- Many starting business owners put the cart before the horse when it comes to advertising. They think they need to advertise publicly first before they start to build up a client base. This is a mistaken view with few exceptions. Even inexpensive advertising should only be used after the business model has been tested and proven on a smaller scale. Advertising is an additional expense that has no guaranteed returns.
- Advertising works best when used as only one component of a multi-faceted growth strategy. Think about the most successful public companies and their advertising strategies. Brand recognition strengthens only after years of repetitive advertising. Your goal is to imprint your product or service into the mind of the consumer, so that when they have a choice on the market, they will be predisposed to choose your company over the competitors.
- If you run a company that primarily services a local market, don't advertise nationally. Target local newspapers and blogs for small-scale advertising campaigns. Consider using fliers, stickers and other inexpensive ideas. Taking out advertising space in the local yellow pages also helps. Give out magnets with your company name and logo to clients. Referrals from clients are the most cost-effective form of advertising. You can even offer a special rebate to customers who refer a new paying client.
- Inexpensive online advertising campaigns such as text-based ads through either Google or Yahoo! are cheap marketing initiatives for companies that provide services to small, specific niches. These ads show up when people use their email clients or conduct searches related to your company. This gives your website a significant boost on the search rankings without needing to go through the arduous process of increasing your search engine rank. As more people are directed to your site through the text advertising, you build up search rank passively. In turn, this drives more traffic to your website.
- The effects of advertising can be highly unpredictable. Merely because a certain advertising strategy seems to work for a short period of time does not mean that spending more time on that market will have commensurate returns. It can be rather easy to saturate a potential market with advertising in a short period of time, reducing its overall effectiveness. Diversify your low-cost ad campaign rather than placing all of your advertising budget into one or two outlets. Using this approach will keep your marketing budget low while you learn which avenues are the most profitable for your business.
- Paying attention to advertising costs early on in your business helps to ensure its future. Carefully evaluate success rates of every new addition to your advertising strategy. Track referrals coming into your website so you know where your clients are coming from. Get to know your typical client pool. Research other ways to reach them so that you can increase your company's share of potential customers. (see Resources below.)
