The Dos And Don’ts Of Advertising Your Business

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Advertising your business can be a minefield. Not only are there likely lots of businesses all exactly like yours out there today, you need to make sure you stand out against all of them and appeal to your audience the most in order to get results. This isn’t impossible, but you need to know a few dos and don’ts before you get started. This way, you can come up with the most effective marketing campaign and ensure you really stand out against every similar business out there.

Read on to find out what the dos and don’ts that you really need to know are:

Do Know Who Your Audience Are Right From The Beginning

First, you need to know who your audience are. What is the point in starting an advertising campaign when you don’t even know who you’re marketing to? You need to know their age, their likes and dislikes, problems they face, the language they use, and more. All of these things will effectively help you to market to your audience effectively. Creating profiles that describe them will help you to do this. Here are some pointers to help you:

• Come up with a few different character profiles so you have a really good idea of who you’re marketing your business to
• Make sure you create a brand voice and use language that appeals to your audience
• Track your results with the changes you make in business so you can see what was an effective move and what wasn’t so effective
• Use focus groups and surveys to get a better idea of who your audience are

Don’t Try To Target Everybody

Trying to target everybody will not get you better results. It’ll water down your efforts and your business won’t appeal to as many people. A highly targeted ad campaign may target a fewer number of people, but as they are highly targeted, they are then far more likely to seek out your business and work with you. Choosing a niche with a niche audience will give you a better chance of success.

Do Test Out Different Methods Of Advertising

Using different methods of marketing, both on and offline methods, can help you to ensure you’re spreading the word of your business far and wide and getting the best results imaginable.

You could use high quality vinyl banners outside of your physical store, and then try PPC and SEO together online. There are so many ways to advertise your business these days that you should be spoiled for choice. Here are some pointers:

• Try both online and offline techniques to see what really works for you
• Make sure you stop doing something if it hasn’t worked for you or you’ll waste money
• Just because something worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s working right now
• Staying ahead of your advertising is crucial, so have plans for various future campaigns
• Learn from each campaign so you can do better

Don’t Forget To Track Your Results

If you forget to track your results, you’ll never be sure of what is actually working for you and what can be left behind. You need to know the results you’re getting from your efforts. Have you doubled the number of walk ins since hanging your vinyl banners? Maybe traffic to your site has increased since you started your PPC campaign. Make sure you keep an eye on this stuff as it’s so important. You don’t want to waste any time or money on your advertising!

Do Figure Out What Problems Your Audience Faces

Figuring out the issues your audience faces means you can market to them and solve their problems. You could put together a focus group, or even ask questions on the street with a survey.

• When you promise to solve a problem, you become a more attractive business
• This is your opportunity to prove you understand the customer and the issues they face
• Make sure you show that you genuinely care about the customer and the issues they face or they will see through you

Don’t Tell Your Audience What They Want

Telling your audience what their problems are or what they want will always end in disaster. It doesn’t matter how great your idea is, you need to listen to them if you’re going to get anywhere. Leave your ego behind and make your business a customer focused business.

Pay attention to these dos and don’ts and you should have a better time advertising your business in the future.