Planning Your Advertising

What to do first before spending any money.
By Kathy J. Kobliski(Entrepreneur.com)

Q: I've put aside money to start advertising. Now what do I do?

A: First, analyze your business on paper to create a central message that will be at the heart of your advertising and branding efforts. (See my Branding Your Business column for more information on this topic.) To do that, you can do one of two things:

Write a mission statement. This can help you get to the core of your business—to the basic commitment you'll bring to your market. A mission statement can be short, such as Ford's "Quality Is Job One," or something longer and more descriptive.

Create a SWOT analysis to understand your position among your competitors. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This organizational tool can help you determine your company's internal and external advantages and disadvantages, which will shape the message you project in your advertising.

To create your SWOT analysis, label separate sheets of paper with these headings:

Strengths, and what I will do to maintain them. Under this heading, list the products or services that distinguish you from your competitors, along with the ways you'll preserve and improve on those strengths to keep you one step ahead of your competitors in these areas.

Weaknesses, and what I will do to fortify them. List the strengths that your competitors have over you, and determine whether those areas need to be strengthened in your own company or they're areas that don't fit into your unique selling position.

Opportunities, and how I will take advantage of them. List the various segments of the population you know you can saturate successfully (your niche) and secondary areas you'll try to penetrate.

Threats, and how I will overcome them. List your competitors, and write down ways you can hit them straight-on as well as how you can go over, under, around and through them to lure their customers away. Look at economic indicators that could affect your business by threatening disposable dollars, transportation problems that could slow or halt delivery of your inventory from distributors, and so on.

The first two headings are internal, the last two external. Neither set is easier or harder than the other set to scrutinize, and you must do both. This analysis will give you a clear idea of what you have to offer that your competitors don't, what they offer that you don't, where you can best reach your target market, and what your current and potential problem areas are. From this, you can cull a starting point for your publicity campaign.

In our increasingly cynical world, the public often ignores advertising claims. Concentrate on how consumers can benefit from doing business with you, and deliver on your promises. Feed into the "what's in it for me" mind-set. Leave out information on how long you've been open, or the fact that your business is family-owned. People don't generally care. And don't spend a penny on advertising until you've found your starting point.

Kathy Kobliski is the founder and president of Silent Partner Advertising, where she oversees multimedia advertising budgets for retail and service clients. Her book, Advertising Without an Agency, was written for businesses owners who are working with small advertising budgets and can't afford professional help. It's available in major bookstores; from Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesandNoble.com; or by calling (800) 228-2275. You can reach Kathy at (315) 487-6706 (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST), or visit her Web site at http://www.silentpartneradvertising.com.

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are intended to be general in nature, without regard to specific geographical areas or circumstances, and should only be relied upon after consulting an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or accountant.

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