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Make Advertising Choices Simple
Answer these 4
smart questions to find the
right ad media
By Kim T. Gordon
Looking for answers on the best
advertising for your business? These four questions will point you in the right
direction.
Every
small-business owner from New York to Los Angeles faces the same daily
dilemma -- a finite marketing budget and an infinite number of advertising
options. After all, your customers are bombarded with hundreds of advertising
messages each day. From the moment they wake up, they’re exposed to advertising
on television, in the morning newspaper, on the radio, in their favorite
magazines, plus ads in e-mail and on Web sites, outdoor billboards, and subway
signage. There are even ads on fruit in the supermarket, corporate signage on
secluded nature trails, and marketing pamphlets promoting products in dental and
medical offices.
This flood of marketing messages
will continue to increase. And that leaves you with critical choices to make
about how you’ll reach your prospects and hold their attention. Since every
business is different, there aren’t pat answers regarding what will work for
everyone. What I can provide are four great questions. Answer these and they’ll
point you toward the right media choices.
Question #1 -- Where do your prospects look first?
People who already know they want
to buy what you market are your top-qualified prospects. They have a need for
what you offer and are actively in the process of shopping for a purchase in
what are called "marketing search corridors.” Will your prospects use search
engines, the Yellow Pages, or both? Are they looking for you in trade magazines
or in a particular section of the newspaper on a given day? Identify exactly
where your best prospects look first when shopping for what you sell, and place
your ads there.
Question #2 -- Which media touch your prospects most often?
Each of us is touched by media at
various points throughout the day. The key is to discover the media with which
your prospects have meaningful interactions. Find out which TV programs they
watch and which radio stations they listen to and at what time of day. If your
customers read a newspaper, which one is it? And if you're targeting
business-to-business prospects, identify the industry publications they rely on
for information. Then construct an integrated marketing campaign to consistently
touch your prospects using a mix of media that reach them during their normal
daily routines.
Question #3 -- Where will your message be best remembered?
Putting your advertising message in
the right context is critical to success. In fact, your prospects are probably
touched by all kinds of media that would be completely inappropriate for you.
When evaluating your media advertising options, look for opportunities to
communicate with your prospects when they’re in the right frame of mind. For
example, your customers may often dine in restaurants where they’re exposed to
the posters on the bathroom walls. But while this particular advertising form
may reach your best prospects, if it’s inappropriate for your message, you
should discard it as a marketing option. On the flip side, a website your
prospects turn to for information on a subject related to a product or service
you market would reach them when they were in exactly the right frame of mind,
making advertising on that site a good choice for you.
Question #4 -- Can you stick with it?
Effective advertising requires
frequency in order for your message to be remembered and acted upon. As you
construct your list of advertising options, choose a mix of media that you can
stick with for the long haul. It's preferable to choose vehicles in which you
can afford to advertise with enough frequency for your message to penetrate,
than to advertise just a few times in a larger range of media. Start small with
sufficient advertising frequency in a cohesive group of marketing vehicles. Then
as your company grows, you can expand into additional media.
Get In-depth
Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim
T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than
3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert
and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing,
Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business.
Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in
whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |