Quick, write down all the automobile brands you're aware of. I'll wait.
Done? Now cross off every brand you've ever owned. How many are left? Probably quite a few.
Now cross off all those cars you MIGHT consider purchasing in the future. How many are left?The answer is still quite a few.
Awareness is a very wishy-washy affair. You could argue that building awareness is a critical step towards generating an eventual sale and you would be right – sort of.
Unfortunately, there is a hitch in the giddyup with this perception. For most companies it's difficult, if not totally impossible, for them to prove a solid connected line between awareness and sales.
They spend big bucks on full page ads in their industry's big trade pub, knowing the average reader has $25,000,000 in annual spending authority and there's an average of 2.3 pass alongs. They heavily invest in growing Followers, building "Like" campaigns, and producing "Will It Blend" copycats. They buy a 10,000 square-foot exhibit at the annual trade show. If they've got a few million bucks laying around, they blast out a Super Bowl ad. All these build awareness.
Trade pubs? Because so many magazines have lost readership, the spin now is "controlled circulation." One industry wag said, "Circulation is not a major factor. It's the efficiency of the circulation that counts – advertisers reaching their target audience." To which I ask, "Say what?"
Social media? Your company may have grown to 50,000 Followers on Twitter, 6,000 Fans on Facebook, and 100,000 views on YouTube, but how has that translated into new revenues?
Trade shows? You build a spectacular display for the big National Widget Show at McCormick Place. You design a custom die-cut, four-color prshow promotion. You fly in 150 staffers. Your budget is busted. I ask what your goal is. You respond, "We want huge traffic!"
These are simply all-too-common examples of using different media to build awareness. But ask how many proven new sales that trade advertising, or Facebook, or Twitter, or that trade show eventually generated and you meet a lot of blank faces.
The problem is most marketers confuse awareness with persuasion. These words are not synonyms. Awareness is just getting someone to know who you are. That's it. That's all. And has been proven over and over, connecting awareness to revenues is darn near impossible.
In fact, it's so difficult to show a direct correlation between awareness and revenues that marketers have come up with a myriad number of methods to "prove" value.
We can measure "impressions." We can measure badges scanned. We can measure email opens and click-throughs. We can track sub-domains. We can count how many sat through a demonstration. We can track engagement through clicks and comments. We can use Google Analytics.
Too many of these "measurement" methods are worthless. They're just funny statistics that don't connect to provable results. Some can be effective, however.
The way to tell is if the method measures Awareness or if it measures Persuasion. Awareness measures whether our target market is conscious of us. That's ambiguous.
Persuasion shows when we actually guide someone to take a clear cut action step that moves them at least one step closer to the sale. Handing you a business card and saying, "Call me on Tuesday at 10:00, so we can set up an appointment for you to come to my office." is Persuasion. Letting you scan their badge and walking away is Awareness.
Which leads me to Old Rule #9 of Business that Still Matters:
Focus on Persuasion, Not Awareness
BTW, if you produce an ad for the Super Bowl, well, that's just God's way of saying you have way too much money.
I’ve never purchased industrial grinding equipment. I don’t work with industrial grinding equipment, but if I were in a job where I needed to buy one, the first thing I would do is look up “United Grinding.” Because they have a large, prominent booth at IMTS every year, they have led me to believe that they are one of the leaders in the grinding field.
Ditto for Esprit CAM software. There might be a company in the back side of the Lakefront building that has far better technology. But if it is my job to sort through 20 or 30 companies all claiming to offer amazing technology in their field, I’m going to start with the ones who create the illusion that they are already successful with it.
As for the list of cars, I bet Skoda wasn’t on the list. Our Italian says his Skoda is a great car. If you went to the local auto mall and saw 12 dealships including Ford, Toyota, GM, Honda, Skoda, and Mercedes, which ones would you be likely to check out? Which ones would you skip over because you still wanted to get in 9 holes that evening?
Steve,
I agree completely.. Unless revenue or margins are affected the campaign has minimal impact. This word impressions that advertisers use is meaningless in my opinion. We all have thousands of impressions everyday but do we ever act on them?
So, are you saying that the whole concept of “top of mind awareness” is phoey? I have this battle with every billboard, radio, newspaper, and TV salesman that steps in my office. I run a tool equipment rental company in a rural area. I have limited competition. No one is going to hear a radio ad and think to themselves, “Hhmmm, I hope my drain backs up so I can go rent a drain snake.” However, when it does happen, am I more likely to win that customer if my name has been in front of them and they call me first? I don’t know the answer, but I would love input from others.
…and come to think of it, a few years back at a trade show, I was having lunch with another exhibitor. He was complaining about lack of results and not really understanding how he could get the most out of his trade show. So I pointed him towards the first web site that happened to come to mind. I think it was called “Two Hat Marketing.”
I believe Moderation is the key to life. If you do anything too much it becomes unhealthy.
I like to using running as an analogy. Most people agree that running is healthy. However, taken too far you can wear your knees out and need surgery… and how can you call that “healthy?”
So how much “running” is right? It is probably different for everyone. Just like “awareness” is probably different for every company. A local rental company certainly doesn’t need to run an ad in the Super Bowl (Although if it did – the local paper and TV stations would probably really run with that… which would create more local awareness than the actual ad on SuperBowl).
I don’t know the answer either and would look forward to hearing from others how they find the balance. For me, it would be weighing the cost / benefit and choosing to advertise only if there was at least the possibility of creating more revenue than what was spent. If the ad cost you more than you make in a month, and you knew the ad won’t double your monthly income… I’d pass on it.
By the way…. why did you start this with a “Beer” and not a “car”??? Is it the Superbowl connection??
At its very best, every form of advertising is purchased to put in our current or potential customer’s mind our name for the time they need what we provide. As an auto dealership, the very best I can do is have people think of me when they have that need and act on that need with us.