Not Realizing the Importance of Advertising: – Many business owners do not realize the pivotal relationship between effective advertising and increased sales that can help maximize profit. They tend to spend a lot of time and money on details that do not really support business growth. This proves to be an expensive mistake, but the fact remains that any business, without proper advertising, is bound to suffer in the indiscriminate effort of earning maximum profits.
Advertising is a field of specialization and a business owner may be unable to handle the intricacies involved. In such a situation, it is best to hand over the entire campaign to an advertising agency, to get positive results.
Getting Advice from Relatives and Friends: When business owners handle the advertising directly, they usually rely on advice from their spouse, friends and relatives to guide them in the campaign. Most of the time, they are not professionals, with absolutely no idea about new trends in advertising. This case is quite similar to taking an electrician’s advice on important financial investments, which can lead to disastrous results.
Ignoring Creativity in Delivery: When advertising is entrusted to advertising companies, they often do not devote sufficient time for an in-depth analysis. They fail to conduct research on the nature of the business, targeted customers and the product. This results in the creation of an advertisement that fails to provide a potential customer with a strong reason to buy the product. Mere claims about the product being the best, carrying a high market demand or being in the market for a long time, are not sufficient.
Customers tend to ignore all this information. Ideally, the advertisement needs to spell out what makes the product different and how it will benefit the buyer. The business owner is the only one who is equipped to provide the right answers. You should ensure that the advertisement is designed to include all this information, and more. You should also make sure that the advertisement highlights the need for the customer to act within the specified timeframe. Only then will the advertisement achieve the purpose of generating more sales.
The Low Price Route: It would be a foolish move to project the business as a low priced option. The low price might, and usually does, make an advertisement appear as if the price is the only projected reason for making the choice. You should research and come up with other reasons as to why your product is better than those of your competitors.
Not Taking Advantage of Events or Publicity: The best advertising gimmick is making the product available at special events. Most business owners disregard this free and powerful source of advertising altogether. A TV program automatically lends credence to whatever it covers during the course of airing their programs. The same is the effect of an article covered by a newspaper. It is true that all the details of your product or service cannot be conveyed, but it still gives you the coverage to reach a maximum number of potential customers.
The purpose of advertising is to enable you to address a large audience base and convert customers. An incorrect approach results in wasted effort, time and money. By identifying common advertising mistakes, this waste can be substantially reduced.
