The Web Design Business Kit Chapter 6 - Market Your Business

Advertising, Promotion And Public Relations

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of highly targeted promotions and qualified lead generation, it’s time to turn our thoughts to some of the more common marketing alternatives.

In this section, I’ll get a little more specific on advertising, promotion and Public Relations (PR).

We’ll look at how you can assess the potential of a particular marketing tool. We’ll also consider a range of different tools, and what they can and cannot do for you. Lastly, we’ll get into PR in some depth—if you’ve ever wanted to know how to write the ultimate media release, keep reading!

Assessing Your Advertising Options

Just what is the best way to assess your advertising options?

There’s no “right” answer to that question. There are all sorts of cultural, economic and local considerations that impact on the effectiveness of every advertising medium.

However, here are some general guidelines that will help you assess each different medium you consider using.

Use Your Research

Take a look at the audience survey you completed and see if the particular medium
you’re considering is mentioned.

There’s no point advertising in the newspaper if your target market did not identify it as one of the ways they found a Web developer. Similarly, there’s no point advertising in a particular newspaper if no one in your target audience reads it.

Rely heavily on your research—that is why you’re researching, after all!

Analyze The CPM

CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand, M being the Roman numeral for 1,000.

The CPM is the most analytical and objective measurement you can make of a communications vehicle. Once you know how much it costs to use a particular means to contact 1,000 people, you can easily compare the costs between media.

It works like this. The local newspaper reaches 50,000 people. You can buy a half-page display advertisement in the paper for $1,000. Therefore, if we divide 1,000 by fifty, we see that it will cost us $20 to reach a thousand people.

Obviously, the lower the CPM, the better. But keep in mind “media waste.” This refers to the number of people who see your ad, but who aren’t in your target audience and don’t have a need for your services.

Usually, the more “mass”, or general, the reach of the medium you use, the more media wastage there will be. For instance, a TV ad on the local television station will likely reach far more uninterested parties than will a direct mail campaign targeting businesses in your area that don’t have a Website.

So, when you consider CPM, also consider the amount of media waste. The CPM of a newspaper ad might be cheap at $20, but if 90% of the paper’s audience aren’t in your target market, it doesn’t matter how low the CPM is, you’re still wasting a lot of media—and money!

Speak With Other Advertisers

If the local TV station representative is trying to sell you some space, choose an advertisement or two you see running on that channel, and call those advertisers. You'll soon have a reasonable idea about what sort of response those ads are generating.

Listen To Your Instincts

Timing and gut feel are important. Some times of the year or month are simply a dead loss for Web design business.

For example, most businesses close down over the Christmas period, while their owners are off enjoying the season’s festivities. Don't waste your money advertising then.

Stick To Your Budget

Budget is a major consideration. Running three radio advertisements across three days might be within your budget, but it won’t be of any benefit. Some media, like radio, require repetition of your message in order to be effective.

If you don't have the budget to suit the medium, then don’t bother buying the space. Keep track of your expenditures using the Marketing Budget that's included in the Budget spreadsheet on this kit's CDROM.

Consider The Real Costs

Remember, also, the fact that an advertisement generates an inquiry doesn't necessarily mean that it’s successful. Here’s why. A client is currently running an advertisement in a local free weekly newspaper. His thinking was that if the ad generated one new client in twelve months, the advertisement would have been “successful.”

Wrong! The ad has been a disaster. After sixteen weeks at a cost of $60 per week, his ad has generated twelve inquiries. He has yet to make a sale. Yet the client estimates that meeting with the people who inquired, putting together the proposals, and talking on the telephone with these “prospects” has cost him in excess of $2,000 already.

He now subjects each “lead” to a fairly rigorous qualifying process before he takes the relationship any further. And he’s trying to off-load the advertisements (as he’s tied in to an advertising agreement with the paper for the full year).