Different Types of Advertising and Which of Them Benefits Your Business

By Paco Arespacochaga

There are so many mediums of advertising ranging from TV all the way to Internet Video. In print, you have the newspaper on one end and the direct mail on the other. Radio and podcasts have their place in today’s business marketing environment as well. Rounding them up, there are different types of advertising but not all mediums truly benefit your business. What I will share will you should give you a “bird’s eye view” on where you should allot your advertising budget to.

Depending on what industry you’re in, different advertising mediums come out more effective than others. Take a moment to find out what makes a potential customer, patient or client seek your service or product.

I would assume there is a “need”.

Now take a moment to simulate where a potential customer, patient or client will go to make a purchase of your service and product.

I’m assuming it would be the Internet, the Yellow Pages, the Penny Saver or something similar.

And lastly, be ready to answer why a potential customer, client or patient will choose YOU over your competition when he/she is ready to make a purchase of your service and product.

Perhaps you had been successful in creating an effect Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) campaign that made a potential customer, client or patient remember you and what you have to offer.

Balancing your media mix gives you more opportunity to reap the benefits of your campaign in the form of a higher ROI (return on investment).
On the other hand, putting all your advertising dollars in one medium is like giving money away!

In this example, I will share with you how an effective advertising mix can be beneficial to your business.

Acme Carpet Cleaners began operation of its carpet cleaning business in the neighborhood. They started printing flyers and hired someone to go door to door and leave the flyer at a resident’s door, gate or mailbox. The flyer had a very good ad message (copy write). It introduced their business grand opening and a “2 room get the third one FREE!” promo. They also purchased a solid Direct Mail campaign from a reputable company like Idearc, RSVP or Valpak to drive the message across a larger targeted area.

They also invested some advertising in the LOCAL newspaper and Penny Saver.
On top of all of these, they advertised on Online Directories such as Superpages.com & Yellowpages.com and also did some Pay-Per-Click campaign.

And speaking of directories (phone books), when people are ready to make a purchase, they only go to the Internet and their local yellow pages. It’s a good thing Acme Carpet Cleaners had some presence there too!

And when they were done with the job, they were prepared and creative enough to leave a refrigerator magnet, with their phone number, with the client.

Now, do you think their cost of investment is costly? The answer depends on how the advertising budget is being looked at. The smart way of answering the question is to determine the number of NEW clients and ad campaign like the one above will generate. Also, the Average Value Order (AVO) should be determined to see if the number of clients times the AVO can bring a decent to significant return on investment (ROI). Getting a 5:1 return at the very least is a good thing!

And let’s not forget that carpets do get dirty again! So if you did a good job the first time around, you’re bound to get another phone call from the same client and that, my friend, is when real money is made!