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Copyright 2008 Newsday, Inc.

 May 12, 2008 Monday
ALL EDITIONS

SECTION: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY; Pg. D06

LENGTH: 686 words

BYLINE: Jamie Herzlich. jherzlich@aol.com

BODY: 

There aren't a lot of do-overs when it comes to your small-business advertising. With limited dollars, you only have so many chances to make an impact on your target audience.

So you'd better get it right the first time, and that means steering clear of some of the more common mistakes, say advertising experts.

"In advertising, large companies can make small mistakes and survive," notes Mark Preiser of Walter F. Cameron Advertising in Hauppauge. "They can even make large mistakes and survive. Small companies don't have the same luxury."

With that in mind, here are a few pitfalls to avoid:

Selling features, rather than benefits: You need to tell your target audience how your product or service will make life easier. "No one cares that the lawn mower you are advertising is 6 horsepower," Preiser says. "They do care that the more powerful engine cuts mowing time by 40 percent."

Undercapitalizing your ad campaign: Set a realistic ad budget. If you're expecting to pay for your advertising campaign with the returns from sales generated by that campaign, you are doomed to fail, Preiser notes.

Trying to say too much in one ad: This is especially a problem for small businesses, because they often use small-space advertising, explains Larry Oakner, senior brand director at CoreBrand, a brand consulting firm in Manhattan. Instead, try promoting different products or services in different ads.

That's what Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury does. For instance, its ads targeting the business community are different from those aimed at the social catering market, says Janine Dion, executive director of sales and marketing, who works with Cameron Advertising.

Pulling your advertising before it has a chance to work: Many small businesses yank their advertising if they don't see immediate results. "Advertising needs to be in the marketplace at least six months to a year to be able to build recognition," says Maureen Quinn of Austin & Williams, a Hauppauge ad and marketing agency.

Not tracking ad results: You need to gauge whether the campaign is working, Quinn says. Try advertising a unique phone number or URL address so you can track responses to your ad, she suggests.

Blowing your ad budget in one-shot advertising: You have limited ad dollars, so use them wisely. Spread out your ad budget to coincide with your sales cycle, Oakner says. For example, if you're selling pool supplies, winter may not be the best time to advertise.

Selecting too small a target audience: Stretch outside your comfort zone and reach out to customers who in the past preferred someone else, says Roy Williams of Wizard of Ads Inc., an advertising consulting company in Austin, Texas.

Every ad campaign should have a relational and transactional component to it that will help broaden its appeal, he says. Relational ads generally focus on service and the customer experience, while transactional ads typically provide more specific information about the product or service.

Failing to create a compelling message: To be aggressive in advertising you don't need a big budget, just a big idea, Williams says.

For instance, he did a campaign for a frozen custard shop in Missouri that wanted 500 new customers in the dead of winter. As part of the campaign, he touted the benefits of custard over ice cream and asked the public to try a $2 cone for free up until midnight.

They gave away 11,000 cones that day, spending only $500 on the radio ad and $1,700 for the custard mix. In the long term, business increased more than 80 percent, he said.

ADVERTISING DO'S

Provide compelling and persuasive copy

Include a call to action (an offer or some mechanism to draw customers to you, like a Web address providing more information).

Be consistent with corporate imagery, colors, logos, etc.

Stand for something - adopt a positioning statement that's important to customers.

Pay attention to visuals; avoid clip art that doesn't reproduce well and resist filling up every inch of white space.

Choose the right medium: "Match your media vehicle with your message and target audience," says Larry Oakner of CoreBrand.

Source: Preiser, Quinn, Oakner

GRAPHIC: Chart - ADVERTISING DO'S (see end of text)

LOAD-DATE: May 12, 2008