Advertising Essentials

So, you've built a better mousetrap. You started your company. You have a fabulous board of advisors established. Now what?

Now you need to let the world know about your product/service so that they can come and purchase it from you. And how do you do this? Well you advertise of course! Let's start with the basics, the who, what, when, where, why, and how of getting your product or service out there.

Who?
Who advertises? Everyone. All the time. Some just do it more consciously than others. You are constantly marketing yourself to others, friends, family, customers, clients. Every interaction leaves an impression, and enough impressions build a brand identity. Are you the class clown? The peacemaker? The listener? The partier? In different areas of your life you have probably established yourself with a couple of different labels... some of them accidentally, some of them are maybe even unwanted. But they are there.

The art of advertising is all about association. When you consciously advertise you are deliberately setting out to establish the right image, with the right group of people about your product or service so that when it comes time for them to become consumers of your product or service, you are the one who comes to mind and gets the sale.

What?
What do you advertise? Everything. You advertise your company, your environment, your culture, your service, your values, all to sell a product or service. Think about Apple for a moment. I am talking Apple computers, MAC specifically. Have you heard of them? What comes to mind when you think of them? They have positioned themselves as the cool, easy to use, lifestyle computing system. People respond to the MAC brand emotionally. Their customers LOVE them, they hang out in the stores. They drag friends and family to the stores with them to show them the cool, new, fun, amazing, tiny, thin, whatever new product there is! When you set out to deliberately advertise you are creating something, it is no longer just you and your product, it becomes you, your product, and your brand identity.

When?
When is the best time to advertise? NOW! You need to advertise consistently- you need to be top of mind at any time a potential consumer turns into an active buyer. In order to achieve this you need to have already developed a reputation with your consumers. They need to know who you are before they are ready to buy your products. We'll get more into this later, but basically what this means is, if you want to have a fabulous holiday sales season, your advertising efforts can't go dormant for 11 months of the year!

Where?
Alright, you understand the importance of advertising. But, where should you be advertising? Wherever your consumers gather. Whether that is on the freeway during rush-hour (think billboards and radio spots) or online in social networking groups (facebook, twitter, google, yahoo, etc) you need to be where your consumers are. But don't panic yet, this can all be affordable!

Why?
So to recap, why advertise? To get your product or service: Noticed Believed and Remembered

How? With advertisements that are Unexpected, Likeable, and Consistent, and over the next few posts we'll get into the nitty-gritty of how to do this!