As I walked past a few businesses that I had pitched the idea of being proactive in their marketing campaign to I noticed this sign. As I continued to walk the plaza and see more signs like this I thought of Advertise or Die. I have stated many times that the way we do business today is not the same way we did 10 years ago. In many large cities there is a prolifferation of similiar business and they all could succeed, however some don’t for a myriad of reasons. On of the reasons for lack of success is lack of advertising. I see it today on a regular basis a business opens and doesn’t promote itself anywhere, hangs a sign in hopes people will find them and then when approached about advertising will make all teh excuses as to why they perceive that they can’t advertise or why they decide not to advertise. Most of these businesses close up shop, never to be seen again. The successful business is the business that promotes itself on a regular business and is proactive in its effort to draw new customers/clients while also retaining existing customers/clients. There are many ways to maximize your message.
1: Develop a logo and a message and keep it consitent, place it on all collateral material and in all marketing materials
2: Design business cards that truly represent you and your business that will stand out and hand out whenever and wherever you can
3: Know your target audience and how you can effectively reach them.
4: Develop marketing materials that are informative and that get you remembered. For example if you are a CPA include a tax tip on the back of your business.
5: Blog about the trends in your industry and include specials for your business
There are a myriad of ways to advertise and your reasons why you are not advertising should be left at the wayside.
1: Instead of saying I can’t afford it say I will find a way to pay for this advertising
2: Instead of saying advertising doesn’t work for my type of business say I will be of service and value when I reach and effectively target my audience.
3: Instead of saying I don’t have time to discuss advertising say I will amke time to research adveertising programs
Advertisement Ideas: Embrace Ingenuinity and Proactivity
I recenty visited Ray Sterling, my barber, and I was amazed how he is implementing new ideas and being proactive with his marketing.One of the techniques he uses is a mailing about his specials and then on the other side he has a list of Did You Know facts about hair and haircare. He studies marketing everyday and implememts his ideas and as a result has added 800 new clients to his base in one year. Embrace the idea of being creative and proactive and you will see results. Now is the time to take action with your advertising. So may businesses large and small get complacent and keep doing the same thing over and ovver and expecting the results to continue. As a result of not embracing ingenuity and proactivity there businesses go under.
When advertising Dream Big. I like the idea of Bus Shelter and Bus Bench Advertising as it gives you a large reach in your community. I choose this photos as an example as I liked the entire way they kept a theme and stuck with it and this campaign was consistent allover the community. When you are planning your advertising campaign think of ways to be creative and proactive and to be remembered. Here is a little quiz. Attach The Slogan
Nike——
Allstate——–
McDonald’s——————-
Publix————————–
Avis Rent A Car—————————
JDOGG Lederman————————
Your Business—————————–
Think about many of the people that are advertising and their effective use of a tag line and how they are continuing to advertise. Coca Cola could stop advertising tomorrow and would most likely lose a bit of its market share, they won’t because they know that if you don’t advertise you die. A great case study is The Sneaker industry when sneakers are mentioned most people mention NIKE and this is becuase they didn’t reduce their advertising efforts when things seemed slow they increased their visibility. Reebok on the hand cut their marketing budget and saw a decrease in sales, today Reebok has stepped up its advertising and as a result is gaining market share. Adidas seemed to fall of the earth after years of stagnation in marketing and development, I personally like Addidas and continue to buy their products, however I am in the minority today as far as brand loyalty goes. Today Addidas is steeping up its campaign and seeing an increase in sales. The key is to advertise and promote regardless or perceived economics. It will be thise businesses that advertise that continue to flourish.
This week remember if you don’t advertise your business may die.
