YOUR WEBSITE

Your website can reveal volumes of material to your customers and potential customers.  Its content could distribute information on a multitude of topics.  Therefore, the data and its format should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, informative, and satisfy the user’s curiosity.

It’s extremely important that your website represents your business in a professional manner, and sets you above your competitors.  Whether your site contains such things as blogs, testimonials, product descriptions, pricing, or pictures, the presentations should be personally appealing, and adequately answer any questions the inquirer may have.

If your website meets the previous criteria, you are in a favorable position, and have opened the door to further customer development. Having done their ‘homework’, the viewer can now act on the knowledge they have at their disposal.  Logically, they will probably follow-up with a phone call or personal visit to your place of business.

To be continued…

TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

TV commercials are a very powerful medium when presenting your business to the public.  The receiver of your commercial will be stimulated both visually and audibly, therefore giving dual perceptions for interpretation.  Just imagine what content could be displayed in your ad; for instance, your place of business, your product line, your employees, etc.  Combine that with the spoken word and you can convey your message quite dynamically, whether creating a first impression, or reinforcing a previous one.

If your ad pictures your place of business, it should have both an inviting and appropriate, appearance.  If included, the product line should be prominently displayed, systematically organized, and eye-appealing.  Any spokesperson, whether management or an employee, should without question, project an image of professionalism and integrity.

Last, but not least, the purchase of air time is a very critical element, due to air time, and the broadcasting network.

To be continued…

RADIO ADs

One of the oldest channels for advertising is Radio.

Radio ads can be an effective medium to target audiences with your message. People listen to the radio on the way to and from work, hear it while at work, and also stay up to hear the late-night shows. This medium provides an enormous audience for you to advertise your tire business.

The key to successful radio advertisement is targeting your audience with a message meant for them. Different consumers divide by station as well as listening times. Make sure you do your homework and get the statistics to make the best decision.

There are other limiting factors as well.  Some people only listen to their favorite radio personalities.  Other people only listen during specific times, such as to and from work.  Most often, our attention is focused elsewhere; for instance, on driving conditions, home, work, you need to repeat your company name multiple times so that it sinks in. Make sure to direct them to your website. It is important to have an easy to remember web address since they are not always able to stop and write it down.

Another benefit of advertising your tire business on the radio is your tire dealership can become comparable to larger competitor’s ads, since there is no cost of competing visually with them, such as with television ads.

To be continued…

NEWSPAPER ADS

Obviously, newspapers are not considered to be nearly as important as they once were, especially when compared to television, and the internet.  There has also been an increase in the number of weeklies and tabloids, some of which are provided free to the public.

A major drawback of newspapers is your ad can be lost, or be so obscure, it may not even be noticed by most readers.  An ad large enough to attract attention may prove quite costly, especially since most readers limit their reading to specific sections, and have time constraints which prevent them from reading each and every page in its entirety.  Other publications, including automotive, are available on a weekly or monthly basis, and may give you more ‘bang-for-your-buck’.

Regardless of the circulation claimed by the various publishers, there is still no guarantee you will receive the attention you desire through these printed media.  Results are also extremely difficult to measure.  One may more advantageously invest in advertising which is more ‘in-your-face’.  We will discuss how to get to the ‘in-your-face’ marketing in our next installment.

To be continued…