In this Q&A video, Ryan Dohrn answers a listener’s question about an advertiser who claims they like the marketing work but see no results and are planning to stop spending. Ryan explains that advertising outcomes depend on three core factors—timing, consumer need, and price—and that success often requires a long‑term view. He illustrates how products have varying purchase cycles (e.g., cars, mattresses, food) and why advertisers must align campaigns with these cycles. He stresses the importance of consistent, multi‑channel advertising so the brand stays top‑of‑mind when a need arises, and he warns that tracking should go beyond clicks to understand true conversion lag. Ryan advises evaluating campaign performance over quarters, half‑years, or a full year rather than day‑by‑day, and he highlights the need to educate clients about the lack of a “crystal ball” in predicting when a prospect will buy. The overall message is that advertisers should be patient, maintain steady exposure, and use proper measurement to demonstrate value, helping them retain clients and avoid premature cancellations.
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Hey friends and fans, Ryan Dohrn here answering your listener questions sent in to ryan@ryandohrn.com. Keep those questions coming. We're either going to answer them on the podcast, put them on a video, or I'm going to send you back a reply. If you send a question and none of those things happen, you have to understand I did not receive it because I answer all the emails that come in. I love to get your questions. All right, next question comes in from Jeff in Michigan. Hey Jeff from Michigan. Jeff from Michigan asked this question: Hey Ryan, I have an advertiser that has said to me repeatedly they like what we're doing, but they don't get any results from their marketing. This year they've told me they're not going to renew, and next year they're saying don't plan on any money from us either. What should I do? So Jeff, this is not necessarily an uncommon objection, if you will, or an uncommon circumstance in the advertising sales business. Now there's a lot of you out there that watch the, uh, that watch the videos, listen to the podcast, that I don't quite understand where this specific question is coming from, so let me explain. The majority of the work that I do in the sales training business is focused on media companies, digital service providing companies, and things like that related around marketing and marketing dollars spent. Okay, so that's kind of a little premise there. Okay, Jeff, let's answer your question. I wish that it was simple, as simple as if you spend a dollar in advertising, that there was a formula for how much you could actually get back from that. For example, hey Ryan, if I spend $1 in marketing with you, don't I get $5 in return? Well, yes and no. After a certain amount of time and you run marketing campaigns successfully, say over a quarter or over a half year or over a year, then you should be able to do those types of calculations. But one of the things in the advertising business, but also in almost any business, is gonna be timing and need. Those 2 things, timing and need. And then the 3rd thing is price, because I always want to wrap everything in 3s. Timing, need, and price. Okay, the timing piece. Certainly there are times of year when you run advertising campaigns knowing that perhaps because of the time of the year, you'll hit more people at a time that they will have a need. So when you buy advertising around a time-based need, it's a lot easier to figure out that calculation. Now, in most circumstances, that's actually not the case and how it works. Let's talk about a car, for example. Someone might absorb or see advertising for as much as 10 years before they decide to buy a different vehicle, because that's the amount of time, 10 to 12 years, between people actually having a need for that product or service. A mattress, a mattress can be as much as 15 years. Cars, 10 to 12 years. Food though is going to be more on like, say, a weekly basis. Shoes going to be almost every year, unless you're one of those people out there that has like 25 pairs of shoes like me. I kind of seem like I collect them for, you know, for some strange reason. So there's timing, there's need, and then there's price, Jeff, in this circumstance. So one of the things that you might want to share with your advertiser, with your client, is just how are they actually not tracking the advertising, but how are they evaluating the responses to the advertising? See, when you say tracking your advertising, oh, it sounds good. Well, but is it actually good? Because you might see people clicking on a link or responding to some type of offer and then not buying anything. Or you might be like me, like I see offers, I see ads for things, but I have to wait until I have a need I don't just have disposable income just to throw around just because. So I have to wait until there's a need. So here's the way mark— how the marketing really works in its simplest format. What you want to do is advertise in multiple ways on multiple days. You want to put your name, your brand, your business in front of people so many times in as many different channels as you can afford to be in front of them You want to put that— your name, your brand, your business in front of them so many times that when they have a need, they're going to think of you first and they're going to Google you specifically. Now there's something very important there that I shared, and that is, Jeff, you want people to realize that when you don't advertise, you force people to Google generic things. When you do advertise, people tend to search for specific things or things that are even more specific. So there's a lot that's in play, Jeff, in that answer. But I think it's important for you to realize that it's a lot of— it's education. It's really helping your advertiser or your client understand that unless there is a crystal ball in play, which I don't have one of those, that'd be awesome. There's not a crystal ball in play. You don't know exactly when someone's going to have a need. So the best thing that you can do is advertise consistently so that you hit them when they do have a need, which then is going to prompt their brain to say, oh, I need a pen. What company advertises pens? Oh, it's whoever this is, Sharpie, that advertises it. And so because of that, then I'm gonna Google Sharpie specifically. I'm gonna go to Amazon and buy that specifically. So I wish there was a silver bullet. I wish there was just the perfect answer, Jeff, to your question. But I think if you take all of those factors into play, you're going to be able to help educate your advertiser to understand why they might not be getting a result just like this. But if they look at their advertising not day by day, really not even month by month, but more like quarter, a half year, over the whole year, that's when you really can begin to see and understand how is it that people found you, bought from you, or whatever that circumstance is. All right, Jeff, good luck out there. Never forget, if advertising was easy, If sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it, and they're not. This is a great job. It's gonna feed your family for a lifetime, Jeff. Love to train your sales team. Love to motivate your team at your national sales meeting. Reach out to me over at ryandohrn.com. All right, keep your questions coming, and we'll see you next week.
