Alternatives to Traditional Advertising to Promote Your Business
Most businesses spend money on advertising, and some of it is well-spent. A lot of it however, is wasted, and it's difficult to identify which part of your advertising expenditure has simply disappeared out the window to little or no effect.
Yet, traditionally, some of the biggest battles in marketing have been fought out in the advertising media on the assumption that the biggest spender gets the biggest share-of-market. And perhaps in years past when there were just a few marketing channels and an equally small number of big marketers, that approach might actually have worked. There was usually a close relationship between money spent on advertising and money earned in sales.
But what must be remembered is that advertising is just one element of marketing and times have changed dramatically. These days you're as likely to see advertising on rest room walls as on television, and even objects like drink coasters and the grassy surfaces of sports grounds have become accepted advertising media.
If you're concerned that your advertising spent isn't bringing in the return it should be, then it's time to start asking why.
The first question is: Who do you want to reach with your message? If you can't define who your target audience is, you're probably wasting a lot of what you spend. And besides knowing who already buys your product, it's worthwhile to think about who else might buy it if they only knew more about it.
When you know the type of consumers you want to reach and their behavior patterns, like what they read, what they watch, what sort of messages they react to, and what events they attend, then you've gone a long way towards understanding which media outlet to use.
You can spend a ton of money building up a brand name through the common marketing channels but still be a stranger to a whole group of potential customers who don't tune in to these.
Try something that's worked for some of the world's best marketers. Cut your advertising budget by 25% but still try and generate the same amount in sales. That's part one. Next, take what you've cut from advertising and use it to fund more closely-targeted marketing activities and promotions. Just making this much effort will radically change your thinking on how to promote.
Think way outside the box - consider new media, sponsorships, events and other things you're not doing at present. Challenge yourself to come up with more original ideas. You may find that simply by focusing your attention on discovering alternatives to your present advertising, you come up with a better option that lets you cut your budget and retain an effective marketing presence.
For example, if you can acquire a mailing list of the people or businesses that form your target audience, you have the option of going direct to them instead of using the 'shotgun' approach. If you can get your name across to the right people by such means as sponsoring your local football team or a public concert, consider how valuable that might be. There's a lot you can do that doesn't fall into the 'traditional' idea of what advertising is but still puts your business name in front of prospects.
One auto parts supplier found that by using their advertising budget to publish a magazine targeted at those who were interested in classic cars, they dramatically increased their sales and created a profitable publication.
Marketing can be done in more ways than just the traditional advertisement. You should consider all your options before planning your next campaign and see if other forms of promotion might offer a worthwhile alternative. |
