Labor vs. Value: Discovering Which Marketing Tactics Work Best for Your Business

We can all agree that marketing is necessary to increase customer traffic and drive sales. Today, businesses have the luxury of choosing from many different marketing avenues, including radio, television, internet, and physical signage. With so many different options to choose from, finding marketing tactics that bring out the best in your business without tying up your team’s time is one of the most common challenges marketers face today. So, let’s take a look at what kinds of advertising tactics are known to be successful for driving traffic without tying up company resources. Television—When trying to reach an international audience, television advertising may be a good choice. Commercials can capture attention, and different time slots can target different demographics (i.e. Medication commercials during game shows generally viewed by older people). Unfortunately, commercials are very labor intensive, and they cost a lot to produce; in fact, prime time slots cost upwards of $1000 dollars! Radio—Advertising on the radio can also reach a wide audience, and does not require as much preparation as a television commercial. They are definitely less expensive than television slots, though costs vary depending on the time and length of the ad. For example, a 30 second ad could be $45 for a mid-day time slot, but the same ad could be $100 if it is aired during a prime time slot. Either way, preparing to launch a radio ad is often labor intensive and comes with hefty production costs. Internet— A simple advertisement can do wonders online. Like physical signs, they remind potential customers that your business exists. However, online ads require someone who has knowledge of graphic design and technical skills to execute the ad campaign effectively. Depending on the type of online campaign you’re running, internet ads may require businesses to rent areas of sites for ad placement. Domain owners often start their basic prices at $20 per month, but may offer CPC rates (cost per click) upon request. Of course, the larger the site you’d like to be featured on, the higher prices. Signs—While physical signage doesn’t reach the expansive audience that a nationally broadcasted television commercial would, using signs can definitely help drive sales for local businesses that are interested in gaining the attention of their immediate community. Arguably the best feature about using signage for advertising is the fact that once it is purchased, you don’t have to keep paying for it! The initial price is all you really have to consider, however maintenance may be necessary after having the sign for some time. While design and execution can take some planning, creating the content and design for signage is often much less labor intensive than any of the other advertising mediums we’ve discussed.   We strongly suggest you keep your audience in mind when considering what type of advertising to pursue. Because it’s important to consider how much value your advertising campaign will bring, compared to the amount of labor put into it, try to answer a few basic questions before picking a marketing campaign to implement. Who is your demographic? Can they be reached locally? Is your product available to order online? What is your budget for marketing? How long can you afford to continue the upkeep and cost of an online, radio, or television ad? Once you’ve taken some time to consider each of these questions, you’ll be better able to pick and prepare a successful advertising campaign.