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Business Advertising
(Part
1)
Advertising is an
important part of any
business. Whether you
advertise locally or
nationally, it is
important to understand
the options available to
promote your business. We
have collected some
resources to help you understand
advertising your business.
The fundamental reason for
advertising
is
to communicate information
and/or ideas to people in
order to change or
reinforce an
attitude.
It is in
changing people's ideas and
perceptions that you can
influence them to believe they
need your product or service.
Some important things for you to
know or consider before starting an
advertising program are:
- Determine
who your customers
are. The more details you have
about them, the more effective
your advertising.
- Calculate your advertising
budget and look for
options within your
budget.
- Discover which media
reaches your target
audience.
- Design advertisements that
appeal to your
audience.
- Find a focus for your
advertising and try to
create a lasting
impression - rather than a
quick 'buzz'
- Ask for extra
exposure - e.g. negotiate for
an extra week in print in
exchange for providing a
competition
prize.
An advertising campaign sounds
impressive and formidable, but
it's really very simple. Instead
of randomly promoting your
business, you set up a program
or campaign of advertising. That
way, all the ads work in with
each other and will have a
cumulative effect.
You plan the campaign around
your budget and business needs,
so it is no scarier than placing
one ad in a local paper.
Here are ideas to spice up an
advertising campaign, whilst
keeping everything tied together
as a branding exercise.
Taglines and
Jingles
Taglines are important for
small businesses where the business name
does not directly imply what the business
is about Also known as slogans, a tagline
should enhance your business services or
products.
A tagline can be a statement
about what you do, who you are or what you
offer.
Article from Hot
Chilli
about how an effective
tagline can help promote your business.
Be
inspired by this little quiz... Famous
Advertising Slogans
What Brand Are
You? A 'fun' tool
for business names ideas.
Created initially as a bit
of a joke - this web site
has resulted in some firms
changing their business
names to creating a new
business identity.
Giveaways
Always an excellent
way to bring in new
clients and also to
promote the winner as
extra media exposure.
USP (Unique selling
point)
ARTICLE:
USP stands for Unique Selling
Point and is an extremely important piece of
information for business owners.
Read
more...
ARTICLE:
Finding your USP
Having and using the Unique Selling Point
(USP) of your business is a great marketing tool. But how do you know what your
USP actually is? Read
more...
ARTICLE:
Making
Use of your USP
Every successful business has a Unique
Selling Point (USP) or else they would just be lost in the crowd. A USP is what differentiates your business
from other businesses doing the same or similar things to yours. It takes time
and effort to determine what your USP is, but it won’t help unless you make use
of it.
Read more...
Advertising on a
Budget
Advertising budget? What's
that?
Newbies to business, sole
traders and those who work
from home may need to
generate revenue before
they can afford to
advertise. We have
collected some low budget
ways to get your business
'out there'.
Some
ideas cost next to
nothing...
Noticeboards at shopping
centres
School newsletters
Community newsletter advertising
Introduction letter with
small gift attached
Hand made cards with
handwritten note
attached
Car Advertising -
stickers, magnets,
signs
Thank you notes for
existing clients
Discounts for returning
customers
Refer a Friend
programs
Letter box drops
Classified
Ads
can get you some additional
exposure for the online market.
New developments in
advertising
Digital Business
Cards
Send your entire web site
or catalogue on a miniature
CD-Rom.
Check out Media
Movers for some ideas on how you
can present your information in various
formats.
Jam
Directions offers advanced
advertising and marketing solutions.
Tech
Media provide the hardware
and software for businesses to create
their own digital media content.
You
could also burn your own CD-Roms and create
your own packaging and present a virtual
business card to your clients.
E-mail Signatures
Each time you send an email to someone, it can be
working for you. By adding business and contact details at the end of every
email you send, you are telling people what you do. Even if you are sending
emails to friends, add your signature as you don’t know who they know and might
pass the email onto.
A
sample e-mail signature might look like
this:
------
Tash
Hughes
Save Time Online
123 Abc Street
Alphabet,
VIC, 3000
www.savetimeonline.com.au
admin@ save time online.com.au
Tri-fold Business
Cards
A new style of
business card is the
tri-fold or A-frame
business card. These are
similar in size to a
normal business card - but
can be opened up and
provide more space for you
to add special offers,
company information and
more. You can also have
the business card as a
tear off - so they can
remove the excess pages
and just keep the business
card details.
Go
to Part 2
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