Without referring to statistics (assuming that such statistics exist) it's safe to say that most marketing campaigns, advertising promotions, and small business marketing ideas produce

Without referring to statistics (assuming that such statistics
exist) it's safe to say that most marketing campaigns,
advertising promotions, and small business marketing ideas
produce disappointing results and a smaller-than-expected ROI.
The reasons for this include the following: advertising in the
wrong medium, misidentifying your target market, selling a
product or service for which there is little demand or too much
competition, noncompetitive pricing, bad location, poor customer
service, a weak sales strategy; or the absence of a compelling
marketing message, a distinctive company identity, or unique
selling proposition. In other words, the act of simply taking
out newspaper ads, buying radio spots, making sales calls, and
distributing brochures is not, in and of itself, going to make
your phone ring off the hook or cause your cash register to
overheat. The foundation of your marketing strategy must be
rock solid, first!

Remember, your target market is constantly being inundated with
advertising messages, commercials, sales pitches, and an
endless parade of business signs, billboards, empty promises,
special sales, shouting announcers, and dubious advertiser
claims. The burning question for you, the small business owner,
is: how do you reach the right people, stand out in the crowd,
inspire believability, and get people to respond to your offer
(preferably in droves)?

Successful Advertising Campaigns Begin with a Captivating
Advertising Message

Perhaps the most effective way to become attuned to what works
and what doesn't is by getting in the habit of noticing and
evaluating the hundreds of marketing messages and strategies
that you're bombarded with every day. Constantly ask yourself
what messages, advertising techniques, and images cause you to
stop what you're doing and pay attention, whether it's a radio
spot, billboard, a TV commercial, or a magazine ad? Chances are,
the messages that do the best job of attracting your attention
are the ones that focus on how a product or service will make
you feel better, provide you with comfort, pleasure, solve a
problem, infuse your marriage with romance, attract the opposite
sex, bring your family closer together, make your life easier,
healthier, safer, more secure, prosperous, exciting, or more fun. The list goes on and on; but the point is that the ads and
marketing strategies that focus on the benefits, the good
feelings, and the positive emotions that a product or service
can evoke are the ones that typically generate the most response
and sales. In your ads, brochures, and sales presentations,
emphasize the desirable outcomes, results, and benefits that
your prospect will enjoy as the result of using your product or
service. Features are important, too; but are generally secondary
when talking about the powers of persuasion and sales success.

As you begin to pay attention to and notice all the advertising
messages that capture your attention and arouse your interest,
give some thought to something else: how can you reach your
target audience most effectively, without spending more marketing
dollars than necessary. By paying attention to what other
businesses and entrepreneurs are doing, and by thinking
creatively, you will start formulating innovative and sometimes
unconventional ideas that you can apply to profitably marketing
your own products or services.

Identifying Opportunities for Effective Target Marketing

A successful marketing strategy often begins with looking for
and identifying opportunities to cost-effectively reach your
target market when they're in a receptive frame of mind. I
observed a good example of this kind of opportunistic marketing
while attending a crowded toy festival and parade over the
summer. This festival was so popular that nearly every
available parking spot on all the side streets was filled.
When my family and I returned to our car after the parade,
I immediately noticed that a bright yellow flyer (on card stock)
was lodged under my windshield wiper. My first thought was that
it was a parking ticket; but upon closer examination, I saw that
it was a promotional flyer for a children's party planning
service. I looked up and down the street and noticed that every
car had this same targeted advertisement in its window. As we
drove through town, it was apparent that block after block of
parked cars had this same advertising flyer inserted in their
windows. The point is that some enterprising business owner
realized that thousands of parents of young children are going
to be in the same place at the same time, that they'll have
just spent a fun day with their children, and they'll be in a
receptive mood to learn about ways to make their children
happier and to look good as parents. The owner of this
children's party planning service figured out a way to
inexpensively reach hundreds, maybe thousands of targeted
prospects who, most likely, were very receptive to the service
being marketed. I wouldn't be surprised if that flyer resulted
in a lot of phone calls.

It could have generated an even greater response if the
copywriting and headlines were more captivating, if it used
a couple of graphics to reinforce the message (rather than
consisting of 100% text, with almost no margins), if it
directed prospects to a website with more details and
testimonials, plus photos of enthusiastic customers and
successful parties... but that's a topic for another article!

Successful advertising and marketing takes imagination,
experimentation, and observation; but if the advertising
message you develop doesn't paint an irresistible picture,
create anticipation, and reach a targeted audience with the
greatest tendency to respond to your offer, then your campaign
will be ordinary and your results unremarkable. The principles
in this article are not new, but they're probably ignored by
the vast majority of those in the small business community.
Commit these ideas to memory so that you're among the successful
minority!

About the Author

R.J. Reiterman, of Optimal Marketing
Communications, has been a creative force in public relations,
corporate communications, and journalism for over 18 years.
You can find more of his articles, as well as those of other
consultants and writers in the field of marketing and
advertising, at http://www.marketingsurvivalkit.com.