4 Most Effective Advertising Methods
Most small businesses have a restricted budget for their advertising. As a result, all advertising has to be extremely targeted and focused so there’s no loss of capital or any wasteful spending. However, we know that finding an advertising method that works for your business can be quite expensive if you were to spend money testing all those other methods. It is with that in mind that we have compiled this list of the most effective advertising methods. These methods are proven to generate decent results and produce significant returns on investment for many small and medium scale businesses.
TV and Radio Ads
In spite of the schools of thought claiming that TV and radio are fast fading as advertising mediums, the truth is that they still work and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Admittedly, there’s more competition from multiple screens nowadays, but many people still prefer to watch their favorite TV shows, movies, and programs on the television.
In fact, innovative companies like Samsung are developing Smart TVs to help make TV watching more immersive. So, if you had any doubts about TV, you may want to have a rethink. The same goes for radio. Multiple studies have shown that 57% more people check stuff out on the internet shortly after hearing about it on the radio.
Now, imagine that your business had both an online presence and a radio ad running? Do you think that traffic will visit your website? True, most teens don’t listen to traditional radios as they have all their music on their phones. But, the vast majority of individuals with income or money to spend listen to radios on a daily basis. This makes it an excellent advertising channel too.
Pay Per Click and Media Buys
If you’re thinking of doing some digital marketing and want fast results, you should consider pay per click advertising and media buys. Pay per click simply means paying for clicks every time someone clicks through to your website from links on the search engines.
Media Buys are similar; only in this case, you would pick high traffic sites like Huffington Post, Cracked, Lifehacker or any other highly trafficked website(s) that’s relevant to your niche and pay for ads on those websites. These have significant learning curve and require that you have some level of expertise, but once you learn all there is to learn, you can do this yourself. If you don’t want to, there are a ton of companies offering to help you do these for an affordable monthly fee.
Banners and Signs
All businesses require banners and signs to get the word out on their businesses. The fact is that banners and signs are great for attracting and driving in foot traffic. Combined with an active online presence, you can actually get even more traffic in the door. Banners and signs are also effective for open houses, tradeshows, conventions, seminars, workshops, special offers and so much more. They are also affordable, dynamic, customizable and convenient to use.
Search Engine Optimization
As a small business owner, chances are that you would have stumbled upon or heard of this already. Search engine optimization, when done correctly, can be an amazing advertising method capable of generating significant revenue and profits for your business. However, unlike many other methods, it takes time to achieve the required top search engine placements. Search engine optimization should therefore, be placed in your medium to long term advertising kit. With increasing organic exposure, you can eventually phase out paid advertising online –although we recommend combining both as sudden search engine algorithm updates can affect your rankings. With these effective advertising methods, you cannot go wrong at all. They are all affordable, capable of generating excellent ROI and increasing your brand’s visibility.
Oscar King, the author, is a small business owner in the Central Florida area. As a business owner, Oscar is constantly on the lookout for services that will help his company reach its goals. His solution for marketing collateral for company events and marketing is QualitySignDesigner.com. To see some of Oscar’s top picks, connect with him via Google+.
