Leveraging Advertising for Small Business Growth
Steuart Henderson Britt once said, “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a lady in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” I will paint you a picture; imagine you have a great product and no one buys it.
You may be confused because it is a great product, and people should be all over it. But your product is stored in a locked room with no sign, and you have told no one about it. So, although it is excellent, you have inevitably limited the reach of your product. It will be great but not sold.
This is the difference between a brand that advertises and one that does not. Even if your business produces a superior product than your competitors, if your competitors prioritize advertising, they will likely do better than you. This is because consumers buy what they know; it may not be the highest-quality product, so long as they are familiar with it.
As a small or local business, there is a tendency to assume that advertising is unimportant for your business growth because you have a primary customer base or community you serve. However, advertising benefits businesses of all sizes and achieves several business goals, including product/service awareness, website traffic, building brand visibility, engagement, revenue generation, and client retention.
So, if you are still deciding whether advertising will make a big difference in your business, do not worry. To help you make an informed decision, we have compiled some significant benefits of advertising for local and small businesses like yours beyond sales and revenue generation.
1. Customer Engagement
Advertising ensures that you keep your existing customers engaged. As we said earlier, consumers buy products they are familiar with. But beyond this, consumers buy from brands they feel connected to. Think back to when you saw an ad from a brand you use regularly, an ad you could relate to. How did that make you feel? Seen? This is the feeling you want your product/brand to emanate from customers. You want them to feel like they belong to something special, part of a community. And advertising does precisely that, particularly creative adverts that draw on your customers' experiences.
But beyond customers who buy your products regularly, engagement through advertising can expand your brand community. Advertising creates a community around engaged customers who already love your brand. This is especially true of offline ad experiences that connect strangers through their love for your brand.
- Brand Credibility
Advertising controls people's perceptions of your brand, which is great because you control the narrative you push out to your audience. Through advertising, you can show the creative process of the end products you offer, portraying genuineness as a core brand value. You can create an advertising campaign based on customer testimonials and reviews. Showing potential customers what past customers have to say about the brand increases their likelihood of patronizing your business because you have shown that people like them have done the same and were satisfied.
Moreover, the more quality adverts customers/potential customers see of your brand, the stronger the opinion that you are a credible and successful company. This is because, when they think of the product/service you offer, the first option they come up with is the brand they remember. Although they may not be able to determine why this is, it is primarily because they have repeatedly seen ads from this brand and now associate this with credibility.
Advertising increases your brand credibility in several other ways. Whatever approach you take, ensure that your advertising campaigns show your audience that your brand can be trusted.
- Brand Awareness
It goes without saying that to stay in business, customers need to know your brand. Whatever product/service you may be selling, there is another business or several other businesses offering the same value, on a larger scale. So, going into business, you must understand that you are fighting for a part of the market that will not be given to you on a platter.
Brand awareness is a core part of business growth, and advertising can handle it effectively. Advertising increases your brand visibility, ensuring that the value you offer transcends the location of your physical store and draws potential customers from many places. Moreover, when you use advertising tools to target customers in specific locations, from your small store on the corner, you can reach and attract local and global audiences.
In conclusion, your advertising strategy should revolve around something other than making more money. Although the benefits of advertising we have raised here will inevitably lead to more sales for your business, they are primarily targeted at something other than sales. Don’t get me wrong, revenue generation is an important business goal, but different strategies contribute to revenue generation/sales that center your customers.
If you want to start advertising your small business locally and globally, visit Haards.com.