Marketing 101: A guide to advertising success, brought to you by the Southeast Missourian

You need a plan

Take time to decide what your business goals are for the year and how marketing can help you achieve them. An effective marketing plan is critical for success. A marketing plan is like a road map for your business. It helps you know which direction to go and keeps you from making hasty decisions. Your marketing plan should include:

Targeted publications offered by the Southeast Missourian

• A summary of your market position and goals
• A definition of what you expect to accomplish in a specific time period
• A list of target markets, including segmentation and niche areas
• An appropriate strategy for each segment or market.

Budget

• Types of marketing materials and mediums that you will use to attract target customers
• Competitive strategies. How will you respond to your competitors, for example, if a competitor beats your price? What is your competitive advantage?

About a marketing plan

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• Know your customer
• Know who your competitors are
• Know what your product/service is
• Develop a budget
• Develop your message

Top 10 Reasons to Advertise

1. Advertising establishes contact.

Advertising is a preferred method for introducing people to products and services. Advertising cultivates new prospects. Advertising builds awareness.

2. Advertising builds preference.

Advertising is a proven means of raising a brand's reputation and preference level among customers. Brand preference is directly affected by investing in advertising.

3. Advertising educations and develops prospects.

Consumers prefer to learn more about products through advertising. Advertising turns wants into needs. Advertising helps educate, and it helps differentiate benefits and features.

4. Advertising reduces the cost of sales.

Advertising is a tool for selling existing customers more and reducing the cost of sales. Knowledgeable customers often know exactly what they want to buy, reducing the time it takes to sell them. It costs about one-fifth as much to retain and sell to an existing customer as it does to acquire and sell to a new one.

5. Advertising helps sell existing customers more products and services.

One study found that nine out of 10 buyers continue to look at a vendor's ads after making a purchase. Close to 90 percent of buyers cite one of the top reasons to read ads from vendors they have purchased from in the past is to learn about new models and upgrades.

6. Advertising helps close the sale.

Advertising builds traffic, provides incentives for acting now and links to websites, coupons and toll-free numbers, which can all directly help in closing the sale.

7. Advertising is an effective sales tool.

Seven out of 10 salespeople said they used ad reprints as a selling tool.

8. Advertising saves time for both you and your customers.

Customers believe that advertising saves them time and money in comparison shopping. Therefore, the customer who has been exposed to advertising is closer to making an informed decision, saving you time and money.

9. Advertising keeps you top-of-mind.

For most product categories, fewer than 4 percent buy a particular general merchandise product in a given week. About half of this 4 percent buy an item within a week of deciding to make the purchase. The purchase is typically unplanned. Once the decision to buy is made, the consumer relies heavily on advertising to help them decide where to buy.

10. Advertising works!

Millions of manufacturers, retailers, service businesses and individuals advertise every day, over and over again, because advertising works.

Tip: Advertising can, but rarely, produce significant instantaneous results. It's an investment in your company's future growth. It creates a "mind share," putting your business in a better position to capture those customers ready to buy.

The One-Minute Advertising/Promotion Budget Test

The simple test will help you determine how much to budget for advertising and promotion. It's easy. And it only takes a minute.

Instructions: Next to each category, check one of the three answers. Then write in the corresponding points (1, 2 or 3) on the line provided on the right. Add up the four numbers and see below for your answer:

I am in a location that has:

High traffic 1 point

Average 2 points

Low 3 points Total

My store's awareness in the marketplace is:

High awareness 1 point

Average 2 points

Low 3 points Total

Amount of competition:

Few competitors 1 point

Average 2 points

Many 3 points Total

My store concept has emphasis on price:

Little emphasis 1 point

Average 2 points

Low 3 points Total

Total points

4-7 points: Advertising dolllars should be approximately

3-4 percent of sales.

8-11 points:

Advertising dollars should be approximately

4-5 percent of sales.

12 points:

Advertising dollars should be approximately

5-7 percent of sales.

Why Budget?

Your advertising budget is an indispensable part of your business.

A formal advertising budget offers . . .

• Firm control of your advertising investment.

• In-store selling tie-ins to build extra sales.

• Elimination of poorly timed promotions.

• Full use of co-op advertising.

• Time savings.

• Better response and results!

Things to avoid:

• Budgeting based on habit.

• Budgeting based on personal experience.

• Budgeting based on how much cash is in the register.

Tip: Advertising is a process, not a one-time event. Research suggests that a consumer usually needs to see an ad three to seven times before responding.

Demographics

What are they and why are they important?

Demographics should be the basis of every advertising decision you make. If you are not sure who your customers are, you can waste money advertising in the wrong places.

Definition: Demographics: The statistical characteristics of human populations, such as age, gender, geographic location, marital status, ethnicity, and income, used by businesses to identify markets for their goods and services.

Demographics are also used to identify who your customers are (now and in the future), where they live, and how likely they are to purchase the product or service you are selling.

While demographic studies of customers frequently confirm what you might already intuitively know, they just as often can hold surprises. After all, few companies have a single customer profile.

Demographics are important in deciding what advertising medias to use, what schedule run with that media, what message to use and what that message should look like. If you have multiple target audiences, develop multiple campaigns.

Tip: Despite the tendency to want as many potential customers as possible, in most instances, targeting a very narrow, specific type is likely the best approach.

Targeting customers with special publications

According to the Newspaper Association of America's Advertising Planbook, freestanding inserts present an opportunity to target your message to the prospects you value most -- and delivering your message to this smaller audience means more efficiency and return on investment. Here's a look at some targeted products available locally.

• Flourish magazine

Targeting women ages 25 to 50, this glossy, direct mail magazine offers stories on the lives of local women. Inside, you'll find features on businesswomen, artists, fashion, health and more.

• iDO bridal magazine

A semi-annual, all-glossy bridal magazine featuring the latest wedding-related trends and profiles on local weddings.

• Southeast Living

A quarterly, glossy magazine inserted in the Southeast Missourian that takes a holistic approach to "comfortable living" -- an approach that understands today's affluent consumer's desire for quality in every aspect of their lives.

• Business Today

A monthly subscription tabloid featuring the latest news Southeast Missouri's business world has to offer.

• The Best Years (TBY)

A monthly tabloid targeting the baby boomer generation with fun, informative stories for the 50-plus crowd.