By Olivia Adams, Sentinel Solutions
Short answer, yes.
Without advertising, your business is limiting itself and its visibility. Advertising is an essential component to promote your business, attract customers, and establish trust. The real question of the matter is, how should your business utilize advertising to see a successful return on your investment?
There’s a whole sea of options on the market when it comes to advertising, and sifting through the different types can be overwhelming to say the least. In this blog post, you will learn how to smoothly navigate the realm of advertising so that your business can feel confident in the decision-making process.
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Understand your Target Audience and How They Buy.
To effectively decide where to advertise your business, you must understand your target audience’s behaviors, patterns, and preferences. The customer buying process is a series of steps a customer goes through before they decide on their purchase. These steps include:
- Problem/Need Recognition: When the customer realizes they have a need or desire to buy.
- Information Search: After they identify their intent to buy, the customer will begin their research process to gather information on how to fulfill their need. This can include online searches, referrals from friends and family, viewing advertisements, or reading reviews on products and services.
- Evaluation of Alternatives: The customer will then typically compare products across different platforms to determine which option will best fit their needs and preferences.
- Purchase Decision: Once the customer has evaluated their alternatives, they will make their final decision on the product or service they intend to buy. This decision can be based on several different factors depending on the customer.
- Purchase: The customer concludes what to buy and purchases the product or service.
- Post-Purchase Evaluation: After the customer completes the purchase, they reflect on their decision and assess their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the purchase. This may involve their emotional response after the entirety of the buying process, their comparison to the expectations they had, and how it impacts their future purchases.
- Retention and Advocacy: Finally, after the customer has used the product or service and completed their reflections, they will determine if they advocate for the brand. This is when businesses are at the hands of the customer when it comes to how they speak about the brand. Will they become a loyal customer based on their experience? Will they give positive word-of-mouth referrals to help build your brand? Your business has the capability of turning your customers into enthusiastic promoters of your business!
Without advertising, it will be difficult to promote your business to even get to the customer buying process. Advertisement plays a crucial role in influencing and persuading potential customers. If a customer is not reminded of your brand when they are intending to buy, then your business is left at a great disadvantage—especially because of the array of options customers have at their fingertips in today’s modern world.
Suggestions to Help you Determine Where to Advertise Your Business.
- Take a moment to zoom out and place yourself in the perspective of your customers. Ask yourself, where would you go to look for your business if you were your own customer?
- Where are your competitors advertising? This is good information to have because they may have performed similar market research. However, keep in mind that just because your competitor advertises somewhere does not mean you have to.
- Evaluate publications and advertising media that align best with your customer base. Research who these places are delivering to, it could be your exact demographic.
- Utilize a multifaceted media approach to optimize your reach.
The reality is, advertising isn’t usually a “one size fits all” method; in fact, tailored marketing campaigns that cater specifically to your business’s needs can be an exceptional tool. Tailored marketing campaigns help increase customer engagement to improve your business’s conversion rates and ultimately drive sales. The best way to advertise effectively in today’s world is to create personalized campaigns that evoke emotion in the customer that lead to a connection. Learning who your audience is, what their preferences are, and their buying habits will equip you with the best route to effectively advertise to them.
If you’d like to learn more about advertising your business please give us a call or email us here at Sentinel Solutions.
We are experts in advertising and effectively incorporating these tactics into the marketing mix. We can help you build a compelling campaign that engages your audience and drives sales.
Give us a call if we can help at 603-352-5896 or e-mail to Advertising@SentinelDigitalSolutions.com. We’re here to help you succeed.
Additional Resources:
- Understanding The Customer Journey Toward Business Success
- What Is Multimedia Marketing and How Can It Help Your Local Business?
Olivia Adams, Sentinel Solutions. Born and raised in the Monadnock region, Olivia attended NHTI where she graduated with an associate’s degree in business administration. She then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in digital marketing from Southern New Hampshire University. Olivia enjoys connecting and helping others, finding creative ways to solve problems, and having a positive outlook to harbor a healthy atmosphere. As part of the Sentinel Solutions sales team, she enjoys working with SMBs to help them achieve their marketing objectives. Outside of a professional setting, Olivia enjoys painting, the great outdoors, spending time with family (including her new puppy), and practicing yoga.
