Advertising Your Business in 2021 – The Right Way
I’m glad you decided to stop by! I’m qualified to write on the subject of advertising since I own an advertising agency and have been in this business for 16+ years, and have many positive reviews to show for it that I didn’t pay anyone to write. We have many different advertisers and employ many different advertising strategies for each – all depending on the goals of the client! I could banter non-stop for days, but i’ll try to keep this read to a few minutes.
Since we’re only a few days into 2021, it may fall upon me and this very article to break some news to the business owner community – things aren’t going back to ‘normal’ any time soon. This is normal, for a while at least.
What this means for our culture, our businesses, and our future… well, I suppose I’ll just leave that to the many experts all over Social Media to figure out. There are just so many, i’m sure they will figure it out and tag me.
I’ll stick with what I do know – the advertising universe.
Things are not quite as gloomy in the advertising 2021 world. Sure, times are changing, as they always do, but there is still great opportunity to be found for business owners… So take your finger off of the panic button, all will be just fine – you just might have to adapt a little bit!
Retail sales indicate that people are still buying things, but they’re doing more of it online. Public transportation isn’t as cool these days, so people are buying more used cars. Despite the hardships, the housing market is doing great with growth predicted to be strong for home sales, rentals, and renovations. Professional services are still being used – a lot. Food is still being eaten, and in our little pocket of the country – people are still going out for entertainment.
So what does all this mean for advertisers? It means that these same people can still be influenced to spend their money with YOU – YOU just need to find them, and properly invite them to do it first!
In a nutshell, while we offer many services, this is the main accomplishment that Tomlinson Advertising agency clients partner with us for.
One of the first things we help clients do in 2021 is take a hard inventory of who their potential customers are. How has COVID affected their daily behaviors? Is there something within these pattern changes we can exploit as advertisers? Do they drive less, but spend more time online? What are their new buying habits? How can we adapt to these?
Wherever your potential customers go – we’ll find them and we’ll be there, where they are. It’s one of the simple-but-not-simple things we do best. Modern advertising technology puts that card in our hand every time. We can execute high level demographic targeting to pinpoint your invitation to the right person. That’s step One.
Once we get there – let’s make sure our invitation is structured to mesh with the current climate. ‘What’ you say is perhaps even MORE important than ‘Who’ you say it to! Your invitation to do business with you needs to be unique and memorable, but also cater to the changed lives of your customers. Are you encouraging them to order your products or contact you online? Are you making it quick and easy to contact you via Zoom? Is your invitation unique enough to be truly remembered amongst a cloud of other advertisements? Not standing out is a great way to waste your advertising dollar. That’s step 2.
Speaking of your advertising dollar… are you spending them in the right place or are you wasting them with an outlet that doesn’t work properly for what you’re selling off your shelf? Do you have multiple lead sources or are all of your eggs dangerously in one basket? Are you spending too little money on advertising? Are you spending too much?
I’ve been at this successfully for nearly 16 years and i’ve seen clients make mistakes in all of the above categories. Managing your ad spend is a critical piece of this equation, and one we help all of our clients work out. That’s step 3.
Step 4, the final step, is to simply get back to doing what you do best – running your business – while your advertising hums alongside you.
The environment may seem uncertain, but burying your head in the sand like an ostrich and hoping things get better is not a strategy we advise, or one that our clients are taking. Market share is an invisible pie chart that can be manipulated. While you may not be actively trying to improve yours with effective marketing, I promise you’ve got some competition somewhere that is. If you don’t, you will one day.
2021 will not be a ‘normal’ year. It may be time to do something different than your ‘normal’ advertising approach.
Every client we have started with a conversation. I’m very happy to have one with you. Let’s chat and see if there’s opportunity for a partnership!
Matt Tomlinson
Owner / CEO – Tomlinson Advertising Agency
TomlinsonAdAgency.com
864-421-4471
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