How To Know If You Should Advertise Somewhere Or Not

Locally advertising your business, such as through billboards and newspapers, is a great way to bring people to your business. However, advertising in the wrong areas only wastes money, and it may even risk your reputation if your advertising space is very bad for your business. Go through this checklist to make sure you are advertising in the right area.

Demographic Information

Most businesses sell products or services to a certain demographic. If you are an office supply store, for example, then your main demographic will be small business owners. However, this type of store can also be popular with regular homeowners, teachers and anyone else that needs office supplies. With this wide a demographic, it can be easy to advertise in most places.

However, some businesses have very specific demographics. For example, if you run a gym that specifically trains people in the onset of becoming seniors in the 65 to 70 range, then you should research the area very thoroughly. If you advertise in an area with few seniors, then you won’t make a dent in the market at all.

Research the area and make sure your main demographic is available. If it isn’t, then you probably shouldn’t advertise there.

Traffic

This is especially important for billboards, but it is important for any advertising method. You need to make sure that there is traffic that will see your advertising. Otherwise, no one will see your business information.

For example, if you take out a billboard, make sure it is near a busy road or one that gets a good amount of drivers. If you make an ad in the newspaper, make sure there are enough readers to justify the advertising cost. You want to make sure that people see your ad in order to get people into your business.

This is often very easy to find out. If you are make a location-based ad, like a billboard, then look at the road where the billboard is located. If you are make a print-based ad, then make sure it is attached to a magazine or newspaper with enough readers, or that your flyers are posted in good areas.

Competition

How much competition is there in the nearby area? There will most likely be a few businesses like your own in the local area, and there is nothing wrong with some healthy competition. But, competition can be a little too fierce if the area is full of the same businesses.

For example, if you are advertising a consulting firm, check to see how many similar firms are in the same area. If there are hundreds of firms actively advertising in the area, then you may want to avoid the location. There is probably a huge need for your business, but if there are already established businesses serving all the customers, then you may have a hard time making money.

However, you can counter this by doing something different. If you specialize in something with consulting, or if you can offer a better deal than anyone else in town, then you might be able to steal away some of the market. Make sure you have something that no one else can do, and you may be able to beat the competition.

Assess Risks

Before advertising in an area, you should consider the risks to your business. For example, if you are a software company, you should consider the chance that your software may become obsolete before your advertising is put up. If this happens, then you will waste money on the advertising.

Not only that, but you should assess any other risk factors associated with your business. While there is always the chance that unexpected risks will occur, you should do your best to ensure that your advertising works in the intended area.

Conclusion

Finding the best area for your advertising can be difficult. There are many factors to research, and you can end up wasting a lot of money without getting any revenue in return. However, if you look up these different factors, then you should be able to find the best area for your advertising. Never blindly advertise in an area because you like it, as this often leads to wasted money. Check these factors, and you should succeed.

About the Author:  Tom Demers is an avid Tech blogger; writing about topics including windows domain controller.

SOURCE: http://smallbizbee.com