Take your travel business beyond print advertising.
Internet advertising can be an equalizer for small businesses up against larger competition. There are several inexpensive advertising mediums entrepreneurs can employ to project their names and brands to a target audience. Programs such as search engine advertising, social media advertising and affiliate marketing can provide positive results for a relatively minimal cash outlay. The key to any advertising program is to have a specific marketing plan in mind before putting scarce financial resources toward any specific advertising medium.
Instructions
Develop and Advertising Plan
1. Establish the target market you want the advertising to reach. Research the potential customers most likely to use your services, then find out what advertising mediums will best fit your chosen audience. Local chambers of commerce can provide a starting point for demographic data to use in your research.
2. Review your current budget to see how much can be devoted to advertising. Some businesses spend up to 10 percent of their gross income on advertising. This may not be reasonable for you at first, but as your business grows, you may find your return on investment warrants an increased advertising budget. Even large, established companies seek out ways to increase their budgets. Only you can decide how much your business can afford for advertising.
3. Research available advertising mediums to decide which will be best in helping you reach your target market. If you find your readers subscribe to online travel journals, try to establish relationships with the journals in order to purchase banner advertising. Search engine marketing programs such as Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing offer pay-per-click advertising that only charge for the number of hits your business receives.
4. Review your chosen advertising medium over a few months to gauge its effectiveness. Keep track of the number of monthly website visits and sales made for an established period of time to see if the advertising has had an effect on your traffic. Ask your paying customers how they found your service to see if your chosen advertising led to a sale.
5. Expand usage of your current advertising medium, or try another approach based on your initial review. If website traffic increases but sales still lag behind, take a look at how you can possibly change your approach. For example, in banner advertising in online travel journals, try changing your banner style or information in your call to action.
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