Marketing and Advertising Averages

Have you ever wondered where marketing gurus come up with their marketing and advertising "averages"? Those figures that are touted as the standard for all advertising everywhere.

Do they pick numbers out of a hat and hold them up for all to see? Or are there teams of eggheads with calculators working behind the scenes tabulating every digit and spewing out magic figures?

It is common to hear that a campaign should result in a 1% average return but what does that mean? Does it say that every 100th person will, look at your ad, ask for more info or put cash in you pocket?

Actually is says none of the above. What averages are is a way to quantify the end result of numerous campaigns into a measurable quantity.

To do that it needs to take into account every failed campaign that produced no results as well as every campaign that was a resounding success.

Take the example of 100 campaigns...

First you total the # of people who will be viewing each of your promotions. Divide this by 100 and you have a number that is an average of viewers/campaign.

The same is done for views, clicks, sales etc. and results in the averages being used as the standard.

However the numbers can be skewed by different sized promotions and made to look like it produced results that are totally false.

99 campaigns done to an audience of 25 people and 1 campaign done to 2500 people gives and average of 49.75 viewers per campaign. Yet 99 of the campaigns were done to an audience of only 25!

If none of the 99 campaigns done to 25 people resulted in a sale and the single campaign done to 2500 resulted in 50 sales you would have a 1% sales average. Which would appear to be the "normal" average. Even though 99 campaigns produced NO RESULTS!

No sales campaign can guarantee ANY results either good or bad no matter if you are a neophyte or a guru.

Yet routinely the big boys pull in and show you sales promotions that are six figures or higher. While you pump out campaign after campaign and just pray to recoup your costs.

Why the difference?

To say it is just 1 thing would not be correct. It is a collection of factors, some of which you have control over and some you do not.

#1 Target marketing... Controllable

Dropping in at the local sewing website and trying to sell dog grooming will not produce the same results as advertising at a veterinarians and different again if your marketing to members of a dog club.

Blasting your ad campaign all over may yield a possible sale but usually it has the same effect as a shotgun. Great at close range on a flock of birds where you "might" take 1 or 2 down but useless as a snipers weapon.

Focus on those who need or want what you have and you will increase the odds of a successful sale.

#2 Product demand... Semi-Controllable

There is little need for a left handed Allen wrench. Promoting one is a simply a gimmick and not a real sale. Always look for something that has real value and is in demand.

Some needs are real; food, shelter etc. and in perpetual demand. Others can be created like the need for a designer product to show status or the demand created by limiting the availability of a product.

Another factor is the products perceived value. Pet Rocks were once all the rage and fetched a good price. Today a few folks can still reminisce about the fab but nobody is willing to buy a rock as a pet. Ride a fad but do not build your business on it.

When there is only 1 well in town everyone will drink from it. Is the product you are selling a knock-off of a knock-off and just 1 copy of 1000 similar ones? What makes yours stand out from all the others? If price was not an issue, would you buy a Rolex?

#3 Diversification... Limited Control

As an individual and with limited resources you end up doing almost everything by yourself. Create your own product or be an affiliate.

Need a website designed and you either have to learn HTML or use a cookie-cutter site.

Need ads, write them yourself of promote someone else's pre-written scripts.

With only 24 hrs in a day you will wear all the hats of owner, management, admin, writer, artist, shipper, customer support, general all round flunky etc.

The big boys outsource everything and are able to have a life you can only wish for.

Have a plan in place where you can focus your energies on what you are good at and have others do for you that which can be contracted out. Your objective in the long run will always be to have more time to live life the way you want it.

#4 Reputation... Limited Control

If you are selling a product and it is not yours (Ex IBMs) your control is limited to their reputation and branding You are using theirs because you have none of your own.

On the other hand if you are new to the market have your own product or are branding yourself (something you should be doing) then you have no control over reputation since you have not yet established one.

Gurus have the established reputation, word of mouth, Google and other passive means generate sales for them which are often calculated into the overall count, further boosting the result numbers.

#5 Money... Limited Control

This is the proverbial rock and a hard place. You need the money to be able to produce the results that make the money you need!

With the average newbie monthly advertising budget being under $20 and mainly being able to promote only to the super saturated market within that price range. Is it small wonder that so many fail to produce results?

A successful co-registration campaign with good results can start at $10,000 and go up from there. Not a marketing option open to everyone.

You could always borrow the money to buy the advertising and build your income, but unless you have done your homework, crossed the "T"s and dotted the "I"s you may as well play the slots.

#6 Timing... Limited Control

This one can be tricky, sometimes the best laid plans with all the research done just flop despite the best efforts and other times for no apparent reason, a proverbial pebble tossed into a pond becomes a tidal wave.

If you have done all of your research, seen a need to be filled, found a product on the verge of taking off, identified your target market, designed your marketing campaign, built your reputation and thrown money at it. Timing may help you.

#7 Dumb luck... No Control

The French scientist Louis Pasteur famously said: "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind."

While we have no direct control over luck the "sagacity" of being able to link together apparently innocuous facts to come to a valuable conclusion will allow you to often be the "lucky person" who was at the right place at the right time.

Summary...

Even gurus, have done promotions that flopped like a beached fish and produced no results. On the other hand some have had a selected list of people they have shared something with and had results that figured in the high double digits!

No promotion is foolproof and no campaign will be able to guarantee results but if you have the right tools and the correct market you will always improve your odds of actually getting results!

One final note. If you are just one of many promoting a product for someone else then you are fighting every last affiliate out there for a limited number of customers daily.

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Michelle A. Hoffmann is a Work at Home mother of 4, author, website designer, website traffic specialist, internet marketer and ezine editor/publisher/owner. You can read more of her articles at www.24karatmarketer.com. Get website traffic with a touch of class at A1TrafficExchange, Nile-Hits TE and Michaels Realm Traffic Exchange