by: Joe Bingham |
| ANALYZING EZINES After having selected ezines to advertise your program in based on how the content of the ezines relate to what you wish to advertise, there is still another process to choosing the best ezines for your marketing dollars. Analyzing the ezines is a rather subjective process, however. There are no hard and fast rules to follow that give you a clear indication of whether or not an ezine is worth the cost. However, there is an information gathering process that can help you to make better decisions. AD FORMATTING One important aspect is how ads are handled in the ezine itself. Where are the ads located in the ezine? Are they made visible by being placed directly between or at the start of the articles, or are they pushed all to the end of the ezine or published separately in an ad sheet? How many ads are run in each issue? Are the headlines of the ads offset to attract attention, are the ads separated in some way from each other, or does the entire ad section look like one big chunk of text? Naturally, anything the ezine publisher does to give visibility to the ads is a plus for you as an advertiser. SUBSCRIBERS: Who Are They and Where Did They Come From? Don't be afraid to contact the editor, publisher, or advertising agent of an ezine and ask them some questions. Find out not only how many subscribers they have, but get their opinion of what type of markets their subscribers are interested in, AND how they get their subscribers. Some marketing practices, such as automatically subscribing people that post to an FFA or ad site, may pull a lot of subscribers for an ezine, but result in very little readers. Ads for subs programs also have mixed results. Some stick around and read the ezine, but many don't. The best subscribers are those that are completely volunteer opt in readers. However, many ezines use multiple means of gaining subscribers and while some use not so great methods, they may also clean their lists of non-responsive subscribers regularly. That's why it is best to ask and make a judgment based on the answer you receive. This may take some practice and trial and error, but at least if you have the information you are giving yourself something to learn from. So, ask where, how, and what type of subscribers the ezine has. Ask how effectively they retain subscribers as well. That is a good indication of many subscribers are reading the ezine and viewing it as worthwhile. FREE vs. PAID ADVERTISING There are many ezines that do offer free ads to their subscribers. Some of these are worthwhile others are not. It really comes down to reader involvement. If people are still reading the ezine and not just subscribed to put their ad in every week, it may be worth your time. If the ezine has passed all of you're other criteria up to this point, it has to be worth a shot. At least this costs you nothing but your time. Paid advertising at this point where you have studied, selected, and analyzed many ezines and come up with a short list is definitely going to be worth the cost. Let's just review what you have gone through in selecting the ezines to advertise in. 1. Targeted Content that matches the product, service, or opportunity you are advertising. 2. Acceptable Potential Market based on the content of the ezine and what the ezine's editor says about his or her subscriber's interests. 3. Acceptable Ad Formatting and Placement in the Ezine. 4. Acceptable Subscriber Base as described by the way the ezine gets it's subscribers and keeps them. Now comes the kicker, ad cost. What's a good price, and what isn't? Well, it just depends. That's not what you wanted to hear, I know. You'd rather I provided a simple rule to go by that made all of your decisions for you. Sorry, but I don't believe that is possible. It is a big subject, however, so we'd best save it for the final installment in this series. Joe Bingham, Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters Subscribe to 1 of 3 Quality NetPlay Ezines, See which one fits you at: http://www.netplaynewsletters.com Need To Publish Your Own Ezine? I'll Write It For You and Show You How to Make It Successful! http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html |
2/22/2009
How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising - Part Three
Hit the target: Target your advertising to make it pay off
by: John Moore |
| Note from author: This article was originally written for people advertising martial arts schools. The principles of targeting are the same no matter what you are advertising. How well you target your advertising will determine your advertising success. Targeting means you put your ad in front of the people most likely to respond to it. It also means that you tailor your ad to that audience, so they are more likely to respond. The first thing you need to do is to figure out who your audience is. If you are trying to sell your kids program you want to target parents. If your ad is for daytime classes you might target stay at home moms. Think about what you want your ad to do and the audience most likely to make it happen. Make sure your targeted audience has the money to take advantage of your offer. Sending out a direct mail ad for $2000 weekend seminar in a town where biggest employer just laid everybody off is probably not going to work. Try drawing up a profile of someone in your typical demographic. It might be a list of characteristics like this: Unmarried male age 25-40, college educated, income over $35,000 per year, health conscious (non-smoker) lives within 5 miles of the dojo. How does this information help you? The first way this helps you is that it tells you where to place your ad. Going by this demographic profile I might place a print ad in the sports section of the local newspaper. I might also put flyers in health food stores, gyms, and other establishments. I could also predict what radio and TV shows my demographic is likely to watch. The next way this helps me is that it helps me write my ad. With this demographic I may decide to present my martial arts classes as a powerful, intellectually stimulating, and health promoting experience. I am guessing that these are things my demographic might be interested in. It will also help me with the design of my ad. I do want my ad to stand out, but I will look at other ads targeted to this demographic and see what other advertisers use to appeal to my audience. If I were targeting young women (who are sadly underrepresented in the martial arts) I would definitely use a picture of a woman or women in my ad. Martial arts can sometimes be perceived as a boy's game – so, to attract women you have to show that your school is also appealing to women. I might even have glowing testimonials from several of your female students. Severe WARNING: I do not use fear to advertise my self defense or martial arts classes. I once read an ad - printed in red, which talked about how women who didn't sign up for a self defense class might be the victim of sexual assault. I not only find this in really bad taste, but it's a terrible advertising idea. Your ads should only be about positive things or people will start to associate being scared with your school. This is an important concept when it comes to "branding". People should associate feeling empowered with your school. To fill your kids' classes with vibrant energetic youth, you want to attract parents who want the best for their kids. Your ad should make parents feel like they are really doing right by their kids by signing them up. Tell them how your young students get better grades, have more self-discipline, and wind up happier kids with lots of friends who are into healthy activities. Place your ad for kids classes in a local paper when they run a special article or section on parenting. Place your ads at a local arcade, or grocery store. Look for parents with young kids – not babies and toddlers unless you're teaching baby kung-fu.
About The Author John Moore is the world's first Black belt Copywriter, writing compelling and powerful ads for martial arts business. See more about him at http://www.blackbeltcopywriter.com
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Advertising Approach For The First-time Webmaster
by: Royan Shaw |
For the first time internet entrepreneur [newbie] the best ways to promote your website at first instance are : 1. Express inclusion of your website for the usual 12 months offered by most of the major search engines. You can choose express inclusion for askjeeves, inktomi, altavista,msn etc but keep in mind to have your site submitted to the local index of your region. For example if you reside in Toronto, Canada and you are submitting for express inclusion in the DMOZ or Canada.com search engine/directory you must ensure that your site is indexed in the Toronto's business and economy directory. Get your site in the local index first things first. If your submission listing includes the regional version of the DMOZ directory then thats good enough to go. One point to note is that many of the major search engines and directories actually inter-relate that is they search across each other's database therefore submitting to only one major engine or directory will satisfice for the Internet Marketing beginner. 2. Next, the most overlooked approach for the first-time website owner is the maximisation of the benefit of offline marketing methods. Promote your website in exactly the same way you would have promoted a normal business by telling everyone about it. Word of mouth is still the best way to promote a new business. Put your motto and logo along with your url address on everything from a pin to an anchor. From stationery, pens, letterheads, postcards, flyers,posters, in your usual email, the list goes on... You may consider placing classified ads in the local newspapers. Run other programs such as sponsoring quizzes, prize competitions, trivia and other participating programs with your website address. You might ask readers to submit the answer to a quiz by visiting you website. Anything that gets the local community to know that your website exists. You can do it !! FACT : You have to make it local before you go global. Most start-up webmasters usually make the mistake on concentrating on those numerous ways to promote their site and become confused on deciding what works best. What works best can only be determined by careful evaluation of each and every advertising scheme in use on the web today :
Its interesting to note that no seller of the above services except for Google and the other search engine services has ever took the time to evaluate your website to decide whether or not your site is most suitable to fit the advertising package they are offering. The best approach is to evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Not everything out there works for everybody in every instant. Test your website across every platform say 10000 visitor package each and assess the outcome one by one. Some will work better than others but the ones returning the higher rate of response doesn't necessarily mean they are the most profitable unless they each cost exactly the same per 1000 visitor. What I had recommended in the first two paragraphs above should work best for the first-timer and is the most prudent approach. Be careful when trying to find the best way of advertising, Don't be caught up in the Internet Marketing clutter out there as every you come in contact with will tell you the advertising method they sell is the best. Ignore whatever testimony you see written on these webpages, use these services under a trial based approach before you order that 100000 package or start paying that monthly subscription. Any method you are interested in should be test and proven in quality. Careful tjought and consideration should be given in order to plan, make decisions and control your business operating expenses. What works for seasoned campaigners of Internet Marketing does'nt necessary works in the same way for the starter. Your website is unique just like your fingerprint and its now your duty to determine the most economic,effective and efficient approach in promoting it.
R. Urien Shaw
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Going Beyond Banner Advertising
by: R.M. Blackledge |
| Going Beyond Banner Advertising R.M. Blackledge ©Copyright 2005 A major stumbling block for many internet marketing newbies is the false belief that the placement of a banner ad on a web page is all that's required to immediately start making a few sales. This is a false premise. There are a couple of key principles of internet marketing that can prevent any newbie from falling into this enticing trap. No. 1) Choose A Relevant Affiliate Program Let's hope at least that as a newbie you have chosen an affiliate program to promote that has relevance to your online interests. As an example, if you have placed a website online that discusses the care of young infants, it is certainly easy enough to find affiliate programs that deal with infant health, nutrition, clothing, or even security, such as baby monitors. The affiliate program doesn't have to exactly match your website content, but it should be very closely related. If your site is about infants why on earth would you want to promote rock videos? Only perhaps, if you think your own child is a future musical prodigy. Yet, many first-time internet entrepreneurs make just such a mistake. Even an affiliate program that deals with teens or preschoolers is not close enough, because the people coming to your site, presumably are not seeking information about those subjects. Tiny infants are not preschoolers. Of course you might make a sale or two, by virtue of blind luck, but that is not the way to run an internet business. You want at all times to be lean and focused. Don't waste effort promoting anything that is going to be a hard sell. Your effort is best spent elsewhere. No. 2 ) Write Informative Articles and Testimonials Using the same example above, let us propose that you have wisely chosen an affiliate program that relates to young infants. Now what? You've had your banners up for a month or two, and you just aren't making many sales. This despite the fact that your site receives a reasonable amount of traffic. One of the problems you've unwittingly created for yourself, is that banner ads are too easily ignored. They are like background music. Each hour online, anyone who surfs the web is going to be bombarded with banner ads, such that they become invisible. And it doesn't matter even if the banner ads are of excellent quality. They are still banner ads. Text-based ads are a much more effective advertising method, although at first glance it would seem exactly the opposite. But, let's look at this idea more closely. Banner ads say out loud that you're attempting to sell something. One of the major precepts of internet marketing is that people DO NOT WANT TO BE SOLD. People are online to gather knowledge. Even if they are online as a time for recreation and pleasure, they are still interested in learning. Human beings are innately curious. This is a plus for you, as you attempt to make a sale. Here's how. One way to introduce text-ads into your web site is to write articles. Or to write a review of the very product that you're trying to sell. { you aren't trying to market something you haven't purchased yourself, are you? } Testimonials are an extremely effective advertising device. That's why so many web merchants place testimonials on their site, and frequently on the very first page of the site, where the testimonials are most likely to be viewed. Also, testimonials are a form of "aggressive" advertising, that doesn't look aggressive at all. This is because testimonials deliver valuable information to the consumer. Thus, the consumer is more likely to make a purchase because they never form the negative impressive in their mind, that they are being SOLD something. A person who is feeling negative is much less likely to decide to make a purchase. ~~~~~~ One final point before we conclude this article. Banner ads are not going to disappear. They can still serve a useful purpose. Sometimes a banner ad or two, can help dress-up a drab, uninspired-looking site. You don't want your website to resemble a plain white term paper. A little sizzle is okay. But, NEVER let banner ads be your main advertising method. Also, if every other affiliate is using the same banner ads, then the impactof the ads on your site will be further lessened. The key to online marketing success is to be unique. Online, as opposed to the offline world, uniqueness is an endearing trait. Don't plaster those same ads all over your pages everyone else in your marketing niche is using. Write your own articles. The customer will become comfortable that you know what you are talking about. This gives them a reason to return. { a key factor as people rarely make a purchase the first time they ever visit a website. } Stay on your toes, don't become complacent, and never miss an opportunity to improve the content, relevance, and usefulness of your site. If you have a thought or an idea about something. Then place it online. You're always more likely to receive a click-through from a well-written informative article than from some flashy banner ad. Give the customer more of what they want, without trying to sell them. That is the simple key to increasing the overall marketing effectiveness of your website. R.M.B. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Resource Box: R.M. Blackledge is the owner of TheWorkAtHomeBlog.Com. Additional articles and important, up-to-date home business news and information is available almost daily at the following url: http://theworkathomeblog.com/index.html contact: http://theworkathomeblog.com/contact.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the Author R.M. Blackledge is the owner of TheWorkAtHomeBlog.Com and is the publisher of numerous business and self-help articles. |
How to Breathe New Life into Your Advertising Campaign
by: Karin Peavy |
If you haven't made many sales or perhaps none at all, don't be discouraged. Use this 10-point checklist to breathe new life into your advertising campaigns and improve your response rate. >> Remind people they are ordering through a secure server. Tell them you won't sell or share their e-mail address and that all their information will be kept confidential. >> Your advertisement should outline benefits and not just features. In addition, your ad's headline should attract your target audience. You should also list testimonials or guarantees. Here are two free resources you can use to learn how to write effective ads and headlines. 5,000 Hypnotic Words and Phrases
Copywriting E-Course
>> People usually don't purchase the first time they visit. The more times they visit your site, the greater the chance they will buy. The most effective way to get people to return to your site is to give them a free subscription to your e-zine. You can accomplish this by posting a sign up form or guestbook on your website. You could also list free and low cost resources on your website and update them regularly. Ask visitors to bookmark your site and visit again and again to discover newly added items. >> People will feel more comfortable if they know who they are buying from. Publish a section called "About Us" (or "About Me" if you're a sole proprietor) on your web site. Include your business history, profile of employees, contact information etc. Here's an example of my own "About Me" page. http://www.incomewaterway.com/aboutme >> Accept credit cards, checks, money orders, and other forms of electronic payments such as PayPal, ClickBank, etc. Take orders by phone, e-mail, website, fax, mail, etc. >> You need your own domain. To find if a name is already taken and to register your own domain name go here: Make sure your website is easy to navigate through. If you site has dozens of pages, consider including a site map. Websites are most effective when the material all relates to one theme including the graphics. Here's where you can find out how to download a free ebook that will help you design effective web pages: >> When you use free stuff to lure people to your website include it below your ad copy or on another web page. If you list the freebie above your ad they may never look to see what you're selling. >> You won't sell steaks to a vegetarian. You want visitors that are interested specifically in what you offer. Consider surveying your existing customers to see what made them decide to buy from you. This information will help you improve your target marketing and advertising. If you don't yet have a customer base, use ezine advertising to begin building one. Find ezines that cater to an audience interested in your marketing area. For instance, if your product relates to humor find publishers that distribute humor ezines. Here's one of the fastest ways to find the right ezines. http://www.incomewaterway.com/ezines >> Every experienced marketer knows you must work at constantly improving various aspects of your business...especially your ad copy since it's the lifeblood of your business. This is how you get the word out. So, you must be willing to try different headlines and revise ad copy if necessary. Use an ad tracker for your advertising campaigns to measure how many clickthroughs you receive for a particular ad. >> Many people are interested in your product but they put off buying it till later and eventually forget about it. Entice them to buy now with a freebie or discount and include a deadline date when the offer ends. If your business is at a standstill, it doesn't have to be. Use these 10 techniques to breathe new life into your marketing efforts.
Karin Peavy has marketed online for three years. Her goal is to help others zero in on exactly what's needed for web success. In response to this goal she created http://www.incomewaterway.com, home to some of the web's best marketing resources including free articles and ecourses. Karin also publishes a free weekly e-newsletter that provides product reviews, income opportunities and marketing tips. Free gift with every subscription: http://www.incomewaterway.com/FreeTips. You may use this article in your electronic publication or on your website as long as you do not alter the article in any way. You must also include my bio in its entirety. |
Indirect Advertising
by: Warren Contreras |
| I am reasonably sure that anyone reading this article is familiar with all the free online advertising resources such as the all too familiar Sp-m, Classifieds, FFA pages, Banners, Text Ads, Traffic Exchanges, Newsletters,Guaranteed Visitors, Paid to Read, Paid to Join, Link Swaps, Pop-ups, Other 'In-Your-Face' Ads, and the list goes on and on. The question I would like you to consider is, when you see this kind of stuff yourself what is your 'Frame of Mind'? My guess is you know what's coming and your shields go up. You pull up your waders and trudge on through, oblivious to the thousands of messages ricochetting off your armor just so you can collect a few more hits for your own website or offer. With Millions of would be online marketers doing this hour after hour and day after day, is it any wonder that the Internet slows down to a crawl and even stops at times? So what if you could put your message on hold for a time when your prospects finished their 'Direct Advertising' chores. They have returned to their curious wanderings online, a time when they are now open to checking things out. Instead of shoving your material in their face, they come looking for you to see what you are doing. Maybe even ask a few questions. Kind of like stopping off for a cold one with the gang after work. The online equivalent to this scene is being played out today and every day and you can participate for free. It is called 'Social Networking' or even more appropriately for us, 'Business Networking' and is easily found with your favorite search engine. Since this can hardly be considered blatant advertising (at least not directly) I will say the one I am most familiar with and use myself, is the Ryze Business Network. With a free account they allow you to create a 'Home Page' where you can display whatever you want other members to see. I suggest you tell about yourself instead of wasting it on more advertising. Those that visit know that they are on a Business Network and know you are here because you have something for sale. Now, think about what 'Frame of Mind' you would be in if you dropped by a potential friends page to sign their guestbook, looked over their 'Home Page' and decided to click a few links trying to gain more insight into their personality. You might even be considering an alliance or joint venture with them. Can you see the difference? You are no longer perceived as a 'Salesman' but a 'Fellow Businessperson' instead. Chamber of Commerce 'Mixers' have been an example of this approach for years and been very successful. Now you can accomplish nearly the same thing for your home business from your computer. If this all sounds complicated and too hard to understand how it could possibly work, I would suggest getting a free account and give it a try. There is free 'Interactive' on the job training available through sub-networks that fit every imaginable interest, where you can ask questions and read the answers from your peers. There are facilities to search out those you have a common connection with and they have already given you permission to subtilty contact them by virtue of being a member. Blatant advertising is prohibited so you will not be bombarded with junk ads. It's more like receiving an invitation that you can read privately and decide if you want to attend. So now it is all up to you. Continue contributing to the degradation of Internet bandwidth with huge numbers of attempts required (many not even reaching the target) to get a single response, or try something new. About the Author Warren Contreras is just another online marketer that puts |
Market Your Dream Online: Internet Advertising Advice From M
by: Terry Nicholls |
You need to be advertising and marketing your home-based business, but what does it all mean? You need customers. You need sales! But where do you start?
These are just some of the ways for your home-based business to be advertising and marketing online (meaning on the Internet). But, what do they mean? FFA Pages -- You submit your site to a FFA page (or network of pages) and agree to get one E-mail from every other website that is listed there. Definitely not a good idea (see our Advertising/Marketing page for more details). Banners - These are ads shown at the top (usually) of many webpages and they sometimes rotate to show a different ad each time the page is loaded. Traffic Exchange Programs - You submit your ad to be shown to other members of the program when they load the program start page. Reciprocal Linking - You place a link to someone's website on your site and they place a link to your website on theirs. Other Internet Marketing Suggestions Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Keywords are placed throughout your website's pages to tell the search engines what your page is about. Keywords are simply words (or combinations of words) that describe your business. Content is king. Provide good content (basically, articles about your area of expertise) about your subject and sprinkle the keywords (and combos) through the page. This basic strategy will get you a higher ranking with the search engines and many more customers because you're giving them something that they need -- information! PPC (Pay Per Click) Advertising - Instead of submitting your pages for inclusion in the search engine's database, you bid on the keyword(s) that relate to your website. You can find out in advance what other sites have bid for a particular keyword and then decide if you want to outbid the number one spot or maybe bid a little less and get the number two, three, or four spot (or lower if the keyword is expensive). Ezines/Newsletters - These are delivered through E-mail and can be either plain text or HTML with full graphics. Although they can sometimes be expensive, you can get free ads by writing articles about your subject area and contribute them to the ezines. Why would you want to give them away? Because you can put in a "Resource Box" at the end of each article. At the very least this box will contain your name, website address, and a brief one or two line "bio" about you (some ezines allow more room). See, free online advertising for your home-based business! For a more detailed explanation, and more great advice for your home-based business, please visit My Home-Based Business Advisor. Terry Nicholls My Home-Based Business Advisor my-home-based-business-advisor.com Copyright © 2004 by Terry Nicholls. All Rights Reserved. About the Author Terry Nicholls writes from his own experience as someone who wanted to start his own home-based business. Now that he has, visit My Home-Based Business Advisor - Helping YOUR Home Business Start and Succeed for free help for YOUR home business, including ideas, startup, and expansion advice. |
Secrets of Getting Free Advertising
by: Patrick Baghestani |
The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your own objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them. One way is to write an article relative to your particular expertise and submit it to all the publications and media dealing in the dissemination of related information. In other words, become your own publicity and sales promotions writer. Get the word out; establish yourself as an expert in your field, and "tag-along" everything you write with a quick note listing your address for a catalog, dealership opportunity, or more information. Another really good way is by becoming a guest on as many of the radio and television talk shows or interview type programs as possible. Actually, this is much easier to bring about than most people realize. Write a letter to the producer of these programs, then follow up with an in-person visit or telephone call. Your initial contact should emphasize that your product or service would be of interest to the listeners or viewers of the program - perhaps even saving them time or money. Other ways of getting free or very inexpensive exposure include the posting of advertising circulars on all the free bulletin boards in your area, especially the coin-operated laundries, grocery stores, and beauty and barber shops. Don't discount the idea of handing out circulars to all the shoppers in busy shopping centers and malls, especially on weekends. You can also enlist the aid of the middle school students in your area to hand out circulars door-to-door. Some of the more routine methods include having a promotional ad relative to your product or service printed on the front or back of your envelopes at the time you have them printed with your return address. Be sure to check all the publications that carry the kind of advertising you need. Many mail order publications just getting started offer unusually low rates to first-time advertisers; a free-of-charge insertion of your ad when you pay for an order to run three issues or more; or special seasonal ad space at greatly reduced rates. And there are a number of publications that will give you Per Inquiry (PI) space - an arrangement where all orders come in to the publication, they take a commission from each order, and then forward the orders on to you for fulfillment. Many publications will give you a contract for "stand-by" space. In this arrangement you send them your ad, and they hold it until they have unsold space, and then at a price that's always one third or less than the regular price for the space you need, insert your ad. Along these lines, be sure to check in with the suburban and neighborhood newspapers. If you send out or publish any kind of catalog or ad sheet, get in touch with all the other publishers and inquire about the possibilities of exchange advertising. They run your ad in their publication in exchange for your running an ad for them of comparable size in yours. Finally, there's nothing in the world that beats the low cost and tremendous exposure you get when you advertise a free offer. Simply run an ad offering a free report of interest to most people - a simple one-page report with a "tag-line" inviting the readers to send money for more information, with a full page advertisement for your book or other product on the backside. Ask for a self-addressed stamped envelope, and depending on the appeal of your report and the circulation of the publication in which your ad appears, you could easily be inundated with responses! The trick here, of course, is to convert all of these responses, or a large percentage of them, into sales. This is done via the "tag-line," which issues an invitation to the reader to send for more information, and the full page ad on the back of the report, and the other offers you include with the complete package you send back to them. As mentioned at the beginning of this report, it's just a matter of unleashing your imagination. Do that, and you have a powerful force working for you that can help you reach your goals.
Want to learn how to start and grow your very own Home Business? If so, visit our internet home based business resource center at http://www.internet-based-home-business-ideas.com |
The Quest In Advertising Your Website
by: Michael Keenan |
| Website advertising the unending quest of every web site builder. And Free is a word i work towards. But free on the net has many different meanings and many of them or most of them are not free at all. The most effective means of advertising i have found as i am sure many of you also have discovered are the traffic surfing sites. You register your site on a few or many of them. Advertise your main site as well as put a few of the traffic sites themselves in advertising rotation. In the event that you can get people to sign up to the traffic surfing sites, you gain for yourself a constant stream of credit which constantly show off your main website. Add into your main website free banners that also gain credits and in time you will gain a consistent flow of free advertising. This is one of the methods I use and it really does provide a constant flow through to my main website. Getting people to view your site isn't really that hard. The ideas that you can use are really endless. Getting people to purchase products if you are in affiliate sales ect is a whole different article, many articles really. So we will leave that one too next time. Bye for Now. About the author: Michael J. Keenan (CEO - SitePromotionNow) Worked in affiliate sales and website construction for over 5 years. email: mickyk703@hotmail.com website: www.sitepromotionnow.org |
Why Radio Advertising Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Did F
by: Michele Pariza Wacek |
In the marketing world, radio has earned the reputation of being the odd step-cousin. You know the one. No one knows quite what to do with him. Especially at family gatherings when everyone tries hard to avoid sitting with him. (After all, who knows WHAT he'll start talking about.) Much of that reputation comes from radio being tough to track. On one hand, radio does work. Businesses do notice an increase in sales when they add radio to the mix. However, radio doesn't test well. In surveys and other tracking methods, radio tends to be the one with the dismal scores. A good friend of mine, who's also a marketing consultant but before that she sold radio for many years, has a theory about that. She says radio works on a subconscious or unconscious level. People remember the ad, but not that they heard it on the radio. So, they tend to credit a different medium for the ad, like the yellow pages. Yellow pages gets a boost while radio drops a few points. Regardless, radio should not be ignored because it does work. And many marketing consultants will probably tell you radio is an excellent medium to reach a local market. However, I feel there are possibilities beyond merely reaching local customers. Internet radio shows are starting to take off in a big way. That means advertising and sponsorship opportunities are also taking off. In addition, "offline" methods have been shown to be pretty effective at driving traffic online. If increasing Web traffic is your goal, using traditional media outlets to increase traffic should be a part of your mix. If people already know you (which they might in your local market) they're more likely to be loyal. And they're more likely to send other customers to your site. Depending on the costs of radio in your community, radio may be a very affordable way to get a good viral campaign going. (A viral campaign is what happens when other people pass around your business' e-mails to their friends and family, or send them to your Web site.) Below are some other positive reasons to use radio: * Affordable -- when you compare spot to spot, radio tends to be one of the least expensive media out there. However, one spot ain't going to do it. To reach your target market, you need to purchase several spots. That's why radio can also turn into one of the more expensive media. However, there are ways to keep your costs in line yet still reap the benefits of radio -- for instance, buying less spots but running them all in one or two weeks, so your customers are more likely to hear your message. * Psychological, if you voice the commercials yourself -- hearing your voice makes people feel like they "know" you. (Hence the popularity of audio on Web sites. In fact, marketing gurus claim just by adding audio to a site substantially increases how many people buy.) People tend to buy from people and businesses they know and trust. Hearing your voice helps them feel as if they know you. These psychological aspects may be another reason to consider running a few radio ads in your local market even if you have an Internet business. * Speed -- you can get your spot up and running in no time. * Loyalty -- listeners choose stations based on the music or shows they like and they tend to be quite loyal to that station. If you know what your customers enjoy listening to, it's an excellent way to reach them. (I include both music and talk shows in this.) * Good support medium -- radio works really well when paired with other marketing mediums (like print, direct mail or television). But for every positive, there's a negative. In the spirit of being objective, here are a few for radio: * Background medium -- radio tends to be on in the background, which means it tends to be ignored. Generally, your target market needs to be exposed to your ad more times than other marketing media before they'll act upon your message. * Little staying power -- the lack of visuals again keeps radio from "sticking" with people. At least, that's what some of the marketing gurus say. But, here again my marketing consultant friend differs. She thinks it's that subconscious thing again. And if you can write a spot that creates pictures in your customers' heads, you can actually work this to your advantage. In fact, according to my friend, if the picture is defined enough, not only will people remember it better, but they'll also think it was a print ad instead of a radio ad. (More on the art of creating pictures using words in later issues.) * Hard to track – it's impossible to know exactly how many people are tuning in at any given time. A final note: Because radio is subconscious, keep that in mind when crafting your ad. Repeat your business name a lot and any other branding info, so it gets into your customers' heads. Don't put in phone numbers. Instead, purchase a memorable Web site domain name and repeat that. And remember to create "pictures" whenever possible. Creativity Exercise -- How can you use radio in your business? Would radio work for your business? Let's find out. Take out a sheet of paper and a fun pen. (I'm partial to gel pens.) Draw a line down the center. On one side, put the header: Why advertising on radio is a good idea for my business. On the other side, put the header: Why advertising is a bad idea for my business. Now pick a side and start writing down reasons. You might be more comfortable starting with the side that's easiest for you. Then when you work on the other side, you can simply turn the reasons around. For instance, let's say you started with the bad idea. One of your reasons was: My product is completely visual. You could turn it around by saying "Because my product is so visual, I'll have to work harder to create pictures in my customers' minds. And because the customers create their own pictures, they're more likely to remember them." Or what if you started with a good idea, and one of the reasons was: "Because my business is local." You could turn it around and say "Because radio is holding me back -- I'm only reaching this local market." (Ah, now I'm even going against what I said earlier. Maybe with this statement you could look for ways to get your customers to spread the word outside the area about your business.) As you saw by my last example, you'll be amazed at what comes out when you do this exercise. Even if you don't change your views on radio advertising, you may come up with new and powerful insights to your business.
Michele Pariza Wacek owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting, a writing, marketing and creativity agency. She offers two free e-newsletters that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at www.writingusa.com. Copyright 2004 Michele Pariza Wacek. |
Advertising Made Easy
by: chet holmes |
| How You Can Make Advertising Pay Big Dividends (source: www.chetholmes.com) McGraw Hill once commissioned an extensive study to determine what marketing weapons make a company famous in it’s market or community. The study went on to show that advertising created more product, service, or brand awareness than all other marketing weapons combined. The fact is, we know that Coke is “The Real Thing” because Coke advertises, not because it has good salespeople or does great direct mail. Advertising stays in front of your prospects when you can’t be there. While a handful of salespeople can only be in front of perhaps a hundred or so prospects per month, advertising can reach thousands of potential buyers each and every month, week, or day. Studies also show that advertising inspires confidence from your current clients. When current clients see your ad, it reinforces their belief in you. It makes them feel like they made the right decision to be your client. But advertising can also waste money if you don’t use it properly. To avoid wasting money, keep these three tips in mind. Don’t spend money on an advertising vehicle if the majority of its listeners/viewer/readers will never buy your type of product or services. For example, let’s say that you own a commercial real estate company or a business bank. In both cases, you are only interested in business people. Broad-reaching television or radio stations or general-interest daily newspapers base their rates on how many consumers they reach. An examination of their audiences may easily show you that a high percentage of their listeners or readers are not business people, yet you will have to pay to reach all of them. Conversely, there are more specialized advertising vehicles that target a far greater percentage of your potential buyers. A business radio program or a business publication will offer you an audience comprised mostly of your potential buyers. If you do advertise, do not expect that a single ad, or even a few ads, constitute effective advertising. Effective advertising needs to be consistent and steady. However: If you don’t have the budget to take a full advertising schedule, I often recommend that my clients buy one, well placed ad in the ideal magazine and then use that piece for years sometimes with a banner that says: “As Seen In Industry Today.” This ad then works very hard for you as a direct mail piece, promo piece, or even a hand out at a trade show. Don’t spread your advertising too thin. Some years ago, a corporate training company launched its services by buying a few spots per week on seven different radio stations. Since it was not on any one station long enough to give its message a chance to take root, the advertising was a total failure. The company should have taken its entire budget and sunk it into one or (at the most) two primary vehicles. Each advertising vehicle has a loyal audience. You are far better off having a heavy schedule in one vehicle, where you have a chance to break through the clutter and get noticed, than to take a few spots in a half-dozen vehicles in which you get lost in the commercial clutter. Today, repetition and concentration are the keys to successful advertising. Another important point along the lines of advertising smart is that cable TV today can virtually change your life in a week. I know a fellow who has an electronic repair business. He would fix VCR’s, TV’s, Toasters, etc… and he also would come to your home to hook up your entire entertainment system if you needed him to do that. The name of the business was Mr. Tim’s Home Electronic Repair and Installation Service. First, on my advice, he took an insert in the newspaper. (An “insert” is a flyer that is printed separately and “inserted” into the newspaper as a loose piece of paper). This is generally a very good way to go with B2B in a trade journal or B2C in a newspaper. These are good because they fall out of the magazine or newspaper onto your desk or kitchen table and they are less expensive to buy than printing your ad right in the vehicle of choice. When I ran magazines and newspapers, we discouraged them because we NEEDED ads in the magazine/newspaper, but when we had a client we were going to lose over lack of response, we ALWAYS recommended the insert because they almost always worked. So Mr. Tim’s Home Electronic Repair and Installation Service took the newspaper insert in the local newspaper and bought, specifically, the major neighborhoods where he felt they have more time than money. That’s the other beauty of newspaper inserts is that you can generally buy a small piece of the circulation to test the idea or to concentrate geographically. This worked for months for Mr. Tim, as people kept the insert around until they needed him. But one of the people that spotted that insert was the local cable salesperson who told him he could make him famous. Mr. Tim thought TV would be WAY too expensive, but, as it turns out, in some markets, you can buy just a neighborhood. You can buy by zip code. So for $200 per week, Mr. Tim was on TV like 60 times per week, spread all over 50 different cable channels. It was amazing. You’d be watching re-runs of Seinfeld and there would come this Mr. Tim’s Home Electronic Repair and Installation Service ad and his phone would ring. It worked great. Then one day he walks into a bike shop and someone recognized him from his TV ad. He was becoming famous from this mere $200 per week. Not for everyone, but if you sell B2C, look into local cable and concentrate with a lot of spots. Every business action requires some kind of cost justification. Does the effort justify the cost? Company X advertised its professional educational materials. When it seemed as though the advertising was not working, the company was going to cancel its ad campaign. Then it discovered a startling correlation between its advertising and its direct-mail efforts: Its direct-mail response went up by 30% in the months it advertised to the same audience. This is typical. The more penetration you can get to the same audience, the better the possibility that you will get noticed. In the ’90s, getting noticed is everything. In today’s commercial clutter, you get noticed only by continually reaching the same potential customer with a consistent theme, message, look, and feel. If you advertise in a print medium (magazine, newspaper, etc.), you will find that most publications will rent you their mailing lists. This means you can direct mail to the same audience to which you are advertising! This is a very smart usage of marketing dollars. Look at the lifetime value. If you have an inexpensive product, your advertising has to deliver a high number of leads, or every lead has to turn into a repeat customer. For example, say your average customer spends $25 with you. If you are spending $1,000 per month on advertising, you will need to attract 40 new customers per month to break even on the ad, not counting any of your other costs, such as product costs and overhead. If those customers are one-time buyers, then you have to find a way to make your advertising more effective or less expensive. If they become regular buyers, then you can accept lower response rates. The key here is to look at the “lifetime value” of a customer. A customer who spends $25 a month and comes to your store only once is only worth $25 to you. But if you can get that customer to be a repeat customer, then that customer is worth $300 a year, or $1,500 over five years! Most business people do not understand the power of advertising; they do not realize that each new $25 customer is potentially a $1,500 customer! Advertising brings in the customers, but it is your job to keep them buying from you. Advertising promotes word-of-mouth Often, a loyal customer will see your ad while with a friend or business associate. Your customer will show your ad to the friend and say, “Hey Joe, now this is a really great company/product/service.” Joe will come into your business, and you will ask him how he heard of you. He will say that his friend referred him and never think to mention that it was your advertising that prompted the friend to open his mouth in the first place. I headed up a Neilson study that tracked hundreds of ads and the response rate each ad generated. Each month, a computer printout listed the ads and how much response each had generated. The first printout came and it looked like this:
In the midst of all the other ads generating responses in the low 20’s, one ad was generated more than 200 responses! Turning to the ad, we expected to find some totally new or unique offer, product or service. Instead, we found that the product advertised was nearly identical in price and features to four or five other products in the same publication. Thus, it wasn’t the product that made the response jump so significantly, it was the ad! After a year of tracking the highest response generating ads, we learned that, for the most part, the ads that pulled the greatest response followed four primary rules: Rule No 1: Is it distinctive? You must design advertising that is so distinctive looking (or sounding, if you’re on the radio) that it pops out of the clutter. In print, the first goal of high-response-oriented advertising is that it be visually distinctive. On radio, the audio must be distinctive. Naturally, TV has both visual and audio possibilities. I ran a TV spot advertising a free seminar I’m doing with Jay Abraham. Among other images we used in the spot, I put a shot of me throwing a double side kick (I have 23 years of karate training) to the head of a business owner (we’re both in suits). What’s the point of that? One point. It makes you want to find out “what the heck is going on there?” Today, 70% of TV watchers are muting out the commercials. But if you see something really intriguing, you will UN-mute just to see what the heck is happening there. There’s a spot running right now where this kid sprays his mother with a squirt gun and she pulls the hose out of the sink and nails the kid with it. I saw that spot several times and it finally got my goat. I wanted to see what they were advertising. So make your ad distinctive. Something that makes it STAND OUT. Rule No. 2: Tell me what you want to tell me. If you page through a magazine, you will quickly notice that you do not read the ads that make it difficult for you to figure out what they are selling. “Clever” is only better if it is “super clever.” Clever headlines that do not tell you what they are trying to sell are simply not effective. Most ads in most publications today don’t have headlines that tell you what they are trying to sell. In the information age, don’t hint around; say what you want to say, right in the headline. A good headline follows these four criteria:
The headline is the ad for the ad. If the headline isn’t good, no one will read the rest of the ad. Responses to ads have jumped ten fold by simply changing the headlines. Rule No. 3: The body copy should… Be curiosity driven, unfolding the story you want to tell. By highly benefit oriented. So many ads talk about features, when it is benefits that motivate buying. Give you a reason to take action now! Can you offer something for free that will help you engage the potential customer? Rule No. 4: Ask for the order. Too many ads do not give explicit instructions as to what action you would like the customer to take: “Order today and save,” or “Call us today and receive this free….”. You must always ask for the order! Summary Advertising is a powerful tool for becoming a well-known player in any market. Even if you take a small schedule and a small ad, by consistently letting it run in an appropriately targeted vehicle, over time that ad will have an impact. People will see your logo and it will register. Advertising supports everything else you do in your business. But it is only part of a total package. You must have other marketing, and you must make sure, ultimately, that you are treating the customer like gold. Happy customers will spread the word faster, and advertising will help facilitate that. Happy advertising! Chet Holmes is President and CEO of Jordan Productions, an international training firm that helps companies accelerate growth using Chet’s proprietary techniques. See www.chetholmes.com to attend a webinar about Chet’s concepts.
About The Author Chet Holmes is author and creator of the popular business series Guerrilla Marketing Meets Karate Master with Jay Conrad Levinson, Business Growth Masters, and Zero to $100 Million. Chet charges $5,000 an hour and has been paid fees up to $1 million dollars from a single client. He's personally had 50 Fortune 500 clients and has 60 products selling in 19 countries. |
Online Advertising for Dummies
by: Daegan Smith |
| Whether you are checking your email, shopping on a website or just searching for information, online ads are everywhere! A new marketing landscape, the Internet offers a new and cheaper advertising space, as compared to traditional spaces like print, television, radio and outdoor advertising. It’s a revolution of sorts and small and home business owners are making the most of it. For a home based start up, online advertising is a potent tool that can maximize visibility, drive traffic to the company’s website, up the sales and build a solid brand in the process. Going to an expensive advertising agency to run your campaign would most definitely burn a hole in your pocket. The good news is you don’t have to do that. Just remember the twin mantras of focus on what you want and a strong dose of imagination; and you’ll be on your way. Take the guesswork out of online advertising Online advertising is not a function of elaborate guesswork and a myriad of hits and misses. Like the traditional offline version, online advertising must also follow some basic rules. Know what you want your advertising to do, where to get it and what to do with it once you have it. Here are some guidelines to get you started. http://www.marketingprofs.com/preview.asp?file=/2/honabach1.asp
All online advertising is aimed at inducing “action”. Every online ad that you see is built to make you act: ‘Register for a free newsletter’, ‘buy now and save dollars’, ‘get a quote on your requirements’…the list goes on. The thing to remember here is that once the prospect has been pushed into an action, there should be real value for him at the other end of the pop- up. Unless you can fulfill the promise your brand is making, your online ad has been wasted. A well-planned and well-executed advertising campaign can fuel the growth of your home business tremendously. Use online advertising following some simple guidelines and see how it impacts your sales, visibility and brand building, all at the same time. Also see: http://www.web-source.net/internet_advertising.htm Daegan Smith is the Ex-NCAA Wrestler Turned Webmaster of Perfect Home Based Business Opportunities - The Net’s Top Growing Source for Home Business Information. Attention: Webmasters & Web Publishers Make Money with our Free Home Business Content for Reprint at Free Web Site Content |
The Future of Advertising
by: Jon Wuebben |
| Advertising is a medium that constantly evolves. It changes with the times. It adapts to new technologies. It is unrelenting in its desire to find new and better ways to reach an ever-growing consumer marketplace. Pay per click advertising on search engines allows you to choose keywords you would like your site to appear under when a potential customer engages in a search. You decide how much you are willing to pay each time a person clicks on the search results. But it can be competitive – and expensive if you are trying to use keywords that are very popular. Natural Search or Organic Search is the non-biased, non-paid results that come up when you do a search. This can be influenced heavily by what's called "Search Engine Optimization" – the complex and time consuming practice of ensuring that your website is doing all the right things in order to rank high for certain search terms. In this arena, smaller companies can out maneuver large corporations, so there's a lot of excitement generated because of this. Essentially, that's where the power of advertising is going. It's all about Search. And Search is only going to become more important over the next ten years. If you can get on that coveted first page organically, well then, more power to you! Web Sites, Banner Ads, etc.. For example: Kraft Foods creates a website that offers busy mothers a source for quick recipes for the family evening meal. The idea isn't to push Kraft products, but to promote Kraft as a brand that offers a service to customers. There have been companies who positioned their entire marketing strategy on this tenant. Now, it will become a key part of advertising for almost everyone. The consumer wants to know you care. Copyright © 2005 Jon Wuebben About Jon: Jon Wuebben is a professional Website Copywriter, SEO Copywriter and Advertising Copywriter with 10 years experience in B2B & B2C copywriting and marketing. He has provided copy for a number of organizations including Ford Motor Company, Kia Motors America, Harmon Kardon, JBL, Infinity, Advertising Agencies, small and medium sized businesses and pro bono for a variety of non-profit groups. He can be reached at (909) 437-7015, or online at http://www.CustomCopywriting.com for any copywriting project you may have or if you would like more articles or a Complimentary Website Copy analysis. Need a custom newsletter or e-zine article written? Call Jon Today at (909) 437-7015 or email jon@customcopywriting.com for a professional Website Copywriter, SEO Copywriter, or Advertising Copywriter. |
Digital Advertising
by: Nash Ville |
| Business establishments are busy places. People rush here and there. They are either waiting in line at the concession or in the lobby at intermission. Merchants try to attract customers using different kinds of advertising materials, static posters to be specific. How long will they look at these posters and get jaded? How can your message deliver the exact message and stand out from the crowd? The solution - put your advertising message in motion. With this, you’ll stop shoppers in their tracks with an exciting and attention-grabbing digital advertisement. Consider the fact that the visual appeal of moving or changing images is a proven to be very effective. Digital Advertising via plasma display panels, liquid crystal displays, computer monitors, and televisions are used to enhance traditional advertising. Using computer-generated images for print advertising and large format graphics can be a unique way of showcasing your products. Is this the end of traditional advertising? Not at this point, maybe. There are still several enhancements that advertising experts are trying to generate about digital advertising. Why do leaders in the printing, publishing and pre-press industries join forces to push the acceptance of the digital delivery of advertising materials and to document and demonstrate the advantages of the comprehensive digital advertising environment? Digital advertising has been widely accepted because of its myriad advantages such as dynamic creative elements and interactivity, guaranteed delivery and scheduled display, multiple advertisers with no clutter, co-op revenue opportunities, instant digital changes for season, price, or promotion, rapid ability to update content, timely insertion of trailer loops with advertising content, instant digital programming with informative and entertaining content, and the ability to deliver specific messages to specific audiences in specific locations. It also helps to combine the industries of advertising networks and point of purchase display merchandising. The impact of digital advertising is sensational - whether the presentation is on a single stand-alone floor display or a giant multi-screen format - messages can be delivered with energy, focus and entertainment. When digital advertisements are deployed in public spaces, they present compelling alternatives to traditional media. Digital advertising allows multiple clients to share valuable advertising space at reduced cost per exposure. It also drives them to search out new media alternatives to compliment their existing marketing plans. This tremendous versatility gives operators the option to choose the large format displays of their choice for the greatest impact in their venue. The objective of the Digital Advertising Project to have its students recreate the effects in an interesting advertisement with a manipulated photo using their own images is a simple yet very valuable and timely means of promoting digital advertising. With this concept, they will be able to realize the importance of digital advertising in making our world a better place to live in. They will also be informed about the purposes of these advertisements in helping us out in choosing from a wide range of products that we need in our everyday existence – from the clothes we wear, the foods and the vitamins we eat and take, the best mobile service providers and banking institutions we use, etc. Truly, digital advertising is an innovation destined to become important. The technology media cycle has really fascinated many advertising experts. Technology drives media, media drives societal growth, and marketers track societal growth in an attempt to take advantage of the advertising opportunities that new media presents. The commercial implication of a shift in media consumption patterns leads to a change in advertising spend patterns that turn into big money. Simply, the medium is what advertisers make of it – digital advertising offers a fresh set of opportunities. This article is supplied by our team to propagate the advancement of poster printing technologies out in the market and may refer to other existing articles. About the Author For comments and questions about the article and the author you may contact The Large Format Posters Moderator at 888 888 4211 or visit http://www.largeformatposters.com |
Cross Cultural Advertising
by: Neil Payne |
| Culture is a like dropping an Alka-seltzer into a glass – you don’t see it, but somehow it does something. Culture affects everything we do. This applies to all areas of human life from personal relationships to conducting business abroad. When interacting within our native cultures, culture acts as a framework of understanding. However, when interacting with different cultures this framework no longer applies due to cross cultural differences. Cross cultural communication aims to help minimise the negative impact of cross cultural differences through building common frameworks for people of different cultures to interact within. In business, cross cultural solutions are applied in areas such as HR, team building, foreign trade, negotiations and website design. Cross cultural communication solutions are also critical to effective cross cultural advertising. Services and products are usually designed and marketed at a domestic audience. When a product is then marketed at an international audience the same domestic advertising campaign abroad will in most cases be ineffective. The essence of advertising is convincing people that a product is meant for them. By purchasing it, they will receive some benefit, whether it be lifestyle, status, convenience or financial. However, when an advertising campaign is taken abroad different values and perceptions as to what enhances status or gives convenience exist. These differences make the original advertising campaign defunct. It is therefore critical to any cross cultural advertising campaign that an understanding of a particular culture is acquired. By way of highlighting areas of cross cultural differences in advertising a few examples shall be examined. Language in Cross Cultural Advertising It may seem somewhat obvious to state that language is key to effective cross cultural advertising. However, the fact that companies persistently fail to check linguistic implications of company or product names and slogans demonstrates that such issues are not being properly addressed. The advertising world is littered with examples of linguistic cross cultural blunders. Of the more comical was Ford’s introduction of the ‘Pinto’ in Brazil. After seeing sales fail, they soon realised that this was due to the fact that Brazilians did not want to be seen driving a car meaning ‘tiny male genitals’. Language must also be analysed for its cultural suitability. For example, the slogan employed by the computer games manufacturer, EA Sports, “Challenge Everything” raises grumbles of disapproval in religious or hierarchical societies where harmonious relationships are maintained through the values of respect and non-confrontation. It is imperative therefore that language be examined carefully in any cross cultural advertising campaign Communication Style in Cross Cultural Advertising Understanding the way in which other cultures communicate allows the advertising campaign to speak to the potential customer in a way they understand and appreciate. For example, communication styles can be explicit or implicit. An explicit communicator (e.g. USA) assumes the listener is unaware of background information or related issues to the topic of discussion and therefore provides it themselves. Implicit communicators (e.g. Japan) assume the listener is well informed on the subject and minimises information relayed on the premise that the listener will understand from implication. An explicit communicator would find an implicit communication style vague, whereas an implicit communicator would find an explicit communication style exaggerated. Colours, Numbers and Images in Cross Cultural Advertising Even the simplest and most taken for granted aspects of advertising need to be inspected under a cross cultural microscope. Colours, numbers, symbols and images do not all translate well across cultures. In some cultures there are lucky colours, such as red in China and unlucky colours, such as black in Japan. Some colours have certain significance; green is considered a special colour in Islam and some colours have tribal associations in parts of Africa. Many hotels in the USA or UK do not have a room 13 or a 13th floor. Similarly, Nippon Airways in Japan do not have the seat numbers 4 or 9. If there are numbers with negative connotations abroad, presenting or packaging products in those numbers when advertising should be avoided. Images are also culturally sensitive. Whereas it is common to see pictures of women in bikinis on advertising posters on the streets of London, such images would cause outrage in the Middle East.
When advertising abroad, the cultural values underpinning the society must be analysed carefully. Is there a religion that is practised by the majority of the people? Is the society collectivist or individualist? Is it family orientated? Is it hierarchical? Is there a dominant political or economic ideology? All of these will impact an advertising campaign if left unexamined. For example, advertising that focuses on individual success, independence and stressing the word “I” would be received negatively in countries where teamwork is considered a positive quality. Rebelliousness or lack of respect for authority should always be avoided in family orientated or hierarchical societies. By way of conclusion, we can see that the principles of advertising run through to cross cultural advertising too. That is – know your market, what is attractive to them and what their aspirations are. Cross cultural advertising is simply about using common sense and analysing how the different elements of an advertising campaign are impacted by culture and modifying them to best speak to the target audience. by Neil Payne |