My granddog Newton went missing recently. Like all families whose furry family member goes missing we were frantic. What to do? Advertise of course! Few problems can’t be solved with proper advertising.
First we began with old fashioned, grass roots door-to-door stomping to get the word out to our closest target audience. A neighbor reported that Newton came up to say hello but she shooed him away because of her own dog. No other sightings were reported.
Next, we went old school and plastered fliers everywhere broadening our geographic reach. Neighbors streets away said they saw Newton but he was moving fast. So still no concrete results yet.
We moved on to digital media via Facebook apps like “For the Love of Louie” and a mobile app called “Finding Rover” where users can share a picture and location details of their missing pet and followers can share and broaden the message reach further. Our posts got lots of shares but no leads.
At SMZ we constantly track advertising results. Why advertise if you aren’t willing to invest the time and effort to track your campaign? Thankfully Newton had a built-in tracker of his own, a microchip.
A day later we received a message from a shelter. Someone had brought Newton in but the shelter was closing for the weekend and Newton would have to stay till Monday morning. At least he was safe. We figured a little time in the pokie would force Newton to think twice about taking another road trip anytime soon.
We had advertised in multiple ways which all successful marketers do and in the end tracking worked. The lesson here? Always track your advertising results. And your dog.
How do you track your advertising?
Additional Links
Entrepreneur: How to Track Ad Results – 3 strategies for determining if you’re spending your advertising dollars wisely
Cesar’s Way: What to do if your dog goes missing
SMZ News and Views: Go ahead, spoil me. It’ll make you happy.
SMZ News and Views: A dog blog: fostering profitable partnerships
Pet People – Your Neighborhood Store for Pets
Ann McGee, SVP/General Manager