Business Article: Are you winning your advertising war

Let’s come back to the question of the best form of advertising.

People often ask us, “What’s the best way to advertise in my type of business?” Our answer to them is that there isn’t one and they should stop looking for that quick fix.

No one best way

The reality is that there is no one best way of advertising for any business. But there is always a best combination of strategies that you should employ. Think of it like this. If a military commander, before going to battle, would ask, “What is the best weapon we should take to the battle with us?” you would start to worry.

You intuitively know that the army goes to battle with an array of weapons that will suit different situations. Ideally, they will use the appropriate weapons at the right time in the various stages of battle. This is how you should think about your marketing and advertising weapons. Not which one is best, but which combination of weapons will assist in achieving the best results.

Most of the advertising we see is innocuous and ineffective.

Unfortunately, because we don’t know any better, we, as owners of small and medium sized businesses, tend to copy the advertising we see most, which is usually produced by larger businesses who can afford to waste a large share of their marketing budget on advertising that doesn’t work, with the hope that enough of it will work to generate sales.

This is a bit like using a nuclear bomb in a war. You may get results, but at what expense?

Can you really afford such a wasteful strategy in your business? No, I didn’t think so. Let’s start to think about how we can develop smarter, more effective guerrilla type strategies that are more appropriate for our needs.

The first thing we need ask ourselves when we start to think about advertising is, “Who is my market?” followed very closely with, “What do they want most?” and, “How can I communicate with them?”

These 3 questions will lead us to answers that will increase our response rates, increase our sales volumes and increase the profitability of each individual sale.

Who is my market?

In many cases, business owners tend to think that everyone is a potential customer. However, it has often been proved that marketing to everyone is an ineffective strategy, because the message has to be weakened to the lowest common denominator.

If you can target a smaller, specific group of customers you can develop a more effective message appropriate to their specific needs and desires and achieve far superior results.

Think about your market. There will be a range of customers. Some you love to do business with and others are hardly worth the effort. Which ones would you rather attract more with your advertising?

Research and analyse your customers to define your most profitable groups. Identify their common characteristics. Perhaps they all come from the same socio-economic group, or they may all be of similar age and gender, or perhaps from the same geographic area.

From a simple analysis of your customers you will discover the best groups to target with your advertising and how to find them.

What do they want most?

When you have identified your ideal customer profile, you can start to identify their common needs and wants.

Do you think it would help if you knew exactly what your best customers need from you? How would that influence the offers you make in your advertising? What does your advertising currently offer?

If your ads are focused on your products or services, I can tell you right now they are not effective.

People don’t care about what you sell. They only care about getting their needs met. When you know what your target market needs, you can focus your advertising towards the needs and solutions that your product relates to.

Use the psychology of “identification” to attract customers who have the needs that your products meet. When you identify their needs in your ads, they will identify with your message and respond positively.

Ads pushing products just push people away.

How can I communicate with them?

When you know who to target and know what they want, how much easier do you think it becomes to know how best to communicate your message to them.

Before you decide on those methods though, there is another thing to think about. That is: “What is my most wanted response?”

Many ads are ineffective because they don’t seem to have any point to them. They are just “noise” in the market place, like someone jumping up and down shouting, “Look at me!”

Your ads need to direct your target customers to do what you most want them to do. Do you want them to see your ad and come to your business to buy, or just to inquire about a range?

Do you want them to ring for a quote, or to get more information?

When you know who they are and what they want and decide what you want them to do from your advertising, you can then decide which media and methods are most likely to attract the right response from the right customers. Don’t forget, that at any one time, people are in different situations, so one single method of communication may not reach them.

You need a combination of tactics to reach more of your target market. Don’t just choose one weapon. Use the best combination, appropriate to your target market and your most wanted response.