small business marketing

Should Small Businesses Utilize Online Advertising?

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small business online advertising

Sometimes small businesses may not be sure of the best way to advertise and get the word out there about its products or services. Because advertising and marketing strategies are changing constantly to fit society and its needs, it can be difficult to decide which strategies will be most effective for your company.

Web analysts have been saying almost since the creation of the Internet that online advertising was going to take over the advertising world by storm. Online advertising has definitely made a huge impact, but it hasn’t quite taken the world by storm yet. According to years of research on the steady increase of online advertisement, the predicted “boom” in online advertising could definitely be right around the corner.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC are releasing some numbers that illustrate that a “boom” could be in store for advertising in the very near future. U.S. online ad revenues have increased 17 percent in the third quarter of 2010, compared to the same period of time in 2009. In just that quarter, ad revenues reached $6.4 billion, which is the highest recorded quarterly mark in history.

According to IAB, online video ads and traditional banners and pop-up ads are still creating an increase in revenues, but text ads that come along with search results represent the largest amount of revenue for online advertising. Their numbers for the first half of 2010 showed that search ads account for 47 percent of all online ad revenues. This is the exact same percentage that search ads had for the first half of 2009 as well.

Until recently, there were two different reasons for small businesses to be reluctant about utilizing online advertising. The first reason that companies were skeptical about adopting it as an advertising strategy was because of the perceived low rate of return for the ads. The second was the expected time commitment that was required to be able to manage an online ad campaign. This skepticism is starting to be relieved as new online ad services are beginning to target small businesses.

Pete Barlas of Investor’s Business Daily said that Google and various other search providers are trying to help small businesses overcome their hesitance about buying Web ads. He said that they are currently making it easier to select keywords and pick up other search engine optimization (SEO) tricks. Another important development is the increase in location-based services that offer customers discounts and rewards when they check in as they visit an establishment.

Recently Google released a new component for its Google Places services. This service was created in an attempt to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to profit from advertising online, and the newest developments really do help out.

Google’s Google Boost service is only available right now in select U.S. markets. It is a service that promises to feature three-line text ads in the Sponsored Links section of Google’s search page when individuals search for terms that have been specified by and for your business. This service is available for a mere $50.

Online advertising is definitely seeing a steady increase in use and profitability. Many small businesses still have concerns with the tactic, but I really feel that it is the direction that advertising is heading in. Everything is going mobile and paperless, and advertising is no exception. Online advertising is a great addition to small businesses’ already established advertising and marketing strategies. With the right attitude, dedication, and commitment, online advertising that could really increase profitability for your small business.

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The Five W’s of Marketing

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the five w's of marketing

Most people have heard of the Five W’s. They are who, what, when, where and why, and they are utilized by anyone from journalists to detectives to customer service representatives. Now when developing a marketing strategy, it is not only important to use these Five W’s but also to use them in a very particular order. Usually keeping the W’s in a certain order is not necessary, but with marketing it is definitely important.

To effectively formulate a marketing strategy, the best way to utilize the Five W’s is in the order of why, who, what, where and when. By following this pattern, much confusion and loss of precious time can be avoided. Many marketers think of utilizing what or where first, but doing this can definitely cause some issues.

By focusing on “why” first, many issues can be avoided. Companies should begin asking themselves why they are expending their limited resources on marketing. They should decide why they are spending this money on marketing instead of investing it in another area of the company. By asking these questions, it allows company executives to undoubtedly define their business and marketing plans. It also lets people deal with any sometimes unrecognized assumptions that they might have before getting too deeply into the strategy.

Some companies may have unrealistic marketing plans that need to face reality, while others might go in the advertising direction to solve a non-advertising problem. The “why” question can help a person to confront these problems head on before delving deeper into their strategy. It can be challenging at times to start with this question, but it is necessary to fully accomplish your goals successfully.

The second question for marketers to focus on is “who”. Who will help us accomplish our goals? Who will be receiving the message that we will be putting out? Who do we need to convince and win over in order to be successful? By asking this question, a company should then be able to clearly define its target audience. The better that the audience is defined, the more effectively the company will be able in addressing the three remaining W’s and formulating their marketing strategy.

“What” is the next question a company should ask. This question allows the team to figure out what they need to do for their target audience in order to accomplish their goals. This stage will include a variety of different important business decisions. A company will have to decide on things such as products, pricing, packaging, and policy. This stage is also where branding issues and personality dimensions for the brand and the task will be addressed.

“When” and “where” are the final W’s that should be utilized to formulate your strategy. These questions will allow you to figure out where and when is the best possible place to communicate your “what” and your “why” to your “who.” It will be necessary to make many tactical decisions during these stages, but if you have effectively utilized the first three W’s, then this should be much simpler.

Marketing principles can be simple at times and very complex at other times. If you follow the five W’s, I am certain that coming up with your marketing strategy will be much easier than you thought it would be. Who, what, when, where, and why are the perfect way to get things done. You just need to be careful what order you follow. By using them in the correct order, you are guaranteed to discover a much more successful marketing plan. So get started on your plan today and make sure to use the five W’s.

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