Kickstart Marketing

Mainstream Marketing for Small Business

Advertising covers everything from mainstream television, cinema, radio and press through to the more obscure advertisements on rubbish bins, video boxes, back of toilet doors and railway steps. Signage is also classed as advertising and can be mobile or stationary. Some of the signage options include building billboards, bus sides, bus backs, taxi back, mobile signs, roadside billboards, illuminated street signs and bus stop signs.

Generally speaking, in advertising you get what you pay for: the cost of advertising is directly related to the number of people you reach, which is why television with its audience in the millions is so much more expensive than a community newsletter that might reach 10 000 local readers. The trick is to make sure you are not paying for people you don't need to reach. Advertising is only a good buy when you get the right message to the right person. Before you put your hand in your pocket, ask yourself a few questions:

Will this put you in front of a significant number of decision makers or influencers in your target market segment? For instance, if you are planning to advertise in the monthly journal published by the leading accountancy association and your target clients are accountants, you could probably assume you are on the right track, although you might want to check with your accountant to see if these publications are read or filed in the 'when I get around to it' basket.

Will this harm your image? Make sure you are not advertising in an inappropriate magazine or associating yourself with an organisation that might not appeal to your target client. For instance, a massage therapist advertising in a magazine traditionally associated with the sex industry could attract clients expecting a very different service. A product that is promoted as environmentally friendly shouldn't advertise in a multinational company magazine when the multinational is involved in a controversy over its environmental practices.

How much will it cost to reach each of those potential customers? If you are a local potter paying $500 for an advertisement in a giftware trade magazine that is distributed to 2000 subscribers, it is costing you 25 cents to reach each distributor. However, if you are only targeting retailers for your state (say, 500 readers), it is costing you $1 to reach each potential client. If you are buying a $25 000 side of a building advertisement in a suburb that is recognised as a centre for information technology, you are targeting the 100 research and development managers in that area. It could be costing you $250 to reach each of these targets, providing of course they look up and see the sign.

Is there a cheaper way of reaching potential customers? Would sending out 500 e-mails or letters to gift shop owners be cheaper? Spending your $15 000 on a launch event could be a more effective alternative for reaching R&D managers.

Is there an easier way of reaching potential customers? If gift shop owners are all attending a regional gift fair where you can take a small stand for $800, meet all your targets personally and show them your product, it may be a more effective use of your money. If R&D managers all attend a high profile conference every year, it could be easier to sponsor a section of the conference and host a cocktail party for delegates.

Is this advertising likely to generate revenue? If not, will there be significant goodwill or publicity? The key word here is significant. If the leading home decorating magazine is going to feature your pottery product in a double page spread at no cost but would like you to pay for a small classified advertisement, it would be a good investment to pay for the advertising. If the local paper approaches you to run an ad in an advertising supplement in return for some editorial, you will need to consider whether your target clients are reading the local paper. If the larger building sign features a demonstration of your new technology, which means the billboard glows in the dark, it could generate a lot of positive publicity and would therefore be a good investment.

Goodwill can be harder to evaluate. Imagine you are a manufacturer of industrial machinery and your number one client has asked you to donate $500 for his son's soccer team uniforms. They will never be seen by potential clients, but it is a relatively small amount to pay to keep up a strong relationship with a client, who may be worth $120 000.

Once you have asked yourself the hard questions, take note of the answers. If your planned advertising doesn't fit the guidelines-don't do it!

Money spent on advertising can be the best investment you'll ever make, but it must be on target and it must generate revenue. The following guided tour through the most popular kinds of paid marketing explains some of the tricks of the trade and some of the pitfalls to avoid.

More Kickstart Marketing Extracts:
The Marketing Toolkit Introduction | Mainstream Marketing | Press

 

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