Tips for Improving Advertising Success

A typical advertising experience for a small business might be to receive a call from an advertising sales representative offering a never to be repeated price on an ad...

Advertising Sales Reps Often Apply Deadline Pressure

The booking deadline is urgent; there is no time to consider other options because it might mean missing out, so they jump into it, only to find that “it did nothing”. Of course one common problem is that advertisers put nothing in place to measure whether it did in fact work. Or another problem might have been that their ad was more of a generic nature and their expectations of the phones ringing off the hook as a result were unrealistic. Rather than go into detail about the content of advertising and how to make that more trackable and effective, the tips for improving advertising success I have are focused on creating a less reactionary and more planned approach to advertising.

Switch Roles - Do the Door Knocking Yourself

First off, avoid being put in the above situation if at all possible. Knowing what works and what doesn’t is one good way of being in a solid position to say “no” to persuasive advertising reps. Another excellent way is to do the groundwork yourself by knocking on other people’s doors first and evaluating various advertising options available to you – no pressure, no rush! What media do your target market consume? Talk to similar people; survey your current customers etc. How do the reader/viewer/subscriber/member profiles that have been provided to you by various advertising options compare to the likely profiles of your target customers? Then test, test test (and measure, measure, measure) in a planned and structured way.

Enlist Help...Likely to Save you Time and Money in the Long Run

Probably my greatest tip is to employ the services of a media buying agency (read more via this link from the “go to” of Wikipedia!)– preferably an independent one…even if truly independent ones are hard to come by, using an agency that has more than one form of advertising on offer may give you the advantage of receiving some advice about which meets your objectives more closely. Some may get put off using a “middle man” because they perceive the costs to be greater than going direct, however if you do end up paying a fraction more, remember that they are adding value through their expert advice. They usually have access to better prices than you can get your hands on through group buying power, however to cover the cost of their time and input, they have to include a charge for their own service just like any other broker. What you will have saved is lots of trial and error, expense and, stress by receiving guidance from someone who can help you plan more effectively and ‘get it right’ more quickly!

Keep Your Eyes on the Bigger Picture

So, to sum up, remember that there are often hidden costs to taking up that not to be missed, last minute advertising deal and one of them is distracting you from taking a more planned approach to your marketing (it reminds me of someone I knew in London who had their card stolen by a thief at an ATM when they told her she’d dropped something on the ground)…don’t take your eyes off the bigger picture and most importantly, don’t be fooled!

Words by: Andie Johnson, Director, Flex Marketing