TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness)
By Claude Whitacre
Larry Moritz was kind enough to tell me about a TOMA meeting he went to, sponsored by the local Newspaper. He also gave me the website www.tomaresearch.com. Thanks, Larry. But I wrote this article. If you don't like it, don't blame Larry. OK?
I kept hearing about TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness).My Newspaper Rep swears by it. Now I know why.It's not a deep psychological principle designed to profit the advertiser. It's a Company. They put on seminars for newspapers. Newspapers pay them. I went to their website, hoping to find evidence of TOMA working for the advertiser. SOME of their testimonials should be from guys like us, Right? No.
TOMA sells services to Newspaper publishers & Radio stations. The program is designed to convince advertisers that the sponsoring newspaper should run your ads at least weekly, maybe more often.
They also teach newspapers how to divert Yellow Pages money & other forms of advertising to the sponsoring newspaper. ALL their Clients are Newspapers & Radio stations. Not us.
I wouldn't mind at all, if this somehow was going to benefit the advertisers. It doesn't. They don't even ATTEMPT to portray this as good for the advertiser. All the testimonials are based on increased revenue to the Newspaper or Radio station.
Why does this make my face turn RED?First I respect the Company for creating a marketing concept. That ain't easy.
Also it's a legitimate business. I'm sure what they sell works. Newspapers indeed DO get more money from advertisers.
But it's based on a LIE. Advertising the same "business card" ad over & over doesn't pay. Have you ever seen an ad OF ANY KIND, IN ANY MEDIA, advertising ANY PRODUCT, continue for even 2 years? No. Why? Because ads lose effectiveness the more often people see them.
I've told my Newspaper Ad Rep that if she spent a little time learning how to put together a strong Ad, with a strong Appeal, & a strong Call To Action, she would never have to sell an ad again. Advertisers would seek her out because they knew her ads were producing a PROFIT.
If an Ad Rep (in ANY Media) wrote an ad for you that produced a return of 2 to 1, 5 to 1, or better, how hard would they have to work to sell you the SECOND AD?
Here is a Universal Law; Your Ad pulls best the First time you run it.
If TOMA worked, wouldn't the Company want you to TRACK your AD responses to PROVE to you that it works? Not mentioned at all.
There are people on this Forum that believe in the TOMA concept. I understand why. But they aren't people who track Ad response.
I have a local friend who sells matteresses. He advertises twice a week every week in the local newspaper. He is SOLD on the TOMA concept. Does it pay? He has no idea. He spends (notice I didn't say INVESTS) about $36,000 a year in newspaper advertising. I mention "tracking response" to him & his eyes get glassy.
I don't know, but if I spent that kind of money, I'd like to know if it works. It takes me about 10 minutes a day to tally up my daily sales (on a busy day).
In that 10 minutes, I can tell you which Ad paid & which one didn't. Am I making mony on my Ads, or not? The TOMA Rep has no such information.
This is one of the few times I will write a negative article. I thought it was important.
"Sign up now for my FREE Retail Marketing course "Unfair Advantage Retail Strategies ". About once a week, I'll provide you with valuable retail marketing strategies that have been proven and tested, (mostly by me).
Sign Up Now At ClaudeWhitacre.com