If you’re selling media, you’ve probably encountered prospects who think they don’t need to advertise. Or maybe you’ve got clients who are cutting back on advertising because they don’t think it’s helping them increase the bottom line. A couple of recent news reports contain great statistics to help you change their minds.

Fashion

It’s not easy to stand out in the world of fashion. Even the venerated Ralph Lauren brand was recently struggling to stay current with consumers. In the past year, the company decided to emphasize its connections with social influencers and cultural events. The company cut back the selling it does with outlet stores, which may be a wise move, since the brand is trying to position itself as premium. Like many major vendors, Ralph Lauren is also selling more to consumers directly, and that strategy helps the company boost engagement. 

The real impact on Ralph Lauren’s bottom line, as it reported results from last year, was increased ad spending. The company boosted its ad budget by 13% last year. At the same time, it rolled out new ads and tweaked its digital approach. Ralph Lauren execs credit the improvement in sales to their increased marketing spending.

Online Marketplace

Another well-​known company, Etsy, deliberately experimented with its advertising approach earlier this year. The online marketplace stopped all TV, social, affiliate and search engine marketing for the first three months of 2019. That bold move was all about allowing the company’s senior marketing people to understand exactly which formats were driving brand awareness. Josh Silverman, CEO of the Brooklyn-​based brand, told investors on an earnings call that they wanted “to tune [their] attribution models.” The results of the experiment proved that “TV, cable, and digital video are all potentially great channels for Etsy to reach broad audiences.” As a result of this experiment, Etsy will be ramping up ad spending in traditional and digital formats. But, they will also try to avoid relying on “referrals streams like Google and Facebook.”

Your clients don’t need to suspend their ad campaigns to find out what’s working. You can show them how their digital advertising stacks up against their competitors by running a Digital Audit. The tool is available at AdMall from SalesFuel. Then you can sell them an ad package that will increase their sales.