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Key Idea #8: "If you build it, they will
come" was not working for eHarmony.
The site was up and running. Some singles were
signing up. Dr. Warren's reputation and his best-selling book was established,
and he had a bit of a following; however, the paying customers were not getting
enough matches so everyone was discouraged.
Just before they thought they might quit, they
tried advertising on the radio.
Topic for Discussion: What is the risk with
advertising and how does a company find the right form of it?
Answer: The risk is that thousands of
dollars can be poured into a campaign that doesn't pay for itself. There are
plenty of ad agencies who get your money whether their ideas work for you or
not.
We don't mean to bash the advertising industry but
they certainly make money by spending your money and unless you track results,
they could end up with all of your hard-earned profits.
Do what Dr. Warren and Greg did -- test an idea on
a small scale before you roll it out in a big way.
eHarmony's advertising budget was up to $20
million in the year 2004 but that is because their very first radio spot, that
cost them just a few thousand dollars, worked.
They slowly increased the number of markets in
which they buy time.
Here's Greg telling the story. "In early 2002 we
started looking at radio. It's easy and it's not too expensive. It's a matter
of cracking the code. We built 13 difference radio spots. Some of them never
reached the air.
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