Advertisement Ideas: The Choice

  When choosing advertising there are many factors to consider such as circulation, price, quality of the advertising vehicle, longevity of the advertising avenue, and level of service. I work for Life Publications and we are a leader in the magazine field in the communities of Coral Springs,Parkland, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Coconut Creek. We have many reasons to advertise in our publications and you can find them at www.lifepubs.com. I personally believe  we do an awesome job of reaching the desired target audience of those that choose to advertise with us.  When making your choice consider:

1: How long has the publication been existence?Longevity is a key as the brand is established and known

2: What is the distribution method? Is it thrown on a driveway, is it delivered via mail, is it subscription based, is it a pick up publication. Each method has it advantages and disadvantages, when choosing to advertise go with the one that works best. 65%  thrown in a driveway publication end up in the trash and never get looked at. Direct Mail magazine that are not subscribed to make it into the house and are read by 75% of the people that receive them. Subscription Based publications have a 99% readership rate. Pick up free publications usually distribute at a  rate of 70% meaning that 7 of 10 that are distributed are picked up and read.

3: What is the circulation? Just because a publication has a high circualtion doesn’t neccessarily mean it is reaching your audience. If I am a dog breeder and a magazine has a circulation of 100,000 but it is called Cat’s Plus do I really want to invest my dollars there.

4: Does the publication reach my audience? Again you can buy something that looks good and appears that it will be read however if it isn’t geared toward your audience it won’t serve you.

5: Who is reading the publication? Take a minute and knock on  a few doors in the neighborhood around the business and ask people if they have heard of the magazine and if they have what are their thoughts.

Advertising Ideas: What Path Are You Choosing?

I am often surprised when a a business owner say we don’t do advertising all our customers come to us from word of mouth. Well Mr. and Mrs. Business owner Word of Mouth is a form of advertising, and how did your first customers find you.  I am also amazed when someone says I can’t afford to advertise. I then ask what are you doing to promote your business, often I am told nothing? Wow you built a business, bought a sign and now just expect people to magically appear. Wake up and choose the path of promotion.

When choosing the path of promotion think how creative is my ad, does it have a call to action, is it placed in the right place.  Promotion is a path that should be taken everyday so as you open up your business think what can I do to promote my business today. It can be as easy as carrying your business cards with you and sharing who you are and what you do  with people.  It is time for you the business owner to be proactive and creative in your promotion. I have  a friend Ray The Barber and he is awesome at promotion he places his ads in local community papers with a specific message. He is not in my magazine because he doesn’t service the area that we mail to. One of his promotions is a 4 x 6 post card with specials on the front and on the back 5 Did You Know points to inform his customers about  different hair care facts. His proactive and creative ways are growing his business. Another great thing is Ray listens to everyone who has something to pitch, he may not buy from them but by giving them the time of day he builds a good reputation as he realizes everyone calling him or coming into his shop is a potential client and may know someone who can use his services.

The path of promotion is something that happens from the first contact and ad infinitum. I can not tell you how many times I have approached a business to purchase an ad to be told I am not interested. I look at at there loss because if they would have shared information with me and we would have interacted even if they didn’t purchase the ad I would have recommended them to people in my circle of influence. Remember everyone coming into your business or call your business has something to offer so be open and receptive and then watch your business grow.

Adertisement Ideas: Standing Out

Notice the photo above? It is Hello Kitty. If you were to show this to 10 people most likely 8 would know who Hello Kitty is. The point being to make sure you choose to advertise with publications that stand out. If a magazine stands out like a Boca Delray Life, a Coconut Creek Life, or a Parkland Coral Springs Life, chances are they are going to make you stand out and deliver more customers to you.  If these magazines are being read by your target audience you want to invest in them.

When doing an ad make sure you stand out from your competitors.

1: Have something of value that your competitiors do not have. For example if you offer organic tea and healthy snacks while they are in your establishment and noone else is doing that mention it in your ad. If someone comes in just for the tea they still know about you and once their in your place of business you can get to know more about them and convert them into a customer.

2: Use graphic hooks(pictures) 65% of ads with pictures are read more than those with out.

3: Make your ad in color- Color ads get read 85% more of the time than black and white ads

4: Scan your ad and the masthead of the publication to use in your online marketing

5: Be consistent with your brand and your message.

 

Which One grabed your attention? Now remember why you were drawn to the ad and use thise same reasons in your print advertising so you can choose the right advertising.

This week consider where you are advertising and what your message is and ask are you choosing the right advertising.