You have to determine that your advertising budget won't be part of your efforts to trim the company's expenditures. It must be your top priority. Which media will be ideal for your company? Print? Radio? Internet? Company newsletter? These, along with several others, are all excellent ways to get your company's message out there. The size of your company as well as what it offers will help determine which media will prove most beneficial.
For small businesses that are fortunate enough to have an employee who is familiar with graphic arts and can type a sentence, a wise business owner sees the potential in incorporating this employee's skills and talents. In fact, I know of one company that has a "jack of all trades" administrative assistant who designs all newspaper advertisements, including the graphics and the company's message. This creative individual has virtually eliminated the need for an additional staff member who would otherwise handle the advertising aspects. The business owner is able to keep his expenses down, including having to offer health insurance, vacation pay and other expenses involved with taking on an additional employee, while still rewarding the current employee's efforts with a monthly bonus and a negotiated three day weekend once a month. His thought process is he's removed the burden of dealing with the newspaper every week as it attempts to keep his advertisements fresh simply by allowing the assistant to use her advanced skills and creativity that keeps the phones ringing courtesy of an excellent newspaper campaign. For the advertising assistant, she's able to put to use her ideas for the company and now has a three day weekend once a month to offset the extra two or three hours per week she commits to designing ads. She takes pride in what she does and knows her efforts have contributed to the company's bottom line each time someone calls and says, "I saw your ad in the paper..." Of course, this isn't viable for larger companies, but for the small business owner, it's clearly a win-win.
What if your company is far bigger and needs a more aggressive advertising campaign? With almost four hundred billion dollars spent on advertising worldwide on an annual basis, it's imperative your advertising efforts hit the mark. But before you seek outside representation such as an advertising vice president, you'd be wise to do your homework. Every successful business owner knows the importance of allowing the experts handle specific issues, but he also knows blindly handing it over is just bad business practice.
You must realistically determine your advertising budget and from there, ask yourself what it is you hope to achieve with a new marketing plan. Think it through, because that's going to be the first question you're asked when meeting with an advertising rep. Are you hoping to promote a struggling line of new cosmetics? Do you have a new product line of automobile brake pads? Has your company just received a patent on a new bandage that doesn't hurt when it's removed? Are you undertaking a national campaign or a regional campaign? What about the competition? Is it currently running advertising spots that are promoting the same struggling cosmetic line? If you think these questions are overwhelming, then you need to take a step back and do more homework before you seek out representation. These are simply the bottom line questions and you must be prepared.
You might be surprised to learn what has worked best over the past decades remains true now. Billboards, newspapers and other print mediums (magazines and trade papers) are the heavy hitters in advertising. Internet advertising is slowly emerging as the trustworthy source it was meant to be. Unfortunately, it still is shedding the bad name it earned during the late 1990s and the first part of this decade when every click of the mouse had us wondering if we'd just invited a cleverly hidden virus into our hard drives. Security has improved ten fold and many companies are beginning to consider the Internet as a means for successful advertising.
Other advertising opportunities include marketing items such as baseball caps, ink pens and even golf balls and golf tees. These are excellent ideas since people love to get anything free. They're easy to hand out at trade shows and even local events and many companies insist this to be the best way to build brand recognition. Newsletters are often overlooked. Again, you may already have a creative staff member who can work up a powerful newsletter that's full of information. It's one of the most affordable ways to advertise. Company updates, new products, and even a column with tips and ideas relating to your company's business can reach customers in ways you never thought. A restaurant can offer recipes and coupons in its newsletters, automotive companies can offer free oil changes or tips on how to winterize vehicles and even mortgage companies can jump on this wagon with offers of reduced appraisal costs for its customers looking to purchase homes. You can purchase mailing lists from a multitude of sources for both traditional mail campaigns and email campaigns. It should be noted, many people react better to traditional mail campaigns since many mass email efforts hit spam boxes instead of the intended "In" boxes.
Your goal is to keep your business successful and there's no question advertising campaigns work. From a small town grocer to the largest companies in the country, the advantages of advertising have long since been established. A little groundwork and a carefully considered expected outcome allow an advertising company to work with you as you continue to build your business's success.
