Cinventure - For the Cincinnati Entrepreneur

Donald Trump is known for saying “there’s no such thing as too much exposure.”  And certainly no one would disagree with this when you think about the good exposure.  But I would venture to guess that no one likes bad press.  And the only thing second to bad press is ineffective good press, or better stated… advertising that just doesn’t work. 

I recently got a call from a gentleman that is selling ad space on the back or sides of trivia cards that are distributed to bars and restaurants.  The idea is that people will be waiting for their food, or sitting at the bar drinking, and will look at these trivia cards or use them to make conversation with their friends and those around them.  Ok, simple enough. 

It turns out that of the 5 locations that he offered me, I was only even remotely interested in getting some advertising in one of them.  Why you ask?  Well, four of the establishments really didn’t attract young professionals, nor were they in growing areas.  Then there was the “traffic count” that he was touting.  “XYZ Restaurant has approximately 2,000 people visit it each month.”  I paused for a moment and replied, “yes, but the same 500 people visit that restaurant each week, it’s a local hole-in-the-wall.”  It seemed like he was trying to sell me too much exposure (number of restaurants) that wasn’t enough exposure (actual or unique traffic count).

He was taken back.  He never recovered from that statement.  He never brought up XYZ in the conversation again; rather, he focused on the other restaurants.  But he knew I wasn’t going to spend advertising dollars chasing after so few people in the customer base.  Besides, the more modern upscale restaurants have computerized trivia games at the bar instead of plastic or laminated cards.  So he was pushing yesterday’s technology and lackluster locations.

Here’s what I learned from this encounter that I try to think about anytime I am asked to open the purse strings and spend money on advertising:

• Is it geared toward the customer base that I am wanting to target?
• Does the advertising give me a decent amount of exposure for the price?
• How much control will I have over the ad and how my name is being used?
• How will I be able to measure the effectiveness of the ad? (I have found this one to be especially important in online advertising).

These kind of questions fit in nicely to having an overall marketing plan in place.  Think of your own business and some unique questions you would need to use as a screening process or criteria before committing advertising dollars.  You can expand on some questions more than others depending on your particular business needs.  In the end, it’s important that you have a plan in place and your budget reflects that plan and the goals that you have for your business.  I welcome your feedback and hearing what you do to make advertising decisions in your own business.

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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