Selling your brand used to mean advertising on television or taking out a print advertisement and hoping your target market would see it and respond.
Today, when it comes to selling your brand, your marketing firm understands that hitting the target means doing more than just hoping that your advertisement will be seen or heard.
Marketing firms today understand that the days where newspapers and television were the main source of news and advertising are over.
We live in a digital age where people are constantly on the go and rely more on technology than ever before for their source of news and information.
Advertising is an area that many businesses budget big for.
How big, exactly? In 2010 the collective advertising budget was approximately $368 billion dollars.
Of that, a good 32.
5% of that went into digital ads.
For the first time, print ads lagged behind pulling in only 30.
3% of the advertising revenue.
As you prepare to advertise your brand or your business, you need to clarify your goals of advertising, which is threefold.
Your first goal is to retain your current client list and build customer loyalty to your brand.
Your second goal is to add new clients who are drawn away from your competition because your product is better or more relevant to them.
And of course your third goal of advertising is to stand out from the sea of competition So as you prepare to spend your share of the $368 billion for advertising, make sure that the marketing firm you hire is prepared to go digital.
Ask to see some of their past work for other clients and look at the quality of their portfolio.
What connections do they have to the media outlets in your area? Are they well connected to go past the traditional print ads of newspapers? Will the company give your business personalized service or will you be handled by a group of consultants? Ideally your business will matter to your ad agency as much as your business matters to you.
If you don't have an appointed contact person will you be bounced around and mishandled? How quickly can the agency complete a project? Can they handle all of your advertising needs from designing a web logo to writing and designing any print ads you may still need in addition to your digital ads? Before you ask for price quotes to do a comparison of services, you should compare the quality of service you will be getting.
In the end if you have done your research you should find a marketing firm that can make the most of your advertising dollars and help you meet the three goals you have created for your company by advertising which include expanding your business, standing out from the competition and keeping your current clients with up to date and cutting edge advertising.