Newspaper VS Radio Advertising? Can I use the same ad for both?

Newspaper (or print in general) advertising and radio spots are the same in that they both attract loyal consumers and work hand in hand as components of an overall marketing strategy. But what many advertisers fail to realize is that they are very different delivery vehicles. It simply will not be effective if a print ad is read on the air. Here are the reason why.

Print advertising relies on the sense of sight to deliver a message and with the typical small business ad a short black and white text ad, then the structure and content needs to VERY concise, yet compelling. Proper gramme tends to fly out the window in these cases in order to get the message across. Make sure that besides the promotion, that you provide a form of contact. I have seen numerous ads where there is no contact information and the average consumer will not go to the trouble of tracking you down. Make it easy for them to respond.

With radio advertising you are relying on a consumers sense of hearing so you not only need to pay attention to the wording on the ad, but you also need to pay very close attention to voice inflection and how it can best help you get your message across. It's amazing how much can actually be said in a 15 second radio spot. Talk to the consumer, don't just verbalize bullet points. Use the power of voice to make it funny or stress a point. Lastly, strive to evoke emotion whenever possible.

Even though both advertising mediums are different, they should have a consistent message that fits with your marketing strategy.

Can a Small Business Advertise for FREE?

Many small businesses automatically assume that you must pay for advertising. Not True! There are many different ways to gain advertising for free or at little cost. You can barter services or place an ad in online directories. The most famous of the free online directories is Craigslist. Last month Craigslist had 609.2k visitors to their site. That is huge and when you look at the overall # of visits at 2,413,932, you can see that the chances of your ad being viewed are quite good.

There are many other free directorys out there that are general in nature or who have targeted audiences. Simply go into Google and run a simple search for "free business directory listings" and you will see 85 pages of directories.

Some directories will keep your ad as a permanent ad and others have a specific time frame that the ad will run. You also want to pay attention when setting up an ad, as many directories feed to other directory sites. This cuts down on the # of directories you actually need to list with.

Take some time to increase your internet presence and get listed today! For more advertising advice contact Michael D Harris Jr @ Ardynn Media

How do I choose a Marketing or Advertising Firm?

When you are just starting out with your own business, it can be extremely difficult to know what to look for in a marketing or advertising firm. The first thing you should realize is that there is a difference between the two. A marketing firm can assist you with a total marketing strategy (this would include advertising components) and may assist you with execution of the overall strategy or they may offer a simple few product or services lines that would become a part of your overall marketing strategy. The majority of marketing firms out there offer just a few pieces that a company needs for a complete strategy, so you may need to work with a few firms to achieve your goals.

An advertising firm works mainly with campaigns that would encompass print ads, commercials, billboard and other similar advertising mediums. They are just getting into website advertising and that is the main reason that advertisers are going to niche multi-media firms to have that need met.

What you need to decide is 1) Are you capable of putting together a strong marketing strategy? -If so then using multiple niche firms would work well for you. 2) Ask the right questions when interviewing a firm / agency.
A. What services / products do you provide?
B. Who are some of your clients?
C. Who is your ideal client?
D. How can you meet my needs?
E. Who do suggest for the parts of my strategy you can not handle?
F. Why should I choose you over a full service firm?
G. Do you offer retainer packages?

By understanding the differences and asking the right questions you will be in a much stronger position to implement your marketing strategy effectively.

What does Advertising Growth Forcast Mean for Small Businesses

ZenithOptimedia’ Advertising Growth forecasts for 2008 have been downgraded from 3.7% to 3.5% for North America due to the increased credit crisis coupled with high energy and commodity prices that are adding to the countries inflation. They estimate internet advertising to grow at 26.7% and will capture 10% of overall advertising dollars be years end.

How does this affect small businesses that must make strategic decisions about rebalancing their budgets? Do they cut back on advertising? Should their marketing strategies change? Where should they go for help?

The rebalancing of budgets is something that every business does on a regular basis, even though we do see it happening more often through an inflationary period. What small businesses need to remember is that is the time to up their marketing budget (or at least maintain it’s original levels) if at all possible. With the typical consumer watching each $ more closely in a down economy, they need to increase their presence. The typical rule of thumb is that it takes 6 impressions to get a targeted consumer to react. I believe that # rises to 8-10 impressions before they consider reacting.

If a marketing strategy is going to change, it should be in a way that increases the total # of impressions across the board. This may mean you decrease your print advertising and finally look into that increased online ad presence or video billboard advertising. What is a must as well when changing your business’ marketing strategy is to generate PR. There are a multitude of free press release services out there, as well as companies that will help you write a solid release. The rewards can be huge. Not only does it increase your brand awareness, but increases your internet presence as well.

The final suggestion for the day is that you take a good, close look at your website. Be honest about what you are seeing. Your website is or should be the face of your company when it comes to your online presence. Most small businesses tend to thin k that once the site is built that they don’t need to include it in their marketing budget. A website needs to constantly evolve and have depth added. You want to attract repeat visitors - not to mention giving the spiders and crawlers new tidbits to latch onto.