Start Your Own Business (80 page)

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For a restaurant.
Use a large but short headline that can’t help but arouse curiosity, such as “Now, that’s enormous!” This would then be followed by an explanation that this is usually the reaction when one of Francisco’s Super-Subs (or whatever largeserving entrée) is placed in front of a customer.

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For a beauty salon.
Use a small ad with the headline “Can we have your autograph?” in quotes. Follow with copy that reads: “Be ready to draw the attention of admirers when you leave Noreen’s Cut ’n’ Curl—for people are sure to recognize you as the star you are.”

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For a carpet cleaner.
Try a small ad that shows a blowup of a dust mite with the headline “They’re hiding in your carpet.” The body copy then explains that these bugs are invisible to the naked eye but are accumulating by the thousands in your uncleaned carpet.

• Full-page ads may attract about 70 percent more readers than fractional-page ads.

• Adding a photograph or illustration dramatically increases an ad’s power to draw readers.

• Many successful ads use photographs unrelated to the subject matter.

• It’s crucial to maintain a balance between the space devoted to photos or illustrations and copy.

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Use the target audience description from your marketing plan as the basis for your broadcast buy.
Steer clear of any media or programming that doesn’t help you reach your audience with as little waste as possible.

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Set a rough budget for broadcast advertising.
Come up with an amount that won’t strain your business but will allow you to give broadcast advertising a good try. Many stations suggest running ads for at least three months. A good rule of thumb for a cable TV buy is to budget a minimum of $1,500 per month, plus production. The rates for radio time will vary depending on the size of the market, the station’s penetration, and the audience of the shows on which you want to advertise.

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Contact sales managers at TV and radio stations in your area and arrange to have a salesperson visit you.
Ask salespeople for a list of available spots that air during hours that reach your target audience.

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Talk to other businesspeople in your area about their experiences with broadcast advertising.
While salespeople from TV and radio stations can be helpful, they are, after all, trying to sell you something. It is your responsibility to be a smart consumer.

THE SMALL STUFF

 

S
hould you use your limited advertising budget to create larger, more visible ads that restrict you to advertising less frequently, or smaller, less visible ads that you can afford to run more frequently?

The answer: smaller ads more frequently. The reason is that most people—even those who are likely candidates for your product—typically don’t respond to ads the first time they see them. Prospects may have to notice an ad a number of times and develop a level of comfort with it (especially if the product or service is new to them) before they take action. The more often prospects see your ad, the more comfortable they’ll become and the better the chance they’ll respond to it. Of course, if your ad is too small, it may not be seen at all, so be sure to pick an ad size that allows you to shine and still maintain a frequency you can afford.

 

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Ask about the “audience delivery” of the available spots.
Using published guides (Arbitron or Nielsen), ask the salesperson to help you calculate the CPM (cost per thousand) of reaching your target audience. Remember, you are buying an audience, not just time on a show, and you can calculate pretty exactly how much it’s going to cost you to reach every single member of that audience.

 

SAVE

 

Get your ad on the radio—for free—by bartering your products or services for air time. Called “trade-out,” this practice is common. Radio stations need everything from janitorial services and graphic designers to products they can give away as on-air prizes, so whatever you sell, you’re likely to find a ready market.

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Inquire about the production of your commercial.
Fortunately, major cable companies are now offering production assistance to small-business owners with rates that can be as little as $500 to $1,200 per spot. And some independent TV stations will offer low-cost or free production if you enter into an agreement to advertise for at least three months. With a similar contract, some radio stations will provide a well-known personality to be the “voice” of your business at no extra cost. However, for multivoice, high production value spots, you’ll want to enlist an outside production company.

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

 

T
oday, marketing messages can go anywhere and everywhere people do, thanks to “out-of-home” advertising. You can reach boaters with advertising at marinas, golfers out on the links with signage on hospitality carts, or health-conscious consumers while they exercise at their local gyms.

 

 

Traditional out-of-home advertising encompasses billboards—including the exciting new LED boards on which messages can be changed frequently, even based on the time of day—and transit advertising, from busbacks to subway posters and taxi-top ads.

 

Then there’s alternative out-of-home, generally called “place-based advertising.” This is where things really get interesting. The “street furniture” category includes bicycle-rack displays and posters on bus shelters and trash receptacles. Other place-based media include newsstand, convenience store and shopping mall displays. You can even try placing posters above diaper changing stations or in college campus laundry rooms. Your choices and locations are virtually endless.

 

Follow these three rules for picking the right out-of-home advertising opportunity for your business:

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Rule one: The advertising must reach a high percentage of your best prospects
. For example, a poster on a bus shelter at a busy intersection can boost sales for a nearby retailer if it is seen often enough by a majority of the store’s customers and prospects.

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Rule two: The place-based ad must be in an appropriate venue
. The posters you find in the restrooms of popular bars and restaurants typically carry ads for other entertainment-oriented businesses because their messages are compatible with the venue.

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Rule three: Your ad must reach prospects at the right time
. From billboards promoting business services directed at commuters on their way to work to posters for beauty products in neighborhood hair salons, out-of-home advertising should target your prospects at the time when they’ll be most receptive to your message.

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Compare the various proposals.
Look at the CPMs, and negotiate the most attractive deal based on which outlet offers the most cost-effective way of reaching your audience. Buying time well in advance can help lower the cost. For TV ads, stick with 30-second spots, which are standard in the industry. And keep in mind that the published rates offered by TV and radio stations are often negotiable. Generally, rates vary widely during the first quarter of the year, and sometimes during the third quarter or late in the fourth quarter, traditionally slow seasons for many businesses. But expect to pay full rates during the rest of the year or during popular shows or prime time.