Don't Forget the Bottom Line

As a marketing and advertising professional, it's easy to get wrapped up in all of the fascinating ways that ideas can be expressed. First I think of a great idea, then I find a creative way to tell others and I sit back and watch the target audience become enthralled with my brilliant work.

With all of this going on, it's easy to get lost in the fun of advertising and forget its purpose–the bottom line. Our clients love when we come up with engaging ideas but do great ideas always make them money?

Not necessarily. It's important for us to take a step back from our work and ask ourselves, is the target audience going to visit this store because of this work? Will they pick up the phone and call our client about this product or service? Will they make a purchase? Will this generate revenue and profits for the client or will this just be an advertising piece that generates discussion, not money?

Great advertising isn't about how funny, interesting or confabulatory (oh yeah, I just used that word) something can be, it's about how many viewers turn around and purchase a product or service from the brand.

Word of mouth marketing does wonders for brands–don't get me wrong. However, if it doesn't translate into leads and sales for the client, it's accomplished nothing. However, marketing efforts don't have to successfully bring customers in right away–after all, the point of social media is to engage customers and show a brand as approachable. Consumers aren't going to run out and immediately start throwing their money at a brand just because they read a great blog or interacted with a business on Facebook. However, if these interactions don't eventually translate into a sale at some point down the road, the marketing efforts haven't been successful.

What do you think? Do you know of an example of great advertising that you think did nothing to increase revenue for the brand? Share your thoughts by commenting below. We'd love to hear what you think.

Have any questions about how to determine your advertising and marketing's return on investment? Contact us today.