Advertising Tips

by jrskate207

First Published: June 05, 2011
Last Modified: July 16, 2011

Small companies use advertising to build brand awareness. The challenge with advertising is determining how much to spend as well as which advertising vehicles to use--whether online advertising business, newspaper, magazine, radio, TV or even direct mail advertising. Company managers must choose the right combination of ads for their business to effectively reach customers. Certain advertising tips can help improve a small company's success. Consider the following advertising tips for your next campaign.

Tip #1: Use Warranty Cards and Surveys To Identify Your Typical Customer

Small companies often use warranty cards and phone surveys to determine common demographics among customers. For example, a small regional clothing company may determine that most of its customers are female, 25 to 34 years old, with an average annual income of $75,000. Knowing the profile of your key customers can better help you target your advertising. In the retailer example, the owner may consider getting a mailing list of 25- to 34-year-old females with higher incomes from a mailing list vendor such as the Direct Marketing Association. She then could send women in this demographic group, including non-customers, brochures and specials.

Tip #2: Advertise to a Mix of Media

Your advertising program mix pertains to the various types of advertising you will use. For example, you may include direct mail, print and online advertising in your strategy. One way to determine which advertising vehicles will work is to ask your customers. Have customers fill out surveys about where they heard about your business. You also can conduct phone surveys in areas surrounding your business. If customers received direct mail or found you through Internet yellow pages, you should include direct mailings and Internet ads as part of your advertising mix.

Tip #3: Check out Top 10 Tip Articles

The advertising tips in the article, “Top 10 Tips for an Effective Advertising Campaign”, on AllBusiness.com mentions several advertising tips, such as whichever advertising methods you use, you always should list key benefits about your product or service in your advertisement. Key benefits are your core competencies; they are what set you apart from your competitor. If your company is known for having the highest quality products, state that in benefit form, such as “Our products are extremely durable and made to take a beating”.

Tip #4: Remember AIDA

AIDA is an acronym for attention, interest, desire and action. According to this advertising tip, any advertisement you place should use the AIDA formula in succession, AllBusiness.com notes. For example, the heading should grab the attention of the reader. Subsequently, the body of the ad should be compelling enough to keep the reader's interest. By the time the person is finished reading the ad, he should have a strong desire to own your product or use your service. This desire should spur him to action, such as driving to the store and making a purchase. Special discounts can work well in getting customers from the desire to the action stage, especially if the deal has a short expiration period.

Tip #5: Test Early, Test Often

Another good advertising tip to focus on is to test your advertising early on. Coupons are easy to test; you can determine the number of people who redeem them. Direct response or mail-order advertising also is easy to track, as you can key the order forms with the dates in which you advertise. Other advertising media is more challenging to track. Try keeping a log near the phone and develop a habit of asking the customer where she heard about your business. Testing ads will enable you to determine which ones are working and which ones are not. You can then drop ineffective ads and increase ads that are more effective.

Tip #6: Stay Authentic

Being authentic means staying focused and saying no once in a while. The more you diversify, extend your product line or tackle new target audiences, the better chance you have of alienating people.

Tip #7: Stay True To Your Core Business

In a down economy it's always tempting for small businesses to branch out. You take on projects that are beyond your core competencies, because you can. People trust you. Then if things go south you lose some credibility. And without credibility there can be little authenticity. You sacrifice authenticity when your marketing messages are not true to the company, its mission, culture and purpose. You can't be saying one thing, and doing something else.

Summary

Alignment starts with understanding, and hopefully the advertising tips we've listed here have promoted your understanding. Understanding starts with communication. So figure out your core brand values, and then hammer those continuously with your marketing team. Every time they trot out a new slogan or campaign you can hold up that brand strategy document and ask, is this in line with our brand? Following the above general advertising tips will allow one to develop a good baseline for marketing the product or service they are selling.