Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is

Advertising and other forms of marketing communications are not serving the needs of marketers or their audiences as well as they should. Faced with increasing pressure for accountability, marketers are often disappointed in the result of their communications investment. The problem is that marketers continue to focus most of their resources on the types of communications that have little credibility with and impact on audiences. Parker Stoner of marketing communications agency Swanson Russell says there is a Hierarchy of Marketing Communications Effectiveness in which the categories of communications near the top have much greater influence on purchase decisions compared to the often overused categories lower in the hierarchy. Near the top of the hierarchy are peoples' actual and virtual experiences with brands, along with recommendations from sources they trust. On the other hand, basic brand awareness and image advertising, brand sponsorships, and other types of commonly used communications are found near the bottom of the hierarchy. In Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is, Stoner argues that marketers need to allocate more of their communications (mouths) to those categories that most influence audience purchases (money). Put Your Mouth Where the Money Is begins by helping marketers make a CONNECTION with their audiences by explaining why and where to refocus marketing communications resources. It follows with a recommended PROCESS to implement and measure communications among their customers and prospects. It then concludes with IDEAS for marketers to develop marketing communications that enhance the value of their products for customers. When followed, the principles help marketers better engage and influence their audiences, resulting in greater return on marketing communications resources.