Some Advertising Ideas for Small Businesses

Newspaper advertising

Besides box ads and advertising inserts, local newspapers also often offer special advertising features showcasing particular businesses – all powerful small business advertising opportunities. Don’t overlook special interest newspapers as an advertising idea if they exist in your area. They may be delivered to exactly the audience you want to reach.

Direct mail

Direct mail can be very effective small business advertising – and is much more favourably received than other direct marketing media, such as email or telemarketing. And even if you don’t have a mailing list, you can still geographically target your mail.

Magazine advertising

This advertising idea can be a very effective way of reaching a target market. The trick is to choose the magazines or e-zines that best match the market you’re targeting.

Business cards

Sure, they’re advertising. Every time you hand one out to a prospective client or customer, you’re advertising your small business. But why not take this advertising idea further and Make Your Business Card a Marketing Vehicle?

Joining professional/business organizations

Every professional or business organization offers exclusive advertising opportunities for their members, ranging from free promotion on the organization’s website through special section newspaper advertising. And being a member can be good small business advertising in itself.

Vehicle advertising

The reason you see so many vehicles emblazoned with advertising is that it works; vehicle advertising is very visible small business advertising. If you’re not ready for custom graphics or a magnet quad sign that sit atop your vehicle, go for a magnetic sign that you can take off when you want.

Advertising Ideas You May Not Have Tried Yet

Sending promos with invoices

Little advertising ideas can be powerful, too. If you’re sending out an invoice, why not take the opportunity to include some small business advertising? To draw new customers, try something such as a “bring-a-friend” promotion.

Cable TV advertising

So you can’t afford to advertise your business during the Super Bowl. That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the household reach of TV. Cable TV companies offer advertising ideas within the budget of small businesses, from advertising on the TV Guide Listings or Real Estate channels through running infomercials.

What Defines Creative Design?

Creativity is one of the gifts given to human beings. By using creativity, one can come up with quick solutions to a problem that has remained unsolved over a long period of time. Creativity is not only used to solve complex problems but to also come up with unique designs that has never been attempted anywhere.

One of the major factors that have a great influence on creative design is the ability to think out of the box. Thinking out of the box results in some innovative design. This may be a little bit difficult to start with, but over a period of time, it will become a habit. Two other important elements associated with creative design are the form and the purpose.

The main motivation for creative design is the need to come up with creative solutions or creative designs. When the purpose or the problem for which the solution is being worked upon is vague, then it’s difficult to visualize a correct form for the design. Thus the client has to very clear on the purpose for which this creative design has been attempted.

When the designer has a better clarity of purpose, better will be the creative thinking process. The creative thinking process actually lays the groundwork for achieving that particular solution or design. The thinking process consists of a series of smaller activities to be accomplished, which when integrated together will result in the final design.

In order to lay out a creative thinking process, one has to have a series of small ideas, which need to be integrated together to complete the final creative design. These small ideas are really important to the overall final design. While coming up with small ideas, one has to always keep in mind the purpose for which the design is being attempted. All the ideas should directly or indirectly lead to the solution for the problem. If the small ideas are in no way related to the main purpose, then one has to ignore these ideas and come up with ideas that are coherent with the purpose for design.

When these small ideas are distinct, the final solution will also be quite distinct. In order to come up with great ideas one has to be relaxed and should be free from stress. When the person feels completely relaxed without having any worrisome thoughts, they tend to come up with exciting ideas.

Understanding the consumer mindset - Tips for advertising

Advertising works at the exact instant it is experienced. Advertisers must understand how consumers relate to the advertising in terms of their interest in purchasing the product at the moment they see the ad. Most people fall into three stages of interest in any product or service at any given time.

Passive stage: most people are not in the market for most products most of the time. Their attitudes are passive, and it is likely that they will not notice the advertising. At best, advertisers can hope to generate enough interest in their brand so that the consumer will consider their product when it is time to make a purchase.

Acquisition stage: at this stage people have decided they need a product, and begin to collect information pertinent to their purchase decision. When consumers are in this phase, they are receptive to product facts and brand information. The amount of time consumers spend in this stage depends on the size and importance of the purchase, i.e. automobiles and toothpaste.

Decision stage: consumers now enter the decision stage when they will decide on their final choice and make the purchase. In this stage, they are extremely susceptible to price and value-related information, which is very often communicated at point of sale, or by point-of-sale extensions.

Effective marketing must account for each stage of the purchasing cycle, allocating resources to maximize the potential impact of the advertising on target customers as they move through the stages.

In terms of the advertising component, a strategic decision must be made as to which stage of the purchase each aspect of an overall campaign should target. This can be determined by addressing the following three questions concerning the target audience for the specific piece of advertising - as opposed to the broader target for the product.

Question 1:

Is the advertising directed at people who are actually not interested in the category, product or brand (passive stage), but who will, at some time in the future, be actively seeking out product information? In this case, the advertising should do nothing more than persuade the audience that it would make sense to consider brand x (awareness advertising). Although awareness advertising is essential, it is generally not a predictor of product sales.

Question 2:

Is the advertising directed at people who have decided they need a product (acquisition stage), and are now trying to learn which brand would be best? This advertising should focus on specific product advantages, differences and benefits.

Question 3:

Is the advertising directed toward people who know what they want, are aware of the advantages and benefits of the product, and are now looking for a trigger to help them make their final choices (decision stage)? Here the advertiser must close the sale by convincing the target customer that this is the time and place to make a commitment.

Research should be directed towards understanding the purchasing process: what the "passive stage" audience finds interesting about the category that the brand can latch on to; what "acquisition stage" consumers really want to learn that only the brand can tell them; and what are the added-value triggers that will close the sale for "decision stage" consumers.