| Friend,
Yesterday we wrapped up talking about the specific elements of a direct response marketing ad.
Today, I'm going to begin discussing the marketing channels that are typically used by small businesses who implement direct response marketing.
Let's get started...
What's A Marketing Channel?
A marketing channel is nothing more than a means by which you reach the intended audience for your ad. Television is a marketing channel. So is direct mail. And, so is the internet.
Some marketing channels are better suited to direct response marketing than others. And, some are better suited to small local business direct response marketing than others.
For that reason, I'm going to cover each marketing channel and talk about their pros and cons. For the sake of nostalgia, today I'm starting with three advertising channels that used to be the only game in town.
The "Big Three" (Once Upon A Time)
Back before the days of cable TV and the internet, folks really only had a few places to go to get their information and entertainment:
- Television
- Radio
- Newspapers and magazines
Ah, those were the golden days of advertising.
Back then, the public had no choice but to watch or listen to every lousy commercial, because there were so few choices in media and entertainment.
Advertisers pretty much had a captive audience, and because of that even lousy advertising got results.
Your Biggest Challenge: Overcoming Consumer Distraction
It's important to understand how direct response advertising differs today because of technology, so you don't get caught in the trap of advertising like it's 1985.
Consumer distraction is your greatest enemy today as a marketer. Consumers simply don't have the attention spans they used to... or rather, we as advertisers don't have the ability to hold their attention captive like we used to.
Today, there are multiple information and media channels, all readily available to consumers via their smart phones and other mobile devices, 24/7. And each one is clamoring for the attention of your audience.
The good news is, consumers will tune in and focus on their media channel of choice—but if your ad or marketing message is dull and unappealing, they can tune out with a mouse click or flick of a finger on the scroll bar.
Keep that in mind as I discuss direct response marketing channels over the next few days.
Television
TV used to be the holy grail of marketing channels. Back in the day, there were only three or four stations, and there was a heck of a lot less noise in the lives of consumers (more on that in a minute).
In those days, TV ads were the go-to when you wanted to reach a lot of people with your message in a short period of time. Unfortunately, even then TV was an expensive medium in which to advertise.
And things are no different today. If you want to advertise on the television, you'd better have deep pockets, even if you're only advertising locally with a local station or cable provider.
Besides that, it's difficult to reach an audience without doing one of two things: - Spending a significant amount of money on ads in order to saturate the airwaves with your message, or—
- Advertising during specific programs that have a high viewership among your target audience—
Either way, it's costly as all hell. Yet, if you have the money to go for market saturation TV can still be an effective way to advertise. I just wouldn't recommend it for the average martial art school owner.
Radio
Like TV, radio used to be one of the three kings of direct response advertising. This was in the days before you could stream digital music over WiFi, or load up an entire library of music on your phone, or listen to podcasts on a million different topics.
Yet, people do still listen to the radio. Mostly because it's easy to access and free.
And while most smart phones do have full-time wireless internet access via a data connection, many providers limit the amount of data that their customers can access.
Besides that, there's also the phenomenon of talk radio. There are huge swathes of people who tune into talk radio shows each day.
So, you might still be able to reach an audience via your local radio station.
However, like TV it can be expensive because it requires saturation. Plus, sponsorship spots for popular time slots and for shows with a high listenership come at a premium.
For these reasons it's probably not the best choice for marketing your dojo.
Newspapers (and Magazines)
This used to be the number one or two local marketing channel for martial art school owners, right behind another dinosaur that I'll discuss tomorrow.
But now, the small local newspaper is a dying species. The reason it's dying out is technology. Waning subscriber numbers due to easy online access to news and sports coverage is slowly killing this once popular advertising channel.
And the crazy thing is, the newspaper industry has been slow to adapt to changing times. You'd think that every local paper would've figured out that they needed to focus on getting their stuff online.
However, it's been a real challenge for newspapers to monetize online media. That and a failure to understand technology has caused many local papers to fail.
I'll tell you up front that it's very difficult to get new business with this marketing channel. At best, it might be used as an add-on marketing channel for an established dojo that's going for local market advertising dominance.
However, for most of you advertising in local newspapers and magazines is going to be a waste of money.
- - -
That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll dive into a few more has-been marketing channels, and I'll start talking about new channels that show real promise for school owners.
Stay tuned.
Until next time,
Mike Massie MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
Quick-start Guide to My Books and Resources: - Looking for a list of books and resources I've written? Click here! - Need business coaching to grow your dojo? Click here…
P.S. - There are a ton of marketing methods and channels that I won't cover in this series. Things like sponsoring local sports teams, printing your contact info on promotional items like pens and book covers, advertising in weird places like bus stop benches or the reverse side of grocery store receipts or on taxi cabs... I could go on and on. For the most part, you're wasting your money when you advertise using these methods. The rule is, if it's weird or obscure, steer clear.
P.S.S. - There's nothing wrong with sponsoring a local team for the community goodwill it brings. Just don't expect to get a ton of students because you paid $500 bucks to get your banner up at the local football stadium. It ain't gonna happen. | 