subject: Advertising And Promotion What Are Their Multiple Levels [print this page] There are multiple levels of advertising and promotion that correspond to intent and stage of business. Understanding these levels helps small businesses tailor their promotions and ads to the proper purpose thus making more money. Let's look a little closer.
Stage 1. All about awareness
Hey mom look at me! Cries the little child who wants attention. The fact that there may be thousands of people out there who need what they offer but don't know they exist is one of the biggest threats to small businesses.
This stage works on the "if you build it they will come" principle. It is a good thing if you are an established brand opening a new location or if you do not have much competition.
Aside from being considered as the most basic form of advertising, it also has its uses. It is unfortunate that most small businesses never move past this level.
Stage 2. How to Gain Market Share
A very important stage of promotion in advertising is this stage. What happens in this particular stage is that you would put your unique selling proposition out there so that people will choose you over a competitor. You have to be compelling in a way your competitors aren't.
Did you know that most advertising, even from a lot of the big guys, just doesn't go this far? Compelling action from the customer is your job here.
Third stage. Increasing Consumption
It is very important to try to gain new customers but what are you doing to bring your old customer back? Do you know what kind of advertising or promotional tactics will increase the frequency and the size of your average purchase?
It is not a waste of money when you advertise to your current customers. In fact your ROI is likely to be far higher than advertising to get new customers.
Try thinking about ways in which you can get customers to come back more frequently and spend more with you when they do. You can realize an exponential growth in sales if you get these two components down.
Fourth stage. Capitalize on Opportunity
This stage is where you use opportunities to increase sales. Any ideas what these opportunities are? Not only are there holiday sales, there are also long weekends and current events.
Using very bad news for promotion is something you should be careful about. When you are seen as too mercenary, then it can come back to haunt you.
However, when promoting all kinds of things, it would be great to offer deals to offset rising gas prices or beat the heat of summer deals.
Mastering these basics will give you a head start for a more profitable future even though you can boil these four stages down into finer points of distinction.
