advertising strategy - hot executive tops

8/8/2019 Advertising Strategy - HOT EXECUTIVE TOPS

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Advertising

strategyCopyright © 2010 Article by Dr. Salim Hajje Ph.D., StrategyConsultant Business Unlimited -

Almost every business needs to promoteitself in some way, reaching out tocustomers and potential customers.

For businesses with large numbers of target customers in well-defined marketsegments, advertising is often acost-effective way of communicatingwith them.

This article covers:

Setting your promotional objectives

and deciding whether to advertise.

Determining your promotional budget.

Deciding where and when toadvertise.

Measuring the effectiveness of your

advertising campaign.

1 Your objectives

Before deciding whether to useadvertising, clarify what you are tryingto achieve.

Your ultimate objective is probably toincrease sales. But your promotionalactivities may focus on intermediateobjectives that make sales and otherbusiness objectives easier at the end of the day.

Draw up a list of SMART objectives(specific, measurable, agreed, realistic,time-limited), against which you can

measure the effectiveness of yourcampaigns (see 6).

A. You may need to create awareness of something, or change customerattitudes.

Creating a reputation as the marketleader may allow you to increase your

prices and win long-term contracts.

Building brand awareness for a

product makes the product easier tosell. It also makes it easier to launch

new products.

Making consumers feel good about

your company can boost sales.

B. You may need to convey a specific one-off message to your market.

For example, informing people of aspecial offer, or a particular benefit of

your product.

C. You may need to prompt specificaction, such as the customer visitingyour premises.

If you are building up a database of leads, your objective might be togather the contact details of potential

customers.

If your product is suitable, yourobjective may be to create sales there

and then.



D. You may need to address yourexisting customers, rather than win newones.

Keeping up ‘front of mind’ awarenessencourages customers to consider youfirst when they place their nextorders.

Be specific about who you are trying tocommunicate with.

2 In the mix

Consider whether advertising is the mostcost-effective way of achieving yourobjective, or whether other forms of promotion would be more effective.

A. Who are you trying to reach?

What common characteristics define

your target market?

For example, consumers in thesame geographical area, individualsfrom the same socio-economicbackground or people who share a

common interest.

Decide if you want to reach end-users

or intermediaries.

Be clear who makes the buying

decision.

B. What media best reach your targetmarket (see 4)?

Advertising is only cost-effective if itreaches a readership or audience whichsignificantly overlaps with your targetaudience.

Advert ising agencies

A. As a rule of thumb, consider using anagency if you plan to spend more than$10,000 on advertising.

Typically, agency fees will amount toaround ten to 15 per cent of your adver-tising budget.

Agencies can usually negotiate discountson advertising that will reduce the costby ten to 15 per cent.

B. Look for an agency that has experience of your industry or type of business.

Consider an agency that deals in otherforms of promotion (eg PR) as advertis-ing may not be the only answer if yourbudget is limited.

C. Ask agencies to prepare a ‘proposal’ foryour business.

Give them a brief , explaining what you aretrying to achieve.

They should be able to suggest:

Where you should advertise.How much you should spend.

Ask them to confirm that they would passmedia-buying discounts on to you.



C. Could advertising carry the rightmessage?

In general, advertisements work bestwhen they carry a concise message.For example, highlighting the thingthat distinguishes your company orbrand from your competitors,reinforcing the main benefit of yourproduct or conveying the impression

that you are a ‘good’ company.

The form of the advertisement may

physically limit what you can say.

For example, banner advertisements on

websites work best if your message canbe boiled down to three or four words.

Your advertisement, and the media inwhich you advertise, must suit yourimage.

D. Would advertising work within yourtimescales?

Preparing an advertisement forpublishing or broadcasting can taketime, depending on the media.

E. Are there cost-effective alternatives?

Depending on your target audience and

advertising objectives, other forms of promotion may be a more effective useof your budget.

For example:

Direct mail with a mailing list that

more closely matches your targetmarket

Personal selling to build relationships

with high-value customers.Merchandising, packaging and

point-of- sale materials for consumerpurchases.

PR for building your reputation overthe longer term .

Trade exhibitions and conferences .A website promoting your company .

3 The budget

Deciding how much you should spend isas much an art as a science.

A. How much do you normally spend?

How much did you spend last year,and how effective was it, in relationto your business objectives?

B. What are your competitors doing?

If your competitors are advertisingheavily, you may need to match theirbudgets to ensure that your message isheard.

If a new competing product has beenlaunched, you may need to fight off the competitive threat.

C. How far are you from achieving yourobjectives?

If you are launching a new productinto a new market, you may need tospend heavily to achieve customerawareness.

If your product is already wellestablished, you may only need a fewadvertisements to keep up ‘front of mind’ awareness.



D. What is your advertising worth toyou?

What sales margins do you make andhow much repeat business can youexpect?

What is the lifetime value of a newcustomer?

Are you considering a brand-buildinginvestment? Are you planning ashort-term sales drive or longer-termawareness?

How effective do you expect youradvertising to be?

Check that your budget is realistic. Howmany extra sales do you need to gener-ate to justify your spend?

E. What media can you afford toconsider?

Your choice of medium will affectbudget decisions, as there may be aminimum threshold of spend to be

effective (see 4).

4 Media selection

Identify your segment of the market anddecide which media best reach yourtarget audience.

A. Finding advertising media isstraightforward — though the choice of media is now vast.

Look at the possibilities, and observewhere your competitors advertise.

Consider traditional, new media and non-mainstream methods (see box).

Ask a selection of people from yourtarget market what they read andwatch.

The choice of publications in somesectors is huge. For example, there areover 200 computer. IT and Internetmagazines, each with its own distinctand loyal following.

Consider the use of a specialist mediabuying agency to help you.

Typical media uses

A Advertising in a local newspaper, if youare a local plumber or an estate agent.

B Advertising in a catering trade magazine,if you are a food wholesaler.

C A display ad in a directory to make yourTV repair service stand out when customersare looking for one.

D Displaying cards in shop windows andputting them through doors, for yourlocal taxi service.

E Classified advertising in an alternativehealth magazine to attract customers toyour acupuncture training courses.

F Sending out leaflets with a reply couponfor more information on your interiordesign service.

G Your own website to make your ‘write-your-own-will’ legal service visible topeople searching the Internet for suppliers.

H Banner advertising on a parentingwebsite to lead customers to your online

toys catalogue.



B. Ask newspaper and magazine advertis-ing departments for media packs.

Look for circulation figures audited byyour local and regional Audit Bureauof Circulations or similar independentagencies.

Ask for a readership profile, whichanalyses characteristics and spendinghabits of readers, including the pro-portions in socio-economic groups A,B, C1, C2, D and E.

Examine advertising rates for differentsizes and types of advertisements and

different positions.

C. Choose the media that match yourneeds. Ask yourself some key questions.

How many members of your targetgroup read a particular publication orvisit a certain website?

Does the publication or site have theright image for your advertisement?

How much will your ad cost to pro-

duce?How much will the ad cost to run?

D. Investigate the scope for negotiation.

You might get a big discount for takingunsold ad space at the last minute.

You might be able to have a larger ador a better position for the sameprice.

Extra discounts may be available for

repeat advertising.

You may get free PR if you run an ad. Smaller media (eg local papers and

trade press) are usually more open to

negotiation.

5 What and when

What you are trying to achieve is centralto your strategy (see 1).Your objectives will-determine whataspects of your product or service youshould highlight and when you shouldadvertise.

A. Your advertising campaign is just one

part of your marketing strategy. Makesure it is suitable for your product orservice.

For example, ads to generateimmediate sales are not effective forproducts that require demonstrating,or that need special skills orknowledge to operate.

B. Your strategy should be based around

promoting a single, solid benefit.It is not enough to say ‘the best’ or even‘free’.

You must know what motivates yourtarget audience.

Make your message stand out andmake it simple.

“To get the best results, design adver-tisements with the needs of particularcustomers in mind. Then target themdirectly, for example using a magazinethey are likely to read or by contactingthem through direct mail.”



C. Consider the timing of your campaign.

When are your target customers likelyto be most receptive to your ad (forexample, for seasonal purchases)?

Plan well in advance. Some publicationsget booked up many months ahead — forexample, Christmas magazines.

When do you want your targets torespond and what is the likely leadtime from advertisement to action?

Will you be able to handle the

response?For example, will you have enoughbrochures and suitably trainedemployees to handle the enquiries? Makesure your response is professional andcarefully planned.

6 Measuring effectiveness

Measure the effectiveness of youradvertising in terms of your objectives.

If your strategic objective is to raise theprofile of the company, you will probablyhave to carry out market researchstudies to find out about customers’attitudes. If your aim is to create sales,

you should be able to measure responsefairly easily and cheaply.

A. Most of your sales advertising can bemonitored simply and directly.

Always ask new enquirers how theyheard about you.

Use coded advertisements.Ask enquirers to quote the code whenthey respond to your ad. You will be ableto trace which ad generated theresponse.Use reply coupons.You will be able to trace the source of the coupon, as well as obtaining

information on the potential customer.Make use of the readers’ reply services

in trade journals.

B. Calculate the total costs of yourcampaign and weigh them against theresponse.Your advertising will not be effective if itis not backed up with trained staff,brochures, adequate stock levels and theability to live up to the promise of the

ad.Make sure you have allowed for all thelikely costs. For example:

The cost of buying advertising space.Design costs, including print

preparation. Brochures and other literature.

“Do not confuse quantity with quality.The Radio Times may have a circulationof ½ million, but if you are aiming for

up-market customers, a ProfessionalTargeted Media Print, with 10,000circulation, will produce a betterresponse.”



The fulfillment cost (goods, postage,delivery, employee costs and so on).

C. Some ads may generate manyresponses but convert few to sales. If your conversion ratio is poor, somethingis going wrong.

Review your brochure or follow-upliterature. It may not provide enoughinformation or live up to the promisesmade in the ad.

Check the employees who are handlingthe response. Telephone staff may not

be sufficiently trained in the rightareas.Re-examine your price structure. The

price you are offering may beunsuitable for your target market.

Advertising which leads to a largenumber of enquiries that do not convertinto sales will work out very expensiveper sale.

Business Unlimited®

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Business Unlimited, InternationallyCertified Consultant will help YouSuccessfully Design, Plan & Run a LongTerm Marketing & Media Strategy

• Formulating Marketing Strategies

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Good Work!

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Dr. Salim Hajje Ph.D.

advertising strategy - hot executive tops

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