No matter how small the media buy, never fail to ask for added value or additional exposure above and beyond the paid schedule. The simple truth is it never hurts to ask, and you will be pleasantly surprised how many times just the sheer act of asking can result in a “yes”. Now depending on how compelling the argument is for this request, the additional exposure may not be much, but it would be more than if no request had been made at all. And, if you negotiate added value with each media in your campaign this additional exposure can add up.

Added value can assume many forms and can be a mutually beneficial opportunity for both parties. Be creative and thoughtful when you are negotiating. If you notice that a newspaper has an opening in a premium position, state you are willing to sign a contract for multiple ads if this premium position is thrown in. Or ask for an ad size increase at no additional cost in exchange for a free gift certificate from your business. The newspaper can use the gift certificate for in-house or client incentives and your larger ad size will likely have little if any cost implications for the newspaper itself. Radio stations are added value bastions in that they are always looking for contest giveaways, incentives and the like. Use this to your advantage and always negotiate both your paid schedule and your added value schedule simultaneously to ensure that the greatest leverage possible is employed for both.

One final note on taking full advantage of added value is brevity of message. Added exposure or added value often assumes a highly abridged form of your regular advertising message. For example a radio or TV station may offer “broadcast billboards” as no charge additional exposure to accompany your paid schedule. A broadcast billboard is typically 5 to 10 seconds in length and states “This is brought to you by Business X”. Consequently the quicker you can communicate your business and what it does the more effective an added-value schedule will be in promoting your business. This is where a high profile, intuitive vanity phone number can be extremely beneficial. Consider a medical practice with 4 doctors and all of them included in their business’ name. By the time the practice’s name is communicated there is no time left to say what kind of medicine they practice, much less a phone number to call. However employing vanity number in all your advertising can quickly communicate your business and your contact information in 5 to 10 seconds, i.e. 1-800-EARDOCS or 1-800-HEARING. Beyond taking full advantage of added value, brevity of message in this digital age will continue to be an important brand asset and one where vanity phone number(s) could provide a your business with a significant edge.

Business owners have a myriad of decisions to make when it comes to marketing their product or service. One question many ask is “how much media do I have to buy for my message to be heard and acted upon”? Answering this question can be somewhat tricky in that it’s definitely not a one size fits all. It is, however, a critical component to a successful marketing and media plan.

Objectively Examine Your Business
To properly address this question, you must develop the platform for your media assumptions by answering the following questions as honestly and informatively as possible. If you don’t know the answer to a question or feel you can’t be objective, research it and/or ask someone who you think might know the answer.

1.) Who is your target?
2.) Do you have a high visibility/traffic location?
3.) Do you have a compelling product or service?
4.) Is your advertising message persuasive and is it easy to remember?
5.) Do you have high or low competition in your immediate trading area?
6.) Is your product or service industry a high interest one or low interest?

Rule of Thumb
A good rule of thumb from which to start your analysis is that “typically” a prospect needs to see a message a minimum of 3 times (frequency) within a reasonable timeframe to be inspired to act. From here, let the answers to the questions above determine if frequency should be increased or kept at the 3x minimum rule of thumb.

Adjust Accordingly
For instance, identifying your target can determine whether your prospects are high or low users of media. In general, elderly targets are low consumers of media; however, they are one of the highest readers of newspaper. Consequently with a strong newspaper vehicle in a market, you may be able to stick with the 3 frequency level in communicating with this demographic. In a market with a weak newspaper option, you may have to go to a higher frequency in newspaper or consider using another medium at a higher frequency to reach your target.

Your answers to the remaining questions can have a big impact on required media as well. High visibility and trafficked locations with easy access will help to keep required media frequency levels low. Conversely, businesses that operate in a competitive marketplace, or in a low interest category, like banking for instance, will definitely need to increase the frequency of their messaging to be heard. Finally your product’s appeal and advertising message will have a tremendous impact on the effectiveness of your campaign and the required media frequency level.

Vanity Phone Numbers Can Help
One easy way to stand out from the competition, increase the impact of advertising and make your message more memorable is by incorporating a vanity phone number as part of your advertising. Since consumers generally find it 14 times easier to remember a toll free vanity number and actually prefer doing business with companies that employ vanity numbers in their marketing efforts, your media’s effectiveness could be maximized at lower frequency levels than might otherwise be required.

Frequency & Number of Ads
Please note that a 3time frequency doesn’t necessarily translate to 3 ads, especially when buying electronic media. In order to design your media schedule around a particular frequency goal, 3x, 4x against reaching 40% to 60% of your demographic target, ask your sales representatives to employ research/scheduling tools, which most major market media outlets have in-house, to develop a recommended schedule. Remember to ask a lot of questions and always get more than one opinion.

Does your company have a mobile marketing plan? If you are like millions of small to medium-sized businesses, the answer is probably, “yeah right, I wish!”

The mobile marketplace is exploding and is one of the main culprits why our lives are increasingly “more wired”.

Consider the following stats:
• 200+ million Americans carry mobile phones. Source: Airwide Solutions
• Cell phones are used by over 3.1 billion people globally. Source: Airwide Solutions
• A survey of 2,400 moms reveals that the single most important tech gadget in their lives is the cell phone (23%), followed by the internet (21%), and the digital camera (19%). Source: Babycenter.com
• Globally there are twice as many users of SMS texting as are active users of email. Source: Mobile Marketing Watch
• In the US alone, roughly 300 billion text messages were sent in 2007. Source: Mobile Marketing

With these nuggets in mind, it seems a good idea to have a mobile marketing strategy at some level. Even if you don’t have the resources to execute a mobile media plan, you can easily make yourself more accessible to this dominate and growing mobile culture by utlizing a vanity phone number in branding your company.

Cell phones are our constant companions, so whether a company’s vanity phone number is seen on a passing billboard, heard on the radio or seen on TV, immediate gratification is only a few finger presses away from setting up an appointment, ordering product and/or scheduling a service. Branding your company with a vanity phone number is an excellent first step in marketing in an increasingly more mobile world.

No matter how long you have been in business or how many loyal current customers you have, new clients are the lifeblood of any organization. From people moving for new job opportunities, to layoffs or corporate mergers, the only sure thing in today’s world is change, which could equate to significant attrition from year to year in your customer base unless you have a robust plan for attracting new clients. With this in mind, here are some tactics to consider in developing your new customer acquisition strategies.

Ever wonder why your child can’t seem to master the art of staying focused on one subject for more than a fleeting minute? Try looking in the mirror next time you ponder this question.

Like it or not, we are a rapidly becoming a society of dwindling attention spans. In fact, in the book Coming To Our Senses, a noted psychologist and author, Jon Kabat-Zinn, cites we are in a “consistent and a constant state of partial attention”. From driving and talking on the cell phone, to watching TV while paying the bills, our ever faster, fast-paced lives are governed by the premise that multi-tasking is a necessity that is here to stay.