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When will my Ad Start Working? That depends on your Product Purchase Cycle
The length of the “ramping up period” your ad campaign will require before you begin to see results is determined particularly by
The Product purchase cycle:
How often is the customer in the market for this product?
How often is the customer in the market for this product?
Due to the fact that we eat more often than we redecorate, ads for restaurants yield results much faster than ads for new carpet or furnishings.
If people buy your product once a week, don’t expect your ads to return a profit during the first week. If people buy once a month, don’t expect to break even on your advertising during the first 30 days. If your product selling cycle is longer than two years, you can expect to lose money on your ads - even if they’re good - for the first four to six months. You’ll start pulling ahead during the second six months. But your real growth won’t happen until you begin reaching that same group of people for a second year.
Solution: Commit to an ad campaign commensurate with your product selling cycle.
The longer your product purchase cycle, the more important it is that you plant your message before the customer, before the customer is actively in the market for your product.
The simple-minded counter-argument of an overly anxious advertiser is, “But someone out there is ready to buy my product today. I want to reach that person and get his or her money today. I’ll worry about tomorrow’s customer tomorrow.
This advertiser is like the hare in that timeless fable in which the patient but relentless tortoise wins the day. The cheerful tortoise doesn’t expect to win the race in a day, a week, a month or even a year. His goal is simply “to become the name customers think of immediately and feel the best about when they finally need what I sell.” The longer you stay with your plan, the greater your likelihood of winning the race.
Roy Williams
Roy Williams is Entrepreneur.com’s “Advertising” columnist and the founder and president of international ad agency Wizard of Ads.
Roy Williams is Entrepreneur.com’s “Advertising” columnist and the founder and president of international ad agency Wizard of Ads.
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