How to Increase Your Advertising Return on Investment

You can increase your advertising return on investment by using scarcity to motivate people to buy now rather than later.

Often an advertisement persuades people to buy, but not immediately. So the customers think they’ll get around to it later and never do. You have to motivate your customers to buy now or risk loosing the sale forever.

You paid for advertising to get the people to consider buying in the first place. As more of them don’t buy, return on your advertising investment diminishes. So it’s vital to motivate your potential customers to buy immediately.

Scarcity motivates people to buy now because they know that only a limited supply of your product exists or that they have only a limited time to buy at a discounted price.

Of course, this knowledge must be based on reality. If you try to fool people into thinking that a product is scarce when it really isn’t, you’ll loose their trust, and they will never buy from you again.

You may get a decent return of your advertising investment from the ad you just ran. But then you find your return less with future ads because you lost customers due to their mistrust.

Supply Scarcity Increases Advertising Return On Investment

You can persuade people to buy now by limiting the supply of your product.

You can do this by purposefully limiting the supply or by creating so much demand with your advertising that your supply doesn’t meet the demand.

You can build in a limited supply of your product by only producing a certain number, and marketing it as limited.

For example, many collectables are manufactured as limited editions with each product numbered. This not only encourages a quicker purchase, but also adds value and increases the price of each product. So advertising return on investment is increased.

Or good advertising can produce supply scarcity by making a product popular more quickly than you can produce it.

For example, when the new Xbox was released, customers stood in line for hours to buy one because they realized that demand would exceed the original supply. Some even paid double the retail price to get the last few remaining ones. The manufacturer got a quick return on advertising investments because they sold all of them in a day’s time. Retailers also got a good return on their advertising investments because they sold many of them above retail.

Time Scarcity Increases Advertising Return On Investment

Time scarcity gets lots of customers to buy your products quickly. That’s the premise of “Sales.” Your business offers a discount on a product for a short time. After that time the price goes up.

So you advertise today. Customers buy your product tomorrow.

For example, online marketers use time scarcity in one-time-offers. The customer can get a discount on a product while they are on one page. Once they click off that page, the discount disappears. If customers later decide to buy the product, they have to pay the full price.

Increasing Advertising Return On Investment Conclusion

Both supply and time scarcity can motivate your customers to buy immediately. This increases your advertising return of investment in two ways.

One, your business makes sales immediately so the cost of advertising is retuned immediately. This eliminates having your money tied up in advertising and frees it to pay other expenses.

Two, your business sells more products so the cost of advertising is divided by more products sold. This also increases your return on advertising investments.

How One Colorado Company Achieved a 2,857% Return on Investment With a Sales Letter

This case study of an independent glass company located in Eagle, Colorado is a powerful example that supports the many reasons why hiring a professional copywriter that understands the essence of a sales letter is so critical. When done right, the “expense” of hiring someone quickly becomes an investment. Let’s dig a little deeper to see what happened with Highlands Glass & Shower.

Highlands Glass & Shower, of Eagle, Colorado contemplated a way to attract new business targeting the construction market. However, their goal was to contact only the “hottest” prospective customers. The best way to find this market was to tap into the county assessor’s site. Using the assessor’s public information, Highlands Glass & Shower was able to get the contact information for each person or entity that applied for a building construction permit. In the construction business, this is a ready-to-buy lead. However, Suzanna Warnock, co-owner of the business, wanted just the right message to send out to these buyers and hit the bull’s eye the first time. Knowing the importance of communicating the right message and leveraging their expertise, Highlands Glass & Shower hired a professional.

The professional interviewed them to find out what was unique about their business; why people bought from them; and what benefits new customers would receive if they starting buying from them. Once the information was gathered, the writer put together a professional sales letter, catered uniquely to the Warnock’s business and their customers getting ready to go through the construction process. With so many questions, so many details, and unknowns to consider in the construction business, the Highlands Glass & Shower sales letter highlighted the reasons why it was smart to do business with them.

The result: shortly after the letters were put into use, Highlands Glass & Shower saw a return on their investment of 2,857%! During the initial rollout of the campaign, the company added one new client that was responsible for purchasing for multiple, ongoing projects.

If your business is ready to add new business, contact Jena Taylor.

ROI = (Income/Cost) * 100

Businesses should invest the money to hire a professional copywriter to plan, write, and formulate a sales letter.

Condo Hotels – Guaranteed 15% Plus Annual Return on Investment

The Key is to Buy at Pre-Sale Pricing

Panama real estate is red hot! We have read this from sources like ABC Nightline, The New York Times, The Washington Post, International Living, and the Wall Street Journal, to name just a few briefly. And if it is true that in Dubai you will find most of the Worlds construction cranes then Panama must be the second skyline filled with cranes. There’s construction everywhere. However if you try to book a hotel room in Panama City chances are you won’t find one. Recently the minister of tourism Ruben Blades published a report stating that there are only 17,000 hotel rooms in Panama, not quite enough for the double digits growth in tourism to the country. He stated that there is a deficit in hotel rooms of more than 20,000 rooms. And although we have a list of New Hotels that are in development in Panama, the demand is still higher than the supply. And we all know what that represents.

Even if we take into account All the New Hotels & rooms currently in development in Panama:

34 Rooms The Holiday Inn City at Knowledge Opening March 27, 2008

102 Rooms The Radisson Colon 2000 Hotel and Casino Opening April 15th, 2008

134 Rooms The Bristol Buenaventura Opening December, 2008

103 Rooms The Radisson Summit Golf And Resort Opening April 2009

80 Rooms The Panama Marriott ext. 376 total Opening late 2009

125 Rooms The LeMeridian Hotel Opening June 2009

128 New Rooms Courtyard by Marriott ext. 248 total Opening fall 2009

800 Rooms Megapolis Condo-Apart-Hotel Opening late 2009 FIRST PHASE

300 Rooms Renaissance Panama Opening late 2010

Condo Hotels represent a great Investment option, since demand for hotel rooms in Panama is higher and growing, and the inventory at hand cannot keep up with the demand for rooms. Condo Hotels have become the NEW BOOM in Investment Opportunities. For those of us that like cash generating Investments, and returns of at least 15% annually and higher; investing in a condo hotel in Panama , Now is an excellent opportunity!

Condo-Hotel’s Explained.

Condo-hotel’s are just like traditional hotels, however, each hotel room unit may belong to an individual owner, whereas in traditional hotels, there usually just one owner of the entire building.

Condo-hotel owners generally sign a contract with a management company to “operate and manage” the hotel facilities and each of the individual hotel rooms. This is done on a profit share basis, with anywhere from 50% to 75% of the rental income going to the individual unit owners. Additionally, some Condo-hotel management companies also pool the remaining annual net operating profits with an additional percentage being distributed at the end of the operating year to the owners. This percentage varies but can be as much as 15%. Additionally, condo-hotel owners get to use their hotel room units for limited number of days per year. Generally between 1 and 2 weeks. So if you plan to vacation in the destination where you own a Condo-hotel unit, this would be an added benefit.

Additional Benefits.

With traditional real estate investments, you are generally looking to cover your maintenance and monthly mortgage costs if financed and hoping to generate a positive monthly cash flow and hope to make a profit from the increase in value of the property over the time you own it. As any landlord will tell you managing a rental property can be a huge headache – maintenance, dealing with Tenants, collecting rent etc., and these headaches are multiplied if the property you own is in a country different from where you reside.

With Condo-hotels, all of these headaches are taken away from you. The professional management company that is managing the hotel, takes care of all of these day-to-day issues, and you don’t ever have to even think about it.

The Opportunity in Panama, is Now!

Recently there has been a huge demand for Hotel rooms in Panama due to the booming economy, increased Tourism, and plenty of Business travelers entering the country. The Panamanian Tourism Institute IPAT recently released a statement saying that based on the current growth trends of tourism there is a demand for an additional 20,000 hotel rooms over the coming years. With the current hotel occupancy rates at a steady 90% and above. And the constant infusion of foreign capital pouring into Panama, the construction boom, and mega investment projects like $5 + billion dollar expansion of the Panama Canal which is underway, The construction of the Panama International Merchandise Mart, the largest commercial structure in Latin America with 2 million square meters of construction 21,572,7820 square feet . Total investment is US$1 billion USD over a 3-year period, the development of the Panama-Pacific Special Economic Area [formerly Howard a U.S. Air Force base], a multi billion dollar real estate development underway by London Regional, and many more. Recently the company Caterpillar, which recently announced it was moving its regional headquarters to Panama, made a statement saying they alone would have a demand of approximately 12,000 room-nights per year!

ThinkPanama.com has reviewed the Condo-hotel offerings in Panama, and has selected two Condo-hotels to Promote: The Plaza Costa del Este, and The Orchid.

GUARANTEED Returns of 15% +

The Plaza, Costa del Este: This outstanding project combines 150 unique and contemporary executive hotel rooms and 44 private residences is located in the Costa del Este part of Panama City – an up and coming area with Residential and Commercial areas including a major Office park complex.

The Developers and Operators of The Plaza, have put together an incredible “Investor Incentive Program” unparalleled in the country. 15% Return on Investment GUARANTEED for 5 years! The pre-sale prices on these hotel Units start at just $193,000. In 5 years you would have recovered 50% of your total investment, plus owners get 70% of the rental income, and are allowed to use their units for one week a year. Even though this project will just break ground this year, you will start to receive your returns well before the hotel is open for business! Additionally, real estate prices in Panama still have a strong appreciation, so if you decide to sell out in 5 years, you’re guaranteed an excellent overall ROI.

Rubbing elbow with the stars: International Superstar and Grammy-award winning artist, Enrique Iglesias, and Latin Salsa sensation Gilberto Santa Rosa are confirmed owners of units in The Plaza. Enrique Iglesias bought the Penthouse and Gilberto Santa Rosa bought a residential unit in the development.

The Orchid.

This is the most recent project of Procasa Group launched , they launched their flagship Hotel-condo project “The Orchid” to a room full of Press and Industry Executives. The Orchid, a 200 room, Five-Star Condo-Hotel, will be located in the Financial district in Panama City, and will cater primarily to Business Travelers, boasting one of the best equipped Business Centers in the City.

The property will feature a full service Spa, Pool, Restaurants, Room Service, Gymnasium, Concierge service, housekeeping, etc.

Based on projections released by the company, owners can conservatively expect an average of 17% ROI , this is based on a very conservative 66% occupancy rate. The owners share of the rental income is set at 63%, with the balance to the Management Company. Pre Sale Prices Now start at $207,000, for a limited time.

For Reserve your units at Pre-Sale price contact Douglas M. Choy, Licensed Real Estate broker at ThinkPanama.com he will be happy to provide you with All information including cash flow plans for the condo hotel units, availability, current pricing, and negotiate on your behalf the down payment, payment terms, and conditions.

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The Fallacy Of Return On Investment In Marketing

Return on investment in marketing cannot be measured accurately.

Do you buy a Coke because it is on the billboard; because you saw the ad on television; because you saw the Coke truck; or because the Coke machine is convenient? Was it the ad this month or last? Or was it the ad you saw when you were 10? Or is it the fond memories you have of drinking Coke? Or the nice logo?

The answer is – you probably don’t know exactly why you buy the Coke at the particular time that you do. It is a combination of all these factors that make up marketing that cause the consumer to take action.

Marketing is the battle for perception. Good marketing can create the perception needed to cause purchasers to buy.

The only type of product that can have an instant return on investment in marketing is something that is truly commoditized. If you are selling water and there is no perception that your water is any different than anyone else’s water, then if you do a marketing campaign or a promotion or a price reduction, you can shift share from a competitor. Most manufacturers should actually be spending their marketing dollars differentiating their product. It is much easier to sell “Clean Glacier” water over “bottled city” water if Clean Glacier can sell the refreshment and health benefits of their brand.

The only companies that should want to commoditize their markets are ones that are truly the lowest cost to produce (not to be confused with lowest price). To sell at the lowest price without the lowest cost is a recipe for failure.

There is a great book called Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, that talks about mavens (product experts) and connectors (natural networkers who spread the word). The thesis in the book is that getting products known by enough mavens and connectors can cause a product to “tip” and become pervasive and successful.

I sit on the board of Research in Motion (RIM). When RIM was first introducing their products, they spent most of their marketing budget on giving samples of their product to people they identified as mavens or connectors. Most stockbrokers qualified. Because the product worked well, they evangelized it and eventually that lead to more adoption and ultimate success.

A single influencer can persuade hundreds of customers to buy over a long period of time.

The purpose of marketing, then, can be to influence the influencers. Design any program with that in mind.

Marketing is also best done with multiple media. It is best to not only send a flyer but to telemarket, email, fax, press release, demonstrate products in trade show, advertise etc. The different messages reinforce each other and different people get different things from different media.

All marketing tends to be more effective if it is repeated often. It has been said that the first time a person sees something about the company, they don’t see it; the second time, they are vaguely aware of it; the third time they look at it; the fourth time, they read it; the fifth time, they absorb; and the sixth time, they buy it. All marketing effects occur over time.

Because of the difficulty in measuring ROI, some companies will just stop marketing. This is great news for those that keep marketing. In time share will shift to those that continue to invest.

I am a time management person. I pride myself in using my time well. I even authored an eBook and audio CD on the topic. People ask me why I Blog and do I get a return on the time I spend blogging. I do know it has given me a higher profile. It has added to the traditional press I get (I have been written about in the Globe and Mail, Forbes Magazine and many computer trade journals like CRN). Can I measure the ROI? No – but no long term company can measure ROI accurately.

There’s More to Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) than Meets the Eye

All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, “I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible.” This is wrong think.

When it comes to marketing ROI, you have to realize that the term means Return On Investment and the return is measured in dollars (or your local currency). Let’s say you spend $2,000 to get out a bulk mailing of 5,000 pieces and you get 10 calls as a result. Doesn’t look like much. But of these 10 calls you close 6 and get immediate sales of $12,000. That’s marketing ROI! And that’s not even taking into account the future sales to those 6 new customers. It could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The same simple mathematics apply to any other marketing efforts: radio ads, press releases or articles in magazines, print ads, yellow pages, web site, etc.

Obviously you need to keep track of response from each marketing campaign you do so that you can weed out unsuccessful campaigns and strengthen successful ones.

Case in point:

Jeff Lee, CFO of a very successful consulting company, Measurable Solutions, has adopted a successful small business marketing strategy based on direct mail marketing. Key elements are mailing out a newspaper and full color postcards. The design is done in house and the printing and mailing is done by a specialized postcard printing company. In his own words…

“We get our best response from mailing out a newspaper and back it up with postcards. Depends on the postcards. Some postcards have pulled better than others.

“The professionalism of the postcards is something that is effective: it gets attention, it keeps the image that we want to keep, it creates the reach, it creates the response and keeps our leads in a very high range.

“We probably average around 7,500 post cards per week. Out of 7,500 post cards we’ll get in an average of 15-20 leads. Of the 15-20 leads at least a third of them come to our introductory seminar. So say 5 or 7 people show up and they pay $1,700 a piece. Off of that we close a further $30-40,000 for services.

“The money we have put into the postcards is like a drop in a bucket compared to what we get back. We know that the more promotion we send out, the more return we’re going to get. It always works.”

That is excellent marketing ROI. Measurable Solutions spend about $2,275 for 7,500 full color post cards. That includes printing, postage, mailing (including the mailing list). From that they get between $8,500 and $11,900 in immediate response for an introductory seminar and an additional $30-40,000 follow-up sales.

Spend $2,275, earn $40-50,000. You don’t need to have majored in advanced math and rocket science to work that one out: that is what is meant by marketing ROI!

Results of direct mail marketing vary from business to business but the principle holds and always works: if you send out enough promotion, you will make sales and maximize your marketing ROI. Don’t worry about response rate if your marketing ROI is high.