When to advertise - for service based business

Demand for business services can fluctuate dramatically from month to month or between the yearly business seasons. Do you have the capability to advertise niche aspects of your company at different times of the year? It might be one of your most powerful advertising techniques.

Look to services like Google Trends to see the annual cycles for services like yours. Also look at the last few years of your business to see what projects you were doing at peak and off peak demand times. Then plot out the last few years and look for patterns in the type of business sales you were making.

This provides a great insight into what and when you might consider advertising.

Here is an example of an industry such as:

Promoting Video Production Services.

Niche your company at different times of the year.

e.g. When do most companies want or seek to produce corporate videos?
Advertise in print just before that annual cycle.

e.g. When do companies launch new products?
Advertise 3 or 4 months your TV commercial services prior to that date so you get in front of them when they are about to start looking for a production company. etc.

What other specific services do you offer? - Now think about when your customers generally do those things. Then plot a print campaign around them. Look at all of the things you bill for. Each one can potentially be advertised as a niche service offering at a relevant demand cycle.

Be in the magazines the companies you want to work with read. Avoid speculation about what they read. Hunt down the facts.

Send out questions to all your customers asking them what print material they read for business. Is it computer magazines, car magazines, top 500 business magazines? Look for a pattern.

How does your brand resonate with your target audiences? What is your USP? Don't assume people know how you are different to your competitors. Tell them.

Pretty powerful when you begin to think in a more planned way about how your customers think - and more importantly, when they think about what they need you to do. Be where they read and when they think.

When you begin to think about your own goals separately to your target audiences goals, you can start to look for patterns.

For more insights into corporate branding design, marketing and advertising services, contact Girling Design.