Sunday, August 24, 2014

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK


The “cream of the crop”, “top of the game” advertising executives in this country make a great deal of money helping companies maximize the best return possible for the money they spend. In smaller companies, these decisions aren’t made by well trained experts and there are no studies to give them feedback on whether they are spending their money well. In a rural county like Liberty County the choices of where to advertise are limited but the decision of how this part of the budget is still very important. 

Research nationwide has been done on internet advertising that might benefit local Liberty County advertisers. To our knowledge only one local blog collects ad money for advertising. With the trend in the country obviously moving toward collecting consumer information and targeting customers on blogs that are proven winners for advertisers, it is difficult to understand why any local company advertises with the local blogger. The host of that blog has advertisers but they are research-based and targeted to each person who views the blog.  

The local company hoping to benefit by spending their hard earned money does not have that capability. His ads appear to everyone who views the blog. There is no target. Readers of that blog and advertisers should take note. When you goon that local blog, the host of the blog will have sold an ad to some company based off of your interest. For me, it may be clothes for grandchildren, but for another person it may be bow hunting equipment.
 
The local company may need to rethink their decision to post ads on a blog if they are comforted by seeing other ads on there. Some are well placed ads that are not local, but (as we have said) targeted. Others may be local advertisers wasting their money. There have been at least three local blogs with fairly high readership. But readership in terms of numbers is not necessarily the best way to spend advertising money.

If readers are holding their collective noses and quickly checking to see if there have been any local wrecks, your money may be better off spent in Christmas bonuses. These readers may never see your ad, or they may hate the site so much they wonder why you advertise on it. neither is good for business.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why anyone would waste their money advertising with KSHN or Allen Youngblood is a mystery to me. Ives lived in Liberty County for over thirty years and don't know anyone who would support any of their advertisers.

Anonymous said...

I am a former advertiser on the "local blog" mentioned in this post. The types of customers my ad attracted were not the kind of customers I wanted for my business. I advertised there longer than I should have if for no other reason than to get some exposure for my business. But eventually exposure wasn't something we needed, and when the blog began posting radically left-wing smear pieces, I made the decision to stop advertising there.

Shortly after, I began advertising with the local radio station. The return on my investment was immediate. I began attracting the customers I wanted all along, and got even better exposure than before. I continue to advertise there and have no problems writing that monthly check. It doesn't mean I agree with the ideology of the owner or everyone who works there--it doesn't even necessarily mean that I particularly enjoy the "personalities" there. But it has benefited my business, attracting just the right customers!