Cost effective advertising – Does a big budget always get good results?

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Yet, you know that the right branding and advertising campaign will earn you sales. So where do you begin?

The management of an SME know the product and the market intimately, if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be trading. So, let’s start right there.

Define the product and the market.

What does the business plan have in store for the product? Will it develop or will it hold steady on the premise that original is best? What is the competition doing with their product? Where do you think the market will move? Can you align your product with your market prediction?

Answer these questions and you can start to work out how to tell people what you make and where to get it.

That simple analysis done and you’re already on the road to a marketing strategy. From this you build an advertising campaign.

Define the method.

First chose an advertising method that suits both the product and the market place. To service a niche market you need to cast your net wide so local advertising is less effective. Similarly, if you do car repairs you wouldn’t expect motorists to travel internationally to your workshop, so a global internet campaign would be wasted.

An internet presence is a requirement for any business, but a web site is not just advertising space. Of course, it should be used to let potential customers know what your product is and how to obtain it, but it should also be used to help people enjoy your product. A business servicing a local market could offer the customer an internet based pricing and booking facility so they can schedule business from home or office at their convenience.

The great thing is that web space is cheap and you can fill a site with all manner of promotional content. Other advertising can then be reduced to minimum wordage with the sole intention of directing potential clients to your web page.

For instance, a short, snappy newspaper advert designed to make people laugh, directs listeners to www.bestcarrepairs.com which boasts page after page of promotional material about your reliable motor repair service. The site could also includes an on line work scheduling and parts ordering service.

The same method can be used to reduce the cost of display advertising in local and regional newssheets. In these days of internet browsing by mobile phone, web page referencing is also useful for billboard advertising, including taxi, bus and supermarket trolley displays. The web address is just as important as the telephone number.

A point to note: Always ensure that your web site is easy to read, free from grammar and spelling errors and that the links and forms work correctly. Additionally, answering email promptly is a must do, nothing will kill a small business advertising campaign quicker than unanswered customer queries.

Measure the performance.

Essential in every business process is a means to measure effectiveness. This is true for advertising just as much as it is for production. There are numerous free tools on the internet for counting conversion performance related to electronic advertising.

Ten pounds spent on flyers that bring no return is a waste, a campaign costing a hundred pounds, but generating profit is an investment.

Sources –

https://teneric.co.uk/businessinfo/advertising-small-business.html

http://www.sbwss.com/

http://www.businessballs.com/market.htm

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