On Saturday one of our clients took a display ad in a regional newspaper. This client is a holiday resort who generate quite a bit from their web site but decided to give this newspaper a try.
- The ad didn’t generate 1 enquiry.
- The ad didn’t generate 1 booking.
The question to ask there is this: “Was the ad terrible? Was the offer terrible? Was the target market the wrong one?”
Nope on all 3. I’ve run similar ads with similar markets with similar offers and gotten terrific responses previously.
To Top It Off
To top off the bad experience this is what happened next (remembering that the newspaper dealt with me every step of the way and never had any contact whatsoever with the client).
The newspaper rep rang up my client direct (got his number from the ad) and approached him to take more advertising. Cutting me out of the loop (and out of my livelihood).
These morons are kidding themselves aren’t they?
Comparative Analysis
If my client had of allocated the same amount of money to pay per click he would have received approximately 1,000 visitors to his site and made close on 80 sales. Avergae sale is $700.
Newspapers struggle because they’re not accountable. What gets measured (or can be measured) gets attention.
Cheers
Hey Brendon,
Now when you say the newspaper cut you out of your livelihood, how do you mean? I guess what I’m trying to say is what were you charging the client for? You designed the ad and isnt’ that all?
Thanks,
-Gezim
Thanks Gezim
How it works is essentially we take a commission of the advertising spend.
Client spends more, we make more. Spends less through us, we make less.
Cheers
Brendon