Is your advertising and marketing program doing all it can for your business? If you're like most companies, the answer is NO! We're not just talking about marginal improvement. We're talking BIG IMPROVEMENTS that are measurable.

Here's why most advertising and marketing fails in order of importance...

#1: Failure To Do Research Before Beginning A Campaign
Here's the biggest secret in advertising. Most ads will never produce significant results for a company, they're destined to fail before they every run. Why? Because the whole reason for advertising is to motivate a prospect to do business with you. If you don't know what motivates a prospect, how can you write an ad that will spur them to action? That's why we never undertake any project without first doing customer perceptive research on two subjects: Prospects and Customers. Once we determine what motivates them, we write copy that works. We take that information and use it throughout your organization from inbound phone calls, sales presentations, to referral programs. Doing research is inexpensive and is the difference between campaigns that work and those that don't.

#2: Failure To Differentiate Your Company
Every business has competitors. Unfortunately, consumers can't tell see the difference between your company and the multitude of competitors. If your marketing is ever going to be effective, you must differentiate yourself from the crowd. We do just that for our clients. An effective differentiation strategy can help you stand out like a lightening rod in a storm.

#3: Failure To Test
Thousands of dollars are wasted every year on advertising campaigns that underperform. We've made significant improvement to client's ad programs with one or two simple changes based on testing. If you're not testing every aspect of your marketing, you're making a BIG mistake. Often one offer will outpull another 3 fold. Or a simple change to a headline can double response.

#4: Failure To Maximize Your Marketing Assets
Most companies do some type of advertising or have salespeople that interfaces with customers. However, virtually no company takes advantage of all the marketing assets available to them. Hire us and our marketing program will integrate all your assets (inbound phone, salespeople, customer service reps, delivery, and referral programs) just to name a few. Most companies let these assets sit there. They're paying for them, but they are not maximizing the profits that could be generated. A referral program alone can double sales and it costs virtually nothing to implement.

#5: Failing To Educate The Customer
Many companies fail to explain why a value is so good, or why their price is higher than competitors. Whenever you make an offer, ask for a sale, run an ad, have a salesperson make a proposal, always educate the customer as to why it is a "good deal" for them. Why can you sell for less when everyone else is more expensive? Your customers will never know until you educate them.

#6: Thinking Advertising Has To Be Cute Or Funny To Be Effective
Forget that! The best advertising makes the cash register ring. It is measurable and accountable. That's why we say the best marketing is the product of the least expense that results in the highest Return On Investment.

#7: Failing To Spend The Correct Amount
You should spend x percent of your revenues on marketing. Great direct mail generates an x percent response rate. Hogwash to it all. Every company, every time in history, every product/service/every goal is different: so how can there be universal rules. And if you are told that the best return you can get on direct mail is 1 percent, don't use direct mail. Or seek to generate 10 percent! Rules are for schools. Results are for businesspeople! Great marketing, inspired marketing, can be the most powerful force in growing companies large and small. The great marketers - Bill Gates, Mary Kaye, Tom Watson, Ray Krock, Sam Walton - avoided the myths, avoided bad marketing and drove their companies to the mount. You can do the same.