Every business, be it big or small, needs advertising. It doesn’t matter how good your product is, it will not be sold until people are aware of it. If a business wants to survive and flourish, it cannot do without advertising. Especially, in the high paced business world of today where thousands of competitors, each one is struggling to overtake the other, advertising becomes all the more important. To grab the attention of your target audience advertising is of utmost importance.
Newspaper and Magazine
Almost, every neighborhood has its own local newspaper. You should contact them and find some space for your business. Local newspapers are better than national newspapers because they are easier to afford. Small businesses generally cannot afford to spend a lot of money on advertisement, which is why local magazines and newspapers are a safe option.
Local Television or Radio
Again, choose a local radio or television station. Air time on national or international television or radio channels is very expensive, and often not worth the money. Advertising on a local channel is a safe option for two reasons. Firstly, it is affordable. The business will not be required to churn out a huge amount of money to cover the cost for the advertisement.
Local advertisement is also better targeted. For example: There is no point in targeting your business in London when it is situated in Edinburgh, unless people in London have access to your product. Local advertisement will help you reach the right people, which will greatly benefit your business.
Internet
Arguably, Internet is the cheapest and the best advertising medium. Several websites offer ad-space for a very little fee. You can also buy targeted audience on the internet, thanks to the service, such as Google Adwords.
Google Adwords, and various other such services, allow you to reach a targeted audience. This option is very helpful, as it allows you to reach the audience that you want. You can put limit on gender, location, ad and tastes.
Another great advantage, as mentioned above, is the cost. Internet advertising is very cheap. You can start with a few dollars, and eventually increase if you see a good result.
Cross-promotion
Depending on the nature of your business, you can reach a cross-promotion deal with another company/business. For example: If you sell outfits, then you can reach a contract with another local outfit seller in your area to put your outfits on display in their store, and in return you can put his or her outfits on display in your store.
Cross-promotion is a very safe bet as it does not cost anything and gives good results. With this option your business will greatly grow as you will be able to enter a new territory and reach a new market.
However, make sure that the company you are doing cross-promotion with is credible and has a good image. This is one of the very important factors of cross-promotion. You cannot choose a bad company, as it will also impact your buyers and image.
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is one of the best advertising techniques. You must try to improve your goodwill and make people take notice of your products. This is easier said than done. However, there are a few simple ways to work on it. You can easily work on improving you image in people’s eyes by providing them what you promise.
Advertise extensively on special promotions. You can have special discounts and reach to people through pamphlets or banners. This will trigger a chain reaction, as a person will reach another and so on. One has to put in a lot of effort to spread a good word of mouth about a business.
Things to Remember
There are a few things that you need to remember if you want your marketing campaign to be a success. Only make promises that you can fulfill Never lie in your advertisement about anything. Small business cannot afford to do that, as once their image gets tarnished, it becomes next to impossible to earn it back.
-You must create curiosity by reaching your target market by using the right words. Always, choose your advertising method after doing a good amount of research. Also, be easily accessible to your customers so that they do not have any trouble in reaching you.
By using these simple tips and keeping these things in mind, you can easily increase your business’ profit.
Author’s Bio
The author is a professional who gives small business advertising ideas to small business owners. She is the name behind several successful big local brands that have now reached a global audience.