Excerpt from speech by Paula Lovell

First things first!  What is advertising?

Advertising is paid media services.  TV commercials, print ads in newspapers and magazines, billboards, radio spots, Web site banners or Pop-ups/sponsorships. 

The biggest myth about advertising is that it’s a science.  That is just not true.  At best, it’s one-third science, one-third gut or intuition and one-third shoe-leather.  If you leave out any of the three -- you will not be maximizing your ad dollars.

The first step in deciding how to spend your ad dollars is to conduct research.  It’s a very fragmented market out there and there is a lot of clutter the message has to break through in order to reach- and influence- your intended audience.

It used to be a no-brainer, but now you’ve got to know at least the following things about how to use your ad dollars.

Who are your consumers?

• What is the average age?
• What is the average income?
• What is the average level of education?
• Male?  Female?  Single?  Married?  Divorced? 
• What percent are Hispanic?  African American?  Kurdish? 
• Where do they live?
• Where do they work?
• How do they get to work?
• When do they go to work?
• How do they spend their leisure time?
• What is their political outlook?
• How often do they shop?
• What organizations do they belong to?
• Are they already loyal to your competitor or are they first time users of the product?

Who are your competitors?

• What is their position in the marketplace? 
• Are they the big guns market leader?  If so, you need to find a niche they can’t easily serve.  Or maybe focus on a very well-defined target audience.
  

What is the point of difference?

• What are you are selling and what is your competitor is selling?  Defining this clearly will help you develop a clear message.
• Don’t say that your point of difference is service.  Even if it’s true, it’s like a hospital saying that it “cares.”  Now, if your service includes a free ride home or a 24-hour toll-free number with tech support or a promise that you’ll never be more than 30 seconds away from an answer to your question, then you’ve got a point of distinction and you can talk about it, but don’t just say “the best service.”

At a minimum you now know who your customer is, who your competition is and how to differentiate your product. 

When you get ready to buy advertising you have a couple of choices:

• Hire a media buyer to place the ads, or do it yourself.  A media buyer is a great use of money. You can pay them a flat fee for a media plan or they can “place” your advertising for a percentage, typically anywhere from 10-17 percent of the total buy. 

Media buyers subscribe to Nielsen Ratings and have various software programs to answer questions about where you should spend your money.  They’ll talk to you about gross rating points, reach and frequency, share and gross impressions—all information you need to make a smart decision regarding spending money.  

• If you are going to do it yourself, start by networking and talking to people who have businesses the same size as yours.  If you see a billboard being used by a small company, call the owner and ask if the outdoor advertising is working for them – and especially in that particular spot.  The same thing applies with radio, newspapers and magazines and TV.

If you don’t have much money to spend on advertising, the biggest mistake you can make is to spread yourself too thin, with only a few messages across a variety of media.

You also might try a few different media.  Try only cable or a daily newspaper and see what you get, but be sure to give the advertising enough time and enough frequency to make a difference.  Try one medium for six months.  Did anything happen to your sales?   If not, try another medium. 

Develop and keep to a budget.  Remember, you can’t do it all; you have to go with where you are reaching the most of your target audience for the fewest dollars.  Typically, local radio, TV stations and newspapers will produce your ad for free, saving you production costs.   

Quick tips to maximize your ad dollars:

• Do your research about your customer, your competition and the points of distinction about your product/service;
• Seek advice from a media buyer or by consulting with other advertisers;
• Segment and target your customers so you don’t spread yourself too thin;
• Develop a clear message;
• Budget enough and be consistent.  Stick to your ad campaign long enough to measure results; and
• Use common sense and intuition because no one knows your customer better than you do.