Advertising Tips

Posts Tagged ‘newspapers’

Times are tough all over.

Small businesses especially are feeling the squeeze as credit dries up, and customers stash their wallets under lock and key.

Yeah, times are tough.

And when times are tough, one of the first things to happen in the small business world are budget cuts.  Guess which line item is one of the first to get cut? Yup…advertising. (How’d you guess?) 

It’s understandable…you have to cut somewhere.  But when you cut your ad budget, you may be cutting in the wrong place.
In the 25 years I’ve worked in the advertising and marketing business, I’ve seen several recessions come and go.  And I’ve seen lots of ad budgets cut because of it.  But one thing I’ve learned is the company that seriously cuts its ad budget often lives to regret it. 

Think about it.  Why do you advertise in the first place?  To increase sales.  Doesn’t it make sense, then, that during tough times when sales go down, you should advertise even more?  Besides, what do you think happens if you cut your ad budget, but your competitors don’t?  They get the sales you might have had if you hadn’t cut your advertising budget.  When you stop advertising your sales go down.  That’s on top of your sales going down because of the recession in the first place. 

So what do you do?   You lose business if you stop advertising, but you really need to save money any way you can.   I have two pieces of advice.  The first is to go into recession advertising mode.  Tighten up the things you can tighten.  Maybe even start looking at advertising in ways you haven’t tried before.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

1.  Know your target customer. When the string’s pulled tight on your advertising budget, you don’t have any wiggle room to chase customers who will never buy from you, or hire your services.   The idea here is that knowing your customer means you also know what newspapers they read (and what sections), what radio stations they listen to, what tv channels they watch, what interests and hobbies they have, etc.  All of which helps you narrow down the best media channels in which to reach them. If you’ve never taken time to determine who your target is, go to my website (www.businessburrito.com) and click on “Marketing.”

2.  Target your message. What is the one thing you do better than your competitors?  Centering your marketing and advertising messages around your one thing is always the best way to get the most bang for the buck, but this matters even more is recession advertising.  If you’re advertising to the right target, with the right message, in the right media outlets, you are going in with surgical precision, not with a shotgun blazing everything in sight.  And that means you get a better return on your investment.

3.  Negotiate your media buys. If times are tight for you, chances are they’re pretty tight for the media outlets as well.  Which means they may be even more willing to negotiate deals, as well as offering more specials. Even in good times, don’t ever pay media retail.  Media reps will usually negotiate in some way for your business.  This may take the form of throwing in more insertions, better time slots, sponsorships…sometimes even reduced prices (especially if you sign a 12-month contract).  Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need.

4.  Advertise on the Internet. This works best if you have a website and use it to sell products, information, or services, or if you use it to direct your customers to your bricks and mortar business.  Google AdWords program lets you target specific keywords and place ads that direct your traffic to a specific landing page.  Whenever anyone “clicks” on your ad, you pay a specific amount of money.  This is called “Pay Per Click” advertising, or PPC.   In essence, you are pre-qualifying your traffic, so all you pay for are people who are looking for what you are selling.  There are all sorts of other advertising opportunities on the Internet:  From PPC to banner ads to ezine advertising.  Search “internet advertising” and see what you find!

5.  Consider radio. Radio can be one of the most cost-effective mediums out there.  Why?  Because it can effectively target your consumer, usually for less money than other mediums.

6.  Email. Guess what…email costs almost nothing except time!  If you have an email list, all you have to do is start emailing your customers with specials, coupons, news and info…the possibilities are endless.  If you don’t have an email list, start building one today!  Collect email addresses as you check customers out; keep a pad by the cash register for them to sign up in exchange for 10% off their next purchase (or some other incentive).  There’s no excuse NOT to be doing this.

7.  Co-op advertising. Is there another business that is compatible and complementary to yours with which you could team up to advertise, and thus share advertising costs?  A strategic partnership with other quality businesses can create a win-win situation.

Okay, I said I had two pieces of advice.  The second one is…increase your advertising!  I know…you were about to cut your advertising budget out entirely until you read this article.  But if you are thinking of cutting it, doesn’t it stand to reason that your competitors are considering the same thing? 

If you increase your advertising at a time when your competitors are cutting back, just think how much more visible to the consumer you’ll become!  You didn’t become a small business owner by not knowing how to take calculated risks.  This is one that could pay off big-time.

When you advertise, you are building your brand.  When you stop advertising and putting your brand in front of the consumer, your brand starts losing its power.  Therefore, when you stop advertising during rough times, you are throwing away an investment that may have taken you years to build.

(c) Copyright 2008, BusinessBurrito.com.  All rights reserved.

Webwindows, a leading media agency in the UK, recommends that to make the best use of their advertising dollars, online companies should advertise in the print media. Despite the onslaught of the online media, it is to the print media that people turn when they have to make their purchase decisions. Webwindows stand is supported by the latest research findings, all of which clearly highlight the fact that people place more confidence in the newspapers and magazines than on advertisements on the Internet. According to Webwindows, the reason for this is that the advertisements in the newspapers are paid advertisements and this somehow reduces chances of fraud.

Webwindows believes that it becomes all the more imperative for small and medium sized companies to advertise in the print media in times of recession. This is because, according to Webwindows, more and more people turn to the newspapers to find out what is happening and understand why it is taking place. So newspapers in difficult times have a much wider audience than during normal times.

Another reason why Webwindows encourages online companies to consider focusing their advertising spend on newspapers is that it proves more cost-effective in the long run. If you are advertising on the Internet, you are spending money on buying keywords and running a PPC campaigns. According to Webwindows, if you do a cost analysis of your advertising results, you will find that your spend can be really high because you are paying for clicks that are not turning into conversions. So Webwindows believes that your return on investment can be significantly higher if you advertise in the newspapers.

Capitalizing on the power of the print media in promoting sales, Webwindows has a special page, called the Webwindows page, which appears as a color supplement in seven leading newspapers in the UK on the weekends. The Webwindows page is dedicated to small and mid sized online companies who can advertise their offerings in newspapers and magazines in the UK. Advertising with Webwindows is cost-effective and provides you with a ready audience of over 5 million readers who go through the Webwindows page every week. The advantage to online companies is obvious. Your advertisement is read by a highly targeted group of people who are actually looking for online bargains, products and services.

Webwindows builds its case by pointing out that by advertising in the newspapers, online companies can further build their customer base and target those people who are not so tech-savvy. All these people have to do is to read the advertisement on the Webwindows page, log on to the net and find out more information or simply purchase the product if the company is offering options for online purchasing.
If you advertise with Webwindows you can gain from their experience and expertise. The Webwindows representatives will help you choose the best newspaper that can meet your requirements in terms of reaching your target customers and markets.