Doing advertising is not a guarantee that you will reach your target audience. There’s a right and wrong way to advertise a business.
Take this question raised today:
I’m trying to find ideas on ways I can advertise my interior decorating business. I made really cute fliers but I don’t really get that many calls that I would like and I really love decorating this is my passion but its just like I’m stuck and if anyone have any great ideas on how I can get my business out there so people can at least start calling or something that would be great.
Using the above example, there are many factors that could affect the success of your advertising efforts:
1 – The economy. The economy is bad right now. Given that most people are scaling down on their expenses, it is important to frame your advertising with the economic realities of the day. For example, highlight the value that they will be getting from your product or service. Or even the savings they can generate if they hire you.
Hiring an interior decorator in a bad economy may not be the most crucial on people’s minds, Being a non-essential service, potential customers may be holding off their renovation projects that require hiring an interior decorator; scaling back on their projects or even doing the projects themselves without hiring an interior decorator. This is a huge challenge that you need to consider when starting an interior decorating business and devising your advertising strategies.
2 – Understanding of your target market. The key is to first understand who are your target markets, and where and how they can be reached. Then you develop your advertising strategies based on your knowledge and understanding of your potential customers.
In the above example, who are likely to need an interior decorator? Different types of interior decorating services target different types of potential customers, and you need to understand the characteristics of each of your target market. This is particularly important if you are offering several types of interior decorating services, such as:
- decorating homes or rooms for individuals,
- decorating office buildings,
- decorating retail stores, hotels, spas
- decorating yachts, and cruise ships,
- contracting decorating work for furniture stores, hospitals, for home and apartment builders,
- staging for real estate sales.
- feng shui decorating,
- closet and organization design,
- home theatre decorating,
- indoor garden decorating
- “green” or environmentally friendly decorating
3- The location or advertising channel you are using. The main question is: Are you reaching your target market in the demographic area or even advertising channel you are using? Your advertising efforts are useless if you are not reaching your target audiences.
In the example above, it is important to ask whether the target market is present in the neighborhood where the fliers were distributed. An area where the median home price is $750,000 may be more likely to need an interior decorator compared to a neighborhood where median home price is $200,000.
4 – The manner of advertising. It is important to know how customers make the decision in selecting the vendor for your type of products or service. Do they decide mainly through word of mouth? Or do they respond via direct mail? Find out how they decide when thinking of purchasing the type of service you are selling.
If your target market responds to glossy advertising in a local home magazine, then go for it instead of printing hundreds of fliers (and wasting your resources) no matter how fancy. Someone willing to spend $25,000+ on a project to decorate a room is not likely to entertain fliers inserted in their mailboxes or front door. Creating a portfolio of projects and initiating partnerships with real estate agents and contractors are more likely to create interest in an interior decorators’ service.
At the end of the day, advertising is all about your return on investment
If you want to rearrange your living space in a professional manner, choose a certain style or leitmotif, and stick to it throughout the process of renovation of your apartment or house.