• Advertising

    Advertising is any communication where a company tries to persuade potential or existing customers to buy their product or services.

    A Really Brief History

    The oldest form of advertising was signage. Before there was even a printing press, merchants used signs to draw in customers and stand out from their competitors. And, really, that’s the whole purpose of advertising. Let customers know what you do and to stand out from the rest.

    Traditionally, advertising was print ads in magazines and newspapers, radio, TV and direct mail. Ah, the good old days! Strategy was much easier then. Small businesses had a few TV stations, radio stations and newspapers to choose from. Small business owners set up a budget and stretched it as far as they could go (which was pretty far). They didn’t need an advertising agency or a media coordinator – the local advertising account executive did all the work.

    All that began to change drastically in the 1970s. With the launch of cable, small businesses could no longer be sure that their customers were watching those handful of local stations. Customers were distracted with MTV, CNN, ESPN, Nickelodean or, God forbid, HBO. While cable ad rates ere lower than the networks (and still are), there were more of them. Small business needed to stretch their marketing budget even further.

    Modern Advertising

    Thirty years later, the US market is saturated with advertising. Everything, from city buses & bus stops to stadiums are sponsored by advertisers. Small businesses need to stretch that same advertising budget across local print, broadcast, radio, cable, web, social media, direct mail (and email) and, let’s not forget the most basic, signage. Business owners can no longer rely on their local ad rep to do their campaigns. Small business owners have trouble keeping track of all their campaigns – tracking and analyzing success, budgeting, messaging, and keeping track of the bills. Advertising has become a full time job (on top of running your business). Because the new marketing channels are changing so rapidly, small business owners often find themselves throwing concepts at the wall and hope they stick. And they are finding that is often a waste of time and money.

    This blog is dedicated to helping small business owners save time and money. We will provide quick references for advertising terms, media buying and tracking tips, campaign development tips and updates to new changes in new media.