Small Business Advertising Mistakes
As a small business or a new business, advertising and marketing may seem daunting. There are so many outlets and options for advertising that you may not know what route is the right one for your business. Fusion Group USA is a full service marketing agency that can help you decide what forms of advertisement will be best for your business. There are some common small business marketing mistakes to be aware of so that you can avoid them when trying to boost your business.
The first mistake is not measuring your results. If you’re just throwing an ad out there and hoping for the best, this is not a good strategy and there’s no way of even knowing if it’s working or worth the money. Tracking how well an ad is doing can be difficult, but one way of telling if an ad is successfully drawing in business is to add a coupon. If you have people bringing in the coupon or calling to inquire about saving money, this could be recorded to see just how successful your ad was. You can do this with print, direct mailings, email marketing, social media, etc.
Another mistake is advertising in the wrong places. You have to know your customer base! On Smalltownmarketing.com, Tom Egelhoff discusses this issue and suggests developing a profile of your target market to gain a better understanding of how to market to them. Don’t simply base your advertising on what you think will work best. For example, if you listen to the radio every day and decide that you want to put an ad on your favorite radio station, this doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful. What if your existing customer base or prospective customers download music on their cell phones or MP3 players, completely avoiding radio? You’ve just wasted your money on an ad that won’t even reach the people that are most likely to buy from you. Understand the demographic you are trying to market to, and do some research.
In advertising and marketing, you want to be sure to remain consistent with your message because this is how your brand identity is formed. Consistency in message and timing is important to retain that brand recognition among your target market. In addition to this, don’t just stop investing in advertising because business is good. You have to keep up with your competition at all times. If there is a lull in your ad campaign, and your competitors capitalize on this by offering special deals, you will lose customers. You have to stay on top of the competition and be sure to budget accordingly.
On last common advertising mistake is choosing only one or two marketing channels. Let’s say you jumped into the social networking craze with both feet, and you only use Facebook or Twitter to advertise. You’re only appealing to one specific demographic here. You have to diversify your ad campaign and include both online and offline marketing strategies to appeal to a larger group of people. Selecting only one or two channels because you want to save money or you want to do it yourself could end up hurting you in the long run. You have to see your advertising and marketing campaigns as an investment, not an expense.
If you own a small business, advertising and marketing are important to help you stay ahead of your competition. Investing in both online and offline advertising can help boost your business and expand your market. If you’re not sure where to start, Fusion Group USA can help you. Being based in both Grand Junction, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona gives Fusion Group USA the insight into smaller and larger markets. We have the experience and knowledge to create a marketing campaign perfect for your business and within your budget.
