The Elements of a Good Advertisement

Advertisements are all around us. Whether we’re watching television, driving down the freeway, flipping through a magazine, or listening to the radio, we are bombarded on every side by messages trying to get us to buy a product or service. And although there have been countless debates over whether or not advertising is effective and whether it really does influence people to purchase products, the fact is many companies will spend billions of dollars on a single advertisement in the hopes that it will increase their profits.

Good advertisements have the power to make people stop and take notice. You have to have been living under a rock not to notice the success of Geico’s caveman series or the iPod’s silhouette series of commercials and advertisements. And as a result of those advertisements, sales went up significantly for those two companies.

Advertising creates awareness of the product and can convey messages, attitudes, and emotions to entice and intrigue audiences. At least those are the desired effects of an advertisement. Needless to say, some advertisements fail miserably in their purpose.

So, what makes the difference between a successful advertisement and an unsuccessful one? It’s all in the design. Typically, larger organizations produce more effective advertisements, while newer and smaller companies are the ones that produce the duds. This is largely because bigger organizations have the money to hire professionals while smaller companies do not.

The advantage of hiring an in-house advertising developer or hiring an advertising agency is that you get the skills of people who have been trained in creating effective advertisements. Many have spent years and years going to school, studying past effective advertisements, looking at elements of design, and learning how to create their own effective advertising campaigns.

Learning how to create effective advertisements does not happen overnight, but there are a few simple rules that many workers for professional advertising agencies follow to create effective advertisements that will appeal to audiences and hopefully increase the company’s revenue. The following paragraphs list a few advertising principles that companies and advertisers follow when creating their own advertising campaigns.

Perhaps the most important quality of an advertisement is its uniqueness. In a world where people often see hundreds of advertisements a day, an advertisement must be unique and different in order to capture audiences’ attention. Going back to the iPod example, the single block of color with an image of a black silhouette was extremely effective at the time because it was unlike anything else around it. The simplicity of the advertisement stood out against posters and billboards that had busier images and much more text. Also, the use of bright, bold colors made people stop and look at the image. Even though the advertisement had little text on it, people got the message that this product was new, fun, and bold.

Of course, there are a variety of ways to make your advertisement stand out. Look around your area and write down descriptions of advertisements you see. What are the trends? Are they text heavy? Do they use similar colors? What kinds of images are on the advertisements? Once you start noticing trends, try to think of ways your advertisement can go against those trends and be something different–something that will make people stop and look.

One word of caution: Once you’ve made people stop and look at your advertisement, they need to be able to understand what you’re selling. You may have the most eye-catching image on your advertisement, but if it is completely unrelated to your product or service, then viewers won’t understand what you want them to buy. So, be sure that when you are selecting your images and text for your advertisement, people will understand what you’re trying to sell.

A well-designed advertisement will also communicate well to audiences. In order to figure out how to make your advertisement effective, you need to identify your audience. Who are you trying to target? Teenagers? The Elderly? Business people? Parents? There are a variety of different audiences, and the more specifically you can identify the audience for your product, the better chance you have of designing an ad that will effectively influence your audience.

For instance, if your audience consists of young teenage girls, you might choose to use bright and bold colors, but for business people you may want to create an advertisement that uses more professional blues and blacks (but don’t be afraid to be a little bolder if you’re trying to stand out).

The key is to think of the general traits of your specific audience and try to reflect those traits in your advertisement. What do they value? What do they fear? What motivates them? Once you’ve answered those questions, it should be easier to come up with a few solid ideas for an advertising campaign.

Once you’ve developed some ideas for an eye-catching advertisement and identified how you want to communicate with your specific audience, some good, solid design principles need to come into play. The advertisement needs to be legible. Viewers shouldn’t have to work to get what you’re trying to say. The advertisement needs balance. One side shouldn’t feel heavier than the other. The advertisement should also make good use of contrast, repetition, color, and pattern. When these design elements are implemented well into an advertisement, the result is a fabulous ad that will appeal aesthetically to viewers.

The above is just a brief overview of what advertisers have to think about when designing an ad. You can see why many people find it helpful to hire an advertising agency to help them develop ideas and create effective advertisements. And whether you’re looking for a Seattle or a Miami advertising agency, you shouldn’t have a problem finding an organization in your area to help you create the perfect advertisement campaign for your company.

So, if you’re thinking of creating a new ad or ad campaign for your company, by following the above guidelines and suggestions, you can create the most effect advertisements as possible, convey the message you want to convey, and be one your way to increasing revenue.

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Flyer Printing – The Ultimate Guide to Flyers & Print Advertising

Print advertisements, such as color flyers, continue to generate cash flow and develop new revenue streams for virtually every industry. Every business that has developed into an industry leader over the last several decades, did so by utilizing key concepts in advertising that have evolved from very humble beginnings. Not all advertising works, so it is extremely important to understand how ads work, why some succeed while others fail, and what your ads should consist of to generate the maximize ROI.

The Birth of Modern Advertising:
Although there were always market vendors from the early days of ‘civilization’ who would stand in the marketplace ‘crying’ their wares, it wasn’t until the advent of the printing press that printed advertising as we know it today came into being. In the very beginning, advertising was nothing more than a single line of copy in the newspaper that perhaps listed the product, the price and a very simple description. Among scholars, it is held that this form of printed advertising first appeared somewhere in the latter part of the 17th century. As time went on, and as the technology of printing progressed, color was added and at some point simple graphics evolved into photographic images.

For the next almost 200 years printed advertising remained pretty much the same. A single line of copy or perhaps a small block of text was all that consumers were likely to see in their local papers. That is until Thomas Barratt, who married into the family of the famous Pears Soap Empire, decided to launch an aggressive advertising campaign to promote their product to the rising middle class who finally had buying power. In the beginning, Pears Soap had been marketed to a small portion of the population, the elite who could afford an expensive, handcrafted scented soap that was suitable for their ivory complexions. Now that the working middle class was a viable market, and knowing that he had to ‘reach’ them in order to keep his family business afloat, Barratt set about formulating a marketing strategy that would reach the masses. They revamped their production lines in order to make Pears Soap affordable to the average consumer and set about developing an aggressive marketing campaign to reach that demographic. Thomas Barratt is famous for his cherubic children in the Pears Soap advertisements, many of which we still recognize to this very day. Because of his aggressive marketing strategies and innovative use of print, he is often considered to be the “Father of Modern Advertising.”

During WWI, to offset the rising costs of advertising, the philosophy of creating a need was introduced to the masses. Companies begain creating “perceived needs.” For the first time, all of the strategies which are now tried and tested advertising methodologies, were melded together and distributed to consumers. The rest is history.

The 3 key elements of print advertising are:

1. Reach the maximum amount of potential customers at the lowest cost possible
2. Design aesthetically pleasing or response-driving artwork
3. Create a need for your product/service while offering “irresistable” benefits to consumers

Today’s flyer printing and advertising still focuses on these key strategies, which have been proven to work using decades worth of statistics. Technologies, products, and services change over time, however, human needs and response criteria remain largely the same over time.

Let’s put history to work to visualize the success of the 3 Keys. For example, consider Burger King and McDonald’s. They dominate the fast-food market for their niche and they got there by reaching a huge market with advertising that was eye-catching and created a need. During the latter half of the 20th century commerce was booming and the average family was living life in the fast lane. Both corporations capitalized on this fast-paced environment by employing ads that were appealing to the eye, while also playing on the need that they were creating. The message is simple, “you are important.” In other words, “you deserve to do things for yourself and take time away from your busy lifestyle.”

McDonald’s still uses the ‘Golden Arches’ whicht symbolize a place where life is idyllic and a far cry from the hectic life that people are forced to endure to make ends meet. “You deserve a break today at McDonald’s. We do it all for you.” Their impressive advertising strategy planted a seed in the heads of consumers that they deserve to take a break and let someone take over at least one of their daily tasks – cooking.

The same hold’s true with the marketing strategy employed by Burger King. “Have it your way!” The message being, you answer to a boss, you answer to your family and you are bogged down with responsibilities, so now it is time to do what you want for a change. You deserve to have it ‘your way,’ and, of course, since you should be treated like a king/queen, there is a subliminal message in the famous BK crown.

All 3 Key strategies were employed by both mega-corporations early on, and as you can see, literally launched them to the very top of the fast-food market. They launched national advertising campaigns

(Key #1) with pleasing advertisement designs
(Key #2) to create a need
(Key #3) in the lives of mass consumers.

Avoid Common Misconceptions in Flyer Printing by Researching Demographics
One of the most common misconceptions that business owners have when creating flyers is to think that designing a flyer based on the ’3 Keys to Success’ is all there is to it. There are actually other ‘steps’ that should be taken prior to creating your campaign. It is a huge mistake to believe that an ‘eye-catching’ flyer that reaches a ‘maximum number of people’ and creates a ‘need’ is all there is to it. One of the factors that should be considered is researching the demographics in a specific market area before launching your campaign or none of those three keys will fit the lock! In other words, targeted marketing is the “true” key to success.

Understand your market demographics to make the 3 keys work for you!
Look at this research which paid off for McDonald’s and Burger King – big time. At the time of their rise to fame, market analysis was simple and provided basic insight into the lifestyles of the consumers they were trying to reach. It is apparent that their advertising campaigns focused on the working middle class who were overwhelmed with work at relatively low wages. There were definite psychological tactics employed that wouldn’t have been effective if their ads didn’t reach the right people with the right message. You can’t create a need where there is no void to fill. It is as simple as that.

Take a good long look at the product or service you are selling, find a demographic that has a void that you can fill, and target them with amazing advertisements. Create and distribute your flyer printing campaign to reach as many targeted customers as possible, make it appealing so it catches their eye, and then set about filling the void you have discovered by creating or emphasizing a need. If you don’t have the resources to do the research in your market area, there is an age-old trick that enables you to ‘borrow’ research that has already proven to be effective. It’s so obvious that it is easy to miss, it’s called “analyzing what your competitors use.”

Take a look at the two burger empires to see just how effective it is to ‘borrow’ what is working for your competition! It doesn’t really matter which corporation did the actual market analysis first, the point is that one of them found a void, filled it by creating a need, and launched an all out advertising campaign that could fill that need/void. Then, as history has it, the war was on. Although the area of that ‘void’ those two corporations addressed were to some degree different, they both identified the void and created a need based on something missing in the lives of consumers. Remember, that was the time of the “Me Generation” so when consumers felt like they were losing control of their lives due to the need to care for others, both corporations pounced on that and ran with it. One company promised that consumers could have it their way while the other provided a break from the reality of losing the sense of self that was so vital at that time.

You can do the same thing in your market area by expanding on what is effectively working for your competitors. Obviously they have found a way to create a need in order to sell their products/services. Whatever they are utilizing is working because it is bringing in the business. Take the time to analyze their marketing strategies. Try to identify the demographics they are reaching out to. What forms of advertising are your competitors using and how are they distributing it? Competitive analysis is exactly what highly successful businesses like Burger King and McDonald’s do. They analyze the competition and then try to stay one step ahead of them. Once you have the concept of your advertising created, it’s time to get down to the practical aspect of printing and distribution.

It’s Time to Print Your Flyer – What are Your Options?
Now that you have your campaign all laid out it’s time to figure out what size and weight of paper will best accommodate your message. There are various sizes to choose from, depending on the amount of information you need to include. Here are the most popular flyer and brochure sizes:

• 5.5″ x 8.5″ (half sheet)
• 8.5″ x 11″ (full page)
• 8.5″ x 14″ (legal size)
• 11″ x 17″ (double full page size)

You can also choose the weight of the paper based on how you will be distributing your flyers. Paper weight used in commercial printing is different then from the stuff you buy at Staples or Office Depot. Never waste money at a small local printer or over-pay for your bulk printing of advertisements. Always choose a reputable and trusted flyer printing company that uses large printing presses and offers “commercial quality” results. Remember: You don’t want to spend as much on advertising as a mega-comapny, but you sure want to look as good as they do!

Options for Designing Your Flyer
Once you have done market research and have developed an advertising theme, it is time to put it all on paper. While some business owners hire professional graphic designers to layout their flyers, others choose to do their own designing at home, or using pre-designed templates online using various web-based design tools. It all depends on your design ability and the intricacy of the design you will need.

U-Design is a popular do-it-yourself design tool and a beautifully laid out flyer is just a few mouse clicks away. The more information and graphics you need to include, the more difficult it becomes. If the do it yourself approach does not work, professional graphic designers can assist you with the layout for any advertising job, large or small. When you place a bulk print order online, a quality printing company will provide professional design services at discounted rates. So if the scope of your flyer is beyond your reach, and the online templates don’t meet your needs, let professionalsl do the designing for you.

Fold or No Fold?
The size of your flyer is the first consideration as to whether or not you will need to opt for a bi-fold or tri-fold flyer. There are times when your flyer needs to be folded, for instance if it is oversized such as the 8.5″ x 14″ or 11″ x 17″ sizes. And, of course, the size of your flyer is usually dependent on the amount of copy and graphics that need to be included. Newspaper inserts, for example, are often printed on 8.5″ by 11″ or 11″ x 17″ and then bi-folded before being stuffed. They fit nicely into the paper and can be opened, booklet style, to browse through specials and coupons. Many of the large pharmacy chains like Walgreen’s and Eckerd’s use a bi-fold type newspaper insert flyer for weekly promotions. Knowing when to fold and when not to fold is important because there are also times when folding your flyer would be a grave mistake. If the layout and graphic design would be obscured by the fold it would be better to keep it flat whenever possible. Consider the visibility of your offer and the ease-of-handling for your customers at all times.

Now that you have learned to ‘Walk the Walk’ it’s time to ‘Talk the Talk’ – Printing Terminology 101

When you communicate with your printer there are some basic terms that you should be aware of. These are everyday words in the vocabulary of a printer, so there might be times that they will forget that many of us don’t speak a ‘foreign printing language.’ And, this terminology is all the more important if you are going to try your hand at designing your own flyer. Many mistakes can be avoided if you have a basic understanding of a few printing terms that refer to the details of your project.

Bleed – This is extremely important if your design is a graphic that is meant to be borderless. A good rule of thumb is to increase your design by approximately 1/8″ beyond the cutting area because trimmers are not as precise as printing presses. In order to avoid that white border around an image, plan for a ‘bleed.’

No Bleed – Leave a small 1/4″ white border around the entire page. Graphics do not extend or cover the entire page when printing as “no bleed.”

C2S/C1S – This refers to whether the paper being printed is coated on one side or both. Obviously ‘C2S’ is shiny on both sides whereas ‘C1S’ is matte on one side and shiny on the face. C1S is typically used on postcard type flyers.

CPM – Cost per thousand. (For example $39.50 cpm is $395.00 for 10,000 copies.)

CMYK – The standard four colors that are used in printing. (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) While most colors can be produced by ‘layering’ these standard four colors, it is important to know that some shades might not be exact.

4/0 and 4/4 – 4/4 is four colors on both sides of double-sided printing and 4/1 refers to 4 colors on the face and no colors ont he back.

These are just a small sampling of some of the ciritical terms that might come up when discussing your flyer. Don’t be afraid to tell your printer that you don’t understand what they are referring to. It is your flyer after all, and your satisfaction is what keeps printers in business. Quality work, affordable pricing, and customer satisfaction have been the focus of printers for decades now.

The Power of Full Color Printing. There is No Substitute for Color!
There is no better way to say it, but, printing in black and white is just plain boring. The absolute best way to generate massive response is to use full color (glossy) flyer printing because it follows the rules of effective advertising. It identifies a void, creates a need, and presents an eye-catching/pleasing solution to that need which engenders a ‘call to action’ response.

For example, a restaurant specializes in scrumptious half-pound Black Angus burgers with all the trimmings. Their logo is a burger platter with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes and red onions on an offset sesame bun, lying next to a side of seasoned fries. Imagine how important a color image is here. Obvious, right? By printing that logo in color the company will make sure the ad is:

1. eye-catching (full color image)
2. exposing a void (hunger)
3. creating an immediate need (mouth watering temptation)
4. suggesting a call-to-action (it’s time to eat – let’s get one of those!)

As you can see, a black and white picture of that platter would not meet the first one of those rules. It surely wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye so it couldn’t possibly address their hunger with a delicious looking burger. And of course, without temptation, in this case, there is no call to action. While it may seem that the extra expense (which in many cases is negligible) of printing in color might not be necessary, it definitely is. If your flyer doesn’t generate a call-to-action response you are wasting your money! The sole purpose of advertising is to generate business so it is important to utilize ‘every trick in the book,’ so to speak, to make that advertising work for you. If spending a few extra dollars now can generate thousands of dollars in business, it is well worth the expenditure.

‘Turnkey’ Printing & Marketing Solution Providers
The Smartest Financial Decision You Can Make in Advertising…

Quite often small business owners opt to design a flyer and take it to their local ‘Copy Shop’ to have them run off a few hundred flyers. Sometimes they even choose to print some at home or from their office. Usually it is a matter of cost. They are trying to save a few dollars because business hasn’t been good. As a matter of fact, that’s why they are printing flyers in the first place – to generate business and cash flow. That might be one of the poorest financial decisions that the business owner ever makes. The only guaranteed way to bring business in the door is with advertising that works! Always, always trust an experienced printing and distribution company (ie: direct mail service provider) when it comes to your advertiisng campaigns.

Turnkey printing and marketing solution providers, get excellent results by providing professional guidance at low rates. Their graphic designers and marketing consultants have access to the latest trends in marketing and distribution processes. In effect, you have everything under one roof. Professionals are on hand from the very ‘concept’ of your flyer right down to the final distribution. They are in touch with what is working in given market areas based on marketing research and statistical analysis that they have at their fingertips. Professionals know what works and, better yet, they know how to put that knowledge to work for you. Put your money to work for you, don’t throw it out the window! It is a much wiser financial decision to spend a little more now on effective advertising that actually generates business. That is something you can take to the bank.

The Co-Dependency of the “2 D’s” – Design and Distribution
When planning your flyer it is important to take distribution into account before you actually begin designing it. This is one of the areas in which a professional ‘turnkey’ printing and marketing solution provider can be of invaluable assistance. The size of your flyer could preclude some forms of distribution so they can assist you in carefully weighing your distribution options prior to planning your design. For instance, if you are planning to do direct mailing then 2.5″ x 5″ postcards wouldn’t be at all practical. They’d easily get lost in the mix of mail and rarely seen by any custoemers. If you have contracted with a company to hang flyers door-to-door, your design would need to be conducive to being stuffed in a door hanger bag or printed on 4.25″ x 11″ door hanger card stock.

If you are uncertain as to which method of distribution you should utilize, talk to your printer. There are so many options available to you and based on the demographics of your targeted market, it is essential that you distribute your flyer in a manner that can offer the highest response. Most professional printers have the wherewithal to actually set up distribution for you and carry out the campaign. Whether you are going with direct mailing (recommended for most small businesses) or placing flyers in local publications, your design should always be contingent upon the method of distribution. It’s smart to think ahead.

Direct Mail Services are Proven to Generate High Return on Investment (ROI)
One method of distribution that should be emphasized is Direct Mail. Recent statistics provided by the United States Postal Service state that the average household receives approximately 25 pieces of mail per week, and 52% of that mail is Direct Mail advertising. Here is where it gets interesting. A survey was conducted that indicates that 51% of consumers will read mail from merchants and 16% of them will respond to that mail. Let’s break this down into figures to look at just how effective this form of distribution really is.

Using a base figure of 1,000 households that receive 25 pieces of mail per week, that is 25,000 pieces of mail that gets delivered. Of that 25,000, 52% is Direct Mail advertising, which means that 13,000 of those items are some form of advertising. Now, based on the proven response rates, 51% of consumers will read that mail which means that 6,630 ads are being opened and read. Of that number, 16% will respond which means that 1061 ads are generating business. On an average, every household is responding to one or more ads per week!

Of course, not all of that mail will be in direct competition with your product or service. With professional advertising that works, it is possible to dominate your market. That is why it is financially prudent to utilize the services of a professional ‘turnkey’ printing and marketing solutions company. They have the advertising and distribution skills and expertise to put it all together for you so that your ads generate business with profit-raising end results.

Your flyer is printed and distributed – now it’s time to Track Results!
You have just put a lot of time, effort, and some expense into researching, planning, designing, printing and distributing a flyer to advertise your business. Of course, you want to know just how effective that advertising is. One sure way would be to track your before and after income. If it is steadily on the rise that is a good indicator that your advertising is paying off. However, there are some times when you want something a little more tangible. Many businesses place discount coupons on their flyers that must be redeemed in order to take advantage of the promotional pricing. By keeping count of coupons that are redeemed, they are able to track the success of their advertising campaign. Make sure to discuss the fact that you want to employ some method of tracking results with your printer. They can help you layout your flyer to incorporate tracking coupons into the design.

Put it all together with the 7 “Must Know” Rules for Flyer Printing Success
Based on the strategies detailed above, advertising with flyers can be highly effective if you follow the “7 Must Know Rules.” Keep these rules in mind as you plan your advertising and you will be amazed at the results.

Rule #1 – Plan in Advance! Leave ample time for everything that needs to be done. The actual ‘printing’ part of the process might only take 24 to 48 hours in ‘turn around’ time, but there is so much more to successful flyer advertising. Planning, research, market analysis, design, proofing and distribution need to be accounted for. Leave enough time to get your flyers out in a timely manner prior to any promotions you intend to run.

Rule #2 – Target Specific Demographics. Understand your market. What are the demographics you intend to target? Understanding your audience is of prime importance if you are going to ‘create a need’ and a ‘call to response.’ Effective advertising reaches people at some deeper level and calls them to act upon what you have to offer. Learn how to speak their language in terms they understand with a message they can’t afford to miss!

Rule #3 – Analyze the Competition. Just as those huge burger conglomerates feed o

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Before You Advertise Know the Facts! Offline Advertising Vs Online Advertising

What forms of advertising are available to you in Cookeville? Should you advertise your local business Offline or Online? You can better decide that once you understand the buying process a person goes through before spending money on a service or a product. It could take days, even years for a person to go through this process.

Understanding this journey will assist you in determining what advertising methods would work best in spreading your message. We will be discussing reach and estimated cost between traditional offline advertising and Online Pay-Per-Click Advertising.

Typical Consumer Buying Process:

Most all consumers have the same pre-defined actions before buying Anything! Listed below are the purchasing steps people like you and I unknowingly use.

Potential customers become aware that they have a need, want or problem
They gather information about the product, service or solution that could possibly fix their problem
They ask their friends opinions, read customer reviews & consumer reports, watch videos and the list of fact-finding research methods goes on
Only then, when people have gathered this information, do they feel comfortable enough to make a buying decision. The information gathering phase accounts for roughly 95% of a client’s buying process. This leaves only 5% of customers ready to buy at any given time.

What does this have to do with advertising in Cookeville?

Simply put, the buying process is common to all potential customers. When you advertise your business in Cookeville or your Cookeville business to potential clients in Nashville or Knoxville, you must understand who your message will reach and when. Telling the world about your business is only effective if it produces a return on investment, Right? In order to produce result oriented advertising you must inform shoppers and provide buyers with exactly what they are looking for, giving them incentive to buy.

Offline Advertising

Advertisers in Cookeville can choose Offline Advertising in the forms of radio, TV, newspapers or other publications and billboards. Average monthly cost for these services when opting in for minimum exposure can cost you an estimated $20-$35 a day. That translates into an average of $825mo or $9900 a year.

These forms of advertising can take your message into Cookeville alone or to people all around the Upper Cumberland area. Constant exposure can brand your business by “keeping your name out there” in the community to shoppers and attract potential buyers along the way.

How it Works

Essentially it comes down to exposing a message or multiple messages to the people who read a particular paper or publication, use a common street, listen to the radio or watch TV in a predefined area or location. The goal here is to advertise to the majority and hope you catch some buyers along the way. In theory you are only advertising to 5% of the population for direct response.

Now, I understand, you are advertising to everyone in your chosen area, but only five percent of the given population will be ready to buy today. It is important that you position your ads in order to market to the all the potential customers that may come in contact with your advertising.

It is best to provide an informational message that speaks directly to the 95% of people who are gathering information about the products or services you offer. You will also want to provide your viewers or listeners an alternative message driven towards direct sales in order to support the cost of your advertising. This increases your exposure, branding your business by informing shoppers and giving buyers what they are looking for with good reason to complete their buying process.

If you are a small business trying to grow, you will most likely want to keep your message focused towards the 5% of the people on the verge of buying. Dealing with smaller budgets requires you to increase you odds for making sales and money immediately from your advertising. Although it will cost more than the estimate above, it is always a good idea to multiply these messages on different advertising platforms, including online advertising for maximum results.

As with most advertising, the more you spend, the more people your message is exposed to, the more your chances increase for making sales along the way.

Online Advertising

Advertisers in Cookeville who choose Online Advertising can advertise on major Search Engines, Social Media sites and on literally hundreds of thousands of websites relevant to your business. Average monthly cost for professionally managed online advertising when opting in for minimum exposure will cost you an estimated $16 a day or $492mo or $5899 a year.

Don’t have a website? You don’t need one! Unless you intend to build your online presence for sales and branding together, then you will need a professional website. A fully customized, search engine optimized website will run you an estimated $1000. This is the real deal. Add that to the total cost and you are looking at $19 a day or $575mo or $6899 a year.

Online advertising does exactly the same thing as above, plus so much more. You can take your message to Cookeville alone or to people all around the Upper Cumberland area. Online advertising also gives you the ability to advertise your business to multiple cities of choice or entire states across the US. You can even take your business advertising global if you so desire. That’s not all, you can also add multiple ads or advertising messages whenever you want and target your customers with keyword terms so the right message is reaching the appropriate clients.

How it Works

Online advertising is most commonly implemented through one of many pay-per-click (PPC) programs. These programs are offered by the worlds largest search engines or websites. Google by far being the leader, Bing, Yahoo and Facebook are a few you can probably relate too. With the one time account setup, you essentially tell the PPC provider who, when, where and what.

For Example: Let’s say you own a lawn equipment business and you sell weedeaters, lawn mowers and leaf blowers. With pay-per-click you target customers by using targeted keyword searches producing as many ads as needed to get your message(s) out to the right people.

You start by building one ad for lawn mowers that will target anybody searching online for the key terms – JD ZX9 Super Model, zero turn lawn mowers and lawnmower shops near Cookeville. By doing this you target the 5% of buyers who are looking to buy a commercial lawn mower close to Cookeville. Next you place another ad about lawn mowers but this time you target customers looking for service. So your ad reads, “Get Your Lawn Mower Ready for Spring – Blade Sharpening to Full Service – Call Now for More Information.” You set it up so only people searching for the key terms – Lawn mower service, lawn mower blade sharpening and lawn equipment service see it. This ensures your getting the right message to the right people 24 hours a day seven days a week.

The cycle can go on and on to target weedeaters and leaf blowers as well. Before running these ads in what we call ‘Traffic’ you also tell your PPC provider to do a few other things as well. Things like only spend $250 a month or $8.30 a day, only show my ads to people searching for these exact terms and only show my ads to people within a ten mile radius of Cookeville, Crossville and Smithville. You have complete control over your advertising.

Drill down further and place ads like “Bob’s Lawn Shop – Lawn Mowers, Leaf Blowers & Weedeaters – 10% off Service During May” and place these ads on many other relevant websites. For instance, I send you an email asking you if you know of a place that sharpens lawn mower blades. You reply with a no, but because the conversation is relevant, your ad is showing on the side of the page and catches my attention. Or, perhaps, your target customer is looking on Lowe’s website at zero turn mowers and he spots your ad (like a billboard) on the side of the page and clicks through to your website. You could even set it up where they simply click the ad to call your business immediately from there mobile phone because you provide what they need today, locally. This is a great way to catch shoppers nearing their final buying decision through mass marketing. Keep in mind, there are no additional cost.

The Biggest difference with online advertising is you only pay when someone visits your website “Internet Store Front” or takes action from your advertisement. By targeting pre-qualified customers where they live (home, work, cell phone) at exactly the time they are looking for your businesses service, product, location or solution, you increase your chances of return on investment. This takes the “Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” aspect out as well because you choose who sees your ad, when they see it and what information they get when they take action. The best part is you can collect data by tracking conversions and begin to filter out what doesn’t work and build upon the target markets that are producing revenue for your business.

With 91 million searches a day on Google alone, people are looking for your business by way of the internet. When is the last time you cut out a newspaper ad, pulled over to write down a number or hunted up a phone book?

Advertising Comparison

-Offline Advertising

Pros:

Reaches local customers with option of running multiple messag

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Viral Advertising Business Performance

Why use viral advertising strategies in your business marketing efforts.
Using shock therapy to implement an online advertising campaign for your business.
Using viral advertising in your social media marketing and Facebook Fanpages will excel your results much faster.
Don’t shove your advertising message down their throats, let it go viral naturally.
Present unique and creative advertising campaigns to increase traffic and expose new prospects.
Creating a viral epidemic of buyers is your main business goal with your advertising strategy.
Learning to leverage your advertising budget for sustainable momentum.
Establish a success formula that can be repeated in your business viral advertising over and over again.
Add the most important ingredient to your advertising campaigns and that is creativity.
Be prepared to embrace new technology, software and APPS in your marketing strategy.
1. There is nothing more effective in promoting your message as a good viral advertising campaign. Viral advertising is designed to use the power of many and inspire others to promote your message for you. This is simply “word of mouth” advertising, is amazingly effective. A business owner can start a viral advertising campaign with no money invested, and let the online community spread your message like wildfire. You can now save advertising money that you were spending on newspaper ads, flyers, door hangers, and even TV commercials. Viral advertising is estimated to be 500 and even up to 1000 times more effective that a regular ad campaign.

If you can learn how to express an idea with commitment and dedication that has an emotion attached to it, you will get people’s attention. It doesn’t matter if you are a madman or idiot, even bad press gets good press time. You can’t please everyone but you can get an emotional reaction out of most people, when owning a strong opinion and sharing it. Being neutral in your viral advertising will not bring you in the sales. Have something to say that will impact their life, or at least make them react a bit. Don’t worry about whether or not they love you or hate you, just be confident that your product is worth their attention either way and stay committed to gaining their trust.

2. Get your business noticed by shock marketing, state something completely unexpected that will make them stop and read more. Being dramatic and doing something out of the ordinary with your product gets attention. Are you just marketing advertisements, or are you marketing an extraordinary exiting story about your product. If you Ad is interesting and highlights your product in a subtle way, you will keep people’s attention longer, and get closer to bringing them to the “I want” it stage. Viral advertising is 100% about emotions, so take them by surprise and do something totally unexpected.

3. Set Up Exciting Viral Content in Parts and then sequels, where the viral advertising message continues.

Ever hear of Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 – once you create Part 1 they start looking for where do I find Part 2 as they want to know the end of the story or the end of the feature comparison prompting them to purchase your product. Make sure you keep their attention once you have it by providing a “Call To Action”. Sell them on the value of why they need your widget, gadget or useful product then introduce an offer they can’t refuse to purchase the product.

The next step is to motivate them to share your awesome and exciting presentation with another associate. This is the meat and potatoes of viral advertising, present information that is so interesting and unique that everyone wants to tell someone else what they read, heard or saw. Set up your “Shock Wave” content so that others can download and then embed it into their own blog or email to others. Upload a short video series on all your advertising “bloopers”, or business bloopers, maybe trying to put together a piece of furniture or equipment and getting it all wrong the first time. Then provide another “Call To Action” using your Facebook Fanpage that they can “Like”, along with the other top social media sharing sites.

4. It is not surprising to hear that many consumers feel jaded when it comes to online shopping. Nobody wants products shoved down their throats through mass advertising methods and using hard sell marketing. If you want to get the consumers attention in this fast paced modern world, you need to be unique and most importantly interesting. Smart consumers are quickly distracted from boring content and they will turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to your viral advertising message.

A proven and trusted method of advertising and marketing that get results is viral advertising, and fortunately for the marketer new software developments can make all the difference. Your personal recommendation is still stronger than any other form of advertising on the planet period! People trust people, and with smart phones using text messaging by the second, and social media sites getting posted on every event of the day, if you have presented your product offer in a way that makes them remember you, you have one half the battle.

5. By fulfilling some unique marketing strategies you remove your business from the mainstream humdrum advertising practices. It’s a known fact that many people feel frustrated with the usual conventional way many businesses sell their products. Don’t let your business fall into this pitiful trap of no return. Step to the plate and be the one who stands out in the crowd, who motivates prospects to burn blisters on their fingers, texting about your great buy of the day.

Business owners are becoming much more conscious of profits and losses due to advertising decisions they have made, and it’s impact on their ROI (return of investment). So the questions comes forth “can we affect people from the inside, from their emotional self and not just from the mind”? So is viral advertising becoming not only the new trend but the must have trend to succeed online. It is our ability to influence the mass public at large that creates successful viral advertising campaigns. Ads that influence the behavior of the viewer in such a ways that they are motivated to share their exciting experience is the purest testament of what viral advertising is all about. If enough of their friends and contact embraces their excitement over what they have been exposed to the viral advertising cycle begins to circulate.

6. Your ultimate goal of course would be to create an viral advertising campaign that causes a behavioral epidemic of buyers. An infectious viral result where everyone wants to be able to say “Yes I Saw That”, or “Yes I heard about that”, or “Yes I watched that”, so that they appear to be in the loop with the latest and newest hot selling protégé. Some marketers prey on the idea of owning a “Secret”, something so special that only a few get access to it. It then becomes an obsession everyone wants to know the secret and will go to any length to get access to it. If you can only offer medium media exposure of your product, then relying on these viral advertising methods becomes essential.

So is your goal to place an advertisement that is seen by 10 who tell one person each, becomes 20 who tell one person becomes 40 and so on. Or do you want real viral advertising success where you place your viral advertisement and get 100 who tell 10, who tell 10 who tell 10. So who is in control here, the business marketing manager of course, the one who decides how the advertising budget is allocated. Is he reserved and old fashioned, or is he brave and uninhibited and adventurous. It is an knows fact that Viral Advertising does in fact work very effectively, and it is the business owners goal to seek out a reliable viral advertising business source.

7. Once your viral advertising campaign has become viralized, it is proof that you have found a suitable target market audience for your product. Once this is identified, you can leverage your viral advertising budget maintaining a perpetual cycle and not a static ad campaign. In order to always be able to identify your most effective viral advertising campaign, it is important to use proven methodologies with specific tracking measures built right in.

8. So does your business have an “Online Viral Advertising Formula”? Is your business aiming high for thousands of hits, a true testament of a successful viral advertising campaign. Marketing consultants know that the more informative your advertising the more persuasive it will be to the consumer. What really makes the consumer decide to purchase your product is based on the content provided in the advertisement more than it’s layout or and whether or not their is something worth sharing, or texting about.

With the ever changing fast moving internet world coming up with a formula for viral advertising is not an easy task. A good rule of thumb is “What motivates you to share a viewed advertisement is different to what motivates you to get out your credit card and finish the purchase.

9. Going back to our conversation about emotions, if you can make someone laugh or gasp or look in disbelief to what they are viewing your chances are the best that they will share that experience with their friends, associates, and followers on social media sites.

The magic of every successful viral advertising campaign begins with a great unique idea. The one main ingredient in all online successful advertising campaigns is creativity in your graphics, your presentation, your keywords and your identified target market. Training business owners though to give each viral advertising campaign they embark on time to mature, time for the seed to sprout, time for the momentum to build and the rewards to pour in from all their hard work and efforts.

10. Don’t be shy to take advantage of the ever fast changing technology world to benefit your business advertising efforts. Finding a great viral advertising business can be a real game changer for your online advertising results. Most importantly look for a viral advertising business that is free to join, and that uses state of the art software designed to drive your business into the next galaxy.

Viral advertising will always win in the end simply due to the abundant measure of viewing numbers. A strong viral advertising strategy will encourage individuals to share an article, a podcast, a video or simply an online advertisement, resulting in exponential exposure by it’s massive influence.

The rippling effects of one single viral advertising message can literally reach hundreds and even thousands of readers in a few short hours. You can quickly enhance your viral advertising success by offering a free give away product. This “FREE” product can be a small physical product that can be mailed out, or it can be a digital product that is delivered instantly online.

It is a well known fact that “FREE” if the most powerful word a marketer can use in any viral advertising campaign. Often the business owner experiences what can be called delayed gratification when using the “FREE” power word in their viral advertising campaign. Add the common expression “OTO” or One Time Offer” that almost always follows a free give-a-way, and you have a winning combination. First you got their attention, and then you offer them something of such great value, they can’t afford to say “NO” and purchase it while it is so cheaply priced.

Always keep in mind that the whole purpose of engaging in viral advertising methods is to spread an idea, and that idea while it is spreading throughout the internet, actually helps market your niche business or product and is attached to your website.

Have you noticed how business owners have become obsessed with Free exposure in any arena? Too many times marketing campaigns have been thrown together much too fast and may get attention but your product or company does not.

Closing

Peoples attention are so fragile, try designing your viral advertising campaign with a strong viral element built right into it. Getting your media to go viral is not the hardest part of your marketing strategy, the most challenging part is getting your media to produce tangible results that show up in your bank account.

[http://viraladvertisingbusiness.com] With years of online marketing and advertising, promoting your business online is an ongoing exercise. What is really exciting though is that the internet is changing so fast it is hard to keep up. Parkhurst ProBiz International is actively seeking new software and technology to help online businesses become successful. Viral Advertising Business is a brand new software using the newest internet technology to provide quality, fast and effective results for online businesses. Using the Hottest and most Powerful advertising program in the world will take your business to the next level. My name is Lea Gail Pa

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The Power of Facebook Advertising

Social media was once considered to be only for teenagers or for those looking for romance and relationships but that has changed dramatically in recent years. Facebook has evolved as one of the most valuable assets to advertisers who are striving to reach a particular niche audience.

Facebook is the largest and most visited social network on the web today is.

Not only is it a popular location for social interactions but also it is becoming a fiercely competitive marketing tool. Many entrepreneurs are beginning to tap into this advantageous method of generating leads and sales for their businesses. Research is showing that the average Facebook user spends just over 6 hours a month on Facebook which is double the amount of time of its closest competitor, Google. Over 50% of these users are perusing Facebook from a mobile device which means that there are more than 543 mobile users searching for goods and services while on-the-go. Every day there are more than 3.2 billion items that are liked or commented about on Facebook pages and that translates into a very powerful mode of advertising for any business.

Advertising campaigns on Facebook are providing up to a 5 fold return on any investment because of the strategic targeting of the right audience. Consumers are becoming more aware of brands and are recalling what they are seeing more than other online advertising averages. Facebook advertising is the catalyst for more positive conversations about businesses as well. More importantly, the 47% trust rate for advertising on Facebook commands a respect and awareness of this tool that can effectively be used to expand the bottom line.

When considering the most efficient way to invest advertising dollars, you should include Facebook advertising in your plan. You can connect to this exploding power to target new business, to generate high quality leads, and to piggyback additional advertising strategies, like word-of-mouth advertising, to more effectively stretch your advertising monies. An entirely new world of possibilities will be opened up to you with Facebook advertising.

Facebook advertisers are permitted to geo-target an audience by country which allows the advertiser the ability to limit or expand the message of their ad based on settings that are selected. Most of the countries in the world are now Facebook friendly which expands boundaries that once limited the sale of products to smaller areas and locations.

One of the features of advertising with Facebook is the advantage of keyword interest targeting. When a user signs up for Facebook, they create a profile page that is based on their interests, likes, and activities. When you create your ad for Facebook, you have the option of searching and selecting keywords that are of interest to a specific user. This will better target an audience that is already interested in your ad before they even see it. As an example, let’s say that you as an advertiser are trying to reach people who are doing home remodeling projects. When you type in the word home remodeling, a list of keywords will be pulled up for you that are related to the profiles of users who listed home remodeling as one of their interests. You can then choose any of these keywords in your ad to reach those people who have these keywords in their profiles. You are targeting an audience who is interested in your information and who will respond to your ad.

Before you begin your advertising campaign, it’s important to clearly know who you want to target. Customize your Facebook advertising to the target market so that this tool work better for you and your company. Try to vary your approach so you can attract different groups. 20 year olds will view your ad differently than a 40 years old will even if they have the same need for your product. Appeal to your potential client in a positive and attention-getting way. Be clear, concise, and brief.

There are several ways to advertise on Facebook; you can use these cost-effective ways to increase the traffic to your website and generate more business and profits for you. The first way to advertise on Facebook is to create a business profile so you can interact with your list of “fans” whom you will persuade to become clients. You can send out updates, news articles, special offers and promotions, and discount information to the entire list; Facebook affords you the ability to communicate instantly with a list of people who have already indicated that they are interested in your products.

Another way that you can advertise powerfully on Facebook is to buy an ad that is targeted toward a segment of the user base. Each one of these users has an enormous amount of information stored in their profiles. This information can be used to target them based on a selected keyword or filter. Using this method will assure you of reaching potential customers who are most likely to buy your product.

Word-of-mouth advertising has been brought into the digital age with Facebook’s beacon tool. News feeds let users access each other’s personal profiles and postings or comments. Facebook allows businesses the ability to report a user’s actions with the business website and company to the user’s friends. If a Facebook customer buys a product from you or engages in discussion regarding their satisfaction with your company, their interaction with you will be posted in the news feed which will automatically create a referral system for your business. It’s word-of-mouth in cyberspace.

The first thing to consider as you plan your Facebook ad strategy is your goal. Are you going to advertise your product, expand the number of people who like your business page, inform the Facebook community of your business and what you do, or are you simply getting the attention of potential customers. As your goals become clearer, begin to decide on the type of ad you will create; there are three types from which you can choose.

Crafted ads target Facebook users by filtering demographic information such as age, location, and gender. These ads will be featured in the right hand column of Facebook pages. You can create sponsored stories which interact with a Facebook fan’s page with the specific story. The ad will show up in the right hand column once the fan likes your particular post. You can also select promoted posts which are more visible in the posts on friends’ pages and on their contacts’ pages as well. One of the most powerful aspects of Facebook advertising is the customer loyalty that you will build. Create your own business Facebook page that will allow you to directly interact with your clients. This will give a more personal touch to your business and also will allow you to use word-of-mouth advertising that you generate from your Facebook ads to spread the word in a cost-effective way. Client satisfaction, customer service, and buyer protection are all tenets of a marketing strategy that will work nicely for you and your Facebook advertising campaign.

You can offer special promotions, new products, or the latest trends with your product with your Facebook ads to reach clients that are strategically targeted and already interested in your product or service. This will provide up-dated information to your clients and keep them better informed in a time-efficient way. Today’s consumers on are the go with busy schedules and demanding deadlines. These ads will connect with them and solve their issues and concerns in a timely fashion.

Facebook ads are much more flexible than other internet locations. You will be offered additional character length for any ad descriptions that you might have. You can also improve your flexibility with image-based ads that attract the visual buyer. If someone participates in the Facebook community, then they are already proven to be a visually stimulated consumer. Use images and photos of high quality and that convey your message with the power of a thousand words. Your Facebook ads will be more visible to an audience who is there to engage in obtaining information as well as to create it themselves.

With the Facebook site itself generating such a high rate of traffic on a daily basis, your ad has a much better chance of being seen and having a positive effect. It will be seen a multitude of times by a targeted audience who is already comfortable shopping the online arena. Users visit the site many, many times a day and your ad will be there to greet them as they login and begin to participate.

You are also allowed with your Facebook ad to purchase space on a click-based or impression-based fee structure. Using your budget and personal preferences, you can tailor your ad campaign to meet the needs and goals of your business plan.

Because of the targeted nature of Facebook, advertising on Facebook can be affordable for you company. You can reach your targeted audience with your online campaign for a very reasonable price. The selection of packages that you can select is extensive so that you can reach as many users as your budget will allow you to.

The use of smart-phones has skyrocketed in recent years and your ability to reach this high volume of consumers is phenomenal. Access to these devices happens every second of every day and you can tap into this gold mine of prospects. Your ads won’t just be limited to laptop and computer users; you will be expanding your potential client base.

You will be offered a choice between pay-per-click (CPC) or per 1,000

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Opportunities in Real Estate Branding and Identity

Reel BlitzWild SpinWin ArenaWin WarpBonus SpinJackpot ArenaSpin GoldReel GoldBet MegaBonus Arena

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