The Media Professional

Small business owners need to determine how they want their their advertising handled; like a casual Lotto ticket purchase or a crucial business investment.

Consider this. So many times, small businessmen and women decide to ‘try’ advertising in the newspaper. They want to see if it works. They want to put a little bit into the effort to see if they get enough bang for the buck. They don’t have money to waste like big companies.

Here is the truth backed up by hundreds of years of experience by a mature industry.

If done properly, advertising in the newspaper will bring a business the customers it needs. If done properly, advertising in the newspaper will show a large return on investment. If done properly, advertising in the newspaper will make all other advertising efforts more successful.

Much advertising by small business follows a pattern of buying an ad in the paper and trying to determine whether there are enough customers coming through the door to pay for it. If there is an immediate response to the ad, everything is fine. The effort continues until the first downturn in sales.

At that point, the advertiser becomes vulnerable to the first media person to step through the door with an offer of something else.

That medium is tried. Again, if it is perceived as immediately successful, it replaces the former effort. And again, the effort is continued until the next downturn in sales when it is replaced by yet another, according to its sales rep, sure fire advertising medium.

This cycle is repeated endlessly in many small businesses. But when the business finally closes, the owner returns to the newspaper to advertise his going out of business sale.

His approach is much like buying a Lotto ticket. He gets immediate feedback as to whether the investment produced a return. As long as he’s winning, everything is fine with buying Lotto tickets.

But if he loses money at Lotto for a while, what do he do? He switches. He tries scratch-offs or on-line betting or visits the casinos. He tries different things to find out what works.

Here’s a secret. The big companies didn’t get that way by wasting advertising dollars on every exciting new concept that is presented to them. They stick with mainline media for one reason only. They sell product. They know that the message is more important than the medium that delivers it.

Pick an established medium. Craft an excellent message or pay someone to craft an excellent message. Run it as much as you can afford to run it.

That way, you’re treating your advertising like an investment and can expect a return on your investment that will last for years.

J.David Knepper
Audio version

Tags: Advertising, Agency, Amendment Five, Broadcast, Major Media, New Media // Add Comment »