Whatever type of business you are, and whatever your size, at some point it is likely you will consider some form of advertising to promote your services or products.
You want to generate greater awareness of what you provide, leading to new sales and a pipeline of customers.
But for many business owners, the challenge is where to advertise and which medium or platform is going to generate the greatest return on investment (ROI).
The truth is there are countless ways for a business to advertise. Additionally, there are numerous methods and approaches to tracking advertising effectiveness.
The right type of advertising for your business
For many global brands that invest millions, and sometimes billions, of pounds into broadcast (television and radio) advertising, proof of advertising effectiveness is less about immediate sales from customers. Instead, it’s about raising awareness of their brand consistently and over the course of many years.
But for many smaller businesses, this just isn’t an option. In reality their advertising objectives are more immediate and sales targeted. For them, print and online advertising represent the best routes to attracting customers and generating new sales quickly and effectively.
Both mediums have their advantages when it comes to advertising. But with print advertising, effectiveness can often be harder to measure. Tracking codes and coupons (which can also be used in online advertising) can partially demonstrate how effective a print advert was. However, the business owner has no evidential way to know how many people actually saw their advert or read it. Or even if it resonated with their target audience.
And as has been widely reported for a number of years, the circulation of many print advertising platforms such as newspapers and magazines has been falling consistently year on year. The fact is that fewer and fewer people are interested in, or have the time to read, these publications. This has led to some businesses focusing instead on direct mail and leaflets, often sent out in a scattergun fashion.
With online advertising, the business owner has the option to quickly and easily change the design and wording of their advert to improve its effectiveness
The growth of online advertising
For these reasons, online advertising has boomed in recent years, and continues to grow. Unlike print, the effectiveness of online advertising is far easier to track. Statistics are available to measure everything from number of views, to click-through (conversion) rates.
Online advertising can also be highly targeted, both in terms of target locations and audience types. Business owners can even measure when and on which type of devices people viewed their advert. This could be a desktop PC or laptop, all the way through to mobile phones, tablets, or Smart TVs.
The fact that online advertising is also usually far cheaper than print advertising, and that business owners can manage their advertising spend far easier, has also contributed to the huge growth in this method of promotion in recent years.
Maximise your advertising effectiveness
But with any form of advertising, format or platform, the key is a constant presence and communicating the right message. A one-off advert seen for a short period of time is unlikely to generate customer attention or build awareness of your business in the long term. Likewise, a poor message or lack of clarity in what you are trying to promote or get across is unlikely to prove effective, no matter where it is seen. With online advertising, the business owner has the option to quickly and easily change the design and wording of their advert to improve its effectiveness. This is something which isn’t generally possible with print advertising.
To ensure your advertising is as effective as possible, make sure you know the target audience you want to reach. And be sure that you know which methods will best grab their attention, and that your message is crystal clear.
And remember that advertising effectiveness can be measured in many different ways, depending on your objective. Are you looking for an immediate reaction and quick new sales? Or are you more focused on raising your brand awareness over a period of time?
Call us today or go to our Advertise With Us page to find out how The Local View can help you reach your target audience and generate more customer interest.
