Stop defining ROI as getting back what you spent on media buy. Instead, redefine it as return on the leads generated - then monetize those leads across your product line, get referrals from them, and track the full backend system. Win leads over, monetize them in multiple ways, multiply them through referrals. That's how you stop losing money on advertising and make every media dollar work.
More than 82% of businesses in America spend at least 10% of their revenue on advertising (aka: media buys). And most of them lose money on those ads. In fact, many businesses would be better off taking that money to Las Vegas and throwing it down on Black on the roulette wheel.
Speaking As Someone Who Has His Hands On 7 Figures Of Media Buys A Week, I Can Tell You For Certain That There's A Science To Making Your Advertising Work!
Why Do Most Companies Define ROI Wrong?
They define ROI positive as getting back what they spent on media within 30 to 90 days. But that model is too expensive and leaves too much money on the table. The lead isn't the finish line - it's the beginning of a system where you win them over, monetize them across your product line, and multiply them through referrals. The lead is the starting point, not the endpoint.
The most costly mistake companies make when they purchase media (whether it's radio, TV, online, direct mail, etc, etc, etc) is that they expect to be ROI positive from those media buys.
That means they expect to be ROI positive in 30 or 60 or 90 days. But the problem is that most companies define ROI positive as "an equal or greater return on their spend" (ie: $1000 investment in media requires $1000 or more return from that media).
But that model is too expensive and it's leaving too much money on the table.
What's the Three-Part System That Makes Media Profitable?
Win them over by over-delivering on your promise and showing social proof. Monetize them in multiple ways - offer your first product, then sequence through your entire product line over the next days and weeks. Multiply them by asking for referrals in every email - that's an extra 200 leads per thousand generated from ads, and most companies never ask.
Every lead (or prospect, or customer, or client, or buyer) that comes in from your media buy should be put into a simple system that does 3 things:
Win them over, monetize them in multiple ways, and multiply them.
Win them over
- First and foremost, over deliver on what you promised them.
- Then, prove to them that they should do business with your company which is easily accomplished by showing them testimonials of customers who have similar needs as they do.
Monetize them in multiple ways
- Immediately after a lead comes in, offer them the product promised in your advertising, then remind them several times over the next few days of why they need your product (this is normally best accomplished using email).
- If they don't buy the first product within that time frame, offer them another "similar" product of yours, then remind them several times over the next few days of why they need that product.
- Keep offering them one of your products along with a powerful reason why they might need it, moving to the next product in your product line every few days until you've exhausted all your products.
Multiply them
- For every 5-8 leads that our paid media generates, we can normally get another lead simply by asking for a referral (that's an EXTRA 200+ leads for every 1000 that your normal advertising generates - or 2,000 leads for every 10,000 your normal advertising generates).
- In every email you send to your prospects, simply add a 'PS' that says something like: If you have know someone who could benefit from this product, or any of our other products please forward this email to them, or simply have them call our friendly team at (000) 000-0000.
Your company can easily profit more from your media buys while your competition struggles if you set up a few systems that automatically help you monetize every lead and convert more prospects into happy customers.
The secret is to stop defining "ROI positive" as an equal or greater return on your media spend (ie: $1000 investment in media requires $1000 or more return from that media), and start defining "ROI positive" as an equal or greater return on the leads generated from your media spend (ie: 10,000 leads generated equals $100,000 in 60 days).
When you make the shift, you can then become more varied in how you generate leads (ie: local online ads are a fraction of the cost of direct mail, paid email drops are a fraction of the cost and often generate more 'buyers' than newspaper and direct mail combined, TV ads might be far more costly but a decent commercial can generate be ROI positive within days using the above guidelines).
It's no longer possible to just throw money at advertising and expect it to give you a positive return. In today's competitive world, it's vital that your company have simple systems set up to maximize return on every marketing dollar you spend.
Related Insights How Hollywood Spreads The Word About New Movies → Related Insights Successful Business Growth Is All About 2 Things →