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Prospect spent $7,000 on this ad and got no responses. How would you help?

by Thom Hale
16 replies
I walked into a local business to offer a mobile website and one of the owners told me they had met their budget for the year, 2014 (the number of times we've heard that before, right?).

Anyway, as he continued to talk he told me he and the partner who was sitting there were contemplating their next move after having tried so many things that got them no leads and this latest flop. It was a $7,000 media buy that got them no leads, not one phone call.

Now I'm not a copywriter and I'm learning local marketing but after seeing their ad piece I understand why they didn't get any calls.

If I recall (this conversation happened a couple months ago but since they were not spending ad dollars I am now posting), they were looking for financial advisors from around the country who would be willing to write business through their office. They were willing to pay each licensed agent 25k or 50k as a bonus for signing up. I can't remember the exact amount but anyway it was cash money that they could use any way they liked.

The business owners know that a good advisor could bring them millions, I was told, so their offer was like a drop in the bucket.

This conversation made me realize first hand that the financial market has a lot of moolah passing through it and providing these folks quality leads can be quite profitable.

Anyway, I am attaching the ad piece without their info (sorry guys...well, not really) so that you can chime in if you like with suggestions of how you may get them leads, either licensed agents or retirees who may want to call them up asking about their investment products like CD rates (this one may be a bit vague since rates change and are not like they used to be).

The bottom line is, what would you do to get their phone ringing with prospects, either licensed agents are folk who want a return on their money?
#prospect #responses #spen
  • Profile picture of the author Luis Michael Orts
    Well, let me tell you now...

    $500,000 cash sounds "Spammy" to me. In my gut, I instinctively get a "Flight" response to run away.

    People take actions to pain more than pleasure, from my studies.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
    To be honest, I think a simple outbound email campaign would have likely produced results by just a 1-2 sentence inquiry with each individual recipient/agent you intend to contact. I'm not completely clear on what they are offering, but a very simple inquiry would probably have generated tons of inbound responses that could have been followed up on:

    "Hi,

    Do you offer <name of financial product> to your customers? I'm looking to underwrite investments for advisors in the "whatever" sector.

    Thanks,
    <name>"

    Edit: of course, I have no way of knowing effectiveness as I am not in that type of market. Just was my initial impression in regards to contacting individual advisors and keeping things conversational rather than promotional.
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      I "quickly" wrote a ad for that market and it bombed.

      I say quickly because I wasn't given time to research it.

      Turns out the market has been blasted by so many
      angles, including free advertising, highest payouts.

      Very sophisticated market requiring very sophisticated
      marketing.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
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    • Profile picture of the author Underground
      Originally Posted by jamesfreddyc View Post

      To be honest, I think a simple outbound email campaign would have likely produced results by just a 1-2 sentence inquiry with each individual recipient/agent you intend to contact. I'm not completely clear on what they are offering, but a very simple inquiry would probably have generated tons of inbound responses that could have been followed up on:

      "Hi,

      Do you offer <name of financial product> to your customers? I'm looking to underwrite investments for advisors in the "whatever" sector.

      Thanks,
      <name>"

      Edit: of course, I have no way of knowing effectiveness as I am not in that type of market. Just was my initial impression in regards to contacting individual advisors and keeping things conversational rather than promotional.
      No doubt. That that email is so innocuous, simple and unassuming is where it's power lies. I'll be hitting you up soon ans sharing my results when get going. I'll be sending 10's of thousands so will have a lot of feedback to share.

      Aside from the where the ad was placed, Ewan and Luis have pointed out the biggest problem of a warrior forum type appeal to people who are to sophisticated that the appeal is an instance turn off for most.
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      • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
        Originally Posted by Underground View Post

        No doubt. That that email is so innocuous, simple and unassuming is where it's power lies. I'll be hitting you up soon ans sharing my results when get going. I'll be sending 10's of thousands so will have a lot of feedback to share.

        Aside from the where the ad was placed, Ewan and Luis have pointed out the biggest problem of a warrior forum type appeal to people who are to sophisticated that the appeal is an instance turn off for most.
        Absolutely!

        I've been ramping up my email campaigns already (the ones I wanted to do in 2015!. ha!). It's definitely been a good way to develop conversations with my target market/prospects -- just super focused like a laser to qualify them in or out as fast as I can and email does a great job of that if the campaign is structured well.

        It's definitely no panacea, most think of it as blasting emails for sales. In reality it's about replying to individuals, having REAL conversations, filtering the never-buyers and just working with good prospects. aka "work".

        One thing I've added is to include a sample page (that is actually offered to my real clients) that is highly customized to each individual prospect that qualifies into my sales funnel.

        We'll catch up soon.
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        • Profile picture of the author Underground
          Originally Posted by jamesfreddyc View Post

          Absolutely!

          I've been ramping up my email campaigns already (the ones I wanted to do in 2015!. ha!). It's definitely been a good way to develop conversations with my target market/prospects -- just super focused like a laser to qualify them in or out as fast as I can and email does a great job of that if the campaign is structured well.

          It's definitely no panacea, most think of it as blasting emails for sales. In reality it's about replying to individuals, having REAL conversations, filtering the never-buyers and just working with good prospects. aka "work".

          One thing I've added is to include a sample page (that is actually offered to my real clients) that is highly customized to each individual prospect that qualifies into my sales funnel.

          We'll catch up soon.
          *Thread Hijack Alert*

          Good to hear your persisted with it, buddy, and refined it further into a good prospecting tool. I have some mass emailing to do to invite people to a couple of sites where they can click a link and sign up there and then. Then sort the best respondents and offer them further free chances to promote their biz with an upsell option they'd have to be silly to turn down.

          But I also have a lot of emailing to do that can't be blasted out, as you're right, this kind of approach requires manual operation and two way communication. I know how important phone contact is, but an email touch before with something as simple as what you have written, which asks a questions and gives an indication of what it is regarding, saves a lot more time, since any response that is not negative lets you deal with only those who are at least curious to find out more.

          Then you get to set the dreaded telemarketers on them at the first signs of interest, to hound them until they buy something.

          Catch up soon.


          Sorry OP, if you are though working with this firm, then the James references gets him really good response rates, and is adapted from an approach Aaron Ross uses that helped him build a sales team that sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business for Salesforce. So if you are tasked with their marketing, worth looking into that maybe.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Pines
    A few things...

    1) $500,000 is waaaay too high a figure. It needs to be a figure that the average broker can envisage themselves earning, so that would be high 5 figures, or low 6 figures.

    2) Related to point 1 above, don't use a round figure.
    Don't put $85,000 or $115,000, put $84,978 or $114,769, these are specific figures, and specifics are more believable.

    3) Who's the genius who decided to use A GAMBLING MACHINE as a graphic in an ad to the financial community??? If you're going to use a graphic, use a picture of a successful broker in the grounds of his/her 6/7/8 bed mansion with 1 acre grounds, and a few premium vehicles (BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, etc) in the background. But don't use a one-armed bandit - it's 2014, not 2006!
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    The ad sucks. I think regular employment ads, LinkedIn, recruiting, no BS display ads in
    WSJ and financial sections of newspapers or websites.

    Something consistent with their company culture and image. Are they/Do they want to be
    a Wolf of Wall Street kind of firm, or a trusted adviser like an attorney or CPA?

    Dan
    Signature

    "If you think you're the smartest person in the room, then you're probably in the wrong room."

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  • Profile picture of the author James Foster
    Simple biggest mistake... No clear call to action. Where's the big button that says "click here" ... If people don't know what to do next, they're not going to do anything.
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    • Profile picture of the author Thom Hale
      Actually, there is an 800 number in the original ad. I darkened that info out as well as their business name.
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  • Profile picture of the author TraderAgency
    As soon as I seen "We're GIVING AWAY $500,000 next to a slot machine I immediately shut down and didn't even read the rest. I'm assuming many others did the same
    Signature
    Build your business and earn an income! Robust marketing platform + 2x11 matrix-- 3 payplans in 1 - Contact me for info..Wholesale leads, build any business while making money!
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    Best way to help them is to tell them to get real!
    Putting out a piece like that is a joke.

    Look at how absurd it is.
    A good advisor does NOT need their bribe.
    What they will attract are losers and bottom feeders.

    Shot gun marketing like this is also absurd given the number of advisors they really need.

    If ONE good advisor could bring them millions then getting just 5 good ones on board this year could be cause for celebration. The phone does not need to be ringing off the hook here.

    They need to TRULY understand the profile of their ideal advisor and figure out why in gods name that kind of advisor would care to work with them in a spirit of partnership.

    Once they understand the potential need and match it to their value proposition and craft a message that initiates discussion it will be very easy for them to tap on the shoulder of their ideal partner via Linkedin, Email or direct mail.

    It is also worth noting that if they truly do not have a great reason (value proposition) for good advisors to want to partner with them then no amount of marketing will help.

    Also on a personal note I would not even give them the time of day without a 10k retainer.
    Don't bother solving problems for people that do not value you enough to cut a check.

    THIS IS IMPORTANT - You could give them on a silver platter the most perfect marketing path ever to have been provided to a company and they will value it in direct proportion to what it cost them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    A second's glance at that junk mail spam piece shows why it failed.

    Who does it speak to? "Everybody!"

    What message does it communicate? "Nothing!"

    Business owners do not want to enter a lottery.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
      Wish Jason had replied before me lol
      He boiled down what I thought perfectly.

      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      A second's glance at that junk mail spam piece shows why it failed.

      Who does it speak to? "Everybody!"

      What message does it communicate? "Nothing!"

      Business owners do not want to enter a lottery.
      Signature
      Ready to generate the next million in sales? The Next Million Agency
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  • Profile picture of the author Skystar
    .
    Pay Per Call is a natural for this gig. Pay PPCall pros $100 for calls over 60 seconds
    which gives you time to separate the curious from the serious.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Stop guessing & look at similar Adword campaigns that run for months/years.

    BTW, that OP $7K sales page is like a 1/2 hour job in Photoshop.
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