5 Highly Effective
Advertising Ideas For Small businesses
By Kristian Jeffrey
If you own a Small Business or want to start up a
new business understanding advertising will be critical to your
success. When I set up my own first business back in 1999, I didn’t
have a clue about advertising and marketing. Back then the biggest and
first point of call for a start up business was the yellow pages
directory followed by classified adverts in local papers. Over ten
years on, the opportunities to advertise cheaply have grown a hundred
fold. More importantly the opportunities for small businesses to
advertise effectively have also increased significantly. In this
article I am going to point out the basics of what you need to know
about advertising and which methods are effective for small businesses.
When I talk about a small business, I could be
referring to a one man Window Cleaner or an I.T Reseller. It doesn’t
matter what line of business you are in, the principles of advertising
are still the same and my points and ideas are relevant to everyone.
By the way, this article is written from a neutral
point of view. I run two advertising companies and both are mentioned
in this article along with others who I don’t have a vested interest in
but I do have experience of using their products. If I recommend a
product or media it’s because it’s worked for me and my companies and
not because I’m being paid to mention it.
What is Effective
Advertising?
Effective Advertising is a tool to increase your
sales AND profits. If the advertising you are currently using does not
increase your sales and profits, STOP using
it immediately! ‘But it increases brand awareness’ and ‘my competitors
all advertise in this way’, are two rubbish excuses for wasting money
on advertising that does not work. Don’t be lazy, don’t burn money by
using ineffective advertising.
So how do you know if the advertising is
effective? Firstly measure the results and secondly when you begin to
trial a new way of advertising always commit for the minimum amount of
time possible. Do not be swayed by Advertising Executives trying to
convince you to commit to longer for a discount. Trial first and then
commit if it increases your sales and profits.
Points to memorise before advertising:
- Can I measure the results from this campaign?
(If you can’t do not advertise)
- Does my Advert have a really strong call to
action? ( Free offer, Discount or Guarantee’s are strong calls to
action)
- Can I trial the advertising media or product
first?
- How many sales do I need to make to make a
profit from this advertising? (Is the answer realistic)
OK, that’s enough preaching, lets present the
ideas to you:
Highly Effective Advertising Ideas for Small
Businesses:
- Learn from the Experts
Advertising is the same as any industry, if you
want to learn about it and become an expert in it (Anything that costs
you money but also has the potential to make you lots of money in, you
should learn to be an expert!), then learn from the experts. My advice
is go and order a copy of ‘Your Marketing Sucks’ by Mark Stevens from
Amazon. Mark’s book will tell you everything you need to know about
advertising before you start to spend money. The second piece of advice
is check out cardellmedia on Google. The site is run by a small
business expert called Chris Cardell. He is a no nonsense business
growth expert. He runs a number of courses and publications about
advertising and marketing for small businesses. Listen to what he has
to say, he is trying to help you.
2.Google Adwords
If you only take one piece of advice from this
article then make sure it’s this:
Open a Google Adwords Account and start a Pay Per
Click Campaign.
You may have heard about PPC or Pay Per Click
campaigns. When people mention them they are normally talking about
running a Google Campaign. As Google run 90% of Search requests on the
internet then you must advertise with them. You create a campaign where
if someone enters a keyword or key phrase into Google, when they hit
enter, your company advert comes up on the screen.
Google Adwords is an essential piece of marketing
and advertising for any small business no matter how small their
business is. It’s highly effective, cost effective and measurable, in
short, excellent.
3. SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a highly cost
effective way of advertising, in fact it’s free. SEO is a way of
creating content for your website that makes your website easily found
by the people looking for it. It sounds complex and there are lots of
companies who make money from trying to optimise your website. BEWARE,
most of these companies are either shysters or they are charging you
for something you can do yourself. Go and buy ‘Search Engine
Optimization- an hour a day’ by Jennifer Grappone. She will advise you
and teach you the knowledge required to create a very effective
website. Remember- The better your website is working, the less money
you will need to spend trying to attract people to it.
4. Be Outrageous, Be
Yourself
Muhammed Ali said that. What I think he meant was
do not follow the crowd and be the same as everyone else, if you do,
then your message will be lost completely along with everyone elses.
You spend money on advertising to stand out from the crowd so don’t be
boring! Use wild and Creative ways of getting people’s attention: StreetAdvertisingServices
are a UK based Company who create innovative and unique outdoor
advertising campaigns. Everything from advertising on dirty pavements
using water to 3d chalk advertising are all methods they offer to
clients to help increase their sales and profits.
4. Facebook
One of my clients is a dentist. When he first came
to see me, his business was struggling and the only customers he could
find were NHS patients. He, like most small businesses wanted to
increase his sales and profits. I advised him to advertise on Facebook.
Within three months he had to start turning customers away and his
profits have increased by 600%! Create a Facebook page for your
business and then create an advertising campaign. It’s cheaper than
Google but also very effective for local businesses.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/5-highly-effective-
advertising-ideas-for-small-businesses-1749302.html About the Author
Kristian Jeffrey is a Small Business Advertising
Expert. His company Street Advertising Services has delivered thousands
of campaigns for his clients which has resulted in increased sales and
profits. | 
