Times are tough for many companies, yet the benefits of advertising can help most businesses gain market share. Although companies become cautious, there are many advantages to advertise and take market share from competitors. When a competitor begins to reduce or minimize their advertising, a smart marketer will capitalize on this opportunity. Today’s marketplace is highly competitive. At times it may seem difficult to stand out from all the competition that offer similar services. In order to succeed, your brand must differentiate and communicate. It is vital that your marketing plan continues to include advertising as a key component. Here are some benefits of advertising and why it is important in today’s marketplace.
Brand Awareness & Exposure:
Brand awareness and exposure is critical to your company success. A strong, well-funded advertising campaign helps you build awareness and at the same time helps build trust among users. Once you have achieved a level of trust with your audience, you’re in a good position, but your efforts cannot stop. Up keep is just as important as initial efforts. For brands that are re-branding or starting to establish their independence from a parent corporation–advertising is even more important!
Become a Leader:
It is important that your brand become an authority figure within your industry. If people can come to you to learn, or rely on you to know the facts vs. a competitor, then you’re doing a great job. By doing this, you can provide differentiation and build awareness. Advertising should be combined with PR, social media, seminars/webinars—creating a plan that is focused on making your brand the recognized expert in the industry.
Boost Sales with Lead Generation:
When you execute a targeted advertising campaign, you can trigger sales. You can measure advertisements using a call-to-action. A call-to-action can range from a specific phone number for that advertisement, a dedicated domain to which viewers are directed, or by tagging an advertisement with a specific promotional code. Lead generation will help you measure the success of the advertisement.
The Hand is in Your Favor:
Like we said earlier, when times get rough, a lot of companies begin to tighten up on their budgets–the same goes for media outlets. These media outlets need money, and advertising is a primary stream of revenue for them. With fewer companies advertising in certain industries, there is more room for you to negotiate price and more opportunities for better/unique placement. This can be a great time for you to reap the benefits of advertising.
Advertising over the Years:
Studies show that companies should maintain advertising during a recession. There have been a handful of studies that have been developed to prove that companies should maintain advertising during a recession. History has told us that the best results (increased sales, funding, product development, etc.) among competing businesses have come during tough economic periods by companies that advertised the most.
Influence:
Influence pairs with becoming an authority figure in your industry. If people can trust you, you can influence them–we all know how that goes. Today’s advertising can influence tomorrow’s buyers. Becoming an influencer and advertising turns people’s wants into needs.
Competitive Edge:
When you are advertising frequently, you help your brand establish forefront awareness. Forefront awareness has to do with knowing what it takes to be the best, or being able to look further into the future of your industry. Establishing forefront awareness helps you beat your competition. Having the competitive edge in your industry is key to great success.
Consistency:
You have been probably told since you were born that consistency is key. Well, it’s true. By advertising consistently it helps establish even sales throughout the year. This can help to lessen the impact of slow economic periods in your industry.
Repeat Exposure:
You must come up with a good, long-lasting advertisement that can stand out against other ads. By repeating a message to your target audience, you increase the odds that your message will be retained. Sometimes a consumer needs to look at a product or service more than once to be convinced.
Reach:
With the internet and social media being such big players in the world of advertising, it is easy for your Ad to reach global recognition. Catchy things go viral within a day, sometimes even minutes or hours after being published. This helps you reach a bigger target audience at a low cost per exposure.
