Ad Hoc Marketing Doesn’t Work – and it never has!

You’ve probably heard me say before that ad hoc marketing does not work. This means that just going to one networking meeting or sending out one newsletter won’t get you a flood of new business. You need to keep working at it. You need to give marketing a chance, because you need to get into the head of your prospective clients and really help them to understand how you can help them.

Here’s what someone thinks as he or she looks at each of the adverts you place in your local magazine or online:

1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he doesn’t see it.
2. The second time, he doesn’t notice it.
3. The third time, he’s conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eighth time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbour if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he can’t afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a mental note to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the advert, he buys what it is offering.

The list you’ve just read was written by Thomas Smith of London in 1885!

So you see, ad hoc marketing does not work – and it never has!