news: Avoid the mental blind spot when advertising your business ...

I often feel that, no matter where I go, someone will be trying to sell me something, be it car insurance for a car I don't own, a phone that I don't need, or a watch that doesn't work. With so many businesses competing in every market place, the modern age can be bewildering. There are now so many different ways businesses can try to advertise that many people, myself included, subconsciously ignore all attempts to demonstrate a product or highlight a brand.

More and more people are becoming immune to advertising. We see so much advertising - from television adverts and product placement, adverts in newspapers and magazines, emails (targeted, genuine and other) and websites. We've gotten used to it, and now a high percentage of people won't even register half the adverts they see or remember the items on display.

As a consumer this can be quite handy - it means we've evolved and developed an immunity to marketing pressure. But for any business this can be troubling; how can you market a product, brand or service if consumers have learnt how to block your message?

One way through this is to provide your potential customers with something useful. Something different. Something that will capture peoples imagination, and that they will use and see every day. Not just a magazine advert that people will skip, not an email that people will delete, not a radio or television advert that people will mute. Something they keep with them.

Corporate promotional items have been around for a long time; even as a child I remember pens and pencils with different companies names written on them. As time has gone on and people have gotten more intelligent, so to have the possibilities for new forms of promotional gifts. And promotions gifts are a great way of getting around a person's perception filter; simply give you potential customers something that gives them benefit, something they'll carry with them. At first they may not notice that this object will carry you logo, but with continued use of a high quality promotional gift, your customers will start to remember you and respect your brand.

What kind of gifts are out there? As mentioned, it's now the twenty first century and we can afford to be a little more creative than a pencil with your company name on it. You should also think about the people you're targeting. Are you promoting a product or service in London? Why not give away branded oyster card holders? London commuters use their oyster cards every day and so giving them a holder for their card will help them keep it safe; they'll find the gift useful and use it every day. maybe you're specifically targeting only women? Why not provide them with promotional lip balm? This is available for men and for women but it's generally thought that the product would mostly be used by women so this is great way to bring your business to their attention.

Targeted marketing always works best; know your client, know how to approach them, offer them services they would be interested in and you won't annoy them. This approach can yield great results; think about your audience, find something useful for them to use.

Health is a key area to consider. In deepest, darkest, coldest winter, after decades of scares ranging from mad cow disease through to chicken flu, health is an issue that concerns all of us. It's possible both to tap into this, not simply to use this national anxiety to promote your business, but also to ease people's concerns by providing them with antibacterial promotional gifts. There is nothing wrong with this - you are giving them public something they need, for free, which also helps your business to grow.

So have a think about who your audience is, think about want kind of gift would be useful to them. Give them something useful they'll treasure; they won't just remember you, they'll thank you as well.

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Source: http://kaal-news.blogspot.com/2012/03/avoid-mental-blind-spot-when.html

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