ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd had a good take today that reminded me of a piece I wrote a long time ago -- about what advertising can do and can't do.

He was discussing a show that ESPN promoted very heavily, but got cancelled. His observation: "The idea that we can promote something to a (specific) rating is laughable." You'll tune in once or twice, but you won't devote your time to it if you don't like what you see.

Then he made an interesting contrast: "Have you ever seen a promo for PTI?" For you non-sports fans, PTI is Pardon the Interruption, a very popular ESPN opinion/commentary show. They do very little in the way of promotion because to a significant audience, PTI is appointment viewing. Once you've seen it, you like it and you come back.

Advertising works. Advertising drives traffic. The idea with advertising to those who haven't experienced you is to get them to give you a try. Advertising can generate a trial, but it can't make people like you.

Where advertising agencies and media sales reps often fall short is selling you (sometimes overselling you) on what advertising can do, to the neglect of what it can't do. If advertising doesn't generate visits or calls or clicks, evaluate the advertising. But if you're getting first-timers but not repeat traffic, evaluate the other factors of customer behavior.

That is, make sure your location and people and products/services and customer experience are the kind of stuff that make people want to return.

(And if I may self-promote for a moment, Fox Marketing Group exists to help you with the "total package" of marketing endeavor from traditional advertising to customer contact to shopping environment. We're not selling one marketing tool or another, we're working to connect you to customers at every point in the buying process -- including making sure your business is the kind that makes people want to come back.)

Labels: advertising, customers, marketing