The other day as I was walking out of the grocery store I noticed a local business directory that I’ve never seen before. It’s like the Yellow Pages except no where near as big. And, as a marketer, I couldn’t pass up on getting one to look through it (Got to check out the ads, you know?!).
When I got home I was looking through it and noticed something that really irritated me. It’s something most people get wrong when marketing their products and services. Even marketers and advertisers get this wrong… as I’ll share with you with this business directory.
So, what was wrong with this directory?
On ever couple of pages they have a little ad box of their own that says (and the reword it throughout),
“Help our advertisers measure their results…
please let them know you chose them out of our pages.”
Ahhhh!!! I can’t tell you how much this irritates me.
Here’s the problem with this, most people may forget to mention where they saw an ad, and if they do remember, then most likely the worker they mention it to will have it go in one ear and out the other.
So here’s what the directory got wrong…
They should ALWAYS design their advertisers’ ads using a Call-to-Action with tracking!
That’s right. Most people fail to include a Call-to-Action (CTA) in their marketing, and fail to track their ads. They just ‘assume’ their customers and clients will mention how they got to them. WRONG. You can’t count on that.
And, not only to most business owners forget but so do marketers!
Everything is so cheap to setup these days. What this business directory could have done was include special URLs and phone numbers for each advertiser. That way if someone goes to that link or calls that number they’ll be able to track it back to their business directory without having to count on the customer’s word.
Heck, if the advertiser didn’t want to spend money and getting new URLs (which are already dirt cheap), they could just use a subdomain off their main site to track response.
Within this specific directory, most of the businesses did not include a CTA. They just put their contact information on their ad and that was it.
Don’t be like the majority… ALWAYS include a Call-to-Action with the ability to track response!
Got it?! Good.
Now go take action!