Why Most Advertising Is a Total Waste of Money and What to Do Instead

Many marketing companies will talk about the ‘brand awareness’ of a campaign. This is often a nebulous concept and one that is difficult to quantify. We here at Exposure Ninja are not huge advocates of brand awareness as a marketing goal, and we want to talk about this. Is brand awareness ever a useful goal? Why is it so often not?

In this episode of the Exposure Ninja Digital Marketing Podcast, Tim and Lozz are nailing down how this kind of marketing works, what the common pitfalls are and what the benefits might be.

Brand Awareness Vs Direct Response Advertising Campaigns

Brand awareness is exactly what it says on the label: a campaign aimed at raising awareness about a product or company. Its goal is rather fuzzy; it often comes in the form of ads that don’t encourage the user to buy a product. It may not even have a call to action. A good example of this would be Coca Cola’s advertising campaigns. We think of brand awareness generally as a poor use of advertising budget. You can’t track effectiveness or ROI of the campaign at all.

Direct response advertising campaigns, on the other hand, focuses on encouraging the audience who sees the ad to take some specific action — making a purchase being the obvious example. It will contain a call to action that is trackable and measurable, such as a form to fill. As you can already see, the benefits of direct response marketing are pretty obvious.

But what is the core benefit of brand awareness? Would it be possible to tweak a brand awareness campaign ever so slightly that it becomes trackable? Keep listening to find out!

For show notes and to get a free review of your website and digital marketing, complete with a tailored plan to increase your leads and sales online, head to https://exposureninja.com/episode83