Marketers should keep trolling
to find hot sales prospects

Media reps will tell you concentration is the best way to make maximum impact. Spread your message around, they say, and you’ll only weaken it.

Okay. Yes. But. If you continue to only fish in the same spot you may not catch some of those who are extra hungry for what you have to offer.

Why not compromise? Depending on your product or service you might invest some of the budget in low- cost print and ezine classifieds, radio spots, or paid search marketing. These media and directories attract prospects that are already in the market. In a sense, this is permission marketing. The buyer is looking for those with a solution. His visit is your permission to present your offer. So, why not make it easy for him to find you?

Some excellent prospects may not be swimming in that big lake where you placed all your lures.

Now, you can do all sorts of sophisticated cost analysis about media buys. Or you can just go ahead and give this idea a shot. Innovate. Explore. Discover. Then adopt, adapt or abandon the tactic. Chalk it up to R&D. It’s a tactic that can help shape your strategy, hone your appeal, and discover hot spots that need attention.

One of my clients was the largest distributor of hearing aids in South Jersey. He used both classified and display advertising in daily and weekly newspapers. While the display ads were good for his brand, it was his heavy schedule of low-cost classifieds that produced the most leads for his reps.

Let’s assume you’ve concentrated your budget in full page insertions in the number one publication for your market. Can you still dominate a page with less than a full page? Of course you can, and you’ll have a few bucks left over to go trolling in other pubs or venues.

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