Advertising For Dummies (2nd Edition) PDF

Advertising FOR DUMmIES ‰ 2ND EDITION Advertising FOR DUMmIES ‰ 2ND EDITION by Gary Dahl Advertising For Dummies®, 2nd Edition Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006936762 ISBN-13: 978-0-470-04583-1 ISBN-10: 0-470-04583-3 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2B/RT/RS/QW/IN About the Author Gary Dahl is an award-winning copywriter, creative director, and advertising agency owner. His career spans 40 years, during which he has handled all facets of advertising for hundreds of clients. His agency, Gary Dahl Creative Services, in Campbell, California, specializes in electronic advertising. Dahl’s ability to creatively capture the essence of a client’s business in 30 or 60 seconds of clear, concise broadcast copy is a result of having written and produced hundreds of television commercials and thousands of radio com- mercials for a wide variety of businesses, including financial, automotive, wireless, education, retail, high-tech, and dot-coms. Gary Dahl has a unique understanding of what it takes to successfully convey a client’s message to potential customers. As the creator of the retail phe- nomenon, the Pet Rock –– which still ranks as the fastest selling and most publicized novelty gift product in retail history –– Dahl has proven the extra- ordinary power of a creative idea combined with an effective, well-planned marketing strategy. He has been featured in Time, Newsweek, People, Playboy, and other major magazines; has appeared on numerous network TV shows; and has been interviewed by countless radio networks worldwide, including NPR, the BBC, and the Australian Broadcasting Company. An accomplished public speaker, Dahl has made advertising/marketing pre- sentations to numerous university advertising and marketing communications classes, advertising and civic organizations, and business and professional clubs throughout the country. He and his wife, Marguerite, live in the hills above Los Gatos, California. Ruth Mills is an editor and writer with more than 20 years of experience in book publishing. She has edited and published books on a wide range of topics, including business, finance, biography, general-interest non-fiction, and fiction. She has worked with authors who were CEOs of major corpora- tions (including Continental Airlines and Sears) and journalists from such major publications as BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal. She also developed several series of books with Entrepreneur, Adweek, and Black Enterprise magazines. Finally, she has ghost-written seven books on business topics, including advertising, real estate investing, per- sonal finance, and the success story of a well-known business entrepreneur. Dedication To Marguerite, my soul mate and the love of my life. Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Patrick Redmond Project Editor: Natalie Faye Harris Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, (Previous Edition: Elizabeth Netedu Kuball) Lavonne Cook, Joyce Haughey, Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Stephanie D. Jumper, Shelley Norris, Barry Offringa, Laura Pence (Previous Edition: Holly McGuire) Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico Copy Editor: Sarah Westfall Proofreaders: Dwight Ramsey, Techbooks Technical Editor: Tom Hirons Indexer: Techbooks Editorial Manager: Christine Beck Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan, Joe Niesen, David Lutton, Leeann Harney Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services Contents at a Glance Introduction.................................................................1 Part I: Advertising 101.................................................7 Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion..............................................9 Chapter 2: Setting and Working within Your Advertising Budget..............................19 Chapter 3: Boosting Your Budget with Co-Op Programs.............................................33 Chapter 4: Defining and Positioning Your Message.....................................................41 Chapter 5: Forming an Effective Ad Campaign.............................................................53 Part II: Creating Great Ads for Every Medium...............71 Chapter 6: Online Advertising: Maximizing the Enormous Reach of the Internet...73 Chapter 7: Using Print Ads: Small Spaces with Big Audiences...................................95 Chapter 8: Radio: Effective, Affordable, and Fun........................................................107 Chapter 9: Demystifying TV Commercials: They Don’t Have to Win Awards to Be Effective....................................................................................123 Chapter 10: Collateral Advertising and Direct Mail: Brochures, Flyers, Newsletters, and More................................................................139 Chapter 11: Opting for Outdoor Ads: Billboards, Posters, Ads on Buses, and Other Signage..............................................................................159 Part III: Buying the Different Media..........................173 Chapter 12: Investing in Internet Advertising.............................................................175 Chapter 13: Buying Ad Space in Print Media..............................................................187 Chapter 14: Purchasing Ad Time on the Radio...........................................................199 Chapter 15: Getting Your Ads on Television...............................................................215 Chapter 16: Deciding Whether to Hire an Ad Agency................................................233 Part IV: Beyond the Basics: Creating Buzz and Using Publicity..................................................245 Chapter 17: Creating Buzz and Word-of-Mouth Advertising.....................................247 Chapter 18: Leveraging Your Advertising with Public Relations, Publicity, Specialty Items, and Events.......................................................................257 Part V: The Part of Tens............................................279 Chapter 19: Ten Secrets for Writing Memorable Advertising...................................281 Chapter 20: (Almost) Ten Ways to Know It’s Time to Hire an Agency.....................287 Glossary...................................................................293 Index.......................................................................297 Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................1 About This Book...............................................................................................1 Conventions Used in This Book.....................................................................2 What You’re Not to Read.................................................................................2 Foolish Assumptions.......................................................................................2 How This Book Is Organized...........................................................................3 Part I: Advertising 101............................................................................3 Part II: Creating Great Ads for Every Medium....................................3 Part III: Buying the Different Media......................................................4 Part IV: Beyond the Basics: Creating Buzz and Using Publicity.......4 Part V: The Part of Tens.........................................................................4 Icons Used in This Book..................................................................................5 Where to Go from Here....................................................................................5 Part I: Advertising 101..................................................7 Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion............9 Making Advertising Work..............................................................................10 Getting to Know Your Media Options..........................................................11 Regarding radio....................................................................................11 Rating TV...............................................................................................12 Contemplating print.............................................................................12 Musing upon direct mail......................................................................13 Scrutinizing outdoor advertising.......................................................14 Ogling online ads..................................................................................14 Poring over publicity...........................................................................14 Lessons from the Legends: Figuring Out Your Advertising Needs..........15 David Ogilvy..........................................................................................16 Bill Bernbach.........................................................................................17 Wieden and Kennedy...........................................................................18 Chapter 2: Setting and Working within Your Advertising Budget...19 Determining How Much You Can Afford to Spend.....................................20 Developing an Advertising Strategy and a Tactical Plan..........................22 Researching and evaluating your competition.................................22 Identifying your target market............................................................23 Knowing your product’s appeal.........................................................24 xii Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Maximizing Your Budget...............................................................................24 Getting the most out of your creative and production...................25 Using media you can afford.................................................................26 Chapter 3: Boosting Your Budget with Co-Op Programs...........33 Knowing Who Uses Co-Op Funds.................................................................33 Finding Out Which of Your Suppliers Have Co-Op Funds Available........35 Knowing who to talk to........................................................................36 You’ve found your funds, now how do you get the dough?............37 Understanding the Rules, Regulations, and Restrictions.........................37 Getting your ads preapproved............................................................38 Obtaining proof of performance.........................................................39 Submitting your co-op claims package..............................................40 Chapter 4: Defining and Positioning Your Message...............41 Understanding Why People Choose One Product or Service over Another............................................................................42 Image is everything..............................................................................42 You’ve got personality!........................................................................42 Convenience: More than location......................................................43 Don’t sacrifice service!........................................................................44 Let ’em know your uniqueness...........................................................45 The price is right..................................................................................45 Researching and Assessing Your Competition: What Sets Your Product Apart?................................................................46 Developing a Strategy for Your Advertising Campaign.............................48 Case Study: Advertising a Chain of Women’s Plus-Size Clothing Stores...........................................................................49 Identifying the USP: The unique selling proposition.......................50 Knowing the budget — and staying within its limits.......................50 Shooting the ads...................................................................................51 Selecting the right media.....................................................................51 Applying these ideas to your ad campaign.......................................52 Chapter 5: Forming an Effective Ad Campaign....................53 Identifying and Targeting Your Audience....................................................54 Focus on your primary market...........................................................55 Research your market..........................................................................55 Checking Out Your Competition’s Ads so You Can Differentiate Yours.................................................................56 Focusing on Ads That You Respond to Most..............................................57 Table of Contents xiii Concocting a Creative Hook to Get Your Audience’s Attention...............59 Creative brainstorming........................................................................60 Creative example: Developing a campaign for a community college..................................................................62 Incorporating Your Creative Message into an Overall Media Ad Campaign...............................................................65 Ensuring consistency of your message in all media you choose...................................................................66 Keeping your message simple............................................................66 Using words that sell............................................................................67 Delivering your message with clarity................................................69 Part II: Creating Great Ads for Every Medium................71 Chapter 6: Online Advertising: Maximizing the Enormous Reach of the Internet.............................73 Measuring the Pros and Cons of Online Advertising.................................74 Creating Your Own Web Site.........................................................................76 Deciding on your Web site goals........................................................77 Choosing an effective domain name..................................................78 Saving money (or your sanity): Your Web design............................78 Designing a strong Web site................................................................79 Promoting Your Site.............................................................................83 Setting Goals for Online Ads.........................................................................85 Ads that build awareness....................................................................86 Ads that encourage click-through......................................................86 Ads that encourage sales....................................................................87 Choosing Among Online Ad Formats...........................................................87 Creating banner ads.............................................................................88 Doing e-mail advertising......................................................................92 Chapter 7: Using Print Ads: Small Spaces with Big Audiences.....95 Exploring the Advantages of Print...............................................................95 Recognizing What Makes a Print Ad Successful........................................96 Writing and Designing an Eye-Catching Print Ad.......................................99 Hammering out your headline............................................................99 Shaping your subheads.....................................................................101 Building your body copy...................................................................101 Generating your graphics..................................................................102 Don’t forget the layout!......................................................................103 xiv Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Chapter 8: Radio: Effective, Affordable, and Fun.................107 Summarizing Your Business in 60 Seconds...............................................107 Who are you?......................................................................................108 What are you selling?.........................................................................108 When do you want consumers to act?............................................109 How can customers get in touch with you?....................................109 Why should customers hire or buy from you?...............................110 Deciding on the Format for Your Ad..........................................................112 Talking it up: Dialogue.......................................................................112 Amusing (and schmoozing) the masses: Comedy.........................113 Giving just the facts: A straight read...............................................114 Determining Who Should Read the Script................................................115 Doing it yourself.................................................................................115 Using a studio announcer..................................................................118 Hiring a professional voice talent....................................................118 Setting It All in Motion: How to Get Your Ad on the Radio.....................120 Chapter 9: Demystifying TV Commercials: They Don’t Have to Win Awards to Be Effective................................123 Designing Your TV Commercial in Layers.................................................124 Audio....................................................................................................124 Video....................................................................................................125 Computer graphics............................................................................125 Bringing the Audio and Visual Together...................................................126 Deciding What to Feature in Your Commercial........................................129 Appearing in your own commercial.................................................129 Promoting with a professional..........................................................130 Highlighting your place of business.................................................130 Focusing the camera on your product or service..........................131 Figuring Out Where to Shoot......................................................................131 On location..........................................................................................131 In the studio........................................................................................134 Producing Your Commercial.......................................................................135 Using the TV station’s production department..............................135 Hiring an independent production house.......................................137 Editing Your Commercial............................................................................137 Chapter 10: Collateral Advertising and Direct Mail: Brochures, Flyers, Newsletters, and More......................139 First Things First: Planning Your Collateral Campaign...........................140 Watching Out for Collateral Budget Busters.............................................141 Adding a little (or a lot) of color.......................................................142 Printing cheap: No such thing?.........................................................142 Table of Contents xv Designing the Best Collateral Ads for Your Business..............................145 Striving for a simple design and clear copy....................................146 Deciding what to include in your ad................................................147 Getting help with your design..........................................................151 Handing Off the Dirty Work: Direct-Mail Houses......................................154 Asking the direct-mail provider some important questions.........154 Planning your postage.......................................................................157 Chapter 11: Opting for Outdoor Ads: Billboards, Posters, Ads on Buses, and Other Signage.............................159 Recognizing the Advantages of Outdoor Advertising.............................160 Measuring the Effectiveness of Outdoor Ads...........................................162 Choosing Among Your Outdoor Advertising Options.............................163 Designing Memorable Outdoor Advertising.............................................166 Pursuing potential customers..........................................................167 Making your ad readable...................................................................168 Keeping your ad clear........................................................................169 Making it worth remembering..........................................................169 Looking at a Success Story: Chick-fil-A’s Billboard Campaign................170 Aiming for the target audience.........................................................171 Setting up the marketing strategy....................................................171 Capitalizing on the creative strategy...............................................171 Reaping the results.............................................................................171 Part III: Buying the Different Media...........................173 Chapter 12: Investing in Internet Advertising....................175 Hiring Someone to Create Your Business Web Site.................................176 Choosing a Web designer worthy of your hard-earned dollars...........................................................176 Contracting with and paying a Web designer.................................178 Finding an ISP to Run Your Site..................................................................179 Ranking Your Site: Purchasing Key Words on Search Engines...............181 Buying Banner Ads on Other Web Sites....................................................181 Using ad networks..............................................................................181 Placing your online ads yourself......................................................182 Online advertising via affiliate programs........................................182 Finding out whether your banner is working.................................183 Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of E-Mail Advertising..........................184 xvi Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Chapter 13: Buying Ad Space in Print Media....................187 Choosing the Right Publication for Your Print Ad...................................188 Calculating Your Print Ad’s Cost................................................................189 Finding a Good Sales Rep............................................................................191 Cold-calling a publication: Don’t do it!............................................191 Going straight to the top: Call the sales manager..........................192 Asking for referrals.............................................................................192 Becoming a Formidable Ad Buyer.............................................................193 Acting as though you’re reluctant....................................................193 Making your sales rep think she’s got competition.......................195 Complaining when the time is right.................................................196 Chapter 14: Purchasing Ad Time on the Radio...................199 Determining the Best Radio Station for Your Ads....................................200 Specifying which demographic you’re after...................................201 Doing your homework.......................................................................202 Buying the station..............................................................................204 Talking the Talk of Radio Advertising........................................................205 Cume....................................................................................................206 Ranker..................................................................................................206 Dayparts..............................................................................................207 Reading the Fine Print.................................................................................207 Hammering out the details................................................................207 Holding ’em to it.................................................................................209 Waiting Patiently for the Results................................................................210 Giving your audience time to respond............................................210 Buying radio time: Too little, too much?.........................................211 Evaluating your radio ads from time to time..................................211 Taking Advantage of Seasonal Incentives to Reduce Your Costs...........212 Chapter 15: Getting Your Ads on Television.....................215 Buying the Programming, Not the Station................................................216 Comparing TV Stations: Request Media Kits............................................217 Ready to Negotiate? Better Know Your TV Marketing Terms First!.......218 Understanding timing and sweeps...................................................219 Measuring ratings and market shares.............................................219 Working with a Sales Rep............................................................................221 Talkin’ the talk: Negotiating successfully........................................223 Is Cable Advertising Right for You?...........................................................226 Working effectively with a cable sales rep......................................227 Hitting the bull’s-eye with cable ads................................................229 Doing the math: Cable TV market penetration...............................229 Table of Contents xvii Chapter 16: Deciding Whether to Hire an Ad Agency.............233 Determining When You May Need to Hire an Agency.............................234 Finding the Right Agency for Your Business............................................236 Getting to Know the People Handling Your Account...............................237 Compensating Your Agency........................................................................238 Media commissions...........................................................................239 Creative and production charges.....................................................240 Markups...............................................................................................241 Retainers..............................................................................................241 Working with Your Agency to Get What You Need..................................242 Part IV: Beyond the Basics: Creating Buzz and Using Publicity...................................................245 Chapter 17: Creating Buzz and Word-of-Mouth Advertising.......247 Getting the Terminology Straight...............................................................247 Seeing the Power of Word of Mouth..........................................................248 Examining word-of-mouth marketing success stories...................249 Beware of negative buzz!...................................................................250 Tips and Techniques on Generating Buzz.................................................251 Coining a great new phrase...............................................................251 Hiring beautiful people to promote your product.........................251 Taking advantage of celebrity endorsements.................................252 Throwing a party................................................................................253 Hitting the streets...............................................................................253 Figuring out where to find your big mouths...................................254 Creating a blog about your business...............................................254 Chapter 18: Leveraging Your Advertising with Public Relations, Publicity, Specialty Items, and Events..........................257 Starting a Public Relations Campaign.......................................................258 Understanding How Publicity Can Bring Customers...............................259 Writing an effective press release....................................................260 Getting the story to the right media................................................263 Advertising on Specialty Items...................................................................266 Recognizing the advantages of specialty advertising....................267 Selecting specialty items with a purpose........................................269 Keep the copy simple on a specialty item......................................271 Generating Traffic: Promotional Events....................................................271 Radio: The promotions king..............................................................272 Other promotional opportunities....................................................275 xviii Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Participating in Sponsored Events.............................................................275 Determining whether you can staff the event................................276 Calculating the costs: A valuable investment?...............................277 Deciding which events are worthwhile...........................................277 Finding sponsored events that work for your business................278 Part V: The Part of Tens.............................................279 Chapter 19: Ten Secrets for Writing Memorable Advertising......281 Ignoring the Rules of Grammar..................................................................281 Making Your Ads Effective..........................................................................282 Knowing Why People Buy Your Products.................................................282 Finding a Creative Hook..............................................................................283 Remembering That Creativity Is Hard Work.............................................284 Letting Your Creative Hook Dictate Your Media Buy...............................284 Considering Your Budget............................................................................285 Striving for Continuity.................................................................................285 Keeping It Simple..........................................................................................286 Being Clear in Your Message......................................................................286 Chapter 20: (Almost) Ten Ways to Know It’s Time to Hire an Agency..................................................287 Your Ad Budget Has Become Substantial.................................................287 You Need the Expertise of a Professional Media Buyer..........................288 Your Creative Light Bulb Has Burned Out................................................288 You’re Overwhelmed by the Demands of Production.............................289 You’re Having Trouble Keeping Up with the Bookkeeping.....................289 You’re Leaving Co-Op Funds on the Table................................................289 Your Time Is Being Taken Up by Media Reps...........................................290 You’re Running Faster to Stay in the Same Place.....................................290 You Want a Bunch of Free Stuff..................................................................291 Glossary...................................................................293 Index........................................................................297 Introduction A dvertising, despite whatever impressions you have or information you’ve heard, isn’t complicated — or rather, it’s only as complicated as you want it to be. Sure, a lot is involved with advertising. Print, broadcast, outdoor, direct mail, collateral materials, Internet — each media has its own positives and negatives, its own mysterious production language, and its own unique rates. How does a novice decipher this stuff? How do you know what to buy and what to ignore? Yes, advertising can seem complicated, even intimidating, but the good news is that it ain’t rocket science. You just need a few tricks of the trade that help you design, write, and implement a creative, hard-hitting, memorable ad cam- paign for your business. The purpose of this book is to show you those tricks. About This Book You can read this book front to back, or you can simply refer to it as you would any reference book, dipping into the chapters you need right away. Whichever way you read it, you may discover some shortcuts, insights, tech- niques, and money-saving facts that can get you the most bang for the buck while taking some of the mystery out of this all-important element of your business. Think of Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition, as a guidebook to map your way through the back alleys, side streets, and secret pathways leading to effective advertising. Advertising can be a very intimidating subject — it has its own language; it comes in a huge array of media choices; it requires, when done right, creativity, clarity, and solid production values to cut through its own clutter; and it costs a lot of money. But advertising is also essential to the success of your business. Use this travel guide to chart your course down the hidden boulevards of advertising, and you may discover that, indeed, the streets are paved with gold. 2 Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Conventions Used in This Book When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that I haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. So, when using one of these Web addresses, just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. What You’re Not to Read You don’t have to read any text preceded by a Technical Stuff icon in order to understand the chapter subject (though I urge you to read it if you’re feeling the need for some surplus advertising brainpower). Some information also appears in gray boxes known as sidebars. These sidebars are asides and not critical to the text, so you don’t have to read them — though you may miss out on some interesting information or anecdote if you skip them entirely! Foolish Assumptions This book is not for the CEO of a major corporation with virtually unlimited funds for slick, glossy production, and mind-boggling amounts of cash for media buys. Instead, this book is for entrepreneurs, owners of small to mid- size businesses, and professionals selling important services — in other words, anyone who’s trying to drum up business and create a successful company with the help of advertising. This book is for the rest of us — the people for whom an advertising budget represents an important percentage of gross income and, therefore, a drain on the old take-home pay that must be considered very seriously. Over the years, I have helped numerous clients project clear, concise, cre- ative messages within limited budget parameters. I used to dream of bound- less production budgets with which to produce award-winning ads for both print and broadcast. I always wondered what it would be like to take a com- plete crew — cameramen, sound and lighting technicians, stunt drivers, fash- ion models, actors, makeup people, hairstylists, even caterers — to some exotic locale where I would have a one-month deadline within which to shoot a 30-second, $2 million spot. It never happened. My guess is that less than 1 percent of all professional advertising people actually work on the major national accounts, creating the ads you see each night during prime time — the ads produced with unrestricted budgets, which, sadly, still seem to miss Introduction 3 the mark more often than not. The other 99 percent of advertising profession- als are guys like me. How This Book Is Organized This book is divided into five easily digestible parts, and each part is divided into chapters. Here’s the scoop on what each part covers: Part I: Advertising 101 From the moment you get out of bed in the morning, to late at night when you turn off the television and turn out the lights, you’re bombarded with thou- sands of advertising messages. Advertising is here, there, everywhere. And into this clutter you now insert your own advertising. What you discover in this part are the fundamentals of effective advertising. I also help you identify your target market, set your sales goals, narrow your focus, and develop an advertising plan that works. I delve into the complicated world of co-op adver- tising reimbursement, in which your ad dollars are augmented by others. I think you may be pleasantly surprised at the quality of media you can afford, even on the smallest budgets. Mass media may, at first glance, appear to be unaffordable. But regardless of the expense, when you consider how many people you can reach with mass media, it’s the smartest way you can spend your money. What you can’t afford to do is fritter away a limited ad budget on questionable media that’s better suited to wrapping fish than it is to attracting new customers to your business. So in this part, I help you plan an advertising strategy that actually brings customers through your door. Part II: Creating Great Ads for Every Medium This part of the book is the longest, because the depth of your media choices is simply mind-boggling (and new forms of media, both good and bad, are introduced nearly every day). In this part, I stick to the mass media choices of online ads and your own Web site, as well as newspaper, magazine, radio, television, collateral, and outdoor advertising. I walk you through the steps of writing broadcast and print ads that motivate and sell. I show you what goes into producing radio and TV commercials, as well as print ads and brochures, 4 Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition and I queue you in on what you need to know to build a Web site and adver- tise on the Internet. I also show you why continuity, delivering the same mes- sage across all media, is the all-important key to a successful ad campaign. Part III: Buying the Different Media This part gets down to the nitty-gritty — the actual spending of your hard- earned advertising budget. Here I take a hard look at investing in Internet advertising, negotiating with print media to get the best possible page posi- tion at the lowest possible price, and why buying television time isn’t nearly as complicated as putting a man on the moon. Here’s the best part of these chapters: I give you the inside scoop on getting all kinds of free stuff (even vacations) as part of your media expenditures. The chapters in this part give you the information you need in order to maxi- mize your ad budget by spending it wisely. Finally, if you’ve considered hiring an ad agency, this part is where I tell you who the players are and the pros and cons of going this route. Part IV: Beyond the Basics: Creating Buzz and Using Publicity In this part, I show you how to generate word-of-mouth and buzz about your products or services. And I explain the difference between publicity and public relations, help you write a good press release, and show you how to get it published (hey, it’s free advertising). Finally, I walk you through the unique nature of advertising specialties and premiums while showing you how to increase their effectiveness, and I reveal how to become involved in sponsored promotions and events. I even demonstrate how to invent suc- cessful promotions of your own. Part V: The Part of Tens What, you may be asking, is a Part of Tens? It’s the part of every For Dummies book that cuts right to the chase. If you don’t have time to read anything else in this book, read these short lists of do’s and don’ts. In these lists of ten, I instruct you on writing effective, creative, clear copy for all media and help you decide whether or not your business could use the services of an adver- tising agency. (If you’re too busy to even read that chapter, hire an agency right away.) Introduction 5 Icons Used in This Book Icons are those little pictures you find in the margins of this book. I use them to grab your attention and steer you toward key bits of information. Here’s a list of the icons I use in this book and what they mean: Some of the points I make in this book are so important that you want to commit them to memory. If you file these tidbits in your memory bank, you will have gathered some very important details about the advertising business. This icon marks insider tips I’ve gathered over the years. They can help you avoid some of the mistakes I’ve figured out the hard way and give you a leg up as you navigate the various elements leading to effective advertising. As I lead you through the hidden back streets of advertising, I don’t want you to stumble and fall. So I’ve marked some of the larger potholes and cracks in the sidewalk with this Warning icon. Whenever I wax nostalgic and feel the need to share stories of my past expe- riences or interesting examples from others in the ad biz, you see this icon. The advertising trade brings with it a ton of technical stuff, and I’ve marked these areas with this icon. The good news is that you can safely skip over any paragraph marked with this icon. But if you read it, you may discover infor- mation that you can use to wow (if not confuse and dismay) the sales reps and other ad people you deal with, not to mention your neighbors down the street. Where to Go from Here You’re holding this book because you felt a need to discover the ins and outs of the ad game. Think of this as a traveler’s guide that contains the charts and maps you need in order to find your way through the weird and wonder- ful world of advertising. You can begin your journey in the beginning, or you can dive right into the middle — whichever works best for you. 6 Advertising For Dummies, 2nd Edition Part I Advertising 101 In this part... A dvertising: It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere! Everyone is assailed with advertising messages every waking moment. The obvious media –– television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and direct mail –– are just the tip of the advertising iceberg. Your cereal boxes, milk cartons, clothing, bedding, fashion accessories, and even your automobiles are covered in advertising. Into this cauldron of advertising vehicles has been thrown the Internet, grocery carts, the reverse side of cash register tapes, ATM screens, even displays in some public restrooms –– and all of this hype contributes to advertising clutter. If you want to advertise your business (and you most certainly should), you have to enter this world, jumping in with both feet. Daunting? You bet. Impossible? No way. In this part, I share the fundamentals of advertising, help you develop (and stick to!) a budget for your advertising needs, and show you how to boost that budget by part- nering with others via co-op advertising. I also offer guide- lines on defining and positioning your message and aid you in developing an ad campaign that can be effective for your business. Chapter 1 Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion In This Chapter Being aware of the advertising around you (as if you could avoid it) Putting the fundamentals of good advertising to work for you Taking a few lessons from the pros A dvertising is a $300 billion industry in the United States alone. Plunkett Research, Ltd. (the company that provided this figure) points out that the large numbers don’t stop there. In the United States, advertisers flood the following mediums in droves: 1,749 broadcast TV stations (and that’s not including cable and satellite TV outlets) 13,599 radio stations 2,250 daily and Sunday newspapers And those figures don’t even take into consideration the thousands of maga- zines, direct mail, Web sites, blogs, outdoor advertising (billboards, bus shel- ters, and so on), or specialty or alternative advertising, which includes everything from airplane banners at the beach to tchotchkes, small items like tote bags, pens, and t-shirts that merchants and businesses give away to remind consumers to do business with them. With all these choices of how to get your message out there, how do you decide what’s the best medium to reach the customers you’re looking for? And how can you develop an ad campaign that won’t get lost in the morass? You don’t have to hire an ad agency (though you can: Chapter 16 offers guid- ance on how best to do this, and Chapter 20 gives you ten ways to know whether you need outside help). But you can also do it yourself, and this book tells how. 10 Part I: Advertising 101 In this chapter, I fill you in on the basics of advertising — what’s effective and what isn’t. Then I give you a short course on all your advertising options — radio, TV (network and cable), magazines and newspapers, direct mail, out- door, the Web, and more — and I show how you can put them to work for you. Finally, I end with stories about two legends of advertising as well as brief introductions of more recent ad giants, because if you focus on the best and figure out what they’ve done well, you can try to incorporate some of their genius into your own advertising — and come out ahead of the competition. Making Advertising Work Effective advertising sells a product or a service that fulfills all the promises made about it. On the other hand, effective advertising also sells inferior products or services, but only once! So what makes advertising effective? Effective advertising is: Creative: It delivers the advertising message in a fresh, new way. Hard-hitting: Its headline, copy, or graphic element stops readers or lis- teners dead in their tracks. Memorable: It ensures that the audience will remember your business when they think about the products and services you’re selling. Clear: It presents its message in a concise, uncomplicated, easy-to-grasp manner. Informative: It enlightens the audience about your business and prod- ucts, while giving them important reasons to buy from you. Distinctive: It is unique and immediately recognizable as yours. The well-established brands that most people use every day — brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, McDonald’s and Burger King, Budweiser and Miller, Bayer and Advil, Ford and Chevy, Tide and Cheer — live up to the promises made in their advertising. In fact, the products live up to the promise in such a dramatic fashion that those products have become a part of the everyday lives of millions of people. These products have been branded, which simply means that when you think of soft drinks, fast food, beer, pain relievers, cars, or laundry detergents, these brands come to mind. As surely as the cowboys of the Old West branded the haunches of their cattle, these products have been branded into your psyche — and the psyches of millions of other consumers. Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion 11 When you begin to create advertising for your product or service, keep these suggestions in mind: Don’t make promises you can’t live up to. Although your ad may draw more people to your product initially, you can’t retain these people as loyal customers in the long run if you make promises you can’t keep. Identify the best features of whatever it is you’re selling and develop your advertising around these features. Think about how your product stands out from the competition, what sets it apart, and then focus on those attributes. Try to create a memorable advertising message for your product. You want people to think of your store, your product, or your professional service whenever they’re in the market for such a thing. If your message is creative, clear, and concise, if your product or service is something that can truly benefit people and live up to its hype, then you’re on the road to producing effective advertising. If your advertising makes bold promises about your product, you may con- vince a lot of people to try it. But if those people buy your product and give it a try, and the product turns out to be less than you advertised it to be, you will most certainly never see those consumers again. Think about it: How many times have you responded to an advertising message for a new, improved, astounding product, only to be disappointed with the item after you tried it? You probably even felt like you’d been ripped off. If your adver- tising message leaves consumers with the same feeling, you simply won’t get anywhere. Getting to Know Your Media Options Advertising comes in all shapes and sizes. And a big part of developing your ad plans and campaign is to decide which mediums are best suited to adver- tising your particular business. Following is a brief overview of your options, with details from Plunkett Research, Ltd. to give you a ballpark idea on how many billions of dollars are spent annually in each medium in the United States. Regarding radio Radio advertising is a $20 billion business — and it has expanded both because listeners can now tune in on the Internet and because of the devel- opment of satellite radio (Sirius and XM subscriber-based programming). But 12 Part I: Advertising 101 it’s also competing with MP3 devices, which means there may be fewer listen- ers to any given radio station or program. But if your business appeals to consumers who’re likely to subscribe to this type of programming, or if you can reach them on broadcast radio during drive time or particular radio programs (especially those with celebrity hosts), then you should consider this medium. Chapter 8 provides guidance on developing memorable radio spots, and Chapter 14 offers information on buying radio time to maximize your reach — and your budget. Rating TV TV is a $68 billion business — and that includes the almost 2,000 broadcast stations plus the many cable and satellite TV stations. The growth in the number of stations has actually made it easier for advertisers, because TV programming is so much more targeted. For example, the audience for The History Channel is probably very different from, say, Lifetime or Oxygen or WE, the Women’s Entertainment channel. Still, TV advertising is the most expensive medium (even with the tips offered in Chapter 9 on how to create TV commercials and keep down the costs!), so you should consider TV commercials only if you can afford them. TV is still a mass medium, even with the more-focused channels mentioned, and your ad budget may be better spent on a more narrowly focused media. But if you decide TV is for you, see Chapter 15 for guidance on how to find the right sta- tion and negotiate the best deal for your ad and your business. Contemplating print Print advertising encompasses both newspapers (daily and Sunday papers), which is a $49 billion business, and magazines, which is a $21 billion business. Newspapers are obviously a good choice if your business is regional and you’re targeting a broad consumer base; magazines are more-specifically tailored to different readers — for example, a subscriber to Glamour probably isn’t also subscribing to, say, Maxim, though the media kits of each provide the details on the number and demographics of the subscriber base. Chapter 7 offers insight on how to write and design eye-catching print ads, and Chapter 13 offers ideas for how to choose the right publication and negotiate a good rate for your ad. Keep in mind, though, that many people who used to get information from newspapers and magazines now have the additional option of online subscriptions — to either those same publications or to alternatives that have never been printed on paper but are available only on the Internet. Chapters 6 and 12 cover how to create and buy ad space in this new media. Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion 13 Imitation: The sincerest form of flattery Every now and then I see or hear an image is always on call in case they get sick, that their advertisement that is so creative, so wonder- stalls are always kept clean and tidy, and that fully conceived, and so (relatively) inexpensively they are foolish cows indeed if they chose to produced that I wish I had written it myself. It work anywhere else. has been said that no original ideas are out This spot is a memorable one because it uses a there, but occasionally a fresh, new approach creative twist — talking to the cows, not the to delivering the same old message comes consumers — to a great advantage. Hey, if this along. And I file it away in my memory as some- dairy is good enough for the cows, then it must thing that, someday, I may want to imitate. If the be good enough for you! And this spot can ad is especially impressive, I even find out undoubtedly inspire me to think of a fresh point- which agency is responsible for it and write it a of-view for some retail commercial I write in the congratulatory note. future. One such ad was a radio spot for Berkeley When you sit down to write advertising for your Farms, a major Northern California dairy. business, using ideas and techniques from Instead of creating a straight, consumer- other advertising to help you find your own directed ad extolling the virtues of its milk, the “creative hook” is perfectly okay. No, I am not company created a recruitment ad for “new giving you permission to lift someone else’s employees.” Instead of just telling its audience copy verbatim or to steal a concept out of hand. what superior milk they can take home when But good advertising done by others can be a they buy the Berkeley Farms brand, a warm, great source of creative inspiration. Even the motherly, female voice opens the spot with the big boys do it. One advertising agency comes wonderful line, “If you’re a cow, I want to tell out with a fresh, new look in its ads, something you about Berkeley Farms — it’s a great place that hasn’t been seen before, and everyone else to work.” She goes on to tell any cows who may jumps all over it. It happens all the time. Just be be listening that they can expect to be fed only sure you know the difference between imitating the finest hays and grains, which a full-time vet and plagiarizing, and stick to the former. Musing upon direct mail Direct mail is a $45 billion business, and it’s alive and well even with the growth of e-mail and other Internet advertising. Charitable organizations still send pitches for funds to continue their good works (like The Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, and Doctors Without Borders). Similarly, cultural institutions use direct mail to solicit donor support, which they need to sup- plement ticket prices from their audiences (think of your local theater com- pany, public radio station, and even PBS). And direct mail includes the myriad catalogs that fill all of our mailboxes — from Land’s End to L.L. Bean to Victoria’s Secret, to J.Crew (to name just a few). Chapter 10 focuses on developing strong direct-mail messages that can stand out among the abun- dance in the mailbox. 14 Part I: Advertising 101 Scrutinizing outdoor advertising Outdoor advertising includes everything from billboards on highways to ads on bus kiosks, in subway cars, on taxis, or even on benches and other signage. As a $6 billion industry, it’s a small part of overall annual ad expenditures, but if you think it’s right for your business, Chapter 11 tells how to choose the type of outdoor ad that can work best for you and how to design memorable advertising in this medium. Ogling online ads Last, but by no means least, is the newest ad medium — online — even though the Internet hardly seems “new”; still, it’s only been since the mid-’90s that companies have used the Web to advertise products, services, and busi- nesses. Chapter 6 offers the pros and cons of online advertising on various Web sites (as well as how to develop your own), and it tells how to create various types of online ad formats, do e-mail advertising, and create your own blog. Chapter 12 picks up where Chapter 6 leaves off and helps you with the financial side of online ads: hiring someone to help you create ads or your Web site and buying space on other sites. Poring over publicity Technically, publicity isn’t really part of advertising, but good publicity can serve to advertise your business. Publicity is really about getting someone else to advertise your business. Basically, you’re calling attention to what you’re doing in a way that your newspaper may want to report on it, or a magazine may want to write a feature article about your business, or a TV show host or radio host may be so intrigued by something you’ve done that they talk about you on their shows. The two chapters in Part IV offer lots of great ideas and success stories on how some businesses have done this successfully. Where your advertising appears is every bit as important as what message it contains — maybe even more so. Advertising is a numbers game: You want to spend as little money as possible, as effectively as possible, to reach as many people as possible, in order to make your phone and your cash register ring. Consider your many media options very carefully. You can waste your adver- tising dollars very easily by using the wrong media for your advertising goals. Mass media advertising is affordable (turn to the chapters in Part III for more information on costs). But so-called “affordable” advertising in the wrong Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion 15 A spectacularly ineffective advertising vehicle One of the other tenants in our office building — building, much to the chagrin of the other ten- a small insurance company specializing in ants. The sign that sat atop this moveable beast, assigned-risk auto coverage (for customers purportedly to tell the world about the com- whose driving records aren’t exactly stellar) — pany’s insurance business, included no less recently unveiled its latest, breakthrough adver- than 32 words (including sure thing and no tising vehicle. And I do mean vehicle. driver refused) and an 11-digit phone number, all arranged helter-skelter in 6 different fonts I came to work one morning and couldn’t miss it, and painted in 3 different colors. parked out on the curb in all its glory. The com- pany had pounded out the dents on a 1960s The bus was a gigantic waste of advertising dol- Volkswagen bus, spent $50 to have it freshly lars. But the business owner probably thought, painted a sparkling bathtub white, and bolted a like so many small to mid-sized retailers and 4-by-8-foot, double-faced billboard to the roof to service businesses do, that he couldn’t afford advertise its business. Because the old wreck “real” advertising. So he tried the VW bus rou- needed brakes, our business neighbors quit dri- tine instead. I don’t think I have to tell you to ving it around town and parked the thing con- avoid this kind of mistake at all costs. spicuously in the parking lot in front of our media is a gigantic waste of your dollars and your time. No matter how affordable the media is, if it doesn’t bring customers through your door, you aren’t really saving money. On the contrary, you’re draining your limited budget without being the least-bit effective. Lessons from the Legends: Figuring Out Your Advertising Needs Although your advertising may not come close to the greatest ads created by the top ad agencies (after all, that’s not your intent in the first place), you can still gather greatness from the best. The creative legends of the advertising business have a perceptive understanding of consumers (and how to moti- vate them). Because they understood consumers, they were able to produce advertising that was so effective that it remained memorable decades after the campaign’s end. In the following sections, I describe some of the gurus of advertising whose work has taught me much of what I know — and can do the same for you. 16 Part I: Advertising 101 David Ogilvy The first book I ever read about the advertising business was Confessions of an Advertising Man, by David Ogilvy (recently reissued in paperback by Southbank Publishing). Ogilvy was an inspiration to me — and to thousands of other advertising professionals. He died in 1999 at the age of 88, yet he’s a true legend in the advertising world, even though the ads he made famous were created decades ago. Ogilvy is also famous for succinct statements about how to create com- pelling, memorable ads. Here are just a few that I try to live by when writing ads for my clients: “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar.” “Never write an advertisement you wouldn’t want your own family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell lies to mine.” “Every word in the copy must count.” “We sell or else.” “Advertise what is unique.” Born in England, David Ogilvy didn’t even get into the advertising business until he was 39 years old. He had tried everything from selling stoves door-to- door, to a brief tenure as a chef in Paris. He was even a member of the British Secret Service. Financially broke at the age of 39, he cofounded an advertising agency — Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather. And he made a list of five clients he wanted to land: General Foods, Bristol-Myers, Campbell’s Soup, Lever Brothers, and Shell Oil. Eleven years later, he had them all. Ogilvy preached the virtues of sales-driven copy. He also expected advertis- ing copy to be expressed with clarity, relevance, and grace. He knew that the real purpose of advertising is to sell. His ads may have been gorgeous, but they were filled with unique product difference and sell — albeit with an emo- tional edge. He invented eccentric personalities to capture the reader’s atten- tion, based on the idea that memorable faces help make memorable brands. Ogilvy also said, when talking about creative types who worked for (or wanted to work for) his agency, “Every copywriter should start his career by spending two years in direct response.” What he meant is that the primary purpose of advertising is to sell. Chapter 1: Advertising: Mastering the Art of Promotion 17 Dot-coms to dot-bombs in one easy lesson Whenever I think of Bill Bernbach’s very insight- six months after their spots appeared — other ful quote, “Dullness won’t sell your product, but than Pets.com, whose adorable sock-puppet neither will irrelevant brilliance,” I’m reminded spokesman starred in several Super Bowl of the super-expensive commercials for various commercials (before the company eventually fledgling dot-com businesses that ran during went kaput). the Super Bowl broadcast in January 2000. Why weren’t these flashy ads successful? Clearly, most of these businesses had never Because they not only forgot Bernbach’s rule, bothered to read Bill Bernbach, because their but they also ignored one of Ogilvy’s — namely, commercials simply reeked of “irrelevant “We sell or else.” Their spots were so clever brilliance.” that they forgot to include a selling message And most of the dot-com spots, purchased for that actually motivates someone to buy. Sadly, as much as $1.5 million per 30 seconds, were so many even forgot to mention what service or contrived, so devoid of a selling message (let product it was that they were selling. And, most alone a call to action), and so downright con- important, they forgot to tell viewers why fusing that they wasted most, if not all, of their anyone should buy it. millions of ad bucks. This misuse of funds is also These companies and their agencies got so lost true of companies in other industries that in having a creative, good time on unlimited pro- choose to gamble the entire year’s ad budget duction budgets that they forgot why they were on the Super Bowl commercials, but the 2000 buying the incredibly expensive time on the dot-com debacle was the worst. The majority most-watched show on television in the first of these companies didn’t survive more than place — they simply forgot to sell us something. Bill Bernbach Bill Bernbach was the Creative Director for Doyle, Dane, Bernbach during its heyday. Working with Helmut Krone as Art Director, Bernbach invented a new way to project a message to consumers, by introducing wonderful creativity and a kinder, gentler approach to advertising. The agency led the way with its fanciful Volkswagen ads from the 1960s, which supplied both entertainment and product information. Do you remember “Think small”? It was a huge shift in advertising communication and became the industry standard that lives to this day. So memorable and trend-setting was that original Volkswagen advertising that when the New Beetle was introduced in the 1990s, the agency for Volkswagen of America, Arnold Communications of Boston, chose not to 18 Part I: Advertising 101 create a completely new campaign from the ground up, but rather to emulate the original concept. For example, the campaign for the New Beetle featured lots of white space (a Krone innovation that means just what it says — the ad wasn’t filled with color and copy from edge to edge), a small photo of the VW New Beetle in profile, and brief copy that read, “Zero to 60? Yes.” This kind of advertising is great stuff, and a compliment to the original ads created by Doyle, Dane, Bernbach over 40 years ago. In fact, Arnold Communications, when submitting its work for awards, still lists Krone and Bernbach as cre- ative contributors. Bill Bernbach, like David Ogilvy, was good for a pithy quote now and then, including the following: “Dullness won’t sell your product, but neither will irrelevant brilliance.” Wieden and Kennedy Dan Wieden and David Kennedy took advertising out of its traditional centers of the ad world (Madison Avenue in New York City., Chicago, and to some extent, Los Angeles) by setting up shop in Portland, Oregon. They’re listed on the top 100 people in advertising (for the last century, no less!). They’ve done great work for Microsoft, ESPN, and many other clients, but they’re still prob- ably best known for revolutionizing the sneaker industry — or at least the advertising of it — by creating Nike’s “Just do it” campaign. Chapter 2 Setting and Working within Your Advertising Budget In This Chapter Figuring out how much you can — and should — spend on advertising Buying ads where your potential customers look for them Making the most of your budget C ompanies like Procter & Gamble, General Motors, and McDonald’s spend more on advertising each year than the average small to mid-size busi- ness could ever hope to gross in a lifetime. No one knows (and the compa- nies aren’t telling) what their advertising budget to gross income ratios actually are, but you can bet they’re high. These companies have spent a king’s ransom to successfully position their products to be top-of-mind with the entire buying public — and it costs them a yearly fortune to maintain this branding of their products. (For more on branding, check out Branding For Dummies by Bill Chiaravalle and Barbara Schenck [Wiley].) If one of these big company’s products begins to slip in overall sales, it throws $25 million in extra advertising funds at the problem without a second thought. The total amounts of their ad funds are simply astounding — for example, Coca-Cola spent $2.5 billion on advertising worldwide in 2005. You, on the other hand, very likely look upon your advertising dollars as a seriously important personal investment — an investment that (shudder!) comes right off the bottom line and, therefore, is never a part of your hard- earned take-home pay. For this reason, you need to do some careful planning as you decide what percentage of your gross sales you can realistically afford to spend for advertising. You don’t want to overdo it, but you can’t skimp too much either. As with many things in life, balance is what it’s all about. 20 Part I: Advertising 101 In this chapter, you discover what some companies spend on their advertis- ing so you can decide what you want to spend. You also take a look at how and where your competitors are advertising and why it’s crucial to know exactly who your target market is and how your business can appeal to it (if you don’t already!). I also give you tips on how you can get the most bang for your advertising buck by weighing the pros and cons of advertising in major or local newspapers; in national, regional, or specialized magazines; on radio; on broadcast or cable TV; and on the Internet. Determining How Much You Can Afford to Spend So, what dollar amount, or percentage of gross sales, should you invest in your advertising budget? The question is a very tough one. And although I can give you some guidelines, only you are able to answer it when it’s all said and done. After all, it’s your money. A good place to start when you’re setting a budget is in examining your goals. If you want to become the Big Dog — that is, if your driving ambition is to ele- vate your business into an industry-leadership position and blow your com- petition away — then of course you need to spend a lot more money than if you’re satisfied with just getting by. In this book, I make the assumption that you want to do much better than just getting by — you wouldn’t be advertis- ing at all if you didn’t want your business to grow and prosper. But in order to see the kind of success you’re after, you need an ad budget. Over half of new businesses fail within their first two years. This depressing statistic is probably due to a number of factors, but a lack of working capital (cash) is usually at the top of the list. Most businesses start out with great hopes and limited cash, and it’s the hand-to-mouth reality of a start-up that kills most of them. When people open new businesses, they often forget to set aside enough money for a large enough ad budget to get their name out there. You can invent a better mousetrap, but not having enough working capital to afford to tell the world about it is like trying to tow a boat with a rope. To get an idea of what typical businesses spend on advertising, I asked sev- eral of my agency’s clients what percentage of gross sales they spend. Not a single one of them could give me a straight answer to my question. They had each used a different formula to arrive at their budget number, and they each planned their advertising expenditures, using different criteria. Chapter 2: Setting and Working within Your Advertising Budget 21 Our agency has one retail client who spends as much as 10 percent of gross sales on advertising. Although this percentage may seem high, some busi- nesses must spend that amount in order to compete, and I’ve worked for clients who spent even more. On the other hand, I’ve seen businesses spend 2 percent or less on advertising — and in the case of very small companies, some don’t spend even that much on a sustained basis. Most small busi- nesses spend between 2 and 7 percent of their gross sales on advertising, though some allocate as much as 10 percent. Percent of gross is a very helpful budgeting tool, but it can leave a start-up business with inadequate exposure. Start-ups often must budget a percentage of projected gross, overspending in the introduction of your business to build business to a profitable level. You can use these figures as general guidelines to help you set your own advertising budget, but keep in mind that each business is unique. What works for one company may not work for another. When in doubt, follow this simple rule: Spend as much money on advertising as it takes to make and sus- tain an impact in the marketplace, but don’t spend so much that you run the risk of putting your business into financial jeopardy. You can begin the process of setting a budget by trying to come up with some answers to the following questions: How big is your business? How much yearly income does your business generate? What do you want to accomplish with your advertising, and how much will that cost? What is your competition spending? If you’re in a highly competitive business, such as cell phones, restaurants, clothing boutiques, or car sales and repairs, you need to step up to the plate with some serious bucks in order to hit a homerun in your marketplace. Your competition is spending their brains out, and you have to do the same. On the other hand, if your business enjoys a unique status in your market, if you provide merchandise or a service that people can’t find elsewhere, then you can get away with much lower spending. If your budget is too limited to make an impact in the market on a daily or weekly basis, stash your cash until you’re having some special event or sale and then attack the media full-force. In advertising, you’re better off having a big voice once in a while than a weak voice every day. 22 Part I: Advertising 101 Developing an Advertising Strategy and a Tactical Plan You probably went into business to succeed — and that means you’ll do whatever it takes to reach this lofty goal... as long as it’s legal and within fiscal reason. But in order to succeed with your advertising — or with any- thing in life, actually — you need a plan of action. In this section, I help you come up with a plan that works for you. Researching and evaluating your competition A good step to consider when devising your advertising plan, and planning the extent of your budget, is to analyze what your competition is doing. In Part III, I give some guidelines and relative costs for all media, but you can pin it down even further with a few well-placed phone calls in your own area. Here are some guidelines: Do you see ads for your competitors in the newspaper on a regular basis? If so, call the paper and ask for its retail display-ad rate in order to figure out how much the competition is spending to advertise there. Do you hear competitors’ radio commercials often? Call the station’s sales department and ask about its rates. A salesperson will likely tell you precisely what your competition is spending so she can talk you into doing the same thing. Does your weekly mail bring coupons or brochures from your compe- tition? Again, contact the vendor of the mail pack that sends these coupons and find out what those ads cost. Why should you want to know what your competition is spending? Because this information gives you some basis for planning your own budget. Forewarned is forearmed, which in this case means that gathering informa- tion about the other guys helps you make a quantified judgment as to how much you need to spend in order to compete with them. If you own a mom- and-pop hardware store, you may have a tough time generating a budget that can compete with the monster-size warehouse stores — but don’t panic. Simply outspending the other guy (or even trying to keep up with him) isn’t the whole answer. Chapter 2: Setting and Working within Your Advertising Budget 23 You may be relieved to know that you can spend a lot less than your competi- tion and still make more of an impact by being more creative with both your message and your media buying. You can make up for a lack of money with an abundance of creativity and careful — no, make that diligent — media negoti- ation and spending. You can also make your available advertising budget stretch if you don’t waste any of it on irrelevant media that brings you little or no business. Regardless of the limits of your ad budget, and whether you’re trying to reach a broad audience, accept this as a given: You can afford mass media. You can afford to buy radio commercials, ads in a mass-circulation daily newspaper, spots on broadcast television and cable stations, ads in the regional editions of major magazines, and a variety of Internet advertising, including your own Web site. This media may, at first, appear to be unaffordable. But, regardless of the expense (which may be less than you think), when you consider how many people you can reach, it’s the smartest way you can spend your money. What you can’t afford to do is fritter away a limited ad budget on question- able media, like the dozens of ads you find in your mailbox every day, that are better suited for wrapping fish than they are for attracting new customers to your business. The old saw “You get what you pay for” is never truer. Identifying your target market By identifying your primary target market, you can do a better job of narrow- ing your media buys, which leads you to a bottom-line budget figure that makes sense. This information also helps you when the time comes to design and write your ads. Teenagers, as you know, speak an entirely different lan- guage than adults, so not only must you buy the media they’re attracted to, but you also want to write and design your ads to attract their attention in the first place. For example, if you own a skateboard store, then you’re going to target teens rather than senior citizens, right? And those teens aren’t reading the newspa- per or looking at direct mail pieces; instead, they’re online at their favorite Web sites, listening to very narrowly programmed radio stations, and watch- ing certain TV shows. If, on the other hand, you’re selling luxury cars that are purchased primarily by affluent adults over 55, you can do well by placing ads in the business section of your paper and buying spots on radio stations programmed with news, talk, oldies, or classical music. In other words, just a little bit of thought into who your target market is and what forms of media it pays attention to can save you lots of money and tons of grief. 24 Part I: Advertising 101 Knowing your product’s appeal What you’re selling helps you determine what media you should be buying. Are you selling tires? Then make print your primary media, because you need to list all those different brands, sizes, and prices in those long columns of itsy-bitsy type. You may also call attention to your print ads with some radio spots. And, if you want to show how clean and beautiful your shop is, con- sider some TV. Direct mail, if it’s a stand-alone piece for you and you alone, can be somewhat effective as well. On the other hand, are you selling a professional service such as accounting, financial management, or consulting? Then you want to look at news, talk, or another radio format listened to by business people. If print is in your ad plan, then the local business journal or the business section or main news section of your newspapers are good bets. If you’re selling beauty products or run a hair or nail salon, you need to reach your target market by buying on radio stations that can prove to you their audience composition includes mostly women. Women also read the newspa- per’s business page in great numbers, as well as the entertainment, society, style, home, and main news sections. And dozens of television shows, even entire cable stations, are targeted toward women — for example, the Lifetime network, WE (Women

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