The primary reason you advertise is to generate new business. To do this, you must make it easy for prospects to communicate with you in the way that they prefer.
In general, I strongly recommend that everything you do has a call to action – where you tell the prospect what you expect them to do and provide the means for them to do it. This is usually an invitation for them to call for more information, schedule a free initial consultation, etc., but can really be anything you think will prompt a response.
That “call to action” makes it direct response advertising, regardless of the medium you choose. You’re telling the prospect what you want them to do and they respond.
You should incorporate this principle of direct response into everything you do. Just as you wouldn’t print a business card without a phone number, everything you do to promote your firm should give prospects as many ways as possible to learn more about you – allowing them to choose the one(s) they like best.
September 21, 2008 at 11:12 pm |
[...] Would you hand out a business card without a phone number or email? Not likely. Yet every day marketers publish ads that don’t have a call to action. And that’s a mistake, writes marketing maven Jeff Bacon: [...]
September 9, 2008 at 8:49 pm |
Good point — we sometimes forget that the purpose of a business card is so people can call you:)