Advertising can be expensive, especially for a small business that doesn't necessarily have a large marketing budget. However, it is essential for even small businesses to advertise. There are many effective advertising avenues that can have much success even with small budgets. The point of an advertising campaign isn't how many people that campaign reaches; it is how many “targeted” people it reaches. Different target markets can be reached by different advertising avenues and the more you hone in your efforts, the more success you will have. You wouldn't want to spend massive amounts of money on radio advertisements, if you target market didn't consistently listen to the radio. The first thing in creating an advertising campaign is knowing your target market, and no targeting just women isn't going to cut it because different women have different needs. That isn't to say that other people from different markets don't purchase your products or services, it simply means who purchases them the most. Then you must determine which resources are available to reach your market and which ones aren't going to work. Finally, you must create your advertisements to effectively communicate with your target market.

Marketing and Advertising are directly related to psychology. Consumers go through a process when making purchasing decisions. Companies must understand this process and where, when and how to communicate at different stages of the buying process. Below is the Five-Stage Model of the Consumer Buying Process. Not all buyers will go through all stages of the process, but a company must recognize their buyer's process in order to successfully communicate with their buyers. As you may have already realized, different types of communication are more effective then others at different stages within this process.

I realize that you might be thinking to yourself “This is more information than I was ready for.” Not to worry. This is why marketing and advertising consultants are around. If you are a small business or even thinking of starting one then you have many free business resources at your disposal to help you in your research. Please feel free to contact us or your local Small Business Administration or Business Council for further information. If you would like to further explore your advertising options, then we would be happy to assist you.