I’ve been working with a customer in the medical field for a while now. A few months ago we stumbled on an ad for a particular procedure that worked better than anything else. I can measure response by click-throughs from our web site to theirs. The client can measure response by phone traffic, appointments, and sales.
And by any measure, this ad pulled better than anything else we’ve ever run. So we’ve been running it steadily for the past three months.
Recently my client wondered aloud whether it might be time to change the ad. Web clicks, phone calls and sales are all as strong as they’ve ever been.
“Leave it alone,” I said. “Your customers will tell you when it’s time to change — when they stop calling.”
If it’s your ad, you’ll be listening closer than anyone in the general public — and you’ll get bored with it long before your customers will.
But a ringing cash register is never boring.
This was one of David Ogilvy’s great maxims. He reminded his clients that they weren’t advertising to a standing army, but to a moving parade. If you’re fortunate to have found a message that resonates, keep running it.
I have a client who hasn’t changed his copy for ten years, and his ad (in this case, a full-sing :30-second jingle) continues to bring him business.
We should all be so lucky.
Nice blog, Phil. I’m looking forward to dropping by from time to time.
Best wishes for the new year!
-Rod