Our football, netball, basketball,
table tennis and squash teams were of the highest
standard, winning major trophies each year. We advised
government officials, community organisations and
others, both at home and abroad. There are a host of
other things that we did and I suppose if I were to
mention them all, this page would be too large and
unbelievable. Yet one of our biggest downfalls was our
inability to advertise and promote our business to our
customers. Whenever the press reported a negative aspect
about the organisation, all our customers knew was what
the press had reported. If you wish to remain in
business, a planned advertising and promotional campaign
is a must. Even though I have learnt the expensive and
hard way, I have still learnt that:
Good
Advertising and promotion
Sells
Advertising and promotion is a major
financial gamble with no guarantees that the customer
will co-operate. However, your chances of success will
be increased if you follow some basic principles. By
concentrating on the laws of advertising and promotion
you will be greatly rewarded.
1.
In order to be effective in
your advertising and promotional campaign, you must
first identify who your customers are. To advertise and
promote to everyone, you could be spreading your wings
too far too soon and this could be a huge waste of your
time and money. What colour, age, size, sex or shape are
your customers? Are they rich, poor or famous? Where do
they work, socialise, eat or get entertained? What are
their interests and hobbies? What books, newspapers,
magazines, comics or articles do they read. Knowing your
customers makes advertising and promotion very easy.
Having identified the segment of the
market or the customers that you wish to do business
with, now identify the unique selling points of your
service or product. The unique selling point is the
reason why your customers should do business with you
and not your competitor. If you are not able to identify
and communicate the uniqueness of your service or
product to your customers, you will lose business. You
have now identified the segment of the market and the
unique selling points of your service and product. Now
concentrate your time, effort and finance in those
areas. Remember to stay focused on these three areas:
Segmentation
Unique
selling points
Concentration
2. In pursuit of excellence in
the area of advertising and promotion, you must develop
and write a plan of action. Failing to plan means that
you have planned to fail. In your plan, you must clearly
identify the following:
Why: must it be done
What: must be done
Who: will do it
How: will it be done
Where: will it be done
When: must it be done by
Resources: needed
Cost: of overall plan
Risks: associated with it
Success criteria: how will
they be measured
3. Regard every contact your
organisation makes with the customer either by letter,
telephone call, sales, promotional souvenirs or personal
contact as an act of advertising and promotion. Use your
business cards, letter heads and complimentary slips to
also advertise and promote your business. Continually
ask yourself, "What messages do they convey?" If it is
negative, get rid of it immediately or it will get rid
of your business.
4. The market is saturated with
thousands of promotional adverts of other products and
services. Therefore, design your campaign in such a
creative way to capture the hearts and minds of your
customers. Always ask yourself these questions:
|
a |
What message do I want to convey?
|
|
b |
Is it easy to read? |
|
c |
Is it immediately understandable to all ages? |
|
d |
Is the most important message in front?
|
|
e |
Is the headline powerful enough?
|
|
f |
Does it clearly indicate the benefits? |
|
g |
Have I used short words, sentences and paragraphs? |
|
h |
What am I asking my customers to do? |
Test your campaign with at least ten
customers and pay attention to their opinions. If you
design a campaign that works, use it for as long as it
gives you the desired results. Customers are busy and
intelligent, always on the look out for a bargain, so
remember to:
Keep
It
Short and
Simple
5. Consult experienced people
before you make your final decision. Use the most cost
effective method to get your message to the customers.
Having pinpointed accurately who your customers are, you
can choose from the following channels: television,
radio adverts and interviews, bill boards, direct mail,
train stations, buses, local or national newspapers,
magazines, home flyers, newsletters, press releases and
others.
6. When you prepare an
advertisement, always use a (COP) Creative, Outstanding
and Powerful headline. A creative headline as part of
your ad could improve it by approximately 50% or more.
Take time to discover a headline that will cause your
audience to stand to attention.
7. Look at other organisations
advertising and promotional campaigns and see if there
are any ideas you can use for your campaign. Why waste
time inventing the wheel when it has already been
invented.
8. If customers do not get the
service and product that the advertising and promotional
campaign suggested, you will lose credibility.
9. Failing to evaluate will
result in you not knowing where you went wrong. Always
evaluate your campaign to see if you have achieved the
results you desired. For your next campaign you can
easily:
Build
on your
Strengths
Eliminate
your
Weaknesses
Exploit
your
Opportunities
Remove
all
Threats
©