How much is too much advertising?

My favorite thing to do is run on the treadmill. Okay that’s not entirely accurate. I do like to run on the treadmill but not because I love to exercise. I mean really, who loves to exercise. Okay before you call me out on that, apologies to all you fitness fanatics out there who live for their next workout. That’s just not me. I do it because I know it’s good for me but I don’t love it.

No, the reason it’s one of my favorite things to do is because I use treadmill time to catch up on the latest podcasts. Yay me for multitasking! Recently I was getting ready to run and I had queued up one of my favorite podcast shows. I won’t tell you who the episode was from but I will tell you that I’m a regular listener and I really enjoy and benefit from the episodes, normally.

Today though was a bit different. I started listening and, as usual, there was a promotional spot at the beginning of the show. This varies between episodes and between shows but it’s generally the broadcaster telling the listener about a product or program they’re offering. I don’t mind this. It’s how I learn about new offers that I might be interested in. I was about three minutes into the run when I realized that the advertisement was still going on. These generally last 30 60 seconds and then the show starts. But this one was still going strong after three minutes.

I was curious now to see how long this would go on. I should mention here that this was not a long podcast episode. Short and sweet, 10 minutes. I listened and waited for the actual show topic to start. I waited and waiting. Nearly five minutes into the “show” the ad finally ended and the actual show topic began.

I kept running as I listened to what the presenter had to say about the topic…for just over three minutes. At that point they wrapped up their comments and again, started into an advertisement for their services which lasted for the remainder of the 10 minutes.

So let’s recap. Over 6 minutes of the 10 minute podcast episode was taken up by advertising. I had stuck it out because I was interested in the topic but by the end of it I was so annoyed that I couldn’t remember what the main points of the topic had been.

So this got me to thinking. How much advertising is too much? Some is necessary, of course, and I don’t mind that. I even welcome that. As I said earlier it helps me learn about products or services that might interest me. But how much is too much? What’s the perfect ration of advertising to value added (non-advertising) content? What’s the right amount of sales to throw into your relationship building so that you make sure the customer knows what your selling but isn’t annoyed by having it thrown in their face? You don’t want them to leave before you’ve gotten a chance to offer them the value added content.

Any marketer will tell you that sales and marketing are all about building relationships. People initially visit your social media sites or website because they want to learn about your products and services but they come back because they’ve seen something that entertained them. Maybe it was a joke that made them laugh or piece of advice that made the think or a quote that made brightened their day. They’re not coming back over and over again to look at your ads.

Think of it like dating. They’re getting to know you, then like you, then trust you. Once the know, like and trust is established they will likely buy from you. So back to the question, what’s the perfect advertisement to value-added content ratio. Ask a dozen marketing professionals this question and youll get a dozen different answers. You’ll also get the dreaded ‘it depends’ answer. Now I understand that situations differ within and between businesses but I try to stay away from the ‘it depends’ camp. I know when I was first starting my business the ‘it depends’ answers drove me just a little bit crazy. I didn’t know enough to make a call of what that meant. I needed a hard and fast rule so that’s what I’m going to give you. 

The perfect ratio is 20% advertising to 80% value-added content. For example, if you wrote 10 Facebook posts for your business, 2 of them should focus on what you offer for services and products and 8 of them should focus not on selling but on providing interesting and/or entertaining content to your readers. This is a discrete example but the 20/80 rule also applies within a single post, video or podcast. If you’re video is 10 minutes long, spend 2 minute of it on advertising. This doesn’t have to all in one go. You can add in two 1-minute ads or four 30-second ads. The important thing is that you apply the right ration overall.

You might be thinking, but Eliza, 20%, that’s not very much space or time to give my products and services. I want people to know what I do and how to find me. Let’s take another example. Think about the last sitcom you watched on TV. If you pay attention, and I do pay attention, you’ll realize that your 30 minute sitcom is around 15 minutes of actual show and 15 minutes of commercials. You’ll also notice that the commercials tend to repeat on a loop or are for similar products. You’re mind sees and registers the first time an ad comes on but you tell me, did you benefit from the second, third, forth or even fifth time that shampoo commercial came on? Or were you annoyed and distracted by it? I’m guessing it didn’t enhance your viewing experience and you may not have even enjoyed the show because of it. As a side note, this is why I pre-tape every show I watch. If I can’t fast forward through the commercials, I don’t watch it.

Now I want to put a note for those of you out there who may be out of whack on the other side of this equation. These are the pet business owners who fill their social media sites with nothing but cute photos, jokes, advice and other value-added content. These sites are fun and attract followers and engagement but these pet business owners are forgetting one critical business concept. You are in business to make money! And to make money, you need too see things. And to sell things you need to tell people what you sell. That 20% may be small but it’s vitally important!

So there’s your answer. Are there times when ‘it depends’. I’m afraid so, in business as in life there’s rarely a black and white answer but if you stick to the 20/80 rule I guarantee you won’t regret it. 

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About Eliza

Eliza is an experienced professional pet business owner with a specialty in pet sitting and dog walking businesses. As The Pet Business Coach, she offers coaching and resources to aspiring or current pet business entrepreneurs. She maintains an awesome blog for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/ and a practical podcast to help pet business owners excel and drive their business forward. Eliza and her husband live in the Appalachian Mountains with their furry and feathery family including cats, goats and chickens. Visit her website at www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.