Advertising can be an effective way of reaching a large number of
potential customers. However, it is neither a quick nor cheap promotional
solution. To convince customers to buy your product you will have to run your
advertisements several times.
Expensive
Television advertising, in
particular, can be prohibitively expensive for small businesses and shouldn't
be attempted without specialist help from an advertising agency. Advertising in
magazines and newspapers is much cheaper and you can manage it yourself.
Another option is advertising on your local radio station, especially if your
customers mostly live in the near vicinity.
The rates for advertisements vary but can always be negotiated. A
typical quarter page ad in a local newspaper will cost around £800. You should
consider getting help from a professional copywriter and designer to produce
your newspaper advertisement, or an agency to create a local radio
advertisement. This is costly but it is a one-off cost for each advertising
campaign.
Managing your campaign
Who and how - decide who you want to reach and
which media will be most effective to communicate with them. If, for example,
your customers are mainly camping enthusiasts then advertise in specialist
magazines. Or if most live in your area, advertise in your local newspaper and
on the radio. Ask advertising representatives for demographic information on
their readership to see if they fit your target market.
Set goals - right from the start of the
advertising campaign set goals that can be measured through market research.
For example, you might decide that you want 70% of homeowners in Derby to have
heard of your shop when the campaign has been running for three
months.
Message - decide what message you would
like to communicate to your customers. Use your insider knowledge of your
customers to decide on the things that motivate them to buy from your business.
Then devise a message around them. It is advisable to test your message with
market research or a focus group to make sure you get it right.
Timing - advertising is expensive so for
most small businesses running advertisements all year round is too costly.
Decide if you want to run a lot of advertisements over a short space of time,
run seasonal adverts that reflect the nature of your business, or run a batch
in cycles, such as in alternate months.
Calendar - draw up a calendar that shows
when, where and what you intend to advertise over the next year.
Negotiate - once you know how often you
want to advertise and where, you are in a stronger position to negotiate with
advertising representatives. If, for example, you can offer a newspaper a
series of ten advertisements you stand a better chance of negotiating a
discount.
