Having a business without advertising is a business that isn’t prepared to grow. Advertising is vital for the success of a business, because it is the basic way new and old customers learn you are out there. Most times, I am amazed at the way entrepreneurs believe that their businesses as big as it might seem or as amazing as the idea might be will get people to line in front of their business centers without adverts. If you start a business in a complex with no advert at all, it will be regarded as a new home that a family just acquired instead of a business, so nobody will be coming to knock at the door of your business. Marketing from bill boards, customer services, word of mouth, television and internet advert, networking and promotion is very important is the route with potentially the biggest payoff.
What is the Best Advertising Strategy for a Small Business?
Having too many choices in advertising is one of the numerous problems for small business and a trying to find the best option can be very difficult as a costly mistake can destroy the business budget. Although, a few small businesses can withstand the cost of a costly advertising mistake but a lot can’t so, in order not to have the business money wasted in advertising, proper caution is necessary. It is advisable to create a winning advertisement with little risk or if possible what requires little fund. No advertising is risk free, but in other to get an almost risk free winning advertising campaign, it is necessary to first;
- Think cautiously about the purpose of the advert, the size of the advert wanted and the budget available for the advert or campaign.
- Properly check the advertising medium that reaches your consumers and is appropriate for your business, brand and budget.
- When the advert is to be designed, it should be built around the brand of the business.
- Let your team view the promotional campaign, if possible you can ask a few people to go through the campaign if they like it.
- When you are satisfied with the advert, then you can roll it out.
It doesn’t matter the advertising medium available, what should be consider is the medium to reach the consumers readily and the budget available.
Choosing the Right Advertising Medium
There are several media to reach customers and this media have different strength and weaknesses. Some media reaches some set of people compared to others, so depending on the kind of business, it might take one advertising medium or several media to reach its goal. In choosing a medium or media, your consumers are your major priority and what is the major means of dispersing information to them. A few media for advertising are;
Newspapers
It has been available for a very long time and a lot of homes receive newspapers on a daily basis. Newspapers can be very detailed with prices and contact address, although it is gradually going into extinction but a lot of people still read newspapers.
Television
Television is a very powerful medium for advertising and in other to achieve effective result, adverts have to be repeated.
Radio
Radio advertisement is often a demographic type of advert restricted to a particular location and the adverts are being charged on time basis. What to consider before doing a radio advert are the show you want to use for your advert, the audience size for the show, the rating, the age range of listeners and the credibility of the show and the radio station
Internet
Internet advertising is one of the most popular media of advertising currently from paid adverts, to online video adverts, pop ups, online banners, search engines, online map adverts and so on. 8 out of 10 people have a browsing phone and 6 out of 9 are always connected to the internet. Internet often bring big results.
Magazines
Advertising a business on magazines is very common, especially when the magazine is focused on the industry the business is operating. If the business is the fashion industry, then fashion magazines will do a lot of benefit in publicizing the Fashion Company and brand
On a concluding note, having a straight objective, knowing the audiences very well and utilizing the right media is a way to achieve an almost risk free advertisement while gaining awareness for the business and brand.