7 Easy Ways to Improve Your Print Advertising
by
Alan Berg
VP of Local Sales Operations
Director, The Knot Market Intelligence
The Bridal Salon Referral Program places your salon in front of a bride at the perfect time, the moment she has found the dress of her dreams that YOU carry in YOUR store. This inclusive marketing program has three main components: salon listings on the Gown Search page, local profiles, & a salon listing in The Knot national fashion magazine.
For more information please contact your Bridal Salon Account Specialist, Ali Mize at amize@theknot.com or 877.466.7431.
- Make the Store Name prominent, and easily readable.
Many stores have logos that are pretty, but not easily readable by those that don't know you. If a stranger cannot tell the name of your store in the first few seconds, you're losing business because they see the ad, but don't know whose ad it is. This is just like the day after the Super Bowl, when people are talking about the ads, but can't remember who the business is.
- Make the Address and Phone number larger.
Many times, graphic artists are tempted to make the store name and contact information small, at the bottom of the ad. They don't want to detract from the artist qualities of the ad. Unfortunately, they miss the main point, which is to get the reader to contact you, come into your store and buy. The only way they are going to do that is to associate the ad with your store, not just the dress(es) in the ad.
- Give a specific Call to Action.
Just listing your phone number is not enough. If they've seen your ad, like what they see and read, tell them what to do next. Don't use ambiguous statements like "By Appointment Only". Tell her to "Call Today for a Personal Appointment", or "To ensure that brides like you get all the personal attention they need, appointments are required, so call today to schedule yours."
- List your website address prominently.
If you have a website, and you should, list the address. You have to accept that today's brides, and the ones coming up next, are Internet Dependent. They're going to look to the internet for information, so you need to be there. You don't have to have the most expensive or technically advanced site, but you do have to be competitive. Buying mid-to-high end dresses is still a personal experience, and they will want a professional, like you, to help them find the right dress for them.
- Buy the biggest ad you can afford.
They are usually placed further forward in the magazine as the size gets bigger, and getting at least a full page will eliminate any competitors from your page. There are only 2 kinds of advertising, Expensive and Inexpensive, and it has nothing to do with cost. Expensive advertising doesn't get you a return greater than the investment. It could be a $50, $500, $5,000 or $50,000 ad. If you get back more than you invested, it was Inexpensive.
- Use Co-op advertising to supplement your other efforts, not as your only advertising.
Sure, it's nice to split the cost with the designers, but you're sharing the spotlight too. Brides reading those ads aren't thinking only about you, they're thinking about that one designer. If you carry more than one designer you want your prospects to know that. Since co-op ads only talk about one designer, you're limiting your exposure to the brides who are attracted to that one, rather than letting them know about everything else you carry. That's why you need to supplement that with your own advertising, where you're free to talk about the full range of your products and services.
- Less isn't always more.
Some people think that just showing beautiful gown pictures and your contact information is enough to get the sale. It's not. Of course you don't want a wordy ad, but you do need a little more. Use some bullet points to let them know about your Unique Selling Proposition. What makes your shop, and its people, unique? You don't want to commoditize what you do by letting them think that it's all about price, so give them more reason to choose you. They can buy the same dress elsewhere, so you need to let them know why they should come to you. A few, well written, bullet points should suffice.
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