There is a lot of marketing activity going on right now, which is fairly typical for the elective surgical and dental markets. And, when people shop, they make decisions based on opinions. If you are doing it right, you solicit expert opinions and do your own research, then form a fact-based opinion on what to do. However, most people shoot from the hip without doing that. They see something someone else is doing and just jump. While you have to admire the willingness and initiative, that can be a formula for disaster. So, this time of year, I like to reach back to the basics in case anyone reading is about to make such a move. For the rest who are deliberating making decisions on what to do, here is an expert opinion that you can count on to help you make proper decisions.
All strategies at Dog Star Media are based on a simple communications principle we call the Flow of Information. All sales and marketing communications occur through a flow of information one way or another. And, when it does flow, these communications flow through a medium. Where people get into problems is when the wrong media is chosen for a certain kind of communication or a certain kind of medium is misunderstood or misrepresented, thereby creating unrealistic expectation. In short, if you are breaking down your information flow properly, then you are using the right tool for the right job.
Here are the three basics of communications as they relate to sales:
1) Media - When you put your message into a medium, it is conveyed one way: outwardly. You are projecting an idea. And, given that limitation, messages that are put into mediums must be crafted to produce the desired result. The biggest mistakes we see are the result of misunderstanding this.
2) Sales - The information in a sales communication is exchanged between parties. In other words, the information flows both ways, allowing for comprehension, analysis and reaction. So, we like to define the act of selling as the exchange of information leading to a resolution. This implies that somehow the sales conversation will be brought to a conclusion, Win/Win or No Deal.
3) Marketing - We consider marketing the proper balance of messages and media and sales communication. The balance is critical. It is the cocktail that produces measurable benchmarks which can then be adjusted. Also, we find that separating these terms makes people focus the above two definitions which are often highly misunderstood.
So, using these basics, you begin making decisions. Here is a typical scenario. Let’s say a doctor wants to buy a radio ad campaign. (I choose that because there seems to be a lot of interest in radio among our clients these days). Radio is a broadcast mass medium. Broadcast mass mediums on successful stations have several benefits, one of which is called Reach or the number of people who will be exposed to their signal over a period of time. Some may listen all day, some my just fly by the channel. Most industry professionals will confirm that most radio listeners listen for short bursts of time but do have good brand loyalty. In other words, when they listen, they typically listen to familiar stations regardless of the length. Sometime that length tends to be only a few minutes. You know how you listen to the radio. Just apply that to thousands of people all at once and you get an idea of what radio advertising offers.
Based on these principles, the way to be effective on broadcast mass media is to buy volume and sustain it over a long period of time. In other words, you increase the frequency and duration of your campaign are critical to your message being understood. Right there, you have a limiting factor that small businesses which require an adjustments: cost. Most small businesses cannot afford a saturation campaign, so if expectations cannot be set properly with what can be achieved with a small budget in this medium, the most most likely result is failure and resulting disappointment.
But, you REALLY want radio. So what do you do? You begin by understanding the flow of information with this medium. Radio listeners use their ears, there is nothing visual and a lot of this listening occurs while the listener is doing something else like driving, working out, working, etc. So it is more likely that a small drop of information is going to get through best due to the conditions under which the medium is used. Small, short, effective bursts of memorable information on radio can be very affordable if you buy it right. However, if you go in buying what is sold traditionally, such as a 60-second spot or 30-second spot, then the cost for the time is much more, thereby eating up your small business media budget and reducing your frequency. So, it is smarter to buy a higher volume of brief mentions so you can do the same on your budget with higher frequency. Now you are using this medium the way it was designed to be used for success. One more step in this hypothetical plan. The biggest mistake I see people making in radio spots is having a telephone call to action. Next time you are listening to a radio ad and you hear a random spot for a telephone number, try to remember the number ten minutes later. It’s much harder to remember a 7 or 10 digit number than it is to remember a memorable word, like a catchy domain name. By using short burst of radio spots to drive traffic to your web site, rather than call you, the likelihood of your radio campaign working for you improves dramatically. Why? Because you understand the nature of the one-way flow of information through that medium. Only a droplet is going to get through. Let’s make the droplet as memorable as possible and price the campaign to where you can get as many droplets as possible. Are you going to explain your whole practice or all the benefits? No, but you can do that in another medium where projecting all that information is appropriate for the medium.
This is only one common example. I see dozens every year. Understanding the flow of information and how it works with your choices of mediums is how you make good media choices. And, when you don’t rely on your media buys to do the selling (another HUGE mistake I see all the time), then you have a good balanced approach on how you can attract people, let them educate themselves to a degree, then join into the process and help them through the decision-making process of choosing you as their doctor or dentist.
The Flow of Information. It starts and ends there if you are going to be successful. If you think that your approach can be refocused using these principles and you need help in refining your marketing plan, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com. We will be happy to help.
