Years ago, I had an interesting potential advertising experience.
At the time, someone tried selling me advertising in a local print publication. As part of the sales pitch, the salesperson gave me several compelling reasons to buy advertising from them.
After they finished their presentation, I asked a straightforward question, which quickly resulted in the salesperson getting upset and a lost deal.
Before sharing the question asked, let's start with a little context ...
No form of traditional advertising can provide you with guaranteed ROI. One of the most challenging tasks is being able to track the ROI of traditional advertising.
You can "key" your ads and track them! Unfortunately, the percentage of "keyed" ads for traditional marketing like radio or print is relatively low. The ultimate responsibility of effective advertising falls on the person purchasing the advertising, a.k.a. you. Help
If an ad doesn't contain critical elements, including a well thought out headline, offer, and call to action, the chances of success are low. It doesn't matter how many impressions a media channel can provide.
You can ask the following question for almost any type of advertising: television, radio, print, billboards, online, etc. Direct the question to the person trying to sell you advertising. It's the question that upset the salesperson from the story above.
Ask them, "can you please give me a few references of companies who advertise (or have advertised) with you selling similar products or services to my own?"
That's it?!?! Yup.
And for such a simple question, it's tremendously powerful. Most people trying to sell you advertising will be caught off guard. The best will happily and promptly oblige your request.
If a company can't provide you with a few promising advertising references, why buy advertising from them?
Want to get more info on tracking the effectiveness of your event promotions? Check out the articles below: