Part 2 – Field Guide

Formulas for Success

With all of the traditional and emerging media choices you have today, having simple rules and formulas to guide your advertising decisions can help clear up the confusion and keep your strategies on target.

Here are a few simple guidelines to help you establish clarity and consistency in your advertising decisions:

S.O.M. = S.E.O. (Share-of-Mind is the best Search Engine Optimization). The only sure way you will be found online is if your prospects search for you by name. Your competitors have entered the race to the top of a search engine page with algorithms, keywords, and other online techniques. It’s a cluttered and ever-changing race. When your prospects search for you by name, they will always be able to find you, in spite of your competitors’ online tactics. 

Share of Voice = Share of Mind = Share of Market. This is a tried and proven formula. Research done by our marketing consultants in more than 200 markets across North America, validates the value of strong Share of Voice in intrusive media like radio. Local businesses that have a strong radio presence consistently create stronger Share of Mind than businesses that rely solely upon print or the internet. These surveys also prove that Share of Mind does equal Share of Market.

The Three ‘R’s of Share of Mind; Reach X Repetition X Relevance of the Message. While your message must reach a large audience and be repeated to be remembered, the greatest multiplier in this mind-share formula is Relevance. If your message is not relevant to the people you reach, it won’t help you capture the awareness and pre-need preference you need to succeed. Also, if your message has a ton of frequency or repetition but isn’t relevant to the audience, it can actually do more harm than good. This formula can help you focus on discussing and creating messages that resonate with your prospects. 

Customers buy from the heart and rationalize that decision in their heads. You know that your customers often don’t really know why they buy and that emotions trump logic in the decision-making process. You have probably seen studies that prove all purchases are made emotionally, from the heart first, and that customers only rationalize the decision their heart has already made after they begin their search. In fact, consumers only search online for the data that justifies the subconscious or emotional decision their hearts have already made, and they will ignore or reject any evidence to the contrary. Your clients are human too. Establish an archive of stories and jokes to tell your story in a way that makes them laugh or cry, and you’ll be touching their emotions in your presentations. Broadcast Inspires; Internet Informs. Once you understand that all decisions are based upon emotion and that we only look for information to justify the decisions made from the heart, it’s a simple matter to prove the branding power of radio to touch the emotions and drive the search online to your business. 

The Rule of Sheep Syndrome. You know that branding is all about differentiating your business from your competitors’ businesses and that when they zig, you need to zag. Yet many advertisers follow their competitors’ media choices like sheep. It is much easier, and less costly, to capture dominant Share of Voice and Share of Mind, on a media that is not cluttered with competitors than it is to try and outshout them in a cluttered media. 

The Law of Yellow Pages Syndrome. Directories of ineffective marketers often get undue credit for the sale. In search of accountability, advertisers will often ask, “Where did you find us?” In the pre-internet days, customers often said, “In the yellow pages”. Today, more often than not they’ll say, “Google” because online search is at the more conscious purchase end of the marketing funnel. This syndrome causes some businesses to credit the internet with the sale, rather than asking the all-important second question, “What made you choose us over all of the competitors online?” Effective marketers will already have established a pre-search awareness and preference for their business when their prospects begin their search.

One Plus One Equals Three. We use this formula to direct advertisers’ attention to the power of synergy and of including radio in a media mix. The Greek philosopher Aristotle explained the power of synergy when he said, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” meaning that each part alone is not as powerful as the cumulative impact of several parts. The internet alone and radio alone are not as powerful as radio and internet together.

“It’s Better to Be Sought Than to Be Found”, a quote from internet guru, Seth Godin. This simple rule establishes the role of creating awareness and preference for your business before your prospects begin their online search. When customers search for you by name, your business will take preference over any other businesses found by accident, or that had no pre-search brand. We’re here to help you apply the basic rules of advertising and marketing to your next campaign.