As a person who's involved with sales it's important to know what you're selling well. Of course you have the blaggers and bluffers who use their wits to get money out of you and really don't know much about what they're talking about (which is dangerous) or even worse, they know a tiny bit and manage to offer advice based on a tiny bit of information - I say this is worse as they manage to get one bit right, then promptly screw it up from there and usually go beyond a point of return before either a) being found out or b) damaging their reputation, the reputation of the company and probably costing you a lot more than you bargained for.
Advertising is a weird product to sell. You can't really taste, touch or sense it in the truest sense. Sure, once it's printed or posted online, it's there to be seen, but it's not anything other than a vague promise that by trusting an advertising salesperson, they'll put you somewhere (mag, TV, radio, online, outdoors, newspaper etc.) with the intention of this being seen and through some magical power get a direct response from those who see it.
Whenever someone asks me what they should do, it is really a broad answer as it isn't necessarily one size fits all. Sure, if you have no problem with budget like the Coca-Cola's of the world, you can blitz everyone and everything with the message and focus on pure branding. Then you have the more preferred route which is getting a response.
How do you get a response? Well again, there's lots of ways to do this but being original helps somewhat. Giving the reader something which urges people to use it or get in touch is best as this generates urgency - but only if the target audience is in the market to buy that product and it fits in with their ideals etc. At one end of the spectrum you have low cost and frequently bought items e.g. food, clothes etc. and at the other end of the scale you have high worth, seldom bought items like a car or house.
What you're trying to do is maximise your visibility, and get lodged in the minds of the right person for recalling at the right time.
As mentioned, it's not an exact science and indeed you need to be mindful over what you do to get the best response. Say for example, you're unlikely to buy something you've not heard or seen unless it's worthwhile e.g. free or very cheap. You've got to still get the product out there initially, so get it right, you'll get people trying it and seeing it and hopefully converting to a regular buyer or at least willing to refer you. If you get it wrong, you've lost a heap of cash and possibly going to be poor.
So what can I suggest you do?
Research, research, research!! Get to know the product you have, who does it suit, how can you get people to know about it, what's low risk and high return etc.
Now with this in mind, test the waters, ask people who are going to be brutally honest - not just your friends and mums and dads etc. Kids usually don't know how to say anything other than the truth and offer great insight but then again you need to be mindful of your target audience.
Take their feedback and refine your plan accordingly - you could always be wrong the first time and indeed more than once, what you're trying to do is perfect everything and increase its chances of being a success and work out any flaws and weed these out and focus on the key unique selling points (USP).
Sell the benefits! Take the humble pencil, it's better than a pen because it writes no matter what angle (even upside-down), reliable, can be sharpened, offers various degrees of tone, it's cheaper, more environmentally friendly, comfortable to use and should you make a mistake it has an eraser at the end.... now, which of those got you hooked or had you ever thought about? Do it right and probably others will agree that the pencil is better than the pen... apply the same sort of logic to what you're selling!
Monitor the competition (if there is any). Is there a market for it? If so, how big or niche is it? How do you appeal to the audience best?
There are loads more things to consider but this makes up a good place to start and if you need more advice or can offer any other, feel free to get in touch!
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