Page 170 - Duct Tape Marketing

Run Advertising That Gets Results

and the time before an ad may appear can be as much as ninety
days. However, magazines do offer high-impact exposure for some
industries and even national publications, such as Time, Fortune, and
Newsweek. offer regional advertising options. This kind of ad should
only be run after you have an ad that you have fully tested. The image
impact of a full-page ad in a national publication can be valuable but
must be weighed against the cost.

Yellow Pages. The good news about the Yellow Pages is that
when someone picks it up, they are typically looking to buy what you
sell. The bad news is that when they get to your ad, it is surrounded
by all of your competitors. Yellow Pages will continue to lose effective-
ness to the Internet alternatives. If your ad appears in a Yellow Pages
directory, it is imperative that you offer the reader a compelling reason
to call you, other than to get a price quote comparison.

Outdoor. Billboards have limited appeal for most small businesses
and certainly must be run in conjunction with other forms of advertis-
ing, but they can be very effective as a direct response vehicle if your
business is location based. “Exit here for great food” is a call to action
available on a billboard. Billboards are also a great tool to announce a
new product or enhance a trade show.

Direct mail. From a targeting standpoint, direct mail is likely
the best option for most small businesses. You can purchase very tar-
geted mailing lists and fully control who receives your message. Small
tests can help you quickly determine what works and what doesn’t.

Telemarketing. Almost completely ineffective as a lead genera-
tion tool, telemarketing still can offer impact when used to follow up
other forms of marketing, such as a direct-mail campaign.

Internet. Depending on the type of business and scope of opera-
tion, this form of advertising offers some interesting and ever-changing
opportunities. As Internet surfers continue to use the Web as the new
phone book, local Internet advertising options will flourish.

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) ads, run on Web sites and sold

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