Internet Advertising Widens the Gap in July

"You cannot manage what you do not measure" is a mantra that was preached to me repeatedly in my early days of trucking at Heartland Express.  As much as I may have dreaded hearing it daily then, it is a mantra that I say repeatedly today.  The July 2009 numbers are in and it will come as no surprise that Internet advertising is widening the gap on print media as it pertains to contacts, cost per contact, and cost per hire. 

What may come as a surprise is that for the first time ever, some Internet sites outperformed their print media magazine counterparts in phone calls!  For years I've said that Internet recruiting would never fully replace print advertisement recruiting, and even used the example of how television and radio continue to co-exist long after "experts" claimed that TV would mean the demise of radio.  Now, I'm not so sure.

We've been able to decrease our overall client base's print media advertising 70% (some have eliminated it altogether) as compared to last year and have increased productivity at the same time.  Sure, you can point a finger to the economy, and that has surely had some influence, but we were doing this before the economic downfall of late.  The $2,500 that you used to have to spend to generate 200 phone calls for your Recruiters can now be done through a $500 spend on a reputable website.  I'm not throwing darts here....I have the proof.  Contact me, I'll go over it with you.

 

Comments

[Andy Shefsky]

i'd like some more info on the tracking methods - it's no secret that it takes on average 7 times for someone to see a message before responding - is it not possible that a number of inquiries for a company is derived from advertising their web and/or email info in their print media?

[WMG Interactive]

The tracking method is done through a third-party firm called Call Source, which is operated through ACS/MultiMedia Advertising. Individual telephone numbers are asigned to each media source and only published there. Call Source then provides live, real-time data on the number of times each number was called.

I'm not aware of any "secret" about someone needing to see a message seven times before responding...I think that is very outdated thinking, but if that is information that someone is putting out, then I'll beleive it. Anything could be possible to how print media is helping to push internet media numbers upward, but then the same could be said for Internet helping to push print media numbers as well, but we don't see it go in that direction.