Small businesses use many types of media to inform, persuade and remind customers to try their products. From radio advertising to email marketing, entrepreneurs develop ways to reach their target audiences in the right places, at the right times and with appropriate messages. Before developing advertising strategies, entrepreneurs start by setting advertising objectives that are designed to achieve overall business goals. Successful advertising objectives are specific, measurable, timely and attainable.
Increase Sales
One of the most important reasons business owners invest in advertising is ultimately to increase their sales. Find out how much money your company earned in the past, proposed changes and the overall state of the market. If you use "increase sales" as an advertising objective, list how much you'd like to increase sales and give yourself a time line for completion. You can increase sales by raising prices, launching new products and reaching out to a new market.
Build Brand Awareness
If your business has been on the block for a while but your sales indicate that you're not capturing a large enough share of the market, make building brand awareness an advertising objective. An accountant can make an objective to sponsor or host three community events, while a restaurant owner can host a free happy hour event each month. "Entrepreneur," a magazine and online resource for business owners, suggests using social media and press releases to build brand awareness.
Introduce a New Website
You're excited about the new website your designer is building because it offers many features and benefits that will give your customers a better shopping experience and provide them with more information about your business, order processing and new offerings. Incorporate introducing a new website into your advertising objectives, because it's a way to promote your business to your clients. A boutique can add a store to its websites, while a bookkeeper who has been operating without a web presence can launch a site that features a blog with tax tips for small business owners. Hire a web designer to craft a well-designed, user-friendly website.
Increase Store Traffic
As the owner of a brick-and-mortar location, you understand the importance of having customers come into your store to browse the products you offer. There's something about touching, trying on, smelling and tasting products that awakens a consumer's senses. If your store traffic is down, or you'd like to see an increase, use this as an objective when you plan your advertising campaign. Shoot for increasing store traffic by a specific percentage. Increase traffic by hosting a customer appreciation event, redesigning the outside of the store, holding a sale or hosting a workshop or seminar.
Retain Customers
Getting new customers is great, but the ability to hold onto existing ones is extremely advantageous to business owners. As a result, including retaining customers as an advertising objective makes sense whether you have 10 or 10,000 customers. Your objective might be to retain 10 percent of your current customer base as you move into the new quarter. Tactics for retaining customers include starting an email marketing list, providing customers with discount coupons, asking for feedback and improving products and services based on feedback.
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