Advertising is a vital part of any business. It allows us to get our own voice and ideas out there, it allows us to connect with customers, influence customers and help generate profits for our business. There are vital rules when it comes to advertising:
- Spend Big Now, Benefit later
- Try New Ways of Advertising
- Constantly Improve
- Make it memorable
Successful advertising builds relationships, generates new clients, and creates loyalty amongst existing customers. Poorly thought out advertising can distort key marketing messages and even make you look less credible or trustworthy.
For marketing to be successful it must do the following:
- Be an effective strategy that helps promote a business
- Create awareness of a brand
- Accurately Sell a product or service
- Have a specific target market
Deciding on a Strategy
Decisions are always tough in business, but they need to be made to make business and generate sales. Deciding on the right strategy is pivotal to effectively market your product. The use of advertising whether it be print or digital can benefit your company by the following:
- Help establish your business as a market leader or industry expert
- Advertising helps build brand awareness and brand loyalty amongst new and existing customers; this will raise the image of your company if effective advertising is being conducted.
- Promoting discounts or reduced costs of services can help generate more business and create new clients. By promoting discounts this appeals to the price-conscious customer.
- By publishing advertising material frequently and consistently, existing customers will think of your business first when they are considering a product or service.
Determining your Target Market
When it comes to advertising a specific market or group of people should always be in mind. Whether this be to families, kids, adults, seniors, football players etc. A specific audience for your advert should be identified and targeted.
To determine your ideal target market, consider the following:
- Try and create an ideal demographic for your target market. Think about the age, gender, marital status and income of the person most likely to buy your product or use your services. If you are unsure, think about your biggest customers – is there anything they have in common, such as age or gender?
- Think about the geographical reach of your business – most product and service-based businesses have a limited market area. Think about your regular customers or clients – do they live close by or travel to reach you? Once you know your market area, you could research existing data or conduct some market research to find out the average age, income and family status of people in your area.
- If most of your business is online, look at your major competitor – are males or females interacting with their social media or on online forums, for example? Do they have testimonials on their website you can use to find out their target market?
Types of Advertising
There are many different channels in which a business can advertise through, the following are the different forms of advertising:
- Print Advertising: This form of advertising is anything that is tangible, meaning that you can physically touch it and it needed to be printed off for you to read the advert. Think of print advertising as newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures, community notices, business cards. Printed advertising is the most traditional for of advertising.
- Digital Advertising: Digital advertising is any form of advertising in which digital screen are used to promote and advert. This includes social media pages such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. As well as streaming services such as YouTube.
- Broadcast advertising. Broadcast advertising traditionally includes adverts on television, radio adverts and even online podcasts. This form of advertising requires 2 third party entity to promote your product or service, this may factor external costs for your business
Creating Meaningful Adverts
Many small businesses invest a lot into advertising; however, they fail to reach their goals due to ineffective advertising. For advertising to be effective it must be meaningful, there must be a direct or purpose as to why customers should spend their money on your product or service. To achieve meaningful advertising, it must meet the needs of the ideal target market and their lifestyle. Advertisements should be short and brief but highlight the key attributes of the product/service. It’s a balancing act that most business struggle with. Although, If they have defined their target marketing, created a customer profile and have chose multiple methods of advertising, then they should begin to see positive results fast!
Future Improvements for Advertising
To make sure your investment is worthwhile, constantly improve your adverts by doing the following:
- Listen to Customer Feedback and adjust products and services accordingly
- Look at the statistics regarding your advert and see if they are generating business, if not change tactic
- Constantly put your mind into the customer, look at what appeals to them, constantly change your approach
- Never fear to target new markets with your adverts
- Ask for professional advice if your advertising is not generating sales, there are business professionals out there who can help
- Watch and monitor your competition and make sure that you are up to date with the latest trends
- Repetition is key, constantly post, upload and share your advertisements. Customers will begin to familiarise themselves with your brand if they are constantly reminded of it.
