I want all prospects to go first to meet us. I know this from sales experience this year... our web site sells new business on its own. It is memorable and different... just like we want it to be. So far, we have had no calls on the tracking number from the mailer. Not one. I have had clients quit direct mail programs and break retainer arrangements because of no phone calls for four months. They were short sighted. I am not.
In April, we have had as many new visitors to our web site in the first 15 days as we did in all of January. In March, more than 33% more new visitors visited www.dogstarmedia.com. When I look at the new visitors, they are coming from all over the country where we mailed our direct mailer. People are keying in our domain name because they are seeing it somewhere. Where is all this new traffic coming from? Why are these new visitors ringing up looks a the DSM portfolio and wanting to meet our team?
Should I cut off my direct mail expense? What if I looked at that expense as if it must yield a certain number of direct calls in order to justify further investment? What if my big picture really just keyed on people being impressed with the content and design of my web site and the information they can get from me in my blog?
I will tell you why. My total investment in time, effort and marketing is paying off. The calls we get are not from the mailer. They are from our web site. New business is calling us. It is driven by the cumulative effect of our efforts and my commitment to the line items will keep fueling that fire. Stop the mailer because we are getting no calls from it.... no way. Every day I watch those new web visitor numbers go up, I love my mailer even more.
