ADVERTISING:
unnecessary expense or
essential business tool?
A
s a purveyor of advertising, I have a vested
interest in selling it, but I also believe that
advertising is just as much an essential
business tool as a mobile phone or a computer.
So I always find it curious when a business
person says they can’t afford to advertise; that’s
like saying they’ve got a car, but can’t afford to
put petrol in it – not going to get very far, are
they? One of the problems is that advertising today is
something of a minefield. Gone are the days when
all you needed were a few flyers, a couple of posters
in local shops and a handful of business cards. Now
it’s: do I need a website; should I advertise in my
local paper; what about Facebook, Twitter, Google
ads, YouTube, and so on – the list is endless and
confusing for the average small business owner, and
can be very expensive.
People give lots of reasons for not advertising –
here’s a few of them: Another problem is that advertising is not an exact
science and it can be tricky to get the right balance,
but if you follow a few simple rules it can be done:
I get all my business through “word of mouth”
There's no doubt that personal recommendation is the
best form of advertising but it’s also a very limited
one; unless of course you are happy to just “tread
water” and build your business very slowly.
My business is on the high street . . . I don’t
need to advertise
Really? Have you seen how many high street shops
have closed down in the last couple of years?
I have a website, I don’t need paper advertising
Excellent. How do people find your website? Have
you Googled your business category – does your
website come up on page 1? There are two ways to
get people to your website: good SEO (search engine
optimisation) which requires skill and/or a lot of money,
or tell them about it through paper advertising.
When I want to advertise, I distribute flyers
Do you know the lifespan of a flyer? It’s the time it
takes to read it, which is about 60 seconds. The
lifespan of an advert in your local community
magazines (such as The Link) is at least 2 months!
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• Be scientific: determine who your target demo-
graphic is, and that will tell you where you should
be advertising.
• Is your business web-based? If it is, then the whole
country – possibly even the whole world – is your
target, so you should be advertising as widely as
possible. You’ll need a well-designed website and
either good search engine optimisation (SEO) or
paper advertising to drive traffic to it.
• If you trade within a specific area - for example a
50-mile radius of your office - then there’s not much
point in advertising in the national dailies; instead
look at locally based newspapers and magazines,
especially those delivered door-to-door on a
regular basis.
• If you advertise in more than one publication,
monitor the response you get from each advert -
always ask where a new customer heard about you
– so you know which adverts are working for you.
To advertise call 01684 833715 or email: [email protected]