Guides / Business Strategies

Developing an Advertising Program: A Basic Review

Spending more on advertising doesn't guarantee a better return. Planning before you spend does.

The four questions to answer first

Advertising is an investment, and like any investment, the return depends on the planning that happens before you spend a dollar. Before choosing a channel or writing copy, work through four questions in order: What do you want the advertising to accomplish? Who should it speak to? What should it say? And where should it run?

Resist the urge to answer these quickly. Each has a range of legitimate answers, and jumping to the first one that comes to mind is how advertising budgets get wasted.

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Defining your target audience

Start by pinning down your goal. "Increase business" is not specific enough to build a campaign around. More useful goals include increasing awareness of your business, pulling customers away from a specific competitor, deepening loyalty among existing customers, or generating an immediate spike in sales or leads. Pick one goal at a time. Advertising built around a single, clear objective consistently outperforms advertising trying to do everything at once.

Once you know the goal, define exactly who you're trying to reach. Advertising aimed at "everyone" reaches no one effectively. Describe your target customer across three dimensions: demographics (age, income, location), behaviors (what they currently use, how loyal they are to a competitor), and needs (what benefit they're actually looking for, and how your business delivers it).

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Crafting your message

With your goal and audience defined, you can write a message that will actually land. Good advertising copy follows a simple structure known as AIDA: it attracts Attention, holds Interest, arouses Desire, and motivates Action. Every piece of ad copy you write should clearly communicate the benefit your target customer cares about most, not a general list of features.

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Choosing where to advertise

New advertising channels appear constantly, but the underlying principle hasn't changed: place your message where your target audience is most likely to see or hear it, at a cost that fits your budget. A few of the most common options for small businesses:

• Online marketing: search, display, email, and social advertising reach a wide audience at a relatively low cost, with the added benefit of being highly measurable and interactive.
• Television: reaches a large audience quickly and combines sight, sound, and motion, but production and airtime costs are high, and short spots limit how much you can say.
• Radio: relatively inexpensive with short lead times, but limited to an audio-only message with no visual product identification.
• Newspapers: flexible in size and placement, but readership has declined and a printed ad has a short shelf life.
• Magazines: strong for reaching a narrowly defined audience with excellent print quality, though lead times are long and placement flexibility is limited.
• Outdoor / billboards: good for broad market coverage and repeated exposure, but the message has to be extremely simple since viewers are moving.
• Direct mail: highly targeted and flexible in format, but relatively expensive per contact and often dismissed as junk mail.
• Online directories: low cost with real staying power once a customer is ready to act, though creative flexibility is limited.

No single channel is inherently good or bad. The right one depends on your goal, your audience, and your budget.

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Putting it together

A working advertising plan starts with a specific goal, defines exactly who the message is for, builds a message around that audience's real motivations, and places that message where the audience will actually encounter it. Skip any one of these steps and even a well-funded campaign underperforms.

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Frequently asked questions

How much should a small business budget for advertising?

It depends heavily on industry and goals, but the more important question is whether your budget is tied to a specific, measurable goal. An unfocused budget rarely performs well regardless of size.

Is online advertising always the best choice for a small business?

It is often the most cost-effective and measurable option, but the right channel depends on where your specific target audience actually spends their attention. A local service business may still get strong results from more traditional channels.

How do I know if my advertising is working?

Track results against the specific goal you set at the outset, whether that is leads generated, foot traffic, or sales tied to a promotion. Advertising without a defined goal is difficult to evaluate honestly.

This guide is for general informational purposes only and is not tax, legal, financial, or investment advice. Every business situation is different, so consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on this content.