Are you lighting a match to your marketing dollars? STOP!

In the marketing mix, advertising is but one strategy among many - with limited budgets, small business must Stop, Think, Study, Plan before calling the media to “run an ad”. 

From a production standpoint, newspapers, radio, and the internet offer a high degree of flexibility in that you can readily and affordably change your ad copy. Magazines, TV, and billboards are much more limiting in that change is complicated and therefore costly. 

From a placement standpoint, frequency rules and commitment is mandatory.  It takes a minimum of 10 exposures to begin to build recognition and recall; 27 to spur action says one study.  Reminder:  The repetition of the message AND the look is essential for recognition. Radio, TV, billboards need at least a 4-6 month commitment and therefore are the most expensive. 

Planning an ad campaign involves timing, media selection, ad size, type size, design, message, impact and of course, budget.  You don’t want to select based on a friend’s recommendation or a super salesperson selling ad space with a quota to meet.

WHY ADVERTISE?  It builds on the foundation of your other marketing, reinforcing your brand identity and/or promoting a product, service, sale, special event or offer.  A business card ad is placed to enhance identity and recognition; whereas a sale ad is a call to action.  Understand the reason you want to advertise and what you expect the ad to do for you.  Make sure the reader also knows what you want him/her to do and when to do it by.

WHEN SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE?  When it fits into your marketing plan and budget.  For newspapers, some days are better than others depending on the business and the target market. 

WHERE SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE?  Be selective. Target.  Know who your prospects are, what they read.  Resist the temptation to be all things to all people.  Apply the 6:1 rule – it is better to be in one paper six times than to be in six papers one time.  Consistency, frequency, continuity should be your guide.

WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT FROM YOUR ADS?  Advertising is effective if you plan it well.  Haphazard and ill planned, the only guarantee is that the beginning of the month you will get a bill.

Next month’s issue will discuss insights into placements; understanding media kits, zoning, rate cards and more.

When designing an advertisement consider the basic construction of an ad. 
Research shows that:

• The average American is impacted with over 5000 images a day and sees more than 30,000 ads per year. 

• On average only one out of nine well designed ads is ever seen by the targeted customer.

• You need to put your ad in front of your target consumer 27 times before it makes a difference.  Therefore a well planned ad campaign starts with an advertisement that has a visually familiar corporate  identity and appears  in the same media often enough to reach the target consumer countless times. 

The same principles of design that apply to brochures, flyers and other marketing pieces also apply to ads: what do you want the ad to do; who is the ad speaking to, how are you going to get the viewer to read the ad and then to respond.  Size doesn’t matter; the clarity and consistency of the company’s image as portrayed by design and copy do.

The basic construction can be summed up in the an acronym of AIDA

ATTRACT:  The headline of the ad states the purpose of the ad.  Is it to build name recognition (business card ad), promote a product or service, promote a sale, special event, educate and inform?  If the headline of the ad – words and/or graphic -- doesn’t grab the attention of the reader to Stop, Look and Read, the rest of the ad won’t matter. 

INTEREST:  The subhead is as important as the headline to hold attention and make the viewer want to know more; therefore it's important to know who your market is and what motivates your consumer to buy.

DEVELOP:  Tell them what they need to know, all the features and benefits.  Make sure the copy is easy to read and in language they can understand.

ACT:  Make an offer.  Then tell them what  they need to do and make it easy to do it.  Create a sense of urgency.  Should they call, fax, stop in, email, mail, or just remember your name for when they need you.

But constructing the ad doesn’t stop there.  Designing and writing the ad to make it stand out from your competition as well as all the other ads on the page can make the difference between success and ……… (well we won’t say it).

Next month’s issue will discuss ad design and production elements.