How to get the most out of your advertising dollar
Increased sales depend on a unified, coherent, and consistent marketing program; and advertising is one of marketing's major activities. The success of many businesses depends on effective advertising, which these days can be quite expensive. The following guidelines will help you to maximise your advertising dollar...
1. Be aware that advertising can work.
'I don't believe in advertising. We ran an ad three years ago and didn't get one call!' Plenty of businesses say this each time the idea of advertising is raised - but they never get around to evaluating where the ad was placed, what it said, its size, its audience and particularly why they thought a one-shot ad would produce results. If only they had considered the following advice:
2. Select the appropriate media.
The key to successful advertising is to use the right medium to reach the right people - national, state, and local newspapers and magazines, radio, television, letterbox flyers, posters, Internet, direct mailings, sandwich boards, etc. Different media can reach different audiences, so again you'll need to do your homework to achieve the best result. Avoid basing your buying decision solely on the price of the advertisement. In fact, for best results, it might be best to advertise through several media outlets at the same time.
3. Get inside the customer's head.
In planning your advertisement or campaign, always start with the customer or prospect. You may need to seek the assistance of research to answer such questions as: What problem can we solve for the customer? What does the customer want? What do we have on offer that other organisations do not? Do we have a solution for the customer - or just a product?
