Advertising and Marketing 101 (Phase three)

Best practices in Defining Business Goals

I beleive in the KISS philosophy.....keep it smart and simple.
SMART is an acronym which has many variations....all meaning the same thing basically and all greatly assist with defining goals.

Defining S.M.A.R.T GOALS

1. S-specific, significant, stretching: (When defining goals they should be specific e.g I need to sell 55000 Loaves of bread in a week to break even and 75,000 to garner profit). Ensure your goal(s) is well defined and clear to anyone who reads it.


2. M-measurable, meaningful, motivational: Ensure you are able to measure success.


3. A-agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented:Ensure the goal is attainable and acheivable and the defined objective is agreed upon by all involved parties.


4. R-realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Ensure the goal is acheivable within the alloted time, taking into consideration resources, personnel,market etc.


5. T-time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: Ensure you set enough time (but not too much time) to acheive a goal.

Draft Senario: Once you define 1) You need to sell 55000 loaves of bread every 5 days to break even and 65000 loaves for profit. 2) Once you have an adquate system in place to measure performance and sales 3) Once it's agreed that's the amount that needs to be sold to get adquate ROI 4) Once the time set to sell the loaves is realistic 5) Once you know you need to start selling that amount by june 5th 2008 then you are on the right track. Now the question is....How do I attract the customers in order to sell 55000 Loaves of bread every five days and sustain this number?

This is where you have to examine and know:

1. your position in the market


2. your potential customers and how you plan to reach them
   
3. your competitiors
   

Therefore in order to answer the questions above you have to do a solid business plan. Which i'll look at in my next post.

create@conceptsadvertising.biz

Advertising and Marketing 101 (Phase two)

How to choose an advertising & Marketing Company:

Once you have made the decisions regarding 1) yes you need to advertise 2) WHAT you need to advertise 3) who you need to be targeting and 4) What medium you should use, next up in the marketing Process is finding an advertising company that can effectively help you with developing an advertising plan or campaign. This company should be able also to assist you in deciding on what advertising medium might best work for your company if you are unsure. So here we go:

1) Do your research: Ask persons who have impressive television , print , signage etc who did their work for them, how long they took, how much they charged. Ask questions regarding support and customer service. Call several advertising companies and observe how they a) answer the phone b) respond to your questions (if and how long they have you on hold), those types of things.

2)Request a meeting: at the meeting observe the types of questions being asked....you should only have to tell them what you want accomplished e.g I want more people to buy my bread or I want more people to stay at my hotel....and they should ask things like 1) what's your brand colors, logo, slogan. Do you have a website? do you want consistency in your ads: should it match your website look. Things of that Nature. After all they are suppose to be the advertising Guru.

3) Ask for a full portfolio: Ensure you check out their client list to see previous work done including testamonials and references. Things to look for: Quality, consistency, regular work (no large breaks in work flow), creativity, varied artwork and designs (if too many designs look the same, go elsewhere...you don't want you and a competitor to have the same looking ads).

4) Observe the packages they offer: They should be able to work along with you not only to realise your concept but to advise on how you can get the results you desire. They ought to make suggestions E.g "perhaps you should consider placing your ad after CBS sunday morning if it's to increase business lunch sales (as lots of business people like to watch that program", or "perhaps you should consider a Banner ad on a popular travel booking site if you are a hotel".....Advertising and marketing companies are not only there to do an ad or audio piece or flyer and give you on a CD. They should be able to offer solid advice as part of their packages. Email us for more: create@conceptsadvertising.biz. Look out for Phase three in the series: best practices in developing business plans (the SMART PLAN).