I worked in an advertising agency for 5 years and then in
the advertising sales department at a radio and television
station for another 4 years, and believe me, every client
wanted to be on the front cover, above the fold, on during
the Super Bowl, or air during rush-hour traffic.
For the bigger multi-national companies advertising was a
no-brainer in many cases - it's what they needed to do to
keep up awareness of their brand and keep top-of-mind.
The answer for small business owners was a bit different.
Some advertising opportunities were a good fit and made
sense but many times, spending money on traditional
advertising just doesn't make sense. This is especially
true if you provide your products and services to a large
geographic area - not just a local location.
In reality, there are several things inherent in
advertising that just do not make business and money sense
for small businesses and service professionals.
1. Advertising is usually a mass medium
This means that advertising is usually aimed at everyone -
it's hard to just "talk" to a niche market with
advertising. Because of the large focus of TV, radio,
newspaper and magazines, small business owners can spend a
lot of wasted money - advertising to people who aren't in
their niche target group.
2. Advertising is expensive
Because of the larger audience available via traditional
advertising (think of all the people who watch TV and
listen to the radio!), the costs associated are usually
quite high. To produce, create and run a television
commercial can run you in the 6 - 7 figures; ads in
national magazines can costs in the tens of thousands and
even radio commercials can be several thousand dollars.
3. Advertising doesn't allow for frequent exposure
Due to the high cost of advertising and the limited space
and time to purchase, it's very expensive to advertise
enough times to get noticed. We had a saying in the
advertising world that you needed to have a 3+ frequency -
this meant a person needed to see/hear your advertisement
at least 3 times before they even barely noticed it.
In this media-saturated world we live in, where we're
bombarded with thousands and thousands of messages each
day, advertising doesn't get our attention like it did in
the old days. If you can only afford to run one magazine
ad or a handful of radio commercials, you're really just
throwing your money away.
4. Advertising doesn't have the ability for strong
follow-up and call-to-action
Getting someone's attention is only the first step - you
then need them to take a specific action, such as visit a
website, pick up the phone, visit a location, and so on.
Because many times small business owners can only afford a
small ad, there isn't the space or size to outline a clear
call-to-action and next steps. Many prospects can be left
not knowing what they should do next if they're interested.
As well, follow-up is key to converting prospects into
customers and the expense and lead time of advertising
doesn't allow for much follow-up at all. Again,
prospective clients are lost due to advertising's inability
to provide follow-up.
Advertising has its place and can work for small
businesses, but there are many more cost-effective and
high-impact marketing strategies that you can employ to get
a return on investment much quicker, effectively and
consistently.
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Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, delivers
simple, innovative and powerful marketing strategies to
help business owners find and keep their most profitable
clients. To learn more about how she can help you take
your business to the next level, and to sign up for her
FREE special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at
http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com
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