Why Advertise?

If you're the average shop owner I'm sure you've tried all sorts of marketing. From yellow pages, to direct mailers, to newspaper ads and more. You notice an influx of clientele walking through the door or calling you, but how do you keep track of how they found you?

Try this exercise for 1 week:

1. On a blank piece of paper list your current advertisements on the left hand side.
   
2. Along the top of the page list the days of the week you're open for business. For instance Mon-Sat
3. This step is extremely important! Every single person that enters through your door or calls you on the phone this week simply ask them: "Thanks for stopping in, by the way, how did you find me?" If someone says: "I found you in the Bergen Record", BOOM! mark it under the 'newspaper' category for that day. Continue throughout the week and record your results.
   
4. If someone tells you: "I found you in the Yellow Pages", you should mark it under that category, UNLESS, you advertised in multiple directories in your area, at which point you need to have those directories out and have your customer point at the phone book where they found you.

That's it! It's that simple. This should be an ongoing tracking process if you value your money.

One of my clients is very creative in tracking his phone calls... He places a 3-digit number in each individual ad and when someone calls he asks:"There's a little box in the top right corner of the ad, what does it read?" Great way to track your ads!

One of the easiest ways to track your ad response is to ask your Sales Representative to place a "tracking" or "metered" phone number in your ads. It's usually free and THE best way to track your phone calls.

I hope this information is helpful to you. After you try it, let me know what you think of it.