As society rushes headlong into the digital age, many small businesses are placing all their advertising dollars in the social media marketing basket. Unfortunately, this is a premature action. As more and more businesses make the transition to online advertising and social media marketing, the businesses that have maintained solid advertising efforts in other markets will begin to once again project the novel, hipper image.
Online advertising is effective. There’s no denying how powerful a force it is for businesses today. However, the one-two combination of offline and web-based advertising is even more powerful as one serves to reinforce the other. These are a few traditional advertising methods businesses today should not dismiss as no longer relevant.
Billboards
Long interstate drives are filled with billboards as are many city drives. These large scale ads are designed to attract and entice drivers to make a stop now whether it’s shopping, dining, or tourist attractions on the other side of the sign, they have proven highly effective over the years.
The best ads are either consistent enough to warn of upcoming attractions and keep drivers’ minds on the destinations, or in close enough proximity to appeal to drivers who may want or need their services now (highly effective for restaurants, for instance, advertising the last facilities for several miles).
Radio Advertisements
These types of ads present quite a challenge for today’s visual society. However, those that master the fine art of radio ads are the ones who take a page out of radio past and use their precious few ad seconds to tell a story that draws listeners in. You want to get the message out about your business, but in a manner that is memorable above all else.
TV Promos
Television Ads are equally challenging for many small businesses. Not only do you have to come up with a compelling idea, but you have to deal with the visuals. While television advertising remains a high-ticket advertising method, the value of a well-made television ad is hard to deny for businesses of all sizes.
Print Media
Print advertising covers a lot of territory in today’s society. Regardless, businesses can’t afford to overlook the value of print media when it comes to getting their messages out. A few print media options you might want to include in your next major advertising campaign include the following.
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Brochures
- Posters
- Business Cards
- Postcards
- Screen-Print Merchandise
The list is quite varied as are the options this type of advertising represents for businesses –especially when used in combination with online advertising opportunities.
Ultimately, there’s no replacement for word of mouth advertising, even if that word is a well-placed bit of praise that goes viral. However, the more advertising methods you put to work for your small business, the better your return on investment is likely to be. Lastly, whatever methods you use for advertising the products and services your small business offers, be sure to be adequately protected with personal and advertising injury insurance coverage.
