How do you promote your business? How do you get more customers? New Customers? Repeat customers? For many small businesses this is a challenge. Let’s face it you work hard at your business. You have a lot at stake and sometimes the very last thing you have time for is for someone to come to you wanting to sell you advertising.
Business marketing has gained a lot from the internet and particularly from social media platforms like Facebook. It seems almost instantly (and for free) you can create a buzz around your business and get lots of likes and followers. It seems everyone in the world knows of you almost overnight. And then...your numbers freeze. Studies show that after as little as 60 days the number of likes on a typical Facebook page will stay steady. Perhaps a few new ones come along and a few drop out.
In more intense digital advertising, the number of clicks on your advertisement seems to indicate interest. But does 100 clicks really turn into 100 new paying customers?
Now let’s consider traditional media: Signs, Direct Mail flyers. Newspaper ads. Or ads on Radio and TV. To many startup businesses these are expensive when compared to the “free” or almost- free digital ads on the internet. Are they worth the money?
The answer is a definite maybe. Advertising and promotion relies on one very tricky and unpredictable thing-- the human mind. Let’s face it when you go to your mailbox the first thing you do is throw out the circulars. You might stop at one that looks appealing because of its color. Or because you recognize a familiar local business. But usually it goes in the recycle bin. And what about a “free offer?” I will offer a story-- As a kid I discovered in the local weekly Pennysaver newspaper was a coupon on the last page for a FREE burger at one of the local fast food franchises—no purchase necessary and no strings attached but valid this week ONLY! My friends and I tried to find as many of these often discarded papers as we could that week before they expired. I will say we ate quite well that week. In that case the local franchisee the campaign worked-- but at the cost of giving away freebies. Was the target customer young pre-teen kids on bikes? Or was it someone older? Was it a Success?
To be effective any advertising campaign requires a target and a goal. The target is usually a group of people-- women, men, either and of a certain age group. Simply targeting “everyone” often leads to failure. Some kind of return-- and a means to measure it-- is also required. Lastly the media: direct mail; Internet; Radio; Etc. and how to make that media get your message across.
WCFR is your locally owned radio station, with a weekly audience in the thousands. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t listened to it lately. Marketing research has shown that radio reaches 80 percent of the people over age 12 through on air, internet streaming and podcasting. Radio advertising is least likely to be skipped over as most people are often doing something else while listening (the biggest number of them are driving). A well crafted radio campaign will reach your target audience and bring you results.
While we do Radio we realize other media work hand in hand with it and we can help you build your business. Call us for a consultation. 802-885-1480.