Business

MOMpreneur®, Where Two Passions Meet... Business Articles Regardless of the size of your company, your courage, your finesse and your situation will determine how effectively you implement the ideas you garner here.  You know your business best; you know where your business needs help and where the opportunities are.  You also know how quickly you want to grow.   We're here to make sure that between the information and the contextural situations we provide that you have a number of parameters and perspectives to help you make the appropriate decision at the right time.  The future is, indeed, bright for Mompreneurs!

The Makings of An Ad Campaign.

May 2008

I am good. I am beautiful. You would like to have me. I will fulfill your every dream.

Sounds a bit conceited. Not so, that kind of confidence is what you need to pour into an advertising campaign to promote your product.

Along with a good dose of,

I know who you are. I know what you like. I am the answer to the need you haven’t even realized yet.

Okay, that is how a stalker thinks!!!

Nope, wrong again. It is the thought process of a well developed sales pitch. Map it out:

Who are you?

What is your product?

Why do you offer it?

Who do you offer it to?

Why would they care?

There it is your start. Let’s take an example. You have developed a sweet little line of baby booties. They come in pink, blue, white, putty, cappuccino, storm and black with playful baby animal characters stitched on them. You know that moms everywhere would love to clad their baby’s beautiful feet in them. So go for it. Tell it to the world.

Kiddyclods

Adorable kid leather booties

For the comfort of your baby’s feet

When only the best will do

It’s that simple. Those few words have an undeniably strong message.

Do you know your product? Do you know your market? Are you prepared to pitch to them? These three questions can help to position you for success.

You only have your audience’s attention for a few brief seconds, so how will you capture it. Words together with a strong visual can create a dynamic message. Consider this:

Seven beautiful little babies from all walks of life, three girls, four boys, are sitting on a baby giraffe’s neck. The babies are interacting with each other, touching, staring, and giggling. Each of their legs draped over the giraffe’s neck has a different coloured shoe, and the giraffe has its head turned to look at their feet. Baby animals are gathered around the giraffe looking at the booties.

This gentle image projects a cohesive, interactive picture of innocence that can be had simply by buying a pair of your booties. Coupled with the copy they are sure to sell.

Perhaps your product is bean bag chairs. Your market is the young adult consumer living in a small apartment or condo. Your bean bag is versatile, light, and comes in a rainbow of colours. Image: a young man dressed in loungewear on a 45 degree angle falling backwards, arms crossed over his chest, eyes closed, grinning. Heading: Lazalot Bean Bags, Caption: what colour are you falling for? The visual is left to speak of the comfort and ease of owing a bean bag.

With your image and copy set your next step is to find the best media to reach your market. When you first start out you may want to look at community newspapers and local magazines. Bulk mailings are a good idea too. You will want to hit the malls and find the specialty stores that could carry your line.

Once you have that established you are ready to create your advertising. But be aware, advertising and sales promotions are expensive. Understand that and be ready to scout out a good source of expertise to handle your line.

Not everyone is a marketing genius and some ideas are just too big to handle on your own so you may want to put your product in the hands of professionals. Ad agencies, graphic design studios and copywriters can be found on-line. Referrals are your best bet, while your local Yellow Page directory will help you find a studio nearby. Usually a good studio will have copywriters, designers and advertising executives on staff or they will specialize in one of the disciplines and be associated with smaller agencies that can provide the creative and be able to project manage your account.

If you are on a shoestring budget and/or you have a talent for marketing and design yourself, you can invest your time rather than money into developing your own campaign. Between your computer and the photo studio of a large department store you can create camera ready art for your local print/copy shop to produce the finished poster ads. Contact your targeted media – newspaper, magazine, flyers – to purchase ad space and you can create camera ready print ads sized to their specifications (size).

Maybe you are in-between, with a bit of dash for the creative but not the confidence in your knowledge and skill to do it on your own. Consult with your local print/copy shop for a referral to freelance artists, designers and writers and for a connection to mass mailing houses. That way you can have input into the creative and project manage all aspects of the campaign yourself.

The market is yours for the asking – go ahead take it by storm!

 

Author: Diane Cassman

 Return to Business Articles


Don't have our magazine yet?
The MOMpreneur® magazine is a Canadian magazine for women who are balancing the role of motherhood with being an entrepreneur. We create an environment of sharing, support and encouragement to our members through our magazine, our seminars and webinars, and our online forums. Purchase our 6 issues per year to get connected with this exciting women's network!

Click here to order your MOMpreneur® Magazine NOW.