The ads that work for me are ones that show products without being all gimmicky. Not to know longboard hybrids...like the carvestick or whatever, those don't work for me... like... SURF THE WAVE!! or something.
I like ad's that show me the product, tell me what the product is, demensions etc, and they can talk it up, just dont shove it down my throat... or make me ride a turd. I just want to see the product, know a little about it, and give a link so I can check out more.
I also like looking at the ads in the back of CW for smaller companies that provide different boards and shapes...
The S&J ad in near the back of your longboard buyer's guide caught my eye, especially since I'm in the market for a new helmet liner.
The problem is this. The ad says to visit http://www.goskateboarding.ca to find out more. Sadly, when I visit the site there's no way to figure out how to buy the aforementioned helmet liner. Heck, I can't even find the darned thing anywhere on the site.
How effective is a marketing if it generates interest, but fails to provide a way to convert that interest into a sale?
Yeah, dad, generating a sale from an interest is called a 'conversion'. Which they did not accomplish. Google Analytics offers an easy way to track a website's ability to attract visitors, either by direct link, like typing it in from a magazine, or referral or search, and then tracks how close the person gets to a conversion. You can usually figure out pretty quickly the point at which you've lost the conversion. In your case, its because there is no info, or at least, no easy to find info, about the product in question. Not a good move on their part...
The problem with the website is it is a catalog of suppliers and dealers, which I guess is good if you're a dealer looking for a supplier, or you want to brag about the number of stickers you have in your collection, but not so good if you're trying to connect a product with a paying customer.
I shouldn't have to try to figure out which supplier makes it, and then figure out which of the dealers might have it in stock. I certainly shouldn't have to rely on a kind-hearted magazine publisher to help connect the dots.
According to a popular theory, I'm separated from Kevin Bacon by no more than six degrees, but I haven't got a clue what the linkage is. Same problem here.
The website ought to have a thumbnail of the magazine ad that somebody like me could click on to get related information, instead of having to try to connect the dots on an unfamiliar site. Maybe I'd have to scan a list of ad thumbnails looking for the one I saw but how bad would that be for the company that placed the ad. Now they've got somebody actively looking at their marketing literature and maybe finding something else of interest along the way.
Perhaps I'm just being dense and "everybody" knows that the thing I'm looking for is marketed under the skate-o-matic brand which is owned by stoke-o-rama distribution which is a division of Mattel and is carried in the midwest markets at select skate shops and that skateshop-X has a reputation for trying at least one of everything so try there first. I guess I missed the memo the day that information became public knowledge.
If I walk into my local shop and ask about a product I saw in a magazine there's a good chance they're going to look at me like I've got a third eye in the middle of my forehead because they don't deal with that distributor, don't know how to contact him, and aren't likely to bother for the sake of a $20 sale. Heck I have problems getting size 2 shoes from the major skate brands because the Canadian distributors don't stock them.
Perhaps I'm just being dense and "everybody" knows that the thing I'm looking for is marketed under the skate-o-matic brand which is owned by stoke-o-rama distribution which is a division of Mattel and is carried in the midwest markets at select skate shops and that skateshop-X has a reputation for trying at least one of everything so try there first. I guess I missed the memo the day that information became public knowledge.
The mantra of our generation: If they don't have it for sale quickly, cheaply, and on line, then #### em. The only reason I should have to go to a store to get a particular skate item is because I want it NOW instead of after a week's worth of shipping.
Heck, as longboarders we're limited to pretty much online only purchases anyways... the idea that you'd have to go through the effort of initiating some long chain of business-to-business sales to get the final business-to-customer sale to yourself through a real life skate shop is dead, and should be.
Marketing, advertising and public relations
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