Media Options Are Plentiful. Evaluate Them All Right Here.

In this section, you'll find media strategies and tactics that many small businesses utilize in their marketing, advertising, and promotion efforts. The list is not intended to be all-encompassing, but it does cover a lot of marketing and advertising territory, some of which may be familiar to you.

I've utilized all of these media marketing and advertising tools. So I'm in the fortunate position of being able to pass along some tips and pointers, in the form of do's and don't's. This topline analysis is intended to cut to the chase and to save you time and money. I also fully realize that the current size of one's business and budget play a large role in what a small business can and cannot afford to invest in marketing and advertising media.

Before we get into the media meat, I'd like to touch on two important related topics.

First, your marketing traffic footprint. It's the distance potential buyers are willing to travel in order to examine and possibly buy business goods or services. Every business has one (even virtual businesses), and its size varies tremendously.

Let's look at two extremes, an independent coffe shop, and a Mercedes Benz auto dealership.

It's common knowledge that coffee shops saturate urban and suburban neighborhoods. The marketing traffic footprint of an independent coffee shop, in some city centers, is sometimes no more than a couple of city blocks, as patrons routinely walk in after an elevator ride and short stroll. Their addictive coffee is somewhat spontaneously purchased for a relatively low cost, and it appeals to a wide and deep customer base.

The Mercedes Benz dealership, conversely, serves a narrow, affluent customer base with a very lengthy, carefully-considered purchase cycle. This type of business draws drive-in traffic from perhaps dozens of miles away. The marketing footprint of a business that serves a highly niched audience with a high price / high margin profile must reach a very large geography or a very targeted market, or both, in order to garner enough traffic and purchases to prosper.

What every small business should seek in its marketing, advertising, and promotional media programs is as tight a fit as possible between the business' own marketing traffic footprint, and the media footprint being considered. The tighter the fit, the lower the number of dollars wasted by reaching people that have zero chance of ever considering buying from your business. A tighter footprint may cost more in the short run, but the efficiency gained by better targeting is usually the best long term media strategy.

With the sharply rising cost of fuel and transportation now being experienced, shopping as close as possible to home or work is now more important than ever. Take advantage of this fact, and market heavily to the best prospects within your marketing traffic footprint.

And if you don't know the size of your business maketing traffic footprint, contact me and we'll help you figure it out.

The second important topic is your Creative.
Creative is that little piece of magic that happens when a clever idea collides with a business reality. When your business delivers a really terrific piece of creative, it can multiply the effectiveness of your marketing and advertising media dollars. I've seen "breakthrough" creative in almost every medium for local businesses. Once you think you've got a Creative winner, work its media for all it's worth.

And here's a tip on how to get it. If you know your customers really, really well, it's likely your business is a good candidate for great Creative. Because customers will tell you things about your business that you didn't expect.

I'd love to hear your ideas on that subject.

Here are the primary media many small businesses consider and actively use to build and maintain their businesses:

Yellow Pages Advertising is still the aging king of local search media, and it still captures the bulk of local small business advertising.
Discover what percentage of total searches the yellow pages are now getting versus online.
Learn where yellow pages trends are headed.
Find out where you have more negotiating leverage than the yellow pages sales rep does.

TV Advertising was once an expensive medium, but doesn't have to be so with the advent of new video technology.
Learn the basic differences between local broadcast versus local cable TV media.
Learn which local TV option is usually the more cost effective based on your business' marketing traffic footprint.
Discover how you can kill two birds with one very cost-effective stone.

Radio Advertising is a great medium for demographic delivery and business personality development.
Find out how to take advantage of radio's day part and personality-driven pricing.
Learn how to advertise in context with radio programming to get a much bigger bang for the buck.
Uncover what new technology is such a well kept secret that radio has so far failed to take advantage of.

Magazine Advertising is still very much alive today. The Internet was supposed to kill magazines, but, hey, look, they're still around! Actually, the big national magazines are hurting. And while the local magazine business is less than rosy, it's healthier than what the big national players like Time and People are going through.
See how to use magazine demographic targeting capabilities.
Learn under what circumstances not to use magazine advertising.

Newspaper Advertising remains a very viable option for local small business. While the largest metropolitan dailies are fighting to keep circulations up, smaller and more local newspapers seem to be holding steady. For businesses with a smaller marketing traffic footprint, these can be a good media choice, and newspapers can team well with online advertising.
Learn when to use color, and when not.
Consider inserts as a means of maximizing impact and interest.
Consider timing newspaper ads to special content sections.

Co-op Direct Mail can be a strong source of incremental business for many types of small businesses. There are two major media players in this space, plus many local newcomers anxious to strike deals. Household targeteting and deliveries are the keys.
Figure out when you've reached the point of "too much of a good thing".
Learn what business types use this medium extensively, and presumably successfully.
See why measurement in this medium matters so much, and why you'll appreciate that feature.

Direct Mail , for some small business types, is still one of the best ways to reach great prospects. And unlike the Internet, unsolicited mail outreach has not been touched by spam-like federal and state regulation, nor broad-based "do not mail" lists. Its costs, however, are not declining either. Fortunately, it appears as effective as always.
Learn how to save money when mailing to a large local population.
Find out what small business types use this medium heavily.
See how to evaluate a list vendor.

Email may be the most efficient marketing defense tool ever created. If you have a customer list, this is a great way to use it. If you don't have a customer list, it's worth creating one so you can use this powerful tool.
Learn how to build a customer list if you don't have one.
See how to measure what happens with each mailing, and why it's important.
Learn why even the tightest marketing budget should be able to afford this versatile marketing tool.

Event Marketing combines business with fun. If you like and enjoy being with lots of people talking about your business all day, this strategy is tailor-made for you. You can discover more about your business, its prospects, and your own employees in a single weekend than you can possibly imagine. It's fun and exhilirating. You may be surprised at it short term and even long term business benefits.
Learn what needs to be planned and how far in advance.
If you can sample or give away advertising specialties (premiums) this way, do it, do it, do it.
Find out how this is really much simpler to do than it sounds.

Public Relations, PR, and Publicity are perhaps the most misunderstood and overlooked of all marketing tools. They pack big value into a small price. What's more, they have even greater value when search engines capture and list their content.
Learn how you can implement a simple PR program at very low cost.
Find out why a PR specialist can be a valuable contact for your business beyond writing articles on your behalf.
Discover every editor's worst nightmare.

Video Production is cheaper than ever. We'll destroy the myth that video costs too much to afford. Video is now everywhere, and if it's not in your cell phone already, it will be soon. Are you ready for it?
Discover what technological breakthroughs have done to the cost of video production.
Learn how to find someone to produce, edit, and post a video for you.
Find out how to inexpensively stream your own commercial through your website or others.

Marketing Promotions , when combined with your advertising, boosts the effectiveness of both. Think beyond "Save $5" and "20% off". Consumers that get used to constant savings become promotion junkies. Kick their habit and try something more innovative.
Planning every promotion with an advertising will draw more traffic.
Consider different tactics. Offer the unexpected. Mix it up. Combine offers.
Learn how an airline changed the defensive promotion game permanently.

Advertising Agencies are... Friend? Guru? Pickpocket? Expert? Negotiator? Advertising agencies have been described as all of the above. And they are as described.
Find out what you should, and should not, ask an advertisng agency to do for you.
See what budget level is a good "cutoff" between hiring and not hiring an advertising agency versus an independent consultant.
Learn what an advertising agency is likely to do well. And what's it's likely not to do well.

Viral Marketing is yet another misunderstood marketing term. Viral marketing is very powerful, yet it's very tough to pull off such a program both intentionally and successfully.
Learn what viral marketing is, and is not.
Find out what so many desperately want to have it, yet so few have mastered it. Or understood it.
Learn what surprising changes you and your business might need to make in order to undertake successful viral marketing.

Social Networking and Web 2.0 are the new kids on the block. Facebook. MySpace. LinkedIn. What are they? Who do they reach? Should I advertise there? These websites attract enormous traffic and now dozens of imitators.
Learn if the time is right for you to start advertising here.
They are so new, are they financially stable and viable?
What's likely to come down the road next?

Telemarketingis morphing from an offensive (yes, that pun was deliberate) into a defensive marketing tool. "Do Not Call" (except for politicians, of course) put every small business on notice that there would now be severe financial penalties for unsolicited calls to households that did not want them. Too bad, because they were effective even as they were annoying.
Learn what the financial penalty for "Do Not Call" is currently.
Discover how you can use telemarketing in a positive, customer-friendly way that will enhance your business image.
Find out the latest technological innovation in this field.

Can you think of any media serving small business we didn't cover? If so, contact me and we'll add it as soon as possible.