Advertising

Advertising is a system of telling potential customers about your services or needs. All organizations advertise, whether they admit it or not. Charitable and community organizations don’t do it as businesses, but they find ways to get known.

Much of the lore of advertising is aimed at the clever phrase that gets people’s attention. However, the most useful advertising for the majority of companies is the routine type. A regular notice in the same place all the time will help the customer find you when he is ready. Hardly anything beats the “yellow pages” type of advertising.

People are suspicious of slogans and displays that are so they appear insincere. The best advertising is third-person credibility – a customer telling a new or potential one about you. Give your customers a reason to do this.

The advertising budget for a charitable organization should be about 5 percent of receipts. It doesn’t need to be that high if it can piggyback on the ads of others. Direct mail is the most useful if a sincere and personalized approach can be used. Remember that 80 percent of the money is given by 20 percent of the people. Go for them.

Retail organizations may spend 15 percent of their revenues on advertising, but that is high for a normal business. There is very little relation between the amount of advertising and the amount of business. A minimum amount will produce the same results as a maximum. It depends on how the advertising is placed. Use agencies if you can-they get their money from the media-but spend time making certain they understand your business. Don’t assume it.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-17