"This promotion drove the newsagent's average dollar sales up by 30 percent and increased the jeweller's business by 300 percent."
And while you want your advertising to reach as many people as possible, it's important to understand the limitations. "With $10,000 to spend you would barely whisper to the whole of Sydney, or even the North Shore, but you could shout your message to people on the Northern Beaches," says Byrne. "This could generate enough revenue for you to spend, say, $20,000 on your next promotion and gradually expand the area you reach effectively."
It's also important to realise that unless you're creating advertorial-type messages, don't expect sales from your advertising; your customers won't have enough information to make that decision. "Advertising generates leads, the product generates the sales," continues Byrne. "If you have 10 leads and no sales you have a problem with your product. If you have 10 leads and 10 sales you're not generating enough leads."
Return on investment is notoriously difficult to measure, mainly because the impact of your advertising may continue over several years. "Try to define lifetime customer value, how much will they be worth over five years," advises Edwards. "You might not recoup the $30,000 you spent on an ad immediately, but repeat custom could bring in much more than that over time."
Advertising should always be a process of testing and measuring. "But don't use a $10,000 ad as a test," says Rae. "Use direct mail to test three or four variations in the headline and the offer, then use the most successful combination to create your magazine or newspaper ad." The bottom line? "If any advertising doesn't pay for itself, don't do it," says Rae.
Marketing to Grow
Even though they haven't used any traditional advertising, MAP (Mining and Plant) Fabrications and Crane Hire has grown from three to 33 staff in 17 months.
In the tightly-knit mining community, personal recommendation is a powerful marketing tool. To keep their name in front of the right people, MAP rivet a stainless steel plaque engraved with contact details to every piece of equipment they make.
"Our website also works well for us," says MD, Alan Ryde. "It's not particularly glamorous; we actually spend more money on search engine optimisation to drive people to the site than on the site itself."
Another company getting creative with their marketing is Brennan IT. It has taken the team just nine years to grow from three staff to 140.
"Marketing has always played a big part in our growth," says Matthew Lovegrove, general manager, sales and marketing, "But, without a big budget for traditional advertising, we had to be strategic.
"We've always taken a vertical approach, taking time to get to know our target market and focusing on meeting their needs. We have a well-built website which brings in one or two contacts a day, and we use search engine optimisation to make sure it gets noticed. We have also focused strongly on PR. We create case studies to send out with press releases, and we also use them in direct mail to potential clients and as part of a monthly email newsletter.
The cost of the newsletter is minimal, but it has brought in some great business. "We invite warmer leads to a small event like a breakfast or lunch in the boardroom. By this time they might have seen some PR, received the newsletter or a direct mail piece, and so we've already built a bit of a relationship."
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