Category Archives: Advertising

Best Places To Advertise Apartment Rentals Free

Posted on by

You have an apartment to rent but you’re limited when it comes to your advertising budget. Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways you can advertise apartment rentals for absolutely nothing. The first thing to consider is that there are many people out there who need an apartment. These people don’t care where the advertisement comes from. They only care that the place is affordable and it’s clean and presentable. Now you have to get that advertisement out there so someone will see it.

Craigslist.org

Craigslist is a great way to advertise an apartment. It’s completely free and you have the freedom to say whatever you want. However, when you advertise apartment rentals on craigslist, your ad is almost immediately buried under all the new ads coming in. You can set your ad apart by posting pictures and by reposting every few hours or so. Make sure your ad is different each time or else Craigslist will flag it as spam.

Free Classified Sites

There are plenty of free classified websites available, offering you the opportunity to add your apartment rental listing. You simply write your listing into the forms provided on the site and your apartment is advertised for your chosen areas.

Many free classified sites network with other sites, so your ad could potentially be shown to many more people than you expect.

Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites, like Facebook or Twitter, can be an excellent way to let people know you have an apartment for rent. You simply link your ad for your apartment rental onto your social networking site and your immediate circle of friends will be able to see it.

The benefit to this approach is that your friends also have circles of their own friends. If they know someone who is looking to rent an apartment, they’ll share your link with their own networks and the word will spread very quickly.

The Side of the Road

There’s nothing wrong with posting a sign on the side of the road, say at an intersection. Include the size of the apartment, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the price. And don’t forget your phone number. You’d be surprised how effective this technique is at advertising apartment rentals. Do this and you’ll likely get several phone calls from interested renters.

Word of Mouth

Don’t forget word of mouth. Let everyone you know you’re trying to advertise apartment rentals. And then have them tell everyone they know. This word of mouth advertising is just as effective as posting an ad in the local newspaper, or maybe even better.

Why Mobile Advertising Practices Are Increasingly Implemented

Posted on by

Mobile Advertising practices are increasingly adopted and implemented by emerging as well as established brand owners. SMS Advertising is becoming one of the latest trends of brand promotion for brand owners and advertisers. Affordable and targeted in nature, Mobile SMS Advertising is one of the easiest means of conveying the brand message to target customers. In this article, let us take a look at some reasons why mobile advertising practices are increasingly adopted by brand owners-

Tremendous increase in number of mobile phones- Today, almost everyone has a mobile handset. There are also various individuals who possess more than one handset. The craze for mobile phones as a portable communication device keeps increasing day by day. Brand owners avail of this opportunity by utilising the same mobile phones as advertising mediums for lakhs of customers. Also an affordable practice of brand promotion, advertising through mobile phone effectively communicates the brand message to those targeted customers who can benefit themselves from the brand messages.

Secondly, the launches of smart phones and embedded applications with various mobile phone devices have enhanced the craze of modern customers. A mobile phone is not just a communication device in todays world. Music, games, camera, internet and various applications are some embedded features of modern mobile handsets. Advertisers ensure that their brand messages reach those customers who continuously get themselves attached with their handsets (as their extensions). At one point of time, these customers will go through the brand message. If interested, they will consider of buying the product, if otherwise, a delete button helps them get rid of the unwanted message in their inboxes. The advertiser should hence provide an interesting brand message through the mobile SMS advertising campaigns. The brand message should be influencing enough to motivate those customers who read it through their own handsets. Brand advertising requires some tricks and tactics. Advertisers should therefore keep themselves updated about which trend and tactic of brand promotion can be used to influence customers buying behaviour.

Marketers have opined that mobile advertising provides more ad spaces for CPA Publishers. This again attracts the attention of those publishers who are keen to partner with mobile advertisers for various promotion campaigns. The advertisers also avail of various benefits by partnering with the publishers.

Last but not the least; mobile advertising is considered one of the bespoken modes of communication for various brands. Brand messages through mobile media reach customers right in their palms or pockets thereby providing easy accessibility to the brand ad. Considering all the above mentioned factors, mobile advertising practices are increasingly implemented by various brand owners/advertisers.

Nike’s Marketing Strategy

Posted on by

Nikes marketing strategy rested entirely upon a brand image which is favourable and has evolved into a great multinational enterprise over time. The favourable brand image has been kept afloat due to the strong association with the Nikes logo which is quite distinctive and the slogan Just Do It which has been used in advertisement for quite some time. The company has been known to invest heavily in advertisements and brand promotion (Fill C, 2005 p.54).

Market Segmentation
Most of the consumers of Nikes products are mainly sportsmen. This is so because of the utility that comes with the products. An athlete is more likely to go a sports shoe designed and marketed by Nike more than a person who detests sporting and exercises. Nike targets these consumers by agreements between Nike and athletic teams, colleges athletic teams1 etc for product sponsorship and eventual promotion to the members of these teams. In this way, Nike is able to reach a wide number of consumers and consumers who are more likely to buy. Even though others are likely to buy the products, Nike pays specific emphatic targeting to the athlete more than any group of individuals even though it also targets the youth who have embraced the hip hop culture (Mercer David, 1996, pp 171).

Targeting strategies
Nike lays a number of strategies to target their immediate consumers; athletes and other sportsmen. The targeting strategies include among others the sponsorship of products by professional athletic teams, celebrity athletes and college athletic teams. This strategy is specifically successful because of its ability to reach a large number of athletes. If the athletic team manager prescribes a specific type of track shoes made by Nike, the trainees have no option other than to buy them. The teams can as well buy the track shoes in bulky and supply them to the team members.
The second strategy that Nike applies is the designing of product destination. It does this by associating success with the product. For example, when a celebrity athlete sponsors a specific brand of athletic shoes, the brand will be associated with success. This psychological effect is reinforced with advertisements that affirm this position.
Finally, Nike targets the consumers who are likely to develop product intimacy; those who care more about the utility and quality of the product than the price. In this way, the pricing is not affected too much in a bid to accommodate a large number of consumers. However, price has also been factored in Nikes marketing strategies as shall be seen later in this paper (Frank, 2004, p.173)

Pricing Strategies
As stated in the foregoing section, Nike targets the consumers who embrace product intimacy and thus care less about the product. This has enables Nike to set relatively higher prices than its competitors. This is a strategy that calls for higher pricing points so as to push the perceived product value. It has been established that consumers who consider a product to be of high quality are likely to pay the high price more often and consistently. Once consumers develop product intimacy, they come to associate their person with the product and will pay whatever price quoted on the product provided it has the Nike logo on it.
Another very important thing to note is the fact that Nike uses the vertical integration pricing strategy in which they take ownership of the participants at channel levels that differ and they also engage in multifarious channel level operations both in a bid to control costs and thus influence pricing function (Goldman S, 2000, pp154)

Distribution Strategies
Distribution strategies embraced by an organization can either give them an edge in market or make them lag behind the winners in the market. The more efficient the product distribution is the more sales and thus more profits. The delivery of the right product and at the right time to the consumer not only effects utility but also leads to high degree of consumer satisfaction and loyalty. Nike distributes its products on level basis. The high priced premium products are given to certain distributors while leaving the low priced to be sold at highly discounted prices at mega retail stores such as Wal-Mart. Whereas Reebok embraced a limited distribution strategy Nike ventured more into a global3 market capitalization (Jeannet J, 2000, pp 44).

Promotional and Communication Strategies
Apart from Nike selling quality products which have lead to a high degree of customer loyalty, the promotional strategies that the company employs are simply superb. Nike has contracted a number of professional and celebrity athletes which have managed to draw a considerable attention to their products. Some of the sportsmen signed by Nike include soccer stars such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, Basketballers such as Jermaine O’Neal and Lebron James2, triathlete Lance Armstrong and golf superstar Tiger Woods. This has created a relatively high degree of Nike products awareness. Besides the signing of celebrity sportsmen to promote their products, Nike has also employed a great deal of advertisements through the mass media. Nike employs a selective- demand advertisement focused on the high priced shoes used for traditional sports (Goldman S, 2000, pp154).

Conclusion
Nike has remained and continues to remain at the top of production and distribution of sports gear and equipment. However, it should be noted that competitive pressure cannot allow Nike to sleep at the top. The recent Reebok- Adidas merger poses a great challenge to devise new marketing strategies to continue leading or recede to oblivion. The following recommendations are suggested in a situation where marketing management is competent. These include:
Increased market share through a new product development, competent pricing strategies, advertisement and other sound promotional activities.
Restructure market dominance by driving away competitors mainly through fierce promotional strategy coupled by pricing function that will make the market quite unattractive for the competitors.
Increased social responsibility to strengthen the image of the company
Diversification of market through factoring the Asians and Black Americans in their product promotion besides doing a research to establish the tastes of these groups.
Venture into new distribution channels especially in international markets
Different pricing strategy so as to open up a new market segments.

All the above show a competent marketing management can hoist organizations top become market leaders and making the market leaders maintain their competitive edge in the market through adherence to marketing ethics, marketing plans and well thought out and formulated marketing strategies.

Instant Outdoor Advertising Campaigns Made Easy

Posted on by

An instant outdoor advertising campaign is one of the most cost effective ways to communicate your message to your potential and current clients who live and work in the area. Signs work to remind people you are there, implant thoughts, sharpen an identity and state a brief message. They are the original Geo-targeted advertising!

Many small businesses think outdoor advertising is just for big brands. The think the cost is prohibitive and never even consider it as part of their advertising mix. That is a big mistake.

Dollar for dollar and pound outdoor advertising is is one of the most cost affective methods you could use to target local markets.

Instant advertising campaigns can be set up where your customers live work and play in …well in an instant. The artwork is often included in a monthly fee for leasing a location and it doesn’t have to be a full size billboard costing thousands a month. Prices start as low as $50.00 a month for things like bus benches and usually reflect the traffic flow. Competition for return on investment guarantees this media is priced right because unlike newspaper advertising and other print media there is a limit to the number of locations available.

Street furniture like bus benches and recycling bins can be found in hundreds of cities in Canada and the US displaying advertising to local markets.

Outdoor advertising like this is a great place to start an advertising campaign, drive traffic to a website, build a local brand and remind your customers you are there for them.

Many of the businesses using this method start with one unit and scale up as businesses increases.

Does it work?
Well I manage advertising campaigns in 263 locations for over 100 clients. Most of them stay with me year after year, on average more than 5 years on a single location and some have been on several locations for more than 25 years.

Instant outdoor advertising campaigns are custom made for businesses on the street looking to master local markets. All kinds of businesses.

Our services are custom built for shop owners, doctors, lawyers, dentists, plumbers, real estate agencies, pharmacies, drug stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, garden centers, boutiques, publishers, physical trainers, pool cleaners, grocery stores, bookkeepers, therapists, insurance brokers and anyone else with a business, service or store with walk in traffic.

Job Profile For Advertising Jobs

Posted on by

Advertising is one sector with upfront creativity and spontaneity, it fluctuates, changes, varies from time and to time, and is counted as the selling cost of a commodity.

Well thats in economics, but as the jobs include advertising sales reps, copywriters, advertising sales director, entry level jobs, advertising manager, executive, supervisor, publishing, account executive, assistant, analyst, content-writing, consultant, operations, and retail executive jobs, advertising job profile adhere to certain requisites.

You obviously wouldnt get an executive post right after you graduate from an advertising school, but you can start at the base level then work your way up to different levels.

The work

Advertising work requires a lot of tolerance, and smartness on your part, as you would subject to working spontaneously, and be quick and immediate in briefing and planning. If you are an advertising sales rep then your work would be based on establishing a good clientele, and cracking the deal outright. Remember, the selling cost?

This is what your client is undertaking, and you have to convince him for more, and better, thats exactly from where you have to rope in bigger possibilities serving as the intermediary between the customer and client.

Technical know-how about sales figures, sales accomplishments, target sectors, and follow-up is crucial. If you look into the job of an advertising sales director, or an advertising director, the focus of that post would be supervisory, and creating and placing ads would be the prime concern.

Levels of work

Whether you have specialized in sales or in graphics or in publishing or in media, an advertising job requires overall functioning of the position. It means you have to work your way through from making telephone calls, and e-mailing clients, to making plans and sales charts and account figures, drafts and contracts.

Mainly, advertising account executives focus on accounts, consultants provide strategies, publishers enthrall upon print media, and sales reps work on marketing and sales process, and a director plans and places, and looks after the overall process.

The job can also be conducted on-site, with web portals etc, and there an ad sales rep works to get clients, take up slots and ad spaces on the internet. Not only this, but in this job you have to be ready for additional responsibilities like coordinating staff, making various reports, and checking status of campaign constantly.

Opportunities youll have

Working in an advertising agency would be beneficial as you can earn lucrative salaries depending upon your post, size and demography of your agency. Advertising employment is mainly based in media, newspapers, magazines, periodicals, web portals, on-site work, and TV or radio stations.

You need to have a Bachelors degree in advertising or journalism and minimum experience and for directorial posts, min. 5years of field experience. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) advertising jobs promise an increment, in various sectors, so you can vouch for it.

Advertising employment opportunities come to you if you are ready to work upfront always, be available 24×7, and are innovative.