When you’re in business you need to advertise because without advertising your business will simply fail. But where do you advertise your business and how do you make your business heard above the clamor of all the other businesses that advertise out there? What do you need to do to target your advertising so that the right people get the message and hear it too?
To be effective you need to advertise where your target market will see it. Now that may sound like basic commonsense … and it is … but over the years I’ve seen some terrible mistakes made by local businesses when it comes to advertising in the right places.
So before you jump in and start booking up ads in various parts of the media you need to now where the most effective place to get your message in front of your target market will be.
Do the people who will buy from you read the newspapers and if so which ones? Do the people who will buy from you listen to the radio and if so which stations? Do they watch TV, do they surf the web and do they use the Yellow Pages?
How do you find out this information? Well I wouldn’t look at the circulation figures for the newspapers or listen to the ratings and viewer statistics that TV advertising execs might want to throw at you. Instead I’d ask your customers and see where they go for information.
Once you know where to advertise you then need to know what to say in your advertising. You need to know what it is about your business that will attract people. You need to know what it is that will make them want to come to your business rather than to a competitor.
When you understand what it is that will bring people to you rather than your competitors you then have the headline for your advertising … the hook that will attract people who see you ads and encourage them to read further. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate … in fact the simpler it is the better.
Sadly there aren’t many advertising people at the local level who recognize the importance of keeping the message simple no matter what the medium … but that’s definitely what you need to do.
So to bring all this together … successful advertising needs to be targeted and to do that you need to know where to advertise, you need to know what to advertise and you need to keep the message simple.
For a computer shop we know of a headline of “Guaranteed Computer Repairs” accompanied by a photo of the owner and a short personal message brings in far more work than a typical computer shop ad full of prices and pictures and “great deals”.
His message is targeted and his business is booming.
Marcus | ADMAX Local Search Blog said:
Thank you for this thought-filled entry, and for your comment on our local search marketing blog! Perhaps we can form an alliance? mk
June 4th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Keith Hearn said:
I appreciate you stopping by and commenting on my blog. I thing the information you are putting out is great! You site is a great resource and I really look forward to reading more from you.
June 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am