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"What Advertising I Should Use and How Long It Will Take" Guideline
Use this simple guide to feel confident and stay sane when choosing which new or old marketing media you want to use. Trust me, this can be essential in planning your marketing and give you a realistic timeframe for your creative process, production and mailing or ad placement. Direct Mail: How it benefits your business: With direct mail, especially postcards, you’re able to send a high quality ad directly to your target market with a specific message. Budget-wise, this helps you cut down on your cost-per-lead because you qualify the list before your postcards go out. With a printed piece, your reader will be able to hold the ad in their hands and read it at their speed and convenience — enabling a higher chance of them keeping it in case they aren’t ready to call right away.
You can also track how many customers redeem the postcard and direct leads to your website. Timeline: One month to leave time for changes and printing Radio: How it benefits your business: In radio, you can reach an enormous audience through drive-time talk programs, morning shows and shock-jocks. You can also narrow down your target market by advertising on a variety of stations such as sports, religious, country, Top 40 and more. The biggest benefit is that it is affordable. The production of a 30-second spot and buying the ad time is well within most small businesses’ budgets. The only downside…it is hard to track your response.
Timeline: 2 weeks to leave room for changes and editing Website: How it benefits your business: 90% of consumers will visit your website before calling or visiting you. That’s a huge percentage! Your website may be the first impression you make, so having a professional, lead-generating site will keep your visitor interested. Main benefits include:
Timeline: 3 weeks to eternity! Changes can be instant, it really depends on your website developer’s timeline and how complex your project may be. Email Marketing: How it benefits your business: Email marketing is an effective follow-up tool that helps you close more leads — plus it’s VERY affordable to set up and you can send with little preparation.
Timeline: At minimum, 3 days to a one week to plan for copywriting, design and HTML programming. Social Media: How it benefits your business: You can use social media both to talk directly to your customers and to find people who can help you build your business — it will also create a lot of positive word-of-mouth at no cost to you.
Timeline: Instant TV: How it benefits your business: TV allows you to convey your message with sight, sound and motion, which can give your product or service instant credibility. As a small business, go with a local ad or advertise on cable — this will keep your costs down significantly. Note: It can still be one of the more expensive ways to go — script writing, shooting, production and actors’ pay adds up.
Timeline: Minimum 6–8 weeks to leave time for production, editing and voiceover work. Creating a winning concept, getting the artwork together, choosing a mailing list, coordinating your message and hiring talent takes work — but it’s worth it! Need help putting together a full, effective marketing program? Call our marketing consultants now at 1-800-628-1804.
– – – Joy Gendusa She has been named Tampa Bay CEO of the Year, Business Woman of the Year in Tampa Bay and has been featured on MSNBC's "Your Business." PostcardMania is an Inc. 500 and 5000 company and has won awards for creativity, best business practices and leadership. Find Joy on Google+ Visit PostcardMania.com If you would like to interview Joy or book her as a speaker, please email joyspeak@postcardmania.com or call 800-628-1804 ext. 281. Suggested Reading
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