A recent advertising insert in the Dallas Morning News caught my attention, not for what it said, but for what was not included.

The large full color insert for Conn’s , a retail appliance and furniture  store with multiple locations, did not include an address for a local store.  In fact, there was not even a web address.

I had to scratch my head on that one.  Now, I know where the local Conn’s store is in Richardson, Texas where I live.  The Conn’s is right next to the Staples where I buy my office supplies.  But I am sure that at least 10 per cent of the people who received that insert have no clue where the nearest Conn’s is located.

Placing store locations in your print advertising materials makes it easy for people to find you but many companies omit their addresses.

Several years ago when my wife and I were looking for a church to attend, I picked up the Saturday newspaper with all the Sunday morning ads. I found services in our area at a church I’d heard about but when we considered attending we found no address. They must have thought that everyone knew where they were located.  We didn’t.

There was a web site but that Saturday night our Internet service wasn’t working (that’ll be the subject of a separate blog post!). So Sunday morning we attended a different church and never got around to visiting the one that was hard to find.

Always include your address in all of your advertising communications.   When possible add some kind of identifier – “Next to  KFC  at the corner of Lamar and Main” – That will let people know exactly where you are.  In some major cities a street can run for over six miles.

By the way, that same Dallas Morning News included an advertising insert for The Room Store and it listed most of their Texas locations.  Given the circumstances, I would have been more likely to go to the Room Store instead of Conn’s for furniture.

Bottom line: Make it easy for your customers (and potential customers) to find you by giving them all the information they will need.