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Answers To The 3 Big Advertising Questions
Written by: Ilise BenunArticle Overview: Does advertising work? Isn't it expensive? Where Should I advertise? Find the answers to these questions in this article.
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Answers To The 3 Big Advertising Questions
1. Does Advertising Work?
Well, advertising can work, but it's neither magic nor immediate. Have you heard this joke: I know my advertising is 50% successful, I just don't which 50%. Well it's not a joke. Unless you're running direct response ads, (like infomercials which encourage people to send money or to call an 800 number immediately) it's near impossible to measure the effect of advertising.
The way advertising works (and all marketing, for that matter) is through repetition. You gain your market's confidence through high visibility and the consistent reinforcement of your marketing message. These messages work as triggers, to remind your prospects that they are interested in your services and products. It's gotta sink in, below the surface, so that when your prospect has a need, your name, your logo, your message comes to mind.
So the first rule is this: once is not enough. In fact, once is a waste. The chances that your prospect will just happen to see your ad the one time you just happen to advertise are very slim. You have to start small, go slowly, and give it a chance, which means you must run your ad at least 6 times, or over the course of 6 months. During that time, you can change a word here or there to test its effect on response. Or test 3 versions of one ad in 3 different media and see if the differences affect response. Using this strategy, you'll be able to track the results, at least enough to get a sense of which ad is more effective.
2. Isn't it Expensive?
Many businesses fail because they don't spend enough money on advertising; others fail because they spend too much or buy inappropriate ad space. The cost of advertising is measured not in dollars, but in response. If you buy an expensive ad and lots of people respond to it, then it wasn't expensive at all. And likewise, the fact that you get a great deal becomes irrelevant if no one sees your ad.
The expensive ads aren't even necessarily the most effective. For example, a classified ad in the back of a neighborhood paper can be more effective — and cheaper — than a snazzy, 4-color display ad in a national magazine.
But size is only one of the issues to consider. Another is the quality of the ad itself: what it looks like, what it says, how the type is laid out. It's essential that you create a high-quality ad, no matter what kind you choose. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerilla Marketing series, "Far more people will see your ad than will see you or your place of business, so their opinion will be shaped by your ad."
Whatever you do, don't let the ad salesperson design your ad or write your copy. They offer to do it because they want to make it easy for you to advertise But you can be sure that if you hand it over to them, your message will end up looking and sounding like everyone else's. So if you're going to advertise, do it right. Spend the money to make it look good. Hire a professional to write the copy and to design the layout. This investment will payoff in the long run.
3. Where Should I Advertise?
Be proactive, be decisive, and be creative in your media buy. Put yourself in your prospect's shoes and imagine his or her moment of need. You know your customers. What are his resources? What is the easiest thing for her to do? Go to the Yellow Pages? Call a colleague for a referral? Look in a file they may be keeping just for moments like these? If you don't know, or if you want more concrete answers, don't hesitate to ask. They'll tell you.
Survey the competition; where do they advertise? Or do they? If they don't, there may be a reason for that.
If you're considering buying space in a magazine that reaches your target audience, review several consecutive issues of that magazine. Chances are that if you see repeated ads for products or services that your target audience is likely to buy, you're on the right track. Before signing a contract, interview other advertisers, maybe even a few former advertisers.
And don't just advertise in the media whose sales reps are persistent with you. You must research your market's buying habits and make the best choices for your business.
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Article Tags: ad space, advertising works, classified ad, confidence, cost of advertising, direct response, enough money, high visibility, infomercials, joke, marketing, prospects, reinforcement, repetition, response ads
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Re: Contact Information
- Another idea would be to have an email form in place to accept "ticketed" inquires (if people are afraid of spammers seeing their email address). However, I hate how some sites try to persuade you out of sending an email by bombarding you with lists of "Frequently Asked Questions & Answers" as I find they're rarely helpful.
Top 19 Copywriting books
- 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley.
2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner.
3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill.
4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall.
6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin.
7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books.
9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall.
10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association.
11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books.
12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books.
13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books.
15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books.
16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books.
17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall.
18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop.
19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley.
This should keep you busy for at least a year.
Enjoy!
Content Development Vs. Advertising
- Hi,
I don't need to throw out statistics to make the point that the world of advertising is changing. I am gathering sources to put together an article called "Content Development VS. Advertising" and was hoping to get feedback from business owners.
Main Objective Of Article: Show business owners how developing content in 2010 is more cost effective and produces a higher ROI than advertising.
Answers I would like from business owners & marketers:
1. What do you consider content?
2. If you had $10,000 to invest in marketing/promoting/advertising your company what would you do with it?
3. What companies do you buy from because they have excellent content?
4. How long would it take you to write 2 great articles a month?
5. Do you think you could produce a semi-professional video?
look forward to your answers.
Jeff
Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic
- I agree with some of the others who responded it depends on what your selling... but to answer your questions here are some of the methods I use.
Forum Marketing
Yahoo Answers (I need to use more of)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Bum Marketing or Article marketing
P-P-C (Pay Per Click) Marketing
Online Directories
Hope this helps.
Ideas for developing my business
- Advertising is the life-blood of any magazine. Get some advertisers and you're set. You've got your target market, now start working on the "buzz" around the mag.
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