| |
| |
|
Advertising Information |
|
|
|
7 Questions to Ask Before You Advertise
Most business owners and managers keep a fairly close eye on their marketing budgets. And nothing throws a budget out of whack faster than advertising. Advertising, or paying good money to get your message in front of your target market, still has a place in your marketing mix, although it's not quite as effective as it once was. If you're going to advertise, you need to be smart about it -- or you can quickly find yourself with a blown budget and not much to show for it. Below are seven questions to ask yourself before writing out that check. 1. Do you need to generate customers/traffic/leads/etc. right away? If so, then you better pull out your wallet. Advertising is hands down the fastest way to get your message in front of your target market. (You're paying for placement after all.) 2. Do you have another way to get the word out about your business? For instance, do you have a customer database or an e-zine list? If so, then you might be better off sending an e-mail (assuming you have customers' e-mails). Although technically e-mail announcements fall under advertising, I'm not counting it in this particular case because it's more or less free (or very low cost). Perhaps you have a good news angle and a good relationship with a reporter. Or you have a high-traffic Web site and/or blog. Or maybe you're an active volunteer with a large organization and can use networking to get the message out. But if none of those really apply, then you'd better take a closer look at advertising. 3. Do you need to augment your other marketing efforts? Maybe you have articles featured on a Web site targeted to your customer base. Great when your article is front and center and not-so-great when your article is buried in archives. A little advertising on that site can keep you in your target market's sight all the time. Or maybe you struck gold and got a big article written about your company in the perfect trade publication. Fantastic for that month and not-so-fantastic for the other 11 months of the year. Or maybe it's taking you longer than you'd like to drive traffic to your Web site. Advertising is good for speeding things along. Frequency is king when it comes to marketing -- if you're out of your customers' sight, you're probably out of their mind when it comes to buying time. Advertising is a good way to beef up or speed up what you're already doing. 4. Are other marketing methods not appropriate in this situation? Let's say you want to have a sale. But your customer database is small (or nonexistent). Your Web site has minimal traffic. And you aren't going to get any bites from the media since having a sale isn't news. What do you do? Run some ads. 5. Would you rather save time than money? Let's face it. Running an ad is easy. Other marketing methods are more time-consuming. If you want your marketing to be easy, then advertising is about as easy as it's going to get. (Now there is a caveat to this one, because you can hire people to do some of those marketing tasks, such as updating Web sites, running PR campaigns, etc. However, not everything can be hired out so you still might be stuck spending time you don't have.) 6. Are you planning to test a new campaign or a new product/target market? Running small, inexpensive ads can be a good way to test certain marketing aspects before launching big, expensive, time-consuming campaigns. If you want to penetrate a new market or if you have a new product to launch or a new marketing message to try, buy some ads and see what the response rate is. Another strength of advertising is control -- you have total control over your test. 7. Do other marketing approaches never quite measure up? It happens. Advertising in one or two specific media outlets seem to generate more sales and more leads then anything else you've tried. If that's the case, then don't mess with it. As the old saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Creativity Exercise -- Advertising and your business Is advertising right for your business? Try this exercise and see. 1. What's your biggest marketing challenge right now? Write it down. 2. Go through the above list of questions and ask yourself each one. Does it apply to your situation? If it does, write that down too. 3. Do some brainstorming. In what ways can you use advertising to solve your marketing challenges? What media would work best? Online? Print? Radio? Television? Direct mail? Something else? Make up an ad for a variety of media. Now do the exact opposite. Think of ways advertising WON'T work for your business. Brainstorm at least 25 reasons why advertising won't work for your specific situation. Be silly. It's a good way to loosen you up. 4. Go back and reread both your pro and con lists. Now read your ads. Do you like what you came up with? Do any of them resonate with you, even now after coming up with your list of objections? You may have just come up with your next advertising campaign. Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.com. Copyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
I Dont Want to be Different To succeed in today's crowded marketplace where most of the products and advertising look exactly the same, a small business owner must stand out, shouting above the din with a message so clear and compelling that prospects stop and take notice. It's a matter of business survival. Dont Put All Your Eggs in The Same Basket Solution: You can protect yourself by partnering with other lead sources because it is unlikely that they will all have a problem or technical issue at the same time.Other alternative: It doesn't hurt either to use a few marketing tools to generate leads for your business. What the Newspaper Ad Person Won't Tell You Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertising medium by 99.4% of all retailers. Can I Write and Print My Own Business Brochures and Business Cards? If you have a computer and a printer, preferably one that can print in color, then you can make your own brochures and business cards that are very professional-looking! Be sure to use good quality paper (that is available at any office supplies store like Office Depot or Staples) for anything that you are going to hand out or send to potential customers and clients.Writing Text for Your Brochure and Business CardThe very best thing to do is to get a few examples of business brochures and business cards, preferably from the same type of business as the business you are starting. How You Can Create Advertising That Sells A well-planned and properly executed marketing program should include a sufficient commitment of capital resources to an on-going, well executed advertising program. Yes, this includes your business. Just What Are Consumers Thinking? Research would indicate that consumers don't know what they're thinking. According to an article written by Jack Shimell (2002) for Quirk's Marketing Research Review, Consumers make their decisions and react to advertising based more on unconscious emotional processes than on conscious rational processes. Imaging Isnt Everything Many home improvement contractors attempt to use advertising to expand their client base and increase profits. Whether it be yellow pages, mailers, ads, or valpak; for many it's a total waste of time and money. The Only Bad Advertising Is No Advertising - Or Is It? Depending on whom you ask, you will get told many "truths" about advertising. The question I have for you today is this - "Is the only bad advertising, no advertising?"Before we begin, it might help us to agree on what advertising is, so here's one definition:"Advertising is the non-personal communication of an individual's paid persuasive information regarding products, and or services via various media. Customer-Involving Signage and Selling Here's some easy ways to create signage that will attract, not annoy customers (and local government agencies that regulate signage):1. Since movement always attracts attention, any banner, sign set of a pole that might move with the wind or electrically-turned sign will stand out from the static messages around it. Using Flyers to Advertise Your Online Business Using flyers is one commonly overlooked method of advertising offline. Flyers are extremely easy to create. Creating a Winning Logo Creating a logo to get you noticed.When you're branding a company with a name, a colour scheme and a logo the logo is often not given enough care and attention. Does Your Brochure Pass the Test - Or is It Headed for the Trash? Part One The decision on whether or not someone will read your brochure is usually decided in the first 5 seconds they look at it. What kind of message are you communicating in that five seconds? Will you make a favorable impression with your prospect? Will you move your prospect closer to the sale?There are really only two key elements that will determine how well your brochure is received by prospects. Creditability In Advertising I recently saw an ad taped to my mailbox, mind you, my mailbox is shared by many residents of my area. The postal real estate is typically reserved for flyers of lost dogs, cats, small children, etc. Classified Ads That Get Results Classified ads do not have the big market appeal that a full color display ad has, but they are still one of the most economical ways to get your business into the public eye. And, because classifieds do not demand expensive eye-catching designs or ingenious wording that you often see in direct-mail campaigns, they are a perfect marketing avenue for even new entrepreneurs. Whats On Your Business Card? A professional business card says more about you and your business than any other tool in your marketing arsenal. You need a card that looks good, tells what you do and makes it easy to contact you. Cinema Advertising is Big Business, So Mergers are a Natural Cinema advertising has always been an effective marketing tool for some advertisers, while for others they have yet to see the benefit of this unique form of media. When an advertiser hears the term "Cinema Advertising" automatically they think the slide that is shown on the big screen with the soothing music played in the background. Scrolling LED signs Scrolling LED signs is type of LED signs that displays Scrolling text and can be used as outdoor and/or indoor outlet. Wide variety of businesses uses this equipment to spread news and other information quickly and efficiently. Why People Fail in Mail Order Mail order is a very complicated business. Every phase must beplanned, analyzed and tested. Avoid The Big Advertising Mistakes Is your advertising copy getting the results you want? If not, look at your current marketing to see if you're making one of the major copywriting mistakes:Selling features instead of benefits. Telling your customer that your "fabulous new ALF-400 comes complete with AeroScan and BandControl technologies!" doesn't actually tell them anything. Consider These Pressing Facts Before You Renew Your Yellow Page Ad Your Yellow Page Ad Deserves More than 10 Minutes of Thought a YearBefore long, your Yellow Page directory rep will be paying you a visit. It's an annual event that happens several months before next year's directory goes to press.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
