You go through the time and effort to research the market, buying potential. You segment it, then choose a segment to target. You position your product, to appeal to that segment. You create an advertisement, a commercial, a billboard, or a mailer, and highlight not just features, but real benefits. And you launch your campaign.

But the phone doesn’t ring.

This is story the 2 Guyz On Marketing hear from small brands all too often. As consultants, we’re often called in to perform “marketing triage,” assessing damage and recommending “real” marketing medicine.

There are lots of things that can go wrong, but there is one that just drives us crazy. Hidden contact info.

2 Guyz Brian just got a direct mail piece for a gym and unique training service that was a jumbo-sized mailer. It was 4-color, glossy, well put together. Someone took the time to do photography, graphic design, copywriting, and then distributing.

Too bad they didn’t take the time to put contact information. The truth is, they did, but it was buried, and we mean buried. If a marketing professional/professor/consultant can’t find it easily with two readings of the card, it’s buried. The 2 Guyz Londre loves the expression “You can’t make the cash register ring, if they can’t find you.”

No physical address of the company. No website. In small print, buried in copy on the back was a local phone number.

In today’s fast-paced marketing world, you have a few seconds, at best, to get attention. There is a ton of competition for each potential customer dollar.

And if the customer has any interest, he or she will likely move to the next step, which in the Internet world is “clicking.” In traditional marketing and advertising, it’s “getting more information,” which is usually done by reading more, or going to a website.

For retail, the address isn’t just important, it is mission critical! Phone, email, and website just lend more accessibility and credibility.

A mentor of 2 Guyz Brian once said, “Give the customer lots of reasons and lots of ways of responding to our ads.”

Listen to good radio spots, and the repeat addresses, phone numbers, and websites over and over.

If a product or service is hard to find, there are lots of other options out there.

A marketing opportunity lost is a sad thing. A true waste.