How Can A Small Business Control Advertising Costs?

November 15, 2009

Small business owners need to control advertising costs while still attracting buyers. This may seem like a contradiction, but it is possible to accomplish both goals. The first thing you need to do is to evaluate your advertising costs that you currently have.

Look at what you are currently spending. As a small business owner you need to fully understand your advertising costs and what your return on investment is. Are you spending money on radio advertising, newspaper advertising or magazine advertising? All print advertising can be very expensive with a questionable return on investment. Yellow pages aren’t nearly as effective as they used to be.

Advertising commercials on radio or television can be effective, but also very expensive. Unfortunately many small business owners will cut their advertising costs when the economy slows down, but that may be the wrong thing to do. You certainly want to control your costs, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by cutting your life line to new business.

There is a shift in effective advertising today and that shift is from print advertising to internet advertising. The secret is to have a functional website that will help you bring new customers in the door. While your website isn’t exactly free internet advertising, it is certainly cheaper than other mediums.

The important key is to have a website that is an effective marketing tool. The sad truth is that most websites are just an extension of a small business brochure. If your website isn’t bringing in new business, why do you have it. I can tell you from my experience that about 90% of the websites I look at are useless when it comes to bringing in new business for my small business owners. If you want to control your advertising costs, you must learn how to make your website work for you.