Do Print Ads Still Work?

With all the talk about web-based advertising, personalized search and local search, there are lots of independent hearing aid practitioners rushing to build a web site ASAP, hoping to beat the competition and make a little of that web cash.

But before you hire a pricy web site designer and smooth talking web writer, take a look at your marketing efforts as a whole. If you put all of your marketing dollars into a glitzy, optimized web site and that web site doesn’t pull as promised, you may be out of business (though still have a great looking web site).

The Problem With Print Advertising

Print ads have always been the staple for the independent hearing aid specialist. Daily ads in the local paper were a given and a quarter page ad in the telephone book more than paid for itself, even though the monthly bill to the phone company was lethal!

Things have changed. My morning newspaper is about the size of a pamphlet. And most of the coverage is local sports and stories taken from the newswires – the same stories you read the day BEFORE on AOL or Yahoo!. There’s no way a newspaper can compete when it comes to timeliness of news delivery. None!

That’s why so many newspapers are going under. Magazines, too. People just don’t read magazines like they used to. Special interest magazines are still popular so, if you’re in to fishing you might get a fishing magazine each month, but the subscription figures for print journalism tell a bleak story.

Limited Options = Unlimited Opportunities

Even so, there are plenty of people who wouldn’t give up their morning paper over coffee for love nor money. And there are still people who prefer to read a magazine than listen to the tales of woe on the news each day – 24-7.

So, to cross print adverts off your marketing list would be a mistake. Heck, I know people who don’t even own a computer. Never will. They don’t Twitter, Plurk and they wouldn’t know a blog if one came and sat in their lap. These are people who grew up with print media and that’s the media with which they’re comfortable.

So, you have a captive audience in print. The people who subscribe to the local daily are avid, dedicated and interested folks – the exact kind of folks you’re trying to reach. So, before you eliminate that ad in the local paper, call your ad manager and see if you can negotiate a better deal. You give something (a longer commitment) and the paper gives something (a lower per-insertion cost). Win-win. Oh, and you’ll be surprised at how eager the local marketing rep at the newspaper is to negotiate. Some of these old time newspapers are slashing cost-per-column inch just to stay afloat.

The number of people reading newspapers and periodicals is shrinking, there’s no doubt about that. But, the people who still take a subscription to the newspaper and Time magazine are the sweet spot of your market.

Aim for it.

The Yellow Pages

This one is a little tougher, but still a no-brainer. You have to have a presence in the yellow pages but, in this case, there’s not much room for negotiating. Even though there are competing telephone book publishers, yellow pages advertising is expensive. So, a couple of tips.

First, go with the edition that best targets your service area. Some companies publish regional directories that cover a couple hundred square miles. It’s not likely that an advert in a regional yellow pages is going to pull prospects from 50 miles away. There are closer providers.

Second, focus locally. There are publishers that publish phone books by community – each community gets its own phone book, just like the old days. Because these directories cover a smaller area the ad prices are lower. And because these phone booklets are targeted by town/zip code, you are nailing your service area. Funny. People tend to keep these local phone books because it’s a lot easier to find a service provider in town than to drive half way across the county for a hearing evaluation.

Marketing Integration

One final and critical point. Integrate your on-site and real world marketing so one plays off the other and vice-versa.

Be sure to include your web site address (URL) in all of your print ads – in BIG TYPE. The curious will check out your web site for additional information – like a printable map, perhaps, to pay your store a visit.

Your print advertising can and should direct readers to your web site. But it should also stand alone for those readers who don’t own a computer and still use the ol’ rotary dial telephone.

They’re out there. And they’re reading the morning paper and skimming the yellow pages looking for a store just like the one you own.

To discover more ways to market your hearing aid retail outlet, visit hearingtutor.com for tips and license-free, downloadbale sales and promotional materials.

 

John M. Adams III

Use Marketing Collaterals to Help Consumers AND Make The Sale

It’s not at all unusual for an astute consumer to make an initial foray to your retail outlet. These prospects aren’t ready to be tested. They don’t want to look at product options. They’re after a few simple facts on their reconnaissance mission:

 

• Are you the right professional?

 

• What does a hearing aid cost?

 

• What are my product options?

 

• What do I need to know to make my own decision?

 

I like these buyers. They educate themselves, they do their homework and they know what they want and need. So, when these first-timers walk in to one of my stores, I determine quickly what these shoppers want: information. Information on:

 

• services

 

• costs

 

• options

 

• benefits

 

• professionalism

 

So, I don’t spend a lot of time educating these prospects. Instead, I provide information in print form – everything from sell sheets to product literature to a tri-fold brochure that covers our service offerings, product lines, contact information and directions to the store.

 

Using marketing collaterals – take-aways – keeps your business’ name before the prospect. You provide the literature and impartial information required to make an informed decision. You provide easy, postage paid return cards to arrange an appointment for a complete hearing evaluation.

 Know What Your Customers Need to Know

Sell Sheets

These are designed to provide accurate, impartial information. No hype or hard sell. In fact, the only commercial reference on a sell sheet is your store’s name and contact information.

 

So, for example, you might print up a sell sheet on what a first-time buyer should consider before purchase, or maybe write up a 20-page consumers’ guide on the hearing aid purchase cycle – from initial contact to on-going aftercare.

 

Sell sheets should be printed on lacquered paper, professionally written and accurate without any hard sell. If writing and graphics aren’t part of your skill set, visit hearingtutor.com for low-cost, license-free downloads that you can take to the local office store and print up and give away. As many as you’d like.

 

Direct Mail

Two critical parts to a successful direct marketing campaign: (1) the quality of the mailing list and (2) the quality of the mailer.

 

You can purchase mailing lists of individuals who’ve opted in on the web for information on hearing aids or you can do a direct e-mail blast of every resident over 60-years of age within a 30 mile radius of your zip code – much more cost effective.

 

BTW, in difficult economic times list brokers (there are a ton of them) are hurting. So, in your initial conversation with a list broker you may be quoted a price of five cents a name. Negotiate. That information is worthless unless someone is willing to pay money for it and that’s you. Chances are, you can negotiate down to 3.5 cents per name.

 

Also, seed your mailing list with known recipients – yourself. Add your name and your brother-in-law’s name to the mailing list just to make sure that the mail is, indeed, getting through.

 

Newspaper Advertisements

Though newspaper circulation continues to dwindle, it’s still a great resource for reaching local populations – especially older senior populations who still subscribe to the morning news to read over coffee. Wouldn’t be a morning without it.

 

Newspaper and other periodical advertising are opportunistic. The same reader can see your advert for years and not react because s/he didn’t experience hearing loss – until a few months ago! So today, your store’s advertisement is an opportunity to drive that reader to visit your store.

 

Use coupon advertising in local newspaper placements to capture the attention of those seeking aftercare and first timers.

 

Card Decks and Co-op Advertising

I don’t recommend card deck mailers (bundles of post cards) or any kind of cooperative advertising. I just don’t think you get enough bang for your marketing dollar when your card is one of 50 in a shrink-wrapped deck or a square column inch in the  “OUR LOCAL MERCHANTS” section of the newspaper.

 

These may seem like low-cost alternatives to the expense of your own direct mail campaign but you get what you pay for.

 

Letter Campaigns

Perhaps the most productive of all direct mail campaigns.

 

A letter campaign is simply a follow-up letter sent after some other form of introduction. These aren’t hard sell. They’re soft sell reminders of that round of golf or that get-together last month at your mutual service organization.

 

These letters should be printed out on high-quality stationery with your company letterhead and matching envelops. They should be addressed directly to the recipient: Dear Bob, Dear Ms. Smith, Good day, Dr. Jones.

 

Either purchase the highest quality print paper you can or have these letters printed up at the local office big box store. This contact should stress your: (1) desire to assist and (2) a short listing of beneficial services, specifically targeted at the reader if possible.

 

Indeed, the W3 has changed the way hearing aid practitioners market products and services. But, it’s the print materials that prospects use to actually make that buying decision.

 

So provide print collaterals – sell sheets, product brochures, consumer tips – your counter tops should be covered with neat stacks of this promotional information, customized with your business name and contact information.

 

Remember, some buyers are methodical in their decision-making processes. Simply provide them with the best information in the most personal format, demonstrate your professionalism in the quality of the content and its look and feel, and help more prospects become customers.

 

Customers enjoying a better quality of life.  

John M. Adams III

jma3@hearing tutor.com