1-800-NEW-DEAL

Background: Connectivity Source is a market leader in the retail and B2B wireless communication industry, operating 29 retail locations in two states.

Client Profile: Connectivity Source, Houston, TX - Scott Aronstein, President
A fellow wireless dealer recommended the company use vanity 800 numbers with call tracking and recording services to monitor their advertising campaigns. Connectivity Source has now been using vanity 800 numbers for two years.

Challenge: Connectivity Source was placing each store's local phone number in their ads as the response tool. They had to list multiple phone numbers in each ad, and they had no method in place to track campaign performance.

Strategy: Highlight easy-to-remember Custom 800 numbers in all advertising campaigns, and use accompanying call tracking reports to monitor campaign effectiveness.

800-NEW-DEAL

866-NEW-DEAL

877-NEW-DEAL

888-NEW-DEAL

Results: Since activating four Custom 800 numbers, Scott Aronstein, President of Connectivity Source says, "We have more control over our advertising campaigns, and can review their effectiveness. With the vanity 800 numbers and real-time tracking service, we can immediately look at the source of incoming calls after a campaign launches, and tie each response back to a specific media buy."

Aronstein explains how the 800response program helps his business, "Vanity 800 service with call tracking is a beneficial program for businesses with multiple locations in the same area code. Not only can you track campaign results, but you can test the performance of promotions and advertising outlets, and modify campaigns based on actual results."

The advanced call routing technology simplified a cumbersome practice, allowing the company to change their old advertising strategy of listing many different numbers, to featuring just one phone number in their ads. Aronstein says, "Instead of listing each location with that store's local phone number, we can list just one phone number, and limit the amount of copy and clutter in our ads. And, the Custom 800 numbers are also easier for people to remember than numeric phone numbers, especially in radio and billboard campaigns."

The company's district managers also use Call Recording to monitor how employees handle their incoming calls. "We play back the recordings for the staff so they can pinpoint where their sales skills may need improvement. By monitoring the recordings each manager can improve their employee training, which affects the overall customer service experience we deliver," says Aronstein.

This is a great article I just read on MSNBC.com.  Recaps the benefits of various types of advertising media, and how to get the best ROI to keep your business afloat these days...

Which Ad Strategy Is Right for You?

Rev up your ROI by choosing the best medium for your message

By Rosalind Resnick, Entrepreneur.com

updated 1:00 p.m. ET, Wed., Aug 19, 2009

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was famously quoted as saying. The trouble is I dont know which half.

Wanamakers dilemma remains the bane of advertisers today--especially small-business owners on shoestring budgets. Unlike big-name advertisers like Pepsi, Nike, Apple and Ford, small-businesses cant afford to throw millions of dollars at Super Bowl commercials or glossy magazine ads. Whether your ad budget is $5,000 or $50,000, youve got to make every dollar count.

And that means doing the math to calculate the return on investment on every advertising campaign you run.

Whats ROI? Think of it this way: Lets say you rent a targeted list of 100 dentists in your local zip code and send them each a package containing free samples of your revolutionary new dental floss. After adding up the cost of printing, postage, list rental and samples, you may end spending $3 for every package you mail. This means that your campaign will have bring in at least $300 in profit in order to break even and $600 to double your money.

Heres the good news: With the double whammy of the recession and the Internet hurting traditional media channels like newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, theres never been a better time to buy premium advertising at bargain-basement prices--even for a small-business buyer.

The key is finding the advertising channel that best fits your company and your industry and use it to get the biggest bang for your buck. At the end of the day, its not about how much you spend or how many eyeballs you reach. Its about how many customers you can bring in the door while still making enough money to float your boat. And, while no advertising strategy is foolproof (theres always going to be some initial trial and error before you figure out what works), youll get better results and waste less money if you do your homework ahead of time.

E-mail marketing, television, search marketing and yellow pages typically yield a better ROI for unknown or unbranded direct response offers, says Michael Weinstein, CEO ofPrimary Systems, a South Salem, N.Y., Internet marketing firm.Banner advertising, print and social media are better for companies with existing visibility. For example, Toyota will do better with a banner ad while a one-time act now offer would excel in print or television.

Heres a quick guide to help you decide which advertising strategy is right for you:

Print
Despite the gloomy predictions of the death of the newspaper and magazine industries, print can still be a great way to target a niche market. For example, if youre looking to sell pre-paid phone cards to Indian immigrants in Queens or Mexican-Americans in L.A., local ethnic newspapers can be a low-cost way to reach the entire community in one shot and to deliver discount coupons that let you track response to your offer. Likewise, a targeted local or national magazine can offer an inexpensive way to reach quilters or new parents. Depending on the size of the market and the size of your ad (quarter page, half page or full page), newspapers will typically charge $5 CPM to $25 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). National magazine rates average $6 CPM.

Broadcast
No media outlet reaches more people than television, which is why its still so popular among advertisers but also why its so difficult to measure ROI. While TV may be a great way to market a new car to the roughly 100 million people who watch the Super Bowl, its not a cost-effective way to reach your target market--even if you could afford $2.6 million for a 30-second spot. TV advertising ranges from $10 CPM for a local broadcast to $35 CPM for a commercial on a popular network sitcom. That doesnt include the cost of producing the spot.

If a general demographic description is all you need, then TV can be great, says Jerry Shereshewsky, a New York City ad agency veteran and CEO ofGrandparents.com. But as soon as you need to get narrower, youre out of luck.

Direct TV is a better bet for small-business owners, especially inventors who have a blockbuster new kitchen appliance or fitness machine that must be seen to be believed. Both broadcast and cable television networks offer 30-, 60- and 120-second direct response commercials at a fraction of the cost of traditional spots. Because DRTV spots usually contain a call to action, you can flash a toll-free number or Web address that will let you measure your ROI to the penny. If your product is hot, you may even land a deal with a DRTV production company to foot the bill for your infomercial in return for a share of the revenue.

If youre looking to reach a targeted demographic while theyre commuting to work in the morning or driving home at night, theres nothing like radio. With an average CPM of just over $4, radio is a low-cost way to reach loyal listeners of popular DJs and talk show hosts. Radio advertising packages offer more than just a pre-recorded spot. They often include on-air introductions to your ad plus interactive contests and giveaways that can help you track and monitor the effectiveness of your campaign.

Directory
Advertising in the Yellow Pages may be old school, but, if youre a plumber, electrician, locksmith or other emergency repair technician, you cant afford not to be there. According to the Yellow Page Publishing Association, 96 percent of U.S. households have at least one copy. When a pipe bursts, a toilet overflows or someone locks himself out of his house at 2 a.m., you want to be the first to get the call--even if nobody remembers that the name of your company is AAA Aardvark Plumbing.

But theres more to advertising in the Yellow Pages these days than listing your phone number in big bold numbers. With consumers and businesses increasingly turning to the Internet to find the service providers they need, it may also pay to list your business in online directories. AT&Ts YellowPages.com claims it generates over 140 million monthly searches and that 55 percent of their users have purchased a product or service from a merchant they found there. Merchants can enhance their listings with interactive features like video profiles, premium inventory listings, websites and search engine optimization.

Outdoor
Outdoor advertising the signs you see on billboards, bus benches, subways, trains, airports, even elevators is almost impossible to quantify in terms of ROI, but it can work wonders for dentists, lawyers, podiatrists and trade schools looking to reach busy commuters. And, at an average CPM of $2.26, theres no cheaper way to reach a captive audience. So, while a small resort hotel may not have the ad budget of a Marriott or a Hilton, theres no better way to tell weary commuters about your hotel than with a sign that says Pats Bed and Breakfast, Exit 16.

Internet
No longer an experimental ad vehicle, Internet advertising will total $24.5 billion this year, up 4.5 percent from 2008, according to research firmeMarketer. Unlike print and broadcast, Internet advertising is easy to measure thanks to tools that track site traffic and click-through. And its often cheaper than traditional media because many online publishers charge on performance, not traditional CPM-based metrics.

Internet advertising falls into three basic categories:

Banner Advertising
The online sister of print and broadcast, banners can give your ad constant exposure on a popular website or advertising network, letting you associate your brand with a publication that your prospective customers already trust. Banner ads generally work best for e-commerce companies that sell directly from their web pages and boast well-established brands. These are the types of companies that can take advantage of the fact that their next customer may be just one click away. Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO ofSmall Business Television, says banner ads work well for branding campaigns and established brands with a simple call to action.

To get the most out of banner advertising, its best to run your banners on the kind of sites that target your desired demographic--working moms, sports car enthusiasts, business travelers or senior citizens. If youre selling luxury trips or expensive watches, for example, it may be worth paying $7.50 to $15 CPM to advertise on The Huffington Post. If youre looking to tap the affluent baby boomer market, you may not mind spending $25 CPM to $45 CPM to run your ad on AARPs site. But beware: Click-throughs on banner ads are notoriously low, so make sure youre not spending more on banners that you can realistically recoup in sales.

E-mail Marketing
Unlike traditional direct mail with its hefty postage, printing and handling costs, you can blast out an e-mail marketing campaign for little more than the list rental cost alone--and start ringing up sales within minutes. Depending on how narrow the market youre trying to reach (for example, divorced female fly fishers, ages 35 to 45, in Jackson Hole, WY), you can spend a tenth of a pennyto morethan $1per e-mail addressfor a targeted list of permission-based e-mail addresses.

Once youve picked your list, the rest is easy. Just whip up some copy, remember to pop in a link to your website and hit send. Whether you send out your e-mail campaign to loyal customers or hot prospects, you can easily track ROI by inserting a URL in your message that contains a special tracking code or which sends recipients of your mailing to a specific page on your website. A word of caution: Spam lists containing e-mail addresses compiled from websites, directories and other sources without their recipients permission continue to circulate on the Internet. Beware of bargain-basement lists that promise millions of e-mail addresses--or else you may find your mailings blocked and your company booted off your ISP.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
On the Internet, every store is only one click away. Thats why one of the most cost-effective ways to drive customers to your site is sponsoring search terms on Google, Microsoft, AOL and other popular search engines. Unlike banner advertising and e-mail marketing, which are typically sold on a CPM basis, pay-per-click marketing requires you to pay only when a prospective buyer types in the relevant keywords and clicks on the link to your website.

Search is now the tool of choice for shoppers, replacing both local newspaper advertising and yellow pages, Shereshewsky says.

Even so, its important to choose your keywords carefully and closely monitor your budget. Because popular keywords like toys, shoes and travel can be expensive, its often more cost-effective to sponsor more targeted terms like extra wide womens shoes or luxury hiking trips Nepal. Make sure to test the ROI of the keywords you sponsor (along with your ad copy and landing page) before you roll out your campaign in a big way.

In addition to paid advertising opportunities, the Internet also offers the chance to conduct no-cost grassroots marketing campaigns through blogs, social networks and bookmarking sites. But dont expect the kind of ROI from Facebook or Twitter that you get from banners, e-mail or search engine marketing. According to Weinstein, social media marketing is a great forum to communicate with your customers, but it takes constant care and feeding and isnt suitable for marketers looking for an immediate return.

Whether you choose an online, print, broadcast or directory advertising channel for your next campaign, it pays to do the math before investing your companys hard-earned dollars. A little planning now will ensure that youll know which half of your advertising budget is working--and which half youd be better off employing elsewhere.

 

Associated Press - August 18, 2009 6:34 PM ET

CHICAGO (AP) - General Motors says there's not much it can do about a florist in central Illinois now inundated with calls from people inquiring about cash for clunkers.

The calls to Clinton's Flower Corner began after GM advertised a toll-free cash-for-clunkers number that's nearly identical to the store's toll-free number.

Owner Judy Van Fossan says the around 150 calls a day threaten to damage business because regular customers can't get through.

Only the prefixes of the numbers differ; GM's is 877 and the shop's is 800. People are more familiar with the 800 prefix, so many meaning to call GM mistakenly dial 800.

GM spokesman John McDonald says a lack of available 800 numbers forces companies to use 877 equivalents. In the long run, McDonald hopes the confusion will help the flower business by raising the profile of the shop.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

We're always talking about vanity 800 numbers and the benefits of using these totally unique phone numbers to brand your business, to stick in the mind's of consumers, and to increase your ad response rates.  And, we also always encourage our prospective customers, and existing customers, to activate a vanity 800 number for their ad campaigns with broadcast and outdoor media buys, and marketing materials like signage and promotional items.

But, there are some benefits to also activating numeric toll-free numbers, and using them in conjunction with your vanity 800 number.

At 800response, we offer what we call "repeater" numbers, a more memorable version of a numeric toll-free, but not quite as memorable as our toll-free Custom 800 (a.k.a. vanity) numbers.

What are repeaters?
Repeaters are toll-free numbers, like 1-800-233-2323. Repeater numbers are also available from 800response when you activate a Custom 800 number. We recommend that repeater numbers are used in print, some direct mail, and online ad campaigns. These forms of media have a longer life than broadcast media therefore it is not as critical to have an easy-to-remember Custom 800 number.

Why should I use repeater numbers in my advertising?
Repeaters give you the ability to track the comparative success of different advertising media. We recommend using a different repeater in each version of your print media campaign. Doing this allows you to track each specific advertisement in a campaign and determine how effective a newspaper ad may be, versus a door stuffer or magazine ad, for example.

So, when you're researching and trying to decide on the best response tool to use in your ad campaigns, it is prudent to consider using a vanity 800 number in combination with numeric toll-free numbers, or repeater numbers.  Again, the vanity 800 numbers are proven to bring in higher consumer recall and response rates.  And the repeater 800 numbers will track each specific piece of advertising creative, and are best used in print or online media where there is more longevity and people don't have to recall a phone number because they can look at it on their screen or in their laps.  Together, you'll have a complete lead-tracking system in place to monitor your advertising campaigns and be able to account for every advertising dollar spent!

1-800-NEXT-CAR

Background: A dealer group provides high-risk credit to consumers looking for auto loans. Now that the need for auto financing is rising, this group of dealerships is benefiting from a strong advertising campaign featuring a toll-free vanity 800 number as the response tool.

Client: Marketing & Sales Manager for five locations.

Challenge: Sustain a successful lead generation program during the 2009 reduced-credit environment.

Strategy: Persevere with a television advertising campaign that features 1-800-NEXT-CAR as the response tool. Continue to build on the dealerships' five-year history using the toll-free vanity number to improve brand recognition in each of their markets.

Results: The Marketing & Sales Manager for five dealer locations has been using the vanity 800 number in advertising campaigns for five years.  "1-800-NEXT-CAR is synonymous with our locations. The vanity number is a main contributing factor to the strength of our name recognition in our markets."

Calls coming in to the dealerships are increasing now that there are more people seeking credit. "By sustaining a steady ad campaign over the years with our vanity 800 number, people are remembering the phone number and contacting us to complete credit applications," says the Marketing & Sales Manager.

He explains that even though the auto market is down right now, the need for credit is rising among all demographics, "Our dealerships and financing departments are doing well. We are 6% up over 2008, and our business is up 12% in the first two months of the year over January and February of 2008."

Although a portion of that success is due to the need for credit, the Marketing & Sales Manager also believes it is because he is committed to running an advertising campaign with 1-800-NEXT-CAR as the branding and response tool, maintaining consistent exposure in their markets.  He says, "The vanity 800 number and our advertising campaigns are part and parcel to our success."

The Marketing & Sales Manager shares his theory on advertising during an economic slow-down, "I really believe that advertising in this down-market is a core factor in our current success. I wonder where we would be if we had cut our advertising initiatives, and if we didn't have the vanity 800 number."

Tracking ad campaign effectiveness is a key component to fine-tuning advertising strategies, media plans (choosing the right stations, networks, newspapers, or markets to advertise in), and improving return on investment (ROI).

There are several ways to track campaign performance, depending on the type of advertising you conduct and what the call-to-action is in your creative materials.  For example, if you run online ads, like pay-per-click campaigns or banner ads, you can use unique toll-free numbers to track clicks and incoming calls.  But, if you run traditional ads, like radio or billboard campaigns, you'll want to use a more memorable phone number since writing down a phone number is not always an option when people are driving and listening to the radio or passing a billboard on the freeway.  Same goes for television ads - it's better to use an unforgettable phone number, like a vanity 800 number (i.e. 1-800-BEST-BUY) because people don't always have a pen handy when they're relaxing and watching American Idol!

Ad tracking with vanity 800 numbers is also possible, and easy to do if you have access to call tracking reports.  Companies using vanity 800 numbers in their ad campaigns have access to a wealth of customer and call data through ad tracking reports.  These online, real-time reports provide powerful data on customers, like addresses and demographics, so you can build a lead database, and develop promotions and campaigns based on a prospects profile.  The reports also show advertisers when their phones are the busiest - so they can schedule staff accordingly.  And, they provide information on who calls your business more than once (repeat callers detail), who in a new caller (unique caller detail), and the reports even alert you to when your business has missed a call.  Missed call monitors send an instant alert to a designated email address or cell phone number, enabling your business to call that person back as soon as possible in order to recover a lost lead.

The benefits of call tracking reports goes on and on.  Use the information to build stronger advertising and marketing strategies for your business, and improve your return on advertising investment.  You'll look smarter, and the toll-free phone number (preferably a vanity 800 number) and call tracking reports will do most of the work for you.  A quick glance and analysis is all you need to find out if your current ad campaigns are performing and generating leads and business.

And, don't forget...a consumer survey found that people have an 84% improvement in recall of a vanity 800 number (vs. a numeric toll-free number, i.e. 866-425-8597) after watching a print/billboard ad for five seconds, and had a 9x higher recall of the vanity number in radio ads.

That's a no-brainer though.  Not many people can remember a string of 10 random digits, which is why so many advertising businesses use vanity numbers (UPS, 800-Flowers, Best Buy, Got Junk?, Progressive, and many others).

According to an article in today's MediaPost News' Marketing Daily, Marketers continue to be under heavy pressure to reduce costs, and agencies are feeling the squeeze even more than a year ago, confirms the latest recession-driven trends survey conducted by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

 

However, there is a bit of a bright spot that we should also focus on.  Some survey respondents are more hopeful than they were six months ago that advertising budgets may be turning around, and fewer responded they are expecting budget cuts:

 

• 17% (versus 8% six months ago) now say they are "hopeful" that there will be budget increases within the foreseeable future.
• 39% (versus 43% in the last survey) are expecting cuts.
• The number projecting status quo changed very little (44% now versus 43% in the last survey).

ANA's previous recession-focused surveys were conducted in July/August 2008 and January/February 2009. The latest, conducted in late July/early August, drew responses from 128 client-side marketers.

L.A. City Council Bans B'boards, Supergraphics in Emergency Move

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to prohibit new digital billboards, supergraphics and some highway-facing signs, in an emergency move born of the expectation that a federal judge could soon issue an injunction making it impossible for the city to ban such signs.

The city has been rewriting its sign laws, and in the meantime has been passing temporary bans, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The council's action was in response to a lawsuit challenging the city's latest sign moratorium, filed by Liberty Media Group, which said the city had not followed the correct procedures when it put the temporary bans in place.

One temporary ban was set to expire on Aug. 17, which coincides with the council's summer recess. City officials feared billboard companies would take advantage of the lapse in time to build new signs before a new ban could be implemented.

The Los Angeles City Council has been attempting to control digital signs and billboards since 2002. It has lost a number of cases, which have gone to federal court, writes the Contra Costa Times.

When it comes back from its recess, the council will consider whether it will set up special sign districts and improve enforcement.

A lawyer for one billboard company says council members were overstepping their authority, and added that the public did not have enough time to review the proposal before the emergency vote, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

What do you think about this?  Share your thoughts here!

Some words from an advertising industry expert, published in a recent AdvertisingAge article..."This current economy has stimulated a new marketing consciousness," said Laurence Boschetto, president-CEO, DraftFCB. "Clients are saying they want accountability for every dollar they spend, and they want cause and effect. Clients will continue to rally behind ideas that build business, and we as an industry have to accept that things will never revert back to the pre-recession mind-set that wasn't totally focused on accountability."

Call tracking reports, available with toll-free vanity 800 numbers, will help you monitor and measure campaign effectiveness, and even let you narrow in on the exact media outlets and buys that are most effective.  This critical information will steer you in the right direction of fine tuning your ad campaigns (or client's ad campaigns) to make sure you're getting the best return on investment (ROI) for every dollar spent on advertising.

To track cause and effect, and report on accountability of your advertising campaigns, read the recent post on Cost-per-Lead.

A new study conducted by MORI Research, commissioned by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), reveals that U.S. consumers say they rely on newspaper advertisements more than ads in any other medium when they are planning, shopping and making purchase decisions.

Findings include:

• 59% of adults identify newspapers as the medium they use to help plan shopping or make purchase decisions.

Among respondents who say they "took action" as a result of newspaper advertising:

• 61% clipped a coupon
• 50% bought something
• 27% tried something for the first time

• 73% of adults regularly or occasionally read newspaper inserts
• 82% have been spurred to action by a newspaper insert in the past month

"Newspaper advertising remains the most powerful tool for advertisers who want to motivate consumers to take action," said NAA President and CEO John Sturm.

I can attest to this.  Just last Sunday I read our local paper and took out coupons for several items I actually need to buy, and I went to the store that day and got them.  I also attended a side-walk sale as a result of reading it in the paper, and will go blueberry picking this week based on another ad I saw!

Print advertising is not a dying media...it still has a place and creates action in the minds of consumers, just as Sturm says.

Other advertising research studies show that when consumer are using the Yellow Pages to look up a business in their local area, 60% prefer to dial a toll-free vanity 800 number in order to reach a business. 

Check out sample print ads using vanity 800 numbers as the direct-response tool.

I just read an article from MediaPost News/Marketing Daily that lifted my spirits and outlook on the future of traditional advertising.

Mass Media Crisis Is Marketers' Crisis, Too by Karlene Lukovitz

The piece reviews a new white paper published by The Boston Consulting Group, "The CMO's Dilemma: Can You Reach the Masses Without Mass Media?," co-authored by John Rose and Neal Zuckerman.

In summary, the article concludes that "by undermining the financial viability of traditional media, marketers are jeopardizing the only viable means currently available for reaching mass audiences."

What's the take-away?  Traditional media ads, like radio, television, and print, still reach mass audiences in a way that social media and alternative forms cannot, and continues to be valued by Americans.

These days it's likely most businesses are buttoning down and focusing on getting the most out of their budgets, including their advertising and marketing budgets.

Cost-per-lead is one calculation that can help determine how effective your advertising campaigns are at bringing in leads that you can turn into sales.

Advertising cost-per-lead is defined as the cost an advertiser incurs in order to generate one lead from an ad placement.  The value is calculated by analyzing the price paid for a campaign divided by the number of responses generated by the campaign.

ex: $5,000 / 225 Call-ins = $22.22 Cost per Lead

The lower the cost-per-lead, the more effective your advertising campaign.

There are services that can calculate your business' advertising cost-per-lead in real-time. Call Tracking software providers, like 800response, have IVR platforms that allow you to plug in the total amount of your campaign, and then as calls come in, the cost-per-lead for that campaign is automatically updated instantly. 

So, at any time, you can log in to your Call Tracking reports and monitor how effective a current campaign is at generating leads for your business.  And, this service also allows you to scrutinize specific media buys, for example a buy you place on a specific radio station, so that you can monitor that station's performance.  This invaluable information lets you analyze and modify media buys so you are getting the best return on investment, reducing your cost-per-lead and improving your overall ROI.