Is Mass Media Advertising Killing the Profitability of Your Business?

Congratulations on operating a successful business! You're likely eager to start seeing great returns from your investment. As such, you're trying to find the best ways to advertise.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to help your business gain popularity. After all, that's how you'll start making money. But have you given enough thought to whether you're taking positive steps?

Sure, mass media advertising seems like the quickest, most effective way to spread the word. But is it worth the expense and giving you the returns you need?

Unless you're a conglomerate with an established brand, mass media may not be for you. You may be doing more harm than good to your business by spending too much money on television and radio advertising.

Take a look at how mass media advertising can actually kill your business's profitability:

1. Advertising costs and bottom line. If you're pursuing mass media advertising, you'll quickly realize how expensive it is! There's no getting around the cost of huge billboards and fancy graphics.

• Shop around and get quotes for some mass media advertising options. On their own, they’re likely pretty pricey. Consider how they impact the last line on your monthly profit and loss statement!

• The term "return on investment" has to be a determining factor in the direction you take for your advertising. Is your bank account really feeling the benefit of this huge advertising expense?

• Always tie your income to your expense. If you find that your expenses aren't having a positive impact on your income, it's probably time to start trimming the budget!

2. Non-responsiveness from your target market. Some products and services do well with mass media advertising. But is your business the type that can get the attention of your target market through huge campaigns?

• Who is your target audience? Do they typically respond well to mass media advertising? Or do they prefer targeted marketing efforts?

• If your audience is within a community, a city, or even a state, consider localized campaigns to get better responsiveness. The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money on campaigns that aren't effective at getting the attention of your market.

• Consumers like to feel considered. Sending a message that's way above the heads of your target market could amount to commercial suicide!

3. An ineffective message with lukewarm returns. Even if you spend a lot of money on mass media advertising, there's no real guarantee the campaign will solicit the interest you want. Sometimes, a minor flaw in the message spoils it all!

• Spending money on a mass media campaign is a long-term investment. Can your business afford to make a mistake with the message being sent?

• It's likely that a misrepresented message can lead to lukewarm feedback from your market. As a result, you’ll see diminishing margins.

• Being creative with your advertising budget can sometimes produce better results.

As you can see, there are so many ways that mass media advertising can negatively affect your business. Especially in these unstable economic times, there's little or no room to make spending mistakes.

Be fair to yourself and to your business. Profitability sometimes means starting small and seeing positive returns. Thereafter, you can slowly work your way up as your business starts to produce higher margins. Before you know it, you'll be in the perfect position to take on mass media campaigns if they are the right fit. But until then, try to keep it simple!

Michelle R Russell

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