Lets be clear – If you want to be successful, you need to advertise! Of course, the difficulty comes in deciding how to advertise and how much to advertise, but I’ll get to that later.
Why Advertise?
No matter what kind of business you are in, you should be advertising in some way to reach out to prospective customers. Advertising serves to pull new customers in while keeping you top-of-mind with current customers.Some prospective customers may want/need your product/service but are not aware it exists or that it’s available through you. Some prospects would buy from you if they knew what you had to offer and how “remarkably” you deliver their buying experience. But, if you are not advertising, then you are missing out on doing business with these people.
There are numerous advertising mediums to choose from, and each will yield different results from different audiences. Often, you get a better result by using a combination of mediums. Also, keep in mind, advertising doesn’t only refer to placing an ad, radio or tv spot, or web marketing. Advertising, from our perspective, means any external program or communication that works to generate business.
Here are the top two reasons to advertise:
1. If you want to grow – you need to advertise.
Growth can be viewed in several ways. Some companies want to grow their footprint of sales. Some want to add locations. Some companies only want better clients who meet a specific profile to help them grow, while some companies want to squash their competitors. Some companies need to grow to overcome customer attrition, or to get their product out “first”. Whatever the reason – if you want to grow by driving-in new customer traffic- you will need to advertise.
2. If you want to avoid contracting – you need to advertise
Some companies shut down their advertising efforts completely – especially in a recession – or when they think they are “busy enough”. The simple truth is that when you shut off advertising you will probably be okay for awhile, but eventually you will see sales slip due to attrition or adverse economic events.
Do You Need to Advertise?
NO, you don’t have to advertise (there is a “but” coming), but if you don’t you are setting limits to what your company can do and if, or how much, it can grow. Companies have the option to only “advertise” to their current customer base through branding or brand marketing. But, if you want to be a growth-focused company that has both client and market options, then you NEED to advertise.
