When I was working on my MBA, I took a very insightful class called Marketing Strategy that instilled the concept of the 3Cs and 4Ps in my brain. If you haven’t heard of this marketing concept, briefly reviewed, it is to understand your Customer and understand the strengths and weaknesses of your Competition and your Company, then taking this knowledge and adjusting your Price, Product, Place of distribution and type of distribution. Promotion to maximize your sales and profitability.
When I started my own company, I sought to take this concept a step further and apply its principles to Foreign Marketing.
client
Applying this principle to outdoor marketing requires different thinking than developing a radio or television ad and then deciding which stations to play it on. For example, you need to understand where your customers travel, shop, work, eat, and enjoy life outside the home. Also, what are your likes and dislikes? You really need to know your customers because this information will be crucial in your outdoor marketing efforts and specifically in determining exactly where to place your ads.
Competition
You are not the only one who wants your potential customers. You certainly have competition. To communicate effectively with those customers, you’ll need to differentiate your business from the competition and focus on its strengths and weaknesses. Also, be sure to expand on your idea of competition. Not only do you have direct competitors (ie Ford Dealer vs. Toyota Dealer), but you also have indirect competitors (ie Ford Dealer vs. Mass Transit). Broaden your horizon and think properly about your strengths and weaknesses.
Think like a consumer. If you understand your customers, you’ll know where to advertise to reach them, and your competition may not. Don’t be afraid to directly compare your strengths with your weaknesses in your outdoor advertising. Make your competitors fight back. The field of business is not the place to play the nice guy.
Company
First, list what your company can do well and, more importantly, what it can’t do. It is quite painful to admit that you do not excel in all areas of your business, but it is better to understand now and not make a false step and disappoint your customers by promoting something that you cannot deliver.
Once you have this list, can you effectively communicate what your company does using outdoor media? Can you convey your main focus and main strengths? Can you make it simple enough? Focus on your top two strengths that intersect with your target customers’ top wants and place your ads where they frequent. In addition, depending on what you want to communicate, you will have to choose the appropriate external media, of which there are many.
Price
If your business can’t afford to advertise on traditional billboards, which can cost an average of $2,000 per month for a major highway billboard, then you should look to other forms of outdoor and out-of-home media. You can advertise on bus stops, in shopping malls, on restaurant placemats, and of course, my favorite, on receptacles. The price of this medium can range from $50 to $500 per month, depending on which one you choose and where they are located.
If you are a smaller business with a small advertising budget, alternative outdoor media, as opposed to the traditional roadside billboard, will be more effective for you. You won’t be able to take the shotgun approach and advertise everywhere. You’ll need to be more of a sniper and target your customers (not literally, of course) using the information you’ve gathered from analyzing your customers.
Square
Where you advertise will be determined by how you analyzed your target customer. Therefore, it is vitally important to truly understand your customer; otherwise, you could develop a fantastic message that falls on deaf ears. If your target customers are college students, you should place your message in bookstores, coffee shops, bars, and late-night restaurants. If your target customers are professionals, you should place your ads on public transportation, highways into the city, bus stops, and restaurants at lunchtime. If your target customers are housewives, you should place your ads in malls, malls, and supermarkets. Take note of your best customers and you’ll know exactly where to place your ads.
Product
Chances are your product has many features. Depending on where you’re advertising and which segments of your customer base will see your message, you’ll want to showcase different features of your product or service. If your message is in a posh part of town, you’ll want to focus on your service and how customer-oriented you are. If you’re placing your message in a smaller-scale section of town, you’ll want to focus on value and your warranty.
Promotion
When promoting or advertising your product or service, you can choose from many avenues. The most common form that is most prominent is, of course, the television commercial. However, internet advertising has become extremely popular as most people now have access to it.
While both have the advantage of wide reach, TV advertising is very expensive and Internet ads can get lost in the thousands of ads out there. The best scenario is a full marketing campaign that includes outside media. Why? Because out-of-home media can help reinforce your existing message and can also speak to consumers when they’re trying to make a purchase decision. With a properly placed message, you can directly influence that decision. You can place your ad near your main competitor’s workplace. You can also place your ad near a synergistic business (ie if you’re a tailor, you could place an ad near a fabric store). Out-of-home media gives you a lot of freedom in what you want to say, to whom, and when.
And don’t just think that outdoor media, and more specifically outdoor media, is just billboards. There is a myriad of outdoor alternative outlets that target pedestrian traffic. Through these means, you can have a stronger outdoor ad because foot traffic is slow, and unlike a moving vehicle on the road, if a pedestrian wants to read your ad, they can simply stop walking and take notice. You can also better target your message to consumers who will be more receptive because everyone is going somewhere sometime. Your job is to learn this information about your customers and place your ad there through ubiquitous advertising tools like AshCan.
In short, following the steps above will help you better understand your business, its strengths and weaknesses, and how to sell your strengths to the right consumers in the right place with the right message.
Always consider out-of-home advertising as you can narrowly target your best potential customers and not spend a fortune doing it.
Remember, think like the big ones and act with the agility and kindness of a little one and you can’t go wrong.