How do you know when to advertise your business?

So, if you’re starting a new business or expanding your existing one, you might find yourself thinking “I need the support of an advertising agency”. If you’re a small or medium sized company and don’t have an existing in-house marketing function (or have a very limited function), you might need to rethink your needs.

This article tackles the difference between needing an ad agency vs a full service marketing agency.

If you have an existing brand identity with established visual communication guidelines, a basic online presence that informs about your product or service (in the form of a website and some kind of social media presence, because potential customers WILL check you out) and you are clear on your brand objectives, then seeking the help of an ad agency makes sense.

Advertising can help your brand on many levels, including:

• Driving awareness (for your new brand, new product or service launch, promotion, etc.)
• Sending out specific targeted messages (product/service benefits, product/service comparisons, new opening, etc.)
• Building credibility for your brand, especially in a competitive environment where your competitors are advertising

Though Spearhead offers advertising services, we are very careful in pushing for product/service readiness before a brand puts its hard-earned dollars towards ad campaigns.

There are many things a brand needs to consider before launching advertising campaigns, including some of the following key criteria:

1. What is my yearly advertising budget and how should I split it to ensure maximum returns?
2. Accordingly, which channels will get the maximum exposure and returns vis-à-vis the allocated budget?
3. Is my team ready to offer the best service/response once a campaign is launched?
4. Do I have enough product (what is my shipping schedule like)?
5. How will I measure my campaign results?

So, if you’re still reading this article, then you’ve thought about the conundrum of advertising vs. not advertising, the pros and the cons and so forth. But it’s ok, it doesn’t have to be an “either/or” situation. Any marketing expert will tell you that advertising is a key ingredient for the success of a brand, it just shouldn’t be done on a whim or haphazardly.

So, back to where we started, if you’re starting a new business or expanding your existing one, we can help you build the stepping stones for a successful marketing platform, which includes advertising. Our main strength at Spearhead is in helping clients build their brand identity, devise a marketing and/or communication strategy to drive their brand objectives and activate all the needed communication collateral (online and offline). We also plan with the client how to track the success of the activations that are launched, provided the proper tools are put in place. Though we have many qualities to speak of, psychic abilities is not one of them! :) So, yes, we need tools to determine the success of campaigns. But, we can discuss this face-to-face and help you determine where you need to go from here to bring out the best of your brand.

Connect with us.