Archive for the ‘Call Measurement’ Category

The “How To” of Saving Money on Marketing Spend…

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Everyone running a small business at one point or another wants to know “What Works??”.  I only have so much money to advertise and I want to use it in the most effective way.  How do I know what works and what is a waste of valuable resources (ie MONEY)?  Well, many small business owners still don’t know the answer to that question even after using several methods of advertising over a period of years.  Why not?  Could be a variety of reasons, but the long and short of it is….there is an easy way and we can show you how.

Simply make your methods measurable.

What, measurable?  How?  Easy.  Most print media, radio or tv (and some internet) all utilize a problem/solution/call to action/PHONE! methodology. Its that PHONE! thingy that you can use to your advantage….and many small, medium and large businesses are using it to find what works and what doesn’t.

Screenshot of client call measurement cpanel

Screenshot of client call measurement cpanel

Here is a screen shot of one of our client’s control panels.  It graphically represents how many calls and website sessions (visits to their website) the client (a Chicago HVAC installer/servicer) has had in a given period of time.

Not only does the control panel show the times the calls or web sessions occurred, it also shows the breakdown of each medium it occurred in (yellow pages, internet, newspaper, etc)

Breakdown of media type

Breakdown of media type

For Quality Control Purposes…

Yeah, sure…”quality control purposes” they record the calls.  No, really!  It is for quality control or the call recording option can be used for other things specific to an ad campaign.  I’ve seen plenty of cases where a small business owner had no idea that he/she had so many hang ups.  A lost lead can be a killer in a slow economy.  Businesses nead to capitalize on every lead they can get.  So when I tell business owners “hey, people are hanging up when they get your answering machine. Invest in a call answering service so your potential customer gets a live person.  This is imperative in servicing companys like heating and air conditioning, plumbing, roofing etc., as they’re serving clients who have an urgent need (furnace is out, plumbing leak, roof leak) and they need it fixed NOW!  Having your incoming calls measurable is easy and cost effective.

Compare Ad Mediums

Once you’ve gotten call measurement numbers on all of your advertising (even flyers…printing and distribution costs add up quick), you can then measure the cost of each method of advertising verses the return on investment that each provides you.  After that its merely process of elimination and continuing the quest to find an even better way to get that sometimes elusive ROI!

Carpet Cleaning in Orland Park

Monday, March 16th, 2009
If you need clean carpets, call K&T ChemDry

If you need clean carpets, call K&T ChemDry

Ahh Spring!!  When a young man’s fancy turns to love and a woman’s fancy turns to…getting the winter salt off of the carpets!  Whether its just for a once a year spring cleaning or to get the sludge out of the carpets after they’ve taken a post new year’s beating, K&T Chem-Dry fits the bill.

Visit their landing page to get 10% off of carpet cleaning for your home or office.  We just finished it for them and optimized a search engine ad campaign for them.  K&T Chem-Dry has a patented carbonization cleaning process.  They promise a Faster, Deeper and Healthier Clean.  To reach them by phone, call 708-336-4230. Here is a short synopsis of their services:

  • Carpet Cleaning
  • Upholstery Cleaning
  • Oriental & Fine Rug Cleaning
  • Pet Urine & Odor Treatments
  • Tile, Stone & Grout Cleaning
  • Leather Cleaning & Restoration
  • Commercial Carpet Cleaning
  • Water & Flood Damage Repair & Restoration

Increasing Value of Retail Spaces=Increased Leased Spaces

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Commercial Real Estate Leasing Poster

Increased ROI for Tenants: Making the Most of Locations in a Down Market

What every prospective tenant wants to know, but is afraid to ask…  “What makes YOUR retail space better than the one down the street? You’re apt to give the old stand by reply, “Why my good man, Location, Location, Location.”

Yeah….pfft! Stop right there.  That answer may have gotten you by in good times, but SMB tenants are more sophisticated than ever.  That just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Stand Out From the Crowd

And boy, is there ever a crowd of vacancies. To make your spaces stand out from the crowd, you’ve got to show how your location is going to help BRING IN BUSINESS for the tenant. Even if you have a back-end plan to help increase value to your locations, most real estate leasing posters don’t convey it.  Drive around and take a look at the increasing number of vacant store fronts and street level office spaces and you’ll see what I mean.  Store after store, you’ll see the persistent “Space Available, Call 888-555-5555″B-O-R-I-N-G….  Is it lack of creativity on the part of commercial leasing firms?  Doubtful. Real estate practitioners (both residential and commercial) are some of the most creative minds I know when it comes to intuiting market trends and separating out the ‘what works’ from the ‘what doesn’t work’. More often than not, its fear of the unknown.  “Will changing our marketing style attract more tenants…or will it (shudder)..MAKE THINGS WORSE??” Well, things can hardly get worse right now, but they can get better.  IF…you can show a prospective tenant how you’re space is better than the Jones’.

Tell Them Your Story: Don’t simply put another repetitive BORING sign out front.  You have an opportunity to set your space/leasing program apart.  Take it. There is an old proven axiom: “A picture says 1000 words.”  The image above is just one example of the many types of signage that work.  ROI Media has coupled the ability to provide leads to small business owners with the geographic location making a powerful combination that Commercial Real Estate management companies and REITs can use to attract and retain good lessees.  This accomplishes a few things.

  1. keeps your buildings full of profitable lessees.
  2. turns adversarial lessees into grateful ‘clients’.

Michael Sexton of Trump University repeats another old axiom for success: “Identify your competitors’ weaknesses and target them directly” He discussed how to spend your marketing dollars wisely back in the summer of 2007, but his point is even more important in the current economic climate.  Don’t make the same mistake ALL of your competitors are.  Set yourself and your locations apart from the competitors by taking service to the next level.  ROI Media will partner with you to help ensure that your tenants get their share of SMBs who are using the Internet to search for retail and office space.

We have 2 programs currently running depending on the tenants needs and we pretty much tweak every program somewhat to get the highest and best utility for the lessee.  Each lead is trackable by phone call or click to your client’s website. Give us a call for a demonstration of how we get these leads for your client or any other questions you may have. (708-361-1600) More on this topic to come…

SEO vs Local Search Optimization

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

I think most of us know by now the buzz around the term “Local Search”.  Heck, I even capitalize it.  Here is a screenshot of a Google Trend comparison:

Seo vs. local search trendline in Google Trends

Seo vs. local search trendline in Google Trends

Good news for SEO companies and for everyone who’s savvy to the benefits of a good SEO program.  Let us know your successes with SEO or maybe some of your failures with it.

Any great local SEOs out there give us a shout on the comments section, and don’t forget to leave alink to your blog as well.

Call Measurement for Local Search Optimization

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Just what we’ve all been thinking.  Call measurement (call tracking) is invaluable for leaning just where you get the best ROI (return on investment) when it comes to deciding where to spend our advertising dollar.

From SearchEngineLand:

Just as the efficacy of online advertising can be measured down to the keyword level, advertisers using call tracking can assign unique phone numbers to different SEM campaigns, search engines, publishers and even paid versus organic search, allowing marketers to measure and prove ROI for leads that result in a phone call. You are probably generating calls from your search efforts already, but without call tracking, you are not getting the credit you deserve!”  Ari Jacoby

Tracking for inbound and outbound calls for Local Search

Tracking for inbound and outbound calls for Local Search

Call measurement now being offered to our clients for local search optimization.  Call our the sales department to get the scoop (708) 361-1600.  Its affordable, measurable down to the keyword which generated the click to your landing page.