The advertising industry in general has seen their revenue dropping rapidly for
major media outlets like television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and even the
internet. For these businesses being hurt by the recession is a common place these days.
A key question for the small home business owner is:
What should you do? Do I advertise or not?

In my opinion as business owner, no matter how small. you should still advertise
as it is the life blood for any business to have new fresh traffic coming in
through your doors or making it to your check out page on your web site. However,
you may need to blend together more than one method, such as old fashion face to
face offline marketing with online marketing strategies depending on your type of industry.

Lets look into this a little further….

For the traditional brick and mortar businesses the temptation is to stop or sharply
reduce advertising expenses in an effort to save money.

Some food for thought questions you should ask yourself are; 

* is it wise to invest more in advertising in the hopes
  of generating new customers during these economic times?

* should I be advertising with lower mark-up on my stock?

* is this the right thing to do?

* is there a good low cost balance that can be achieved between advertising and no advertising?

* how much will my business suffer if I don’t advertise at all?

These questions and many others I have asked myself.

Coming to the conclusion even though I make a little less profit by reducing my markup,
I can keep potential customers coming in. By reinforcing your name or products
with customer minds more often than not is worth more in repeat or referral sales
versus the large profits gained from one time sales.

So what’s next? Lets look at this problem from a few perspectives.
 
A disciplined approach process from the ancient historic past can sometimes help you
determine the right path for your business.
For example; A prophet named Isaiah wrote, “Present your case, says the Lord.
(Isaiah 41:21 NASB), in that time God was telling his children of Israel to be plain about
their wishes, when talking to God or their king. In today’s tough business atmosphere,
we must bring forth a clear and targeted advertising campaign to get customers to
notice our traditional businesses. If you are into internet marketing on the other hand,
the direct approach in online marketing doesn’t work, it’s considered noise, spam,
irritating advertising. Especially when dealing with social networks like Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube etc…

So how is a small or home business going to advertise? Again, it depends on what your
market or niche is; Do you have a local brick and mortar office/shop that caters to your
local community or is it a product/service that can be marketed around the world?

Lets look at the options;
 
#1 – Is it a major need! One option is to position your product as a “necessity.”
Most prospective customers won’t buy items that are just nice to have in this
economic climate, but are essential.
Example; Pest control companies advertise termite protection. Pictures of ugly
little bugs eating away at your home inspire many to act. The advertising message
is clear: sign up for our service now or your house may fall down later.

Or
 
A heating and cooling contractor who targeted older homes in Arizona. The advertising
message was: “When your air-conditioning system fails, call us and we will get a
replacement installed the same day.” When the temperatures reach over 100F degrees
in the summer, air conditioning is a necessity, not a luxury. The company used
direct mail and circulars in their advertising to hit the right spots at the right time
for their local market.
 
#2 – It’s the best deal! Another way to target advertising is to clearly offer the
best value. Customers have less money to spend, so they must choose each purchase carefully.
Discount stores or fast food restaurants for example are better able to cope
during these times as they are able to satisfy our need to treat ourselves,
but at a less cost than a high end luxury restaurant. If you are able to maintain your
value or add extra value to your product/service without increasing your prices.
Customers are more likely to keep coming back and or budget for a purchase later.
 
#3 – Most advertising in the past was designed to promote product awareness or a
company image. This is usually for the large multinational Fortune 500 companies
that spend millions of dollars in TV, Radio and Print Media advertising.In my view,
this is simply not a successful way to promote in our consumer wise market place,
as it wastes money you don’t have for results that may take months to see any kind
of return on investment. In today’s market, experience shows it is simply unwise
to advertise for brand awareness and image. This marketing approach needs to be more
focus on a few things.
  
Effective advertising today needs to answer three key questions:
1. What are you selling?
2. What is the key reason a customer should buy?
3. How can you create a call to action to motivate a prospect into becoming a customer?

For example;

The air-conditioning contractor is selling a fix to a homeowner with
a broken air conditioner, TODAY! The customer is someone with the need now, not later.
Another air-conditioning contractor may offer the most energy efficient models that
appeal to long-term cost advantages, over time, to save them money in the long run.
The “immediate fix” buyer is different from the “long-term economy” buyer and each
customer must be targeted in a different way.

The best advertising gives the precise benefit to a buyer and tells why they should act.
The termite exterminator creates an image that 40% of the homes in an area have
termites and that these pesky critters could be eating away at your homes right now.

The “Get a Grip” ad on TV demonstrates you need to buy the portable grip to avoid
falling in the shower. If you don’t need it, your parents probably do. The key is to
understand the value proposition, the reason why someone should buy, and then
highlight that need.
 
Finally, create a call to action by identifying exactly what you want the customer
to do and by when. The TV ads selling kitchen appliances, gardening supplies and
home gadgets ask you to call now, drop by the store NOW! If you want to generate
traffic today try offering a free or low cost trial product to people who are already
familiar limited time offers.

As the ancient King Solomon observed,
“a gift opens the way for the giver…” (Proverbs 18:16 NIV).

When you have a clear message in your traditional business, invest in a
well-executed local ad. Better to spend $1,000 for expert execution and then
$2,000 on media campaign that is to broad a target and fails to hit the mark.
Running a high quality and well thought out advertisement is far better than several
low quality ads run sparingly throughout the year.
 
Remember your focused advertising must be a great and necessary way to get customers
to come to you in this difficult economic environment, if you do it the right way.
Your investment will greatly pay off in the end. Especially if you can produce one
good marketing campaign for each quarter of your year.  

So how about those small/home businesses who have little to no marketing budget,
what can we do?

There are few avenues you can take;

1) Capitalize on the old school of “word of mouth” advertising for your local area.

2) Expand that “word of mouth” advertising to the internet in a controlled focused manner.

3) Pay for your marketing budget by offering related marketing products and services
   to other businesses that are not in your niche.

4) Develop and maintain a relationship with your list of prospects for your
   primary product/service.
  
5) Develop and maintain a relationship with your list of business owners who are 
   not related in your industry.
  
6) Have a marketing system that you can learn for yourself as well as can teach to others.

For further answers to these questions be sure to click on the links included in this article as well as the rest of the site. If you have any questions, fill out the brief survey on the top right of this page  and provide your phone number and I can return a call to you to help you to the best of my ability.