Tuesday 21 February 2012

Advertising A Small Business

The world of advertising can be a scary one, especially as adverts can appear is so many forms. It can be very confusing for someone with no expertise in the area to decide where a company’s money is best spent. As a result, it can be extremely difficult for small businesses to create and implement effective advertising strategies. This article takes a look at a few of the major brands and forms of advertising and how a small business can utilise them effectively.

The most important thing to consider when developing an advertising strategy is the company’s target audience. The second most important is a company’s budget. Bear in mind both these factors and you will never stray too far from the right track.


Before looking at advertising online, it is essential not to disregard more traditional forms of advertising. Business signs, billboard adverts and flyers are still very effective forms of advertising.

Firstly, flyers get your advert right into the hand of potential customers. Even if 90% of the people you hand them to throw them away, that 10% could make a real difference to your company’s income. Make sure they are simply designed and offer the potential customer a good deal.

Business signs and banners can be used for dozens of applications; from advertising in a store’s own shop window, to publicising the company logo in a busy town centre. Again, they need to be simply designed and eye catching as the average passerby won’t be looking at it for more than a second or two. A well designed sign is an inexpensive way of getting your company’s name out into public eye.

Utilising the internet is becoming an increasingly difficult task as large companies spend millions of pounds on adverts and social media campaigns. That said, it can still be a great way to market your company or business. They key is to be different. Users have become almost immune to pop-ups and banner adverts in internet browsers, so success will require you to be a little savvier than that.

Search engine optimisation is the art of making your company’s website search engine friendly in order for it to appear high up on search result lists. There is a lot written about different techniques on the internet, as well a number of professionals offering their SEO services. Smaller businesses can optimise their sites by making sure all content is unique, quality and full of key words that are likely to be searched for on the likes of Google and Yahoo!.

Finally, advertising through social media has become big business over the past few years. Viral video campaigns, Facebook groups and MySpace pages are all ways companies have tried to exploit the explosion of social media. Again, the key is to be unique and offer your customers some exclusivity or a perk they would otherwise not be able to access.

At the end of the day it entirely depends on your business, its customers and your budget. Whilst internet campaigns can be extremely successful, investing in banners and signs along with other more traditional adverts can still yield excellent results. Mix up your advertising strategy to be sure to access the widest possible group of people!

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