Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Gettr, TicToc, direct mail, print advertising, outdoor advertising, broadcast... aye-ya-aye! What is one to do? If I had a one-size-fits-all marketing answer, I'd have written a book and be sipping margaritas in Mexico right now. All joking aside, the smart thing to do is to keep your customer in mind and remember advertising outlets are designed to create buying action from buyers. What works for one business never works for all.
Advertising mediums are not mutually exclusive but somewhat intrinsically intertwined. For example, a post on Twitter or Facebook leads to a blog that leads to a company's website that was advertised via print advertising, broadcast, and billboard, generating the post in the first place.
Investing your hard-earned advertising dollars in a medium that doesn't effectively reach your target market will not hurt you, but it doesn't give you the most bang for your buck.
This 573 Magazine Story is sponsored by WorkSPACE co-working office space in Farmington, Missouri.
Having a clear and consistent message that accurately depicts your business in a way that illustrates your point of difference in as little time as possible is crucial. How you do what you do drives the message. You have to deliver what was promised in the message. Keep this message in every form of advertising that you do. I mean EVERYTHING. This is how you develop your brand. This is how the community comes to know you.
Now, advertise this message in the most effective way to reach your target market. Visualize a rock dropping in a pond and the ripple effect that follows. Where the rock entered the pond is similar to the most effective way of reaching your target market. If you have limited resources, you start and end there. You continue working to the outer ring if you have abundant resources. Investing your hard-earned advertising dollars in a medium that doesn't effectively reach your target market will not hurt you, but it doesn't give you the most bang for your buck.
In the end, the customers' experience is what will bring the customer back for more of a product or service. As a marketeer, your goal is to capture those unique variables and use the tools available to tell the story. The very first place to start is by knowing your clients and how to reach them. If you don't know, then ask.
Make decisions based on your client's likes and dislikes, not on your personal preferences.
For example, does your typical customer use YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram religiously? If not, then don't use it. Does your customer listen to classical music or rap? Advertise on the appropriate radio station—rent billboards in areas where your potential customers travel. Make decisions based on your client's likes and dislikes, not on your personal preferences. Use an online survey only with a customer base that's computer and internet-savvy.
Marketing is not an event but a process and good marketing has a plan for the process. Know your client and know your plan.
Denelle Smugala is the proprietor of Image Maker Marketing in Farmington. Denelle draws upon her 25 + years of marketing experience spanning from national to local markets, applying street-smart marketing to help business owners position and promote their goods and services successfully.
words by d. smugala
pics by t. smugala
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