Speaker 1: I'm here with Ron Sherman and Ron Jumper to talk about how to develop a successful advertising campaign for your home improvement company. Ron, let's talk. What should these home improvement companies do first?

Speaker 2: Sure. Well, I think the simplest thing when you're getting started is just simply determining how many leads you need to generate per month. And the way I like to do that is by working backwards. I ask, how many sales reps does the company have? Let's say it says three. Well, each sales rep needs 10 appointments a week. That's 30 total, 120 a month. And then we work backwards from there to develop an advertising plan to generate the number of leads they actually need each month so that you don't underspend and not hit your lead goals or overspend and not be cost effective. So that's where I like to start.

Speaker 1: But Ron, what are some common mistakes you see home improvement companies making?

Speaker 3: Jennifer, one of the first things that comes to mind is a home improvement dealer coming up with a promotion for his television and it not being strong enough. I mean, they live in it every day and they want to watch their budgets and they want to get the most out of each job. But when you start going on television and offering 10 percent off or 15 percent off, you think about the ads you hear every day. That's not very compelling. I mean, I could use an example of there's a famous men's store that you buy two suits and you get one free. That brings people to the door. And we've got to bring people out of their chair, pick up the phone and call to get an in-home estimate. So we've got to make sure when we produce those television spots, they've got to be strong enough to get people to act right then. So we've got to have promotions that offer bigger savings. Hopefully you can get something free. And it's important that they know they need to call right then. So your promotion is going to be key in having a very successful TV campaign.

Speaker 1: Ron, same question, common mistakes.

Speaker 2: Sure. The most common mistakes I see are not tracking effectively how each advertising source is working individually and also how each type of advertising works together. In other words, if you do a big print ad on Sunday, what impact that may have on lead generation on Monday and Tuesday throughout the week. And also if you're doing radio or television and various things, how much web traffic that might drive and being able to have a better understanding overall of how all of your advertising efforts are working together.

Speaker 1: So Ron, how long should businesses commit to a type of advertising before making a change?

Speaker 3: That's a tough question, Jennifer. But in talking to a lot of home improvement companies and developing advertising campaigns, whether it be for newspaper, radio, television, or a combination of, and of course we have to factor in the web today, is that I think you should make at least a six month commitment. That's what I hear from a lot of folks. Now keep in mind that usually within the first 30 to 60 days, you're going to get a feel if that advertising campaign is getting traction. And one of the things I always try to pass along to people is that when you're making that six month commitment to do your advertising campaign, you come up with your best promotion, your best creative. But I like to strongly suggest that you have a backup campaign because in many cases you need to change. You can tell after 90 days, you can have goals and expectations. And if you're not 75% there, 80% there, then you need to take a strong look after 90 days what you're doing. So those are some keys I think to producing a good campaign and staying with it long enough to have an impact.