Advertising and Promotion

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Finding new customers is the key challenge for most small businesses. Through creative advertising and promotion your business can attract new customers and generate revenue. As a small business, it is especially important you spend your money effectively by targeting the type of customers your business wants. Options available include:

advertising;
personal selling;
image and branding;
sales promotions;
publicity;
e-marketing.
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Advertising

The aim of advertising is to get customers' attention and influence their behaviour, usually to buy your product or service. It can be expensive, so you need to ensure that you are getting the right message to the right people.

Before you spend, ask yourself:

Is it going to put me in front of my target customers?
What will it cost and are there cheaper ways to reach customers?
Will this harm my image?
Is it likely to generate sales or, if not, increase my profile?
Is it promoting features and benefits that are relevant to my target customers?

Newspapers and Magazines

You can choose daily, weekly or local newspaper outlets.
Daily newspapers generally have the widest circulation, but also the highest advertising costs.
Local papers target one geographical area and will tend to have low business readership. They are often effective for personal services.
Magazines will be useful if you are trying to reach a more specialised target market, eg restaurants, specialty shops, travel.
You need to match your target customers with the newspaper readership and be certain the ad is placed in the appropriate section of the paper.

Radio

Radio advertising is often not cost effective unless you have a strong geographic or demographic target.
You need to ensure frequency of advertising to be effective.
Effective for press releases or community service announcements. Be sure to identify the right station and prime listening times for your target market. Check the station's audience profile.

Television

TV advertising is very expensive and reaches a mass market, so you may be paying for people who are not in your target market.
Consider joint advertising with similar businesses or submitting your products to a lifestyle program or shopping channel.

Yellow Pages

This can be one of the most effective advertising outlets, as potential customers are looking to buy. If that's how customers are reaching you, spend as much as you can afford.
Stand out from the pack and look different from your competitors.

Brochures/Mail Outs

Personally-addressed mail outs have a better chance of success. Letterbox drops are generally not effective.
Build your own lists or use a database in line with your target market. Visit your local Business Advisory Service to use Dunn & Bradstreet's Business Who's Who.

Advertising Checklist:

Is your message simple and clear?
Is there a big headline?
Does it demonstrate customer benefits?
Does it reflect the image you want to create?
Is it different from your competition?
Can you be found?
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Promoting Your Business

Personal Selling

All business involves face-to-face selling in one form or other, especially to complete the selling process, so it's worth developing your skills.
Selling success is based on understanding the customer's needs and wants and tailoring your approach to suit.
Personal selling helps you build relationships with your customers.
Make sure you prepare and follow up.

Image and Branding

Your business image and appearance will influence how your customers perceive you. It needs to be consistent and match your customers' expectations and needs.
Think about your customers' experiences:
- What do they hear when they phone, eg receptionist, messages?
- What do they see when they visit, eg office decor, signage?
- What do they receive, eg stationery, marketing material, logo?
Even a small business can have a strong brand presence which can help it differentiate itself in the marketplace. Branding is about the values that a client attaches to your business and product/service. Offering a consistent, clear business image will help you build your brand. Critically, your product/service offering must also reinforce the image you are creating through its quality, appearance, packaging, distribution outlet, etc.

Sales Promotions

Sales promotion techniques are effective in providing an incentive for the potential client to sample a product or service.
Typical promotions include: specials, giveaways (pens, T-shirts, etc), sampling, eg taste testing, bonus on purchase, entry to competitions, frequent usage promotions, eg 5th purchase free, special events, loyalty cards.
Aim to value-add rather than discount.
Promote with other businesses where possible.

Publicity

Publicity can have more credibility than paid advertising.
It is about increasing your visibility and is relatively low cost, but requires time and skill.
Publicity techniques can be as simple as good signage or involve targeted press releases, media information kits, public speaking and publishing articles.
Community involvement such as sponsoring events or supporting charities can generate powerful publicity.

e-Marketing

The Internet offers business many market opportunities, but your e-marketing strategies need to match your business and customer needs.
Email offers a low-cost, rapid communication tool for delivering marketing material, notifying specials, sending e-newsletters, providing customer support, etc. However, privacy laws make it essential to gain your customers' permission to receive this information.
Event if you don't sell over the web, a business website can give you credibility, promote your image and provide up-to-date publicity for your products and services.
You can have a lower cost web presence through online directories or networks, eg advertising your B&B accommodation on a local tourist site.
If you have a website, make sure you can be found via search engines.

Promotional Dos and Don'ts:

Recognise that different businesses require different types of advertising and promotion.
Ask yourself: will this type of promotion expose my business to my target customers and will I generate sales?
Ensure your activities fit with your marketing strategies.

Don't

Avoid investing time and money to generate new business.
Underestimate the power of e-marketing.
Harm your image through your promotional activities.
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More Information

Industry Associations and your local Chamber of Commerce and Industry offer advice and services to members.

Your local Business Advisory Service can offer you one-on-one advice on your marketing strategies. It also offers low-cost marketing workshops and access to useful tools such as Dunn & Bradstreet's mail out database. Call 1300 650 058.

Better Business Tip
Keep a file with promotional material and ads that your competitors and similar businesses have produced. At first glance the material may seem irrelevant to you - but a few years down the track when your business or marketing plan has evolved it might be the very piece of material that you'll be able to use as a starting point and then markedly improve on.

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