[Focus on Marketing] Marketing A to Z

Like most small business people, pest management firm owners often wonder how to market or advertise their companies in today’s competitive marketplace.

Tim Williams of Great American Sales & Marketing, an advertising agency and training firm that he and his wife started in 1994, shared his ABCs of advertising and marketing with attendees at NPMA’s 2004 PestWorld Conference in Honolulu. These are the tips he offered from his own experience and expertise.

A is for Appearing in Your Own Ads

Playing a part in your own ads is right for some people and not for others, Williams said. However, being in your company’s commercials may help increase credibility and therefore results. "There’s nobody out there that knows more about your business than you do. There’s nobody out there that’s as passionate about it as you are."

C is for Classroom Training

It doesn’t matter how much advertising you do and how successful it is if your staff isn’t trained and ready to back up what you’ve promised in your ads. If your staff is not properly trained, then all the money spent on advertising is wasted, Williams said. Consistent sales training, customer service training, communication training and technical training are all important. Ongoing training can increase sales and motivate employees.

D is for Doorhangers and Direct Mail

Doorhangers are a great way to increase business, Williams said. They are easy to distribute and inexpensive. Technicians can hang them on doors of clients’ neighbors when they’re already there for a job, and it is a low-cost initiative.

Direct mail, although still useful, can be more complicated. There is a lot to think about when using this form of advertising. One thing is being certain to effectively target the advertisement to the correct group of people, and another is to make some type of special offer within the advertisement. Making the format eye-catching is also important. "Direct mail gets thrown away so much," Williams said. "You’ve got to figure out a way to make it noticeable."

E is for E-mail Newsletters

Once a company has gathered a database of customers and prospective customers, newsletters sent via e-mail can be a grass-roots method for sending company information to a targeted group. Putting an e-newsletter together is something that you can do yourself or that you can hire someone to do. It’s also worth remembering that although an e-newsletter may be less expensive, sending a newsletter the "old-fashioned way" (via snail mail) might be more effective.

"I think snail mail might be a better way to send out a newsletter these days," Williams said. "I think it might get more attention than something coming across on e-mail because we tend to erase those if we don’t know who they’re coming from."

F is for Frequency

"The frequency with which you advertise is going to be directly related to the response that you get," Williams said. There are two types of frequency: vertical and horizontal. Vertical frequency is when a commercial is run many times within a short amount of time. Horizontal frequency is when it’s run less often, but steadily and over a longer period of time. For example, Williams said vertical advertising would be running a commercial 12 times a day for just two days, while horizontal would be running it at the same time, one time a day, every single day throughout the year.

It’s hard to know what frequency is right for a particular company or service, and the only way to find out is through experimentation.

G is for Gifts and Goals

Giving gifts to loyal customers can increase customer retention, and giving gifts as sales incentives can help motivate employees. Goals are important in advertising, just as they are important in other aspects of business. They should be written, specific, measurable and have deadlines.

"These are all marketing things that can help you retain clients, retain customers, retain employees," Williams said.

H is for Hispanic Advertising

Marketing specifically toward Spanish-speaking people is something everyone should keep in mind, Williams said, especially if a company is in an area where a lot of Spanish-speaking people live or work. In those cases, investing in Spanish advertising and running commercials on Spanish radio and television stations can pay off.

I is for Incentives

"Your sales team (is) probably the most important element in your marketing arsenal," Williams said. Therefore, incentives that encourage employees to work as hard as possible are a good idea. These include contests, cash bonuses, etc.

J is for Jingles

People may make fun of jingles, but they’re effective. They get stuck in people’s heads, which means people remember them, which means people remember the company they advertise. In this way, musical advertising campaigns can significantly increase a company’s name recognition.

"We do hundreds of jingles," Williams said. "The reason why we do is because words set to music are 400 times more memorable than spoken words alone."

K is for Keeping Your Customers

Having a specific plan for customer retention is an important part of a marketing plan. Customer incentives, gifts, free services and cash for referrals can all be ways to increase customer loyalty.

L is for Learning More About Advertising

It’s important to learn a little bit about advertising, especially if you want to do your own. Attending advertising-related seminars and conventions to learn more about the business and its terminology is a good start. Also, if you are doing business with a radio or television station and you have a good sales representative there, he or she can be helpful and informative. Hiring an advertising agency is an option, of course. In that case, it’s vital that you be able to trust the people at the agency.

N is for Newspapers

Although many companies advertise in newspapers, Williams said it’s not the right choice for most of his clients. Newspaper advertising still gets excellent results for some companies and services, but for most there are better options. One reason for this is that more and more people are getting their news from other sources.

O is for Outdoor Billboards

Billboards are a great, cost effective way to get a message to the public, Williams said The cost per thousand, or per point, is relatively low compared to other methods. While it’s true that many people not in your market will see your ad every day — prompting some to consider it wasted money — that is the case with every form of advertising. Unfortunately for some, billboards are a dying industry because many communities are creating laws to discourage their use.

P is for Public Relations

Being active in public relations can pay off enormously if a press release gets picked up and turned into a story. Making this happen might take time though. It requires consistent effort, steadily sending out press releases, knowing who to send the releases to and developing relationships with assignment editors. But if you’re successful, the publicity that you’ll get is invaluable. It means free exposure, and it positions you as an expert in the public’s eye. "There’s just no way to put a number on what this is worth," Williams said.

Q is for Quickly Changing Gears

It’s imperative to give a marketing plan enough time to work, but it’s equally as important to know when to stop doing what’s not working and move on to something new. You must be able to quickly and effectively evaluate results and change gears when necessary.

R is for Radio

Advertising on the radio is an affordable and effective way to increase business using electronic media. There are ways to optimize the effect of your advertisement. Williams said using a jingle to set your commercial apart from others is a good idea. He also said to be careful when using humor in commercials because people’s ideas of what’s funny vary, and "funny" commercials can also get old quickly. Hiring a local "personality" to appear in a local commercial is a good way to go.

S is for Signage and Service Clubs

The signs on a company’s building(s) and vehicles can be an inexpensive and important part of its marketing plan. People see the name of a company when they drive past the building, and they see the name of it again when a company vehicle drives past their house (or their car when they’re on the road, or sitting in their neighbor’s driveway). Joining a service club is a smart way to meet new potential customers and friends who will then refer your services to others.

T is for Television

Advertising on TV may not be as expensive as some people think, Williams said. Advertising on cable TV is usually less expensive than advertising on broadcast stations, but the drawback is that fewer people usually see a commercial if it’s on a cable station as opposed to on a broadcast station.

U is for Using Your Staff

Brainstorming with your staff is one way to really take advantage of what employees have to offer. "Even if you don’t use the ideas, it can motivate your staff, make them feel a part of the process and really be worthwhile," said Williams.

V is for Visiting Your Customers

Making sales calls with salespeople is something upper-level managers and business owners should do from time to time. This is a way to keep in touch with how things are going and also to increase business.

W is for Writing Effective Commercials

Some things that Williams said to include in commercials are offers with a declared price, themes and something unique. Urgency can be added by enforcing a time or a quantity limit. The message must also have a good script and run frequently.

X is for eXpecting the Best

"When you start an advertising campaign, expect that it will work," Williams said. Do research, follow a carefully planned and accurate budget and include your staff in what you’re doing. Then expect all of your hard work to pay off. When something works, keep doing it.

Y is for Yellow Pages

While most people still use the Yellow Pages as an advertising medium, Williams said he believes television and radio work better. This is because they are intrusive, while the Yellow Pages are more passive. This does not mean that companies shouldn’t be in the Yellow Pages at all, but it might be a good idea to reduce the size of the ad and put the saved money into another medium.

Z is for Zone Advertising

If it’s an available option in your company’s area, advertising on cable and in a specific zone can be a cost-effective way to get started in TV advertising. Also, being able to advertise to a particular isolated zone can be really helpful if you want to offer a service in one area but not others.

The author is a freelance writer. She can be reached at mpeters@giemedia.com.