AboutSean Trapani Expertise I am a professor of advertising at the nation's largest art and design school. I teach general advertising courses, copywriting and brand theory.
Experience I have 15+ years ad agency experience as a copywriter and creative director. My experience covers general agency work, such as consumer print and broadcast, as well as specialized communications such as directory advertising, recruitment advertising and employee communications. My work has received dozens of awards, including ADDYs, Silver Microphones, Tellys and others.
Question Is there a suggested % of gross sales in a retail store that should be spent on advetising?
We own a sportshop ( hunting and fishing) and are unindated with radio, newspaers, highway sign offers, even placements, pen and pencil sale people.
Answer Hi, Barb
The percentage of sales to marketing usually depends upon the industry, the market and the individual dynamics of the market. Some industries, like cosmetics (with very high margins) have ad budgets of 20-30% of sales. Other industries run much leaner.
As for the "retail" industry, I again have to give you a "it depends" response. A standard allocation, I'm told by the marketing prof's, is usually between 3-12% (taking into account all the factors above). The true gauge is your success. Start with 5%. Measure your ROI. Then keep adding to it. (Maybe a point or half point per year). You will find a sweet spot of diminishing returns.
Now, the other issue is the salespeople. My recommendation is that you have a yearly advertising plan, and leave a small portion for impromptu opportunities (sponsoring a Little League teams or something like that). Then, if you are bothered by ad sales people, simply tell them that you plan your ad budget/flight schedule in one specific month, and ask them to call back then.
"Sorry, but we've already allocated our ad budget for this year. Please check back next March (or something like that)."
