Effective Small Business Advertising

The tasks of advertising management, ad design, and media selection are often complicated because the business may not be able to afford an advertising agency. Even those with budgets large enough to pay for an agency may not have as much money as the company would like to spend on advertising. At the same time, advertising should not be abandoned. The careful and selective use of ad funding is the most important issue.

Ad design is critical to getting noticed among national ads that are built on big budgets. While a national advertiser can spend a million dollars creating a 30-second ad, a local advertiser can spend only $ 500. The challenge is designing an ad that speaks clearly and effectively. In these circumstances, small businesses are tempted to put too much in the ad, trying to present all the reasons why consumers should buy from them. This type of ad is too cluttered and overwhelms the viewer.

A small business manager should develop a creative brief to aid in the development of business announcements. When the business is new, the goal of advertising should be to raise awareness. Creating persuasive ads or reminders should wait until there is a higher level of brand or company awareness.

Realizing that its brand was relatively unknown, Southland Cleaning Services of Springdale Arkansas decided to link the company’s brand to other companies that were well known in the area. At a cost of just $ 400, a 45-second ad was being created with four local businesses that were Southland customers. Two featured brief customer testimonials, while the other two featured Southland workers cleaning the facility. The ads ran on local television on a rotating schedule. Soon, Southland received phone calls from companies asking: – Are you the company that cleans Sears? – – They were, because it was introduced to Sears at the opening location. While companies couldn’t always remember the Southland brand, they linked it to Sears and the message clearly reached the right people, who concluded: “If this company could keep Sears clean, they could keep my business clean.”

Once the advertising message is defined, various media can be selected taking into account the budget of the company. These media can range from television, radio, billboards, magazines to newspapers and the Internet. The first four methods can be quite expensive for startups, while the last two are good and affordable methods to start with.

In fact, online ads can be more effective for small businesses and startups in a number of ways. A local business can often purchase ads on the community Chamber of Commerce site or the city’s website. If ads cannot be purchased, it is important to have the company name on the site or a link to the site. For example, a new restaurant should make sure the local visitor’s office and Chamber of Commerce materials mention it.

Providing a link to the restaurant’s website is even better because it allows locals as well as visitors or tourists to access the business directly. Another option is a reciprocal arrangement with another company. For example, a local pet store may offer to list local vets on their website in exchange for vets listing the pet store on theirs.

The Internet can be a very powerful tool for providing information to prospects that cannot be placed in an advertisement. On the website, a business can post information about the business, its products and services, warranties, current customers or clients, and special offers, as well as prices.

Television, radio, newspaper, magazine, and billboard advertisements can identify the company’s website and encourage consumers and businesses to access it. Done correctly, the Internet can be a beneficial form of advertising once consumers have been directed to it by some other form of advertising.

The company that is considering local advertising must consider the criterion of profitability. Dollard must be spent wisely. Also, low-quality ads can damage a company’s reputation. Better to spend more money on developing a quality ad and less on the media reach of the ad than creating a poor ad that is the burning of local jokes. Small and start-up businesses must advertise, although this is often a great challenge for the entrepreneur or business owner.