A key element of marketing is advertising. You can market your business through a variety of advertising means, including mail, email, developing your own website, online advertising, newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the phone book.

Benefits of advertising

Advertising can help you establish or position your business, sell your products or services and communicate your offerings to your customers. If successful, advertising has the ability to reach a large audience and attract more sales.

Public relations

Aside from traditional advertising, you can also consider using public relations (PR) to promote your business.

PR is about trying to create a positive image for your business. PR activities can include advertorials, sponsorships, events, product placements and press coverage. Although using public relations takes skill and innovative ideas to grab peoples’ attention, it can generate a lot of publicity for your business if used effectively. One of the most useful skills to learn is how to write an effective media release.

When writing your media release, ensure you include:

• newsworthy content – current and factual
• an engaging headline
• newspaper style layout – who, where, when, what, why, and how in the first paragraph
• short, succinct sentences
• your customer’s perspective
• interesting quotes
• contact details for your business
• a media kit (for example, if you are launching a major new product or a notable person has joined the business, you may wish to put together a media kit including background information, resumes of relevant people, launch information or brochures).

Be aware of your legal obligations

When advertising and promoting your business, it’s important to ensure that your information is always accurate and truthful. Before deciding how you will advertise your business, you should analyse which advertising medium will best suit your customer base.

If you decide to engage in online and e-marketing, you will need to understand your legal obligations related to the Spam Act.

What to do…

• Read about buying and selling online, and better understand e-commerce.
• Read about keeping loyal customers when developing a customer base.
• Find out your legal obligations that apply to advertising.
• Learn more about using social media for business, and how to get your social media presence started.
• Learn how to develop a marketing strategy if you don’t already have an overall marketing strategy.
• Search Events for seminars on marketing and pricing near you.
• Search Advisory Services to find a low-cost business adviser near you.
• Consult an experienced business adviser, accountant or solicitor.

Original Article: https://www.business.gov.au/news/useful-templates-and-checklists-for-your-business

Business.gov.au has a wealth of information for small business owners
© Commonwealth of Australia 2016 – Department of Industry, Innovation and Science