Effective Advertising Strategies That Really Work!There are 3 basic advertising strategies: image advertising (sometimes called “space” advertising), direct-response advertising, and lead-generation advertising. These last two are variations of the same thing, but there is a very subtle and important difference in the style. As a small business owner, you really want to be concentrating your efforts only at the third kind, because the first one doesn't work and the second is becoming less and less effective as the marketplace becomes more crowded. Why Image Advertising Doesn't Work!Image advertising is the most common form of advertising you see. In fact, you have to search through a fair pile of newspapers to find a rare example of anything else.Typically, an image advertisement is one which has your logo and company name at the top, with a list of the features of your business – selling fire alarms or soft furnishings. It's called an image ad because it's all about you and your image. This is the kind of ad you'll get if you let a graphic designer or advertising-rep design your ad for you. As advertising strategies go, this is right at the bottom of the pile, simply because image ads don't work. You might wonder why big businesses use them in that case. That's simple – first, many big businesses have a recognisable brand that may perhaps benefit from this kind of advertising (you don't have to try very hard to sell a Rolls Royce, do you?). Chances are you don't have much of a brand yet, and despite what high-priced “brand consultants” say, you can't build a brand with image advertising. It works the other way round: your brand comes as a consequence of providing great products and giving exceptional service. Secondly, many big businesses succeed in spite of their advertising, not because of it. They make huge profits and have effectively bottomless pockets when it comes to their marketing budget. Small businesses don't. You need to have advertising strategies working for you showing a return on investment within days, if not hours! Direct Response Advertising StrategiesThis is very different from image advertising (not least because it actually works, at least some of the time).A typical direct response ad follows the AIDA formula: it starts with an attention getting headline, has strong and usually long benefit-laden copy to pique the reader's interest and build their desire for the product or service, and then ends with a specific call to action. The AIDA formula has been around for 150 years or more and is still as effective as ever, simply because it taps into human psychology (and while fads and fashions come and go, we humans don't change much). The old, proven advertising strategies are still the best. A direct response ad usually looks more like a news article or editorial than an ad. Not only is this a case of form following function, but many advertisers do this deliberately. The more like “news” and the less like an “ad” it looks, the better the response. Usually. But there is a problem with this kind of advertisement in recent times. We're bombarded with literally thousands of marketing and advertising messages every day. Like a bad smell becomes unnoticeable after a while, or an annoying sound fades into the background, ads cease to be seen and their AIDA message goes unheeded, because, frankly the public is tired of being sold to. This Calls For New Advertising StrategiesThe third form of advertising, and the one I most strongly recommend is lead-generation advertising. Sometimes, this is called “permission advertising”, after Seth Godin coined the phrase.Essentially it means you put an ad out there in true AIDA style, but the call to action is not to go out and buy something, but is instead for the reader to (metaphorically) stick up their hands and say, “Yes, I'm interested in learning more!”. You've undoubtedly seen this on the Internet. In that medium it's probably the most common of the advertising strategies we see. Generally, what happens is the reader is offered something free - a report, a free sample, or in the case of software trial version - in return for their email address or other contact details. By doing this they're implicitly giving you permission to market to then, hence Godin's name for it. It might seem somewhat cynical for advertisers and marketers to do this, and indeed, some of the free stuff they give away really is rubbish. But on the whole it works better than the other two forms of advertising, simply because business is about relationships and in this case the seller is beginning the relationship by giving. The important thing is to ensure whatever you give away has a high perceived value by your readers yet doesn't cost you too much! That's not do say just “anything” will do. It really does have to have value (like the FREE report I'm giving away below does). Next Steps...To discover how to implement this most powerful of advertising strategies, leave your details below and I’ll not only make sure you get my weekly Small Business Marketing newsletter dropped in your email inbox every week...... BUT... I’ll also send you my acclaimed Special Report, "9 Highly Effective Ways To Market Your Business For Free And Double Your Profits In Any Economy!", valued at €97 Euro, for FREE! I promise: "9 Highly Effective Ways To Market Your Business For Free And Double Your Profits In Any Economy!" and the Newsletter combine to give you all my hottest tips on implementing the best advertising strategies to make your small business a success. So leave your name and email below and it’ll bring "9 Highly Effective Ways To Market Your Business For Free And Double Your Profits In Any Economy!" and the Newsletter effortlessly to your inbox within minutes... FREE!
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