Part of our role as a full-service agency is to counsel you in the formation, implementation and execution of your marcom program.
Below are three classic mistakes being made by companies today…
Using social media and PR as advertising on the cheap. Self-explanatory but it has several aspects. Social media is still in its infancy, many key people in your world don’t use it and its sex appeal, being cheap, is diverting much of your time and effort to preach to the choir. Ever notice how many comments and likes are from your own team? Our strategy is quite different, being the pros from Dover, as we begin with a list of your customers and prospects and build from there. Acting as you, we follow them and get them to follow us. Likewise, as a great PR agency, we get you coverage in all the right places. Problem is, magazines don’t charge for running PR, though some are beginning to mirror the tactics used by foreign books forever, namely, to charge for PR. This actually goes back to the early days of printing in Europe, where the “publishers” reasoned that every line in their magazines, leaflets and broadsides (look that one up!) had value. Call me if you want the full history. American magazines largely rely on ad revenue or member dues to cover the cost to produce and circulate their magazines. Lastly, the impact of an ad placement is quantitatively and qualitatively different from PR and articles. Again, holler if you want the full scoop. Yes, Tim loves ice cream. Pistachio almond fudge was my fav but can’t find it. Wrote to the prez at BR when they dropped it and he sent me a gallon, saying nobody bought it anymore. Who can guess the most popular ice cream flavor?
Neglecting the trade show, as well as trade magazines. Some of you, including one new client, have asked me about the value of trade shows. I direct everyone to the study we did with a major trade association, years ago, when we asked engineers how they get information to do their jobs. The kids at the agency (and many of you reading this) thought it would be social media, blasts, influencers and online media outlets. Wrong! Trade magazines and trade shows were the runaway winners and still are today. We maintain ongoing surveying to validate this fact. Funny sidebar, a client’s former president always spoke derisively of “trade rags”, yet his last act was to have us run ads in same to find the guy who runs the sales and marketing at that company to this day. It worked. Magazines and trade shows draw the industry to your message, be it an ad or a booth. Think of it as one giant sales call. At a recent show I attended (at the really cool Mohegan Sun complex in CT), a client signed a machine deal with a company he’d contacted for TEN YEARS. I still go to trade shows to listen. Makes me and my team better copywriters…and we’re great!
Lastly and this was borne out during Covid, big time, the lack of personal sales calling caused people to rely on other forms of marcom to generate interest, precisely because shows and even some magazines went away or foolishly went digital only (another column). Do NOT apply that same mindset to today’s sales and marcom landscape, you will regret it, despite the short-term cost savings. I can guarantee your competitors are not doing so. The old maxim, “They can’t buy from you if they don’t know you,” exemplified by the classic “man in the chair” ad, still holds true today. See attached. True then, true today.
The legendary (in my biz) Leo Burnett called advertising salesmanship in print. True then, true today. The psych guys in my biz call it pre-disposition to a predetermined outcome.
