Every company has been forced to re-think and make cuts to their marketing program. Making cut-backs in the right places is a tall task. If your company is cutting back on advertising the answer is no. Sales are already down as a result of the recession, and when a company stops advertising to save money, sales plummet even further. As we round the corner out of this recession now is a perfect time to properly re-build your advertising program.
There are still ways to continue advertising without completely cutting the advertising budget. It is important to start looking at advertising differently to both stretch the budget and generate qualified leads. A successful advertising program will include a wide range of opportunities from print to online sources, and you need to take a hard look at all of them. Here are the steps to review what you need to accomplish and the advertising opportunities that can get you there.
Step 1. Know Your Buyer
This seems simple but too often, advertisements are not talking to the right people. Read the media kits carefully to understand the people receiving the publication. In all cases, ask what their response rates have typically been for similar advertisers. Take a look to see if your competitors are advertising in these sources. And, importantly determine if this publication (online or print) covers your targeted area; for example, if you sell robotics, you would want a publication to be writing about automation on a pretty regular basis.
Step 2. Make Your New Stuff Easy to be Found
Don't run an advertisement on a featured new item that hasn't been uploaded to your Website. The goal of any advertisement is to generate qualified leads by encouraging them to make a phone call or visit your Web. Once you get them to your Web, make sure it is super easy for them to find your featured item, in detail.
Step 3. Advertising Costs
If you have selected a publication (online or print), let the negotiations begin! To maximize an advertising budget a company should run the least expensive ad possible that will still reach a large amount of consumers and likely buyers. It's essential to remember a well designed ad will always help your product to get noticed. During a recession, times are tight for everyone including the media. This means many media outlets will be willing to negotiate deals and offer specials. Areas they will often offer specials include 4-color at the 2-color rate or a buy two get a third free, or receive a free banner advertisement with the purchase of a print advertisement. The latter also gives you the ability to try a new source, for free.
Step 4. Try New Outlets with Press Releases, for Free!
If a publication has been bending your ear about trying their publication, send them your press releases to see the response rates. It is always a good idea to be on top of new opportunities that you haven't tried, by continually sending them your news announcements. Outlets that will welcome your news include print, newspapers, tabloids, tradeshow publications, online portals, online publications, and news directories. Don't forget to track where your leads come from, and you may be pleasantly surprised to find them coming from a new source that featured your press release. Knowing the outlets your audience deems valuable is priceless.
Step 5. The Beauty of Online Advertising Sources
There are many online sources these days and we suggest evaluating all of them. Online sources unlike print, have the inherent ability to report back quantifiable results. Banner advertisement click rates to your Web, and conversion rates from viewers clicking on your whitepaper are all available through online sources. With online advertising, it is easy to ask the publisher to provide statistics from similar types of companies to really know, if your audience reads a particular e-newsletter, Website, or online directory. It is also important to check your Web statistics to see which online sources are bringing viewers to your Web.
Our advertising budgets always include print advertising along with a variety of quantifiable online products including: directory advertising, banner advertisements, adwords for search engine optimization, targeted newsletters, as well as company developed e-newsletters. Banner advertising, which used to be a royal waste of money years ago has turned itself around with the help of strong database management tools. Finally, you can have your banner appear on certain sites, after your particular targeted keywords have been entered. Voila, your advertisement is only talking to people that are interested in your product line.
Probably the biggest problem with Internet opportunities is that there are so many of them. If you are a manufacturer, there are general manufacturing Websites, directories, magazines and online e-newsletters. Drill it down to more specific areas such as packaging manufacturing, and you have another entire host of opportunities to select from.
Step 6. Competitively Speaking
Chances are your competitors have cut their advertising budgets, making this an ideal time for you to benefit from their short-sided market reaction (as the consumer no longer sees their product). Chances are also good that in addition to cutting their advertising budget, they also cut their public relations efforts and R&D activities to develop new products. Grab the brass ring by making your company more visible and you will make your company much more accessible to the consumer.
Step 7. All About Frequency
We always say, more is better as long as it is targeted. Maintaining visibility must continue, even through a recession. Advertising research shows that consumers need to see an ad five to seven times before responding. Buyers won't necessarily notice the ad immediately, unless they are in the market for your product, so don't pull the ad prematurely. If your company isn't visible to the consumer when they enter the market for a product, then your company won't be considered in the buying decision.
Step 8. How to Re-Build your Advertising Program
If you are re-building your advertising program, consider smaller advertisements, 2 color versus expensive 4-color, and perhaps a reduced number of print or online advertisements. People don't like buying products from a stranger, so keep advertising even if your budget is getting smaller.
The key thing to remember as we work our way out of this recession is that advertising remains important. Be sure to target your marketing strategy, while increasing advertising at the same time. Continue to advertise in both print and online media to increase the chances of being noticed by the public, so when a consumer is ready to buy a product your company will make the sale.
Marketing Options is a full service marketing consulting firm with. Web design, e-marketing, public relations, sales, research and marketing support specifically for manufacturing companies. The company serves these industries: plastics, foundry, packaging, steel, custom machinery, automation, die casting, robotics, integrators, metal, printing, and specialty equipment.
Contact:
Barbara Castilano
Tel: 937/436-2648
Email: bcast@moptions.com, Web: www.moptions.com
 |
All comment postings require your name and email address for user verification only. Your email address will not be used or distributed for any other purpose.
No advertising is permitted and will result in the post being deleted and/or banning. Please click "REPORT" to report any inappropriate posts. blog comments powered by Disqus
Permission to Reproduce:
Unless otherwise stated, the copyright and similar rights to all material published on this website are owned by The Manufacturers Group Inc. DBA Manufacturing & Technology eJournal( mfrtech.com ). Reproduction of any article in print, electronic or any other form must acknowledge mfrtech.com as the Source and include a link to http://www.mfrtech.com
 |
