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In order for your business to be successful, customers must know about it.
If you have a great business, but no one knows about it, then do you think you will have a successful one?
Promoting it is very important! If you think you can make a successful business through word of mouth, well you will get some business from word of mouth, but how much are you missing because of the lack of promotions?
You're already working to keep your business running to its peak. With the right information, you can significantly improve your profit.
In this chapter, I will be brief and deal with general concepts in promotions, because "A Touch of Business.com" is full of information products for the promotion of your business.
Create Your Message Analyze the message you want to advertise. You may think you are going to run a newspaper ad or a radio spot. First, concentrate on the message, then the medium you will use. Your message is the most important part of the ad.
Let's take the following example: a representative approaches you from the local newspaper. The rep is trying to sell you a quarter page ad. You're thinking, "How much will it cost me? How many words can I put in the ad? Can I use graphics?" etc.
With this example you are building the message around the advertising medium, therefore limiting your message. When you are planning to advertise, the first step is creating your message. What do you want to advertise? Then choose the medium.
Why limit your advertising to the medium? Why are you putting time, effort and money into advertising in the first place? You want results. To get results, work on your message! Not the medium.
Clarify Your Message Have you ever driven down a highway, when a billboard caught your eye? You looked at it for a couple seconds, but you couldn't figure it out. Or you couldn't read the print, because it was too small or too long. (Wake up, Marketers!
This is a billboard!) You can't just put any ad on a billboard. People are driving by and may only have a few seconds to capture the message. (Unless the advertiser is just targeting the passengers!) How about reading a magazine? You see an attractive ad, but can't figure out the company name or the contact information. It's in tiny print.
Or, Oh yea, you should know us! There's no need to put our name on it. Your message should be interesting, clear, easy to understand and to the point. After all, who reads ads for enjoyment?
Your Target Audience Your audience must be right for your offer. Can you imagine having the wrong product for the wrong customer? First of all, trying to sell the wrong product to a potential customer makes you look bad. How would you like it, if someone tried to sell you something you completely didn't want?
You d feel your privacy had been invaded. You may think, Why are you wasting my time? In the retail business, a woman walks into a department store. She chooses to look at the products that interest her. She is not bombarded by a salesperson, trying to sell her something that she doesn't want.
With direct mail or email, sending your offer to the wrong untargeted audience is a waste of your time, plus you will get a lot of angry and lost potential customers. For example, let's say you sell computer parts. You have an offer on laser printers.
Would you send your offer to a computer illiterate senior citizen, who doesn't own a computer and probably never will? The more you study and target your audience, the more responses you will get to your offer. That's why bulk untargeted email is a waste of time.
You buy a CD with 1 million addresses on it, and start emailing your offer. You may think, It's a million people I am reaching. But how many people appreciate your methods. Even if they were interested, they may not buy from you, because of the way you delivered your offer. Consider the example of the laser printers offer. How would you write your offer to a bulk mailing?
You can't say, Dear PC Owner. You don't know if they own a PC! Target your audience. Find the audience that would be interested in your offer. When you find the right audience, you have won half the battle. Your next step is to make a compelling offer!
Institutional vs. Direct Response Advertising Institutional advertising is advertising that can't be tracked and has no call to action. It is advertising that is costly and is accomplished by repetition. Large corporations that can afford it usually use institutional advertising.
Some examples of such advertising are the Pepsi commercials. Many of those commercials are well produced. But after running the commercial, does the sale of Pepsi go up?
Can Pepsi track how many sales they made by running that commercial? After the viewers saw the commercial, did they run out and buy a Pepsi? Institutional advertising is a concept that uses techniques that link your feelings to their product.
For example, you see this commercial about two guys driving down a desert road. Suddenly, their car breaks down, and they are stranded in the desert's crippling heat.
For hours no one drives by them. Near death, the two see a Pepsi truck stop. Instead of getting a ride, they just get two Pepsi cans from the driver, then go back to sit in their car and drink the life saving Pepsi, as they watch the driver pull away.
This commercial is repeated three times a day for two weeks. What happens the next time you are really thirsty? Do you go for the Coke or the Pepsi?
You will reach for the Pepsi because of the commercial. You may not be aware of it, but that's what happens. The Pepsi product has been linked to a relief of thirst. This link has been planted in your subconscious mind.
That's why you went for the Pepsi, instead of the Coke. Direct Response advertising is a concept in which your advertising can be tracked and your potential customer is asked to take action. With this type of advertising you can fine-tune your promotions to maximize response rates.
For example, changing the headline from a bad headline to a good headline can be the difference between success and failure of a promotion.
An example of direct response advertising is an ad in the paper for sugar at the price. Just bring in the coupon and receive your discount. With this example the customer was called to take action and we can calculate how many coupons were brought in, and therefore determine if our advertising was profitable.
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