When watching TV or flipping through a magazine you often see advertisements from large corporations like Coca Cola, Ford, and Nike, have you noticed that these companies aren’t selling you a specific product or service. The reason for this, is that the purpose of their advertisement is to sell you brand preference and brand loyalty. This is great, if you have millions of dollars to spend on a branding campaign and your comapny is a household name with millions of people. Unfortunately most small businesses do not have the luxury of immediate brand recognition and loyalty by millions of consumers. So what can you do to have more effective adverting on a shoestring budget? Let me share with you a few secrets of effective small business advertising.

Advertising: Does Yours Work?

Secret 1

Stop trying to sell with your ads. You adverting is not a vehicle to sell a product or service. When you do this, most of the time, you are throwing your advertising dollars down the drain. I believe that less than 1% of the audience that sees an ad that tries to sell will actually take the next step and make a purchase. It is probably much less than 1% but I’m being optimistic that your advertising dollars spent up until now have been well spent.

Secret 2

Look for and then identify the main concerns of your target market and use these as the basis for each ad or mini article you use as a promotional tool. Whether you write a 30 word print advertisement, a 30 second radio commercial, or a 600 word advertorial (an advertisement made to look and sound like a news story), take a look at what you wrote and see if you are trying to sell something to your audience or are you trying to inform them. Consumers, for the most part are looking to be educated about a product or service, told that the features and benefits of using are right for them and then made to feel that by purchasing your product or service they have made the correct decision. You still need to grab your audience’s attention and keep them interested in your advertisement, but make them feel as if they are learning something that will help solve a problem or need.

Secret 3

Don’t expect one advertisement to do all the work and bring in loads of clients and customers. Advertisement is a system of engaging and informing consumers at all points of contact. You need develop a marketing and advertising system where all you advertisements work together to relay key messages to your audience.

Advertising is part art but also part science. There is a proven formula for making small businesses advertising more effective. The trick is what you say within the confines of the advertising formula. But that is another article. Stay Tuned!

-End-

By: Nicholas Pavlich

About the Author:

Small business advertising is both a science and an art. If one decides to venture in small business advertising, he or she should think like a professional and be in a position to distinguish between potentially successful advertisements and potentially unsuccessful ones. Understanding such concepts is important in ensuring that the advertising business actually makes profit to the owner by incurring lesser expenses. One should develop skills that are essential in creating effective advertisements as well as commercials. It is important to note that public relations is an important aspect of advertising and should therefore be given due consideration when preparing any kind of business advertising feature.

There are a number of factors to consider in order to ensure that the small advertising business is successful. A very important factor is how the message is conveyed. Generally, a good advertising feature conveys just one message. The small business advertising should learn to communicate a particular central message in just three seconds. People do not have that much time to read or listen to a feature for an hour in order to get the message.

Small advertising business is about credibility. Since human nature naturally distrusts advertising, the motive of advertising should be to break loose from this perception. Advertising should make things real, and any claim that the customer or audience perceives to be unrealistic is simply a waste of money – it won’t change the brand’s position in the market. While large businesses may have resources to waste, small businesses are the exact opposite. There is no opportunity to waste any resource, and this has to be reflected in advertising. Therefore, the medium chosen for adverting has to be perfect. All feasible means of advertising have to be tested, but one at a time to know which one has the most lasting effects on the market. Testing the effect of advertising should entail simple procedures such as asking customers how they heard about a given brand or business.

The small business advertising should be easily reachable. Thus, the company should provide its contact through modes such as brochures or business cards. This is a sure way to ensure that anyone thinking about small business advertising knows about the company. There is no better way ensure the success of small business advertising than to have the advertising message driven home. Basically, a good advertising feature targets a particular group. This combined with a clear message is a guarantee to the success of a small business.

By: Juvenal Flores

About the Author: