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TIMING
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A MUST FOR ADVERTISING SUCCESS
BY: ROBERT J. PALMER
I
s your advertising timing on
target, or are your ads hitting
wide of the mark? And, are your ad
messages reaching the prospects
who are most likely to buy your
products?
Will they see - or hear - your
ads when they're most receptive to
buying information?
Take a good, close look at your
present advertising schedule. If
your ads aren't timed right, they're
"wasting their fragrance on the
desert air", and much of the time,
effort and money you've invested
will bring you exactly nothing!
To make sure your advertising
dollars bring you the proper return
on your investment, make sure you
are using the right combination of
media - at the right time.
To reach the right people at the
right time they're most likely to be
influenced favorably, you have to
judge just who the various media
will reach, and when. Here are
guidelines to follow when setting
up your advertising schedule:
Radio: It is extremely flexible, and
can reach potential customers
almost anywhere, at any time, and
can do so almost up to the moment
of the sale. After you've decided
just who are your most likely pros-
pects, schedule your messages at
times and in programs when they
are most likely to be listening. If it's
the man of the house you want to
appeal to, run your commercials
during the morning and evening
commuting hours, when he's most
likely to be driving to work with the
radio on, or run them on weekends
or in the evening, or adjacent to
news or sports.
For his wife, run your commer-
cials in the late morning hours, and
in the early afternoon, when she's
probably still doing housework, with
the radio on for company. The
younger set is more likely to be
listening later in the afternoon,
when school is out.
Obviously, with radio as with
any other medium, ads with seasonal
appeal should be run in the days or
weeks preceding the event.
To be sure that you're getting
the audience you want, insist that
your messages be slotted in the
programming slanted toward just
that group, lest a message aimed
at housewives be aired in a program
for rock-and-rollers.
Newspapers: It has often been said
that these have a little something
for everyone, and in most cases, it's
probably true. Newspapers reach a
wide local audience. They also give
you the choice of almost any day,
so pick the one when your special
audience is most likely to have
money to spend, and be in the
mood to part with it. Products that
are generally bought on any day of
the week can be advertised safely
on any day, unless there's some
special, complicating factor, like
post-Christmas financial drought,
or income tax blues.
Generally
speaking,
most
newspapers have certain days in
which all the supermarkets adver-
tise, and special real estate days
too. So, unless you have a product
line in to what is being plugged on
special advertising days, you may
be wiser to save your advertising
for some other day. Also keep in
mind the fact that the position of
your ad within the paper will also
determine to a large extent who
reads it. Sporting goods, for in-
stance, would best be advertised
on the sports pages, while distaff-
oriented merchandise will often get
a bigger play on the women's pages.
Yellow Pages: Unlike the foregoing,
they are not a tool of the moment,
nor even of the day. They're in
people's homes for a full year, and
they go into every home or office
with a telephone. Also, unlike other
advertising carriers, they don't go
actively prospecting through the
general public. Instead, prospects
are likelytoturntothe Yellow Pages
when they've made up their minds
to buy.
Many of these prospects are
the same people who've gotten
your message in other media, and
now that they've decided to contact
you, they have to get some vital
fact: your address or phone number,
perhaps, because they may not
have been ready to buy when they
saw or heard your other media
advertising. They may have even
forgotten your name, and recall
only that you sell a certain desirable
product.
Others may never have been
exposed to your ads. Through some
other means, they, too, have de-
cided to buy, but may not have
decided to whom to look. To many
of these persons, you're a stranger,
and your Yellow Pages ad has to
give them the same information as
the other group, and convince them
as well that they'll do well to contact
you and you alone.
Place your message under the
headings that assure you'll get
traffic from people who are inter-
ested in what you have to sell, and
be sure that you're represented
under a// the headings where they'll
be likely to look. Your message will
then be before them whenever they
decide to buy your goods, and no
matter where they turn to find them.
By advertising both in your imme-
diate area and in adjacent localities,
you can reach more people at low
cost.
Direct Mail: This method is unique
in that you can select, on an actual
name-by-name basis, each and
every person who'll get your
message. And, if they open your
mailer in the first place, your mes-
sage won't have to compete against
other people's ads. But, once your
piece is in the mail box, there's no