Are you trying to advertise like the big guys and are left wondering ‘why isn’t this working for me?’
How about I let you in on a secret, there is a really big difference between the advertising strategy you would adopt when marketing a large national or global company versus that of a small business.
1. Budgets
The most obvious difference would be their budget. Now, not sure how many of you would have had in excess of $100 million (or even $1 million) of money to play with in your trade business marketing budget… (sounds good though right?).
2. Brand Building
The second difference is their focus on brand building. Think the Summer ‘Coca- Cola’ ads. All about feelings, emotions and fun. They’re not directly selling you a drink, but subliminally they are!
They want you to connect with the ‘thought’ of drinking a Coca-Cola whenever you’re having fun in the sun. And does it work? You be the judge.
This is all about getting the product into the thoughts, hearts and hands of their target audience – us!
Big budgets provide a plethora of marketing options.
Let me ask you a question: if you were to run an ad that featured only your logo, your address and number, would that be attractive to your customer? If you answered NO, you’d be right. What’s in it for them?
I’m sure, like me, you see these ads all the time. Me, me, me is all they say. Where is the information that attracts the customer? The money?
What should you be doing?
As a small business, you should only be focused on creating a direct response, a lead that you can turn into a paying customer. You need to be tapping into the specific problem and hence the solution required by your customer. Remember: return on investment. And how can you do that? Perhaps a lesson for another time…
So when planning your marketing spend, and more specifically the advertising/ marketing campaigns (website, local papers, magnet drops etc), think about how you’re going to talk directly to your customer and measure the response to ensure you know if they are ‘working for you or not’ with a good ROI, rather than building a brand.
What’s next?
- Join our Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook Group, for access to trade business specific conversations, tips and resources, plus a like-minded community of tradies.
- Book a 15-minute Game Plan Call with Andy, owner of Dr. DRiP plumbing and co-founder of Lifestyle Tradie, to clarify your priorities and get clear action steps.
