Local ad tracking comes through training, too

I am a sucker for a deal. This morning, the McDonald's drive-thru, two Sausage McMuffins for $3.00 (no, I didn't eat them both; I shared with my colleague at work. Really, I did.). This particular McDonald's has two drive-thru lanes but only one pay and pick-up lane. And they were busy. When I got to the pay window, the young lady smiled and said, without hesitation, "that will be $3.28." I replied, "How do you know? How can you tell which order is mine when you have customers coming from two directions?" She laughed. "The drive-thru order station takes a picture of you and your car so I know who has what!"

Duh.

Smile, you're on Candid Camera! I don't think we appreciate how often we are tracked today, by cameras, by online cookies and software, GPS on our smart phones and Lord knows what else. From an advertising standpoint -- print advertising in particular -- it can make for uncomfortable moments as advertisers today expect, even demand that they know exactly what their advertising and marketing is producing. This digital tracking environment we live in has groomed them to expect hard, fast answers. It makes them think traditional media advertising is lacking because, short of a coupon count, it's hard to track the results.

Arm yourself with knowledge to share with advertisers:

1. Tracking an ad is insanity. Does Alan Mulally, Ford CEO, run one TV ad for Mustangs and then measure sales results? Of course not. Your advertiser shouldn't either. They should be running planned campaigns that raise consumer awareness of their brand and build tactical urgency to move product that the market wants at competitive value.

2. Teach your advertisers to train everyone who works for them to ask, "Where did you hear about us? How did you know about the sale?" And then continually harvest the responses. Stay on top of results because the market is always changing.

3. Advertise online? Of course they should. The website is a huge resource for product and service -- and value -- information. A recent BIA/Kelsey study shared by the folks at AdMall points out, though, that 93% of local shopping happens at brick & mortar locations. That is in stores, not online. They also found that 61.8% of the 55-plus crowd read local print and newspapers and 57% like to use coupons (good coupons, I might add. I'm 55-plus!). 45% of the Gen-X crowd (aged 39 to 54) likes local publications and newspapers, too. Even 37% of the millennials are readers. Traditional print media is still a place where smart ad money, at the local level, should be directed.

FCPNY offers tools like CVC readership studies and AdMall not to help our salespeople "close deals" but to help them make advertisers more aware of how to effectively reach the market and become successful. Our members have an ongoing history of making small, local businesses successful. Call us at 877-275-2726 or email tcuskey@fcpny.com for help and training in making this happen in today's marketplace.

Thank you for your time today!