What Do eHarmony and Travelocity Know That You Don't?
Over the past couple of years, I've heard some wedding vendors boast that they've "figured out" that print advertising "no longer works" because "everyone I book finds me online." Believing they were eliminating waste, these self-styled leaders cut out advertising altogether, or restricted themselves to web advertising only. Interestingly, my impression is that these same vendors have seen their businesses decline substantially versus peers who kept up advertising.
Of course, this is no surprise to me. Nor would it be to online leaders like eHarmony, Orbitz, Travelocity, Overstock.com, Expedia and other web-only companies who spend millions advertising offline to drive traffic to their web sites. These companies only conduct business with customers online -- yet they still need offline advertising (in print, on TV and on radio) to promote to potential customers.
What do they know that you should know? First of all, they understand that offline media is more efficient at reaching large numbers of targeted customers than online media usually is. Make no mistake: web advertising is enormously effective at capturing web surfers who are actively looking for a very specific service or product. As such, it should ideally be part of any complete advertising program for a wedding vendor. But it's not efficient at introducing your company reliably to large numbers of potential buyers who aren't yet sure exactly what they're looking for. Web ads on Google, for example, are highly restricted in terms of the information they provide -- and, they are generally only displayed to a fraction of the potential audience for your product. Print and other offline media, on the other hand, assemble large audiences around targeted content, and offer you the opportunity to promote to everyone in the audience efficiently.
Second, the online giants understand today's preferred buying process. Customers today often learn of the existence of a company, service or other buying opportunity through offline media. If their interest is piqued, they then go online to gather detailed information about it. In the past, this same customer would have picked up the phone after seeing an intriguing ad. In effect, your web site has replaced your phone for at least part of the buying process.
Third, online leaders understand that evaluating web traffic accurately is crucial. Just asking isn't enough. How many "no referrer" visits is your web site receiving? Odds are, it's more than half your traffic if you're marketing offline at all -- and, those visitors are all coming from your offline advertising.
Finally, successful online commerce companies like eHarmony, Expedia, and others understand that there are simply more links in the chain between advertising and buying than there were before. It's crucial to understand where you're losing people if you're unhappy with your marketing results. For example, if you run multiple print ads, and your revenues don't grow, was the reason poorly designed ads that didn't entice readers to visit your web site? Or, was it a poorly designed web site that didn't entice customers to call you? Only a disciplined analysis will tell you for sure.
Of course, this is no surprise to me. Nor would it be to online leaders like eHarmony, Orbitz, Travelocity, Overstock.com, Expedia and other web-only companies who spend millions advertising offline to drive traffic to their web sites. These companies only conduct business with customers online -- yet they still need offline advertising (in print, on TV and on radio) to promote to potential customers.
What do they know that you should know? First of all, they understand that offline media is more efficient at reaching large numbers of targeted customers than online media usually is. Make no mistake: web advertising is enormously effective at capturing web surfers who are actively looking for a very specific service or product. As such, it should ideally be part of any complete advertising program for a wedding vendor. But it's not efficient at introducing your company reliably to large numbers of potential buyers who aren't yet sure exactly what they're looking for. Web ads on Google, for example, are highly restricted in terms of the information they provide -- and, they are generally only displayed to a fraction of the potential audience for your product. Print and other offline media, on the other hand, assemble large audiences around targeted content, and offer you the opportunity to promote to everyone in the audience efficiently.
Second, the online giants understand today's preferred buying process. Customers today often learn of the existence of a company, service or other buying opportunity through offline media. If their interest is piqued, they then go online to gather detailed information about it. In the past, this same customer would have picked up the phone after seeing an intriguing ad. In effect, your web site has replaced your phone for at least part of the buying process.
Third, online leaders understand that evaluating web traffic accurately is crucial. Just asking isn't enough. How many "no referrer" visits is your web site receiving? Odds are, it's more than half your traffic if you're marketing offline at all -- and, those visitors are all coming from your offline advertising.
Finally, successful online commerce companies like eHarmony, Expedia, and others understand that there are simply more links in the chain between advertising and buying than there were before. It's crucial to understand where you're losing people if you're unhappy with your marketing results. For example, if you run multiple print ads, and your revenues don't grow, was the reason poorly designed ads that didn't entice readers to visit your web site? Or, was it a poorly designed web site that didn't entice customers to call you? Only a disciplined analysis will tell you for sure.
posted by Laurie at 4:15 PM
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