>I’m spending a very cool week in Curitiba, Brazil, visiting my stepdaughter and family. Grandbabies have a way of making you want to spend a lot of money to fly thousands of miles. To help fill the void of my diminished blogging time, my friend Marcus Carr has graciously stepped in to help.
Guest Post:
Marcus Carr – Director, Central Texas Business Resource Center.
My specialty is business planning. In my business development programs I emphasize the importance of a well-developed marketing plan. Many people ask why they should prepare a marketing plan if they have a business plan. Mainly, a business plan covers the operations of the business and the financial obligations that business requires. A marketing plan establishes, focuses, and coordinates your marketing efforts.
Small Business Poverty
Small businesses inherently suffer from what is called “poverty of resources.” Another way of saying this is they do not have large budgets to spend on marketing their business. Marketing is part of the financial obligations and you want to make sure that you are getting the most for the money that you are spending.
By preparing a marketing plan, you can analyze, as well as understand, what’s going on in your marketplace and how it affects your business. It also provides a benchmark for later measurement of effectiveness of the dollars spent. Much of the time, the process of preparing a marketing plan guides you in developing a successful marketing strategy. Making the strategy a success depends on your advertising, and most importantly, the ad. Here are a few points to keep in mind…
Honesty = Believability?
In advertising there is a difference between honesty and believability. You can be 100 percent honest (as you should be) and people still may not believe you. You have to go beyond mere honesty. Because people are bombarded by over-exaggerations in advertising, they must be convinced that you are giving them exactly the benefit that they desire. There can be no doubt, or they will usually go somewhere else.
People do not pay attention to advertising. So the primary aim of all advertising is getting the attention of the audience. People will only notice things that more interesting than what they are currently doing. In response, advertisers use shock, humor, and persuasive advertising. Sometimes the ads are better remembered than the products they are promoting. Make sure you haven’t forgotten the purpose. and your audience remembers what you are selling.
Trunk Monkey Ads
In the race to win the attention derby, some businesses produce a “trunk monkey” ad. Until about 6 or 8 months ago there was a television ad that ran here in the Central Texas area with a random car and a monkey in it (I think it has been used nationwide). This monkey would make his way from the trunk through the back seat and thrash a person that was stealing the car. Sometimes the monkey would come forth to bribe a police man during a traffic stop. Now do you remember the ad I am talking about? I’d like to ask, what were they selling in this ad with the “trunk monkey?” I have heard answers such as security alarms, car radios, and tickets to the zoo.
If your brain seems to have gone ‘freeze dried’ on you, I have made my point. Make sure your customer will not only remember your ad, but also remember what you are trying to sell to them. By the way… the trunk monkey is a funny made-up feature available in cars sold at certain car dealerships.
Related posts on memorable ads:
Small Business Advertising: Sexy USP’s They’ll Love
Be Interesting or Don’t Advertise
There’s Your Ad
Marcus Carr has over 18 years of business management experience. His past experiences include operating and growing a family-owned concrete and supply company, buying and selling an Internet service provider business (ISP), and creating two new companies that offer Internet marketing and advertising solutions for small businesses. He currently serves as Director and Small Business Counselor of the Central Texas Business Resource Center (the BRC) project in Killeen Texas USA