What exactly is fragmentation? It is the increase in the number of methods available to get your message across to your audience. One of the main issues that every entrepreneur faces is the fact that advertising has changed and evolved over the past few years.
It now includes visual, audio and electronic media. In fact, if you type an ad into Google, you might feel overwhelmed by all the options available to you now—if you just look at the options for your website, you'll find pop-ups, pop-ups, audio messages, flash video, RSS, even animated 'sellers' that can be programmed to appear directly on your website and interact with your customers. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! So is traditional advertising – which includes billboards, radio, television, newspapers and magazines – dead? Not even close. According to one top advertising mogul, traditional advertising methods are still around because they still work.
The trick is to find out who your target market is, what they want, and how they search for that information. Mark Twain said, “The right kind of advertising has made many small things big.” If you know your customers, you can spend your advertising money on the media they use to find answers. If your customers are senior citizens who are not online, focus most of your advertising dollars on the newspapers, magazines, television and radio they read, watch or listen to. If your target market is working parents, you need to know how, when and where they get their information.
Is it on the internet? What radio stations do they listen to? What magazines do they read? They watch TV? When? Why? So what are your best options for creating an effective advertising campaign? Here are some simple steps:
1. Know your audience. What do they want? Where do they shop? What are they reading, How old are they? Where do they hang out? Do they need your product or services? Can they afford your product or services?
2. Know your competition. Get ready for a little detective work. What are your top three competitors doing for advertising? Where do they advertise? How often? What types of advertising methods do they use? How long does it run? Are you reaching the same audience? Is your message different? See what they're doing right and come up with creative ways to make your ad a little better or stand out from the crowd.
3. Next, look at what the "big dogs" in your industry are doing and see if you can adapt some of their methods to your target audience and your budget.
4. Know your message. What exactly are you trying to say? What do your customers want to hear? Why should they buy from you and not someone else? Make every word count. Chances are, your customers are much more tech-savvy than they were five years ago, or even a year ago. The Internet has made an incredible amount of information available, but it has also contributed to the "information overload" that consumers complain about. Another side effect of the Internet is that your customers have probably become accustomed to "instant gratification" when they are looking for information, products or services. They want it and they want it now. Are you giving your customers what they want and when they want it? If you want to have an effective advertising campaign, don't try to be everything to everyone.
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