Promoting Your Business on a Tight Budget – Part 2: Choosing Correct Creative

To make every investment in promoting your business pay off, make smart marketing decisions. Three keys to success are:

1. * Using Proper Medium
2. * Choosing Correct Creative
3. * Proper Frequency

Here, we’ll discuss Choosing Correct Creative

Make a unique statement that directly relates to your business. Money is wasted when advertising efforts, no matter how mindblowing, don’t relate to the product.

However, to act, your audience must read. To read, they must be intrigued. And they must be impressed to be intrigued.

You don’t need to be a cutting-edge company with proprietary offerings to advertise creatively. You and your competitors each approach clients differently, target different market segments, etc., making your business unique. Use clever, thought-provoking headlines that tell readers how your particular uniqueness will benefit them. Have fun, get a little “out there,” and don’t be afraid to use humor.

A great test for creative: If you lift the headline and copy out of context, could it apply to just about anyone in any type of business? Or does it make an effective, positive statement, unique to you?

Establish a campaign, keeping the look and theme consistent throughout multiple pieces. Your efforts should look like “siblings” to build familiarity in your viewers.

To get a good return on your investment, include a clear, attractive offer or discount with a precise expiration date. This compels your prospect will act in a timely manner, giving a solid return and an efficient tracking vehicle. Using unique, intriguing creative is the second step to successful marketing.

Next Time: Part 3 Proper Frequency

Rebecca Palumbo is Principal/Creative Director of Rollins Palumbo Creative, a full service advertising and design agency. Contact her at 708-614-9766 or www.rollinspalumbo.com.