Many people get
confused about the role of advertising in the marketing mix so here’s a simple
view of where it fits in. In the traditional marketing model, we talk about the
4 P’s Product, Pricing, Place and Promotion.
Many people get confused about the role of advertising in
the marketing mix so here’s a simple view of where it fits in.
In the traditional marketing model, we talk about the 4 P’s
·
Product
·
Pricing
·
Place
·
Promotion
The last section – Promotion is what we
mean when we say you are “doing your marketing”. It’s your
communications or your actual marketing activities.
But first, let’s get clear about the PURPOSE
of marketing and why you want to get good at it.
“The PURPOSE of marketing or it’s biggest task
is to
persuade prospects to visit you online or offline so you
can present your offer. Done well they come waving their
credit card and ready to buy so there’s no need for hard
sell.”
Whenever and wherever you get in front of your potential
market is your marketing opportunity – you are communicating or getting your
message across.
You could say this started as far back as Babylon when the Town Crier was the only
delivery method! They went around town shouting out to people to go to the
marketplace and you went to the marketplace with your goods to “present
your offer”.
With the invention of print and other technologies you now
have a smorgasbord of delivery methods or media to reach people such as
·
Print – newspapers, magazines,
catalogues, newsletters
·
Phone, mail, fax o Radio & TV,
·
Internet – through websites, blogs,
social networking sites, email, video & Audio podcasts
·
Teleseminars & webinars o Mobile media – Blackberrys and mobile or cell phones
·
And lets not forget in person public
speaking and networking
Now that range adds a level of complexity. But choice is good
and you don’t have to use all of these but they are available to you.
In any event you’ll either be speaking or writing. Simply
narrow down what makes sense for you and your business and use your strengths
to work out a plan.
JUST remember the marketing principles remain the same no
matter the medium – so the PURPOSE of your marketing is still the same. To
persuade prospects to visit you online or offline so you can present your
offer.
So where does advertising fit into this?
Advertising is
simply a subset of your marketing activities it’s the SALES function when you
make the sales pitch or “present your offer”. This could be verbal or
written in all the same media you use for your marketing communications. What
adds to the confusion is sometimes big companies use image based ads for
awareness so the “sales pitch” isn’t obvious.
But the primary purpose of advertising is to SELL.
So you create ads in one form or another and get them in
front of your audience.
Small businesses can’t afford to waste money on image
advertising that is designed for the masses to promote a well known brand. It
simply isn’t designed to sell, NOW.
What I do and recommend is Direct Marketing which is based
on one-on-one relationships and uses proven direct response advertising techniques
instead of mass advertising.
The purpose of a direct response advertisement is to get a
response, NOW! Which means these ads actually ask the prospect to DO something.
Whether you’re building a list, selling a product or
service, an appointment or even something you are giving away – you still need
to “sell” it to your prospect. And ask them to take the action you
want them to take to move them through the sales process.
In a nutshell
, advertising is a subset of marketing and
direct response marketing and advertising is the champion for small business.
{pixabay|100|campaign}