I was recently approached by one of my clients and asked, "Can you show my the value my advertising has generated me?"My first reaction was to say the one thing you should never think of offering your client is, "I have exposed you to several thousand potential customers!"
The word exposure in marketing and advertising reminds me of a flasher opening his coat in public for all to see. Is that great exposure?I think the key with any marketing is the building of a brand and image through presenting the client to potential customers. The trick is unless someone has considered the product or service your client offers they will probably not notice them. When my wife and I purchased our last vehicle a Pontiac Montana Mini Van I thought it was the greatest and newest vehicle on the market. The next week did I not see the same coloured vehicle almost everywhere I went. Unless we purchased that vehicle or had recently thought about it I would never of noticed it.
So my clients product would need to be able to appeal to potential customers who were thinking about using his service and at the same time get face time with others who could soon be thinking of his type of service. The soon to be thinking potential customers challenge is to get enough face time and impressions so they remeber him.I will talk more in details about my client as the new advertising campaign is rolled out in the next few weeks but I want to share with you some concepts I have been using to increase the awareness of the company I work for the Construcion News and Report Group of Companies that has some principles that I can apply to my client who is looking for a way to measure value for advertising dollars.
First step I took was to speak up and brag about the associations the company I work for is a member of. The reason for this is to help establish rapport with potential clients on some sort of common ground. The associations I am apart of has other members which allows me to get the first ackward part of any introduction out of the way which is, "Who are you?" The associations we are members of are the Niagara Home Builders Association, Greater Ottawa Carleton Home Builders Association, Toronto Construction Association and the Ottawa Construction Association.I added these association logos with the, "We are proud members of..." slogan to my email signature.
Next step was to offer the assocaitions directly in my territory some valuable free advertising space in the newspaper. My showing my relationship with these assocaitions I am using their brand and image to help create one for me to potential customers.Links to associations we are members of : TCA http://www.tcanetworks.com/ Niagara Home Builders Association http://www.niagarahomebuilders.ca/ Ottawa Construction Association http://www.oca.ca/ and the Greater Ottawa Carleton Home Builders Association http://www.ochba.com/
Second Step was setting up Facebook profiles for the papers I covered, joining groups which interested me and added friends who are in the construction industry.Links to the groups: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10156322362and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8006389429 Facebook and other similar sites such as MySpace are interesting Social Networking sites that allowed people to initially connect with lost friends and keep in touch. It did not take long for the social networking aspect to spill over to the business side of life. In todays busness world with the availability of technology in cell phones and computers the working environment has melded with the personal environment for the best or worst of outcomes to be seen. Facebook has given me another icebreaker to reach potential clients and interact with them in a relaxed setting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Third Step was establishing a strategic relationship with Tree Canada http://www.treecanada.ca/index_e.htm by helping make the newspapers I work for more environmentally friendly. Each month we consume 10 to 12 trees to publish our papers, however with the relationship with Tree Canada we plant a tree for every advertiser on a montly basis. Each month we plant 80 to 120 trees making us the first familly of newspapers to plant more trees then we consume.
Forth Step was looking sponsorship opportunities for industry events. I was able to become a media sponsor for the upcoming Canada Green Building Council http://www.cagbc.org/ first ever Shifting to the Mainstream National Summit June 11-12, 2008 in Toronto http://www.shiftingintothemainstream.ca/ Sponsorship is a tricky thing to consider, what drew my interest to the CAGBC Summit was the following:- First time event- Green and Sustainable Building has become a hot topic of interest in the construction industry so it is very relevant in discussions and news coverageThere are many other events that I could and will consider but the my two reasons showed the most potential for more introductions to potential customers.
These ideas are not the end all or be all to improving ones brand and image. They were simple and in some cases inexpensive ways to increase the awareness of my products and get me introductions to potential clients to build relationships with. I think it is also very important to recognize that not all new relationships will bring in advertising revenue but the introductions to some will be more valuable through things such as gaining industry insight and leading news for us to cover.I want to invite your input on how to help a client measure value for their advertising dollars and your thoughts on building your brand/image.I will follow up with the next steps I will be taking for my client to help them track results and will look for some ideas from your suggestions as well.
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