There is no doubt among advertising professionals that advertising helps to grow your business. It reinforces your brand, brings in new customers/clients, keeps you ahead of your competition, and creates a customer base that ensures your viability should times get hard.

But the advertising budget is where CEOs sometimes get hung up. An advertising budget is far different for a small business than it is for a huge conglomerate. The bottom line is to figure how much that budget should be and plan for it.

The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising if you’re doing less than $5 million a year in sales and your net profit margin — after all expenses — is in the 10 percent to 12 percent range.

In 2010 the Chief Marketing Officers, or CMO, Council conducted a survey of its 6,000 chief marketing officer members to assess marketing and advertising spending across a wide range of industries. The survey results revealed that 58 percent of chief marketing officers spent less than 4 percent of gross revenue on marketing, 16 percent spent between 5 and 6 percent, 23 percent spent more than 6 percent, while 2 percent spent more than 20 percent. This survey seems to suggest that if you set your spending level between 0 percent and 6 percent of gross revenue, you will be in good company that includes 74 percent of the CMO Council membership.

Okay, even if you’re at the low end of advertising spending, say 4%, a lot of
advertising can be done with an end result of increasing your sales.

For 1 million in sales, that’s $40,000. But for a small business start-up making a mere $100,000, it’s $4,000—an investment that would surely pay off in getting that business branded.

The larger business would be able to do more expensive advertising that would certainly be beneficial, such as magazines, newspapers, pay-per-click advertising with Google, list buying, and large direct mail campaigns—along with less expensive advertising like email blasts, social media, blogs, and public relations.

But small and midsize businesses can do things like having their website professionally written and designed and optimized with appropriate keywords to get them found in a Google search; email blasts, social media, blogs, public relations, and smaller, direct mail campaigns (possibly a postcard mailing to area residents), all of which are quite inexpensive.

Advertising should be ongoing with a consistent message
going out to your target audience.

Important things to remember when developing a strategy are to target the audience you want to reach with a language and a look they can relate to AND keep the advertising effort ongoing—slam bam seldom works to any great advantage.

Founded in 1992, Advertising That Works is a full-service advertising agency offering print advertising, direct mail, web content/design, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, email marketing, social media, public relations, strategic planning, media research, budget planning, and media buying.

We get results for our clients because of our extensive research of the client company and research of their target audience, an advertising strategy based on this research, and killer creative that speaks to prospects in a language they understand and that delivers a consistent message and call to action.

Advertising That Works would like to help you grow your business. Contact us for a FREE consultation: info@advertising-works.com or 978.397.7971.        

The past two blogs I wrote about the need for businesses to make some kind of advertising effort in order to compete and reinforce their brand.

I also laid out a short outline of how businesses should go about preparing for an advertising campaign. (To read these please visit our website.)

Today I’d like to mention a few inexpensive ways that companies might begin their advertising efforts. Of course, I suggest that these should be carefully thought out before jumping in, with regard to strategy, target audience, etc. (Read our blog, “Get Ready to Advertise!”)

1) The first of these inexpensive approaches is a PRESS RELEASE. Many CEOs don’t realize the value of a simple press release. It’s a low-cost opportunity to get your company noticed, to get in print publications like newspapers and trade magazines, and also online publications. Even your local Chamber of Commerce may publish your news.

If you have a new hire, a special achievement or award, a new product, a new location, anything newsworthy is an opportunity to get the word out. I suggest that the release should be professionally written for the best impact. There are press distribution companies that will handle distribution to online and print publications that are specific to your demographic. Both the writing and the distribution are relatively inexpensive.

2) Another low-cost approach is BLOGGING via WordPress and SOCIAL MEDIA like LinkedIn, Facebook, and others. These are free for the user, although we suggest using a professional for the writing and posting. It’s a way for your company to offer helpful advice, education, and topics of interest to your customers and potential customers—they shouldn’t be “sell” pieces. It is a way for you to portray yourself as knowledgeable and helpful, an industry leader or guru, so to speak. In this way you get people to like and respect you and, indirectly, to be more apt to do business with you.

Importantly, blogging and social media should be done on an ongoing basis to reinforce your brand. Your followers will be waiting to read your next interesting installment.

3) EMAIL BLASTS are a great way to get the word out about a new promotion, special offer, or other company news. Using a program like Constant Contact or MailChimp, you build a database of customers and prospects from whom you have permission to contact. You or a skilled professional write up the email—you can even include a coupon!—and send it to the database you’ve created.

4) The last means I’d like to mention is PERSONAL CONTACT and NETWORKING—the good, old-fashioned face to face. Join your local chamber and go to their events. Most have tables where you can display your company brochure. It’s a great way to reinforce your brand so that when a potential customer needs your product or service they won’t hesitate because they already know and respect you.

All of these methods will help to get visitors to your website to find out more about you, or callers to your business to place an order. Why don’t you start today?

I hope you’ve found this blog helpful in starting your advertising efforts. Keep an eye out for our next blog.

Founded in 1992, Advertising That Works is a full-service advertising agency offering print advertising, direct mail, web content/design, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, email marketing, social media, public relations, strategic planning, media research, budget planning, and media buying.

 We get results for our clients because of our extensive research of the client company and research of their target audience, an advertising strategy based on this research, and killer creative that speaks to prospects in a language they understand and that delivers a consistent message and call to action.

Advertising That Works would like to help you grow your business. Contact us for a FREE consultation.        

 

Last month I discussed the reasons for advertising in my blog entitled “I Don’t Need to Advertise…or Do I?” (Go to our blog at www.advertising-works.com)

This month I’d like to help you take the next step in a discussion about “Getting Ready to Advertise,” which will discuss strategy, action plan, planning an advertising budget, and types of advertising media.

First off, I’d like to share a simple Advertising Strategy Worksheet with you, which is a good start for anyone considering an advertising campaign. All advertising professionals use this strategy in one form or another.

1) What is your product or service? (List primary and secondary products and services.)

2) What are your primary selling points, e.g., only one of its kind, easiest to use, etc.?

3) What are the primary benefits to your clients, e.g., saves money, saves time, increases efficiency, etc.?

4) What is the profile of your target prospect, e.g., age, gender, income, education, geographic location, and other demographics?

5) What is the belief that you want your advertising to establish, e.g., that your product/service is the best choice they can make, that it far surpasses any other, that it will make their life easier, etc.?

6) What are the reasons why your prospect should believe your advertising, e.g., credibility, capabilities, experience, education, other reasons?

These six considerations will help your creative team come up with “The Big Picture” or creative approach (copy and design) for your advertising.

What is Your Purpose?

Next, you must decide the purpose of your advertising by defining its goals. You must set measurable goals so as to evaluate the success of your advertising campaign. Do you wish to increase sales by 25 percent this year? Do you want to target younger or older buyers? Or any number of goals.

How Much To Spend

Importantly, you must decide how much you can afford to invest. The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising if you’re doing less than $5 million a year in sales and your net profit margin — after all expenses — is in the 10 percent to 12 percent range.

In 2010 the Chief Marketing Officers, or CMO, Council conducted a survey of its 6,000 chief marketing officer members to assess marketing and advertising spending across a wide range of industries. The survey results revealed that 58 percent of chief marketing officers spent less than 4 percent of gross revenue on marketing, 16 percent spent between 5 and 6 percent, 23 percent spent more than 6 percent, while 2 percent spent more than 20 percent. This survey seems to suggest that if you set your spending level between 0 percent and 6 percent of gross revenue, you will be in good company that includes 74 percent of the CMO Council membership.

Know Your Competition

Know your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses in order to find out what they offer that you lack, or the other way around. This will help you to set apart your product/service so prospects will want to do business with you.

Know Your Industry

You should know the ins and outs of your industry, keep up with industry and market trends, and stay on top of constantly changing technology. Read trade publications and join professional organizations.

Develop Your Action Plan, Select Your Media, and Set Your Advertising Schedule

There are many types of media from which to choose: print (newspapers and magazines), direct mail, outdoor advertising, Web advertising, social media, blogs, email blasts, and press releases. It’s best to have an advertising professional work with you on the type of “marketing mix” that would be most appropriate for your specific goals, keeping in mind, of course, your advertising budget. A professional can also help you set your advertising schedule. An ongoing campaign that serves to reinforce your brand is always best, with a consistent image and message across all media.

Welcome to the World of Advertising! It’s Guaranteed to Help Grow Your Business.

I hope you’ve found this blog helpful in starting your advertising efforts. Keep an eye out for our next blog that will discuss conversion of leads and measuring the success of your advertising campaign.

Founded in 1992, Advertising That Works is a full-service advertising agency offering print advertising, direct mail, web content/design, search engine optimization (SEO), blogs, email marketing, social media, public relations, strategic planning, media research, budget planning, and media buying.

 We get results for our clients because of our extensive research of the client company and research of their target audience, an advertising strategy based on this research, and killer creative that speaks to prospects in a language they understand and that delivers a consistent message and call to action.

Advertising That Works would like to help you grow your business. Contact us for a FREE consultation.