Production Traffic Scheduling

Overview - Traffic and Production Scheduling

The Agency Central Schedule function was designed to help you manage traffic the way you
want to manage traffic. It can support the simplest forms of trafficking, such as a simple list of
to-do's, or a list of key project milestones . And it was designed to handle complex traffic
scheduling , with dozens and dozen of interdependent tasks.

Using production templates created using MS Excel, you can create one or more schedules in
seconds. Centralize traffic management with one schedule "manager," or assign tasks to
individuals or departments for true traffic collaboration.

The cross-job My Tasks function provides a central workbench from which each users can
update the status of assigned tasks, add time entries, or simply keep track of all the tasks
assigned to them. The comprehensive Alert Engine keeps the schedule manager and task
assignees focused on the right work so the job is delivered on-time.

Powerful features like date shifting, change logs, dependency hierarchies, Gantt charts,
calendars, filtering, and time estimating & tracking provide robust production scheduling
capability.

However, it is just as easy to use the Schedule tool to keep your clients tuned into key project
milestones and critical job dates, such as deadlines, photo shoots, etc.

Production Traffic Scheduling - Typical Usage

 Organize and manage a personal list of things that need to get done
 Publish key project milestones for the client
 Schedule all the tasks in a production timeline
 Create a project timeline of action items needed to launch a product
 List all the work needed to attend a tradeshow
 Traffic all jobs

Production Traffic Scheduling - Features and Functions

 Calendar, Gantt, List views

 Export to CSV/Excel format
 Task assignee and task manager assignments both supported
 Automatically track all changes
 Automatically notify user of changed dates
 Create templates using imported Excel files
 Powerful ad hoc reporting and resource reporting
 Shift schedules
 Group and sort schedules
 Create schedules from Estimates

Pre-testing

Pre-testing, also known as copy testing, is a form of customized research that predicts in-market
performance of an ad, before it airs, by analyzing audience levels of attention, brand linkage,
motivation, entertainment, and communication, as well as breaking down the ad’s Flow of
Attention and Flow of Emotion.[16] Pre-testing is also used on ads still in rough form – e.g.,
animatics or ripomatics. Pre-testing is also used to identify weak spots within an ad to improve
performance, to more effectively edit 60’s to 30’s or 30’s to 15’s, to select images from the spot to
use in an integrated campaign’s print ad, to pull out the key moments for use in ad tracking,
and to identify branding moments.[17]

Campaign pre-testing

A new area of pre-testing driven by the realization that what works on TV does not necessarily
translate in other media. Greater budgets allocated to digital media in particular have driven
the need for campaign pre-testing. The first to market with a product to test integrated
campaigns was OTX in association with Sequent Partners with the introduction of MediaCEP.
The latest generation of this product incorporates one of the leading media planning tools
developed by a media modeling and software company Pointlogic. The addition of a media
planning tool to this testing approach allows advertisers to test the whole campaign, creative
and media, and measures the synergies expected with an integrated campaign [18].

Post-testing

Post-testing/Tracking studies provide either periodic or continuous in-market research

monitoring a brand’s performance, including brand awareness, brand preference, product
usage and attitudes. Some post-testing approaches simply track changes over time, while others
use various methods to quantify the specific changes produced by advertising—either the
campaign as a whole or by the different media utilized.

Overall, advertisers use post-testing to plan future advertising campaigns, so the approaches
that provide the most detailed information on the accomplishments of the campaign are most
valued. The two types of campaign post-testing that have achieved the greatest use among
major advertisers include continuous tracking, in which changes in advertising spending are
correlated with changes in brand awareness, and longitudinal studies, in which the same group
of respondents are tracked over time. With the longitudinal approach, it is possible to go
beyond brand awareness, and to isolate the campaign's impact on specific behavioral and
perceptual dimensions, and to isolate campaign impact by medium[19].
 Advertising Pre-Testing

Concepts can be executed in a number of ways and advertisers need to sort out the most promising creative
approaches before incurring the cost of final production in print or TV. Pre-Testing of preliminary
executions in rough form is a quick and inexpensive means of identifying the winner among the also-rans
and in providing insights for further improvement.
G&R is experienced in pre-testing ads for both consumer and B2B target audiences, revealing their
strengths and weaknesses and pointing the way to improvements that can make all the difference between
success and failure in the marketplace.
With today's technologies, preliminary advertising can be produced that is perfectly adequate for use in
measuring potential consumer reaction to the finished product. G&R's flexible pre-testing services can
evaluate more communication forms, including print ads, TV and radio commercials, online ads, outdoor
ads, POS ads and materials, website, direct mail, logos, taglines and FSI's. We are able to assess ads by
themselves, as part of a medium campaign and across media.
G&R offers several services that are ideal for pre-testing preliminary advertising. All offer fast turnaround
of results with experienced analysis and actionable recommendations.
 Quantitative: WebSelect is an online, non-monadic system for sorting through alternatives
quickly and efficiently within a quantitative framework. WebCheck can be used for consumers or
specialized B2B samples. For example, Physician WebCheck enables pharmaceutical and medical
devices companies to test ads and other marketing materials among online panels of physicians.
FasTrac presents test stimuli in the same physical form as consumers will experience in the real
world and gathers data through individual face-to-face interviews. 
 Qualitative: Individual Depth Interviews permit drilling down to core issues when sensitivity
and group bias are concerns.
Focus Groups conducted by trained moderators experienced in advertising development allow for
open-ended probing for insights. Online Focus Groups permit the inclusion of more respondents, 
eliminate interpersonal bias and can include instantly-coded surveys for group discussion.
 

Brand Linkage:

the degree to which the consumer understands a commercial’s message is for a specific brand of
product rather than the product category.

Visual layout

The visual layout of a text is very important, for two reasons.

 First, it determines the initial response of the reader to the text.

 Second, the layout of the text tells the reader about its structure.
If the reader's initial response while looking at a page of text is “Yuk!”, the contents of the text
will have to be very interesting indeed to stop the reader from tossing it aside. And even if the
reader doesn't toss the text aside, the author's persuasive strength is already seriously impaired
by the reader's initial aversion — even though that aversion isn't directed at the contents of the
text as such! Similarly, if the reader's initial response is positive, the author has already built up
some credit that may lessen the reader's scepticism.

Of course, in most cases the reader's initial response is more subtle. It is determined by such
factors as the appearance of the font, its apparent size, the apparent number of words on a line
and the apparent number of lines on a page, the consistency in using graphical elements, and all
sorts of other typographical considerations.

As the repeated use of the word “apparent” already shows, the reader's impression of how a
page looks like does not have to be correct. A good designer can put a lot of text on a page
without overwhelming the reader. Whereas, you guessed it, a bad designer can turn a single
paragraph of text into an impassable obstacle!

34 Ways To Get More Effective Advertising 

 1. Your headline is 70% responsible for the success of your ad. You want it to promise the
biggest benefit, make a news announcement, or ask a provocative question. 

 “Lose 10 Pounds In 10 Days” is a benefit promise headline. It's good, and it will get interested
people to read your sales copy [which is the job of your headline]. 

 "Lose 10 Pounds In 10 Days The Easy Way" is better. [People want the easy way of doing
everything - especially hard things].

 "Announcing A New Way To Easily Lose 10 Pounds In 10 Days" is better still. You have
combined benefit, ease, and news in your headline. Your headline is a winner.  

 Your headline must be great. Read Effective Copywriting for more.

   2. Write a few different headlines, and try them out. An improved headline could triple your
advertising effectiveness, or more. Same ad - different headline - three times the response. [No
kidding]. How do you get more effective advertising? You test different headlines, and measure
the response.
   3. People act on emotions, not on logic. Your headline and your ad should aim to get an
emotional response. Emotions are triggered by clear, powerful benefits. Give benefits, not
features. Touch on human desires and needs, and offer the solution to the problem.

   4. People will justify their emotional decisions later. An ad is not the place for a logical
argument or justification. The job of the ad is to get a response. This does not mean that you
don't want to list factual information in your ads. You absolutely want to list facts that give
benefits that create strong emotions. That is how it's done.

 5. Test Your ads. Create two different ads with two different offers. Key the ads so you know
which ad the client saw, and see which offer works best. This is absolutely the best way to
increase the effectiveness of your advertising. Keep testing until you find the offer that works
the best. You will DOUBLE the effectiveness of your ads.

   6. Twice as many readers will look at a photo than read a headline. By using a graphic you are
getting the attention of twice as many people. And a vertical photo attracts more attention than
a horizontal one. Studies also show that the size of your photograph is important. When you
double the size of a photo, you double the average amount of copy a person will read. That's
how you get more effective advertising.

   7. Your photos must match your message. If there is no connection, people won’t get it, and
they will not read your copy. If people can't look at your photo independent of your copy and
know what business you're in, change your photo. And always use captions with your photos.
Twice as many people will read the caption than the text copy.

   8. 60% of consumers believe ads that offer a money-back guarantee. 57% believe ads that carry
an official third party endorsement. 46% of consumers believe claims based on survey results.
That's how you get more effective advertising.

   9. Offer different deals every few weeks. One offer will out-pull the others. This will also help
you to get different kinds of customers who respond to different offers.  

   10. Always write in the present tense, using the second person format. Use the word "you" as
often as you can. "You will relax". "You will know".  Eliminate any references to yourself, and
direct them all to the customer in the present tense, second person format [you, you, you,
you...].

   11. Coupons get the highest response rate for advertising. Coupons in newspaper inserts get
double the response than do coupons in regular newspaper ads [4.4% versus 2.3%]. Coupons
contained inside a product get more than double the response than do the insert coupons [12%
versus 4.4%]. If you can, use coupons.

   12. Offer a limited number of free consultations or special deals per month. “Only the first 50
people….” This gets people to respond now. Use a time limit in your ads for people to respond.
Time limits work.  

   13. About 1/3 of readers will stop after reading the first 50 words. An additional 25% will stop
reading after 200 words. Put the benefits up front, and keep them coming. Or to put it another
way, get straight to the point. People will not wait.

   14. People believe testimonials. Use them if you can.

   15. Be careful when measuring the response to your ad. Many unpredictable things can go
wrong or right that have nothing to do with your ad. Current events, the weather, and
competitor actions can help or hurt you in the short run. You may get great placement and a
great response, or the exact opposite. Just average it all out. Ask your customers where they saw
your ad, and be persistent. Good luck or bad, it’s time and patience that will pay off with more
effective advertising.

 16. Set goals and measure your progress. What is the response rate to your ad? Are inquiries
becoming clients? What is your return on investment for your ad? Read What Your Print Ads
Can Do for more.

   17. Are you getting repeat business? Find out why customers are, or are not, coming back.

  18. Are you attracting customers you don’t want? You may be making the wrong offer. Not
every client is profitable or desirable. Effective advertising attracts the prospects you want, not
the ones that waste your time.

  19. A half page advertisement will pull 70% of the business a full-page ad will. A quarter page
ad will pull 50% of a full page. Is the cost difference worth it?

   20. Direct response advertising is effective advertising. Tell your customers to respond now.
Tell them what to do and how to do it. Make it as simple as possible for them to respond to
your ad immediately. [Offer credit, discounts, delivery, 800#, web information, directions, map,
etc. etc. etc.]

   21. Understand how response devises work. [Coupons, phone #’s, return cards.] Read the
Direct Mail Advertising chapter for more.
   22. Use the problem – solution format to create effective advertising. “Hungry? Try Our .99
Double Cheeseburger."

   23. Always ask questions that get a “yes, that’s me” reply.

   24. Buy a bigger ad. Effective advertising communication takes space. Don’t try to cram it all
into a little box. The best advertisements need room to bloom.

   25. Your ad needs to work with the reader’s physical eye movements. The point of attraction
for the eye, and the subsequent movement or natural reading progression needs to lead the
reader toward the response device [like your phone number].

   26. For more effective advertising, better define who your customer is. Read Marketing
Targeting Strategy  for more.

   27. Try different media. A small local newsletter may deliver big customers, and it’s very
cheap. Newspaper inserts work, as does direct mail, and a hundred other kinds of media. Read
Using Media More Effectively for more.

   28. Try different types of ads. A general ad will get you a higher response from lesser-
qualified prospects. A specific ad will get fewer, but better-qualified prospects. Read Generating
Better Qualified Prospects for more.

   29. Effective advertising connects your marketing together. Mention your newsletter in your
e-mails, your e-mails in your ads, your ads in your brochures, your brochures on your
calendars, your calendars on your business cards, etc. Connect them all as much as possible for
more effective advertising.

   30. Generate more positive talk. Read Word of Mouth Advertising for ideas.

   31. Grab attention with your ads. Read The Elements of Advertising Design for more.

   32. Surprise your reader. Throw them a curve. Give them the desire to know more. Effective
advertising leaves your reader a little curious.

   33. Understand the variety of promotional venues you can work with. You can use discount
coupons, free premiums, loss-leader premiums, bundled products or services, rebates,
sampling, contests, and/or sweepstakes to bring customers in. You can offer credit terms and
easy payments. You can offer a 30 day no questions asked return policy. You can promise to
beat any advertised price in the market. You can guarantee quality, freshness, turn-around time,
or anything else that will make your offer more attractive to consumers. 

   34. Know your customers. Know what they need and want. Find out what is most important
to them, and promise the solution in your ads.

Effective Advertising: Motivation

 If you want more effective advertising, you need to motivate your customers to take action.

 You need to make your customers squirm, or wince, or laugh, or cry. You need them excited,
exhilarated, and ready. Let them feel danger. Fear. Heat. Sex. Hunger. Pain. Desire. Life. Death.
Stoke them up, and then tell them how to get what they want. Fulfill that desire. Quench that
thirst. Eliminate that pain. Easy. Fast. Free.  

 That's how you get more effective advertising. Your words are what will get you new clients.
Your words must generate an emotional response in your reader.

 Human beings respond to specific motivations. The strongest one is fear. From a little dandruff
on the collar to a full-blown heart attack, advertisers use fear to motivate because it works.

 You want a basic motivator working in your ads. Fear, social acceptance, greed or economic
gain, health, beauty, freedom, and many other basic emotions are the building blocks to more
effective advertising. Use emotions in your ads.

Effective Advertising: Ask For Help

 As always, Professional Advertising is here to help you. We recommend that you run your
work past a marketing professional for assistance or a second opinion. It’s a cheap investment
for something that is as important as your entire advertising program. Please contact
Professional Advertising for these services and additional help.

Use The Magic Of Words For Effective Advertising!

© Lena Sanchez
http://www.envirodocs.com

Words are magic bullets to convey your desire, when used properly.

Whether you are selling something or just trying to get a point across the words that you use
are going to compel or repel customers or clients…

Since we entrepreneurs online or off, are trying to either sell products/services or get people to
subscribe. The words we use will sell our product/service, therefore we need to learn to use
words in a tried and true personal manner.

Getting the customer to take actions that you desire require;

Using correct action words! You must be specific about what you want them to do.

The action words or expressions like "click here," "subscribe today," "visit this," "join now," "go
there," "discover how" and "learn these" "order here" are commands in which you compel
people to take action. Taking them "by the hand," with words.

There are also phrases of take-away words that compel immediate action;

Statements such as, "To be candid with you, I don't know how long I'm going to keep the doors
open to this (product(s), service, new members, whatever) because…" add your reasons for
closing the door, such as, "only so many people can be effectively handled by one person," or
"only so much product is available and so on…."

Or "We can only guarantee that people who sign up through [specific date] will qualify for
membership, because…" Support this statement with "free bonuses worth over $!" Then seal it
with a catchy phrase such as, "You snooze, you lose.' "The early bird gets the worm." Then be
sure to add an action phrase, "So, don't wait. Join NOW!" Or something of that sort! Remember
Words are magic bullets to get people to act, but you must tell them what to do!

Then there are those curiosity words that pull large numbers of sales/people;

Curiosity is nothing more than something that's "secret," "rare," "private," "unavailable,"
"exclusive," "limited," "scarce," "uncommon," "prohibited," "hidden," etc

People are curious when they can't see the whole picture of something they are interested in;
words like "private site," "exclusive members area," "insider access" or "restricted info."
Moreover, people not only love the security of hidden information and the idea that the
information/products/services is all together in a single place that's easy to access, learn and
digest creating, all of which creates curiosity as well.

Words that give perceived value is a grabber of sales/customers/clients also;

Perceived value is another grabber of sales/customers and the words that convey perceived
value are; "secret formula," "custom checklist," "unique process," "specialized system" "mystical
secrets" and so on, all helping to heighten perceived value because these phrases imply less
time, money and effort in finding that same information elsewhere should you desire that
particular information.

Michael Fortin and many other internet successful long lasting Internet business people, use
terms such as: "Proficiency Program," "Secret Formula," "Inner Circle," "Hidden Vault,"
"Mentoring System," "Treasure Trove," "Coveted Toolkit," etc. Grabbing their customers/clients
with them.

A word of "caution" here - These words or any other success words will not work if you truly
do not have the information or product/service that stands up to their hype. So first rule is to
make sure your product/service really is what you want the words to convey! Otherwise
somewhere down the road you will gain a reputation of "liar," "dishonest," "untruthful," etc.
Killing your business!

Real success is the follow up (known as backend selling) business , not the first time
customers/clients so it will not pay to falsify advertising!

Use those words that will make you a success NOW!

Honesty is imperative!

What are ad readership studies?

Ad readership studies are surveys sponsored by publishers to increase ad sales and strengthen
advertiser partnerships. Because many advertisers don't have the outlet to solicit reader
feedback regarding ad effectiveness, they have no idea how readers engage with their ad. By
sponsoring an Ad Readership study on behalf of your advertisers, you'll provide them with the
feedback they need to succeed.

The benefits of advertising research

Conduct one of these advertising research studies on a specific issue of your publication and
you'll benefit by:

 Igniting sales by bringing new advertisers into your studied issue or onto your website
 Upgrading fractional advertisers to larger spaces when you set a minimum size/color
standard for the study
 Making more sales calls: first to explain the study, then to deliver results
 Strengthening relationships with advertisers by offering sound, creative suggestions
about the types of ads that seem to work in your market

Both high-and low-scoring advertisers benefit from seeing their ad readership results. Because
reader feedback may not be available anywhere else, advertisers have the unique opportunity
to find out what works and what doesn't with your readers. You have the opportunity to build
relationships with low-scoring advertisers by illustrating techniques that have succeeded with
readers.

How Readex ad readership studies work

Readex offers four standard studies for print ads and one study for online ads. They all measure
ad effectiveness, but each differs by a variety of factors: price, data collected, reports, etc. In
general, though the method is similar. Click here for details regarding the Online Ad
Measurement Study.

Each study of printed advertisements:

 Aims for 80-100 responses.

 Promotes the study with a mailing to prospective advertisers in advance of ad closing.
 Includes a companion questionnaire that enables you to ask additional questions such
as, "When/what are you most likely to buy?" "Which of these do you own?" etc.
 Enables you to recognize "outstanding" ads with Readex Award Certificates.
 Supports your sales efforts with User Guides, booklets that explain how to confidently
present Readex results to advertisers.
  Requires very little from you. Readex handles questionnaire and sample design, all
addressing, mailing, editing, data entry, and report production.
 Offers all-inclusive pricing from a rate card that spells out key details and different price
points.
 Full-color reports feature easy-to-use graphed results. They're delivered directly to you
about 8 weeks from the issue's drop date (sooner for online surveys).
 You have control over release of the results and can present them to advertisers and/or
their agencies when, how, and where you see fit.

Unique studies for your unique needs

Custom designed ad readership studies can be created to meet your specific needs. About 25%
of Readex's total Ad Readership studies are customized in some way. In many cases it just
involves slightly modifying a branded study. In others, the changes can be more substantial.