CUTTING THROUGH THE ADVERTISING CLUTTER

CUTTING THROUGH THE ADVERTISING CLUTTER by: James Minter

Business owners are constantly looking for effective ways to stand out from their competition. Trying to get the word out about their products or services in a unique way on traditional and alternative media outlets. Many times, companies are working with limited resources or modest marketing and advertising budgets. After surviving Covid-19, supply chain issues, and staff shortages, businesses are trying to get back to normal daily operations of engaging customers with marketing and advertising campaigns that promote their products and services. Ideally, you want a branded message in front of your profile client or targeted audience, a minimum of twelve times per year but what is the best way to accomplish this?

The advertising landscape has drastically changed over the past decade with online banner ads, re-targeted ads, social influencers, new social media channels, and on-demand platforms. As a result, when you establish your advertising goals, it requires a more sophisticated, more dynamic, and more holistic approach when addressing the 5m’s of advertising – mission, money, message, media, and measurement.

Consumers are more media savvy and therefore business owners need to identify the best outlets for reaching their audience. Knowing the key demographics of your target audience, their behaviors, and the preferred media outlets they engage with is a key to continued success. Radio, network TV, cable, billboards, digital, print ads, social media, and dedicated promotions help build your brand and market share.

Once established, your strategies may need to be adjusted to consistently reach your core audience.

To effectively cut through the advertising clutter, your advertising campaigns need a balanced media mix and one that you can sustain for 6 to 16 weeks to accomplish your advertising and marketing goals. Start with 2-3 media channels that you can dominate or be consistent with and then grow accordingly. Your media mix is a comprehensive snapshot of all the media and promotional channels that you choose to advertise with to effectively reach your targeted audience with a professional message that stands out.

When evaluating your profile client and targeted audience, do the research to better understand their behaviors and identify which media best serves your goals. Make sure your message is consistent across all platforms and integrated with your website. Identify media that will allow you to accomplish your goals and budget accordingly so you can support an extended campaign to promote your business. One goal should be to become a top 3 choice for every potential customer considering your product or service in their moment of need.

If you’re working with an annual budget of $10K for marketing and advertising, don’t put all your eggs in one basket or blow your entire budget in 6 months. Allocate $150/mo for FB ads, $150/mo for digital/print media, $400/mo for wknd radio ads, $100/mo for local promotions, and $30/mo boost allowance for select online ads that perform well. $830 X 12 = $9,960

Explore your options with local radio stations, network TV, cable, billboard companies, social media, online ads, and digital content providers. Seek assistance from marketing and advertising agencies so you can make sure your message breaks through the advertising clutter.

James Minter