The Nuts and Bolts of Advertising

The following guest post by John McLain, author of How to Promote Your Home Business, goes over a few often overlooked but potentially effective forms of advertising.

Even the smallest business may on occasion find it useful to PAY for a placement in the form of a display ad, a classified ad or a radio spot. Because paid advertising seems at times to invade our every waking moment, there is a mystique about the power inherent in growing your business through the lavish use of your advertising budget.

Advertising Works…

First, let me point out that advertising does work. Companies ranging from huge department stores to pizza parlors and quick-lube shops to high-tech manufacturing facilities would not do it if it didn’t work. It is, after all, the American way for the widget-maker to let the public know, through advertising, of their need and desire for the latest, greatest widget. However, keep in mind that there is no faster way to go through your hard-earned money than buying ads, particularly if you don’t know what you are doing. Small- and home-based business owners are especially vulnerable to this notion that advertising will save the day.

…If You Track Results

This doesn’t mean that you should avoid advertising. It just means that you too should TRACK the pulling power of every single ad you place. When most small business people decide that it is time to advertise, they typically will seek out the assistance of ad representatives of newspapers, magazines, shoppers or radio stations. Here is where, as the small business owner, you may make your first and often biggest mistake.

It is one thing to gather from the ad rep statistics on circulation figures, exposure and the market reach of your potential ad, but it is quite another to rely too heavily on any ad salesman for predictions on whether your advertising will be a success in his or her medium. Without a doubt, you will hear that your ad dollar will be best invested in that ad rep’s station or periodical because it’s the most powerful medium in town, you’ll be reaching the right people. And, most of all, it will be suggested that for best results you advertise big and advertise often. Consistency, consistency, consistency. That’s what works in advertising. If you are not consistent, you won’t make a lasting impression. Potential buyers often don’t even notice an ad or advertiser until the second, third or fourth time the ad appears, they say. It takes that long to make an impression, they say.

What Good is an Ad? Will it Work for Me?

All of the foregoing is true. But, it just may not be true for you. You can easily blow an entire bankroll in the process of learning whether this or that particular ad vehicle is right for your business. A typical scenario involves the small business owner whose business is in the doldrums and decides to advertise out of panic. That’s when he becomes easy prey for any ad rep touting the special of the week. Advertising in such a desperate or erratic manner will have the same result as if you had flung your limited cash out the window. It seldom works.

It’s far better to develop your own marketing and advertising strategy in advance, and then stick with the plan — consistently. It’s fine to gather facts and figures from advertising salespeople, but it’s equally smart to consult with successful colleagues who run similar home-based businesses. Study what other like businesses are doing to advertise. Examine their ads. Find out what works for them, what has worked in the past, which methods are a waste of time and money.

Importance of Knowing Your Market

Knowing your own business and knowing why customers would want to seek out your products or services will help you decide whether your advertising budget is best spent on an ad in the Yellow Pages, on a sprinkling of jazzy radio spots, or on classifieds and display ads.

Most advertisers select a combination of ad vehicles as part of their promotional strategy. In very few cases will choosing a single medium in which to advertise be enough to warrant advertising or yield results.

Example

In one example, the owner of a picturesque, popular New England bed-and-breakfast inn says she will never buy display ads in one of America’ s biggest-circulation magazines on New England life, the obvious spot for a B&B to advertise. For her, it’s too costly. An ad like that costs her an average of $250 for each new customer generated. With rooms at the inn earning $70 a night, such a display ad is simply not cost effective.

Instead, she relies on cheaper ads placed in chamber of commerce publications, local traveler-oriented tabloids, her own brochures, and discount coupons B&B Bucks — which she hands out to both regular customers and prospects. The coupons get results in both repeat and new business and they cost her pennies to photocopy. In a word, she found what works for her including her new Internet web site. Repeat business from existing clientele and customer referrals are what she nurtures.

As part of your own ad campaign, you’ll need to do some homework by studying good, well-written ads in your field. Clip your favorites from newspapers and magazines. Keep them in a shoebox or album to refer to as models for your own. Many excellent books on ad copywriting are available in your library or local bookstore. One of these, coupled with the ad-writing tips offered in this article, will go a long way in helping you craft your own hard-hitting copy.

Advertising Mediums to Consider

CLASSIFIEDS

Don’t overlook the power of tiny classified ads in newspapers or magazines. They’re not just for flea markets, church suppers and used cars. Retailers often devote a portion of their ad budgets to using the classifieds. They’re relatively cheap and, if well-written, sometimes can outpull a display ad. Some home-based businesses with a potential national clientele have good luck with classifieds placed in special-interest magazines. If you place classifieds in more than one magazine, you should always "key," or code, the ads so you can gauge which periodical is pulling the best for you. You may have to run your classified a few times to give it a fair test. Generally, you’ll find it’s easy to write your own classifieds. Study others to determine which ones appeal to you and which ones don’t. Model yours on the ones that you find most effective, and move you to action. Later in this chapter, we’ll examine how a good ad is written.

DISPLAY ADS

If you decide to advertise this way, you’ll find plenty of help available from the newspaper or magazine ad reps you deal with. They can take care of the mechanics of designing and laying out an effective display ad. They’ll help write your ad or make good suggestions on how to improve your copy. However, with the abundance of software design programs available packages like Microsoft Publisher or high-end programs like QuarkXPress and Pagemaker many individuals can crank out their own camera-ready display ads. They can be printed right on your own laser printer and are suitable for most publications. Take care to lay out your ad precisely in the column widths and lengths required by the periodical. Often you can save a little money by producing your own camera-ready artwork. But if this is alien to you, it’s wiser and more cost-effective to let a professional on staff write and design the display ad.

RADIO ADVERTISING

Jingles and radio spots to advertise your business are best left up to the experts. After you buy a spot on the radio station most likely to target the audience you’re after, the radio ad staff is in the best position to craft your ad. They do it day in and day out. They know how to "write for the ear." And they’ll sell you better than you can sell yourself. Jingles and radio chatter are deceptively hard to write, and it’s very easy for the do-it-yourselfer to miss the mark and sound foolish in the process. The main thing you need to worry about is explaining your business sufficiently to those who will be crafting your spot. This advice applies equally to TV advertising: leave it up to the experts to devise your ad and translate your selling message.

THE YELLOW PAGES

Ironically, the Yellow Pages aren’t the place to motivate someone to purchase your service or product. By letting her fingers do the walking, the potential customer already knows what service or product she’s looking for. The key to a successful Yellow Pages ad is to merely persuade her to do business with you and your firm. It’s a subtle distinction, but one you need to understand in order to put together an effective phone-book ad. A Yellow Pages ad must position you as the best choice. Here, instead of focusing on whetting the customer’s appetite for your service or product, the emphasis will be on how you deliver fast, effectively and with the most professionalism.

First, if you have more than one phone directory in your area to choose from, ask what each directory’s "usage" number is. Usage is the number of times consumers use it each year. This is different from the directory’s distribution figure. By dividing the directories’ usage number-per-year by what they charge you for a same-size display ad, you can easily determine which gives you the most uses for your dollar.

BIGGER IS BETTER

The idea in Yellow Page ads is to grab the reader’s attention and size-of-ad is the way to do it. Bigger ads, when it comes to the Yellow Pages, have more stopping power. Besides an attention-getting headline and supporting copy that impels the reader to act, it’s critical for your Yellow Pages ad to contain a good graphic, eye-catching artwork that focuses the reader on your ad. Clipart for such purposes is inexpensive and widely available. It’s often best to choose interesting "line art" (line drawings) over photographs. Photographs tend not to reproduce well or look crisp on the rough, yellow stock used for phone directories. In order to attain the best position on the page for your ad, you will need to sign on with the Yellow Pages as early as you can. It’s very easy to overlook their early deadlines and wind up jockeying for precious space with your competitors or getting left out altogether. Call ahead for their schedules.

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John McLain, a veteran journalist and national media consultant, is author of the newly published book, HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR HOME BUSINESS, available on Amazon.com or through his New York publisher at: Strategic Book Publishing

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