Posts Tagged ‘media’

Marketing Chalk Talk: Spending vs. Investing Your Ad Dollars

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

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Don’t just SPEND your marketing budget, INVEST it! Invite the right people into your business and keep inviting them…Top Of Mind Awareness is key for consistent business growth.

I hear many questions about advertising from local business owners…among the most asked is, I don’t know if my budget is large enough or how to get started?
I always say it’s not rocket science…just know who your target demo is and reach out to them, invite them into your business. The demographic you want to reach or should be reaching is usually the age, gender, etc. of the person that spends the most on the items/services that brings you the greatest return.
Once you figure out who those people are, start talking to them, be it radio, TV, print, internet, outdoor billboard, what ever the medium you choose, make sure you’re consistent. Don’t just advertise for a week or a month…NEVER spend all of your budget in one full splurge. Stretch it out and be consistent…did I mention consistency is key?
It’s better to build up your frequency factor over a long period of time, reaching those consumers that are in the market for your products or services NOW and those that WILL BE in the future. If you have a call to action product or service, there is a way to make that work as well while increasing your business consistently.
If you have a large budget, by all means go for it! Invest, Invest, Invest! But for those of you who don’t have that LARGE budget to compete with national business, be smart and invest your ad dollars wisely. Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) is key to business growth and that is achieved by being consistent.
When it’s done right, it is an investment, not an expenditure. After all, if you put your hard earned money into something that makes you more money than what you put in, isn’t that an investment? The answer is yes…ding ding ding, what do we have for them Johhhhn-nneeee!

Make it Count…

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

…if you’re on a tight budget, or even if you’re NOT. Get to the point when marketing your business. Reaching the demographics that will “grow” your business isn’t difficult, but speaking to them in the manner in which they preferred to be pitched is another. GenX and GenY peeps don’t like loooooong, draggy blah blah blahs. They want YOU, the advertiser to get to the point. If you’re doing TV or Radio, a quick :15 to :30 invite is all you need. If you’re doing print or social media networking (hopefully you’re definitely doing the latter). You can give a quick snippet as to why you’re better than your competitor, without bashing your competition. Mainly, just tell them who you are, why they should come to you and your website, period.

RT Marketing on Social Media Networks…hurting your business or helping?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

If you’re adding to the top of mind awareness and branding of your business through social media networking, you may want to double check your approach. I’ve seen businesses that are “selling” or “pimping” their product on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other sites and it makes me go . Seriously, if you consider the fact that we as consumers are constantly being sold, ’round the clock, so what makes you think we want to be sold when we’re trying to socialize albeit online and more specifically on our “social” sites? It’s one thing to take out an ad, that is expected, but if you are trying to gain loyalty and new customers through social media networking through your blogs or status updates, just consider the following tidbits of info:
DON’TS
1. Don’t sell, period
2. Don’t ADVERTISE specials or prices…that’s selling
3. Don’t offer sampling of any kind…again, that’s selling
3. Don’t knock any competition
DO’S
1. Do offer informative info that peeps can use
2. Do suggest, but indirectly
3. Do include a personal connection with friends, fans and followers
4. Do make it more personal by using YOUR personality

And if you’re Tweeting, I recommend using your own personal pic…even use a pic taken by a cell phone or something. People appreciate real and down to earthiness people they can relate to and more importantly, trust.

RT @wordspreadmedia Social Media Networking…hurting your business or helping?

Friday, December 18th, 2009

If you’re adding to the top of mind awareness and branding of your business through social media networking, you may want to double check your approach. I’ve seen businesses that are “selling” or “pimping” their product on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other sites and it makes me go . Seriously, if you consider the fact that we as consumers are constantly being sold, ’round the clock, so what makes you think we want to be sold when we’re trying to socialize albeit online and more specifically on our “social” sites? It’s one thing to take out an ad, that is expected, but if you are trying to gain loyalty and new customers through social media networking through your blogs or status updates, just consider the following tidbits of info:
DON’TS
1. Don’t sell, period
2. Don’t ADVERTISE specials or prices…that’s selling
3. Don’t offer sampling of any kind…again, that’s selling
3. Don’t knock any competition
DO’S
1. Do offer informative info that peeps can use
2. Do suggest, but indirectly
3. Do include a personal connection with friends, fans and followers
4. Do make it more personal by using YOUR personality

And if you’re Tweeting, I recommend using your own personal pic…even use a pic taken by a cell phone or something. People appreciate real and down to earthiness people they can relate to and more importantly, trust. Have a great weekend!!