This article is for all the business explaining advertising strategies for every type of businesses.
‘According to published data, the world spends more than $500 billion per year on advertisements.’
500 billion dollars; a sum that could buy anything from multiple Ferraris, Chanel bags, and an entire tropical island in the Caribbean. Yes, this is the amount we spend on making our brands and products noticed in a mesh of hundred thousand similar and competing ones.
It is given that we all need to advertise, be visible, and generate positive responses for every advertising dollar spent, whether a small local bakery, an online store, or a flourishing enterprise. And we need to do it without burning cash unnecessarily. And this brings us to some easy strategies that can help guide us through the complexities of advertising for best outcomes.
1. Set A Budget
Know your monetary limits.
The world of advertising is growing like wildfire. Jumping into it without proper understanding and planning can burn valuable time and cash. The best bet is to create an action plan that keeps you in the safe cash zone.
Know what you want, and how much you are willing to invest. Whether you are looking to increase local exposure or expanding your reach. Do you want brand awareness or conversions? Categorize your plan keeping different expenses in mind, and stick to it. Prioritize your goals and invest where it is needed the most keeping your long-term objective in mind.
2. Target Your Audience
A finely targeted campaign attracts valuable customers.
Be specific with your target audience. Knowing the age-group and occupation isn’t enough anymore; you need to study about their hobbies, lifestyles, choices as well.
Of course, you may not need to do your own individual research, as so much internet and data already exists.
Make sure the product or service you are catering suits the requirements of your audience. A mismatch won't produce positive results that drive your business forward.
Another essential point is your copy. Check if your copy and imagery reflects the kind of customer you are focusing on.
3. Branding Is The Key
A good branding increases the value of the company and drives good business.
Logo, name, color-scheme, or copy- a product’s image is totally dependent on how it is perceived by the audience. You can make the best of the products, but if your logo isn’t appealing you would go nowhere.
Be bold, be vague, be creative, and be out of the box. Just make sure it connects with your target audience and appeals to them. Your logo or imagery should invade their mind and stay there for long. Apple, UCB, Twitter, Nike are some the great examples of unique branding.
A great tip would be to avoid complicated names and imageries. A human mind has an attention span of 12 seconds. Too less to process words like pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
4. Make Thorough Use Of Your Available Resources
Honest speculation and resource usage is essential for initial growth.
While it is for the best, creating a good content from scratch for your website is neither feasible nor required, especially when you are running short on time. The smart move would be to use the technical services available over the internet. Google AdWords and Bing Ads can help you get higher on the search rank in record time without changing much of your available content.
Be practical. Don’t have a budget for print advertising, well and good. Digital platforms can yield you just the same at lower costs.
5. Be Visible Where It Is Needed
Online or offline- be where you will be seen.
B2B or B2C; the quest to make our product or service known is nothing new. The difference lies in the channel used; earlier it was word-to-mouth, now it is in the form of multiple digital and social media platforms. The downside to this change is the trouble of understanding where to promote, especially for those running on a low budget.
Make use of the technology to fish out the channels or channel that best suit your project and image. Mastering one channel will be the best strategy at this point. Never assume. It might cost you your business. You may like that one platform, but chances are that your target audience doesn’t feel the same. Allocate your resources where you can get a return.
You can make use of some of the online advertising portals like ShopWhere to meet your advertising needs. They assure you visibility, online presence, and good business opportunities at comfortable prices.
6. Look For Feedback
Listen, look out, survey, and rework.
Feedback is essential for developing a better and user-friendly product, especially the brutally honest ones. Leave a survey form on your site or your advertisement channel and make sure to go through the submitted ones. It will help you locate and correct the problems in record time. After all, improvement is the key to success.
7. Market Consistently
Be regular and improving, all the time.
Marketing once and for all is not a solution if you seek a long-term growth, no matter how well-established you are. You need to appear again and again with improvements to drive potential business. Channel yourself differently, come up with new and fresh ideas and be the star in the game once again.
Whatever strategies you may develop and follow, there is no guarantee that you won’t face challenges. But if you master analysing your target audience, chalking out a plan for them, and channeling your brand well, then you have won half of the game. For the other half, it's just a matter of time. All the best!
