Your money is hard to come by and as a small business owner you have to make every dollar count for the success of your business! So here are some tips on how to make sure you are getting the most out of your advertising dollars!

1- You must find what sets your business apart from your competition. Imagine there is 10 different stores in your town that offer the exact same product that you do. Now tell me why I should buy mine from you? What makes your business special? What extra value do you give to your customers? When you have that figured out make sure that message is easily understandable in all your advertising.

2- When choosing a medium to place your advertising in whether you are looking at signage, radio, television, print or even community oriented sponsorships consider what the consumer must do to receive your message.

Does it take effort on their part? Or does your advertising find your potential customer in their everyday routines? Last but not least will your business stand out in this medium? During my time as a realtor I learned that setting yourself apart from your competition by being creative in your marketing does work and that advertising in a medium that is saturated with your competitors does NOT work. Imagine 20 real estate offices, with anywhere from 4 to 20 realtors per office all placing ads in the local paper. Needless, to say there were pages of realtors ads. The automobile industry is in the same boat.

Open any newspaper in America, especially the weekend edition, and you will find pages of car dealers and realtors. By advertising in a saturated medium you reduce the value of your advertising dollars substantially! On the other side of that coin, I was one of the only realtors in the market to utilize radio and television for advertising. My first open house, I sat for 3 hours and only two people showed up.
My next open house I advertised on television and radio. In 3 hours I had 22 potential buyers walk through the door. I sold the property I was showing and I had numerous leads that came in to list their home with me just because I advertised that property on TV and radio. By advertising in a medium that allowed me to stand out in the crowd I achieved results in my first year of real estate that were above the norm! You can amazing results as well if you choose your medium wisely!

3- Does your medium reach your target customer? For instance if you are marketing to the 35-44 demographic you shouldn’t be buying ads on the local R&B or hip hop station who targets 18-25 year olds. By the same token if your prime demographic is women ages 18-25 advertising through a sponsorship of a youth hockey league is probably not going to be very effective for you. Find you customers and then advertise where they are!

4- Last but not least remember, that not every advertising sales person that walks through your door has the success of your business at heart. Many of them are trying to fill their quota. But I’m happy to say, not all!
There are those that sincerely want to see your business succeed! When you find one of those grab hold and don’t let go! Let them know that you appreciate them and then show them you do, by paying your bill on time!