Coming up with an amazing advertising campaign which grabs the world’s attention is the dream of most businesses. From Apple’s “1984” to Wendy’s “Where’s The Beef,” a great advertising campaign can get your business or product noticed and kept at the top of consumers’ minds.
But did you know that advertising is only one step of getting a potential client to choose your product or service. This is known as the Marketing Bridge and consists of five steps that can contain potholes to potential customers driving them away if not carefully built and maintained.
The first step is the aforementioned advertising. When putting this step together there are many variables that you must consider. Are you using the right medium? Do you have the correct consistency and timeliness? At MWC Advertising, we specialize in working with you to make sure that your campaigns are set up properly and are continually monitored to drive the correct traffic to you.
Which leads to the second step of your business itself. An advertising campaign can send people to you but if you have subpar Google reviews, a broken website, or even a bad physical location, these potential customers are less likely to choose you. It’s not an easy thing to do, but you need to put yourself in your customers shoes and imagine what it would be like to hear about your business. You might not like what you see, but this gives you the opportunity to make changes and stand out more in the eyes of the public.
These eyes will then focus on the third step, price and value. You don’t have to be the cheapest amongst your competitors, but what you need to focus on is the ratio of price to value. If you cost ten percent more, what are your customers getting for that extra money? Great after sale service? Amazing craftsmanship? All of these things play into a consumer’s decision to spend their money.
And so does the fourth step, merchandising. How are you presenting your products to your customers? If you are a furniture retailer, are you staging your merchandise in rooms so customers can imagine what it would look like in their home? Does your website have multiple photos of every product and can you promise prompt delivery. Letting the customer see you and your products in their optimal light will help move to the final step of this bridge.
So with advertising, your business, price and merchandising, you are close to getting a new customer. But you can’t forget the fifth step, personal selling. Are your employees knowledgeable about your products? Are they well groomed and greet every customer with cheerfulness and suggestive selling? Customers want to have a pleasant experience at your business and your employees are the ones giving it to them. I think we all have businesses we use because of how pleasant the receptionist is or how the waiter remembers our favorite meal. This is what can make you stand apart from your competition.
In conclusion, a great advertising campaign is the start of the Marketing Bridge journey. But your customers need to walk down the entire bridge before they decide to choose you. Make sure yours is the Golden Gate Bridge and not a rope bridge swinging wildly in the wind.