8 tips for effective small business advertising

Follow these simple guidelines and you can make advertising work for your small business:

1. Don’t feel you have to
   A lot of advertising simply does not work! The reason being, many companies feel obliged to use this method of promotion but don’t think it through. Media salespeople count on the fact that most businesses feel they ought to advertise. They are often well trained and succeed in cementing this view by telling you about what your competitors are doing. But don’t forget – just because they are doing it, doesn’t mean that it is working for them!
   
   
2. Plan it well
   Because it is paid for, advertising can lack credibility and is seen as less objective than, say, an editorial piece or PR, so it needs to be well planned, and be part of a wider marketing strategy.
   
   
3. Distinguish between brand and product advertising
   The former promotes your company image with the objective of raising awareness of your brand amongst your target audience. Companies who are already very well known tend to focus on this - like cola producers, car manufacturers, breweries, and other large companies.
   
   The latter promotes a specific product or service with the objective of selling more. It will be enticing some kind of response – whether it be a sale, or a request for further information.
   
   While in a perfect world, you would do a bit of both, in reality, as a small business with limited resources, you will probably get more results if you focus your efforts on promoting your product.
   
   
4. Write good advertising copy
   Start with a great headline – this is first thing a person reads and influences the choice to turn the page or read on.
   
   As with any copy you write, it should be appealing to your target audience. It should respond to their needs, fears, desires and talk their language.
   
   
5. Negotiate!
   There is always room for negotiation when it comes to buying advertising space. This especially true as the deadline approaches. Remember the media seller has to fill the space and there will always be other opportunities for you to advertise.   They need you more than you need them! Keeping this in mind will put you in a strong position to get the best deal.
   
   You can also negotiate on position…
   
   
6. Get the timing and position right
   The bigger and better positioned your ad is, the more it will get noticed.
   Right hand pages get seen more than left hand pages. The top of a page is better than the bottom (if in doubt – think about how you read a publication)
   More of your target will see it if it is placed within a section or near a feature that specifically relates to them.
   
   
7. Be prepared
   If you have chosen wisely, the enquiries will come flooding in once your ad has been published. (If they don’t, you know you need to review your strategy – whether it’s the copy, the publication, the timing – or all three!)
   
   But you must be prepared for increased demand – and that could be demand for your service or product, or for extra information or brochures.
   
   
8. Measure
   As with any form of marketing, you should only advertise if it brings in more business than it costs you. You should know:
   
   
   • The cost of the advertisement (remember to include the cost of production as well as the actual placing of the ad.)
   • How many people responded to the advert
   • How many were consequently converted into a sale
   • What the value of that sale was
     
     
   It is not always easy to do this with 100% accuracy, but make sure you have some mechanism in place. For example - include a reference number in the advertisement and ask readers to quote this when they contact you. Make sure the reference relates to the type of advert, the publication and even the placing and timing of it. Not everybody will quote it, but you can always ask where a person heard about you. You can then track this information against the life of an enquiry.
   

Just as with any other form of marketing, advertising will always fare better if is part of a much wider strategy including various promotional methods such as PR, internet marketing, and direct mail.