How can I be creative in my advertising?

Most businesses use some form of advertising so the trick is to make your advertising stand out from the rest. Here are some practical tips in how you can creatively advertise your business.

What are you trying to get from your advertising?

Who are your potential customers? Are you targeting a particular type of customer e.g. it’s a waste of time advertising your gardening services in an area which is mostly made up of apartments.

You may need to do some market research to find out about customer’s needs and wants. 

Are you advertising to existing customers? In this case, they already know about your business so your advertising is letting them know about offers, new products or services.

It’s important to make a plan and have a clear idea of what it is you are advertising and who you are targeting. Keep your advertising messages simple – the aim of your advertising should be to attract new and existing customers in the most creative but cost effective way.

Is there a format I can use to create my advert?

A good way of communicating to your customers is to use the principles of AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action).

Next time you are watching television look carefully at some of the adverts – see if you can identify the AIDA steps.

Attention

This is about grabbing attention, it might be words or a picture that catches the readers eye.

Interest

Here you start to create interest by describing the benefits of your products or services.

Desire

Once you have grabbed attention and developed interest the next step is get customers to see how your product or service will help them.

Action

This is the step to get your potential customers to take action. This could be phoning for a quote, making an enquiry to making a purchase.
Attention

This is about grabbing attention, it might be words or a picture that catches the readers eye.

Interest

Here you start to create interest by describing the benefits of your products or services.

Desire

Once you have grabbed attention and developed interest the next step is get customers to see how your product or service will help them.

Action

This is the step to get your potential customers to take action. This could be phoning for a quote, making an enquiry to making a purchase.

Are there alternatives to having flyers printed?

Spending time designing a flyer or paying to have one designed and printed can be expensive. The flyers also have to be distributed.

A much cheaper alternative is to create a PDF version of your flyer which you can either send out to customers by email or make it available to download from your website.

In fact, we’ve created a list of 43 low cost advertising ideas – which will be much more cost-effective and measurable than distributing flyers. 

Are special offers a good way to attract business?

Most customers like to get a bargain. So you could think of different ways to offer your products and services at discounted rates.

You could think about seasonal offers, for example, a Spring deal or Winter saver. Match your offers to when customers are more likely to want to buy your products or services. Make sure you have costed out your offers so you are charging the right price and not impacting on your cash flow.

Advertise while you are on the move

If you are using a car or van for your business think about adding signage or graphics to the vehicle. This way you are promoting your business whilst you are on the move.

If your vehicle is an important part of your business then make sure your business name and contact details are clearly and professionally displayed. After the initial cost, it then becomes free advertising and you may receive calls from customers who have seen your vehicle in their local are or outside an office building.