Print marketing
Top Ten Tips for Successful Advertising
Many companies have shied away from traditional print advertising in favour of on-line equivalents and off-line alternatives. This decision in the main is based on the belief that advertising doesn't work - and it often doesn't work because the advert is badly designed and lacks clarity.
Consider the following 10-points and then decide if advertising is right for your business:
1) If it doesn't work - don't do it
Don't feel as though you have to advertise - only advertise if it fits into your overall sales and marketing strategy, there are definable reasons for doing it and you can measure the results.
2) Use direct response advertising
Broadly speaking there are two types of advertising:
a) brand advertising
b) direct response advertising
Unless you are one of the big boys with big budgets to chuck at an advertising campaign, steer away from brand advertising. To grow sales you need direct response advertising so that you can measure the result and the effectiveness of the campaign.
The type of response will depend on your marketing strategy - it might be brochure requests, appointment requests or immediate sales. With direct response advertising you know if it is working.
Most small business advertising doesn't work because the advert tries to do too much - combining brand advertising with direct response advertising and achieving very little. Make it one or the other; for small businesses looking to grow sales, direct response advertising is the way to go.
3) The headline is the most important
The headline needs to grab attention.
The biggest challenge for advertising to be effective is to get people to read your advert. It's not about selling a product or service at this stage - it's about stopping the reader and getting them to read the advert.
The headline needs to be about the reader - not about you. Those companies that include their company name in the headline are missing out on potential enquiries and sales.
For example,
Life policies from Wilson Hargreave Associates
or
How secure will your family be when you have gone?
Which one would you read and respond to?
Using a question in your headline helps to create intrigue and interest and is an effective device for encouraging the reader to read more.
4) Use the AIDA principle
Attention - grab attention with the headline
Interest - create interest for the reader by addressing their needs, wants and fears
Desire/Demand - convert their interest into desire or demand
Action - allow them to convert their desire with a call to action
5) Benefits
All your marketing communication pieces including advertising should include benefits - make it about them and not about you.
You need to create a personal communication with the individual reading or seeing your advert. It needs to address their needs, wants, desires and fears and it needs to communicate the benefits to them of what you are offering.
6) Testing and measurement
If you don't test and measure you have no way of knowing the success or failure rate of your advertising campaign. This is true in any area of marketing activity. And it is simple and easy to implement.
Use a method of identifying where the person heard about you:
a) If you are using a coupon device then include a code specific to the offer and/or publication so that when the coupon arrives on your desk, you know from where it came.
b) If you include a telephone number on the advert, ask the caller where they got your number. Even ask them to quote the promotional code so that you know which advert in which publication.
c) If you direc them to a website, use a specific URL for the advert so that when the enquiry comes in you know from where it originated. If you can't do this then include a drop down list on your standard contact page to request where they heard about you and include the publication name.
7) Location - don't advertise on the left hand page
When you look at and read a publication your eyes are automatically drawn to the right hand page. That is why most publications will try to charge you more for a right hand page position. If you don't specify a right hand page and leave it to the publication to place your advert, having a left hand position will cost you in enquiries and potential sales.
8) Never pay the full rate
Publications work to a published rate card. Never pay what's on the rate card. Always negotiate. Rate card prices are too high and if you haggle you may get a 30% discount or more!
9) Don't follow the competition
Think outside the box. Just because your competitors advertise doesn't mean that you should too. Only advertise when and where it fits into your overall marketing strategy and you can fulfil points 1 - 8. If you are targeting a specific audience who read a publication specific to their industry you might want to consider advertising in it rather than a more general publication where your competitors are more likely to be advertising.
10) Advertising is not essential for business growth
For smaller businesses advertising can be fantastic if you get it right. But generally advertising is one of the least effective methods to grow sales. An advertising campaign falls into your overall marketing strategy and should be part of a multi-level programme using a combination of techniques and strategies to grow your business, including:
- Direct mail
- PR
- Email marketing
- Internet marketing
- Viral marketing - word of mouth, referrals, recommendations
- Direct sales
- Lead generating activities
Final word
Advertising is expensive - particularly if you cannot measure the result. There are many low-cost and no-cost alternatives including some of the above that can generate bigger and better results.
So think carefully about where advertising fits in your marketing strategy, your desired outcomes and whether you can achieve what is required for an effective campaign and what alternatives and combinations you can use to gain maximum return.